• by Todd Wasserman , February 22, 2023

COVID-19 hit some categories—airlines, hotels, restaurants—particularly hard. Now, three years later, we’re emerging from pandemic with few runaway hit categories. Yet, if you look closer, you can see some emerging growth. Here are a few categories that are likely to pick up steam in 2023 and beyond:

Dry wash spay: The so-called “Febreeze for clothes” (Febreeze now makes one) help delay laundry day by deodorizing and smoothing out wrinkles. The lockdown period of COVID-19 may have helped grow the category for those who lacked washers and dryers at home. Though the COVID effect is now mostly over, Persistence Market Research predicts the dry wash spray category will grow at a 7.5% CAGR between 2023 and 2033. That growth partly comes from consumers who want to limit their use of water.

The natural pet food market. People looking for a step up in their pet's food are buoying the natural food market. This month, at a Consumer Analyst Group of New York investor conference, General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening predicted that the company’s Blue Buffalo pet food brand could add another $2 billion in sales “over time.”

The cannabis industry: Cannabis industry researcher Brightfield Group predicts the category could grow to $50.7 billion annual sales by 2028, from a projected $31.8 billion annual sales by the end of 2023.

Online grocery delivery: COVID prompted many to try online grocery delivery for the first time in 2019/2020. McKinsey predicts that some countries could see 18% to 30% of the market taken up by online grocery delivery by 2030.