12:46
CNBC brings you stories that missed the spotlight this week. In today's episode, find out why the journey to get the first certified air taxis in the sky has been such a long one. Next, movie going is up across the United States, despite the rise of streaming, social media, and inflation. CNBC looks at why a lot of that growth is being driven by Gen Z and millennials. Plus, we have two stories this week that honor Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Asian foods used to be niche, but now grocery stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Aldi are selling more Asian products in every category. Find
out how mainstream grocery stores are monetizing the Asian food boom, and it's not just Asian food, but South Asian music is also becoming increasingly popular in the US. My colleague Laya and I spoke with Warner Music Group about how it's investing in South Asian talent. This is CNBC's In other news. The journey to get the first certified EV toll in the skies has been a long one for years. Air taxi makers like Joby, Archer, and Beta have pushed back certification timelines as the build up for flying cars has taken longer to pan out, but as
the competition heats up, more challenges have emerged in the form of lawsuits. Last year, Joby sued Archer, accusing the rival air taxi maker of corporate espionage and using stolen information to one up a deal with a real estate developer. Weeks later, Archer clapped back, accusing Joby of concealing illegal ties to Chinese suppliers. Archer claims the company fraudulently misclassified supplies to evade US tariffs and oversight. Archer has also filed a patent infringement lawsuit against vertical aerospace, accusing the British air taxi maker of ripping off its midnight aircraft. Lawsuits like the ones unfolding aren't new for the industry or an emerging technology, but it may be
souring investor appetite for air taxis. Joby and Archer stock have dropped more than 20% so far this year, while Amazon and GE backed beta is down about 60% from its public debut in November. Experts say the road to certification isn't easy, especially when certifying an entirely new form of technology. Last summer, President Trump signed an executive order outlining the creation of an EV toll testing program to promote safe operations in the US. We need a way to really centralize like timelines and dates, and so what they did was really create a pathway for us to get going in the US. So there's a timeline, and the goal is for next summer we'll start flying the aircrafts in the US in these different cities, kind of point to point
routes, very high margins of safety, and really start to show the country, gain community acceptance on what these aircrafts can do. The Federal Aviation Administration also announced a pilot program in March. The tests will include passenger transit, emergency response, and cargo deliveries. All the major players have been making strides. Joby, the largest by market value, recently launched a massive campaign over New York City, operating passenger-less demo flights from JFK Airport to Manhattan. Last year, the company became the first air taxi maker to complete a full flight transition from vertical to cruise flight, a significant step in the process toward FAA certification. Archer, the
second largest player, is working to take to the skies in 2028 as an official partner of the Olympics in Los Angeles. Despite these achievements, none of the major electric air taxi companies have successfully flown passengers in the skies just yet. I'm here at the AMC in downtown Burbank. Last year, this theater made $23.3 million in ticket sales, the most of any cinema in the US. But it's not just here. Movie going is up across the US, despite the rise of streaming, social media, and persistent inflation. Domestic box office revenue is more than 12% higher year to date, and attendance has grown nearly 6% compared to the year prior, with two 50 million tickets sold so far this year across the US and Canada. The industry is now on track to
reach $10 billion for the first time since 2019 A lot of that growth is being driven by Gen Z and millennials, who are seeing more movies per year and spending more per trip than any other generation in 2025 Gen Z movie goers averaged about seven movies a year and made up roughly 40% of all audiences in North America. Gen Z is driving movie goer trends today. I think people are shocked, like, oh, Gen Z doesn't want to leave their house. That's true. What's true is that Gen Z is increasingly trading their small screens for the big screen, particularly for genres like horror and animation. Films like Demon Slayer and the Minecraft movie were major hits in 2025 and some of 2026 top performing titles so far include the C.
For Mario Galaxy movie and Scream seven Gen Z generally refers to people born between 1997 and 2012 placing them between the ages of 14 and 29 and 2026 They are digital natives with 92% purchasing tickets online rather than in person, having grown up in an era dominated by advertising and sponsored content, this generation is notoriously difficult to market to, but companies that do can expect big rewards. Despite being selective with their spending, Gen Z is still willing to spend on experiences. They're shelling out more for premium formats like IMAX and Dolby Cinema, many are also signing up for subscription programs like AMC Stubs and Regal Unlimited, which allow movie goers to see
multiple films a month for a recurring fee. Altogether, this generation is treating movie going as less of a one-off purchase and more of a social experience. This has become their new third space part of that shift was fueled by Letterboxed, a movie-focused social platform, which surged in popularity during the pandemic. The site currently has more than 29 million users, with more than half under the age of 35 That enthusiasm seems to have translated to theaters, movies for Gen Z are very social, which is sort of feels weird, right? You go to a movie theater, sit there, probably in silence, but it's a very social activity for Gen Z. They plan around it, they meet their friends, they dialog about it,
they go through the movie, they might splurge on some of the different, you know, popcorn, candy, so does, but it's a very safe event, and it gives them a reason to come together, and this, I think, is one of the secrets about it, that's low risk and low pressure. All of this has made movie going an attractive option for Gen Z audiences, but economic pressures still pose a risk. Inflation and the war in Iran, which is pushing food and gas prices higher, could force some movie goers to pull back, especially those with limited discretionary income. In 2025 the average adult ticket price cost $13.31
A large popcorn was 1054 and a large drink was 784 Even so, that's still cheaper than other forms of entertainment, like concerts, festivals, or shows that can cost hundreds or even 1000s of dollars. Ticket pricing has gone up, as it does, but when you compare it to the year over year inflation rate, it's, it's on par, if not less. When you think about Gen Z, they are cost conscious, but they're opening up their wallet, that's not scaring them away. The signs are promising, with the 2026 box office already outperforming 2025 and that's before some of the year's biggest blockbusters hit the big screen, like The Odyssey, Toy Story Five, Dune, and Avengers Dooms Day. After a disappointing summer last year,
theaters are even better positioned this year with a stronger slate. The question is, though, will Gen Z keeps showing up today. You can find paneer in Whole Foods, Gochujang in Trader Joe's, and seaweed in Aldi. That's because shoppers are buying Asian groceries more than the overall category, turning it into a $37 billion market, interest spans across incomes and beyond cultures. Our best demographic is actually the best friend, whose friend, like, grew up in Japan, but maybe they're not ethnically Asian, and so they're curious. That's Candace Choi, who founded Seaweed Snack Company game in 2023 she saw the
rising interest in Asian snacks, and in particular seaweed, and bet big on it. Now the brand is sold in Whole Foods in the Midwest, and she exclusively told me will expand this summer to Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii. People send me up all the time of toddlers of all like races and ethnicities, like chowing down on these seaweed chips, and it's actually been really healing for me, because I didn't have a lot of people who looked like me growing up eating that. Many Asian Americans can relate to the early difficulties of finding Asian ingredients before they became so mainstream. American grocery stores typically carried a small selection of quote ethnic foods, usually just a small assortment
of sauces. Growing up, my family would travel about 30 minutes to a different city to go to Patel Brothers, which is a South Asian grocery chain. It's now the third largest Asian grocery chain in the US, behind H Mart and 99 Ranch by store count. These top three retailers were all founded in different regions and didn't scale nationally until the mid 90s, and there's still plenty of room for them to grow. Of the three, only H Mart has over 100 US stores, but now they're also competing against mainstream grocers as interest for Asian flavors rises, like at Whole Foods, where demand for Asian flavors. Grown tremendously. Indian brand Gymkhana was so popular that its sales lifted the entire Asian subcategory earlier this year.
So, what's driving this boom? It boils down to a few things. For one, the US Asian population has more than doubled since 2000 That's introduced more people to cuisines and flavors. Now, Asian flavors transcend multiple categories, sauces, meats, packaged foods, frozen meals, and spices in mainstream stores. So, kids from all backgrounds are packing mochi, nori, and naan in their school lunches. Second, younger consumers are more diverse than other generations and seek out unique experiences. Indian and Thai food manufactured Deep Foods has watched its recipes resonate with millennials and Gen Z. What they want is a modern version, but an authentic version of what they may have experienced in a restaurant, what they may have
experienced in traveling to a foreign country, or what they may have experienced with a friend of a different ethnicity. Third, Asian food has also benefited from the rise of the health and wellness movement. Many staples are fermented or plant-based, giving the category a health halo. Millennials and Gen Z are spending more on wellness products than other generations. They're also heavily invested in social media, where TikTok has become one of the most powerful forces driving what people eat and buy, so what does this mean for consumers? Hopefully, more food innovation and availability.
Whole Foods named international snacks its top food trend of with Asian flavors dominating new products like mango sticky rice chips. As more mainstream grocery stores expand their selections, that could challenge some of the smaller specialty stores, like the Tale Brothers, especially in pricing, but their selection hasn't quite caught up yet. South Asian music is becoming increasingly mainstream in the US. I was trying to figure out how I can take India into the global music scene my way, you know, and that was through English music, but while I'm doing
English music, I wanted to make sure I had a touch of India through that journey, whether it's through the visuals or the dance or the esthetic, Fatah, he has lived in India for the past decade, and her music is growing in popularity throughout the world. Just last year, she made her US TV debut with a performance on The Tonight Show. She signed to Five Junction, a joint label with Warner Music Group, which is the third biggest music label in the US, the music giant says it plans to keep investing in South Asian talent. WMG controls around 16% of the music industry here in the US. It has about an $18 billion market cap, with a catalog that includes 70,000 artists. The company owns some of the biggest labels in the
world, like Atlantic Records and Warner Records. Five Junction is one of its smaller business units, but was created by Music industry strategist Anjula Acharya last year. Its goal: bringing South Asian talent to Western audiences. Acharya manages global superstar Priyanka Chopra Jonas and is credited for bringing American pop acts like Lady Gaga and Britney Spears to India. All these South Asian acts that are coming here and really selling out, you know, particularly in the live arena, and then I started to get the phone calls, and actually Robert Kinsel, who is the CEO of Warner Music Group, is a very old-time friend of mine, and you know, he was like, if you're built this label anyway, you need to build it
with us, so that's really how the Warner came around when I first got in the music business, there were not a lot of people, Asian, South Asian community, that was from both sides, the executive side as well as the artist side, and so I'm really excited to be working with Live Junction, you know, Asian women are probably the most underrepresented in the business. Riya Raj is another artist signed to Five Junction. She's the sister of cap-size Lara Raj and has released multiple albums and EPs of her own, garnering millions of streams across platforms.
Raj first met Acharya after she was on American Idol about a decade ago. We started working together officially earlier this year, and she's my manager, and I think we just saw really eye to eye immediately on my vision as an artist and the big things I want to do globally. We're gonna take over the world, and it's already happening. Music is becoming more global, thanks in part to streaming. The global music industry has seen revenue grow for 11 consecutive years, crossing $30 billion for the first time in 2025 Nearly 70% of that revenue came from streaming. Through the internet, right, and streaming, it's global. We all have access to music that we didn't really have access to before. It was, as a record company, particularly here,
we're pushing to be different and collaboration and educating each other through music, you know, and sharing our cultures, and this growing fan base of South Asian artists is not just in the United States. Spotify said it saw streams of Indian artists skyrocket by more than 2,000% in international markets between 2019 and 2023 In 2024 Spotify said that 50% of all royalties generated by Indian artists on its platform were from listeners outside of the country. My parents' generation, you know, money was tight. They were an immigrant community, and they had to be very careful. Now, South Asians are very successful within America, within the UK. They're looking for experiences, they're
looking for avenues to spend their money in their spending, and whether that's going to live events, whether that's streaming music, whether that's going to restaurants, whatever that is, they're looking for experiences that speak to their, their personal story, in terms of how the music is being portrayed. It gives us an opportunity for us to also have a moment, just like the Afro scene, the Latin American scene, the K-pop scene. I think South Asia is going to have that moment very soon I just feel like we need the right platforms and opportunities for that.
