🌲 Our connection to nature is a strange thing

The business of human rewilding

Anyone who’s been on a ‘bucket list’ (that was hard for me to type) wilderness experience will tell you it was magical. They were one with nature. Had the time of their lives. Even if they froze their asses off or almost got chomped by a bear. (Nothing like a taste of mortality to make one feel more alive!)

Because being closer to nature feeds us. It’s a fact.

Given that we, as a species, spent so long getting out of makeshift shelters and into comfy homes, this drive to experience, once again, a ‘more primitive’ way of life is perhaps counterintuitive. 

But we are dying to rewild ourselves. And we’re willing to pay good money to do it.

I cannot say I am contributing to this search volume. US search interest, six-month rolling average. Source: Google Trends

This is illustrated particularly well by Jordan Jonas Expeditions, one of the latest startups offering wilderness survival experiences. From ~$3k you can spend a week scrambling up mountains, howling to wolves, and being humbled by your inability to feed yourself (top of the food chain, though!). 

Because here’s the thing: wilderness experiences pare down our never-ending to-do lists. 

It’s incredibly freeing when your only concern is to pick berries for your next meal, or find a stream, or gather kindling. It boils life down to the bare bones. Suddenly it’s crystal clear what really matters: your health, your loved ones, and the next glorious sunrise.

As long as it’s only for a finite period. 

The key is not to be forced to survive, but to choose to. So if you don’t manage to trap a rabbit with a few twigs and a rock, you can just get Burger King on your way out of the woods. 

In other words, it’s the very creature comforts we seek to escape from that allow these expeditions to be so transformative. We can experience the great outdoors with a safety net, and feel badass while doing it. 

With a little bit of help. Which is why the human rewilding space holds a bunch of business opportunities.  

Here’s my take.

➡ First up, the obvious: Rewilding influencers will be big. People don’t want to go to a survival camp run by a gaggle of hippies nibbling on herbs and talking to squirrels. They want the real, rugged deal. 

Those who’ve made a name for themselves in the survival game will be in high demand. Some will launch their own expedition startups (or buy them, like Jonas). Others will need help offering experiences, merch lines, and more. 

It’s a golden opportunity for partnerships of all kinds. 

➡ Bite-sized rewilding will become a thing. Not everyone can afford to, or is physically able to, spend a week in the wilderness. Many will look for less intense ways to experience nature.

Things like… 

Rockhounding, surprisingly, isn’t jumping over rocks. It’s searching for cool little ones you can take home. US search interest, six-month rolling average. Source: Google Trends

Think of business opportunities here in terms of level of rewilding and cost. You have the classic ‘extreme’ survival experiences on the one end. Then Sunday foraging school and a mushroom pickling class on the other.

There really are a plethora of options out there. 

➡ Rewilding for kids is likely to be a high-growth niche. Over the last few years I have heard, ad nauseam, parents bemoan the lack of nature-based ‘character-building’ experiences available for youngsters.

Back in the day they say, setting down their Stetson, kids could be kids. We’d be dropped off in the woods for a weekend. Smoke fish by the creek. Bugle to elk. Sleep on a mound of coyote furs.

Hyperboles aside, they have a point. There are three significant areas of opportunity here:

• ‘Rite-of-passage’ wilderness training for teens

• ‘Bite-sized’ options like forest and outdoor school

• Water-tight legal advice for these companies (because, kids + wilderness)

Just throw them in the mud already. US search interest, six-month rolling average. Source: Google Trends

When it comes to proper survival/wilderness training for teens, I think the play is to go super-high-end, no-costs-spared stuff. 

Wealthy parents are likely to pay top dollar to expose their darlings to true character-building in nature  — as long as the guides are uber-vetted, and there’s maybe a medical team on standby. Survival of the fittest! but with help hiding in the wings, please.

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Tidbits

🍫 On theme with last week’s newsletter (here if you missed it) we have two product announcements to talk about: 

1. Protein Candy, the world's first ‘super candy,’ is launching across North America this week. I won’t bore you with the nutritional details but basically, a lot of protein, very little sugar, and even a decent amount of fiber. I can’t be the only one waiting for unbiased reviews. 

2. The UK’s largest dairy supplier teamed up with an almost as large sports nutrition brand to release a range of high-protein desserts and yogurts. In a surprising turn of events, their branding is neither retro-themed nor ultra-modern. We’re all curious to see consumer response. 

🏡 Our homes have microbiomes. At least, that’s what scientists are calling the mix of organisms that live happily in our houses. Products that enhance microbial diversity in indoor spaces, like probiotics for buildings, are coming. I have a feeling optimizing the microbiome of nurseries and kids’ rooms will be particularly big business. 

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