I was talking to some business colleagues of mine the other day here in Bellingham, WA. One was a caterer, another a build-your-own take home dinner food company. They both said that consumer buying habits in the past few months have been changing - significantly - and they both said it had to do with attitudes of building more relationships and developing heart centered community.

The caterer said that , yes, some companies did their holiday parties differently by scaling down.  But the biggest shift was in the style. The tone shift is to doing things that boost morale, relationships and build confidence and connection. Out was the big drama and show off stuff.  In were real conversations, giving versatile gift certificates like to grocery stores, and giving awards and acknowledgements that really honored the person.

The food company said that she had seen a huge spike in sales the past year. More families are choosing to come in to put together menus of foods, and take the dinners home - so they can have family dinners rather than doing the dine out thing, or catch food on the fly. Fascinating clues to attitude changes, and think about how this is opening potential new market opportunities.