Los Angeles ice cream shop covers 43% of rent with weather‑derivative bets

Jason Jiang, 37, co‑manages the downtown Los Angeles ice‑cream shop 28wishes. To offset revenue loss on cooler days, he places a $20‑per‑day bet on short‑term weather contracts offered by the U.S. exchange platform Kalshi. The binary contracts settle according to NOAA temperature readings; when the temperature falls below 70 °F (21 °C) the shop’s sales dip by about 20 %. The bets generate up to $1,500 per month, which equals roughly 43 % of the shop’s $3,500 monthly rent. Jiang and his brother invest about $600 each month in the contracts, a practice previously limited to large energy firms. Kalshi, valued at $22 billion, is expanding its product line while the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission reviews its market‑making rules. The shop’s experience demonstrates how small retailers can use weather‑derivative markets to hedge climate‑related revenue risk.