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After a report called out retailers for inadvertently mislabelling real fur as fake, a cross-party group of MPs has suggested a ban on selling real fur altogether.
In their study ‘Fur Trade in the UK’, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) found that retailers such as TK Maxx, Amazon, Boots, Boohoo and Tesco were selling real fur products as fake. Some retailers, like Kurt Geiger and Etsy, were doing the same despite advertising no-fur policies.
“Reports of real fur being sold as fake fur shows that retailers are flouting their responsibility to consumers,” Neil Parish MP, chair of the committee, said. “Retailers of all sizes are complacent about the issue of fake faux fur. It is illegal to give misleading information and Trading Standards have been poor at identifying and acting against those who are doing so.”
Fur farming was banned in the UK back in 2000, but companies can still legally sell some furs that are imported, such as rabbit, chinchilla and fox fur. In fact, in the last year, the UK imported almost £75million of animal fur, according to the most recent trade statistics from HMRC, with the majority of these animals factory-farmed in battery cage systems in countries such as China, Poland and Finland, much of which is the fur that is being sold as ‘fake’.
The EFRA committee told the BBC that ‘many consumers have an ethical reason for not buying garments containing real fur.’ They said: “Our inquiry has highlighted that the current labelling system is confusing, not fit for purpose and with a high degree of non-compliance. It is also not being enforced.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suggested that real fur sales should be entirely banned in the UK. He said: “I think fur products are unnecessary and there is often a great deal of cruelty involved in the production of fur pelts. And the synthetic alternatives are much better.”
In response to this issue, the government has assured the committee that Brexit will provide an opportunity for the UK to introduce further restrictions on the fur trade.
The government statement said: “Brexit gives us the opportunity to go further. Meanwhile, we will closely consider the committee’s report and respond in due course.”


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Vopak Drops Most in a Month on UBS Sell Rating: Amsterdam MoverFred Pals
Royal Vopak NV, the world’s biggest chemical and oil storage company, dropped the most in a month in Amsterdam as UBS AG initiated coverage with a “sell” rating.
Vopak dropped as much as 3.5 percent to 49.24 euros, the biggest drop since Dec. 10. It was at 49.285 euros by 10:18 a.m. local time, valuing Vopak at 6.3 billion euros ($8.4 billion).
“Tank storage is fundamentally an attractive business, given its infrastructure characteristics and relative insensitivity to volume,” Dominic Edridge, a London-based analyst at UBS, said today in a note. “This success may now be a problem, as investment in the sector has grown substantially, which may mean lower returns.”
The storage company, based in Rotterdam, operates 84 terminals in 31 countries with a combined capacity of more than 29 million cubic meters.
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HP is launching another Windows-based tablet – a sign it’s getting back to the things it does best, says silicon.com’s Natasha Lomas.
Anyone with even half an eye on the tech industry can’t fail to have noticed HP’s strategy has been zigzagging in all directions in recent months – most obviously when the company said it was considering spinning off its PC division only to about-face and decide to embrace PC-making once again after new CEO Meg Whitman took the reins.
Now, HP has announced it’s getting back into tablets.
The company that created the mayfly of tablets – the TouchPad – only to kill it off months later has decided to launch a new tablet device: the HP Slate 2 Tablet PC.
The prosaically named Slate 2 is the follow-up to the original HP Slate, launched last year. Like the original Slate but unlike its webOS-based TouchPad, the Slate 2 runs Windows 7.
While consumers will scratch their heads at the sight of a company that killed off its relatively sexy iPad-esque tablet only to replace it with a dull but worthy Windows slate, there is method in HP’s madness.
The Slate 2 is no iPad killer – which is exactly why it’s survived HP’s strategy shifts.
Rather than attempting to position itself as an Apple rival, the Slate 2 is focused on a market HP has much more experience in: business users.
At the launch of its latest iPhone last month, Apple claimed 92 per cent of Fortune 500 companies are “testing or deploying” iPads. Of course, not all those companies which are currently testing iPads will go on to deploy them – but those businesses are demonstrating that there is an enterprise appetite for tablets. It’s that appetite that HP is now doubling down on.
Analysts have long been predicting tablets will make big inroads in business – last year Gartner forecast tablets will be in 80 per cent of businesses by 2013.
And Rene Batsford, head of IT at the UK sandwich chain EAT, recently told silicon.com about a rollout of Windows tablets the company had completed. “We bought a lot of Acer Iconia W500s and they’re going down a storm – they’re really great,” he said. “We like the fact you can use the keyboard as a docking station.”
Batsford added that the iPad has shortcomings for business users. “I’m not convinced that the iPad is a brilliant business device – it’s good, it’s great for watching iPlayer, but realistically it can’t run Word, it can’t run Excel, it can’t run PowerPoint,” he said. “If you asked any CIO or IT director what’s the most used business tool within the business apart from your big ERP systems and all that, it’s those three products.”
While webOS turned a few reviewers’ heads, it meant the TouchPad couldn’t make a convincing play in either the consumer or business market.
In the consumer market, the TouchPad couldn’t compete with Apple on the ecosystem front. With its hundreds of thousands of apps, Apple’s iTunes App Store is the 800lb champion gorilla and, as Apple has so amply proven, when it comes to hardware, it’s the apps that drive sales.
Equally, in the business market, webOS couldn’t offer enterprise users a familiar environment they could be confident would play nicely with their existing Windows-based systems.
The Slate 2 has even less chance than the TouchPad of wooing the consumer market but it can certainly tick the Windows interoperability box that tablet-hungry businesses need.
According to HP, the Slate 2 targets mobile workers who “need to remain productive in a familiar Windows environment”, and “who use custom applications that must operate in a Windows environment”.
While the Slate may not have the glamour of the TouchPad, it does have something potentially much more valuable to HP: a target market.


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While big soda brands still lead the charge
Angie Hargraves has a personal connection to the shift towards healthy food choices
Condo dwellers who run out of milk
most lucrative opportunities are treated first as fairy dust
The single-serve Coffeeboxx lets customers brew a hot, fresh cup of coffee (8 oz., 10 oz. or 12 oz.) in any workplace and under rugged conditions.
Boyd’s Coffee is introducing a limited-time-only winter cappuccino flavour made with real Twix pieces.
Hammond's Candies, known for creating new twists on old-fashioned treats, has released three new chocolate bar flavours.
Genuine Health's gluten-free, non-GMO, soy-free and vegan Fermented Vegan Proteins+ Bars address several consumer health concerns.
Molinari Private Reserve (MPR) recently launched a new wine-infused coffee brand.
Shires Bakery Cookies has a festive rainbow sprinkle soft cookie that is available in several seasonal sprinkle themes: St. Patrick’s Easter, Canada Day, Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s.
Danone Inc. has a new SuperGrains line of four new flavours that combine grain blends with fruit combinations.
Washington, D.C.-based Vagabond Vending manufactures cloud-based mobile software that uses Google Maps' geolocation services and the Internet of Things to help vending machine operators manage their operations.
The Smart Lid is a colour-changing, disposable beverage lid that warns of the hot contents by turning bright red and as the lid returns to the "cold" colour as the hot drink cools.
Tomlinson Industries' new SPBJU Juice Faucet is designed to easily dispense thick, pulpy juices and beverages.
Snack Factory has launched a new variety of its Pretzel Crisps flat-baked pretzel crackers: Organic Original Pretzel Crisps.
Brand Vending has released a bulk vending machine for one-inch items that looks like fun and is easy to use for operators and young customers.
Lewiston, NY – Ted Morton founded Casco Bay Vending in Lewiston in 2008 with two employees and a vision. The Business Sun Journal reports. | READ MORE
Lorna Kane is a superwoman in the vending industry. The owner and sales manager for Kane's Distributing Ltd. based in St. Catharines, Ont., Kane is the 2016 recipient of the Canadian Automatic Merchandising Association's Don Storey Memorial Award. She is also the first female to receive the honour.
Entrepreneur Richard Zinck’s latest venture has him thinking of how to do micro markets differently. Loyalty Markets has tapped into technology, abandoned the need for a warehouse and developed a system for training its customers with a free credit.
Albert and Sophie Eskow aren’t your typical retirees. Instead of walking the beach and playing golf in sunny Florida, this hard working couple dedicates 12-hour days to their business, Alberta Vending Services, located in Leduc, Alta. Tending to over 400 vending machines in nearby Edmonton and the surrounding area, they drive their route together each day, and say they are happy to be doing the work they love.
Condo dwellers who run out of milk typically have two options: do without or dash out. But at a growing number of Toronto condos, there’s a third option: pop down to their building’s common area and pick up cream, bread or eggs from a vending machine. Providing that kind of convenience is the motivation behind Grab’nGo Vending’s Micro Shops – small footprint automated kiosks that sell basic grocery items and essentials.
Ryan Company Ltd. is a fourth-generation family business that provides vending and office coffee service across much of British Columbia. Though its history spans nearly eight decades, Ryan Vending is a progressive company, firmly rooted in the present and always with an eye on the future.
A PET bottle-collecting machine that pays users through their smart phones? An app that you can use to order pickup of recyclable items from your home? One Beijing company is trying to bring recycling into the “smart” era – and make money at it. Plastic News reports. | READ MORE
May 8, 2015 – The Stewart family is synonymous with Savco Food Services Ltd., a small company that, over 53 years, has built an enviable reputation for high-quality service you’d expect from a small-town business.
After a year at the helm of CAMA, Ed Kozma shares insights gained from his experience in the vending industry.
When Dana Clarke couldn’t find what she was looking for, she did what most others would not think to do: she designed it herself.
Sept. 2, 2014, St. Catharines, Ont. – Two university graduates have started a coffee-packaging business that creates private-label coffee pods for smaller companies, reports The Brock News. | READ MORE Gabriel MarchiondaTw Gabriel Marchionda (BA ‘12), Trevor Cowan (BAcc ‘12) and Mark Fabiano (BBA ‘12), all 25 years old, are the brains behind My Coffee Brew, a growing online business that provides a personal touch for companies that want private label coffee pods. - See more at: http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=29302&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrockNews+%28The+Brock+News%29#sthash.EtBWtPzl.dpuf Gabriel Marchionda (BA ‘12), Trevor Cowan (BAcc ‘12) and Mark Fabiano (BBA ‘12), all 25 years old, are the brains behind My Coffee Brew, a growing online business that provides a personal touch for companies that want private label coffee pods. - See more at: http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=29302&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrockNews+%28The+Brock+News%29#sthash.EtBWtPzl.dpuf Gabriel Marchionda (BA ‘12), Trevor Cowan (BAcc ‘12) and Mark Fabiano (BBA ‘12), all 25 years old, are the brains behind My Coffee Brew, a growing online business that provides a personal touch for companies that want private label coffee pods. - See more at: http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=29302&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrockNews+%28The+Brock+News%29#sthash.EtBWtPzl.dpuf Gabriel Marchionda (BA ‘12), Trevor Cowan (BAcc ‘12) and Mark Fabiano (BBA ‘12), all 25 years old, are the brains behind My Coffee Brew, a growing online business that provides a personal touch for companies that want private label coffee pods. - See more at: http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=29302&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrockNews+%28The+Brock+News%29#sthash.EtBWtPzl.dpuf Gabriel Marchionda (BA ‘12), Trevor Cowan (BAcc ‘12) and Mark Fabiano (BBA ‘12), all 25 years old, are the brains behind My Coffee Brew, a growing online business that provides a personal touch for companies that want private label coffee pods. - See more at: http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=29302&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrockNews+%28The+Brock+News%29#sthash.EtBWtPzl.dpuf
Aug. 21, 2014, St. Catharines, Ont. – Kane’s Distributing, which has had its hand in almost every aspect of the vending industry, marks its 60th birthday this month.
Toronto – Canadian consumers and businesses are using the Interac e-Transfer service at record levels with more than 158 million transfers made over the platform in 2016, Interac Association/Acxsys Corporation (Interac) said in a news release.
Toronto – India mobile payments and commerce company Paytm has launched bill payment service for Canadians.
Los Angeles – The Venders recently launched a new disposable battery charger kiosk at the ARN Conference in New Orleans.
Hermosa Beach, CA – Virtual Piggy is working with Univest Bank & Trust Company on a child-focused payment application and services designed to empower children 17 and under to become direct buyers with regulatory and parental controls built in. Finextra reports. | READ MORE
Emeryville, CA – Redpark Product Development is now shipping what it calls the industry’s first DEX Cable for iPhone and iPad.
London, U.K. – When the new polymer five-pound notes entered circulation last September in U.K., the Bank of England claimed that the new notes would provide a better alternative to their previous paper counterparts. However, certain studies said otherwise. EPPN reports. | READ MORE
Alpharetta, GA – Ingenico Group recently reported more than 200 per cent year-over-year growth in shipments of its suite of iSelf Series solutions as a result of new additions to the Ingenico Group Unattended Partner Program.
Alberta – People and businesses in southern Alberta are being warned about counterfeit money. Fake bills have been turning up in small towns surrounding Calgary more frequently in the past few months. Global News reports. | READ MORE
San Jose, CA – Payments and commerce company Verifone is collaborating with FIS, a financial services and payment technology manufacturer, to allow consumers to pay with loyalty points linked to their credit or debit cards at the point of sale.
Iuliana Nita of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics summarizes regulations affecting materials that come in contact with food substances and suggests ways food processors and providers can meet those standards.
Toronto – Toronto-based CCL Industries will pay $1.13 billion to buy its British rival Innovia in a bid to become one of the world's biggest makers of polymer banknotes. CBC News reports. | READ MORE
Ottawa – One eminent Canadian woman will be named as the face of the next regularly circulating bank note on Dec. 8.
Davis, CA – At University of California Davis, one student is making it possible to get the morning-after pill from what he is calling the Plan B vending machine. Popsugar reports. | READ MORE
Vancouver – A Nova Scotia entrepreneur will bring his healthy vending company to Canada after operating in the U.S. for several years.
New York – Americans now officially drink more bottled water than soda. Annual sales of bottled water surpass soda in the U.S. for the first time ever, according to Beverage Marketing Corporation, a research firm dedicated to the global beverage industry.
Toronto – The provincial government’s public policies are significantly out of step with public opinion when it comes to the bottled water industry, a recent poll of 1,500 people in Ontario commissioned by the Canadian Bottled Water Association suggests.
Carbonated soft drinks are second only to milk in dollar share of non-alcoholic beverages consumed in Canadian homes but niche beverages present one opportunity to improve sales, says a new report from research firm Mintel.
Hong Kong – The tiny Torba Tourism Council in the remote Pacific island nation of Vanuatu is planning to outlaw all imported food at government functions and tourist establishments across the province’s 13 inhabited islands. The New York Times reports. | READ MORE
Atlantic Canada – When the skies turn grey and the wind howls along the eastern coastline, shoppers head to supermarkets and convenience stores, to stock up on the essentials. But in the Atlantic provinces, there’s a new bad-weather staple: storm chips. CBC News reports. | READ MORE
Vancouver – A 24/7 kiosk in Vancouver that dispenses stamps with images of Group of Seven paintings has drawn collectors who recognize that the stamps it prints are rare and available only from that machine. CBC News reports. | READ MORE
U.K. and Brazil – During a recent commentary on current research and policy into sweetened drinks, researchers from universities in London and Brazil argued that sugar-free and “diet” drinks offer no more help when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight than their full-sugar counterparts. Nutrition Insight reports. | READ MORE
London, Ont. – Breakfast is front and centre in McCormick & Company's 2017 Flavour Forecast, which highlights adventurous breakfast options, versatile eggs, and peppery foods as food trends to watch.
Narita, Japan – A bank of 325 capsule toy vending machines installed at Narita International Airport near Tokyo have become magnets for foreign visitors, with the manufacturer reporting per-machine sales at the airport of more than three times the average for such machines across Japan. The Japan Times reports. | READ MORE
Baltimore, MD – Roasted seaweed snacks, refrigerated nutrition bars and whole milk products are among products exhibited at Expo East in Baltimore that illustrate that illustrate the trend toward healthy snack and confectionery products. Candy Industry reports. | READ MORE
London, U.K. – The U.K.'s Telegraph has mapped the world according to coffee consumption per capita, with Finland coming out on top. Finns consume 12 kilograms per person per year, according to stats from the International Coffee Organization. | READ MORE
South Africa – Black Insomnia, a South Africa-based coffee company, says it has scientific proof its blend is the most caffeinated in the world with “dangerously high levels of caffeine." The caffeinated coffees is now available in the United States. Food and Wine reports. | READ MORE
Bogota, Colombia – Colombia produced 1.29 million 60-kg bags of mild washed Arabica coffee in February, an 18 per cent increase compared to the 1.1 million bags produced during the same previous month, according to the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation.
Burnaby, B.C. – The leading producers of non-reusable coffee pods are trying to make a dent in the amount of waste flowing into Canadian landfills. CBC News reports. | READ MORE
Bristol, U.K. – A genetic variant called CHRNA5, which causes people to smoke more, also might cause them to crave more caffeine, suggests a study credited to the University of Bristol in the U.K. The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory reports. | READ MORE
Napa, CA – You may have heard of Italian specialty caffè corretto, or "corrected coffee." Now a café called Molinari in Napa, Calif., is serving coffee that's flavoured with wine. Forbes reports. | READ MORE
Stanford, CA – A recently published Stanford University School of Medicine study suggests caffeine consumption counters the chronic inflammation responsible for more than 90 per cent of many cardiovascular and other age-related diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Market Watch reports. | READ MORE
Waterbury, CT – Keurig Green Mountain has launched a dedicated website designed to help purchasers shop for coffee and beverage options in their workplace.
Bogota, Colombia – Colombia will host the first World Coffee Producers Forum in July to bring together key players of the coffee chain and of the global industry to discuss the main challenges of the coffee sector, the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation said in a news release.
New York – Millennials’ seemingly unquenchable thirst for coffee is helping to push global demand to a record just as supplies are tightening, according to research from Bloomberg News. | READ MORE
Ottawa – Two Ottawa-area entrepreneurs have created a coffee brewer for outdoor enthusiasts in the shape of a pipe, or as they call it, a bripe. CBC News reports. | READ MORE
Toronto – Starbucks Canada will launch a signature Nitro Cold Brew at its Brookfield Place store in Toronto, with more locations to come across Canada over the next several months.
Pittsburgh and Chicago – Planters is launching “Shout For Nuts,” a new campaign that invites customers to shout loud about their love of its mixed nuts, cashews and peanuts.
Paying close attention to your customers, their behaviours, their habits can pay off, writes customer service expert Shep Hyken. When you know them that well, you’ll be able to anticipate or predict what they will ask for next – sometimes even before they know they need to ask.
Las Vegas, NV – NAMA OneShow organizers want to help operators learn all they need to know to successfully launch and run a micro market and gain the certificate to prove it.
Whether you work in vending, office coffee service or micro markets, your website needs to meet some key objectives. Marketing pro Marc Gordon highlights five tasks your company's website should accomplish.
On behalf of the CAMA Board of Directors, I want to extend best wishes and thoughts for all those across Canada; particularly those in Alberta who were faced with terrible fires in May and June and with flooding late July to early August.
You have ambition and drive. You want to advance in your career, and you’d prefer to do it sooner rather than later. The good news is that no matter where you are in your career, you can begin accelerating your professional development by taking three simple steps – and you can start today. All you need to do is integrate the steps below into your daily routine and commit to continuously learn and grow as a professional.
It is my pleasure to submit my first message as CAMA president. CAMA Expo 2015, held in Niagara Falls, was a resounding success and served as an opportunity for industry members to make their voices heard. We learned that micro markets are indeed on everyone’s radar and this added a new and appreciated element to the show floor.
In 2012, Jim Jackson stepped into the wrong elevator in a Las Vegas hotel. In hindsight, it turned out to be the right one after all.
I’d bet many of the most lucrative opportunities are treated first as fairy dust before the trailblazers start making bricks of gold. It’s the nature of humanity to be skeptical of change, to be wary of doing things differently. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” is an adage so familiar it may be a little broke itself these days. The business climate is one of swift change and a continual push for bigger, for better, for more profits and more efficiency.
Despite the challenges of providing nutritious and tasty options that the health and wellness trend has caused in the vending industry, leading Canadian and American workplaces are realizing the many physical and financial benefits that come with a healthier workforce, prompting a shift in corporate policies. Healthy workplaces are no longer an afterthought, but rather the focus.
The new manager walks into the conference room. The several staff members turn and look at each other expressing obvious shock over is youthfulness. He begins to tell the staff that he is only instituting one new change: they are going to begin online marketing using LinkedIn.
Industry veteran and longtime Canadian Vending columnist David Murphy weighs in on the areas of growth where large vending and OCS operations often fall short and smaller operations can gain an edge.
Apriva, CPI and TNS team up on payment system for Canadian vending operatorsScottsdale, AZ – Apriva has a new vending payment system…
Aramark second on 'Canada's Greenest Employers' list for 2017Toronto – Food-service provider Aramark Canada, based in Toronto has…
Opinion: Canada agrees on free trade with itselfOttawa – Canadian politicians signed a “Canadian Free-Trade Agreement” on…
CAMA Ontario golf tournamentFri Jun 09, 2017 @ 8:00AM - 05:00PM
Canadian Coffee & Tea ShowSun Sep 24, 2017 @12:00PM - 05:00PM
CAMA Expo 2017Fri Oct 13, 2017 @ 8:00AM - 05:00PM
Top 50 Packaging Ideas ExpoTue Oct 24, 2017 @ 8:00AM - 05:00PM


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Amazon Seeks to Free Consumers from the Clamshell
If you've ever bought small electronics or toys, you've probably tussled with a clamshell or two.
By clamshell, I mean that plastic packaging that encases everything from remote controls to Rubik's cubes. I've routinely slashed, stabbed, dug my nails into and even tried to bite them in order to get them to disgorge their contents.
Someone has finally heard our grunts of frustration: Amazon.com.
The Web retailer on Monday declared war on "wrap rage" with a multi-year "Frustration-Free Packaging" program, starting with 19 best-selling products.
They include a computer mouse and Barbie's Party Cruise ship. Check out the list here.
I know. Not exactly a big selection. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement that it could take years before the clamshell is banished entirely. So in the meantime, keep those thumbs limber and the utility blades at the ready.
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In the UK, 47% of consumers don’t want more technology in their lives at this point in time, and 45% think owning so many devices just means another thing to worry about when something goes wrong. And in the world of the smarthome filled with so-called smart devices, the consumer world of the Internet of Things is proving to be broken and anything but smart.
Hive by British Gas was hit by a DNS outage in March this year which meant customers were unable to control their heating remotely.
“…the last two days has seen our Hive service hit by an unexpected outage, caused by our Domain Name Service (DNS) provider. The knock on effect meant that some customers weren’t able to use Hive remotely during this time which is absolutely not the experience we want you to have.”
And if connectivity to the internet becomes a major flaw for most devices, then when it can’t be achieved what happens next for objects like a Lumma connected pill dispenser ? The market as it is today is rife with the current trend by OEM companies to “stick a chip in it” in order to connect it to the internet and render it "smart", without any real value to the consumer.
But there is now another threat to achieving the vision of the smarthome outside of just connectivity. Just this week it has become known that the
In another example, the Samsung RF4289HARS smart fridge apparently stopped displaying
However, with the latest changes in Google Calendar API, I can no longer sign in to my calendar. I receive a message stating " Please check your email in Google Calendar website". I can sign in fine on my home PC and have no problem seeing the calendar on my phone.
The problem was discussed openly on a Google product forum but it highlighted another major issue with smart devices; if a third-party changes their API, it is outwith the control of the manufacturer and will render purchased devices with limited connected functionality, if any at all.
For the average consumer, they expect to purchase a smart device and it should work. They should not be expected to scour forums for advice on how to update firmware or trust that the manufacturers partners will adhere to providing ongoing connected functionality as advertised.
Remember DNLA ?
The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) was founded in 2003 by a collection of global companies with a vision to easily connect and enjoy photos, music and video among networked consumer electronics, PC and mobile devices.
In order to achieve the vision of a digitally connected home, DLNA published industry design guidelines that allows OEMs to be involved in a networked device market, leading to “more innovation, simplicity and value for consumers.” According to the Alliance, this ultimately meant that industry collaboration and standards-based interoperability produced compelling products. And it worked. Why isn't there a similar collaboration across the smarthome industry for the same reasons. At the time of writing there are a myriad of different consortiums and alliances vying to be the proprietary standard for smart, connected devices, but it is still a fragmented effort with little sign of a champion emerging.
Meanwhile the consumer suffers.
The Consumer Electronics Show will kick off in early January in Las Vegas with the continued promise of smarter devices for the general public and the consumer looking to take a leap into the home of the future, but until device strategies have been resolved, and the nonsensical moves by companies like Philips to lock-out open interoperability with other manufacturers without warning, the smarthome will be filled with very expensive and dumb items that the average buying public will have no time for.
And aren't these supposed to simplify our lives ?


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Tennis star Serena Williams has launched a venture firm for investing in women, people of color, and young entrepreneurs
- Serena Williams, one of the top tennis players, has publicly launched a venture fund called Serena Ventures.
- The venture-capital firm focuses on early-stage investments in companies led by women and people of color, and those that value "individual empowerment" and creativity.
- Serena Ventures has already invested in more than 30 companies, including the Wing, MasterClass, and Brandless.
- Visit the Business Insider South Africa homepage for more stories.
The tennis superstar Serena Williams has found time to pick up a side gig - on top of winning championships and taking care of her adorable daughter, that is.
The tennis legend publicly shared on Wednesday the details of her investment firm, called Serena Ventures. The venture-capital firm has been quietly backing companies since 2014 and has invested in more than 30 companies already.
"I launched Serena Ventures with the mission of giving opportunities to founders across an array of industries," Williams said in her announcement on Instagram.
Serena Ventures was created to give opportunities to a diverse set of founders, the firm said, particularly women and people of color. Investments will go into early-stage companies that value "individual empowerment, creativity and opportunity," according to the company's website.
Additionally, the investment firm will work to mentor young founders and emerging entrepreneurs.
The website for Serena Ventures lists Alison Rapaport as the vice president of the firm, and the only other employee besides Williams. Rapaport, a former asset manager at JPMorgan, will oversee the fund's portfolio and new investments.
Serena Ventures' investments span numerous industries, including food, health and wellness, e-commerce, and fashion. Its portfolio includes female-centric companies such as the coworking startup the Wing and the razor brand Billie; the customized organic baby food-delivery subscription service Little Spoon and meal-delivery services Daily Harvest and Gobble; the online-course provider MasterClass; the in-home connected fitness company Tonal; and the tampon subscription service LOLA.
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Also from Business Insider South Africa:
- We went inside a virtual simulation of a black hole, and it was a mind-bending experience
- Look at how strong the magnets are inside Samsung's Galaxy Fold
- Butternomics, aka why milk-rich SA has a butter shortage
- Three tips for surviving a high-pressure job – from the man who held one of the most stressful positions in South Africa
- A hidden camera was found in a women's bathroom on a US warship, and investigators are looking for answers
- New York execs are paying nearly R5,000 an hour to have their closets organised — and it's not just the ultra-rich anymore


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For some, the recent troubles in Colombia have gone unnoticed. Lost in a myriad of daily Covid briefings and Viral Tik Tok videos. For those of us with more than a few years in the coffee industry under our belts, the news of recent port blockades within Colombia will not come as a surprise. Indeed, rarely a season seems to slip by without some sort of protest that grinds the system to a halt. It was exactly 4 years ago when the violent protests in Buenaventura, rumbling on for weeks, came to a head with the city being militarized by the interior minister. The apparent $55m daily take from the port to the treasury, leaving the city with nothing was not appreciated. In 2017 the protest demanded an end to state neglect, corruption, and police brutality. Today protestors are demanding, unsurprisingly, an end to state neglect, corruption, and police brutality. It seems then, that little has changed over the past 4 years.
What began in April as a protest of an unpopular tax reform (since revoked) the demonstrations are now in their 2nd month. Talks between a wide umbrella of parties and the Government show little sign of reaching a breakthrough. As a result, the impasse is causing untold misery for many of Colombia’s inhabitants. Fuel stations are empty, roads are blocked – cleared and then blocked again. The dismal approval rating (18% according to a recent Gallup poll) of President Duque shows no signs of improvement, as day after day grievances are aired publicly, and often violently.
The Port Situation
Whilst Buenaventura Port remains completely cut off, Cartagena and Santa Marta ports are picking up the slack – but showing signs of cracking under the extreme pressure. Police escorts for trucks are allowing some movement of goods, but export volumes are significantly down on last year. Traditional coffee areas are being hit hard. Cali, Huila Cauca and Narino all struggling amid their harvest. Lack of fuel and roadblocks prevent coffee from reaching the mills. All this at a time when the buoyant terminal markets should be making coffee exports more profitable.
Trading Colombia coffee during this time is no easy feat, with some reports of over 500 containers of coffee held up en-route to ports. Lack of internal flow is also preventing forward contracts as shippers are unable to source parchment for their operations. July and August shipments seem to be off the cards, with September the earliest possibility now.
The disruption to the coffee supply chain cannot be ignored, as well as the $3bn economic impact of the protests added to the yearlong Covid impact. However, it pales into insignificance when the human cost of the trouble is calculated. Unverified reports place the death toll of the past 2 months at close to 50.
For those eyeing up Colombia coffee purchases for quarter 3 and even quarter 4 this year, the window of opportunity may not be open long. Spot inventories are seeing firming of differentials across the board as roasters scrabble for what they can get their hands on in terms of washed mild arabicas. For alternatives to Colombia, check out our origins page here
Our thoughts remain with those in Colombia. Seemingly under the rule of a Tinpot Dictator, 210 years after independence, Colombians are still demanding safety and security as well as social, health and educational equality. Unbelievable.


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The first specifications for the forthcoming CDMA version of the BlackBerry 8520 have surfaced.
Image courtesy of CrackBerry.com
The BlackBerry 8530 will mark two firsts for the CDMA BlackBerry device lineup. It will be the first CDMA BlackBerry with a Wi-Fi radio and it will be the first such model sold by Verizon when it launches later this year. The rest of the featureset consists of a QVGA landscape display, EVDO data access, BlackBerry OS 5.0 and Bluetooth along with a 2.0 megapixel camera, marking it as an entry level model much like the 8520
This correlates Verizon’s previously stated plans to release a version of the BlackBerry Tour with Wi-Fi, as well as releasing future BlackBerry devices with Wi-Fi going forward.


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Founder builds 7-figure jewelry business in garage
A few months ago, Meg Strachan, founder and CEO of the lab-grown jewelry company Dorsey, was shopping at a New York department store wearing one of her line’s diamond bracelets. I was.
There she met two elderly women in the shoe department. One of them wore a strikingly similar bracelet, and Strachan remembered her grandmother Dorsey, for whom her company was named. The trio struck up a conversation, and it wasn’t long before the topic turned into jewels.
“That’s a very expensive bracelet you’re wearing. $75,000.
A discussion about the merits of lab-grown gemstones ensued, and by the end of it, the woman admitted that Strachan’s pieces were the type her granddaughter would buy today and, in fact, probably already had. .
That’s exactly what Strachan was counting on when he started Dorsey in late 2019.
“The mined diamond industry is not happy with what the lab-grown industry has done,” Strachan said. entrepreneur.
RELATED: This jewelry founder turned her side business into millions
“I’ve seen vacancies in a market that many claim is saturated.”
When Strachan launched Dorsey, she was working full-time as vice president of growth for Girlfriend Collective and raising her young daughter. She’s been in the fashion industry since she was 20, she’s had a lot of experience with direct-to-consumer companies, and she’s worked with “all kinds of startups,” she joked. was
But from a business perspective, jewelry was uncharted territory.
But on a personal level it felt deeply familiar. Strachan’s grandmother Dorsey was a “jewelry lover”. Although she had the means to purchase fine jewellery, she rarely wore it, preferring instead inexpensive yet eye-catching jewellery.
“Throughout her life, she wore beautiful costume jewelry that she collected from the 50’s and 60’s,” says Strachan. “And she used to give it to her granddaughter. So every August, she cleaned out her jewelry drawer so we could go through them and wear her creations.” And she was the reason I fell in love with jewelry.”
Strachan’s knowledge of the business and love of jewelry has created a great opportunity to manufacture high quality jewelry at an affordable price.
“When I decided to start Dorsey, I knew there was a vacancy in a market that many would argue was saturated,” says Strachan. “What I wanted as a consumer was missing the price, product quality and brand perspective.”
RELATED: Finding white space is the key to designing your destiny
“Lab-Grown makes beautiful stones accessible to women at a much more affordable price.”
Strachan explains that 100 years ago, the same designers and factories were making both fine and costume jewelry. So, for example, it was much harder to tell the difference between an expensive diamond bracelet and his cubic zirconia set.
It was not uncommon at the time (or even now, depending on the circumstances) for someone to lean over and ask if the stone in the piece was real or fake, which Strachan called this “very personal” and “kind of invasive.” It’s called a “na” question.
“It’s about what you can afford, what the person who gave it to you can afford,” says Strachan. Depending on who you’re with, the person being asked may actually change their answer, downplaying how expensive it is.”
But over the past 100 years, the line between fine jewelry and costume jewelry factories has become stricter. Generally, each factory only produces pieces that he falls into one category, he says. Various designers have also added, “you can actually touch and feel the difference.”
But Dorsey is once again committed to blurring that distinction.
Consider this: the round-cut white sapphire Riviere necklace from Dorsey’s lab. Strachan calls this “polarizing” jewelry. Such things used to be “dripped with diamonds” only for the wealthy and royalty. It retails for just $360, well below the tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of its diamond counterparts.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Dorsey
“There are so many other gems,” says Strachan. For those who have an incredible amount of money to spend on fine jewelry that most of us don’t?”
The opportunity was very clear to Strachan, but not to everyone else.
Related: 4 Actions to Take to Find Opportunities | Entrepreneurs
“It’s not the industry that decides what the consumer wants, it’s the consumer that decides what the consumer wants.”
When Strachan started telling people about her idea, she quickly realized it was “tied in” with how the jewelry business has operated for the past 50-60 years. Far behind closed doors. ”
“I would argue that the marketing used by the jewelry industry has not evolved much and the consumer has evolved,” Strachan explains. “The way we consume and discover products and the types of products we want to buy and wear have changed.”
Manufacturers repeatedly told Strachan that she was wrong because there just wasn’t the demand for lab-made jewelry she envisioned. So after receiving “a flood of rejection emails” from investors, she decided to start the company on her own.
Her first purchase order was just a few and she had to juggle her responsibilities as a full-time vice president and mother, in addition to juggling the challenges posed by the pandemic. “It was out of balance,” she recalls. no Include avocado toast or hot lemon water.
“I packed everything in the garage, woke my daughter up from a nap and went to USPS for the second time that day. I took the bag of orders, put it back in the Jeep Grand Cherokee and drove to USPS. Strachan said. say.
Strachan continued to personally ship and package all orders until Dorsey reached $1 million in sales.
“It’s very interesting to me to learn that the consumer dictates what the consumer wants, rather than the industry dictating what the consumer wants,” she says.
Related: 5 Strategies for Creating Consumer Demand | Entrepreneurs
“It’s a mindset that people have to disconnect from, and the consumer is disconnected from it.”
Dorsey should have been profitable from the start. Luckily it was: Since then, he has developed a cult following, with Justin Bieber among his many fans. Seen 600% Year-over-year growth in 2022; boasts double-digit EBITDA.
Additionally, in a flurry of events, investors began contacting Strachan for funding the venture, with Dorsey raising its first funding in September 2021. Last year, the company sold over one million of his lab-grown stones — 25,000 people signed up for the waiting list.
Over the years, Strachan says it’s been rewarding to see the decision-makers around the table in the jewelry industry becoming more receptive and willing to experiment with new ideas. say.
“Eighty years ago there was no lab-manufactured industry,” says Strachan. It’s a mentality that people have to disconnect from, and the consumer is disconnected from it. ”
If there’s one thing Strachan has confirmed on Dorsey’s journey, it’s that people are ready to experience a new era of high-quality, accessible jewellery.Like the granddaughter of the lady in the department store. And for many, it’s already here.


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New Delhi, Jun 10 (UNI) Jewellery maker Gitanjali Gems Ltd today said it has raised its stake in Fantasy Diamond Cuts Pvt Ltd to make it a wholly-owned unit.
Fantasy was previously partially owned by Gitanjali, and now becomes a fully-owned subsidiary of the diamond jeweler.
The Mumbai-based firm said in a statement that it acquired 100 per cent shares in each of Eureka Finstock Pvt Ltd and Decent Securities&Finance Pvt Ltd, both of which were previously promoter group companies.
However, the company did not disclose the financial details of the acquisition.
UNI AK SBA RN1925


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Elon Musk Puts Tesla's Solar Roof on His Own House, and It Looks Fantastic
"I have them on my house, JB has them on his house," Musk revealed, referring to J.B. Straubel, Tesla's chief technology officer. "This is version one. I think this roof is going to look really knock-out as we just keep iterating."
The Tesla CEO made the remarks during his company's second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.
Bloomberg reported that the first solar roof customers will be Tesla employees, a similar approach with the first Model 3 owners. This approach lets the company work out any potential problems with the sales and installation process before it's released to the wider public.
"The first Solar Roof installations have been completed recently at the homes of our employees, who we chose to be our first customers to help perfect all aspects of Solar Roof customer experience," a shareholders letter obtained by Electrek states. "By pairing either Solar Roof or our existing retrofit solar panels with a Powerwall, our customers can enjoy sustainable energy independence."
In May, Musk announced that Tesla had opened orders and was taking $1,000 deposits for the much-hyped product. The black smooth glass and textured glass tiles sold out "well into 2018" in only 16 days.
The tiles, which were first shown in October, are made of tempered glass integrated with high efficiency solar cells and look just like regular roof tiles.
The company told Electrek that the "typical homeowner can expect to pay $21.85 per square foot for a Solar Roof." The product, which comes with a lifetime of the house warranty and 30-year power generation guaranteed, is touted to cost less than a conventional roof after electricity production or pay for itself through electricity savings.
Musk touted in November that Tesla's solar roof would cost less than a traditional roof.
"It's looking quite promising that a solar roof will actually cost less than a normal roof before you even take the value of electricity into account," he said then. "So the basic proposition would be, 'Would you like a roof that looks better than a normal roof, lasts twice as long, costs less and by the way, generates electricity?' Why would you get anything else?"
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
An area in Louisiana whose predominantly black and brown residents are hard-hit by health problems from industry overdevelopment is experiencing one of the highest death rates from coronavirus of any county in the United States.
A central player in the fight against the novel coronavirus is our immune system. It protects us against the invader and can even be helpful for its therapy. But sometimes it can turn against us.
Calling someone a delicate flower may not sting like it used to, according to new research. Scientists have found that many delicate flowers are actually remarkably hearty and able to bounce back from severe injury.
With global air travel at a near standstill, the airline industry is looking to rewrite the rules it agreed to tackle global emissions. The Guardian reports that the airline is billing it as a matter of survival, while environmental activists are accusing the industry of trying to dodge their obligations.
The outbreak of COVID-19 across the U.S. has touched every facet of our society, and our democracy has been no exception.


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The Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) claims that online shopping meant that there are even more opportunities for poor debt management, with Christmas 2006 internet spending already beating last year’s one-day record of £131 million.
“Shoppers spent £5 billion online over Christmas last year and we expect sales to reach £7 billion this year,” said James Roper, the chief executive of IMRG, in the Daily Telegraph.
He warned that with so much choice available on the internet, many are tempted to part with their cash and ignore their debt management plan.
“The choice online is quite staggering, there is no competition with small local shops. The fact is you can shop four times more quickly online than in the high street and there is a saving on price,” added Mr Roper.
Debt experts have been warning consumers to start their Christmas debt management plan early, particularly as a recent survey found that an eighth of card holders still have credit card debt left over from last year.


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SHANGHAI — In what could be a further blow to luxury consumption in China, the nation’s leadership is deepening its pledge to crack down on corruption and ostentation with the release of new rules outlining how officials should avoid extravagant spending on activities ranging from overseas travel to the purchase of new vehicles.
With 12 chapters outlining 65 rules on how to manage funds and employ more transparent spending, the document, released last week, is extensive and is causing analysts to question whether the antigraft campaign that began nearly a year ago under the new administration of President Xi Jinping will continue to have a far-reaching impact on China’s luxury sector. Spending on luxury products has historically been bolstered by the purchase of expensive gifts between officials and business associates as bribes. RELATED STORY: China Leadership Releases Guiding Principles >>
A Stella McCartney sketch of a custom dress made from protein-based silk in partnership with biotech lab Bolt Threads. The dress will be displayed at The Museum of Modern Art's upcoming design exhibition, "Items: Is Fashion Modern?"


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As we get closer to this year’s National Women’s Enterprise Day, chair Orla Martin explains why it’s a great opportunity for woman entrepreneurs.
National Women’s Enterprise Day (NWED) is taking place on 14 October this year. In line with Government restrictions and public health advice, 2020’s events will be online.
They include networking events and sessions on embracing change, self-care and leadership development from more than 20 speakers, such as LIFT Ireland’s Joanne Hession, Grow Remote’s Tracy Keogh and Pestle & Mortar’s Sonia Deasy.
The programme will be led by MC Áine Kerr of Kinzen and will finish up with a ‘marketplace’ event. Here, attendees will get the chance to promote their products and services in a facilitated forum.
To learn more about NWED, we spoke to chair of its organising committee and head of enterprise with Local Enterprise Office in Offaly, Orla Martin. Explaining the purpose of the annual event, Martin said: “Since the very first National Women’s Enterprise Day took place 14 years ago, the goal is always to promote, develop and support female entrepreneurship in Ireland and to showcase all the supports that are available.”
In general, such events are important for a number of reasons. Martin says having a dedicated day for women in enterprise creates “a big impact nationally”.
“It shines a light on some of Ireland’s leading female entrepreneurs and rising stars and it celebrates the diverse range of businesses run by women of all ages in Ireland,” she adds.
It also gives women in business and those aspiring to set up their own business access to role models and forum where they can learn from the experiences of others. Practically, it sets out the different supports available for woman entrepreneurs, she explains, from Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland, Microfinance Ireland and others.
NWED 2020: ‘Stronger together’
The theme for this year’s NWED is ‘stronger together’. “Within that, the big themes this year are resilience, self-care, innovation and opportunity,” Martin says.
“The themes of resilience and self-care acknowledge the challenges of setting up and running a business, especially in the middle of a global pandemic.
“We also want to show how small changes can make big impacts, how we can learn from each other, how small businesses can cultivate innovation and how international markets can offer new opportunities.”
Martin is excited about the “sheer scale of this year’s event”. She believes the programme is “inspiring, timely and relevant”.
“We’ll be highlighting many more female entrepreneurs from around the country in the lead-up to 14 October, such as Derya Sousa of Kianda Technologies, Dr Anita Finnegan of Nova Leah, Clare Hughes of CF Pharma and Susan O’Flaherty of Retrokit,” she says.
“We have online networking and marketplace forums and a number of spotlight sessions that will be recorded and accessible on demand after the event. We also have lots of spot prizes to be won. These are products and services from small businesses around the country, sponsored by the Local Enterprise Offices.”
To celebrate National Women's Enterprise Day we have an amazing speaker line-up with lots of entrepreneurial advice and insight.
Join us at #NWED on OCT 14!
Pre-Register at https://t.co/sGhYP7O8aW#StrongerTogether @lasireland @entirl @enterinnov @merrionstreet @LeoVaradkar pic.twitter.com/1mRmFM4F2K
— LocalEnterprise.ie (@Loc_Enterprise) October 2, 2020
Attending is an ‘investment’
If you’re on the fence about attending, Martin says to view it as an “investment”. For women participating in NWED, she explains, it is an “investment in themselves and their business”, as well as an “opportunity to network and promote their products and services”.
“So be inspired, be encouraged and be informed about the wide range of enterprise supports available,” she adds. “And remember that we’re stronger together.”
All NWED events are free to attend. Those interested in taking part can pre-register here.


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When does a promotion feel less like a promotion, and more like the ultimate uphill battle? That’s what it feels like when you’re given the top job at direct-sales giant Avon, which has been passed around like an acquisition hot potato for the last decade, seemingly never really finding a secure home.
Ask Kristof Neirynck what drew him to Avon after seven years as CMO for Walgreens Boots, where he was tasked with building global awareness for such born-and-bred British brands as No7 and Liz Earle, and he’s quick to cite the direct-selling behemoth’s “purposeful business model” and rock-solid commitment to improving the financial lives of some five million female reps around the world.
Passing the Avon Baton
On New Year’s Day, Kristof Neirynck, Avon’s CMO and Managing Director for Western Europe, will assume the title of CEO of the 137-year-old brand. And after a quarter-century with Avon, outgoing CEO Angela Cretu will segue to advisor status.
According to an official press release, Neirynck excels at turning businesses around and driving something called “step-change growth.” Translation? He’s a CPG marketing rock star, balancing crystal-ball vision with solid operating chops, whether it’s shepherding feminine care and laundry detergent at P&G, as he did early in his career, or throwing a global spotlight on a disparate roster of niche beauty brands at Walgreens Boots Alliance.
In under two years at Avon, he has not only engineered substantial gross margin improvement, but he has also commissioned a comprehensive brand refresh addressing each and every one of the nearly $4B brand’s visual and verbal touchpoints, from the logo and packaging to the website and social media assets.
Neirynck’s mission for Avon? Relevancy. His goal is nothing short of thoroughly modernizing an iconic brand that many people mentally put out to pasture ages ago.
But the question is whether Natura & Co., which scooped up every chunk of Avon except North America from Cerberus in 2019 for $2B in an all-stock deal, will hang on to the direct-sales giant long enough for Neirynck to work his CEO magic. After offloading Aesop to L’Oréal following a fierce bidding war earlier this year, and The Body Shop just months later, rumor has it Avon may also be heading for the chopping block. More on that later…
Shifting From Direct Sales to Omnichannel
On Cretu’s watch, Avon began the Sisyphean task of moving from an anachronistic door-to-door direct-selling model to an omnichannel operation. This has included a strategic leap forward toward frictionless digitalization, such as the Avon ON app that allows reps to conduct a good chunk of their business via mobile, as well as fully clickable digital product brochures that can be texted to customers via WhatsApp.
And in a 2023 one-two punch that could definitely move the relevancy needle and get Avon into more – and younger – hands, the brand began selling a whopping 300 SKUs on Amazon earlier this year and recently aligned with UK-based Superdrug, lining the shelves at 100 of the popular high street pharmacy’s doors. Although Superdrug only carries half the amount of Avon products Amazon is offering, that’s probably 150 more Avon products than most of the retailer’s customers have ever encountered IRL, particularly younger ones. And to top it off, it’s all available on Superdrug.com, too.
Attracted to the Brand’s Unimpeachable Core Values
Given that Neirynck joined Avon in 2022 as head of marketing, he can also be credited with implementing these Amazon and Superdrug pushes – at least making them happen after the plans were put in place. And without question, he’s there to implement massive change and steer the brand into the future.
But ask Neirynck what drew him to Avon after seven years as CMO for Walgreens Boots, where he was tasked with building global awareness for such born-and-bred British brands as No7 and Liz Earle, he’s quick to cite the direct-selling behemoth’s “purposeful business model” and rock-solid commitment to improving the financial lives of some five million female reps around the world. And then there’s the $1B Avon has donated to causes related to breast cancer and gender-based violence, not to mention the immense strides it’s made in sustainability since being acquired by the intensely planet-friendly Natura & Co.
As Neirynck said in this compelling 2022 podcast interview when he was being recruited by Avon and doing his due diligence, he was struck by all the personal stories people shared with him — including one person who disclosed that his mother was able to leave an abusive marriage because of the financial security she gained as an Avon rep. That’s all part of a century-plus legacy that predates even women’s right to vote, and, per Neirynck, exactly what values-centric younger consumers really need to know about Avon.
But Back to Those Rumblings About a Potential Sale
When Brazil-based Natura & Co bought Avon following its acquisition of Aesop in 2012 and The Body Shop five years later, it loudly trumpeted the fact that it would become the fourth-largest pure-play global beauty conglomerate, following L’Oréal, Lauder, and Shiseido.
As a direct-seller itself, and the third-largest cosmetics company in Brazil, Natura seriously shored up its door-to-door base with the Avon purchase, a sector of the business Neirynck still firmly believes in. Note: because of the emotional bonds reps theoretically make with their customers, both Neirynck and Avon refer to the brand’s core business as “relationship selling” rather than direct selling.
Neirynck says Avon is attracting younger and younger reps every day, but the fact remains that it will take years of growth to recover the losses of the past decade’s downward spiral. And with the success cash-strapped Natura has had this year alone in divesting huge brands, it’s pretty clear they’ve grown to like a balance sheet filled with a lot blacker ink than red.
Still, Avon sells incredibly quality-rich products at an extremely reasonable price, and there isn’t a brand on the planet that can touch its record in supporting women. It’s just that more, and younger, people need to know all that. And they need to feel like it’s cool, and values-driven, to buy from this brand.
I think that if anyone can pull all that off, it’s Kristof Neirynck.


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Computing giant Hewlett-Packard just reported third-quarter earnings that are pretty much in line with what had been expected. Its shares fell about one percent in after-hours trading.
HP said it earned 89 cents a share on sales of $27.6 billion. It saw year-on-year growth in several key market segments like PCs and servers while smaller units like storage and software fell slightly. Analysts had been calling for HP to report a per-share profit of 89 cents on revenue of $27 billion.
The results appeared to shake what has been a recurring August curse, where HP shares have fallen by an average of more than 15 percent every August for the last four years, usually on one-of-a-kind bad news.
HP also raised the high end of its guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year, saying it expected to earn between 83 cents and 87 cents per share in the fourth quarter, and to finish the year with a profit of $3.70 to $3.74 per share. That’s higher than the previous guidance range, which topped out at $3.72. HP doesn’t give revenue guidance.
CEO Meg Whitman said she was pleased with the with “progress we’ve made. … When I look at the way the business is performing, the pipeline of innovation and the daily feedback that I receive from our customers and partners, my confidence in the turnaround grows stronger.”
HP has been struggling with a weakening market for personal computers, a business it led until recently, when China’s Lenovo became the market leader.
Overall, most segments turned in increases. Sales of notebook PCs to businesses grew 18 percent year-on-year, well ahead of industry average of about 10 percent. Sales of servers rose nine percent year-on-year. The PC business rose by 12 percent overall. Printing revenue fell four percent. Sales in the Enterprise Group rose two percent. Enterprise Services, the long-troubled IT services business, showed no sign of improvement, and fell six percent. Software sales fell five percent.
Sales have generally declined in almost every one of HP’s market segments over the last two years. Whitman has been on a campaign to turn each of those businesses around while at the same time investing in new initiatives that could eventually lead the company back to growth.
And that’s where the question remains: Where and when will HP start growing again. Whitman disappointed the markets a year ago by conceding that HP wouldn’t grow meaningfully in 2014, setting back her turnaround plan by about a year. Now the pressure will grow to show that growth can happen in 2015. The next significant conversation she’ll have on that topic is likely to be the company’s annual meeting with analysts, now scheduled for Oct. 8.
Update: In an interview with Re/code, Whitman said her turnaround effort remains “just about on track.”
“In any turnaround things happen and don’t go according to plan,” she said. “There still some businesses we need to work on, but I’m encouraged by the progress.”
One of those in the “still needs work” category is Enterprise Services. A $23 billion business in 2013, revenue fell in the third quarter to $5.5 billion from $6 billion a year ago. Part of the problem, and the reason it is taking so long to fix, Whitman said, is the 18 months it takes to woo a customer. “We’re signing customers now we started talking to a year and a half ago,” she said. Operating margin in that unit rose to 4.1 percent, up from about three percent a year ago.
Server sales also perked up, rising to about $3.1 billion from about $2.8 billion a year ago. Whitman said new leadership in the Enterprise Group — it was a year ago this month that Whitman reassigned Dave Donatelli, the group’s previous head, and replaced him with former COO Bill Veghte — was a primary reason for the improvement.
Another reason for optimism, Whitman said, is the decision by IBM to exit the mainstream server business and sell it to China’s Lenovo. “That has created an opportunity,” she said. “When there’s a transition like that, it creates uncertainty that we can capitalize on. … Our win-rate against IBM is up, and we intend to keep the heat on them.”
One metric that should make investors happy: Cash flow. HP said cash flow from operations was $3.6 billion, an improvement of 36 percent from a year ago. CFO Cathie Lesjak says she expects the full-year cash flow to reach $9 billion, which is higher than the $6.5 billion she expected at the start of the year. If you’re an HP shareholder, that’s good news, because the plan remains to return half of that cash to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.


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In this post, I told you about the FDA/FTC warning letter to Dr. Andrew Weil. In this post, I want to tell you about the voluntary suspension of a food labeling program by the above companies. The suspension is the ultimate result of a letter from the FDA to the companies (see here) which called into question claims made through the program.
Specifically, that such programs may mislead consumers about the health benefits of certain foods, and it told manufacturers it will crack down on inaccurate labeling. It did not criticize specific products or label programs or give a timeline for enforcement.
This development is more clear evidence that the FDA is taking an entirely new approach to reviewing the labels of products it regulates.
I have scheduled an IBN member conference call to review applicable laws on November 5 at noon New York Time.


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The new year is always a big moment for gyms to ramp up their marketing campaigns in an effort to attract new members, and this year Equinox is taking a bold approach, with the hashtag #CommitToSomething. The new ad campaign, which debuted today on Instagram and was photographed by Steven Klein, features a woman who is proudly baring her double-mastectomy scars while an artist tattoos a flower on her chest.
"We are made by the commitments we make," reads the Instagram caption accompanying the ad. "How can that be anything less than beautiful?" For the model in the ad, Samantha Paige, "commitment" meant sticking to doing what felt right for her after she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene, a mutation that marks an increased risk of cancers in both women and men. It's especially troubling for women, as the likelihood that they will get breast or ovarian cancer is three to seven times as great if they have the gene.
Paige had already survived thyroid cancer when she tested positive for the gene, so she decided to decrease her risk for developing breast or ovarian cancer by having the double mastectomy. "I didn’t want to keep going for MRIs and mammograms every three to six months—it was too unnerving, and the risk seemed too great," Paige, 41, told People.
Although she had reconstructive breast implant plastic surgery after the mastectomy, she ended up deciding to have the implants removed. "When I had the implants out, I realized that we all know what matters most to us, and the next step is the action we take to stand up for those ideals and those beliefs and those values," she told People. "Equinox’s message of ‘Commit to something’ is about being able to look at yourself in the mirror and realize who you are and stand up to those values. It just dovetails with what I believe in."
Equinox is no stranger to controversy when it comes to its ads: Last year the brand worked with Klein on a campaign that featured Lydia Hearst breast-feeding. And the new ad isn't without its detractors. One commenter on Instagram @megmasters wrote, "Hey Equinox. I'm a big fan of your gym. And I've had a double mastectomy. This is insulting to me, as Equinox doesn't know a thing about what it means to lose breasts. Please rethink how this comes across to your members, and stick to what you know."


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Argos chief operating officer quits as Sainsbury's prepares a fresh takeover swoop
Argos has lost a key lieutenant just days before Sainsbury’s is expected to make a fresh bid to snap up the High Street chain.
David Robinson, who was chief operating officer at Argos, and widely credited for turning the business around, is to join Wine Rack owner Conviviality Retail.
He will head the arm running the franchise business of Conviviality Retail and take up the position of managing director. The business itself has recently bought Matthew Clark, which supplies pubs and shops with alcohol.
Key figure: Argos chief operating officer David Robinson has quit just days before rival Sainsbury’s is expected to make a fresh bid to snap up the high street chain
Robinson would have been a key manager Sainsbury’s might have wanted to retain as they make an improved bid for Argos owner Home Retail Group.
An approach by thje supermarket group, which was thought to be around £1billion, has already been rejected.
That figure was for both Argos and DIY chain Homebase. But Homebase has since been sold to Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers.
Sainsbury’s has until next Tuesday to table a formal offer or walk away under rules implemented by the Takeover Panel which regulates bid situations.
Sources says that Sainsbury’s (down 0.6p to 231p) is days away from making another approach. If the deal goes ahead, the grocer plans to pull down the shutters on up to 200 Argos shops that are too close to its stores.
Home Retail fell 0.6p to 148.8p.
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Posts Tagged ‘128GB Plextor M5M mSATA SSD Review’
6 CommentsPosted by Allan 'Zardon' Campbell on February 15, 2013 under Highlights V, SSD Drives
Today we are looking at a new mSATA drive from Plextor - the 128GB M5M. Diminutive mSATA drives are without doubt a growing market, adopted in many laptop computers today. As we have seen in recen... more.
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A number of consumer electronics companies have written Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to express reservations about allowing unlicensed wireless devices to operate in the so-called "white spaces" between channels in the broadcast spectrum band.
The letter was submitted to the committee as part of a March 14 hearing on the white-space issue.
The companies don't oppose the two bills, which would open up the band to those devices, and express "keen interest" in the potential of the devices to facilitate broadband deployment. Not a surprising stance, since they have a potential market in both the devices that could interfere with DTV sets and set-tops, and in the DTV sets and set-tops that could be interfered with.
Their reservations center on that potential interference.
"As a matter of science and engineering, there is no question that the potential exists for interference from unlicensed wireless devices," they told Stevens, who introduced one of the unlicensed wireless bills himself, in part to boost broadband in his very rural state of Alaska.
The companies asked that any bill require that the devices not cause interference, and put "the burden of meeting the non-interference requirement" on "the proponent of the unlicensed wireless product." Both bills address interference, but the companies want to make sure that the protections are strong.
They also ask that channels 2 through 4 be protected, since set-tops operate in that range. One of the bills excludes those channels, the other does not, or at least did not when it was introduced several weeks ago.
The technological Who's Who of signatories to the letter included Thomson, LG Electronics, Hitachi, Samsung, Panasonic, JVC and Sony.


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Facebook has completely rested the case of bringing in a Dislike button with the latest announcement of Reactions. Facebook is now testing six emoji-based buttons in Ireland and Spain that give users the option to express sentiments other than like. The new possibilities—which appear alongside the Like button—include “love,” “haha,” “yay,” “wow,” “sad” and “angry.”
Earlier at the launch of Reactions, Facebook’s chief product officer, Chris Cox, explained in a Facebook post, “As you can see, it’s not a “dislike” button, though we hope it addresses the spirit of this request more broadly. We studied which comments and reactions are most commonly and universally expressed across Facebook, then worked to design an experience around them that was elegant and fun.”
Speaking to Bloomberg on the science behind the set of emoji, Adam Mosseri, the head of Facebook’s news feed told his team decided that the ability to “dislike” posts would bring too much negative energy to a social network.
Besides to choose the right emoji to join “like,” Adam said Facebook consulted with several academic sociologists about the range of human emotion. “The goal was to reduce the need for people to post a comment to express them. We wanted to make it easier,” he said. “When things are easier to do, they reach more people, and more people engage with them.”
The emoji options will appear across mobile and desktop versions of Facebook on posts from friends, Pages or advertisers. People pressing or hovering over the Like button will be presented with the emoji options. There will be no option to turn off the feature on posts. However, Facebook hasn’t shared a time frame for a global roll out.
Will the new change impact the News Feed? From a Facebook point it will. “Our goal is to show you the stories that matter most to you in News Feed. Initially, just as we do when someone likes a post, if someone uses a Reaction, we will infer they want to see more of that type of post,” said Facebook product manager Chris Toss.
To understand the impact the new change will bring for brands, Lighthouse Insights spoke to a few industry experts and here is what they have to say:
Chaaya Baradhwaaj, Founder & MD, BC Web Wise
For brands and content creators, Reactions will help in reacting to sentiments displayed by the consumers. The ‘Like’ button wasn’t enough to accurately measure what the audience feels about wide variety of content that’s churned out by brands, the new forms of expression through six additional emojis seems to be the answer.
For instance, recently there was a series of macro-photography posts by Asus India called ‘See Ganesha’, showing sprouts that appear like the deity. The comments section was flooded with ‘Wows’, expressing that very emotion is simpler and analytics friendly now. Be it a ‘Love’ reaction or an angry one, brands will be able to strategize and craft content keeping the sentiments in mind.”
Rohan Mehta, CEO, Social Kinnect
Facebook reactions will definitely change the lives of users, brands and agencies alike. It will impact content and analytics the most. Content creators will now be evaluated by ‘sad’ and ‘anger’ as possible reactions. This will make the task of writers much more challenging. Brands and agencies will have to brave up to brutal responses to their content and therefore improvise. A brute force media push may ensure visibility, but it may backfire if the users don’t find the content relevant.
Analytics divisions of companies will have to put more emphasis on ‘sentiment’ analysis on social. A correlation between reaction emojis and the reach of a brand page post will be interesting to see in the near future. We will see some of us fail before we see cases of glorious success.
Overall, it’s going to push the industry to their creative limits. Newsfeed visibility via media strategies will have to give a huge importance to the creative communication.
Preetham Venkky, Head of Digital Strategy & Business – KRDS Asia
Facebook Reactions is another layer of customization for the user, not just from an interaction point but also from a consumption point. This is going to be useful for Facebook as well as for the user, considering that Facebook has one more signal to serve content depending on user taste. For instance, if a user loves a humorous video, depending on the emoticons one has selected over a period, Facebook will give more preference to humorous content on their News Feed. In other words it is emotion linked content mapped to user emotions at that point of time.
Brands might not get much from this update but for Facebook this is huge. As of now Facebook is struggling to understand the mood for a link based article or videos shared on its platform. Videos being the big thing for Facebook right now, the latest feature not only helps Facebook to understand user mood at a specific time in a day for such posts but it also makes the News Feed more intelligent.


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Say goodbye to the Chevy Bolt EV… once more.
Normal Motors gained’t be bringing over the unique hatchback Bolt to the automaker’s Ultium platform, simply the bigger Bolt EUV, GM confirmed after InsideEVs first reported the information. That comes after GM stated it was discontinuing Bolt manufacturing however later confirmed that it might resurrect the EV as an Ultium vehicle for 2025.
The unique Bolt EV was constructed on GM’s older and soon-to-be-obsolete BEV2 platform. The automaker has since shifted to the Ultium battery structure for its next-generation EVs, together with the Cadillac Lyriq, Hummer EV, and GMC Sierra EV. Chevy is constructing a trio of Ultium-built EVs, together with the Silverado EV, Blazer EV, and Equinox EV.
“We’re glad to see the keenness surrounding the upcoming Chevrolet Bolt”
“We’re glad to see the keenness surrounding the upcoming Chevrolet Bolt,” Cody Williams, senior supervisor for communications at Chevy, stated in an announcement. “We’ll share particulars as we get nearer to its launch date. As we’ve stated earlier than, the brand new Bolt will construct on the components that has made it a hit right now.”
Becoming a member of them in 2025 would be the Bolt EUV, which is barely longer and comes with extra cargo area than the Bolt EV. The variations are fairly slight: the 2022 Bolt EUV is about 9 inches longer than the Bolt EV however mainly the identical top and width. The Bolt EUV has 97 cubic toes of passenger quantity and 16 cubic toes of cargo area behind the rear seats, whereas the Bolt EV has 93.9 cubic toes of passenger area and 16.6 cubic toes of cargo area behind the rear seats.
First introduced in 2016, the Chevy Bolt EV was meant to be the automaker’s first stab at a mass-market, battery-electric automobile with 200-plus miles of vary and an reasonably priced price ticket. The corporate released a refreshed model, in addition to a barely bigger EUV model, in early 2021.
However because of Tesla’s dominance within the EV market, gross sales of the Bolt EV and EUV have been fairly anemic for a number of years. This yr has been one of many Bolt’s greatest gross sales years but, with report gross sales within the second quarter throughout a number of markets.
However the Bolt’s compact hatchback form will not be what most American automotive consumers are searching for nowadays, as a substitute preferring bigger SUVs and vans. And a recall of 2017–2019 model year Bolts associated to a flawed battery that left the automobile vulnerable to fires definitely didn’t assist both.


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The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) will open up new and existing business facilitation centres across the country. The first of these centres will be launched right after Ramadan at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry. These help centres will provide required information and assistance to both new and existing companies regarding company incorporations, the submission of applications, and returns through eServices. Business owners will be able to use hardware/software at these centres to submit applications, returns, and forms through eServices.
SECP felt the need to open facilitation centres to simplify the mandatory online filing of returns and promote corporatisation in the country. They will establish the first physical one-stop shop at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) then at Karachi (KCCI) and Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI).
See Also: How to Register Your Business Online in Pakistan
In 2008, SECP launched eServices to help business owners register their companies online without visiting the facility in Karachi.
Since 2012 many startups and small businesses have been launched in three of the largest cities in Pakistan – Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. This step from SECP will help out many new business owners in legally setting up their company and getting the right guidance at the right time.
Share this news with your startup friends and let us know your opinions in the comment section below.


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That there's going to be a new F1 game this season isn't at all surprising, but getting a confirmation is always nice. That's exactly what we've got today, as F1 2018 has been announced for Xbox One, PS4 and PC with a scheduled launch date of August 24.
"We were delighted by the reception that the highly-acclaimed F1 2017 game received, and are extremely excited to be able to further build on such a strong starting point with F1 2018" said Paul Jeal, F1 Franchise Director at Codemasters. "Over the past few years we have engaged heavily with our fan-base to understand what is important to them and we cannot wait to unveil more details on features we know our fans will love. Career mode has been further expanded to immerse players even deeper into the world of F1 than before, with the return of a highly requested feature back into the franchise. We are also adding more classic cars, again listening to our fans as to which of the historical F1 cars they would most like to virtually drive next. Outside of those headline additions there are many other great enhancements to be revealed before the game launches."
There's no further details, no screenshots or trailers at this point, just the new logo. The blurb sounds like we're going to get a little more of everything that we already have in F1 2017, which is no bad thing, and it'll most likely be Xbox One X enhanced out of the box this time around.
With E3 round the corner hopefully it won't be long before we get to see it in action, but given how good last year's game was, I'm really looking forward to this, as I'm sure many other racing fans are.
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Microsoft shares details of a security breach of customer support database
Microsoft disclosed the details surrounding a security breach from last December. The breach involves roughly 250 million entries from an internal customer support database.
Project xCloud on the NVIDIA Shield is almost like playing a regular Xbox
The only Android TV box really worth buying is already part games console, and xCloud takes that even further. Sideload at your own risk, but this is a lot of fun.
You can now manually check for the Windows 10 November 2019 Update
If you're running a recent version of Windows 10, you can now manually check for the Windows 10 November 2019 Update.
These awesome Minecraft deals are perfect for the gamers in your life
We've scoured the internet to find the best deals for all the Minecraft lovers in your life...even if that's just you. From consoles to toys, we have the deals.


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Hate ads? Download Brave web browser. Fast, secure, built in ad-blocking.
A recent rumor suggests that Samsung will be releasing a special edition Galaxy Note10 in collaboration with U.S. auto-maker Tesla.
After Doug Field, Apple has hired another high-ranking Tesla executive. He was in charge of electric powertrains. What does this mean?
After talking with shareholders and the Board of Directors, Elon Musk informed everyone via a blog post that Tesla stays public.
Autonomous Cars will change the way we live, day by day. The car industry needs a breath of fresh air to boost the technology to the next step!
The man behind the renowned design of the Volvo XC40 has apparently left the Swedish manufacturer to join the design team at Tesla.
After leaving Apple to join Tesla, Doug Field returns to Apple. He will be working on Project Titan, which is Apple's electric car project.
Believe it or not, net neutrality has not been saved by this week's Senate vote. And it probably won't be if the House and Donald Trump have anything to do with it. That, plus the launch of the OnePlus 6 on this week's show!
It's named Tesla. No, not Nicola. Think Elon Musk. And all of this has to do with luxury, prestige, and innovative association with innovation.
Enough food for a week in the fridge, enough football for a season and enough shopping for you to drop the habit. On this show, we jam about net neutrality.
Tesla, Tesla, Tesla. It makes electric cars, electric semi-trucks, a huge battery in South Australia and a little 'ol battery that isn't doing much.
Netflix, Disney and Electronic Arts are the biggest names called out by analyst Jim Suva. But does Apple have the will to pick up investors' targets?
Find out how you can control your home's electronics while driving a Tesla.
It's a Samsung-centric week, but there's much more to this podcast than just a Galaxy S5 Prime review. Join us for much more mobile tech talk on Weekly 103!


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Mississippi-based Peavey Electronics will close its plant in Foley, Ala., eliminating about 80 jobs.
The company is the world's largest manufacturer of audio speakers, amplifiers and musical instruments, including electric guitars, drums and keyboards.
The factory, which opened in 1992, produced aluminum and steel-frame speakers, high-frequency "drivers'' and microphones.
In a statement, the company blamed competition and foreign imports for the closing.
A company spokesman said the plant will cease operations this summer, but the exact date has not been set.


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Norwich in lockdown: A longing for normality tempered by caution
- Credit: DENISE BRADLEY/Archant2021
By lunchtime on Wednesday, the morning's rain showers had passed over and Norwich's marketplace basked in the warm glow of spring sunshine.
There are still almost two weeks until the next planned relaxation of the current lockdown, with the 'rule of six' set to come back into force for outdoor gatherings from March 29.
And it's more than a month until 'non-essential' shops can open their doors again, along with hairdressers, salons and the outdoor sections of pubs and restaurants.
But still, the city centre was by no means empty. There were plenty of people milling about along Gentleman's Walk, some there specifically to visit those shops and market stalls which have remained open, and others simply to enjoy a brisk walk in the brighter weather.
The Pinniger family, for example, who live in Norwich, had chosen to walk in the city centre for a change of scenery – their regular exercise spots are usually more remote parts of the countryside.
Alex, Karen, Bethany and three-year-old Beatrice broke up their exercise to enjoy a drink and a bite to eat from Caffe Nero, as had many others, while there were several people also carrying Starbucks-branded wrappers and disposable cups.
Away from the high street favourites, the more independent eateries were also proving popular. Lockdown or no lockdown, sitting on the marketplace with a cone of chips or a burger will always be a much-enjoyed pastime.
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That's not to say it hasn't been difficult for these businesses, though.
Almira Jakaj has run The All Electric Banger Stop at Norwich Market for two and a half years, but coping with a dramatic drop in footfall over the last 12 months has been no easy task.
She said: "We have to pay rent in full, whether there is a lockdown or there isn't a lockdown. We have stayed open all the time because the food is takeaway, but whether it is busy or not busy there is still everything to pay, like the electricity.
"But what can I do? It is the same for all. It has been the same since last March, a whole year now."
And while she acknowledges the importance of the Covid marshals, who pound the streets with the role of encouraging people to follow the rules, she believes their heavy presence in that particular area of the city has put potential customers off.
"They come every five minutes to check masks and to say 'don't go this way, go that way'. It makes people move away. It puts them off coming through here," Mrs Jakaj added.
Across from her stall is Ron's Fish and Chips, an ever-popular lunch destination.
Manager Rob Butcher said it had been "a daily struggle" due to the drop in footfall, but felt everyone's safety was the most important thing.
He added: "I'm not one of these who just wants everything back open, I feel more cautious. We've been here before, it all opened up again and look what happened."
Back on Gentleman's Walk, one business which says it has "been absolutely fine" through lockdown is fishmongers City Fish.
On Wednesday David Beech and Stephen Boardley were welcoming a steady stream of customers keen to pick up a Norfolk lobster or a Cromer crab.
In addition to its "well-used" delivery service, Mr Boardley believes the stall's continued popularity is down to people still coming into the city centre specifically for their products.
He said: "At the moment a lot of the people we see are specifically coming here, or to the veg stalls or the butchers."
"If we've got it people will come for it, and if we don't then we'll ring up and get it for them, and people know that," Mr Beech added.
While restrictions on shops are set to suddenly lift on April 12, Mr Beech believes the building up of customer confidence will be a more gradual process.
He said: "A lot of our regulars don't want to come out, and won't come into the city. Some of them will not come back at all.
"Deliveries are going to be the way forward."


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A worker tests the connection between a gas cylinder and a burner at a shop in Tongi yesterday. The finance minister in his budget speech on Thursday proposed raising seven percent customs duty on gas cylinders meant for household use. Photo: Anisur Rahman
The price of imported cylinders of LPG (cooking gas) will go up by around Tk 200 each, as the government has proposed raising duty on cylinders in the new budget.
According to the proposal, customs duty will be hiked to 10 percent in fiscal 2013-14 from present 3 percent on an LPG cylinder below 5,000 litres.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the move had been made to encourage local manufacturers.
A 12.5-kg (30 litres) cylinder now costs Tk 2,000, and a consumer can use it for 10 years.
If the proposal gets through the House, users, especially new ones, have to bear additional costs for the increase in customs duty.
Market players, however, said the decision would not only put extra burden on consumers but also force them to use locally-made low-quality cylinders that have shorter lifespan than the imported ones.
“We will be thrown into an uneven competition. Prices of our cylinders will be higher than those of Bashundhara or Jamuna that produce both cylinders and LPG as well,” said Saidul Islam, general manager of Australian company Kleenheat Gas.
“Quality cylinders are not produced in Bangladesh, and companies like ours don’t want to buy these products from local market because of safety issues,” said a high-up in Bangladesh office of French company Totalgaz.
Industry insiders said Bangladesh’s annual requirement of new LPG cylinders is 200,000. Of those, more than 100,000 cylinders are imported by two foreign companies — Totalgaz and Kleenheat. State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation also imports 10,000-20,000 cylinders a year.
Local companies Bashundhara, Jamuna Spacetech and TK Group produce cylinders. More companies, including MJL Bangladesh, are likely to enter the market next year. Sales of locally-made cylinders are on the rise for crisis of natural gas.
“We lack expertise in producing quality cylinder,” said a top official at BPC’s LPG plant in Chittagong.
Azam J Chowdhury, chairman of East Coast Group, which is set to produce LPG cylinders commercially from next year, was unhappy at the government move to raise duty on cylinders at the moment.
“It can be done next year, as the country doesn’t have the capacity to meet the demand for LPG cylinders. Their prices will go up now,” said Chowdhury.
Chowdhury also criticised the government for what he called a dual policy. He said the government was encouraging the use of LPG in households, and at the same time, it was also giving new connections of natural gas.
Liquefied petroleum gas or LPG, which is considered a safe and eco-friendly fuel, is derived from both crude oil and natural gas. Apart from domestic consumption, LPG is used as an efficient source of energy in various industrial and commercial applications. But it costs several times more than natural gas and 20 percent higher than kerosene.
Belayet Hossain, managing director of Jamuna Spacetech, and Tareq Mahmud, director of TK Group, ruled out the claims that locally-made cylinders are of poor quality.
“We produce cylinders by importing brand new steel sheets, and the product is certified and checked by government agencies,” claimed Mahmud.
But importers buy reconditioned cylinders from China and Malaysia, he said.
Source: The Daily Star


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Kickstarter has produced some interesting and unique projects since its inception. These have ranged from portal boxes and iPhone smart covers, to MacBook Air docks and entire civilizations. This latest Kickstarter project, though it may not be the most tech-oriented, is sure to grab many a partying geek’s attention.
Poitín, one of the most powerful liquors in the world, is now being funded on Kickstarter. Poitín was banned from being sold in Ireland in 1661. Though the liquor is still banned in Northern Ireleand, the ban has been lifted in the Republic of Ireland since 1997.
That leaves an opening for the potent liquor to make its way to the US. Kickstarter project founder Ashlee Casserly is a Washington, D.C. resident who grew up on a farm in Ireland. She wants to use a small distillery to create “1661 Poitín” (named after the year of the Irish ban) with only Irish ingredients. The recipe will be based on traditional (pre-ban) Poitín, but will also incorporate changes to accommodate the modern palate.
That’s all fine and dandy, but what about the alcohol? Well, Poitín has no shortage of that. It ranges from 120 to 190 proof, meaning it can be as high as 95% alcohol by volume. That’s 300% to 475% the alcohol of vodka, gin, or Jack Daniel’s. It may be overkill for most drinkers, but this stuff will blow away the alcohol content of anything those crazy college kids can find on store shelves, aside from Everclear (which is illegal in a number of states in its 190 proof variety).
1661 Poitín has 27 days to reach its goal of $40,000 on Kickstarter (it currently has raised $8,315).


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NEWY YORK — Tis the season for figuring out what to do with that old Christmas tree.
Mulchfest began in New York City Sunday, giving New Yorkers a way to recycle their Christmas trees through Jan. 9, 2022.
When trees are brought to select locations, they are broken down into wood chips that are then used to nourish other trees, according to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.
Those looking to keep the mulch can bring their tree to a chipping site on chipping weekend, Saturday Jan. 8 and Sunday Jan. 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants will receive a bag of mulch.
More than 29,000 trees were recycled in 2020, parks officials stated online.