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Kinetic is pleased to announce that our inaugural eCommerce Africa Confex (Conference and Exhibition) will be happening at the Cape Town International Conference Centre from the 3-4February 2015. The eCommerce Africa Confex brings together a unique blend of compelling and Continue reading Top speakers and an exciting agenda lined up for the eCommerce Africa Confex
Since May 2013, Barclays has offered its high net-worth customers the ability to use voice recognition for banking authentication. Now it seems that the solution will be rolled out to include all of its 12 million retail customers as well. Continue reading Barclays bankers can say goodbye to PINs and passwords
South Africa’s retailers, financial institutions and brands are gaining pace with international competitors in adopting technologies such as near-field communication (NFC) for mobile and cashless payments. Two years ago, it was predicted that the high cost of installing point-of-sale terminals Continue reading SA Companies Adopting ‘Tap-n-Go’ Cashless Payment Systems
You’re a small retailer, and you’re nervous about Amazon.com. Well, you shouldn’t be. Sure, they’re a giant, and aggressive. Yes, people may be able to find the same products you sell for a cheaper price on Amazon. Many may not Continue reading How You, the Local Business Owner, Can Take on Amazon
Did you know that shopping online can not only save you time but money too? More and more South Africans are discovering the benefits of purchasing goods on the web. Statistics published by Mastercard revealed that South Africans spent R3,3bn Continue reading Shopping Online Can Save You Money
CAPE TOWN – Internet and e-commerce company Naspers is investing heavily in future growth and in its 2014 financial year ploughed R7.7 billion into acquisitions and development in its e-commerce and digital terrestrial television businesses. This was a 79% increase Continue reading Naspers aggressively expands into mobile internet
The country’s biggest website behind the bizarre adult onesie trend in South Africa, Onesie SA, has been acquired by a Cape Town clothing brand, aFREAKa, for an undisclosed amount. The website onesie.co.za, which has referred over 85,000 sales enquiries to more than 20 Continue reading South African Onesie trend megasite acquired by Cape Town clothing brand.
Hey, Check out this awesome infographic about “Consumer Psychology and the Ecommerce Checkout Process”:


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The options for consumers who dread the store checkout lane are exploding now that fast growing Instacart is on a hiring spree and competitor Deliv says it will be expanding into more than 100 cities.
J.C. Penney just poached two key executives to maximize the power, reach and integration of its omnichannel efforts.
Macy's and Bloomingdales are racing to join other retailers that are turning their stores into mini-fulfillment centers in an effort to challenge Amazon.com.
Yahoo! Inc. is trying to expand its digital content and advertising business by acquiring a fashion website that allow shoppers to put together sets of clothes and accessories, and then buy them.
The importance of technology is highlighted in a promotion at Whole Foods Market.
Facebook is preparing to make a change on Instagram that will have a big impact on social shopping and retailers.
The concept of mobile first has been around for a while – most notably when Eric Schmidt announced Google would focus on ‘mobile first’ back in 2010. However, the concept still means different things to many different people.
Retail intelligence provider ChannelIQ helps brands cope with e-commerce complexity and it just bolstered its ability to do so with a key hire from the consumer packaged goods world.
Best Buy is taking another leap forward in its quest to make shopping across platforms as easy as possible for consumers.
West Marine's renewed focus on omnichannel growth seems to be paying off as the specialty retailer reported a big spike in same store sales in the second quarter.

domain: news


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In a bid to push the FFD Vertical Plotter to its limits, the innovative technology was challenged to produce the Largest plotted image ever at the EXPO Milan 2015 earlier this week – and it succeeded.
The resulting graphics had an immense surface area of 878,7466m² (9458,7497ft²) and was achieved by Carlo Ratti Associati, Coop, INRES, Decsia, Dotdotdot, (all Italy), Nussli (Switzerland) and Sikkens – Akzo Nobel (Holland).
The Plotter drew visitors’ portraits on the front of the Future Food District (FFD) pavilion, constantly transforming different digital photographs into reality by moving on a versatile two-axes plane and using five colours of spray paint.
The FFD is a new building that explores how digital technology can positively affect people’s relationships with food and how it can impart important knowledge such as food’s origins and nutritional content.
Official Guinness World Records adjudicator Lucia Sinigagliesi attended the EXPO to verify the attempt and congratulated the team with a certificate following their impressive feat.
A spokesperson for Carlo Ratti Associati said: “The Guinness World Records achievement demonstrates what we can do today, putting our mind behind a digital arm capable of constantly transforming the environment around us.”


text: Apple is now showing that the iPad's ordered today will ship by April 12th. CNN is reporting that Apple has 'run out' of iPads and will be shipping those ordered today by the 12th. Mine still shows delivery by the 3rd but at this point, who knows. I ordered mine late and won't be surprised if it ships late. Not that I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for it.


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RadioShack's comeback is "highly in doubt" as its store remodels and new products fall short of changing the retailer's image, according to an analyst at UBS AG.
In the report titled, "Time to Change the Station," analyst Michael Lasser explains how electronics retailer's latest efforts likely will fall short of aiding the turnaround.
"We think this has been akin to throwing things against the wall to see what sticks," Lasser wrote about RadioShack's introduction of new products. "This probably doesn't do enough to change RSH's perception or consumer proposition."
UBS lowered its price target from 90 cents per share to 60 cents per share for its fiscal year forceast.
Fort Worth, Texas based RadioShack's stock dropped 11 percent Tuesday, one day after UBS released its report, trading below 60 cents per share.
RadioShack's (NYSE: RSH) has been working to revamp itself under CEO Joseph Magnacca, who took the top post in February 2013. In the past couple of weeks, the retailer announced that it had taken 23 of its new concept stores to Washington, D.C., and 21 to San Francisco.
But UBS' report suggests that the second-quarter results aren't likely to show signs of momentum-changing progress.
The retailer is still suffering from dwindling cash, which sat at $61.8 million with $361.9 million under its 2018 cash facility in the first quarter, while its debt was last reported at $614.5.
Last month, Moody's reported that RadioShack might not have enough money to pull off a turnaround, and the New York Stock Exchange warned the retailer that it could be delisted in six months.


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Digital TV News: Hirschmann Car Communication
Siano launches advanced receiver chip for DVB-T2
Dec 16, 2013 – Siano has announced the launch of a new receiver chip designed exclusively for automotive and mobile consumer electronics applications. The SMS4470 combines an RF tuner with a channel decoding processor, optimized for automotive and mobile devices.
News categories: Siano, Morris Chiao, Thomas Adam, Digital TV, DVB-T2, ICs, In-Car, Mobile, Semiconductor, Terrestrial
Legend Silicon Brings ATSC Broadcast Reception One Step Closer to Cars & Mobile Devices
Nov 21, 2011 – Legend Silicon has announced SuperTV™ technology critical to solving diversity and mobile reception issues inherent in the U.S. legacy Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) Digital Terrestrial Broadcast (Free-to-Air) market.
News categories: Legend Silicon, ATSC 3.0, Digital TV, In-Car, Portable, Semiconductor, Smartphone, Tablet, Terrestrial
Leading Automotive Manufacturer Equips New Car Models with Hirschmann Digital TV Reception Systems Powered by Siano
Aug 8, 2011 – Hirschmann Car Communication (HCC) and Siano Mobile Silicon have announced that a leading German automobile manufacturer has started distribution of a few car models equipped with HCC's latest automotive digital TV reception system, powered by Siano receiver chips.
News categories: Siano Mobile Silicon, Hirschmann, In-Car, Mobile, Semiconductor
Wipro Delivers Middleware for In-Car TV Tuner to Hirschmann Car Communication
Dec 15, 2008 – Wipro Technologies (NYSE:WIT) has announced that it has delivered its ISDB-T stack to Hirschmann Car Communication. The stack is to be used for developing In-Car TV solutions for Hirschmann's Tier-1 car customers targeting the Japanese market.
News categories: Wipro, Hirschmann Car Communication, Digital TV, In-Car, ISDB-T, Japan, Middleware, Terrestrial
Legend Silicon Introduces Diversity Demodulator to Dramatically Improve Reception of Weak and Noisy Television Signals in China
Sep 16, 2008 – Legend Silicon has introduced the LGS-8G78, a demodulator designed, by employing diversity, to significantly improve reception of the digital terrestrial television broadcast (DTTB) signals defined by China's GB20600-2006 standard.
News categories: Legend Silicon, China, Digital TV, DTMB, ICs, In-Car, Semiconductor
- Youfone Android TV service powered by 24i and Amino
- Synamedia launches addressable advertising solution
- Liberty Global to acquire Sunrise Communications by tender offer
- FOX News launches international D2C streaming service
- Ten carriers in Germany and Austria choose Ocilion for IPTV
- BluTV DTH launches in Brazil on EUTELSAT 65 West A
- Viya TV+ launches in the US Virgin Islands with Mirada
- OTT TV and video revenues at $83 billion in 2019
- 41.4% of TVs in Latin America are Smart
- DISH Network pay TV subscribers down 51,000 in 2Q 2020
- Pirate subscription TV services now a billion-dollar U.S. industry
- PAOK FC OTT platform built with Insys Sport on AWS
- SLING TV in-app guide integrates local OTA channels on LG Smart TVs
- Conviva releases State of Streaming Q2 report
- Stay-at-home providing springboard for French SVOD
- Survata announces enhanced CTV measurement suite
- Ofcom releases Media Nations 2020 report
- RADIO.COM expands connected TV footprint with Vewd
- NAGRA multi-DRM selected for Grupo Express OTT service in Argentina
- V-Nova and NETINT collaborate on MPEG-5 LCEVC transcoding


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At some local businesses, your COVID-19 shot can get you more than just immunity
EDMONTON -- Some Edmonton businesses are giving their customers extra motivation to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
Fleisch Delikatessan is entering people into a draw for a $100 gift certificate if you send images proving your vaccination. The draw will happen in June.
“We wanted to do something to provide an incentive for people to get vaccinated and then also have something to look forward to, to celebrate getting vaccinated,” owner Katy Ingraham told CTV News Edmonton.
“Any incentive that is encouraging people to get vaccinated and do their part is really great!”
Woodshed Burgers is giving customers a free side order of fries or onion rings if you purchase a burger and you go in an after you’ve been vaccinated that day.
Nick Thompson, Woodshed Burgers general manager, said the offer was a way for the business to help give back to the community in a difficult time.
“It’s been a bit of an interesting year for everyone,” he said.
Thompson added that the restaurant has given the discount at its two locations to 30 people so far. They want to reach over 100 by the weekend.
“The faster we get everyone vaccinated, the faster we can get butts in seats,” he said.
The Glass Bookshop is offering an online discount code for shoppers who have been vaccinated and share a selfie online.
Northern Chicken is also giving Edmontonians a five per cent discount off their total order if you show your vaccination card on the day of your appointment.
The University of Lethbridge launched what it called the “most important contest” in it’s history where nine students can get free tuition this fall if they’ve received their COVID-19 immunization.
- Vaccinated University of Lethbridge students could win free tuition
- Beers, burgers, books and bucks: Alberta businesses offer rewards for a COVID-19 shot
One of the biggest incentives to get vaccinated is happening down in Ohio, where only people who’ve been immunized can get a shot at $1 million through weekly draws.
One doctor on the Edmonton regional COVID-19 response committee thinks that is a fantastic idea that should be replicated here.
“It would be money well spent,” Dr. Noel Gibney said. “After the summer's over, you could say all individuals who have had their shot become eligible for this lottery.”
With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk.


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Lego will start replacing plastic packaging with paper bags from 2021 as the toy brick maker aims to become more sustainable.
Lego said it had been prompted by letters from children asking it to remove the single-use plastic bags.
It said it would be investing up to $400m (£310m) over three years to improve its sustainability efforts.
Lego bricks themselves are made of plastic, although the company is exploring alternative materials.
“We have received many letters from children about the environment asking us to remove single-use plastic packaging,” Lego Group chief executive Niels B Christiansen said.
“We have been exploring alternatives for some time and the passion and ideas from children inspired us to begin to make the change,” he added.
From next year the toy company will start introducing recyclable paper bags, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, to package its loose bricks.


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BMW has released a statement that it will be recalling 1 million diesel cars globally over a fire hazard that can be caused by leaking cooling fluid.
- German high-end carmaker BMW said Tuesday it would recall more than one million additional diesel cars, citing a problem with the exhaust system that “in extreme cases can cause a fire”.
“In some diesel vehicles, glycol cooling fluid can leak” from a faulty component called the exhaust gas recirculation cooler, which can combine with other substances in the system to create the fire risk, the group said.
ALSO READ: Paytm employee arrested for blackmailing the CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma
“The exhaust recirculation module will be checked and if there is a fault the parts will be exchanged,” the group said.
BMW in August also announced recalling Europe and some Asian countries of more than 480,000 vehicles those are affected by the same problem.
and issued an apology in South Korea after around 30 cars caught fire there this year.
It also said that it had previously checked more diesel models and have identified a “minimal risk” of fire in few of them. The latest recall brings the total number of cars affected to some 1.6 million around the world.
ALSO READ: Most Awaited Hyundai Santro Finally Launched In India


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The smartwatch market is one that's still maturing and getting off the ground, but for pioneers like Samsung, there's a lot of progress to be made. Entering the market some time ago with the original Galaxy Gear, Samsung knows what they're doing when it comes to wearables and their new Gear S2 has been the device worth waiting for. Or at least, that's what early figures are suggesting, that is.
According to a recent report, 180,000 or so units of the Gear S2 have been sold in just eight hours in China. That might not seem like a huge figure, and indeed it's not, but for a market where expensive technology items are often overlooked for more affordable alternative, this is a great start, indeed. The sales were made through JD.com, a very popular online retailer in China, which is perhaps down to the early success. Selling through the right outlet in China is part of the battle. The Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic cost around $350 and $390, respectively in China and while these prices aren't through-the-roof, there are cheaper alternatives out there. Of course, the fact that people are already complaining about supply shortages is another good sign for Samsung's first smartwatch in some time.
Whether or not Samsung can convert this instant success in China to a global one remains to be seen, but so far customers and critics have been positive about the new device. Will a look and feel that is much more like a watch first, gadget second than say, the Apple Watch, it looks as though Samsung have a winner on their hands. Here in the US, the Gear S2 goes on sale at T-Mobile Stores in just a few days, and while it's not all that cheap, it's nowhere near as expensive as the original Gear S was, and will be more appealing to more users. With a fresh new UI and more features, the Gear S2 could be one of the better smartwatch options for those with Samsung devices.


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BEIJING: Consumers in China are adopting a wide range of new digital behaviours, although popular habits remain distinctive among different demographics.
Ericsson, the communications giant, has estimated that there are 380 million internet users and 770 million mobile phone subscribers in the country at present, with considerable room for growth still remaining.
According to the company, average annual earnings in China's largest urban centres rose by 8.8% to $2,515 (€2,058; £1,714) in 2009, and 87% of city-dwellers are confident about their economic prospects in the coming 12 months.
Some 94% of this group own a mobile phone, 65% have a PC with an internet connection, 60% pay for a fixed line phone and 20% possess a laptop, totals that have climbed by at least a quarter in the last five years.
With regard to the web, 44% of netizens streamed video at least once a week, with 40% visiting online communities, 19% utilising internet banking platforms and 12% buying goods via this channel during the same period.
A further 22% went online through their mobile phone with the same degree of frequency, including 15% who logged on to instant messaging properties, 12% who sent email and 10% who were active on social networks and forums.
For over two-thirds of this cohort, the main reason for surfing the mobile web was to "kill time", compared with 54% that cited the portability of wireless devices and 21% that argued it was a good way to socialise.
Elsewhere, 88% of young consumers in first, second and third tier Chinese cities revealed that they browsed the internet every day.
More than four in ten members of this segment also accessed the mobile web once a week, with 28% chatting on instant messaging sites, 19% contributing to online communities and 18% sending email.
Almost half of this demographic said that having a web-enabled phone allowed them to "interact with my friends any time", and 34% agreed this medium was "as important" as its desktop equivalent.
The online audience had also expanded in size to reach 107 million people in rural regions of China by early 2009, the last date for which official government statistics are available.
Ericsson suggested that approximately 30% of these less-developed markets currently receive mobile services, with China Mobile drawing a majority of its customer base from such areas of the country.
"In rural communities, the use of mobile phones and the internet is focused more on the basics and fun," Ericsson said.
"Many rural farmers only use their mobile phones to make voice calls and don't have much use for functions or features, while internet usage is centred on gaming and chatting."
Per capita disposable income levels in the countryside stood at $755 in 2009, per the National Population and Family Planning Commission, and these shoppers typically displayed a preference for spending big on technology brands.
"Rural consumers are in general very positive towards new technology and believe it will help to improve life, but they need somebody to show them how to use it," Ericsson said.
"The purchase of high-tech products not only improves living standards, but elevates people's status in their community."
Data sourced from Ericsson; additional content by Warc staff


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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Three central Florida men are facing charges after authorities say they were selling fake body armor.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported Monday that 57-year-old Scott Anderson sold counterfeit body armor at gun shows across Florida. Agents believe 51-year-old Scott Williams and 36-year-old Arami Rodriguez worked for Anderson and assisted in the manufacturing and selling of the fake body armor.
FDLE began investigating in August after a customer called a legitimate manufacturer to report that body armor purchased at a West Palm Beach gun show might be fake. The company contacted authorities, and testing confirmed the body armor provided no ballistic protection.
FDLE searched an Ocoee business owned by Anderson in September and found counterfeit body armor of multiple manufacturers.
All three men have been charged with organized scheme to defraud and counterfeiting body armor. It wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys.


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June 11, 2014
It was announced this morning that NYC-based Handybook has raised $30 million in a Series B round of funding. The round was led by Revolution Growth, a $450 fund co-founded by Steve Case, Ted Leonsis, and Donn Davis. Other participants in this recent round of fundraising include current investors Highland Capital Partners and General Catalyst Partners.
“Investing in Handybook is consistent with our strategy of backing great entrepreneurs who are offering consumers more choice, control and convenience,” said Steve Case, chairman and CEO of Revolution, in a statement. “We’ve seen how quickly millions of people have embraced on-demand marketplaces for booking cars and places to stay, and we believe home services is the next big category ripe for disruption.”
Handybook offers a platform that allows people to easily book on-demand cleaning and repair services. First launched in Boston and New York back in 2012, the company has grown quickly to cover 26 markets across North America, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Baltimore, and Toronto. This new fundraising will be used to support the growing demand for the service in all of its current markets.
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Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) and American Express Saudi Arabia have launched a new miles redemption partnership.
It enables American Express Saudi Arabia card members to transfer two Membership Rewards points for one Al Fursan mile.
This builds on the existing partnership whereby the Al Fursan American Express co-branded credit card allows American Express Saudi Arabia card members to earn miles directly using the card.
SAUDIA currently flies to 95 destinations across four continents. The airline recently announced the addition of 10 new international routes: Bangkok, Thailand; Barcelona and Malaga, Spain; Marrakech, Morocco; Mykonos, Greece; Moscow, Russia; Beijing, China; Seoul, South Korea; Entebbe, Uganda; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Chicago, Illinois in the United States of America.


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DawentsIT: All Things in Technology news you need to know this Wednesday:
1.Facebook says it doesn’t read WhatsApp messages — but an investigation found it actually does.A ProPublica investigation found that Facebook employs more than 1,000 workers to sift through content sent by WhatsApp users.
2.Apple’s big iPhone 13 reveal event is on Sept. 14.In an event Apple dubbed “California Streaming,” the company is expected to unveil its latest iPhones, as well as updates to the Apple Watch and iPads.
3.Opening arguments in Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’ trial begin today.Holmes’ lawyers may try to show she truly believed in her blood-testing technology, Reuters reports. We spoke with former employees, who shared their experiences working for Holmes — from her demand for complete devotion to her obsession with secrecy.
4.We might have just gotten a sneak peek of Facebook’s upcoming smart glasses.Facebook exec Andrew Bosworth posted a video of him throwing pillows at Mark Zuckerberg — and it may have been shot using the forthcoming Facebook glasses.
5.Amazon wants to bring in-person medical care to 20 more US cities.Through its new primary-care business, Amazon Care, the company plans to bring telehealth and in-home care to Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, and Boston this year, and 16 other cities in 2022.
6.Mercedes-Benz just offered a glimpse of its new electric G-Wagen.Going into production around 2024, the all-electric EQG puts a green spin on Mercedes’ classic status symbol. Check out the futuristic G-Wagen for yourself.
7.European startups have raised a record $11 billion in venture debt.Founders are increasingly opting for debt, claiming that it is more efficient for financing acquisitions and repeat spends.
8.Viral photos show a sprawling Amazon warehouse in Mexico surrounded by deteriorating homes.As Amazon continues to expand its footprint internationally, photos of a massive new fulfillment center in Tijuana have been shared widely across social media.
9.Instacart had a summer filled with unsuccessful dealmaking with Uber and DoorDash.Earlier this summer, Instacart reached out to Uber and DoorDash to try to initiate a merger — but both companies ultimately passed.
10.Google just radically changed how it pays employees in stock.The change will allow employees to cash in on their equities sooner, a move that may help lure talent from rivals like Apple and Facebook.
Follow us for updated news and videos. Read more on http://www.dawentsit.com/ #Technology #DawentsIT #TechnologyNews #Facebook #WhatsApp #Apple #iPhone13 #AllThingsTechnologyToday #WeInspireToDeliver


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A severe bug in Android which has been recently identified by Google allows hackers and third-party apps to access your device camera without your consent. The bug allows hackers to access your device camera even when it is locked or the screen is turned off. This bug can be misused to spy over someone using a third-party app.
Google Camera Bug Gives Camera access to Third-party apps
Checkmarx, an application security research company, discovered the issue of bypassing permission in the Google Camera application and later submitted it under CVE-2019-2234. Therefore, a malicious app could be created to spy over someone using third-party camera apps that have flooded the Google play store over the past few years.
The security researchers at Checkmarx made a test weather application to conduct a practical experiment of the bug, the app didn’t have permissions to the camera of whichever device it would get installed into, the only permission the dummy app had was of the device storage. After installation, the app could take photos and videos using the device’s camera without any prior permission. While accessing the application, it would ask for storage permissions to store the images and videos in the device storage.
The entire issue has been confirmed by Google and it has appreciated the efforts of researches at Checkmarx to bring these issues into the notice of the company. After being informed about the bug, Google quickly patched it.
Google further said, “We appreciate Checkmarx bringing this to our attention and working with Google and Android partners to coordinate disclosure,” the company said in a statement. “The issue was addressed on impacted Google devices via a Play Store update to the Google Camera Application in July 2019. A patch has also been made available to all partners.”


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Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in supply chains—here’s why a zero waste supply chain is not only realistic but beneficial.
In recent years the expectation for companies to have supply chains that are sustainable has grown considerably. As a result, many have started making pledges and commitments outlining their transition to greener supply chains. Major companies like Nestle, Coca-Cola, and Unilever have all done so to varying degrees already. Other businesses will soon have to do the same if they’re to stay competitive in this environment.
As a recent article from Supply Chain Digital explains,
It’s clear that the ‘war on plastic’ is gaining momentum. As the world becomes more focused on the environmental impacts of plastic pollution, you should examine your supply chain and see how you can eliminate it.
With that said, converting a supply chain to zero waste doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated. And, in turn, if handled the right way, it can be useful beyond just meeting market demands.
This article by Morai Logistics highlights a realistic path to a zero waste supply chain and why having such a supply chain can be advantageous.
What is a Zero Waste Supply Chain?
A zero waste supply chain, just as the name suggests, is a supply chain that produces no waste. This means ensuring every step within the supply chain is sustainable—the materials are either reused or recycled, so that there is no trash. In turn, what this amounts to is no waste ending up in landfills or incinerators.
Such a goal might sound highly ambitious, verging on unfeasible, but that isn’t the case. Rather, it’s a necessary objective that companies like Unilever are already making a reality. Keep in mind that, for example, in the United Kingdom a majority of consumers are willing to pay more for products that don’t use plastic packaging. And that’s just plastic, only a single component of green supply chain. The demand is there. It’s up to companies to meet that demand.
Why is it Beneficial?
An entirely sustainable supply chain is beneficial for a number of reasons. First of all, it’s great for efficiency. Since zero waste supply chains cannot afford to be excessive in any way, that means they have to be careful with processes and materials that they are using. This leads to extreme efficiency. This efficiency leads to cost reduction, since less has to be spent on materials and superfluous operations.
Moreover, a sustainable supply chain is good for the environment. This isn’t just a feel-good benefit. It also means companies are likely to receive government incentives, while avoiding sanctions. Thus, it’s not only a good thing to do, it’s also a business friendly move. Additionally, it’s good for a company’s image, which in turn can attract more business.
How can Supply Chains Make a Transition to Zero Waste?
Making the switch to zero waste isn’t as challenging as it might seem. Like with any other major change, the first thing to do is come up with a strategy. In this case, a sustainable supply chain strategy. Then formulate reasonable goals as benchmarks on the route to the ultimate objective of zero waste.
Furthermore, it’s important to have key indicators that you can examine to see if you are being successful with those goals. Essentially, the transition is about starting broad (the strategy) and getting increasingly granular and specific until it’s ingrained into your company mindset and culture.
Finally, there are the four R’s as outlined by Unilever.
Unilever credits its four ‘R’ approach to achieving zero waste. The four R approach encompasses: reducing, reusing, recovering and recycling. Viewing waste in this way – as having various potential alternative uses – can be introduced across all businesses.


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Quad Cities kids were transported to the farm today.
Hundreds of students went on a virtual field trip to hog, corn and soybean farms this afternoon. The event was held at Deere and Company world headquarters in Moline by the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance.
Organizers said it’s a way for the next generation to understand how their food makes it the table.
“We’re trying to connect with consumers who have questions about how their food is grown and raised,” Nancy Kavazanjian, chairwoman of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. “If we could, we’d take everyone in America to a farm and we know we can’t do that, so we’re bring the farm to the people.”
Organizers hope today’s trip will help students better understand the importance of agriculture.


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BUFFALO, N.Y. — Twenty-five years.
It's been 25 years since the Buffalo Bills last held the title 'AFC East champions.' On Saturday, the Bills brought that title back home to Buffalo, and in true Bills Mafia form, their reception was a boisterous sea of red, white, and blue.
Despite all the challenges that the pandemic has presented, Western New Yorkers have found a light at the end of the tunnel in the Buffalo Bills. Local business owners say the team's momentum over the last couple of years has not only been a necessary source of excitement and positivity for the community, but it has really helped boost sales for local businesses as well.
Nate Mroz is the owner of The BFLO Store and says this historic division title win has brought back the rush.
"In spring, obviously we had to shut down. There was certainly some concern over the holiday time, not knowing if we could stay open or not and what that looked like," Mroz said.
But after Saturday's game, Mroz says he's a lot less concerned about holiday numbers given how fast playoffs and championship merchandise are flying off the shelves.
"The phone has been ringing off the hook. Emails, texts, calls, you name it people are really wanting it," Mroz said.
And he's not the only local business owner who feels this way.
Del Reid is the co-founder of Bills Mafia and founder of 26shirts, a locally owned e-commerce store that helps give back to the community through sales of limited edition sports-themed t-shirts.
"Anything that's related you know to the football team, I think is welcomed and a wonderful gift to give to someone," Reid says. "The Bills are the extra family member in every house in Western New York."


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We’re excited to announce that Propak East Africa, the largest exhibition and conference on packaging, plastics, printing, and processing, took place this week at the Sarit Expo and has been a tremendous success! With over 150 exhibitors from more than 35 countries and thousands of professionals from various business sectors in attendance, this event was not to be missed.
Go Places Digital the media sponsor and partner, had the opportunity to meet with many of the exhibitors over the past three days, experiencing new developments and technologies in printing, processing, packaging, and plastics solutions. We’ve learned about many exciting opportunities available in these industries.
Montgomery Group East Africa
The Montgomery Group East Africa Ltd is a Kenyan registered company and a subsidiary of The Montgomery Group. It handles all its exhibitions in East Africa. The business was launched in 2012, and is a Kenyan-registered company, with an office in Nairobi housing the members of staff. Montgomery Group East Africa Ltd has launched and established the leading exhibitions in the respective fields.
In running exhibitions since 1895, The Montgomery Group is one of the leading exhibition organizers globally with over 60 events happening at any one time. Based in London but with offices all over the world, Africa is one of their key markets and they are the largest trade exhibition organizers on the continent. We bring with us a world of experience and established confidence within our chosen industries.
We work hard as a dedicated team to put together transformative exhibitions and conferences that bring together the industry to stimulate growth and business connections. The Kenyan team understands the market and delivers world-class services in their respective roles. Our offices are based in both Nairobi and London and the team is split between the two.
MONTGOMERY UPCOMING EVENTS
The Kenyan Food Event (KFE) is the premier exhibition serving the food, drink, and hospitality industry across East Africa. With its second edition taking place in September 2023 at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, this industry-leading event will offer a pivotal platform for those in the industry looking for new suppliers, producers, and service providers to enhance their business.
Co-located shows within the Kenyan Food Event include; The Kenyan Hospitality Event & The Kenyan Drink Event. The next event will take place between 5-7 September 2023 at the Sarit Exhibition Center in Nairobi, Kenya
In case of any queries, please feel free to contact me.
Media Partner and Sponsor


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Technically Incorrect: A new advertising campaign from Microsoft, Intel, Dell, Lenovo and HP does what? Oh, you'll understand when you see it.
Which Surface makes the most sense for you? Here's how they stack up against one another, and against the Apple competition.
Commentary: The Internet is in a tizzy over a Greek carving from 100 B.C. that resembles an open laptop, and CNET writer Amanda Kooser wants to believe.
How does the new big-screen iPad size up against the competition?
The survival game is set in "post-societal" America and looks gorgeous; watch a new trailer here.
The PS Vita gameplay streaming service is set to expand to desktops, President of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida confirms.
How to set up your first Open Broadcaster Software 'scene' with a webcam's video feed.
Refunds can be requested through Steam, says representative.
The Audiophiliac pitted a 1991 JVC PC-X100 boom box against a bunch portable wireless speakers, and the results surprised even him!
The new laptops, expected by June, will incorporate upgrades that could boost sales, says KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo.


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There are allegations that a lawsuit has been filed by Elliot Eliantte for Playboy Carti who owes $97,000 in a neglected adornments charge which was reported in TMZ.
As indicated by court archives, Eliantte was authorized to do a piece for Carti last September for the rapper’s birthday. In the wake of creating a 14-carat white gold precious stone rosary chain and a custom jewel tennis chain, Carti was charged $197,063.75 for each piece and covered $100,000 of the bill on January 25. Presently Eliantte is suing for the leftover balance.
Carti’s jewelry allegations reminds us of our article on Lil Baby who recently blasted a jeweler over a watch he purchased and later was informed it was fake. Not every business owner checks their Products, and not every consumer will always pay if they already have a record of it.


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Published in Mint on Jun 21 2016
The world is moving online and so should the way you buy the most important instrument in your money box: insurance. To help build an online platform for insurance, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), earlier this month, drafted the Insurance E-commerce Regulations (http://bit.ly/28KdHMg ). With the digital platform, and by promoting e-commerce, Irdai hopes to lower the cost of transacting insurance business and bring higher efficiencies and greater reach.
The draft, which was available for public comments till 20 June, lays out guidelines for a self-network platform to sell and service policies online.
According to the draft, any entity that wants to offer policies online will do so through a self-network platform—this can be your regular website or a mobile app or both. “You will still continue to be able to buy policies through a regular website, but what will change is that not just web aggregators but agents and brokers will also be able to sell policies online. Secondly, these intermediaries will now have to fulfil end-to-end customer requirements and have to build linkages with the insurer not just for sales purposes but also for policy service requests so that they own the customer and service them on an on-going basis,” said Sanjay Tripathy, senior executive vice president-head, marketing, analytics, digital and e-commerce.
Insurers, brokers, agents, intermediaries or any other entity recognised by Irdai can sell policies through this platform. Insurance intermediaries include distributors such as corporate agents, web aggregators and insurance marketing firms. In the case of agents, since they are tied to one insurer, the platform would be treated as that of an insurer and the insurer will be responsible for compliance.
“These guidelines recognise the online medium as a platform to sell insurance policies. They also clarify operational issues like using physical signatures in an online sale; the need for physical signatures has been done away with,” said K.S. Gopalakrishnan, managing director and chief executive officer, Aegon Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
Wet signatures or physical signatures will no longer be needed. “Instead, an electronic signature or digital signature or single factor authentication such as one-time password, PAN (Permanent Account Number) card and date of birth authentication may be used for underwriting and acceptance of risk for insurance business transacted on the insurance self-network platform,” said the circular.
Further, in terms of the know-your-customer (KYC) process, the draft states that this can be undertaken using facilities such as e-KYC offered by Unique Identification Authority of India using e-Aadhaar or e-PAN facility offered by the National Securities Depository Ltd.
But the draft makes an e-insurance account mandatory for online purchase of a policy. An e-insurance account lets you hold your policy in a digital form. Once the policy is issued online, the document will have to be credited to the e-insurance account of the policyholder immediately. Currently, e-insurance account is not mandatory for online purchase, so this step is likely to encourage customers to open demat insurance accounts.
“Through this, the entire process will be online, end to end. This will not only save cost for the insurer, but also make the processes more efficient, and offer quick turn-around time to policyholders,” said S.V. Ramanan, chief executive officer, CAMS Insurance Repository Services Ltd. “Today, the typical turnaround time for issuance is T+2 to T+7, T being the date of signing the application form. Online, this can be done in T+2 hours to T+4 hours,” he added.
How will it work?
An insurer or a licenced intermediary or any other entity recognised by the regulator can sell insurance policies through the online platform, according to the draft.
“The draft states that entities recognised by the regulator other than the intermediaries will be allowed to sell insurance policies. This means that e-commerce portals may also be allowed to sell insurance and earn a commission,” said Kapil Mehta, co-founder, SecureNow Insurance Broker Pvt. Ltd. All products that are approved by Irdai can be offered online and these products will have to be pre-fixed with the letter ‘i’ to distinguish them from regular products.
Even as these policies are sold online, the draft allows the insurer to build in commissions into these products as they may be sold through the intermediaries as well.
Further, the draft also allows insurers to offer differential pricing for the same product when sold online. “More clarity is needed with the pricing aspect. Intermediaries even when they sell policies online will still get paid a commission, so it’s not as if the products online will have differential pricing. Further, it should not make pre-fixing mandatory. This will create confusion as a product sold online with the pre-fix ‘i’ may not necessarily mean price difference or exclusivity. Insurers will also have to showcase two products on its website one with a pre-fix ‘i’, and the other without any tangible difference in some cases,” said Tripathy.
In terms of premium payment, cash transactions will not be permitted for online sales, and as far as disclosures and solicitations go, the insurer or intermediary will have to make sure that the website explains the product features and the type of consumer for whom it is intended. Exclusions and limitations also need to be spelt out along with total premium and other charges and taxes that the consumer will have to pay. Where the exact amount can’t be indicated, the website will have to indicate the basis for the calculation of the amount.
The website will also need to explain the free-look period and duration.
If an intermediary sells insurance policies of multiple insurers, the guidelines state that it will not make any promise or commitment to insurance companies regarding sales. Further, while displaying the product features of various insurers, the intermediary will not favour any one insurer. Customer reviews and seller ratings can be shown. “Ratings are not allowed for web aggregators but are allowed for e-commerce. This inconsistency should be removed,” added Mehta.
In terms of policyholder protection, these websites will need to have a mechanism to address policyholder grievances and will have to put in place measures to safeguard the privacy of data maintained and to prevent manipulation of records and transactions.
“By doing away with physical signatures and allowing e-KYC, the process of buying an insurance policy is completely online. The draft recognises the online medium and has also put in place measures of data security, which, till now, were not effective,” said Mehta.
To begin with, some say making e-insurance mandatory will be detrimental. “Overall, the new norms are progressive. However, general insurance policies such as two-wheeler, health, or travel insurance don’t require KYC today, and have quick issuance online. By mandating e-insurance, the whole process becomes tedious and thus a significant proportion of customers may prefer buying offline instead,” said Yashish Dahiya, co-founder, Policybazaar.com.
The other concern that the draft guidelines don’t clearly address is assigning responsibility of sale for e-commerce websites.
“What is not clear is who will be responsible for the sale of insurance through them. In the case of existing insurance intermediaries, the responsibilities are clearly laid out,” said Mehta.
Cost-wise, too, the industry doesn’t expect an immediate benefit. “An online product will cost less than an offline one if distribution costs are lower. If an insurer continues to pay normal commissions and incurs the same acquisition cost, price won’t go down. One could argue that the acquisition cost online should be lower than that of the offline model, but it depends on the marketing strategy of the company. Regulation in itself won’t necessarily result in lower premiums,” said Gopalakrishnan.
However, some argue that cost efficiency may get built over time.
“We have to pay huge marketing costs and technology platform development costs apart from regular overheads. But if insurance becomes a pull product and customers become more comfortable buying insurance online, we can save on the marketing costs in the long run, and in time pass on that savings to the customer,” said Tripathy.
The insurance regulator has laid down the infrastructure for digital sale of insurance and that is definitely a step in the right direction. The draft guidelines, however, needs to be more watertight in terms of apportioning fiduciary responsibility for the customers.
Published in Mint on Jun 21 2016


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The Fruit and Vegetable Union of Russia has issued a statement saying the country’s self-sufficiency ratio for apples was around 65% last year, but the year was low-yielding due to recurrent frosts in the south.
Union director Mikhail Glushkov: “If the weather is normal, the gross harvest in the Krasnodar Territory, the main region of apple production, will definitely increase this year. In addition, 13.1 thousand hectares of orchards that were established two years ago will begin to bear fruit. This means that the total volume of fruit production could be around 1.5 million tons.” This is a huge volume, which can lead to oversupply on the market and lower prices, he added.
Igor Mukhanin, President of the Russian Horticultural Association, explains that apples are the most consumed fruit in Russia, so it is worth increasing their production. “Now we produce only 50% of the amount of apples to match the level of consumption recommended by Russian doctors but if we consider the recommendations in Europe and USA, which are around 100 kg per person per year, we provide only 30%.“
East-fruit.com also quoted him as saying: “To reach the level of self-sufficiency, Russian farmers need to produce 3.3 million tons of apples.” He added that as the market oversupply approaches, producers will start improving quality, since it is not profitable to reduce prices.


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DEAD SEA SCROLL FRAGMENTS PROVE TO BE FAKES
The prized objects in the Museum of the Bible have been removed
Five fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls collection at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, have been proven to be forgeries.
The Dead Sea Scrolls – a collection of religious manuscripts – were found in caves on the shore of the Dead Sea, in what is now the West Bank. Between 1947 and 1956, more than 800 papyrus and leather documents were found in clay jars. Believed to be written by members of a Jewish community living in the area between 150 BC and AD 70, they contain the oldest surviving sources of the Hebrew Bible, as well as writings on Jewish history.
The majority of the fragments are in the care of the Israeli Government, but a few others are housed in museums across the world. The Museum of the Bible holds 16 fragments – some of the museum’s most prized items – but five have now been exposed as fakes. Doubts had been raised over their authenticity, so they were sent to be tested by experts in Germany using X-ray and material analysis – which has now revealed “characteristics inconsistent with ancient origin”. They’ve since been removed from the museum and replaced by other pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
It’s not the first controversy to surround the museum – months before its grand opening in 2017, its chairman, Steve Green, was caught up in a smuggling scandal. A US Government investigation concluded in 2017 found more than 5,500 artefacts imported by Hobby Lobby – a chain of arts and crafts stores of which Green is also president – had been smuggled from Iraq. Hobby Lobby settled, forfeiting the artefacts, while the Museum of the Bible released a statement denying that any of the items were bound for its collection.
The Dead Sea Scroll fragments on display in the Museum of the Bible INSET: An Israel Antiquities Authority worker restores a scroll in Jerusalem


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Economic slowdown confirmed as households rein in spending amid rising inflation and falling incomes
- ONS confirms UK economy grew by 0.2% in first quarter, down from 0.7% in Q4
- Services sector growth revised down to 0.1% from 0.2%
- But construction growth revised up from 0.2% to 1.1%
- Household savings ratio plunged to an all-time low of just 1.7% from 3.3%
There were fresh concerns about the UK economy today after growth in the dominant services sector was revised down and savings and spending by squeezed households kept falling.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics paint a worrying picture in which consumer spending, the backbone of the UK economy, is beginning to wane as households are increasingly borrowing or using their savings to get by, squeezed by rising inflation and falling incomes.
They come as it confirmed that the UK gross domestic product grew by 0.2 per cent in the first three months of the year, a sharp slowdown from growth of 0.7 per cent at the end of last year.
Squeeze: Official data shows that households are increasingly borrowing or using their savings to get by, squeezed by rising inflation and falling incomes
And overall economic growth would have been even lower but for construction growth, which was revised markedly higher from 0.2 per cent to 1.1 per cent, thanks to increased investment in private housing and infrastructure.
The consumer-focused services sector, which ranges from financial services to restaurants and makes up almost 80 per cent of the UK economy, grew by 0.1 per cent in the first quarter, down from the previously forecast 0.2 per cent.
The data also showed that rising inflation squeezed real disposable incomes, which fell 1.4 per cent for the third consecutive quarter – which had not happened since 1977, the ONS said. This is reflected in household spending, which nearly halved at the start of the year from the last quarter of 2016.
The ONS actually revised household spending growth up 0.1 percentage points to 0.4 per cent, but that is still a sharp decline from growth of 0.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.
'Alarm bells': The household savings ratio has plunged to an all-time low of just 1.7 per cent
The growth in consumer spending, albeit slower, seems to have been supported by people using their savings as the household savings ratio slumped to a record low of 1.7 per cent from the previous low of 3.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, commented: 'This is not sustainable and fuels the belief that weakened consumer spending is likely to hold back the economy over the coming months.'
Tom McPhail, head of policy at Hargreaves Lansdown said: 'This data is likely to set alarm bells ringing; whether this is in fact evidence of a confident economy or peak complacency remains to be seen.
'The fall in the household savings ratio is undoubtedly in large part due to the squeeze on disposable income caused by a combination of flat average earnings and rising prices.
'Savings rates tend to fall when the economy prospers, and to rise in times of recession and uncertainty, as households cut back on consumption to build a rainy-day reserve. Monetary policy and the low returns available on cash may well be a factor here too.'
Growth in the consumer-focused services sector, which ranges from financial services to restaurants and makes up almost 80 per cent of the UK economy, was revised down
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said the squeeze on household spending was no surprise, given recent weak wage growth and rising inflation.
Inflation hit its highest level in nearly four years at 2.9 per cent in May, with the Bank of England expecting the cost of living to peak at 3 per cent by the autumn.
'The squeeze may well continue through the rest of the year, as inflation looks set to rise further. The big question is whether other parts of the economy can take up the slack from squeezed households,' he added.
In this respect, the positives came, apart from the construction industry, from business investment, which was up 0.6 per cent, a smaller drop in exports than previously thought. Manufacturing growth was unrevised at a steady 0.3 per cent.
John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, said: 'Overall, today's data confirmed the big picture of an economy that is still growing, but has dropped down a couple of gears since the turn of the year as inflation has squeezed real incomes.'
The pattern of moderate growth seems to have continued into the second quarter, with services output rising by just 0.2 per cent between March and April
The pattern of moderate growth seems to have continued into the second quarter, with services output rising by just 0.2 per cent between March and April.
June PMI data released next week should shed more light on the nature of the slowdown and will be watched by policymakers at the Bank of England, who are pondering whether raising interest rates or not.
Archer added: 'Looking ahead, consumer spending is likely to be pressurised through the second half of the year by a further squeeze on purchasing power.
'Meanwhile, worries over a stuttering economy and uncertainties over the UK's outlook are likely to weigh down on business investment. On the positive side, net trade should contribute significantly to growth as exports benefit from healthy global growth, including improved Eurozone activity, and a very competitive pound.'
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The National Restaurant Association have released their 20 top food trends for 2016 and there’s some interesting selections on the list.
The list was created after the association surveyed 1,575 professional chefs, asking them which foods, beverages and culinary themes they expect to see on menus in 2016.
The big winner on the list was a focus towards locally source meat and fish - the report adds: “when asked which current food trend has grown the most over that last decade, 44 percent of the chefs surveyed said local sourcing. Looking forward, 41 percent said the trend that will grow the most in the next 10 years is environmental sustainability.”
Other trends to hit the list were fast-casual - a movement that’s already gained traction in 2015. Ne cuts of meat, ethnic breakfast items and healthy kids meals.
Take a look at the full list below.
1. Locally sourced meats and seafood
2. Chef-driven fast-casual concepts
3. Locally grown produce
4. Hyper-local sourcing
5. Natural ingredients/minimally processed food
6. Environmental sustainability
7. Healthful kids' meals
8. New cuts of meat
9. Sustainable seafood
10. House-made/artisan ice cream
11. Ethnic condiments/spices
12. Authentic ethnic cuisine
13. Farm/estate branded items
14. Artisan butchery
15. Ancient grains
16. Ethnic-inspired breakfast items
17. Fresh/house-made sausage
18. House-made/artisan pickles
19. Food waste reduction/management
20. Street food/food trucks


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Contrary to its appearance as a real bargain, usability issues and subpar cleaning performance mar this Dirt Devil.
Cleaning with this vac is frustrating, especially since it doesn't get the job done well.
Facebook has created a booming app economy that's made plenty of developers rich. It's also forcing a lot of them to lose sleep.
When Tokyo model Harutamu uses elaborate fingernail art to promote Candy Crush, her nails make for a sweet ad campaign.
The company's shares head down 10 percent from their opening price on Wednesday, and are showing no signs of making a comeback.
Company expects to raise about $500 million, for a value of more than $7 billion.
Cut the Rope maker files to cancel King's confectionery trademark in the European Union.
King makes 180 game titles but only one that really matters. The soon-to-be public company will need its big hit to avoid the rise-and-fall fate of social games.
It seems that a large, logical brain isn't enough to crush it at Candy Crush. Its mathematical difficulty level is very high.
Games maker King says $613 million is possible if it can offer 25.5 million shares at $24 each. That would give it an overall valuation of $7.6 billion.


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9. Buyer: Mylan
Target: Agila Specialties
Price: $2 billion
Sterile injectable drugs have become a big part of the drug industry landscape, but they can be difficult to manufacture, and when production problems arise, so do shortages. That means big opportunities for those companies that have the capability and capacity to respond. With its buyout of Agila Specialties from India's Strides Arcolab, Mylan picked up massive capacity in one fell swoop.
Mylan came into the deal with a sterile manufacturing plant in Ireland and one in India. From the Agila deal, it got 9 more manufacturing facilities, including plants in Brazil and Poland. Eight of the 9 plants are FDA-approved. It now has one of the largest sterile capacities in India and one of the largest freeze-drying capacities in the world.
The company has regained full commercialization rights for most of Agila's U.S. portfolio, both products already on the market as well as in the pipeline, and is taking back rights to many of its products in Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan and South Korea. With the deal, Mylan now has 1,200 approved injectable products globally and more than 900 pending approvals worldwide.
But that is just the beginning. CEO Heather Bresch plans to profit from "the many untapped opportunities we see ahead." To do that, the company intends to roll out more than 800 injectable products over the next 5 years, 150 of those in the U.S.
Mylan holds back $250M in Agila buyout
Mylan looks to 2014 for big growth
FDA warns Agila plant over torn gloves
-- Eric Palmer (email | Twitter)


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CVS Health's Larry Merlo: Efforts already underway with Aetna to 'remake' healthcare
January 09, 2019 / Tina Reed
In the wake of it's $69 million mergers with Aetna, CVS Health is preparing to open its first concept store next month, one of the company's first public efforts to "remake" the consumer health experience with Aetna. During a presentation of the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, CVS CEO Larry Merlo described the integration efforts that have already taken place to integrate Aetna into its business. "While it's only been six weeks, we are absolutely off and running," Merlo said. The company's first of a series of concept stores will open in February in the Houston market as a testing ground for a consumer-central retail engagement model that can target Aetna's membership and focus on managing chronic illnesses, extending primary care and reducing avoidable hospital admissions.


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Private bus owners are lobbying the government to remove VAT payments slapped on lease rentals of registered buses.
Currently, around 17,500 private passenger buses are in operation and over 90 percent of them are bought on a lease.rn
rnMost owners opt to re-lease their buses, to meet costs of refurbishment and spare parts. Funds are also used to buy a second new bus.rn
rnThe government gives a VAT rebate for on lease rentals if the buses are new. Once the lease is paid up in around two-years, most owners opt to refurbish or sell them to third parties.rn
rnldblquote This is where the problem comes up, because the third party has to pay a VAT on the lease rental because its a second hand bus,
dblquote says D P Kumarage, CEO Peoples Leasing and member of the taskforce appointed by the Treasury to tackle the issue.rn
rnKumarage says second hand leases is a growing market for the leasing industry, as lenders are comfortable to release funds to owners who opt to expand their fleet.rn


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Signing up could earn you gear and it helps to keep offensive content off of our site.
Rescuers found two teens who had gone out-of-bounds, gotten lost, and spent the night on Keystone Mountain.
Arapahoe Basin's 2004-05 season passes are on sale.
Early season snowfall allows resort to open terrain that wasn't open until mid-December last season
Bad boot fits are like bad marriages--experts estimate that nearly 80 percent off all bad fits could be avoided if skiers and snowboarders started out with a better match.
The extensive snowmaking at Keystone Ski Area, in Colorado, may be polluting nearby streams and creeks says the U.S. Forest Service.
Vail Resorts today announced the return of its popular five-mountain Colorado Pass and three-mountain Buddy Pass for the 2004-2005 winter season, as well as the Keystone/Arapahoe Basin pass.
Upstart clothing company breaks into the freeride market.
Berthoud Pass, CO can't compete with the I-70 giants who may charge as little as $18 per day for lift accessed skiing. Instead of closing doors, they're evolving.
In the company of some of the most prestigious golf courses in America, both courses at the Red Sky Golf Club have been ranked in the Top 100 golf courses to play in the United States in the September 2004 issue of Golf Magazine.
Are you itching to try out the latest gear? Here is a list of ski areas hosting demo days with your favorite manufacturer's best stuff.
Go to skiingmag.com
Go to nastar.com
Go to warrenmiller.com
Copyright © 2015 Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. an Active Interest Media Company.


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If you’ve lost your iPhone by accidentally dropping it in a river, you’d probably think that the phone was gone forever and that you would never see it again. Cue the sad music. In August 2021, iPhone user Owain Davies dropped his handset while in a canoe in the Wye River in Gloucestershire. That might have been the end of the story right there; Davies buys a new iPhone and the lost unit is forgotten.
An Apple iPhone X survives 10 months in a river
An iPhone X is discovered after 10 months in a river and is returned to its rightful owner
The screensaver showed a man wearing sunglasses and holding an ice cream cone. He was standing next to a woman, also wearing sunglasses. The photo was taken on August 14th, the day the device fell into the water. Hey, we never even got around to revealing yet which iPhone model was lost in the river; it was an iPhone X.
After being shared on the local Cinder Noticeboard Facebook group over 4,000 times, some friends of Owain Davies recognized him and his fiancée Fiona Gardner from the photo on the phone’s screensaver. A reunion between the phone and its owner finally took place.
Davies was impressed at the effort made by Mr. Pacheco to return the phone to him and admitted that had the roles been reversed, he probably wouldn’t have gone to such an effort. “My natural reaction would be to hand it into the nearest pub. It wouldn’t be to use my air compressor to dry it out and dismantle it,” he said.
The build quality of the Apple iPhone is among the best in the industry
Well, a miracle was about to happen. First, because of a structural problem with the lake’s dam, it was drained completely which turned the lake into a treasure trove for those willing to get full of mud. One of those people, Daniel Kalgren, took his metal detector with him to the drained lake and found just one item buried under 6 inches of mud and clay: an iPhone 4 still in its OtterBox case.
Pachaco was surprised to find that the phone was working the day after he found it
Kalgren explained what he did next. “I took the phone home, cleaned it, and put it in rice – just out of curiosity to see if it would still work.” Two days later, the phone turned on and Kalgren was able to find Michael Guntrum’s name and phone number listed in the device. At the time, he said that he would get the device fixed up and would give it to his mom who needed a smartphone.


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Amid a massive recall of Samsung's (SSNLF) Galaxy Note 7, the company is now shipping replacement devices to stores. Some 500,000 fresh Galaxy Note 7s have been sent to retailers to allow customers to return the old device in exchange for a new one. Even the FAA asked consumers to turn off their Galaxy Note 7 on flights due to reports of battery fires. TheStreet's Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.
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Yet another huge cellphone bill has surfaced. B.C. couple Daniel and Kate Methot bought themselves a Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant back in October and started to racked up charges into the thousands of dollars.
Here’s a gist of what happened: Apparently they received a text from Bell that they are using excessive data and warned them of their usage. In December their bill totaled $3,515.13 with 30 hours of data usage in one 24-hour period. Daniel Methot first thought it was himself who ran up the charges by having apps run in the background. He contacted Bell and said there must be a problem as he could never have used that much data. “I basically deleted every app that I had downloaded and just started to be a lot more conservative with the data use, and that’s all I could do”.
Bell started to looking into their account and immediately credited $3,330.88 from their bill for a “known” software problem. However, right back on track the next couple days they received another bill with the amount of $1,204. So Daniel and Kate have hired a lawyer to help them and stated that “they basically made us scared of our phone… We just stopped using it. We shut it off”.
Bell spokesperson Jason Laszlo believes that it could be possible that somebody has tapped into their device and is using their internet. “I’m still going to pursue the deeper, more intensive technical investigation into the Methots’ data usage and am hopeful that this will yield some answers… The one possibility that kept being raised was that the device’s mobile hot-spot feature may be on. This feature turns the device into a wireless modem which can connect up to three other devices via Wi-Fi.”


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Following reports on Friday, Target Corp. is officially joining several other major retailers, including its Arkansas-based rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc., that are kicking off the holiday shopping season on Thanksgiving, the Star Tribune reports. Minneapolis-based Target stores will open its doors at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 22 -- three hours earlier than a year ago.
“We heard from our guests that they look forward to kicking off their holiday shopping with deal-hunting on Thanksgiving night," Kathee Tesija, Target's executive vice president, Merchandising, said in a news release. "Opening at 9 p.m. gives Target’s Black Friday guests a more convenient way to create an after-dinner shopping event that the entire family can enjoy."
A Target employee in California has already started a petition protesting the retailer's decision. It has garnered more 160,000 signatures as of Monday morning.
About 190,000 people signed an online petition protesting Target's plan to open at midnight on Black Friday last year.
MSN Money reported a copy of Target’s Black Friday circular is already on deal websites.
Walmart has announced that it will be opening its stores for Black Friday sales a full-hour earlier — 8 p.m. — on Thanksgiving night, and that most Walmart stores will already be open Thanksgiving morning, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
Minnesota-based electronics retailer Best Buy will open its stores on Black Friday at midnight, MPR added.
Last month, Target announced it will price-match other online merchants, including Amazon.com, Walmart.com, BestBuy.com and Toysrus.com, between Nov. 1 and Dec. 16.


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Amazon has seen great success with the Kindle. And last week, the company dropped the cost of its e-reader once again. And saw the new Kindle sell out over the weekend.
Strong sales of e-readers have showen that people want to read books on a digital device. And considering that Amazon is a marketplace for books, dropping the price of its reader paves the way for the company to be the one bringing in those book sales.
The price of e-readers has been heading steadily downhill, and Amazon’s cheaper model now outprices Barnes & Noble’s Nook by $10. This price war is on the verge of upending the entire e-book market.
William J. Lynch, chief executive of
Barnes & Noble, told The New York Times recently:
“I don’t see more than two or maybe three dedicated reading companies
in the market for selling ebooks… I think you are starting to see a
A few months ago, there were mulitudes of e-books entering the market. But with Apple’s iPad debut, digital reading devices had to do more than deliver a better reading experience than competitors. They had to do it cheap.
We’ll probably see prices drop even lower soon. According to EWeek, Copia will release an e-reader for under $100 this fall.
But consumers aren’t waiting for that. This week, the Kindle sold out at its new price point. New orders will ship as late as September 4th.
By then, the e-reader market might be slimmed down. Both Barnes & Noble and Amazon hope to make their money on the sale of e-books, but smaller manufacturers don’t have that luxury.
If it hasn’t happened already, digtal readers might be sold at or below cost in the near future. Why? Because selling books is a growth business in digital. And getting mobile reading devices into consumers hands is the route to those sales. For electronics companies, they only sell one piece of the puzzle.
If Barnes and Noble can further their business of selling the content that exists on e-readers, the devices will get even cheaper.
Case in point — Amazon is currently working on its app store, which is expected to launch later this year.
As Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tells The Wall Street Journal, the Kindle is a way to get people purchasing more books. Also, he hopes the cheaper version will become a much more common sight:
“We developed this device for serious readers. At these price points,
it may be much broader than that. People will buy them for their kids. People won’t share Kindles any
When Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle to $189, the company tripled growth rates of the device year over year. And 80% of Kindle books sold on Amazon are sold to Kindle owners. Ian Freed, Amazon’s vice president of digital, tells CNET that Amazon now has 80% of the digital book market. Getting Kindles in the hands of customers is a big part of that. He says:
“The device business continues to grow with a device [the
second-generation Kindle] that’s over a year old, and then the content
is growing both with the device sales and independently with the apps.
We see a lot of customers start with apps and buy a Kindle later.”


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Battle Royale genre has been around for a while now but, it was PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds that really pushed this video game genre into the spotlight of the mainstream audience and since then many developers have introduced a Battle Royale game mode to their games such as Fortnite, GTA Online, Mavericks: Proving Grounds and more.
Furthermore, these will not be the only games that will feature Battle Royale genre as there are other developers working on games that will feature a similar game mode. Even Red Dead Redemption 2 is also rumored to feature a battle royale mode and reportedly is the reason for the delay till October 26, 2018.
The point being PUBG might be the most popular one of the games featuring Battle Royale Mode but, this status might not last forever as Mavericks: Proving Grounds is another Battle Royale game coming to potentially take the throne away from PUBG and there are logical reasons why Mavericks: Proving Grounds will dethrone PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds which will be discussed one-by-one.
Mavericks: Proving Grounds vs PUBG
For starters, let us discuss a little bit about the upcoming Mavericks: Proving Grounds. Like I mentioned before, the game is a multiplayer Battle Royale title much like the PUBG, however, while PUBG features 100 players on a single map, Proving Grounds aims to feature 400 players on a single map.
Currently, the devs behind the game are working on a single map for the game which will be 16 Km in diameter and 12 Square Km overall. The game will feature destructible environments which will change the dynamics of a battle in an instance much like the Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege which features incredible environmental destruction but, on a much smaller map.
What it probably means is that Mavericks: Proving Grounds will feature incredible level of destruction but on a huge open-world map. Furthermore, the foliage in the game will be reactive to the players and will cause players to leave a trail behind so that other players can figure out if any player had been through a certain area or not.
Not only that, the game will also feature wildlife on its 12 Square Km map which makes it sound like the game will feature an interactive ecosystem in which one thing affects the other, making the game much more exciting in the process. Recently, the developers also rolled out a teaser trailer for the game showcasing the game’s environments and giving us the idea of what to expect from the game.
Now let’s discuss how the game has the potential to dethrone PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. First of all, PUBG itself is a mess right now even though the game has come of the early access.
PUBG is littered with bugs, latency issues, server issues, and hackers. I, being an early adopter, understand how much the game has improved from the early access but, these improvements aren’t enough to keep me engaged in a game in which hackers are dominating and if not, the bugs and glitches are ruining my experience.
Mavericks: Proving Grounds wouldn’t have to make such statements and make the game map big. Even if the developers say that the game will feature 100 players like PUBG and has no issues like hackers, invisible walls, and other bugs, Proving Grounds would be an instant success.
There is no doubt that PUBG has come a long way since early access, the game is in much more refined state that it was before but, hackers, bugs like gun automatically swapping while engaging with players, gun not reloading despite the reload animations, and sometimes the gun not firing even I am clearly pressing the fire button makes me want to switch another Battle Royale title and I genuinely think Mavericks: Proving Grounds might be the one.
Even when I write this, I am considering playing Payday 2 with my friends since they don’t want to play PUBG because of hacker infestation and bugs. One clear indication of players have had enough of PUBG is that its player count is dropping.
Mavericks: Proving Grounds has received just a very small teaser and even from that the game looks much more better and refined that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
However, there is a chance that Proving Grounds might fall victim to the same issues as PUBG since the game hasn’t released yet and the game will share performance on both server-side and client-side and client-side stuff generally opens up the doorway for hackers.
With that being said, Mavericks: Proving Grounds sounds like an interesting game that might actually be better than PUBG and even dethrone it as the idea of 400 players fighting to survive on a single map with only one victor is very appealing, at least to me.
Do you think Proving Grounds will the game that will push PUBG to the background and take the spotlight to itself? Will PUBG.Corp be able to sort out its game in time to keep its player base intact? Let us know in the comments.


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With smartphone adoption, OTTs and hacker advancement is progressing like never before, with digital content continuously at risk. Many organizations have built an entire practice around the issue. One such leader in content security is Conax, a part of the Kudelski Group, who enables secure content revenues for over 400 operators, representing 140 million pay-TV consumers in 85 countries globally.
Amidst the chaos of CommunicAsia2016, Conax EVP Principal Architect, Tor Helge Kristiansen, spoke exclusively to Telecom Review about the company's important role to play in protecting operators from increasing threats from hackers, and why security is such an important issue for business customers today.
'It is a big issue today because this [content] is the revenue source for the operator '“ the way they can monetize their content,' said Mr. Kristiansen. 'There are only two ways: advertising or charging for content. What we do is to make sure that operators are able to get this revenue. There are a lot of people out there who want to take away that revenue source by selling pirated devices and so on, which is what we are fighting against.'
Conax is headquartered in Norway, and has offices in 14 locations across the globe, including 24/7 global support operations based in India. The company works with satellite operators, cable operators, DTT operators, IPTs and OTTs. One of the major companies Conax is working with is Dish TV in India, a satellite operator with about 15 million subscribers.
Based on its flagship Conax Contego unified security hub, Conax provides telcos, cable, satellite, IP, mobile and terrestrial and broadband operations with flexible, scalable and cost-efficient solutions to deliver premium content securely. At CommunicAsia, Conax featured its Contego-as-a-Service cloud-based content protection service. The newly launched comprehensive and modular security offering includes the full benefits of its flagship Contego security back-end.
'Contego is a security hub which controls access to content for any platform for any type of device. It's the same hub that we use both for OTT, satellite and so on,' said Kristiansen. 'This is something that we have traditionally sold as an on-premise, installing it in the operator's server. What we have now done is offer the same thing as a hosted service, so we have installed a community cloud service where we host and operate this on behalf of the operator. It makes it a lot easier for the operator because it's a lower investment, saving operators from investing in the hardware. It also gives them quicker access to new features.'
Kristansen added that Conax always keeps this up-to-date on the latest software version that can activate the features its clients want. Conax also handles scaling, and all the security operations for its customers, so they can focus more on their business without worrying about managing security.
'We use our experts to make sure that the system is operated at maximum level,' said Kristiansen, 'so all the monitoring and all the management of the system is done by us. Contago-as-a-Service has already been deployed by some of our operators.'
Adding to this, Are Mathisen, SVP APAC, Conax, said: 'Operators looking to quickly and securely cultivate and tap growth opportunities in the digital content delivery landscape can now outsource content security to Conax. We are enabling operators of all shapes and sizes to focus on their strategies for capturing their share of new business in content delivery and providing new compelling consumer experience through TV everywhere services '“ while reducing CAPEX and complexity in running their pay-TV service.'
Security is of utmost importance to Conax. It's no secret that today's consumers expect and demand video content anywhere, anytime and on any device. Briefly setting aside content security, Mr. Kristiansen went on to discuss another Conax solution called Conax Xtend Multiscreen. It's an advanced turn-key solution for pay-TV operators to enable OTT multiscreen services and streamline them with DVB operations, securely.
'As a company, we are also building some end-to-end solutions for operators, to simplify running advanced services. Xtend Multiscreen is a complete multiscreen solution where you can bring content into multiple devices: tablets, smartphones, PCs, etc, and also premium services, such as live TV, VoD (Video on Demand) or Network PVR,' said Kristiansen.
'What we have done in this case is to bring in some partners to build the ecosystem,' he added. 'We brought in Cubiware for example, and integrated with a number of encoder vendors, CDN vendors, and so on. Then we are able to offer a complete solution customized to the operator's needs. It gives a pretty advanced solution that we can deploy in a relatively short timeframe.'
Challenges facing OTT service security
Securing content is a major issue for OTT operators today. Because of the diversity of OTTs, it's more complex to secure OTT content than it is to secure content for traditional broadcasters. It's a 'very fragmented market' says Kristiansen who believes Apple and Android devices are more often existing on a 'vertical ecosystem' with their own streaming formats.
'Apple is doing FairPlay streaming based on HLS. Widevine is in the Android devices, so there's a different DRM. And in Microsoft devices you have PlayReady. These are all slightly different in terms of functionality,' Mr. Kristiansen explained. 'In order to reach all these devices in a secure way, you need to do multi-DRM. This is the complexity: when you're doing multi-DRM, you need to ensure the same content rules on all devices. Handling this complexity with different DRMs, different streaming formats and so on is what we help operators with. The Contego back-end has a multi-DRM feature in which we take care of all complexities and provide a simple business interface to the operators.'
The main challenge operator's face today is the fragmented device market the industry is faced with. Kristiansen said another challenge is the vast community of skilled hackers who are continuously getting more advanced. The various ways they attack the hardware, software, etc, and attack back-end systems makes things very difficult. The more services operators introduce, it opens the door to more attack points for hackers.
'It used to be so simple. You had a broadcast service with live TV to your satellite box. There were only a few attack points. Now we have many different services and even more attack points,' said Kristiansen. 'The industry is very much aware of it and Hollywood is now enforcing more security on devices, such as the Enhanced Content Protection recommendation by MovieLabs. They are starting to specify pretty sophisticated security features to be in devices for 4K and UHD content.'
He added: 'These challenges are pushing particularly the hardware manufacturers significantly when it comes to hardware-based security, secure media pipelines, and so on.'
Looking to the future, Kristiansen said Conax is currently working on a number of new projects, focused on building a 'next-generation IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) solution'. The company recently launched a new security client called Conax Connected Access, which is an 'advanced hybrid client' for connected use-cases.
'This client is available in several different flavors when it comes to the security setup. We are now building complete solutions for IPTV based on this client that we will put into use in early autumn,' said Kristiansen. 'This is one of the major things we are working on.'
'In the future, I think what the industry will do is focus more on holistic security, as you need to focus security not only on devices, but more on the entire value chain. I suspect that this is going to be the focus also for the coming years: how can we protect content from lens to lens?'


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from the worse-than-TPP,-worse-than-ACTA dept
Techdirt has been writing about major trade deals like TPP, TAFTA/TTIP and — most recently — TISA more than most. But there’s one that we’ve not mentioned so far: the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). As Wikipedia explains, RCEP is:
Between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand). RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
As that makes clear, as far as participating nations are concerned, there is a big overlap between RCEP and TPP. The crucial difference is that the US is taking part in TPP, but not RCEP, while China and India are in RCEP, but not TPP. In this sense, then, they are rival free trade agreements, battling it out for economic supremacy in the Pacific region. Given the different views of the leading nations involved — the US on the one hand, China and India on the other — you might think the two trade agreements would be turning out to be very different, at least in certain areas. For example, as an interesting EFF analysis of a leaked South Korean RCEP document puts it:
We might then, expect that RCEP could be the “anti-TPP”; a vehicle for countries to push back against the neo-colonial ambitions of the United States, by proposing alternative, home-grown standards on the TPP’s thorniest issues such as copyright, patents, and investor protection. Some members of RCEP have indeed spoken out against the TPP because of its unbalanced promotion of strict copyright and patent laws, and some commentators have characterized RCEP and the TPP as competitors.
But based on yesterday’s leaks, the promise of RCEP pushing back against the TPP is being squandered. Instead, its IP chapter is turning out as a carbon copy.
Here are just a few of the proposals in the leaked South Korean document:
Prohibiting temporary copies of works in electronic form (a thoroughly misguided and anti-innovation provision that has even been erased from the TPP).
A prohibition on the Internet retransmission of broadcasts, mirroring proposals for a Broadcast Treaty that would inhibit the free use of public domain material.
Inflated awards for copyright or patent infringement, by calculating damages payable for the infringing works on the assumption that they were sold at full retail market value.
Criminal penalties for ?commercial scale? copyright and trademark infringement, even where the infringer has not sought or made any profit from the activity.
Suspension of the Internet accounts of repeat infringers, and censorship of bulletin boards that are “considered to seriously damage the sound use of copyrighted works” (whatever that means).
As the EFF post rightly notes, these and the other ideas it lists are even worse than those found in TPP or ACTA, which is some achievement. So the question has to be: why has South Korea adopted this extreme position? The EFF offers an intriguing guess:
Having been pushed into accepting unfavorably strict copyright, patent, and trademark rules in the process of negotiating its 2012 free trade agreement with the United States, Korea considers that it would be at a disadvantage if other countries were not subject to the same restrictions.
If true, that would be a good demonstration of how intellectual monopolies like copyright and patents are not boons that bring benefits to those who embrace them, but banes that are imposed on others in order to hobble them.
The South Korean chapter, with its revelations of just how bad things might be under RCEP, confirms once more the critical importance of leaks when negotiations with potentially far-reaching and global implications are conducted behind closed doors. Moreover:
Now that the text has been leaked and it has been revealed to be so atrocious, we can begin to build pressure for the negotiating countries to open up the process.
After all, it’s hard to combat a threat if you don’t even know it’s there.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and +glynmoody on Google+
Filed Under: china, copyright, india, intellectual property, rcep, tpp, trade agreements


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The coffee market is booming and there seems to be no sign of it abating.
It was only a few years ago that asking for a “flat white” would get a perplexed response from the staff in most pubs and cafés. However, coffee is now mainstream and growing.
Research from Allegra World Coffee Portal says the market is expected to reach a turnover of £16.5m by 2020, with non-specialist operators such as pubs helping to drive this.
Speciality coffee, which now accounts for an estimated 15% of the total volume of the out-of-home coffee market, is predicted to double in value in the next five years. Allegra forecasts growth of 13% year-on-year, outperforming the wider coffee market by 10% a year.
So what is driving the overall coffee market? It’s pretty simple... consumers.
The British public spends about £730m on coffee each year and consumes 70 million cups a day, according to recent research from personal finance company Buddy Loans.
With consumers demanding more coffee options, their desire for quality is also growing.
Richard Green, head of beverage solutions at Nestlé Professional argues: “For food-led pubs, in particular, a quality cup of coffee is no longer something that is sought by consumers, it is simply expected.”
And it is this expectation that is driving operators into this lucrative market.
JDW chairman ...
JD Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin recently revealed the chain sells one million cups of coffee a week and 25 million breakfasts. (Sacla Eating Out — Today and Tomorrow report)
“I’m told that’s more than Pret A Manger and Caffè Nero. I have said that, as a business, we should aim to triple this during the next 18 months,” he says.
And Wetherspoon is not the only operator to get in on the coffee buzz as a raft of pubcos from managed to tenanted such as Brains with coffee shop chain Coffee#1, Shepherd Neame Coffee & Ale House, and Fuller’s Brewer Street Coffee have all made major inroads into the sector.
Chris Jowsey, trading director at Star Pubs & Bars says the category has grown massively for pubs.
Coffee or not?
Coffee used to be a question of ‘shall we or shan’t we do it?’ Now the question is ‘where shall we put the coffee machine?’
- Chris Jowsey
“Coffee used to be a question of ‘shall we or shan’t we do it?’ Now the question is ‘where shall we put the coffee machine?’,” he says. “Even a pub with limited space can have a good compact pod coffee machine making high-quality espresso.”
While coffee growth seems set to continue, it is widely recognised that pubs with a strong food and breakfast offer provide an ideal opportunity to drive sales of coffee.
Mark Stevens, owner of gastropub the Rose at Shenfield, Essex, sells 1,200 cups of coffee a month, with the top sellers being cappuccino and Americano. He opened the pub in November 2014 and used the Star Pubs & Bars exclusive Kimbo deal to launch the coffee range.
“We still have a bar area but we are finding the designated driver who has a couple of soft drinks will add a coffee or even a speciality tea,” says Stevens.
“Coffee is a bonus sale. If you are selling a meal then you can encourage customers to have a coffee at the end.”
The pub is about to launch breakfasts and Stevens predicts a further significant uplift on the back of this.
Bryan Unkles, managing director at Cafeology, which supplies a range of operators including Inventive Leisure and TCG agrees that breakfasts can have an impact on coffee sales.
“The breakfast has certainly highlighted that hot beverages are available during early mornings,” he says.
But he admits there is a challenge for pubs to encourage sales outside the traditional food times.
Free Wi-Fi, designated coffee areas as well the opportunity to offer grab-and-go at the end of a meal all provide potential to drive coffee sales, he argues.
Phil Smith, head of category and insight, UCC Coffee UK & Ireland agrees. “Our latest research found that consumers expect a more extensive hot beverage offer from pubs when there’s also food available,” he says.
However, he admits that some pubs are recognising the value of driving coffee sales at traditionally quieter times and expects to see further growth in this part of the sector.
For the future, though, Unkles argues that innovation in the coffee market will be essential for pub operators and suppliers.
“This can be seasonal promotions such a Black Forest Mocha or a Pumpkin-Spiced Latte,” he says.
“It is coming up with new ideas to take on the high street coffee chains. Pubs have got to keep evolving because coffee is a major profit generator if it is done right.”
The Brasenose Arms in Banbury, Oxfordshire, has taken its coffee offer to the next level. Publican Johan Smal is producing his own-brand coffee, named Brazen Bean, fresh roasted from beans on-site, and serves this to customers, as well as selling it in branded bags.
He says the offer is a good driver of sales: “Even on £2 per cup, the GP on coffee is still good because it doesn’t cost more than about 12p to make,” he says.
Smal took over the Enterprise Inns pub, restaurant and bed & breakfast in August 2014 and completely overhauled the offer. It serves a high volume of coffee through its accommodation and breakfast business, but does find it drives sales during quieter times when a younger clientele comes in to use the free Wi-Fi.
“Coffee is all about location and we are in a small village town, not on a highway. We find the local market is slowly growing with us but you have to cultivate a bit of a culture with it,” Smal says.
While food is a driver, it is the evening trade where the pub sees a real growth in coffee sales.
“At dessert time, the staff are very busy on the coffee machine because a lot of people order espressos, lattes and cappuccinos at the end of the meal.”
Fuller’s launched its own branded Brewer Street Coffee in 2012 and opened its first stand-alone retail outlet the Fields in 2014 next to one of its pubs in Ealing.
The coffee, now sold across its 180 managed pubs, is in double-digital growth every month with Fuller’s selling around 1.3m coffees a year.
“The UK coffee market is going to grow and I am convinced it is going to continue,” says Fuller’s retail marketing manager Nick Corden.
“There are a lot more customers looking for coffee and as pubs become more food focused and premium, they have to start taking coffee seriously.”
Fuller’s took the decision to make its own blend of coffee to keep with its ethos of offering quality products from beer to food. Food, especially breakfasts, are a major driver across the estate and it should come as no surprise that its biggest breakfast site at Heathrow Terminal 2 has very strong coffee sales.
“Pubs can play a part in that afternoon coffee with a bit of Wi-Fi but it is more about growth in food and breakfasts and more people using pubs to eat out,” he says.
Corden says the stand-alone retail outlet is currently not part of a plan to roll out a coffee shop chain, but serves as a “beacon” for the rest of the estate. Fuller’s is now also offering Brewer Street Coffee to its tenants.