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Word of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry: organic is a bustling industry
- Category: Blog-en
- Published on Friday, 12 July 2013 12:25
"The data show SINAB on organic agriculture a dynamic sector, which enjoys a vitality that bodes well for the future of the entire sector. Organic farming is a growing industry, which focuses on quality and on consumer choice ".
So the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Nunzia De Girolamo said the first advance knowledge of organic farming developed by the National Information System for Organic Agriculture who photographed the situation of organic farming in our country as at 31 December 2012.
The certified organic operators in Italy are 49,709 with a majority of agricultural producers, but also with interesting facts of history, marketing firms and importers, which complete the supply chain of organic products. Compared to the figures reported last year there was an overall increase in the number of operators by 3%.
The cultivated area under organic farming, amounted to 1,167,362 hectares, with an overall increase over the previous year, by 6.4%. Also in terms of the consumption data collected by the Panel families Ismea / GFK-Eurisko, in the first quarter, 2013, show a bio spending still expanding even with a +8.8% compared to the same period last year.
"These numbers are interesting - said the Minister - that demonstrate that the climate of confidence by consumers for this type of production is always very high and that allow us to maintain our leadership in Europe for this type of production. Ministry - has concluded the Minister - is strongly committed to always maintain a very high level of control of the sector and to guarantee great results we are getting them thanks to a computerized data management industry, which allows for maximum transparency for all parties engaged in the control and supervision, and the special attention we are paying, through the efforts of the Customs Agency, to exercise vigilance regarding organic products imported from third countries. "
Press Office Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry
Buy Organic products, CLICK HERE to look at the products in the catalog E-Movement!


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Solving the issue of food waste from overstock and distressed items
Motatos is a start-up that combats the waste of food with the help of FIEGE’s know-how in Großbeeren.
When Alexander Holzknecht stood for the first time inside the logistics centre in 2020 where food items were to be stored, he could not picture the 5,000 square metres of storage space ever being filled. “I will never forget that meeting. Six months later, we needed a new warehouse”, the Country Manager Germany working at Motatos GmbH says, looking back. The young enterprise has outsourced its inbound and outbound logistics to FIEGE. From the Großbeeren multi-user centre, the Greven-based logistics company has been shipping roughly 80,000 packages a month in year two of the collaboration with Motatos – and the trend is on the rise: “We are planning to double our order volume in 2022”, Holzknecht announces.
Motatos is the international offshoot of Matsmart in Scandinavia AB, founded some seven years ago. Since Matsmart is a Swedish play on words, a new name had to be found for the branches in Finland, then Denmark, and one year ago now, Germany. Potatoes, Tomatoes, Motatos – the name fits in with the rest. “The idea behind this is that the word contains a small error but is still great. And the same goes for the food. Some things are not perfect, but still taste great”, Holzknecht tells us.
The sustainable approach to overstock
Motatos’ concept is equally great: Foodstuffs that are production rejects or whose best before dates are about to expire or have only just expired are sold at a clearly lower price online. “Some twelve million tonnes of food are disposed of in Germany every year. We wanted to find a sustainable solution for this overproduction”, Holzknecht explains. The start-up’s product range consists of 1,000 regularly changing items.
Selling food online comes with logistical challenges. After all, the shopping basket which shoppers fill is complex and on average consists of 30 different products. “This calls for a high degree of flexibility. Thanks for years of experience in eCommerce and the food segment, FIEGE has turned out to be an extremely good choice”, Holzknecht reports. FIEGE’s know-how proved particularly invaluable when it came to optimising orders. “A scalable set-up was decisive for us to succeed. We want to grow and need partners for this who can keep up with this development”, says Holzknecht.
Roughly 80,000 outbound packages leave the FIEGE Großbeeren branch every month for Motatos. (Caption: Viktor Strasse/Motatos)
Steady growth of pillars
Initially, the German market was viewed with great respect. “We had to gauge which role sustainability plays on the part of consumers”, is how Holzknecht recalls the mental exercises leading up to the past decision. In the end, they jumped in at the deep end. “The online shop went live in April 2020 and our development during the first year of business has been fantastic”, Holzknecht says. The decisive criterion for the company’s success was steady, healthy growth in relation to the available offer as well as customers, all while the logistics also had evolve. The FIEGE branch located south of Berlin operates currently on 8,500 square metres of warehouse space.
More and more suppliers are welcoming Motatos’ business model. “Producers don’t make money with us, but we solve their overstock problems”, Holzknecht says, adding that: “Our 200+ suppliers include a few very well-known clients.” The Country Manager is satisfied that the circle is growing: “Usually consumers tend to buy not only with Motatos, but by including us in their shopping routine, they already significnatly avoid wasting food.”
Clear goal ahead
The market then definitely exploded over the last six months. “We therefore sparked the next growth stage in autumn”, says the Country Manager. In the meantime, its Germany workforce operates with a team of 15 employees. The goal is to add more countries. If the plan works out, Holzknecht will soon be standing in an even larger warehouse.

domain: news


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The açai craze in the United States is still a relatively new one, and SoBol founder and CEO Jason Mazzarone has been at the forefront of this food trend from the beginning. Founded in 2014, SoBol was one of the earlier brands to provide açai bowls in a fast-casual setting.
“It’s a relatively healthy alternative to your daily meals,” Mazzarone said of açai bowls. “In terms of fast-casual or QSR, this is right up there with nutritional benefits of salads and simpler menu items.”
The açai berry is originally from Brazil and the bowl product entered the U.S. market in California about 20 years ago. By that time, the fruit had already been around in different products in the U.S., Mazzarone said. As more and more people got into açai bowls, more ingredients were added and the food transitioned.
“Celebrities and social media made it mainstream in the last five years and the fruit made significant strides in the last three years as more shops opened up and established themselves as offering niche products,” Mazzarone said.
The timing for açai was also perfect for other reasons.
“We also evolved during a time when different food allergies, especially gluten, were coming into play more,” Mazzarone said. “Also, different eating lifestyles, such as vegetarian and vegan, have grown substantially over the last five to 10 years. So the timing was good because we came into a market that was growing significantly.”
Mazzarone emphasized that the SoBol brand is meant to be enjoyed by everyone, from health nuts to people who just want a bite to eat.
“Our customer is everyone,” he said. “An açai bowl is a delicious product, but it also makes you feel decent after you eat it. A lot of QSR food makes you feel sluggish after, whereas ours gives you the opportunity to fill your belly with healthy nutrients to get you to your next meal and keep you feeling energized.”
He noted that younger customers want a tasty and inexpensive lunch while adult customers want to live longer, and that the average American is more conscious about what they’re putting in their bodies.
And everyone wants to feel good after they eat.
“It was good timing with our product because so many people are looking for cleaner options,” he said.
Word of mouth has been the best marketing by far for açai bowls, he said.
“That has helped the growth,” he said. “An açai bowl is is so different than what you typically eat for lunch. It takes on the vibe of almost a dessert, but you can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And then there’s the movement to healthier dining overall. We’ve all benefited from that in the space.”
SoBol puts several measures in place to stay competitive in an increasingly saturated segment. With more and more brands focusing on health and offering healthy eating options, paying close attention to detail is crucial.
“Customers want something delicious of great value in a clean environment and served by a friendly staff,” Mazzarone said. “Those are the things that drive us. We get our fruit in fresh every day. We have our own proprietary recipe for granola, which I started off making in my mom’s kitchen, so the texture and flavor of a homemade product sets us apart. And we have our Brazilian partners sourcing us the best açai possible. So it’s a culmination of our values, which focus on the customer experience, using high-quality products and forming great partnerships.”
The brand has also prioritized staying on top of food-buying trends. Online ordering and third-party delivery demand prompted the brand to look into alternative ways to help consumers get their açai bowl fix. Mazzarone admitted he was “late to the game” in this respect, but only because he did not want to see SoBol customers get charged “outrageous numbers” in delivery fees. The SoBol team eventually found that, in addition to having a great product, providing delivery services made the brand even more valuable.
“We recently launched online ordering and third-party delivery and are still collecting data, and we’d be happy if we can grow it to 15 to 20% of the business,” he said.
The brand also stands out by offering customization options while keeping the menu simple and straightforward.
“Our competitors will have 20 bowls with funny names, but we say: ‘Here are our bases and here are our toppings and you can customize a million ways,’” Mazzarone said.
SoBol finds that customers typically come in three to four times a week and the brand works very hard to prevent açai bowl burnout by providing variety.
“We knew we needed three bases: the pitaya bowl, the açai bowl and the kale-spinach green bowl,” Mazzarone said. “We’ve paired them up in a way that any bowl can be a smoothie and any smoothie can be a bowl. Do you want granola and fresh fruit? A base of açai with toppings of pitaya? Just a smoothie without any toppings? We have it all.”
In terms of toppings, the brand tries to keep things on the healthier side. Mazzarone and his team found that people tend to choose unhealthy options when they have them, so SoBol offers guests items such as house-made peanut butter and goji berries, along with hemp, chia and flax seeds.
“You can enhance your bowl but also keep it healthy,” Mazzarone said. “Healthy, delicious and a good value—that’s our jam. To provide something affordable, offer great value, be aesthetically pleasing and have nutritional benefits is really what SoBol is all about.”
Mazzarone emphasized that it’s not only the health, convenience or great value that set SoBol apart; it’s the brand’s commitment to all three.
“If we weren’t delicious, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are,” said Mazzarone “We get people here because açai bowls are fast, cool, healthy and taste good. Some people don’t even care that it’s healthy. They just think it tastes good. We needed all of that to be standalone.”
With such a commitment to providing high-quality food, SoBol is well-positioned for long-term success in the QSR space.
“We care about our franchisees, staff and customer base,” Mazzarone said. “If you care, you have a much better chance of being successful. We don’t believe we’re a trend. We believe we’re here to stay in the segment as a healthy alternative to breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks or dessert. There is other competition doing açai bowls, but they don’t have every pillar we have.”


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Posted by Dale Buss on August 12, 2011 09:00 AM
Global stock markets rise this morning in last day of trading in wild week.
American Airlines plans to spin off its Eagle commuter unit.
Angry Birds parent Rovio seeks $1.2 billion valuation.
Anheuser-Busch InBev counts on NFL to lift Bud Light in a big way.
Apple holds sway in tablet wars.
Brinker’s increases focus on value at its restaurant brands such as Chili’s Grill & Bar.
Coca-Cola stumbles on Facebook post in Portuguese.Continue reading...


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A new consumer survey indicates that roughly half of consumers respond to social media as a marketing and commerce channel.
According to data from marketing performance management technology provider Allocadia, 51% of more than 1,000 surveyed consumers say social media ads influence their purchasing decisions. Among respondents who are influenced, 50% say social media ads spark gift ideas, 44% say social media ads introduce them to a product they didn’t know of, and 44% say social media ads remind them of a product they need or want.
In addition, 75% of respondents say they buy products from third-party digital sites. While Amazon (73%) is the most popular third-party retail site, social media platforms Facebook (48%) and Instagram (32%) are also used by sizable numbers of consumers for digital commerce. On social media, for 44% of respondents, influencers promoting or using a product can make a difference in the decision to buy, if the buyer likes the influencer.
Other notable findings include:
• 42% of respondents expect their spending to be about the same in 2021 compared to 2020, while 30% expect to spend more, and 28% expect to spend less.
• When asked what channels they will use most to shop in 2021, a leading 47% of respondents plan to shop most at a big-box store in-person. Forty-one percent plan to shop most at a small business in-person, while 40% say they will shop most at a big box store online and 38% will shop most at small businesses online.
• Regardless of the form of advertising, 73% of respondents expect brands to incorporate more diversity into their ad campaigns in 2021.
• Respondents cited inspiration (42%), joy (40%), hope (34%), and love (38%) as triggers for them to engage or buy. People are decidedly not likely to engage or buy if an ad incites sadness (7%), fear (8%), anger (8%), or annoyance (6%).


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Tesla appoints new board chair
DETROIT — Tesla's board has named one of its own as chairman to replace Elon Musk, complying with terms of a fraud settlement with U.S. securities regulators.
The electric car and solar panel company's board on Thursday named Australian telecommunications executive Robyn Denholm as chairman, effective immediately.
Denholm will step down as chief financial officer and strategy head at Australia's Telstra after a six-month notice period to work full-time at Tesla, where she has served on the board since 2014.
Musk will remain as Tesla's chief executive as part of the settlement deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The U.S. agency filed a lawsuit alleging that Musk duped investors in August with misleading statements on Twitter about securing the funding to take Tesla private.
"I believe in this company. I believe in its mission and I look forward to helping Elon and the Tesla team achieve sustainable profitability and drive long-term shareholder value," Denholm said in a statement.
Ford buys electric scooter sharing company Spin
NEW YORK — Ford Motor Co. has bought an electric scooter sharing company, expanding its presence in alternative modes of transportation.
The century-old automobile company announced its acquisition of Spin, a San Francisco-based dockless scooter sharing company, on Wednesday.
Spin operates in 13 cities and campuses and allows riders to borrow a scooter for $1 and an additional 15 cents per minute.
Ford says the number of mobility options available to people has risen dramatically in recent years, and in some situations people use multiple forms of transportation during a single trip.
Ride-sharing giants Uber and Lyft also have been investing in scooter sharing companies.
Ford also owns bike sharing system Ford Go Bike in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Financial terms of the Spin acquisition were not disclosed.
Report: Google eyes NYC expansion
NEW YORK — Google is planning a major expansion in New York City, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal .
The newspaper reported Wednesday that the company plans to add space for more than 12,000 additional New York workers. The Journal cited anonymous people familiar with the plans.
The paper said Google has New York real estate deals in the works that would give it room for nearly 20,000 workers. Those include buying or leasing a 1.3 million-square-foot building in the city's West Village neighborhood due to be completed by 2022.
A Google spokesperson said the company had no comment on the Journal report. The reported expansion of Google's workforce would almost match the 25,000 employees that Seattle-based Amazon is reportedly considering bring to New York's Long Island City as part of its own highly publicized search for new office locations.
Amazon would also reportedly add another 25,000 jobs to a location in Crystal City in northern Virginia near Washington, D.C.
New York and Washington, like other major cities with existing clusters of highly educated workers, research universities and other successful technology companies, are increasingly in demand as companies like Google and Amazon expand.
That creates a positive feedback loop that benefits these municipalities and concentrates opportunity in ways that risk leaving other parts of the country behind.
Coke drink plan hurts Monster
CORONA, Calif. — Shares of energy drink maker Monster Beverage Corp. tumbled after the company said its partner Coca-Cola Co. is developing energy drinks of its own.
Coke bought a stake in California-based Monster in 2014. At that time, Coke transferred its energy brands to Monster and agreed not to develop competing drinks.
But in a conference call with investors late Wednesday, Monster CEO Rodney Sacks said Coke is developing two energy drinks it believes are exceptions to the agreement.
Coke says Coca-Cola Energy and Coca-Cola Energy No Sugar wouldn't violate the agreement, which allows Coke to market energy drinks under its own name. But Monster is fighting their release. Both companies confirmed they have entered into arbitration.
FDA OKs return of popular asthma inhaler
TRENTON — A new version of the once-popular asthma inhaler Primatene Mist will soon return to U.S. stores.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the over-the-counter aerosol inhaler late Wednesday. It's for temporary relief of mild, intermittent asthma symptoms in people ages 12 and up.
The original Primatene Mist was pulled from store shelves seven years ago because the inhaler's ozone-depleting propellant had been banned. That version had been marketed for half a century, including in memorable TV ads .
The new product from Amphastar Pharmaceuticals uses a safer propellant. The inhaler will cost about $25 and should be available by the end of the year.
The FDA said in a statement that the inhaler should not be substituted for prescription treatments or used by people with severe asthma.
Nissan profit dips as sales fall
TOKYO — Japanese automaker Nissan reported Thursday an 8 percent fall in profit for the latest quarter as declining sales offset the benefits of cost cuts.
Nissan Motor Co.'s July-September profit totaled the U.S. equivalent of $1.1 billion Thursday.
Quarterly sales dipped nearly 3 percent to $24.8 billion.
Nissan, which makes the March subcompact, Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, stuck to its forecast for the fiscal year through March for a $4.4 billion profit on $106 billion in sales.
The company's chief financial officer, Hiroshi Karube, said Nissan's quarterly vehicle sales fell in North America and Europe, but rose in China, while they held relatively steady in Japan, compared to last year. He said Nissan was working hard to restore profitability in the key U.S. market. The rising cost of raw materials also eroded earnings, he said.
Tariffs on steel, aluminum and other raw materials announced by President Donald Trump have had some negative effect, but they were only a small part of the overall rising cost of raw materials, which dented profitability, Karube said.


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According to Key Data, the U.S. vacation rental travel sector is looking positive in early 2023, as a significant rise in the number of reservations made online in January spiked, when compared to January 2022.
More than 2 million U.S. homes no longer require a jumbo loan, according to a new analysis by Zillow Home Loans. This means customers will have additional available inventory that is covered by a more accessible financing option.
According to the California Association of Realtors, housing demand in California continued to fall sharply as rising interest rates further dampened the state's housing market in November 2022. California's home sales registered the lowest annualized pace since October 2007 and the largest year-over-year sales drop in at least the past four decades.
The State of California's housing market continued shifting in October 2022 as the monthly average 30-year fixed rate mortgage hovered near 7 percent and led to the lowest sales level since February 2008 and the largest year-over-year decline since December 2007, outside of the pandemic.
According to the California Association of Realtors, rapidly rising U.S. mortgage rates and economic uncertainty slowed California home sales in September 2022.
Posted on March 23, 2022


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Watching series' made up the bulk of our time with the Oculus Quest, for example, but that wasn't the most fun we had with it. Oh no, that was reserved for Beat Saber.
The first South African Audi Customer Private Lounge (CPL) has opened at Audi Centre Centurion which enables you to experience a new car with VR tech.
If you’ve ever participated in a virtual reality (VR) experience, you might have found yourself navigating the virtual world as an avatar. If you haven’t, you probably recognise the experience from its portrayal in film and on television. Popular media has brought us characters like Jake Sully in Avatar, Wade Watts in Ready Player One, and Danny and Karl in the Black Mirror episode Striking Vipers...[Read More]
You’ve probably heard how Virtual Reality (VR) is going to change everything: the way we work, the way we live, the way we play. Still, for every truly transformative technology, there are landfills of hoverboards, 3D televisions, Segways, and MiniDiscs – the technological scrap it turns out we didn’t need.
This week on Light Start, we have a small games console, a self-driving car, a Swamp Thing, and Valve's own version of virtual reality.
So you’re considering a virtual reality headset, are you? Printer and laptop maker HP are hoping to tempt you away from the more established offerings from Facebook-owned Oculus and the HTC/Valve collaboration known as the Vive. Their newest offering is called the Reverb and with it HP hopes that a better pair of screens will make you turn your eyes in its direction. HP’s Reverb headse...[Read More]
Lonely Planet, and others, have become excited by tourism powered by virtual reality(VR) – both on this planet and, thanks to NASA, on others. VR films are also being developed by travel companies, such as Thomas Cook. And Tourism Australia has partnered with Google to understand the marketing potential of VR (well, 360 degree panoramic videos).
Labo, the cardboard DIY kits that Nintendo offers for its Switch console continues to evolve, and next up it's bringing VR to the Japanese portable console.
Prefacing Mobile World Congress this week, Microsoft has unveiled the HoloLens 2, a next-gen 'mixed reality' headset that, according to its makers, is more immersive and comfortable than the original.


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Commentary: Roxio, Napster, and Why the Music Industry Just Doesn’t Get It
Roxio's recent $5 million purchase of the remnants of Napster caused more than a few music and technology pundits to scratch their heads. The marriage of peer-to-peer filesharing, music downloading, and CD burning might have seemed a match made in heaven back in 2000, but now you can't help wondering— what's the point? After all, Napster's been out of commission for more than a year, and its physical assets recently hit the auction block (literally; computer parts, laptops, and Napster-logo items went up for sale in San Francisco in December). Music enthusiasts have moved on to other peer-to-peer networks like KaZaA to acquire their ill-gotten booty. Just what does Roxio get out of the deal?
For the record, at least, Roxio's not talking, beyond a prepared statement it issued when it first announced the transaction, which was approved in November by the California bankruptcy court overseeing Napster's status. "We feel that Napster has value that is synergistic with Roxio's current digital media offerings and long-term vision for the future of digital media entertainment," the statement reads, adding that Roxio acquired all of Napster's assets—including several technology patents—and none of its liabilities, including defending the once-dominant filesharing service from litigation against the record labels. "Following the close of the transaction, we will provide consumers and investors a strategic vision of how Napster will expand Roxio's role in the digital media landscape and enhance our offerings to consumers." Not exactly enlightening, but then again, it's not exactly surprising that Roxio is keeping mum about its plans, since Bertelsmann—parent company of record company BMG—was evidently unable to forge a new pay-for-play service after it cut a deal with Napster in 2000.
So now the future of Napster lies in the hands of Roxio, which took its first step toward a still-undefined downloading/burning service when it entered into a partnership with EMI Recorded Music in 2001. At the time, Roxio and EMI promised to "commercialize consumer CD recording" by allowing users to burn licensed EMI recordings with its Easy CD Creator software. Roxio now provides the CD burning technology for Pressplay—a service that offers streaming and limited copying of songs from the Sony, Universal, and EMI catalogs in a proprietary format—and MusicNet, which offers the same services with the Universal, BMG, and AOL/Time Warner Music Group catalogs. But that's still a far cry from the "heavenly jukebox" idea that appealed to Napster's users, which numbered 26 million at the service's peak popularity in early 2000, before the record label lawsuits forced it to shut down in June of that year. And while Pressplay and MusicNet, as well as similar services like Rhapsody and Liquid Audio, are picking up steam, none of them offers the sort of song selection that Napster did. In the meantime, other peer-to-peer networks like KaZaA and LimeWire have stepped into the void, and users accustomed to free, unfettered downloading and burning have migrated to those services rather than to the subscription models. According to one study, KaZaA boasts about 3.5 million users at any given time, while the pay-to-play services have managed to muster only about 500,000 combined users.
"Free music for download is still so prevalent that the migration to paid services will be a very slow one," says Jupiter Research analyst Lee Black. "Even though the free services are full of headaches, like unpredictable file integrity and download speeds, users tolerate those problems because it's free. There's some merit in the argument that the Napster name is worth something, but that name was associated with something free."
No matter what they're called, veteran music critic and industry observer Dave Marsh says the industry-sponsored music services are fraught with problems that make their success improbable, if not impossible. One problem, he says, is image: "The labels are perceived as having destroyed the Napster network, which is quite accurate, and to have done it out of stubborn selfishness and through being backwards to a primitive extreme about the potential of new technologies." And this perception, he says, is "not entirely inaccurate." The second issue, he says, is that "there is a fundamental problem with access. It is one thing to go to one dealership for Ford, another for GM, a third for Toyota. But to do that for Columbia, Universal, and WEA? It's stupid."
And while people might be willing to put up with MP3's inferior sound quality for free, Marsh says that fans have shown they're not willing to settle on it for a price. "Plus, the marketing leaves literally everything to be desired," he says. "You aren't getting graphics, liner notes, DVD attachments, none of the stuff you get from a CD. So, essentially, you are paying for nothing more, certainly nothing better, than you get in (peer-to-peer) swap."
The marketing of the services themselves is, thus far, "laughable," Marsh says. "When's the last time you heard a radio or saw a TV commercial for MusicNet or Pressplay? When's the last time you saw a magazine or newspaper ad for one? Got an email about it? Who knows these services are out there?" he says. "I wouldn't if I relied on any of the above."
So does that mean music fans think they deserve all the music they want without having to compensate the artists who make it? The answer to that question might be different had the music industry not made such monumental PR gaffes in its response to Napster's popularity, culminating in National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences president Michael Greene's embarrassing, vicious tirade against downloaders on the 2002 Grammy telecast. NARAS had hired three college students to download music for three days to demonstrate how downloading was killing the music industry. Greene claimed that the students were able to download 6,000 songs in that time—a number that defied the rules of both bandwidth and sleep deprivation—and that such downloads prevented artists from getting paid for their work.
(The RIAA's claims that piracy is killing music sales are the product of similarly fuzzy math. While music sales dropped 4.1% in 2001, the number of new releases dropped by almost 25%, and the labels invested less in music than in any year since 1997. So demand for music, in relation to market offerings, has stayed relatively strong in a weak economy.)
Greene might have been more convincing if it weren't for the fact that by now even casual music fans believe that it's not downloading but the record labels that prevent artists from getting paid for their work with unfair contracts and shady accounting practices, practices exposed in California state senate hearings last fall. After three hearings, California state senator Kevin Murray wrote that artists feel they're working in "an indentured servitude system designed to keep them perpetually indebted to the companies who also own the product of their labor."
Consumers feel, rightly or wrongly, that by the time they get their hands on the music, they're not paying the artists but rather the record labels, and that the musicians won't see much—if any—of the $17.98 they're asked to plunk down at the cash register. It's not that they think they've got a right to free music; it's that they think the music industry is so corrupt that they're in fact taking the side of the artists when they snag the music they want for free. "The word is out that none of the money is going to go to the artists," Marsh says. "Who wants to make (Universal Music Group CEO) Doug Morris rich? We mightn't mind Ashanti or even Korn, but Doug and (Sony Music executive) Tommy Mottola?"
If you really push music fans on the issue, I'd bet that most would say they'd be happy to pay reasonable prices to legally own the music they love, as long as they can play it any time and any place they want to. But the music industry—and we may soon have to include Roxio and other recording software companies in that mix—insists that it, and not the artists or the fans, owns the music and that listeners can only license it for limited use via proprietary technology. Fans don't want to have to pay a separate fee for each copy of a song—one for the car, one for the dorm room, and on and on—and it's unlikely that Roxio or anybody else will be able to figure out a licensing deal that gives the people what they want.
"Phil Spector and three drunken chimpanzees could conjure a better plan than any of these," Marsh says, "and have time left on their hands while they waited for the sun to come back up."


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Children's TV stuffed with junk food adverts
by SEAN POULTER, Daily Mail
More than 90 per cent of food products advertised during breaks in cartoons and quizzes contain alarming levels of fat, salt and sugar.
The food and health campaign group Sustain has produced a list of the ten firms it says are the worst offenders, including McDonald's and Cadbury's.
It is demanding action from the Government as well as food and TV watchdogs to ban the targeting of children with advertising of unhealthy foods.
It claims the junk food firms, with their reliance on popular children's characters, are dangerously undermining a healthy eating message from parents and the Government.
Government studies reveal that children generally eat less than half the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
More than 11 per cent of British children are overweight, a figure which is rising sharply, while 53 per cent have tooth decay.
The study monitored 40 hours of television and 272 commercials shown by ITV on weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings, plus the breaks around Channel 4's Big Breakfast.
Food advertisements dominated the schedules, and between 95 and 99 per cent were high in fat, sugar or salt.
Sweets, chocolate, cakes and biscuits accounted for 48 per cent of food advertisements on Children's ITV and 54 per cent during the Big Breakfast.
There was not a single advertisement for fruit and vegetables during adult or children's viewing.
Charlie Powell of Sustain said: 'Advertising during children's programming presents a grossly unbalanced nutritional message, creating a conflict between the types of food promoted and national dietary recommendations.
'This selective targeting of children is unjustifiable given the alarming rise in childhood obesity and scientific evidence that diets high in fats, especially saturated fats, sugar and salt, have a detrimental effect on children's current and future health.'
The new Broadcasting Minister, Dr Kim Howells, who was previously Consumer Affairs Minister, has made clear his concern about hard-sell commercials.
But the Advertising Association has argued that children are growing up in a commercial world and dealing with advertising is part of their education.
The organisation says that money from advertisements allows commercial television to make quality programmes.
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Europeans want to extend the life cycle of digital devices
European consumers demand for a longer life cycle for their digital devices. About 8 out of 10 citizens in the European Union (79%) believe that manufacturers should facilitate the repairment of the digital devices or take care of the replacement of individual spare parts.
About 79% of EU citizens believe that manufacturers of digital devices should facilitate their repairment. The view of European consumers on extending the life of digital devices, which will lead to a model of sustainable consumption, also support the members of the European Parliament. More specifically, the members of the European Parliament asked for measures to be taken on the so-called “right to repair”.
In particular, Parliament advocated measures to promote the repair and reuse of products, as well as provide support for local repairers and companies selling second-hand goods. “We need to put an end to the early devaluation of products by including them in the blacklist of unfair commercial practices and making the duration of legal guarantees commensurate with their estimated lifespan,” said David Kormant (Verts / ALE, France), who struggles for a more sustainable single market.
The main point of the report is the call for the establishment of a real “right to repair”. The rationale is to make repairs simple and affordable.
The members of the European Parliament call for better access to information on repairments, promotion of home repairments, support for local and independent repairers, and a guarantee that the cost of repairments will be covered.
The report says that the current system of devaluation, lack of access to spare parts, guarantee and repairment information is forcing people to buy new goods instead of repairing existing ones. About 59% of consumers are unaware that the legal minimum guarantee period in the EU are the two years.
Also, the members of the European Parliament call public institutions which account for 16% of the EU’s gross domestic product , to set an example by prioritising small, local and sustainable companies in public tenders.
Furthermore, the members of the European Parliament want more responsible advertising, including rules covering the extraction of personal data for personalised advertisements and greenwashing, which is when companies give the impression that a product is more environmentally friendly than it really is.
According to a Eurobarometer survey, 77% of Europeans try to repair the products they already have before buying new ones. Meanwhile, a Commission study (2018) states that consumers are three times more likely to buy a product if it has been described as durable and repairable.
The members of the European Parliament are calling for legislation on mandatory product labeling, which indicates their durability and repairability. They also suggest the use of digital technology to promote a sustainable market. They propose the creation of a common database and a “passport” of products.
The aim of the two tools is to enable better monitoring of products and their spare parts along the value chain, the exchange of information between producers and consumers, but also the most effective market surveillance.
When talking about a product’s life cycle entrepreneurs can increase growth in the whole process by implementing specific marketing strategies in attracting and retaining consumers. It is crucial for a company to find ways of promoting the products to keep them growing. Also, entrepreneurs must pay attention to the market and the changes and innovations that emerge. Of course, new technologies lead the way so companies must always be ready for updates, observe what consumers prefer and try to strengthen certain channels.
Regarding digital product lifecycle, businessmen have to face saturation. But for sure, they can prevent it by paying attention and being cautious. Therefore, monitoring their product’s lifecycle will make it easier to identify when they should focus on updating and what should be done in each case.Track Latest News Live on CEOWORLD magazine and get news updates from the United States and around the world. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the CEOWORLD magazine.
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With so many businesses having opted to move their operations online, it is unsurprising to see that the online market has experienced a bit of a boom. The events of the pandemic might have ushered the change but in many ways, it seemed like it was something that was going to happen eventually anyway. Here's why.
Facebook made an announcement on Tuesday that everyone saw coming by launching its Shops feature, a service that will allow businesses to display and sell products on its platforms. Positioned to take over the online shopping market for small business, Facebook opportune foray into the online shopping market comes as no surprise.


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BofA adapting consumer tech for use with corporate clients
What will the future of corporate banking, transaction services and supply chains look like?
At the SIBOS conference last week, Bank of America executives spoke of some of the technologies they’re experimenting with now to determine which seem viable in the long run. Chief among those are artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, virtual assistants (including expanding consumer-facing Erica to commercial banking), distributed ledgers and application programming interfaces.
"While no one can predict the future, what we can do is help companies be prepared for drastic changes to their company or disruptions to the marketplace," says Stephanie Wolf, head of business, government and financial institutions sales for BofA's Global Transaction Services unit. "We know these will inevitably occur. Our goal therefore for investing and innovating in new technologies is to arm treasurers with the tools that can help them be dynamic and agile, and to manage their business holistically — from the customer base to the supply base."
Ayeesha Sachedina, head of cross-product solutions at Global Transaction Services, focuses on where emerging and disruptive technologies like AI, blockchain, cloud, robotic process automation, internet of things and 5G can be relevant. One place her team has already deployed AI is in cross-border wire payments.
One way they use AI is to help clients optimize their working capital.
“We are in the middle of launching a cash-forecasting product that uses predictive analytics to forecast where our clients have their cash positions, and help them to better optimize their working capital, across not only their Bank of America footprint, but all of their bank presences,” Sachedina said. “That allows clients to automate their internal processes and make better decisions.”
In a third use of AI in corporate banking, Bank of America has started deploying the virtual assistant Erica, which is currently embedded in its mobile banking app and used by 15 million consumers, to help automate service and advice for its CashPro clients. CashPro is the company's online banking software for large businesses.
“It’s become a great employee tool our servicing teams can use, where they're able to type in or speak questions,” said Tom Durkin, global product head for CashPro. “The technology aggregates information from as many as 10 different systems that they might have to refer to before they can give an answer, whether they're on the phone with a client or with an internal associate. It's changed the servicing model in terms of getting quick access to information.”
Customers might also be able to use Erica directly, to ask questions about their payments — for instance, did this payment get to Singapore?
And employees have been trained to use and code their own bots, to automate repetitive tasks such as pulling reports.
“It bridges some of the historical knowledge that has resided within the technology organization into the line of business,” Sachedina said. “You see that shift in skill set, which is fascinating. I'm sure as the years go by, we'll see more and more of that.”
During SIBOS, BofA announced three new application programming interfaces for CashPro clients. These allow corporate customers to handle banking tasks from within other applications they use in their daily lives, such as enterprise resource planning software. One of the new APIs lets clients directly manage cross-border payments from within another application. Another provides the ability to directly retrieve check images. The third lets customers pull and schedule reports from CashPro.
The cross-border payment API automates some of the manual work that occurs when banks and customers exchange foreign exchange rate information.
“I wouldn't be surprised if many are still exchanging that via an Excel spreadsheet,” Durkin said. “So moving that to an environment where you have real-time access to that information from your trading system or your ERP system, then setting the stage for a potential guaranteed rate based upon expected amounts to trade, that's something we're seeing more clients take advantage of.”
In cross-border payments, Bank of America has also been experimenting with multiple ways to achieve real-time payments, according to Ad van der Poel, co-head of product management for Global Transaction Services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
One is cross-border automated clearinghouse, which is cross-border access through local clearinghouses, whether they’re real-time payments or more traditional ACH. Bank of America has been offering this for some time.
“The challenge, still though, in that area is that you're very dependent on the rules within that domestic clearing,” he said. “Making changes to payment scheme rules takes time.”
In another path to faster cross-border payments, BofA has been working with distributed-ledger technology provided by Ripple to see how it operates, if it can keep up with high volumes and if it’s an option for the future.
But the bank’s key partner for cross-border payments is Swift.
“One of the key things to make cross-border payments a success is reachability,” van der Poel said. “In order to achieve reachability, you need to have a community. You need to have a lot of players connected. Whether they are banks, nonbank financial institutions, payment service providers of any kind, they all need to be connected to achieve that reachability. Swift is still the solution that has most of that collaboration going on.”
Bank of America has been using Swift GPI, the organization’s payment tracking software.
“Those payments that have gone via GPI, 95% of those are now completed on the same day,” van der Poel said. “About 40% of those are done within five minutes. On top of that, Swift is working on a transaction management platform; they're creating something that goes beyond messaging and transaction tracing.”
Card networks like Visa, Mastercard and American Express are also working on cross-border payment solutions. Bank of America is talking to all of them and considering their offerings, he said.


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A hospitality veteran with over two decades in the industry, Sunjae Sharma, Managing Director, India and Southwest Asia, Hyatt India Consultancy has seen many business cycles, helmed diverse teams, and always stood firm in leading from the front.
“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails” said John Maxwell, the American leadership coach and author. Simply put, this line beautifully encapsulates the personality and leadership style of Sunjae Sharma, Managing Director, India and Southwest Asia, Hyatt India Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.
In an exclusive for Today’s Traveller Collector’s Issue “Champions of Change” 2022, Sunjae Sharma talks about the unforeseen pandemic, challenges of business in the post-pandemic world, and how he is focused on making brand Hyatt bigger and better in India.
Leading the wave of innovation and expansion
Hyatt’s India seeds were planted over 39 years ago in the national capital with Hyatt Regency Delhi. Today brand Hyatt commands an impressive portfolio in India with 41 Hyatt hotels and 8 distinct brands in the country – Andaz, Alila, Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, and Hyatt Place. The brand plans to add 3800 keys to its burgeoning portfolio. The return to normalcy has been a steady one, and Sunjae Sharma is making sure that Hyatt in India is leading the wave of innovation and expansion in hospitality.
Hyatt champions people and guest experiences and while the pandemic did place an unexpected pause, Sunjae Sharma is celebrating Hyatt’s expansion plans in India in 2022 and beyond. The brand is eyeing a 70% growth and a milestone of 50 Hyatt-branded hotels in India in 2023. A multi-brand presence in one of the most promising economies of the world, as Sunjae Sharma succinctly puts it.
Innovation, distinct brand experiences, signature food and beverage spaces, and a culture that celebrates equality, inclusivity, and diversity – Hyatt’s guest experiences are driven by a synergy of business, brands, and bold choices. This is evident with its impressive flurry of new hotel openings such as Hyatt Regency Dehradun, Hyatt Centric Janakpuri New Delhi, Hyatt Regency Jaipur Mansarovar, Hyatt Centric Juhu Mumbai, Grand Hyatt Gurgaon, Hyatt Place Bharuch, Hyatt Centric Sector 17 Chandigarh, Hyatt Place Jaipur Malviya Nagar, and Hyatt Regency Trivandrum in 2022.
Values of Hospitality
“We are in the business of, for and by people”, Sunjae Sharma elaborates that Hyatt’s values of hospitality are rooted in its ethos of understanding and caring for its people and its mission to deliver distinctive experiences for its guests. Hyatt champions women’s leadership, diversity, equality, and inclusivity in its people policies, with a strong emphasis on a culture of respect, empathy, and fun.
Gender diversity and creating equality-driven leadership are fundamental to Hyatt’s work culture and Sunjae Sharma emphatically points out that Hyatt’s commitment to creating an inclusive workplace, is led by a Global Inclusion and Diversity Council (GIDC), which focusses on creating a holistic, empathy-driven workspace.
On its well-loved brands, Sunjae Sharma says that post-pandemic, Hyatt in India is focused on taking advantage of the projected high inbound tourism rate for 2023 and the growing demands of domestic travellers. “Our brands have a distinct feel and flavor, which is our biggest strength, and future-forward, we are looking to introduce our brands into destinations that are already in demand or are projected to have domestic and international footfalls in India. Our recent new hotel openings in Dehradun, Mumbai, Bharuch, Jaipur, Trivandrum and Delhi highlight our optimistic sentiment”.
New properties need people, and the practice of sustainable growth and Hyatt is deeply invested in both. The veteran Hyatt leader details the brand’s strong focus on sustainability, guest experiences that echo ‘vocal for local’ concepts and a culture of hiring local team members and using technology to enable smart energy consumption.
Hyatt has simultaneously been hosting training and development programs and formulating new projects to upskill colleagues in both on-site and online settings. On the organizational front, sabbatical policies have been eased and staffing structures have been evaluated to meet operational gaps across hotels and teams. When it comes to hiring new talent, a community-first approach has been adopted, and Hyatt works closely with Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to provide employment to opportunity youth through our RiseHY programme.
“With that intent, we have been moving forward with our RiseHY program to build a diverse workforce by upskilling and hiring Opportunity Youth and supporting their professional and personal growth journeys. Globally, we aim to hire 10,000 Opportunity Youth between the ages of 16-24 into Hyatt roles by 2025,” says Sunjae Sharma.
A firm believer in India’s growth story, Sunjae Sharma says that being part of Hyatt’s India leadership team is a matter of pride and performance. India is growing intellectually and commercially, and it is a strategic part of Hyatt’s global portfolio. “We have had 9 new hotel openings in 2022 and this is the beginning of a business resurgence for us. New destinations beckon and we are looking forward to celebrating the 50th hotel milestone in India soon.” That said, with a candid smile and focus on the future, Sunjae Sharma signs off to write the new growth chapter of Hyatt in India.
Read more: Interviews


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Admit it: Google Now is the virtual buddy you’ll never be able to live without. It manages to always delivers relevant news, alerts, and other essential information throughout the day without prompting it, and with its latest update it’s about to get even more powerful.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is rolling out an update today that will allow third-party apps to integrate directly with Google Now. Apps like Airbnb, eBay, Lyft, and numerous others will directly deliver information without you having to actually open up the app. For instance, if you were previously searching for a charming bungalow on Airbnb, Google Now might later produce a card about that cute little place to remind you to book that weekend getaway you’ve been on the fence about.
Google told the Journal that the update will introduce over 40 new cards. None of the data routed through Google Now will be shared with third-parties, either, though some of the cards will obviously be triggered by location. The integration is totally optional, too, and you’ll be able to disable it from Google Now’s settings once the update is available on your device.
Google Now can pull lots of data from other apps through the email notifications they send you, but this direct app integration is new.
Why this matters: Google Now is arguably one of the better reasons to use Google's services, and the more powerful it gets, the harder it is to live without. Google’s idea behind all of this is that you should get the information you need when you need it, without even having to ask.
There will still be privacy concerns related to this latest announcement, even though Google swears the information won’t be shared with third-parties. That’s the paradox of being a Google Now user: you have to hand Google a lot of information in order to really benefit from it.
This story, "Google Now is about to get even more powerful with third-party app data" was originally published by Greenbot.


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GreenDot Health Foods, known for its flagship brand Cornitos, has recently entered the ready-to-eat segment with the launch of taco shells.
The exiting franchisees include Dubai-based Dodsal group, KFC Holdings Malaysia, Punjab-based ANPPL and a smaller one in Kerala.
Visa Inc said on Monday online shoppers using its payment service are 17 percent more likely to complete their purchases than those using PayPal.
India accounts for only about one percent of Yum's global sales, but Asia's third-largest economy is a key growth market for companies like Yum, which are betting on an emerging middle class and its appetite for fast food.
Jubilant FoodWorks reported 6% YoY increase in its net profit for the quarter at Rs 29.5 crore while its sales rose 20% at Rs 570.7 crore.
Yum has reported a decline in samestore sales for the seventh straight quarter in India, indicating a continued slowdown in the country’s fast-food market.
Jatia says McDonald's can take on new competition with its robust volume and branding.
Yum! Brands, operator of Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, reported an 18% drop in its India same store sales in the July-September quarter.


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Relational Romania and Informatica INC. participated in the “New European Order for Personal Data Protection” event, held in Bucharest at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, on March 16 2017.
Ilya Gershanov, Senior Consultant of Informatica was invited by Relational Romania as a speaker at the event. Ilya successfully presented the potential of Informatica solutions for companies that target the GDPR compliance until May 25 2018.
The event addressed companies that process personal data such as financial, banking, health, insurance, online commerce, utilities, energy, transportation, online payments, job platforms, telecommunications, tourism, application developers and their suppliers.
For more details on the event please visit: https://concordcom.ro/evenimente/protectia-datelor-personale/
We are pleased to announce that Relational is becoming an Atlassian Solution Partner. This partnership is a result of the merger agreement between Cententia and Relational and follows the process of transferring all related activities and personnel of Cententia to Relational. Cententia has been an Atlassian Solution Partner since 2007, offering high-quality consulting & development […]
We are excited to announce that we are once again a proud sponsor of SmithNovak’s NPL Iberia Conference, taking place in Madrid on 29 November! We will be announcing our speakers soon, until then please check out our website for more info. More about the event here


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Three’s planned merger with Vodafone is ‘a clear attack on consumers’ amid £2bn payout to Hong Kong owners
- Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024
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Three UK has been accused of profiteering from its planned merger with Vodafone after it paid its Hong Kong-listed owner, CK Hutchinson £2 billion.
According to trade union Unite, the dividend paid to CK Hutchinson, which is a conglomerate of the billionaire Li Ka-Shing owned by Three, is highly profitable as an independent business and could remain sustainable without merging.
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If UK regulators approve the merger, the main competition will be among Virgin Media O2, EE/BT, and Vodafone/Three.
Hutchison 3G claimed the one-time dividend payment followed the £10 billion sale to Cellnex of mobile phone masts across Europe, which included 6,600 UK assets.
However, the deal has been branded as a “clear attack on consumers” by Unite, which claims the dividend payment, shown in the company’s latest accounts, was made months before Three increased some of its contract prices by 14%.
Unite executive head of operations Sarah Carpenter said: “The siphoning of record dividends from Three while crying ‘failing firm’ to push through the harmful Vodafone merger is nothing short of cynical exploitation.
“This deal is a clear attack on consumers, threatening a staggering £300 hike in yearly mobile bills and putting 1,600 jobs on the line while making hollow promises about future investments.”
Carpenter added: “On top of that, entrusting vital blue light contracts to a Chinese state-influenced company raises alarming national security concerns. Unite continues to stand firm against this merger, fighting to protect the interests of workers, consumers, and the broader public.”


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Yesterday iam8bit announced that they would be releasing the soundtrack to the top-down beat ’em up Ape Out on vinyl. As the game’s soundtrack is dynamically created in-game the release comes from a recording of a live-playthrough of the game by developer Gabe Cuzzillo.
The release will be a single LP on 180g black vinyl. It will be housed in a regular LP jacket with new jazz-inspired artwork by Mark Borgions.
It may not be Record Store Day today after all, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have new releases as Respawned Records have just opened up preorders for the vinyl soundtrack to SNES platformer Plok.
The release will be a 2LP with one LP on yellow and the other on red vinyl where the D-side will feature an etching of Plok. It will be housed in a gatefold jacket with artwork by the Pickford Brothers. It includes an insert with artwork and notes by the Pickford Brothers and the first 40 orders from Respawned’s own store will have the insert signed by them as well.
Earlier this week Limited Run Games announced that they will be releasing the soundtrack to the world’s premier cereal-based first person-shooter, Chex Quest, on vinyl alongside physical copies of the new remaster of the game.
The release will be a single LP on “Flemoid” green marbled vinyl. It will be housed in a regular LP jacket with Chex art.
Debug Records have just announced that they will be releasing the soundtrack to the multiplayer platformer Ultimate Chicken Horse on vinyl. It is the full soundtrack including music from the game’s DLC.
The release will be a 2LP with one record on “Chicken” white and the other on “Horse” brown colored vinyl. It will be housed in a gatefold jacket with game art. It also includes a sticker sheet with the game’s 10 characters. It is limited to 300 copies.
Laced Records is continuing their series of Resident Evil vinyl soundtracks releases and this time they’ve announced the release of Resident Evil 4.
The release will be a 4LP box set available in two color variants – a limited “muddy gold” colored vinyl variant and a standard black vinyl variant. The box set and inner sleeves feature new artwork by Boris Moncel.
The release will be a 180g 3LP available in two color variants – a classic black vinyl variant and a clear with grey splatter, clear with brown splatter, and clear with pink splatter color vinyl variant. It will be housed in a triple gatefold jacket with new artwork by Randy Ortiz.
It is priced at $45 and is scheduled to release in June, 2020. It can be preordered from Mondo here.
Enjoy The Ride Records announced that they would be releasing the soundtrack to the VR puzzle adventure game Red Matter on vinyl – and now orders have opened.
The release will be a single single-sided LP. It features the full soundtrack on side A and screen-printed artwork on side B. It’s housed in a regular LP jacket with game art. It is available in two color variants – a full color neon red vinyl limited to 100 copies, and a “red explosion” red-in-clear with red splatter color vinyl limited to 200 copies.


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October 11, 2013 | By Zach Warren
General counsel sound off on government regulation, online freedom of speech and more
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Charting some of the most recent GC and in-house appointments
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It’s only been a question of time for when insurance companies would start reimbursing companies for a mobile health application. In an article on Forbes, they talk about WellDoc being the First to Sell Mobile Prescription Therapy. The company WellDoc has gotten FDA clearance for their mobile application BlueStar.
WellDoc has started to sale BlueStar through self-insured companies, but will now have to get out there and work with doctors much like drug companies have to do. The next generation of pharma sales reps are going to be peddling mobile applications to doctors.
The key to what WellDoc is doing is their year-long randomized clinical trial to prove that its product works and doesn’t cause side effects. The question I have is how many mobile health applications are planning to go to this effort.
I was a little disappointed to find out that WellDoc’s mobile application does require a mobile coach as well. So, the mobile is an important part of the product, but they still have a human participating as well. Certainly they’re treading lightly in this new form of mobile therapy.
I love this quote from the Forbes article:
All this was new territory for pharmacies and the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs which maintains standards for exchanging pharmacy data. “Their reaction was ‘you’re like a drug, but you’re not; you’re like a device, but you’re not,’” says Bergstrom. “They realized this is where the future is going,” adds Anand Iyer, WellDoc’s president.
No doubt there’s going to be a lot of challenges that WellDoc faces as it tries to sale doctors on using this product. However, they’re right that it is the future.


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Technology & Digital Economy| 25 Mar 2021
The Designs Amendment Bill 2020 proposes seven key changes to the Designs Act 2003 (Cth).
Technology & Digital Economy| 23 Mar 2021
Since May 2020 the Federal Government has provided temporary COVID-19 related regulatory relief to make it easier for companies to undertake electronic and remote execution of agreements and other documents.
Trade Marks| 20 Jan 2021
In the third article of our series looking at some of the key issues for trade mark owners, and their advisors, operating in and entering the Australian market, we provide some tips for exercising proper ‘control’ over your trade marks.
Technology & Digital Economy| 15 Oct 2020
In this article, we look at some of the steps trade mark owners should take to ensure their registrations are not vulnerable to challenge based on defective ownership.
Corporate & Commercial| 15 Sep 2020
The ACCC has announced it will scrutinise mobile app stores as part of its inquiry into digital platform services in Australia. We outline the key issues the ACCC is interested in.


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India Inc welcomes duty cuts, says it will boost demand
India Inc today welcomed the government's decision to reduce excise and service tax by 2 pc besides extending 4 pc excise duty cut beyond March 31, and said this would further stimulate and strengthen the economy. The duty reductions, seen as costing the exchequer Rs 30,000 crore, come over and above the 4% cut in central value added tax announced in December, which has now been extended beyond March 31.Updated: Feb 24, 2009 20:44 IST
India Inc on Tuesday welcomed the government's decision to reduce excise and service tax by 2 per cent besides extending 4 per cent excise duty cut beyond March 31, and said this would further stimulate and strengthen the economy.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee - who is handling the finance portfolio as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is heading that ministry, is recovering after a heart surgery - announced excise duty and service tax cuts by 2 per cent in what is being touted as the third stimulus package to help corporate India tide over the impact of global economic crisis.
The duty reductions, seen as costing the exchequer Rs.30,000 crore ($6 billion or Rs 300 million), come over and above the 4 percent cut in central value added tax announced in December, which has now been extended beyond March 31.
Welcoming the announcement, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said the announcement would stimulate demand.
"The further reductions in excise and service tax by 2 per cent and extension of the earlier 4 per cent cut in excise duty beyond 31 March 2009 will go a long way in stimulating consumption demand," said CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee in a statement.
The reduction in excise duty on bulk cement to 8 per cent would also help reduce costs of real estate and infrastructure development, he said.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) hailed the announcement but said it "had expected some sort of direction in Tuesday's announcements for Reserve Bank of India (RBI) so that it takes a cue for reducing cash reserve ratio, repo rate and reverse repo rate by at least 50 basis points".
"This would have been much more welcome as industry is still hopeful that the RBI on its own will come forward to meet the minimum expectations of India Inc since access to liquidity at relaxed interest rates is still an issue, especially for large and medium-sized industries," said Assocham President Sajjan Jindal.
He said the corporate sector had anticipated some sort of relaxation for steel and other allied sectors.
Said Harsh Pati Singhania, president of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI): "These moves are indeed welcome as the Indian economy is going through a rough patch and requires support. These measures would help the domestic economy and keep it moving forward at a time when the external markets are in a bad shape."
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said the fresh measures would boost domestic economy though on a limited basis.
"The reduction in service tax rates will add to export competitiveness by about 0.25 per cent as refund of service tax is a herculean task," said FIEO president A Sakthivel.
"Only a countable number of exporters have got refunds so far whereas majority of them are still awaiting for more than a year," Sakthivel added.
First Published: Feb 24, 2009 20:03 IST


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Meetings and tourism industries are proving grounds for new technologies
During the 2016 Professional Convention Management Association Convening Leaders conference Jan. 10−13 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tourism Victoria of Canada will introduce its newest staff member, a robot. A leader when it comes to embracing new technology, Tourism Victoria created buzz at the key meetings industry event with its portable robot, which looks like a Segway with an iPad mounted on top.
“This technology allows people who can’t physically be at a show to be virtually in two places at once,” says Trina Mousseau, chief marketing officer at Tourism Victoria. “Sure, there are lots of ways we could keep in touch with meeting planners, like email, FaceTime or Skype. But the telepresence robot gives Victoria’s local experts the opportunity to reach out and connect with meeting planners they might otherwise not be able to influence.”
The robot, which is manufactured by Double Robotics, allows users to pilot the flexible and slender device through an app. It can be positioned to sitting or standing height, and can run for eight hours before its batteries need recharging.
The robot is expected to become an essential tool to the Tourism Victoria team because it will expand the organization’s sales force on location to meet people and create leads when budgetary constraints would otherwise not allow it.
Besides saving Tourism Victoria some money, the robot is expected to create excitement at events and position the Canadian city as an innovative leader in technology. Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is known as the Idea Capital and the addition of this telepresence reinforces that positioning.
Smart Meetings was introduced to XplorIt’s advanced virtual travel technology in October during IMEX America in Las Vegas. The product was called to our attention during a breakfast meeting with Los Angeles Convention & Tourism Board.
XplorIt has been described as Google Street View on steroids. The technology allows visitors anywhere in the world to experience virtual travel as they seemingly walk through hotels, convention centers, meeting space and attractions.
XplorIt helped develop a new programmatic virtual content delivery system for LA Tourism’s new Meet LA website, where users can virtually experience Los Angeles Convention Center and LA Live. The technology also allows users to virtually tour the city with a device that turns a smartphone into the imagine finder.
XplorIt has developed an extensive roster of clients. Tech-savvy Santa Clara, California, is using XplorIt to help visitors get to know Silicon Valley before arriving to Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium. Users may also explore Santa Clara Convention Center, regional attractions and top meeting hotels.
A recent project for Visit Sacramento included multiscreen delivery, touch-enabled interactive kiosks and 3D immersive headset technologies, offering the most comprehensive suite of custom virtual platforms to a destination experience.
Attractions such as Mammoth Mountain and Kennedy Space Center are using XplorIt to showcase exhibits and outdoor activities.
“We keep hearing it’s ‘all about content,’” says Greg Murtha, president and CEO of XplorIt. “Video is great but it’s linear and you can’t interact with it, and most users are ADD and bounce from one site to the next. In our world, that same ADD consumer or meeting planner can bounce around within the virtual world we create all while checking out meeting space, restaurants, golf or attractions in an actual first person exploration experience. And as far as first-person virtual travel, we do it better than anyone, including Google.”
Innovation Catalog from Germany
Just in time for the new year, German Convention Bureau (GCB) launched its Future Meeting Space Innovation Catalog in December. Technology was identified as one of the mega trends in GCB’s Meeting & Convention 2030 study that came out in 2013, and the Innovation Catalog is an extension of those findings.
GCB teamed up with European Association of Event Centres (EVVC) and Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, Europe’s largest applied-science research organization, to develop the catalog.
Cutting-edge tech trends to look out for include mist projectors that allow you to present information, images and video mid-air. Another trend will be physical telepresence or tangible media technologies that allow remote speakers to be seen, heard and even move and demonstrate objects in the audience’s separate location.
The merger of tech and infrastructure will be more important than ever, facilitating LED virtual skies for meeting spaces. Wi-Fi balloons will bring connectivity to remote locations.
“As a leader in the global meetings industry, it is critical for us to continue to invest in research and initiatives that move our industry forward and provide fresh ideas,” says Matthias Schultze, managing director of the GCB. “We hope this unique study will prove to be a valuable resource for planners.”


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Fashion conscious football shirt fans are probably curious what all the cool kids in Asia will be wearing next year. We all know that it will be a David Beckham jersey and we all know that the jersey will belong to the LA Galaxy, but what we don’t know is what that jersey will look like.
The club has decided that it is going to scrap its current kit – a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy world of MLS uniforms – and design a new one with more global appeal.
No, they aren’t going to ask Giorgi Armani for design help. Instead, they are turning to David Beckham himself.
Said Tim Leiweke, president of the company who owns the club:
"We have a good name but we need a more legendary, traditional kind of look and the kit and badge will change. We made a decision that it was time to start thinking how we can create a world brand. David Beckham will obviously help enormously with that and we can’t wait to see him here."
"David's new contract begins on July 1, after his current deal with Spanish club Real Madrid ends.
A team source said:
"Given that David's arrival is a major chapter in the club's history, it has been decided that the club kit should have a whole new look."
There is more to Beckham's deal than the guaranteed salary, however. Beckham will also earn 40-to-50 percent of Galaxy jersey sales and an undisclosed share of ticket revenues.
Why should fans hold off buying a green-and-gold Galaxy jersey with Beckham's name on the back?
Simple answer: because Becks will never wear green and gold with the Galaxy. The team is deep into the process of rebranding itself with new colors, a new shield and new uniforms. "We made a decision that it was time to start thinking through how we create a more worldly brand,"
Lewieke says. "We have a good name. Galaxy works. But we need a more legendary, traditional kind of look that's more of a soccer look."Leiweke predicts the new jerseys will be available in the next two months. What color will they be? "The last time I checked, when you're looking at a Galaxy it's not green or yellow. It's either black or dark blue," Leiweke says. Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas is more specific: "When I think of the Galaxy I think of dark blue."
Then there's the issue of a shirt sponsor, which MLS rules are allowing for the first time this season. Leiweke had said two companies were in the running last Thursday, but he told me on Friday that a third company was now in the mix for what will surely be a multi-million-dollar sponsorship. A deal will be made in the next 30 days, he said, and probably sooner rather than later.


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Digital innovations are transforming every aspect of life on the African continent, from healthcare to agriculture; education to transit and logistics; from finance and commerce to media and entertainment.
As Africa’s trailblazing fintech solutions have already proven, there’s limitless potential to solve intractable socio-economic problems; to leapfrog costly infrastructural development, and start providing services and products to non-consumers. All of this depends on connectivity.
Mobile Connectivity in Africa
According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank more than 520 million Africans were connected to the internet by 2021, that’s 40% of all Africans, considerably less than global standards.
Across the vastness of this diverse continent, all things are also not equal. Statista reported in January this year that Morocco enjoys the highest internet penetration with 84.1% of its population connected, while at the other end of the scale just 7.1% of people in the Central African Republic can access the internet.
Only two Sub-Saharan countries feature in the top five countries – Seychelles with a 79% penetration, and South Africa with 68.2% of its population connected. What is striking, however, is that in 2021, over 60% of South Africans accessed the internet using mobile devices.
“Considering the affordability and accessibility of mobile devices, this is not surprising,” says Kegan Peffer, CEO of tech start-up, Adoozy Power, a provider of contactless power bank rental solutions in Africa.
“However, we also have to consider that mobile is leading the way due to the ever-increasing need for consumers to connect, work and transact on the go,” he adds.
“Mobile technologies have the most critical role to play in connecting the unconnected. On a continent where 77% of the population is under thirty-five years of age, the needs and preferences of the digital-native generations, who cannot be separated from their phones, will ensure the ongoing dominance of mobile internet penetration.”
Connecting the Unconnected
Connecting the unconnected is the charter of the Wireless Broadband Alliance which celebrates World Wi-Fi Day on 20 June 2022.
This worldwide initiative brings together countries and cities, government agencies, and Big Tech, as well as fixed and mobile operators and technology solutions providers to address the digital divide, increase access to affordable internet and provide a robust digital ecosystem to support connected governments, businesses, and consumers.
“World Wi-Fi Day reminds us of the transformative power of digital and the way it shapes modern work and play. Our lives are on-the-go – students sit in the public park and participate in their ‘university tutorials; we consult our telehealth practitioner en route to a business meeting; we increasingly shop online from anywhere, consume media while we are out and about, and make bookings at any time that works for us,” Peffer says.
The World Economic Forum estimates that urban populations in Africa could triple by 2050.
As the youngest region of the world, connecting the unconnected is imperative to unlock the incredible potential of the continent.
“The future is bright for Africa as government, NGOs, and private and public organisations race to close the digital divide and keep Africans connected,” concludes Peffer.


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You Can Get Everything You Need for Thanksgiving at Aldi for Under $30
Stop me if you're sick of hearing this already, but Thanksgiving 2020 is going to be different from Thanksgiving 2019. That's true in terms of not only the where, but the how as well—including how some families will afford everything at a time of pandemic-induced financial stress and mounting unemployment that's no fault of their own.
In recognition of that financial stress at a time of year when families are meant to come together and celebrate, Aldi says it's committed to making sure that a proper Thanksgiving dinner will cost less than $30 to acquire, even lower than what it would've in November 2019 despite the economic turmoil and supply chain challenges that have occurred since then.
"Customers expect unbeatable prices at ALDI and the holidays are no exception. While nearly every aspect of our lives is rapidly changing, we promise to continue to do everything in our power to keep prices down," Aldi US President and CEO Jason Hart said in a press release. "We're proud to provide shoppers everything they need for a traditional Thanksgiving meal from ALDI for less than $30."
When it comes to that $30 or less Thanksgiving dinner offer, Aldi isn't simply handing you a turkey and calling it a day. In addition to a Butterball turkey, their sub-$30 Thanksgiving checklist includes stuffing, sweet potatoes, Hawaiian rolls, peas, cranberries, carrots, celery, pumpkin pie mix, pie crust, whipped cream, and whole milk. In short, it's everything you need to stuff a bird, enjoy some sides, and eat dessert.
That shopping list also isn't the only way that Aldi is trying to help out with a $30 figure in mind. This season, every one of their employees will get two $30 gift cards as a token of gratitude, which they can either use themselves, or to help out someone else in need.
Is any of this a substitute for the second round of stimulus funding that's somehow failed to materialize? Obviously not. But at the end of an unusually stressful and uncertain year, even the smallest act of generosity can make a difference.


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Today we announce another significant step in Fluro’s journey; a £200m funding partnership with BNP Paribas that enables Fluro to serve more customers by growing our balance sheet. In simple, human language, this means we now have more money to lend to people looking to take out a personal loan. This is a hugely exciting moment for Fluro, and one that recognises our strength of embedded lending proposition.
Our goal is to build consumer-first products and experiences in an industry which is often unnecessarily complex and out of date. Being able to reach a more substantial portion of the British public means we can have a larger positive impact, faster.
In the words of Jonathan Kramer, our COO, ‘It allows us to provide even more customers with our fair rates and transparent services.’
BNP Paribas is a well-aligned partnership for Fluro. The bank embraces changing socio-economic relationships, as well as the way technology is facilitating a new era for finance, how consumers engage with their banks, and how they manage their money. BNP Paribas is “The bank for a changing world” which parallels our mission to drive positive change in the industry.
Simon Jones, head of securitised products at BNP Paribas said: “We are very excited to be partnering with Fluro in supporting their plans for further expansion into the UK consumer lending market. This securitisation is designed to support them on their growth trajectory and underscores the strength of their platform.”
This has been a momentous two months for Fluro, and we are fully committed to creating a better, fairer, and more transparent experience for British consumers.


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Panasonic's new Octacore smartphone Eluga S with eye-definition Blink Play
Taking forward from the good response for its Eluga range of smartphones, Panasonic India today announced the launch of its new variant ‘ Eluga S for the Indian market, priced at Rs 11,190.
The newly launched 5 inch Eluga S with HD IPS display features the eye-definition Blink Play that lets one click flawless selfies or groupies with a 5MP front snapper. When ready to shoot, simply blink your eyes & the phone will recognize the eye gesture to initiate the automatic three-second countdown. That lets one catch every moment in the blink of an eye.
The device runs on the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system and is powered by 1.4GHz True Octa Core processor. It has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 32GB. The Eluga S smartphone sports an 8MP FHD capable autofocus camera along with 2100 mAh battery.
Commenting on the launch, Manish Sharma, Managing Director, Panasonic India said, “This is the third phone is the ELUGA series, which defines our willingness to embrace new technology in a market like India. As we launch new devices, we will continue to innovate for our customers.”
Panasonic smartphones brand ambassador Varun Dhawan will soon be seen singing his first RAP – ‘All you got-a-do is blink. Wait for it’ as a part of the TVC of Eluga S.


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13 April 2022
Orange a boost for business ahead of long weekend
Canterbury’s hospitality and retail sectors will be breathing a small sigh of relief today with the longanticipated easing of COVID-19 restrictions, after the announcement of an announcement earlier this month.
“Restrictions imposed as a result of the red setting of the COVID-19 Protection Framework have been
disproportionately affecting patron-based businesses, with very little financial support available, for nearly
three months,” says Leeann Watson, Chief Executive of Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce.
“We were told that the traffic light system would change when we progressed onto the other side of the peak
and it’s pleasing to see this has actually happened with the shift to orange this evening, in time for the long
“The big issue not addressed today was when we are likely to see self-isolation times for household contacts
being reduced or removed.
“Labour shortages caused by mandatory self-isolation rules are still a significant issue for business that needs
to be addressed. We would like the government to communicate when, under what conditions, further
changes to self-isolation times will occur.
“It is important to point out that this is just one action of a long list that is required to alleviate the significant
pressure that businesses are currently facing.
“Now that we are progressing through COVID-19, let’s focus on workforce supply issues, out of control
inflation, and a continued flow of anti-business policies such as mandatory union-driven collective bargaining.”
- ENDS -
For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Leeann Watson, Chief Executive, 027 447 7775, [email protected]
The Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce (The Chamber) is a not-for-profit membership-based service organisation that has been the home and voice of business in the Canterbury region since 1859. Comprised of over 2,600 member organisations that represent over 60,000 employees, The Chamber’s purpose is to empower people in business by providing advisory and consultancy support in employment relations, human resources, health and safety, international trade, manufacturing, migrant support, research and development grants, and training and development in many areas. www.thechamber.co.nz


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The government is working out on a "New Mission" to boost manufacturing exports from the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country that has witnessed decline in the percentage of growth to countryâ€™s overall exports.
For this purpose, an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) has been decided to be set up by the Cabinet Secretary, Ajit Seth recently so that the panel can address the issues of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector and suggest ways that can boost exports from the sector.
Speaking to SME Times, the MSME Secretary, Madhav Lal said, "We have noticed that the exports have not been doing too well i.e., the manufacturing exports have not been doing so well. And, MSMEs constitute a major part of the exports."
"The inter-ministerial committee was the fall out of a meeting which the Cabinet Secretary has taken in connection with the foreign trade issues i.e., the exports," he added.
"In the meeting, it was felt that some of the issues need to be looked into greater depth," he said.
The committee will be headed by Saurabh Chandra, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Also, Ministry of Textile, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Food Processing and other few ministries will be part of inter-ministerial committee including MSME Ministry itself.
At present, the share of MSME exports has fallen from 40 percent to 36 percent to the countryâ€™s total export growth.
Moreover, MSME Ministry has already submitted their proposal to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to look in to the issues of credit availability especially to the sector in the forthcoming Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) that is scheduled to be announced on April 18.
"We have made certain recommendations relating to credit availability, timely credit, terms of credit for MSMEs and its different verticals. We have recommended for creation of more geographically spaced warehousing facility for exporters not only in our country but abroad," Lal told SME Times.
"We also said that we are focusing on certain sectors like gems and jewellery, apparel, etc. We should look at global opportunity to diversify and give special incentives for some other sectors like Pharmaceuticals, chemicals, etc.," he added.
The MSME Secretary expressed that this is just a part of the total agenda at the moment to boost MSME exports from the country but the Ministry is exercising strategies in more detail which wonâ€™t be possible for them to submit to the Commerce Ministry before the FTP review. "More detailed exercise covering the short term and medium term measures that MSMEs could take with handholding and other support from the government will be incorporated in our reports. This is under the inter-ministerial committee. But it may not be possible for that committee to give report and its recommendations to be incorporated as early as April 18 when the Ministry of Commerce is planning to come out with a supplement," Lal added.
So, it is likely that the ministry will come up with some special incentives for the sector later on, he added.
At the moment, the sector accounts for around 45 percent of the manufacturing output and providing employment to about 60 million persons through 26 million enterprises.


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Serving a range of starters, mains and desserts, all 74 nationwide restaurants are being encouraged to concentrate on the dinner trade.
A whole new market
Christo Calitz, CEO of Taste Holdings Food Division, has said the early evening dinner market is the ideal place to showcase their value-for-money meal offerings. “Maxi’s has the capacity to go a level further in entrenching the brand as a leading family restaurant franchise, and our launch into the dinner trade is a clear testament to our abilities,” he says.
“Our main objective is to position Maxi’s as an all rounded family restaurant that serves the tastes of all consumers, any time of the day,” says Calitz. To optimise this change and meet their objective, Maxi’s has implemented staff and management training, as well as a substantial marketing campaign.
For more information on trading times at your nearest branch, visit Maxi’s website, www.maxis.co.za.


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The committee will be asking questions on pre-loading, online ordering and super-strength alcohol next week (Tuesday 22 November).
The questions include:
- Should we introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol?
- Have we become a home-drinking nation?
- How can we address pre-loading?
- Is street drinking fuelled by the sale of cheap super-strength alcohol?
- How do you monitor the age of customers ordering alcohol online?
Representatives from Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado will give evidence at the hearing in front of the select committee, which is investigating the Licensing Act 2003.
Last week (14 November), Martin called on the committee to question supermarkets and rates at the hearing.
He told The Morning Advertiser: “From this April, pub rates will go up, on average, from 16p per pint to 19p per pint and wages per pint will increase from 90p to 95p."
Price of a pint
He added: “The rates increase for supermarkets will be far less because they only pay 2p per pint so if they increase by the same percentage, it is only a fraction of a penny more they will be paying and their wages per pint is only around 10p.”
“The gap between the price of a pint in a supermarket and a pub will widen in April but I don’t think the industry has got its mind around that fact.
The committee will hear from Sainsbury's head of legal services Nick Grant, Waitrose regulatory affairs and trading law manager James Brodhurst-Brown and Ocado service delivery director Mark Bentley.


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Stuck on Virtua Fighter 5? We've got you covered!
Don't panic! Our cheats will see you through.
PlayStation 3 dominates the chart with Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm taking the top two positions.
It's finally on sale in the UK and Sony gives away huge TVs at official launch.
The PlayStation 3 has secured its first Japanese No.1 with the release of SEGA's Virtua Fighter 5.
SEGA Europe has announced the launch of the official Virtua Fighter 5 website.


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Somewhat Positive News Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Affect HNI Corporation (HNI) Share Price
Media stories about HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) have trended somewhat positive recently, according to Accern. The research firm ranks the sentiment of press coverage by analyzing more than twenty million blog and news sources in real time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. HNI Corporation earned a media sentiment score of 0.03 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave headlines about the business services provider an impact score of 47.5912640479911 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near term.
Shares of HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) opened at 36.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.21 and a 200 day moving average of $44.32. HNI Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.55 and a 52 week high of $56.96.
HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $514.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $516.10 million. HNI Corporation had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The business’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that HNI Corporation will post $2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HNI shares. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of HNI Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 10th. TheStreet lowered shares of HNI Corporation from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. Finally, BidaskClub lowered shares of HNI Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.00.
TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: “Somewhat Positive News Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Affect HNI Corporation (HNI) Share Price” was first published by Daily Political and is owned by of Daily Political. If you are reading this story on another website, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of US and international copyright legislation. The correct version of this story can be accessed at https://www.dailypolitical.com/2017/08/07/somewhat-positive-news-coverage-somewhat-unlikely-to-affect-hni-corporation-hni-share-price.html.
In related news, Chairman Stanley A. Askren sold 11,264 shares of HNI Corporation stock in a transaction on Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total value of $518,256.64. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 204,996 shares in the company, valued at $9,431,865.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.
HNI Corporation Company Profile
HNI Corporation is a provider of office furniture and hearth products. The Company’s office furniture products include panel-based and freestanding furniture systems, seating, storage and tables. The Company’s segments include office furniture and hearth products. The office furniture segment manufactures and markets a line of metal and wood commercial and home office furniture, which includes storage products, desks, credenzas, chairs, tables, bookcases, freestanding office partitions, and panel systems and other related products.
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