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How Chipotle, MGM and Microsoft are trimming food waste
And which technologies could be essential ingredients in your company's own reduction recipe.
More big companies are going on a food waste diet.
As of last week, 10 of the world’s largest food concerns, including Mars, Unilever and General Mills, had pledged to weigh in publicly about the success of their programs to reduce spoiled produce, grains, meat and other nutritional staples across distribution centers, on store shelves and in customers’ homes. Estimates suggest 90 or so agribusinesses are collecting data against these metrics, even though they aren’t sharing them publicly.
These revelations come three years after the United Nations called on the world to slice food waste in half by 2030 — motivated not just by the human tragedy of this weighty issue (the World Health Organization blames malnutrition for one in three child deaths) but also by the weighty impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (an estimated 4.4 billion tons annually comes from the methane created by decomposing food).
During that timeframe, close to two-thirds of the world’s 50 largest food companies have whipped up food loss and waste reduction targets, according to a progress report (PDF) issued last week by Champions 12.3, a coalition of businesses, governments and researchers focused on addressing this weighty issue. Among the most active proponents of new reduction recipes: Campbell Soup, Danone, Kellogg, Kroger, Nestle, Sodexo, Tesco and Walmart.
"No company has yet to announce that it has halved food loss and waste in its own operations," the report noted. "However, some companies have halved food waste in certain operations, and there are a number of companies reporting impressive reductions across their whole operations."
But it isn’t just food growers or producers that are mixing up their menus.
Major institutional suppliers such as Aramark and Sysco are biting into the problem, as are quick-serve restaurants and café operations such as Chipotle and IKEA, big hotels such as MGM, web food delivery startups such as HelloFresh and corporate food services teams, including at tech giant Microsoft.
"We are seeing a big uptick in the number of food service organizations that are getting turned onto this problem," said Alexandria Coari, director of capital and innovation for ReFED, a multi-stakeholder coalition focused on encouraging policies and technologies that can sate this problem. "We believe that technology and innovation are the primary levelers in trying to address this."
Sysco, for example, is one of the earliest accounts for Spoiler Alert, a technology startup from Boston that helps food service organizations manage their unsold or unused inventories. Its application plugs into warehouse management systems to figure out what’s available, establish pricing levels and suggest donation options, explained co-founder Emily Malina, the company’s chief product officer.
HelloFresh is another SpoilerAlert customer. During initial tests of its service, the meal-kit company decreased its landfill-bound organic waste by 65 percent and nearly doubled the percent of unsold inventory that made it to charities, according to Malina. In September, HelloFresh expanded its use of the technology to all of its U.S. operations. "Companies work with us because they recognize that better loss management is a way to maximize their profits," Malina said.
Here's what we know about the problem and the solutions
If we were to pile all the food wasted globally on an annual basis — an estimated 1.6 billion tons — we’d need a plate that could accommodate 10 times the mass of Manhattan, estimates a new analysis by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). By 2030, the amount could expand to 2.1 billion tons per year, in the absence of meaningful action.
Waste occurs across the entire value chain: from crop production to handling and storage to processing and packaging to distribution and retail to the point of consumption. Addressing those gaps represents a $700 billion opportunity, noted Shalini Unnikrishnan, a BCG partner and a report co-author. "We don’t see this as a tradeoff, but rather a responsibility that can create change and advance business objectives," she said.
Early solutions emerging to eliminate points of waste can be roughly organized into 13 areas, some of which are summarized and illustrated with specific corporate examples below. (For the purposes of this article, I opted to focus exclusively on what happens after the point of harvest, production and processing.)
- Develop promotions that encourage consumers to reduce waste. One example is a long-time "buy one, get one later" program at Tesco. The idea is that consumers should still benefit from special pricing, without being forced to take home food they won’t eat right away.
- Train employees on new inventory, handling and recovery processes. Exhibit A: Chipotle’s "Mindful Prep" initiative, part of an overall commitment to divert half of all restaurant waste from landfills by 2020.
- Develop technology to repurpose and recycle food waste. Community composting and recycling policies are central to this, but so are new technologies such as the Orca Digester, which turns food waste into water. The system can digest more than one ton of food waste daily, creating water that can be released into a public sewer system. It’s being used in places such as the Agua Caliente Casino Resort, a Coachella property in Rancho Mirage, California. Another technology for "liquid composting" comes from Power Knot in San Jose, California. One of its marquis customers is Fujitsu, which is using the equipment in its corporate cafeteria.
- Invest in data analytics to optimize supply chain processes. Keep your eyes on Zest Labs (aka Zest Technologies), which sells a service that helps food distributors and other supply chain members manage produce freshness. In mid-July, it scored a partnership with Costco Wholesale, which is using the technology to monitor cross-country shipments. Another company to watch is LeanPath, which sells an application that helps measure food waste in kitchens. Two of its high-profile customers are IKEA, which uses the technology to support its "Food is Precious" initiative, and Sodexo, which has been using the system since 2010 in its university and college accounts.
Many of these approaches require collaboration to be effective. "This problem is too interconnected for any one entity to solve on its own," Unnikrishnan said.
Source reduction is the first line of defense against food waste, according to the list of what the Environmental Protection Agency considers to be the most preferred or most effective strategies for recovery. At the point of consumption, that could mean educating consumers about storage practices, encouraging reduce portion sizes or introducing new recipes that help people use more of what’s traditionally discarded during prep. When it comes to recovery, donation programs to feed the hungry are at the top of the pyramid while composting strategies are near the bottom, according to the EPA.
"Changing consumer behavior and cultural expectations is the biggest challenge with all of this," ReFED’s Coari said. "What we consider to be waste is quite a challenge."
How MGM Resorts optimizes donations
Many hospitality organizations have had food donation programs in place for many years, but an initiative embraced in early 2018 by MGM Resorts International in Las Vegas offers an example of how these initiatives can become embedded more deeply into the practices of an expansive food service operation.
Its program, developed in collaboration with the Three Square Food Bank, has reengineered how MGM employees collect and preserve surplus banquet food, in particular. It expects to donate more than 1.7 million pounds (or 1.4 million meals) through the program by 2020, according to Yalmaz Siddiqui, vice president of corporate sustainability for MGM.
"When we started piloting this program in 2016, the process has expanded to include from additional sources including warehouses, kitchens and minibar operations, and now encompasses multiple food types," he wrote in response to questions about the effort.
Central to scaling the effort was an investment in blast chillers, equipment commonly used in commercial kitchens to quickly cool down large quantities of hot food so that they can be stored safely. This approach allows MGM to freeze and inventory more donations than in the past, rather than being forced to deliver them immediately to hunger relief organizations.
Because food donations are usually limited to a discrete geographic region, the long-term vision is to replicate this model in collaboration with aid agencies in other cities or at MGM’s regional resorts, once the kinks are worked out. Ultimately, the hope is to share best practices with other hospitality or food service organizations, so that this program can be scaled.
"The frozen, inventoried food is placed in a computer software system that allows local non-profit agencies to order food based on their need," Siddiqui wrote. This was not previously possible.
Getting smarter about consumption
Many ingredients of quick-serve restaurant chain Chipotle’s food waste strategy are focused on very straightforward changes to prep — such as using all of the meat of bell peppers and cutting a "V" into the base of romaine lettuce to use more of its head.
But investments in better inventory management are central to minimizing overprep and maximizing the use of what’s already around. The organization already uses a system that keeps tabs on prior sales, what on hand and other unique metrics that could affect customer appetites. It’s also looking into software to manage food donations, according to Caitlin Liebert, director of sustainability for Chipotle.
The chain has pledged that by 2020, 80 percent of its locations will participate in the Harvest Program, a food donation network. "We are looking at some ‘on-demand’ technology for donation," Liebert wrote, in response to written questions about its diversion strategy. "The barrier with these on-demand systems is often the cost of the applications/donations, but hopefully the more competitive that space gets, the more the cost will be driven down."
As you might expect, software and analytics are at the center of Microsoft’s program to mitigate food waste across its headquarters site in the Seattle area: More than 90 dining "destinations" are on the Puget Sound campus, which serve more than 40,000 meals daily.
According to Katie Ross, sustainability program manager of real estate for Microsoft, the company tracks food consumption data from cash registers, purchase records and waste logs to drive better decisions about what to procure. For example, the amount of roast chicken prepared but not consumed each day is near zero, she noted.
Artificial intelligence is also a factor in the strategy: By capturing images of what’s headed for composting and analyzing them, the food operations team is able to adjust orders more quickly. Elsewhere, Microsoft is tapping location information about where employees are congregating — using both signals from personal electronics divisions as well as ceiling-mounted sensors to help prevent overproduction.


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Yesterday evening, on June 16, Uncommon Threads in Lawrence held their Dress for Your Future Fashion Show. The virtual event was produced in collaboration with Boston’s School of Fashion Design, and featured stunning creations from some of the school’s emerging designers.
Uncommon Threads is a Lawrence-based nonprofit that provides clothing to low-income women, helping empower them and boost self-esteem. They focus not just on work clothing, but also clothing for all aspects of a woman’s life. Their adjoining shop, Uncommon Closet, is a boutique thrift store that helps fund Uncommon Threads’ work.
The evening kicked off with a virtual red carpet on Facebook at 6:30 p.m. Attendees were encouraged to post photos of themselves all dressed up from the red carpet (but from home) and prizes were awarded to the ‘Best Dressed,’ ‘Most Glamorous,’ ‘Most Colorful,’ and ‘Most Empowered.’ Winners were announced on Facebook this morning.
Next, attendees headed over to YouTube to watch the fashion show. Folks got a first look at many new creations coming out of the Boston School of Fashion Design, and also heard from Uncommon Threads’ leaders and clients. The full show is down below if you missed it last night.

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The major obstacle to the establishment of an aquaculture industry is the lack of local, high-quality fish feed. Availability of locally sourced, low-cost feed will be a major step towards improving profitability of small aquaculture enterprises. This is the concern of the government and private fish farmers. Daniel Essiet reports.
Along the shores of Lagos, fish farmers are losing because of the decline in fish stocks.
These days, local fishermen are lucky if they net so much like in the past. Thus, the economic incentive for keeping a healthy fishery is strong. Fishermen and trawlers have overfished.
To assist the fishermen, the state government is supporting entry into aquaculture to reduce pressures on the lagoon while promising them a more stable income source.
For this reason, the state government looks to aquaculture as a viable enterprise for local farmers, to provide their families with much needed protein and also earn income from the fish they sell at the market. But investigation revealed that the major obstacle blocking growth of aquaculture is the high cost of fish feeds, particularly feeds with high protein component.
For most farmers, feeds consists of rice and maize bran, kitchen leftovers, and garden remains are low in protein and other essential nutrients, these plant-based feeds are insufficient for promoting rapid growth of marketable fish. But, higher quality commercial feeds formulated with fishmeal or soybean meal, the farmers said, are in short supply and is too expensive for the average farmer. Also, producing fishmeal from wild-caught and other fish raises significant environmental and food security issues.
Speaking in Lagos, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, said fish and fisheries play a significant role in the economy in terms of nutrition, income, employment and foreign exchange earnings.
He, however, finds the affordability of nutritious feeds to be a major hindrance to the development of the aquaculture industry.
To this end, he said the government was ready to partner with the private sector to develop an affordable feed formulation. The goal is a nutritious, protein-balanced diet that farmers can afford.
Most of these conventional and non-conventional ingredients are abundantly available but not at an affordable price for making good quality fish feeds.
Feed ingredients of animal origin, such as fish meal, are used as sources of animal protein in aquafeeds. Others, including poultry by-products, slaughterhouse wastes, blood meal, bone meal, etc., have been evaluated for their possible use. Even in small amounts, they may greatly improve the nutritional value of the entire diet.
Fish require a top-quality, nutritionally complete and balanced diet to grow rapidly and remain healthy. Local feed production is critical to the overall success and sustainability of an aquaculture industry.
To this end, the Lagos State Commercial Agriculture Development Project(CADP) said the feed industry has profited from the rural energy support under the project, through the supply and installation of transformers, low and tension wires in farm lands and clusters to help production and increase profits.
The project manager said within the short debut of the project, some very positive results have been realised, such as a 37 per cent decrease in the floating fish feed prices through the support provided to farmers to help them to produce the feed locally.
With the running of a feed extruding machine of 150 kg per hour capacity, CADP is geared to give fish farmers a good deal.
The floating fish feed is the result of applying the appropriate technology in its production, a breakthrough in its own respect in local feed production nationwide.
Until recently, they were producing feed using locally fabricated pelletisers with production capacity of about one tonne per day.
As part of the effort of the private sector, Akin-Sateru Farms inaugurated their floating fish feed extrusion plant in Lagos. The floating fish feed production plant has the capacity to produce 12 tonnes of extruded floating fish feed, and the mill will supplying local farmers who up until now had to rely on importing extruded fish feed into the country.
Speaking on the new plant at the event, Chairman of Akin-Sateru Farms, Oba Adetunji Akinloye, said the new feed plant would help to reduce one of the biggest burdens on fish farmers – the high cost of imported feeds – and encourage more companies to invest in the sub-sector.
“It is on record that Nigeria still spends about N80 billion per annum on fish import into the country,” he said.


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Convergence 2015: With sales productivity in focus, Microsoft, CRM partners offer a slew of complementary tools
At Convergence 2015 in Atlanta this week, productivity was a theme both in presentations and on the convention floor. At a session on "Sales productivity at Microsoft," team leaders from Redmond talked about how they used Dynamics CRM to support their own sales force. Meanwhile, on the show floor, a range of exhibitors large and small promoted and demonstrated their own productivity enhancing solutions to CRM.
As Maurice Rice, director of Business Programs, explained at the sales productivity session, Microsoft as a whole consists of a diverse lot of interests and stakes: 16,000 sellers; 30,000 partners; 100+ countries; 100,000 enterprise customers and more than $40 billion in the sales pipeline.


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MILAN — In September of 2018, Dunkin’ Donuts announced that it was re-branding as Dunkin’, with a new name and new packaging.
Now, Dunkin’ is making it official with new in-store packaging and special content on its social channels. A fresh look with bright, bold packaging has debuted in Dunkin’ restaurants. New cups, donut boxes, and even napkins will make their way to Dunkin’ locations nationwide by the end of the month.
The designs reflect the energy and excitement that Dunkin’ serves daily, the company says in a press release. The packaging, just like the new branding, is fresh and new, while still paying homage to our brand’s iconic colors and rich heritage of keeping America running.
Dunkin also debuted content celebrating the new look on our social channels, featuring fun vignettes showcasing ways people might make their first-name basis relationship with Dunkin’ official, from getting a Dunkin’ hairdo to knitting a matching Dunkin’ sweater for your coffee to even getting a Dunkin’ tattoo. You can check out our Dunkin’ hairdo vignette below.


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Private Eye recorded its best sales figure since 1992 in the second half of last year, according to data published today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The fortnightly satirical magazine sold an average of 210,218 copies in the six-month period between July and December.
A year-on-year increase of 3.4% took the magazine – which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year – over the 210,000 mark for the first time since 1992.
More than 99% of copies are actively purchased – sold at newsstands or through subscription but not given away as bulks or through controlled circulation.
"The Eye's circulation figures are like John Terry's shorts," said editor Ian Hislop. "In the past they may have been down – but now they are firmly up again."
The Oldie, the magazine edited by Private Eye's founder and former editor Richard Ingrams, also did well, adding 14.6% year on year to record a sale 35,965, which was up 4.8% on the previous six-month period to the end of June.
The Week was up a solid 9.8% year on year to 169,690, while monthly magazine Prospect grew its circulation 3% to 28,446.
However, things were less rosy for rightwing political weekly the Spectator, which lost 8.9% of its sales from its record high in the second half of 2008 to hit 70,300.
The Economist's ongoing growth continued, albeit at a modest rate.
The UK edition added 1.2% to reach 189,201, while the continental Europe edition lost 0.2% to 238,704.
MoneyWeek, whose sale is dominated by subscriptions, was up 10.4% year on year to 42,953.
Investors Chronicle, from FT Business, slipped 1.4% to 30,006, although this was a mere 21 copies fewer than in the previous six-month period.
Time magazine's British Isles edition lost 3% year on year to 130,264, while the Europe edition of Newsweek was down 10.2% to 192,239.
Worldwide sales of the New Scientist, excluding Australasia and North America, fell 7.5% year on year to 101,060.
Leftwing weekly current affairs magazine New Statesman did not submit an ABC figure.
To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email email@example.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.


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Serving Thai Products To the World at the HTKDC Food Expo
07 September 2018
“We believe people around the world love Thai food”, says the Director General of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP) of Thailand. SMEs from across Thailand took part in the 2018 HKTDC Food Expo to showcase local food products, food production processes and technology. Suwanchai Lohawatanakul was pleased to witness strong buyer appreciation for Thai food at the fair, where exhibitors were also able to test market potential for new products.


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As forward thinking as Warren Buffett is, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) — the multinational conglomerate holding company Buffett spearheads — has never invested in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). That has led some folks to question whether he likes Tesla or even electric vehicles. But look beyond the noise, and you’ll find that the Oracle is quite bullish on EV battery stocks.
First, to clarify Buffett’s position on Tesla, in 2019, he stated during an interview with Yahoo Finance regarding Tesla CEO Elon Musk that “I think he has room for improvement, and he would say the same thing.” Furthermore, Buffett mentioned that Buffett would benefit from a little more discretion on social media. Nevertheless, Buffett called Musk “a remarkable guy.” Perhaps the only thing more remarkable is the possible upside trajectory of battery stocks.
Indeed, as InsideHook detailed, Buffett has been betting big on EV battery stocks since 2008. Coincidentally, this was the first year that Tesla released its Roadster, proving to onlookers that EVs can be environmentally friendly and desirable. While Tesla has more than established itself as the dominant leader in the EV space, Buffett’s investments in batteries hasn’t exactly been a slouch.
One of the reasons why regular investors may want to follow in Buffett’s footsteps — as opposed to taking Musk’s constant tweets as gospel — is that battery stocks represent a play on infrastructure. Look, whether you like Tesla or not, the reality is that no one knows for sure whether a powerful brand today will stand the test of time for tomorrow.
Don’t believe me? Consumers once regarded Packard as one of the top luxury car brands in the U.S. and it could have succeeded if it made appropriate business decisions. That didn’t turn out to be the case because individual brands suffer severely from competition. On the other hand, infrastructure plays like battery stocks will likely be relevant for a long time.
- BYD (OTCMKTS:BYDDF)
- Panasonic (OTCMKTS:PCRFY)
- Toyota (NYSE:TM)
- EnerSys (NYSE:ENS)
- Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC)
- Energous (NASDAQ:WATT)
- QuantumScape (NYSE:QS)
As with any investment sector, you’ll want to exercise due diligence with EV battery stocks. Yes, we’re talking about Warren Buffett but it’s your money, not his. Therefore, consider this article to be a series of ideas to spark further research.
Battery Stocks: BYD (BYDDF)
If you want to know what all the fuss is about regarding Buffett’s call on battery stocks, look no further than BYD. An automotive firm headquartered in China, BYD seemingly covers every area of mobility, from cars, buses, trucks — even electric-powered bicycles and forklifts. While those are intriguing business models (particularly in the world’s second-biggest economy), Buffett is focused on the company’s rechargeable battery division. Bloomberg’s Brooke Sample explained it beautifully:
“The value of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s holdings in BYD Co. Ltd., one of China’s oldest makers of cars and automotive batteries, has skyrocketed this year: BYD’s share price is up almost 30%. Buffett has backed BYD for over a decade, holding around 22% in the Hong Kong-listed company, which now sits on a market capitalization of over HK$915.6 billion ($117.6 billion).”
Sample also stated that the market cap is bigger than what Nio (NYSE:NIO) has achieved — and that’s saying something because Nio has achieved plenty.
As for following Buffett’s lead, it’s hard to argue against it. In 2020, BYD generated revenue of nearly $24 billion, up over 31%. In the first quarter of 2021, BYD rang up $6.3 billion, up nearly 25% against the year-ago quarter.
Although Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway may have never invested in Tesla, I’m sure the Oracle wouldn’t mind investors bulking up on shares of Panasonic. Once a giant in the consumer electronics space, the problem for Panasonic is that the 1980s and 1990s faded into the history books. And thus, a huge part of the company’s relevance also got sucked into the business version of a black hole.
However, not all is lost. Indeed, one might say that the prospects for Panasonic has never looked brighter. While no one’s lining up for its consumer electronics, they’re eager to get their hands on the company’s EV powerplant. As one of the top battery stocks in the market, Panasonic has long bolstered Tesla’s electrification ambitions.
Earlier this year, Nikkei Asia reported that the EV manufacturer will “continue buying batteries from longtime Japanese supplier Panasonic until at least 2022 despite the U.S. electric vehicle maker’s plans to produce its own cheaper alternative.”
Whatever happens to this partnership in the future, Panasonic has in many ways already won thanks to the power of the Tesla brand. Also, PCRFY trades at a relative discount to its prior highs, making it an intriguing choice among battery stocks.
Battery Stocks: Toyota (TM)
Staying in the same geographic area, fans of Warren Buffett may want to consider Japanese automotive behemoth Toyota. For one thing, Toyota announced in late 2019 that it would set up a joint venture with BYD with the aim of designing and developing battery EVs. With Berkshire Hathaway owning 25% of BYD, Toyota would seem likely to win the Oracle’s approval.
Beyond that, Toyota intrigues because of its research and development of solid-state batteries (SSBs). Unlike the traditional lithium-ion powerplants that EVs incorporate, SSBs feature incredibly high energy density. This translates to longer range and better performance for EVs, which makes TM stock an exciting proposition.
To be fair, no one has yet cracked the SSBS code. While the platform exists, it hasn’t been able to deliver the longevity that consumers demand from their vehicles. Furthermore, building an unattainably expensive SSB would be commercially pointless.
Still, whoever builds the first one will essentially have found the Holy Grail. Best of all, even if Toyota doesn’t quite get it right, the company is still a global leader in the automotive industry. Therefore, you almost can’t go wrong with TM for your portfolio of battery stocks.
Billed as the global leader in stored energy solutions, EnerSys offers its services across a wide range of industries, from communications networks to data centers to healthcare infrastructures to military and defense needs. Of course, what has really caught investors’ attention seeking viable battery stocks to buy is EnerSys’ solutions for the transportation sector.
The company made its name in the automotive market through its Odyssey brand of batteries for combustion-based vehicles. According to its website, “Even at very low temperatures, ODYSSEY Extreme Series batteries have the power to provide engine-cranking pulses in excess of 2250A for 5 seconds — double to triple that of equally sized conventional batteries. And they can handle 400 charge-discharge cycles to 80% depth of discharge.”
Given its acumen in this area, it’s no surprise that EnerSys entered a partnership with Blink Charging (NASDAQ:BLNK) to “develop high-power wireless and enhanced DC fast charging (DCFC) systems with integrated battery storage for the transportation market.”
Should EVs become the go-to platform in the future — and that’s the common belief — ENS would be one of the battery stocks to keep on your watch list.
Battery Stocks: Lithium Americas (LAC)
Technically a lithium-mining company as opposed to being one of the pure-play battery stocks, Lithium Americas nevertheless deserves serious consideration for the EV investor. As with many of the other companies on this list, Lithium Americas is an infrastructure play. You’re not here to gamble on which EV brand will dominate the market of tomorrow; rather, you’re in the biz to sell the hottest tickets in town.
In fact, calling lithium a hot ticket would be doing its demand profile injustice. As the New York Times detailed earlier this year, China is aggressively seeking to dominate the global EV market. Thanks to its prodigious production capabilities, it’s not an unreasonable goal. Of course, this initiative would require gobs of lithium, making it this century’s equivalent of oil.
As well, investor sentiment has keyed in on LAC stock. Over the trailing year, shares are up over 99%. And on a year-to-date basis, LAC has gained 32%, reflecting tremendous demand for the underlying asset.
Still, it pays for investors to be cautious. Between early September 2020 to the present, it seems LAC is charting a long-term bearish head-and-shoulders pattern. Therefore, if you’re going to play, do so very carefully.
For the last two battery stocks, I’m going to dive into the more speculative side of the fence, starting with Energous. For full disclosure, I was not a big fan of WATT stock. In fact, I was downright bearish, stating that Energous was at risk for a “reality check.”
As you know, the company specializes in at-contact or over-the-air wireless charging. Naturally, that brings up safety concerns. After all, mobile phones emit radiation and very limited evidence suggests there might be a risk for heavy cellphone users. Nevertheless, my argument was that even if Energous’ charging platform was safe, it wouldn’t be nearly as efficient as wired charging.
Making matters worse, WATT did get a reality check, shedding 86% since the date of publication. So, why bother mentioning Energous now?
First, the company’s WattUp charging technology for existing vehicles could help bring wireless convenience and safety to the roadways, which may offer a better demand profile than home wireless charging. Second, WATT has been posting a series of higher lows since December of last year, for any interested contrarians.
For the record, I’m personally still hesitant on this opportunity. Nevertheless, I don’t want my bias to deny you information about this wager.
Battery Stocks: QuantumScape (QS)
Finally, another company that I’ve generally been skeptical on is QuantumScape. Attracting significant attention from both retail investors and business bigwigs, QS stock could be a paradigm shifter if the underlying company succeeds in its quest to develop the world’s first commercial SSB for EVs.
As I’ve mentioned for Toyota, SSBs could change the entire landscape for EVs and most importantly, their mainstream adoption. By packing more energy into a smaller space, SSBs could not only allow EVs to drive longer distances on a single charge, they could also be cheaper to manufacture since they would use less materials.
The problem is that such fantastical notions — higher capacity, lower environmental footprint, cheaper cost — are incredibly difficult, perhaps even impossible to engineer. I’m not suggesting that it is impossible but the odds are certainly stacked against QuantumScape.
What makes QS risky is that if it falls short, then it doesn’t have anywhere else to since its pre-revenue posture is based on getting an SSB to market. On the other hand, if Toyota fails in its SSB endeavor, it can still do Toyota things.
Nevertheless, the appeal for QS stock is that after hemorrhaging in the market, if the company does come through, this could be a groundbreaking investment. If you like gambling with your battery stocks, this might be the name for you.
On the date of publication, Josh Enomoto did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
A former senior business analyst for Sony Electronics, Josh Enomoto has helped broker major contracts with Fortune Global 500 companies. Over the past several years, he has delivered unique, critical insights for the investment markets, as well as various other industries including legal, construction management, and healthcare.


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Taunton pot-trepreneurs chafe at delays, allege unfairness
TAUNTON — Facing criticism about delays and allegations of unfairness, Taunton is taking a fresh look at how it regulates recreational pot.
The city came in for criticism by local business owner Kyra Fernandez, who has one of the city's eight coveted Host Community Agreements. She's racing other entrepreneurs to open her doors first.
"I am kind of frustrated with how long the process is taking with the law department and getting the HCA out to me and ready for signatures," the Evergreen Drive resident told City Council on Tuesday.
Fernandez said the city cost her six weeks in getting paperwork to the state.
Other would-be marijuana entrepreneurs say the city's process has not been fair to them.
Haskell Kennedy, president of Medicine Man Solutions, has been a fixture at recent City Council meetings. His most recent letter to the city alleges that his company was "unfairly blocked from having the ability to submit our application" and that "it doesn't appear that we are competing on a fair playing field."
Who's approved for a retail license?
The city caps HCAs at eight because the city has only eight retail licenses to give out. None are available right now. Six of those eight HCA-holders already have the city's approval for retail licenses:
1. Commonwealth Alternative Care
2. GTE Taunton
3. Local Motion Cannabis Co.
4. HTC Trinity
5. Mass Medicum
6. Tree Market Taunton
There are two HCAs for which the applicants do not yet have city approval for retail licenses:
7. SAN Holdings
8. Herbal Logic
In a letter to City Council, the city's law department recommends one of two approaches now that all eight HCAs are spoken for:
One would be to tell applicants that the city would keep their information on file and contact them when an HCA becomes available.
A second would be to make it clear that the city won't keep applicants' information on file and that when an HCA becomes available, that the city post the news on its website and invite applicants to re-apply.
City Council plans to discuss the city's licensing process in an upcoming meeting.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs like Kennedy continue to feel frustration.
"They should give me a chance," Kennedy told the Gazette on Tuesday. "I have money at risk."
Fernandez, who this week plans to break ground for her 354 Winthrop St. retail location, said business owners need more clarity from the city.
"The city is constantly on the applicants about how soon things are done and how quickly we're moving and how quickly we are getting operational," the owner of HTC Trinity said. "I am constantly being held up. I'm still not clear on the process."
Fernandez hopes to open her retail shop in October. She's also building a non-retail location at 491 W. Water St., where her company would grow, manufacture and deliver marijuana products. The City Council on Tuesday approved her HCA, which was originally going to be on their June 1 agenda. The City Council voted 7-2 to approve the HCA, which includes an agreement that the company will pay the city 3% of its gross earnings. Fernandez said the delays have cost her six weeks getting the proper paperwork to the state for its role in the multi-step approval process.


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ABA’s new resource for small baker members is up and running.
The Bakers’ Forum, an initiative announced in April 2023, has now held its first two meetings with participants. The first meeting was a virtual meet-and-greet of members. The second kicked off a guest series featuring baking industry experts by welcoming Bakery de France’s Executive Vice President Nadine Salameh.
“Smaller bakers represent a growing part of ABA’s membership,” said Ben Simpson, ABA’s Director of Membership. “Many of these participants are entrepreneurs who haven’t run baking production businesses before. Their biggest priorities include learning how to navigate the baking industry landscape, finding distribution and supplier partners, and understanding the operational hurdles to growing their businesses.”
Size of These Companies
The Forum is geared to ABA baker members whose gross receipts of baked goods and mixes total $25 million/year or less. The focus is on helping these companies operate their small businesses in the commercial baking industry. ABA saw an opening to create a special solution for this segment of its community.
Setting Initial Plans
ABA and Forum members have discussed initial plans for this new community, which include the following:
- Holding quarterly virtual meetings.
- Meeting in person alongside key events when the opportunities arise.
- Making use of ABA’s management software to drive a moderated online community.
- Benefitting from periodic educational presentations by suppliers and other industry stakeholders on topics of interest to this community.
Information Sharing a Big Benefit
Kasondra Shippen, General Manager at Flax4Life, a family-owned and operated bakery based in the state of Washington, said the Forum is an innovative idea that will help smaller companies exchange information and learn from each other.
Flax4Life is one of the inaugural members of the Forum. While Flax4Life is not a new company in the baking industry, unlike some of the other Bakers’ Forum members, Shippen said her company and the other participants can learn by networking and sharing.
“We can ask questions such as, ‘How did you work through a specific operational challenge? What are you doing about a regulation in a certain state?’ Without good recommendations we might spend time focusing in the wrong direction. The openness to sharing is key.”
Unique Needs of Smaller Bakers
Shippen said smaller bakeries lack scale and need input on how to navigate in a highly competitive business, because often the bigger companies have certain advantages.
“There are major differences in volume and buying power for smaller companies, compared to larger ones,” she said.
She added that the opportunity to hear from suppliers will be helpful for the growth of her business.
Expanding the ABA Industry Community
The Bakers’ Forum will help to encourage smaller bakers to engage with other members of ABA.
“We have grown our baker membership by over 50% in the last four years by diversifying the types of bakeries that participate in ABA,” noted Jennifer Colfelt, ABA’s Vice President of Operation and Membership. “The Forum is a great opportunity for these smaller bakers to become more active in the industry and understand the resources available to them through the ABA community.”
Bakers interested in joining The Bakers’ Forum should contact ABA’s Membership team or visit www.americanbakers.org/membership.


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Heavy metals and other chemicals in foods, a two-year-out deadline on traceability and increased federal scrutiny of foreign suppliers. Many of the same issues that faced the food & beverage industry at the start of 2023 remain as we enter 2024.
But there are two new factors in year’s preview of food safety in the new year: There’s a “new” FDA charged with fixing them, and California, among other states, is putting pressure on the agency to move faster.
On the USDA side, the Agriculture Dept. is continuing its war on salmonella in chicken and scrutinizing “Product of USA” label claims, and its stewardship of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines will be in the spotlight before the end of the year.
The “new” FDA
With the FDA providing the most oversight over most of the food & beverage industry, how that agency looks and acts by the end of this year will have a huge impact on food safety.
After the agency took a beating on several fronts in 2022, Commissioner Robert Califf promised a major overhaul of the food side of FDA. The two key actions were creation of a single Human Foods Program (HFP) where there were separate programs for food safety, nutrition, and regulatory affairs; and the appointment of a single deputy commissioner to oversee that new HFP and all things related to foods and beverages, where last year there were three leaders.
Last August, Califf named James Jones as the first deputy commissioner for human foods. He had no FDA, USDA or food industry experience, although he formerly worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Notably, he was a member of the Reagan-Udall Foundation review that recommended this overhaul of the FDA.
The structure and functioning of the new Human Foods Program are a work in progress and largely a bureaucratic matter. It’s hopefully a better way of dealing with the things FDA always has faced.
In mid-October, Jones gave a brief update on progress: “We’ll start … by focusing our efforts on three priority areas: preventing foodborne illness, decreasing diet-related chronic disease through improved nutrition and safeguarding the food supply through the safe use of chemicals and dietary supplements.” Not exactly revelations, but hard to argue with.
Jones did propose a new Office of Critical Foods with its immediate concern being the safety and availability of infant formula – the safety and availability of which were separate but related episodes from 2022 that spurred the call for this overhaul of FDA.
“Once the proposal moves through the full administrative process, we will be able to implement the organizational changes that will be the foundation from which we build a modernized program that will transform how the FDA regulates the U.S. food supply,” an FDA spokesperson told us.
“We’ll see how the new structure works out, but we know for sure the agency will face challenges,” says David Joy, partner at law firm Keller & Heckman (www.khlaw.com). “Protecting the human food supply in the United States is always a daunting task, and FDA can always use more resources. The recent discovery of elevated lead and chromium in children’s applesauce pouches is a good example of a very serious food safety issue that cropped up unexpectedly.”
The FDA also has the usual things on its plate. Just last month, it received two citizens petitions seeking the removal of food additive authorizations for benzene, ethylene dichloride and methylene chloride. “We are in the process of identifying chemicals for reassessment and continuing our work to develop a framework for the post-market reassessment of chemicals authorized for use in and with foods,” said the
Early last year, the agency issued a draft guidance on how marketers should label plant-based milk alternatives. That should move into rule-making this year. And somewhere on a back burner are decades-old proposals for front-of-package labeling.
Section 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which requires improved traceability from all participants in the food chain, has been looming for a while. Although the rule doesn’t mandate computerized records, ineffective and overly manual processes will no longer be acceptable. Section 204 won’t go into full effect until January 2026, but this year would appear to be the ideal time for food & beverage processors to develop a plan, to test it out and implement it in 2025, so they can be fully compliant by Jan. 1, 2026.
As mentioned above, 2023 ended with the recall of three brands of pouched applesauce targeted primarily to toddlers, with the cinnamon flavoring in it adulterated with lead by an ingredient supplier in Ecuador. There were no deaths, but the effects of lead toxicity in toddlers usually show up gradually in impairment of mental and physical development.
The FDA plans to increase the number of food facility inspections this year anyway, says Leslie Krasny of Krasny Law Office. “Given the agency’s serious health concerns about food fraud potentially contributing to lead poisoning, FDA is likely to pay close attention during inspections to supply-chain verification relied upon by manufacturers regarding heavy metals, to ensure that the supplier is controlling the risk of chemical contamination.”
That toddler applesauce recall spotlights the agency’s Foreign Supplier Verification Program. FSVP was a major component of FSMA that requires U.S. businesses to import foods and ingredients only from suppliers they have vetted and approved. It’s the responsibility of the importer – often a food processor or marketer –to verify that the food is produced in compliance with FDA regulations.
“The Foreign Supply Verification Program enforcement was hot in 2023, and I think it'll be hot in 2024 because FDA is getting traction out of what they're finding,” says David Acheson, a former FDA associate commissioner for foods and founder and CEO of The Acheson Group (achesongroup.com).
“FDA has focused on what they determine are high-risk foods -- spices and seafood and the like -- with plenty of inspections and testing going on at the ports of entry,” he continues. “We're continuing to see companies get into trouble because they don't have a Foreign Supplier Verification Program that meets FDA standards, and they're getting warning letters.”
After much pressure, FDA has taken on the daunting task ofbecause that claim increasingly is being used by marketers. “The current definition turns 30 years old this year,” says Joy. While a final rule was scheduled to appear this April, Joy says don’t hold your breath. “Ideally, it will be finalized before the new, 2025 edition of the Dietary Guidelines is issued.”
Also don’t bet on the agency keeping its promise to publish by June a proposed regulation that would require front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling to help consumers more quickly and easily make healthy choices. Joy doubts it will motivate many consumers, but if FOP rules are created, “This might prompt some food manufacturers to tweak their recipes to avoid unfavorable FOP information, similar to the mass reformulations to get rid of trans fat when that was added to the nutrition facts panel 20 years ago.”
Same old USDA
At the end of 2022, the Dept. of Agriculture’ Food Safety & Inspection Service declared war on salmonella in poultry, which has long been a food safety problem. The agency followed up by declaring salmonella, at any level, an adulterant in uncooked stuffed chicken entrees (like chicken Kievs). While that first declaration only involves those chicken products, it paves the way for regulation to recall all chicken products that have tested positive, even when they have a very low level of contamination. Proposals to that end could come this year.
Early last year, USDA said it plans to change how meat, poultry and egg products use “Product of USA” labeling. Current labeling is misleading to consumers, according to the agency.
A voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claim could be used on meat, poultry and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the U.S. The new regulatory requirements would align the label claims with what consumers actually understand the claim to mean, the agency says.
Within the plant operations side of the food business, USDA promises to study the effect of recently increased line speeds on worker safety at poultry and swine plants.
Cultured meat has been in the offing for a few years now, but last June saw the first two companies receive final USDA approval to sell cultivated chicken – meaning the stuff is safe to eat. In the eight months since, neither Upside Foods nor Good Meat has made its cell-grown chicken available to the general public, but each has provided limited/test quantities to restaurants run by famous chefs.
Neither has a timetable for when U.S. consumers might see cultivated meat in their grocery stores. “We don’t have timing on a retail launch at this point, but no further approvals are needed for that step to happen,” said a spokesperson for Good Meat (part of Eat Just). Upside Foods chimed in, “To achieve broader availability, our primary goal is scale, a target that involves increasing production and reducing costs through technical scale-up, supply chain development, and cost optimization. The complexity of these factors makes predicting a specific timeline challenging.”
Those two approvals were for chicken. Meanwhile, the world’s first approval of cultured beef came in December, when Israel’s Aleph Farms said it received a “no objections” letter from Israel’s Health Ministry, allowing it to sell steaks in that country.
If you think consumer acceptance is dubious, consider the political implications. In two proposed bills, Arizona may at least require labeling controls for substitute meat products – whether they’re cultured meat or animal-based protein analogues -- and perhaps an outright ban on cultured meats.
Arizona state Rep. Quang Nguyen in January proposed legislation that would prohibit the labeling of any product as “meat” if it wasn’t derived directly from livestock or poultry. While much of the local news coverage focused on his disdain for cultured meats, his proposed legislation apparently also would apply to plant-based products.
Nguyen told Capitol Media Services he doesn't intend to block grocers from offering -- and customers from purchasing -- such products. Instead, he said, it's a matter of transparency and disclosure.
However, Rep. David Marshall wants to go a step further and keep cultured meat out of the state altogether. Radio station KAWC reported Marshall’s HB 2121 would prohibit the sale or production of any "cell-cultured animal product for human or animal consumption.''
Marshall said his proposal is "a matter of statewide concern necessary to protect public health.'' But, as KAWC pointed out, part of bill clearly is meant to protect the state's cattle industry. His legislation would allow anyone whose business is "adversely affected'' by the sale of lab-grown meats to sue to stop the practice and be able to collect damages of up to $100,000.
Arizona joins Florida and Texas with active legislative proposals against cultured meats, and other states have talked about somehow regulating the sale of lab-grown meats in their states. Like Arizona, some of the proposals appear only concerned about not misleading consumers – that they should be made aware a given product has been lab-grown – but other pieces of legislation look more like protectionism of the cattle industry in their states.
And it’s not just here in the U.S. In November, Italy’s parliament gave its final approval for a law banning the use of food and animal feed produced in a lab. And that leads us to …
California and other states are flexing and vexing
On the subjects of cultured meats, marijuana and potentially dangerous ingredients, several states are taking steps that make federal regulation of these things difficult … or could result in the proverbial patchwork of 50 different state laws that frustrates interstate commerce of food.
The California legislature last year vexed FDA, USDA and EPA by either: (a) Taking bold steps to protect consumers or (b) Impeding interstate commerce. There are plenty of opinions on each side.
California Assembly Bill 418 was passed last October. It bans red dye No. 3, brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate and propylparaben for use in foods and drinks sold in California, starting in 2027. Titanium dioxide was originally in the bill but it was dropped. Many said the state was usurping FDA’s authority. The FDA appeared to be caught a little flat-footed, but responded that it, too, is considering a ban on brominated vegetable oil.
“The decision by California to adopt international food safety requirements is intended to be proactive and protective, but the new law has created concerns at FDA and industry,” says Krasny. “If food companies become subject to ingredient bans on a state-by-state basis, it could be extremely difficult and costly to operate nationally if the bans are inconsistent. Moreover, FDA’s extensive scientific expertise is important in the development and review of food safety standards. FDA’s statutory role in approving food additives should not be greatly diminished by states without legal process.”
After surviving several years of challenges, Proposition 12 went into effect in California this Jan. 1, with implications for all the states, indeed the entire world. This new law requires that all pork, eggs and veal sold in the state – regardless of where they come from – must be from farm animals raised under more humane housing conditions, primarily affording the animals room to move around.
While the Supreme Court upheld California’s right to regulate sales in its state, U.S. Senate Bill 2019, the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, is pending in Congress. That would override any state’s right to impose standards on agricultural products sold in interstate commerce. The challenges should be worked out through the course of the year.
The Golden State is not alone on this issue. Currently, at least 15 states have passed policies on farm animal welfare, according to The Acheson Group (TAG), although they apply only to animals raised within those states. By 2026, hog gestation crates will be banned in 10 states, which is expected to equate to 17% of U.S. pork producer operations.
It’s not just a U.S. situation. Three Canadian Codes of Practice, involving veal cattle, pullets/laying hens and bison, are in the midst of five-year reviews and the Canadian pig code of 2014 comes into effect this July 1, according to TAG. Countries in Europe and elsewhere are also considering animal treatment regulations.
Back to California, in October Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills that would require large corporations operating in the state to disclose both their carbon footprints and their climate-related financial risks starting in 2026.
Senate Bill 253 requires companies that operate in California and have more than $1 billion in annual revenues to report both their direct and indirect emissions. Not just emissions from operating a factory, building or store, but also those from activities like employee business travel and transporting their products.
Senate Bill 261 focuses on the financial risk to the businesses over climate-related issues. While both laws are likely to face continuing legal challenges, they are to be implemented by the California Air Resources Board, which needs to pass regulations by Jan. 1, 2025, before companies start filing disclosures in 2026.
And then there’s marijuana. FDA still holds that neither THC, the intoxicating component of marijuana, nor CBD is an acceptable food ingredient. Some states apparently can pre-empt the agency when they legalize marijuana but interstate transportation is prohibited.
Currently there are 24 states where pot is legal, and each holds a cottage industry making THC-infused food and beverage products for sale only within that state. And CBD sales are rampant across the country, although its use as a food or beverage ingredient remains murky.
Some of those pioneering companies apparently are shipping even THC-containing products across the country, perhaps even to states where marijuana remains illegal. A few big CPG companies – especially alcoholic beverage companies such as Constellation Brands and Molson Coors – already have products in Canada, where pot’s been legal since late 2018, and are all prepared to jump into the U.S. market -- when there is one.
Mary Jones, the THC-containing line from Jones Soda, in California is selling 16-oz. canned sodas containing 100mg of THC — that’s a big gulp, apparently designed for sharing with friends or drinking very slowly — and 12-oz. bottles with only 10mg. The brand is expanding into Washington state and has plans for a Michigan launch. Nevada is another possibility.
Last month, Hill Beverage Co. in collaboration with Snoop Dogg and his Death Row Records launched a line of (minimally) THC-containing carbonated beverages, and they appear to be available for shipping to all 50 states. All of the Do It Fluid drinks contain CBD and some contain a touch of Delta-9 THC – but at 3mg of THC per 8-oz. can, the amount is far under the limit set by the 2018 Farm Bill and apparently not enough to get a buzz on. Regardless, neither CBD nor THC is a food additive approved by the FDA.
We’ll see if the agency starts enforcing its own rules or rewrites them to accommodate the many new CBD- and THC-containing products entering the market.


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Location: 224 Second Ave. NE, Dyersville, Iowa.
HOURS: After the Wednesday, March 16 opening, Fuse will open at 4 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends. Fuse will be open daily starting at 11 a.m. once the kitchen opens.
DYERSVILLE, Iowa — An establishment combining a restaurant, sports bar and wine lounge will be opening this week in Dyersville.
Fuse will open its bar at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 12, the same day as Dyersville’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities. The eatery will officially open daily starting Wednesday, March 16.
The name Fuse comes from the idea of combining three concepts — restaurant, sports bar and wine lounge — together into one space, said owner Tara Rahe.
“Nothing compares here to this type of atmosphere,” she said. “What we were wanting to do was give the community what they were looking for, what they were lacking.”
The sports bar is located in the front of the space with 12 televisions to watch games and space to seat more than 100 people. In the warmer months, an outdoor patio connected to the bar will be available.
The countertops at the bar are repurposed pieces from the space, and Rahe incorporated exposed brick and natural woodwork throughout the restaurant to keep some of the building’s historic touches. Rahe said that the building has been used as storage for a while, but Fuse occupies a space added on to a hotel that was open in the 1800s.
“It’s been fun to watch it all come to life,” she said.
Rahe said that the bar will feature specialty cocktails, wine and beer options. In addition to domestic beer, craft beer will be a staple, with the lineup changed from time to time, she said.
“I’ve been doing some testing on social media, and we’ve based the selection off of there and what people want,” she said.
The back room will feature the sit-down restaurant space and wine lounge. The restaurant can seat an additional 75 people, and the lounge another 10.
The sit-down area will open next week, Rahe said, though those who come to the St. Patrick’s Day celebration can utilize the wine lounge.
Rahe said that Fuse’s kitchen will not be open immediately, as kitchen equipment has been affected by ongoing shipping delays.
Until then, she said that she has partnered with multiple food trucks so that guests can have something to eat until the kitchen opens. Food trucks are currently scheduled to be at Fuse every Friday and Saturday, as well as some Thursdays and Sundays, until mid-April.
Happy Joe’s will be serving pizza for Fuse’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration, Rahe said, and Birds. food truck will be at the eatery on March 17. Dates for other food trucks will be posted on Fuse’s social media sites.
After the kitchen opens, Rahe said that she plans to have menu items like loaded nachos and a signature burger featured at the sports bar. In the back restaurant, she said she plans to have more upscale items like scallops and steaks.
Rahe, who grew up outside of Dyersville, said that the idea to open Fuse is what brought her back to the area after living in Chicago for a decade.
Since first teasing Fuse’s opening last year, Rahe said the response from the Dyersville community has been “amazing.”
“It’s a great community,” she said. “It’s great that there are several places in town that you can go. We bring something unique. The Palace (Saloon) is unique in its own way. The brewery (Textile Brewing Co.) is unique in its own way. It’s great that we can all bring something together for the community.”
Karla Thompson, executive director of Dyersville Area Chamber of Commerce, said that Rahe has done a great job keeping people excited and up-to-date on social media about Fuse’s progress, creating a good buzz in town.
She added that Fuse will be a great addition to Dyersville, especially for larger groups looking for a place to gather and eat.
“Ever since the closing of Country Junction, people have missed that sit-down restaurant sort of feel,” Thompson said. “This is just going to be another great restaurant that those people can go to.”
Dyersville Mayor Jeff Jacque also noted that community members are excited about the opening.
“Tara has been working hard at her place down there, and I know the community is very much behind her,” he said.


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The payments promise in ASEAN: how to unlock it?
April 28, 2022
April 28, 2022
Right across the Southeast Asia region, we’re seeing financial institutions prioritize large-scale transformation of their payments capabilities. The principal driver of change for these incumbents? The prospect of capturing a slice of the massive growth forecast for payments. Digital payments are surging in ASEAN, having exceeded US$707 billion in 2021 and projected to reach US$1,169 billion by 2025.
Now, with recent Accenture research pointing to an upsurge in disruption ahead, banks are seeking to put in place the capabilities they will need to counter increasingly strong competition from disruptors, both e-commerce giants and nimble fintechs.
We’re seeing venture capital firms and payments disruptors positioning themselves for new growth, with the sector already attracting a strong inward flow of investment. Payments-focused fintechs attracted 32% of total fintech funding in 2020. And funding allocated to payments fintechs grew 63% between 2018 and 2020, compared to a 20% rise in overall fintech funding over the same period.
There are multiple reasons why we’re seeing so much action among incumbents, and so much action now. Changes in consumer behavior and breakthroughs in digital innovation have proved to be enormously powerful forces.
Disruption is now the norm. Nine in 10 payments providers in our research agreed that the level of disruption in this market will continue to increase in the next three years, adding to the huge changes we’ve seen since the pandemic first hit the region in 2020.
One example? Globally, the proportion of online purchases made by formerly infrequent e-commerce users for products like food, fashion, and luxury goods has increased by almost 350% since the start of the outbreak.
And these changes in consumer behavior are set to remain, even as the world strives to regain some degree of normal social and commercial interaction. A total of 2.7 trillion transactions, worth US$48 trillion, are expected to shift from cash to cards, interbank payments, and alternative payments instruments in the next decade, representing a $300 billion opportunity for payments providers.
In this new world, consumers demand contactless and digital payments – and we’ve seen fintechs move fast to enable them with e-wallets, seamlessly incorporating payments into people’s lives via smartphones, smartwatches and so on.
The shifting regulatory landscape is also igniting rapid change. The hard deadline of November 2025 for the introduction of ISO 20022, reinventing how payments messages are exchanged across the SWIFT community, is a case in point.
By creating a common language for payments worldwide, with higher-quality data flowing through the global system, ISO 20022 is set to have a massive impact. Recognizing this, banks aren’t just rewiring their payments capabilities to take advantage. They’re rethinking their entire payments strategies.
At a regional level, we’re seeing progressive initiatives from regulators in many countries, all of them designed to make real-time payments easier for end-customers and/or people outside the banked ecosystem.
Just one example is the agreement by the central banks of many Southeast Asian countries to interlink their real-time QR-code-enabled payment systems. The goal? To allow for instant, low-cost, low-value cross-border payments to all participating countries. This will facilitate international real-time payments by both consumers and businesses, and support the growth of intra-region trade.
It’s an incredibly vibrant landscape. Asia Pacific is now positioned as a dominant force in digital banking, with 20% of approximately 250 digital banks worldwide based in the region.
Against this backdrop, we continue to have active discussions and engagements with multiple banks to look at the future of payments and understand where they’re best placed to play and win from now on. With new developments coming thick and fast, that can be challenging.
From the rise of cryptocurrencies to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), it can be hard to predict how banks’ technical architectures will have to change. The good news? As they contemplate what the future holds, banks can learn from a number of initiatives that are charting a way forward.
One of these is Project Dunbar, a collaboration between the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub Centre in Singapore and a number of central banks across the region. They are exploring how a common platform for multiple CBDCs could enable cheaper, faster and safer cross-border payments.
In the face of new fintech competition and fast-changing customer demands, some leaders have been outgrowing the overall market over the past three years in terms of transaction numbers. So what’s the secret of their success?
Our research shows that they’re all winning with formulae that combine the same core capabilities: compelling customer value propositions supported by new ecosystem partnerships, agile operating models and a flexible tech stack.
For a case study of this winning formula in action, take the example of one leading Southeast Asian bank – one of the first in the region to place a big bet on an API developer platform built on a banking-as-a-service model.
The bank has also committed itself fully to a customer-first culture and is actively pursuing innovative ecosystem partnerships. The net effect? Less than 10 years since beginning its digital journey, the bank has transformed itself into an agile API-powered player that can rapidly bring new payments value propositions to market.
It’s an example that highlights three key approaches payments players can use separately (or in combination) to craft compelling value propositions for growing revenue and market share in payments:
The explosion of innovation we’re seeing in payments is unprecedented, thanks to an array of powerful developments from 5G and contactless payments to tap-to-pay technologies, and including faster, cheaper access to high-quality data in ever greater volumes.
For incumbents that can learn from leaders and take advantage of these new developments, there’s an outstanding opportunity to create new, stand-out value propositions that deepen existing relationships built on a strong foundation of trust. But with disruptors making inroads every day, there’s no time to waste.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please get in touch.
Disclaimer: This content is provided for general information purposes and is not intended to be used in place of consultation with our professional advisors.
Copyright © 2022 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture and its logo are registered trademarks of Accenture.
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Covid-19 roundup: Moderna starts lining up potential EU approval for vaccine; Hahn rejected White House push to rebrand EUA — Politico
Underscoring Moderna’s global ambitions for its Covid-19 vaccine, the company says that the EMA has confirmed its eligibility to file for marketing authorization using its centralized process. The move sets up a fast-track review process aimed at maneuvering through the regulatory group and onto the European market in speedy fashion — provided the data continue to line up.
Moderna is allied with Lonza on a manufacturing plan for Europe, looking to make 500 million to a billion doses a year, beginning in 2021.
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Originally published in Sunday Independent on January 24 2021, article by Fearghal O’Connor
Experienced family business advisor Paul Keogh has a simple mantra that he repeats to clients in times of stress: family first, business second.
“I’m a great believer that a business should never rule a family,” Keogh told the Sunday Independent. “Business is about profit, but it can’t be at the expense of a family.”
It is advice that doesn’t always go down well, not least at a time like now when many family-owned companies find themselves facing severe stress and challenge.
“I know a fair number of businesses where multiple family units of the same family are dependent on that business. And that causes an added stress. In lots of cases where they have hit a bad patch because of Covid it really has brought financial strain.”
Keogh has worked with family companies throughout his career. He originally worked for Guinness – before it became part of global giant Diageo – and, as marketing director for lagers for the-then still family-controlled company, he brought Budweiser to Ireland. He was chief operating officer at Sean Mulryan’s Ballymore and a senior marketing executive for the Bamford family company, JCB.
He now acts as an independent advisor for a range of Irish family companies, specialising in the delicate issues of governance and succession planning.
It is as difficult a time as he can remember for many companies.
“I think the stress level in a family business is one that really goes under the radar, because it stays within the family,” he said.
There is a huge amount of anxiety and uncertainty, particularly for firms where there has been constant opening and closing over the past year and no clear idea as to when things will return to a type of normality.
“For some, it is a case of ‘Will we ever open again?'” said Keogh.
Despite the strain, there have been positives over the past year, he said.
For example, succession planning has always been a difficult topic for family businesses – not helped by what many see as a taxation environment in Ireland that makes this more difficult.
“Some of the founders I know are absolutely drained mentally and physically and would love to be able to smoothly hand over the business to the next generation, but the environment is not conducive to that in this country. The lawyer will often say to them ‘You know, you’re better off just dying and leaving the business in your will, because it’s more tax efficient’.”
There is also a deep cultural resistance among the founders or current heads to face the issue head on.
“There can be a lot of procrastinating by owners around having the conversation with his or her kids about inheriting the business and the right time for them to take on the business. In some cases the pandemic has forced the issue.”
And some business owners have had reason to have a growing appreciation of those coming behind them, said Keogh.
“A lot of next generation family members have made an important contribution to their family businesses on how to get out of the crisis. It might be part naivety and partly a lack of entrenched fears, but a lot of younger people have been very important to helping their family business to adapt really quickly.
“I’ve been amazed how many really traditional Irish businesses have adopted online trading as a necessity having resisted it for a long time because they previously didn’t really feel the need. But the next generation in a lot of family businesses just came in and said ‘We’re virtually closed unless we use the internet and if we do it right it gives us a global platform’.”
The arrival home of younger family members, perhaps from abroad, due to Covid has also changed the dynamic in some companies, he said.
“They haven’t really had a discussion about joining the company, but they are locked at home and have been throwing out their ideas in an informal way and the message is often ‘We need to think differently’.”
For some businesses though there is no easy way through this crisis. The pub and hospitality sector, which is dominated by family-owned firms, has been particularly hard hit.
Covid will kill off a lot of businesses that were in trouble anyway and those conversations are the toughest part of his job, he said.
“It’s hard to say to business owners ‘I’ve had a look at your business and your turnover and your profit before Covid and it is not viable’. But honesty is the key. Because in some businesses like that people need to be using this current downtime to look at what else they might be able to do after the business is gone rather than hanging around waiting for Covid to go, thinking they are going to be viable when they may not even have been viable before Covid.”
Keogh believes that the real difficulties will only start once Covid subsides.
“When things do open back up and the impact starts to properly become clear and emergency government backing starts to fall away, we will be looking at quite a different landscape and plenty of casualties.”
Ultimately, the number of casualties will come down to the attitudes of the banks, he said.
“At the moment a lot of bank borrowers, particularly in small- to medium-sized companies, are in a sort of limbo because the banks are not being heavy handed. But the banks are there to make a profit and they could suddenly face a tsunami of companies with difficulties.”
Family businesses in particular would need protection in that type of a scenario “rather than rushing straight away into conversations about personal guarantees”, said Keogh.


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The Digital Euro Conference in Brussels was a high-level event that provided a stage to international policymakers, lawyers, financial tycoons, journalists, and even a few crypto enthusiasts. The discussions were focused around the creation of a legislative framework for a digital Euro, a strategic central bank digital currency (CBDC) that has the potential to reshape Europe's economy.
The conference was attended by a number of key political figures, including the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, the President of the European Central Bank, the President of the Eurogroup, the Chair of the European Parliament's ECON Committee, the Minister of Finance of Germany, an Executive Board Member of the European Central Bank, the President of the European Banking Federation, and the Executive Chair of the Santander Group, among others.
It was an honour to have in attendance the Queen consort of the Netherlands, Her Majesty, Queen Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti who has served as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA) since 2009. As Special Advocate, she is a leading global voice on advancing universal access to and responsible usage of affordable, effective and safe financial services. An important focus of her work is on enabling reliable technology for financial inclusion in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Her Majesty, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands in her keynote address shared that:
“1 in 5 adults have not made any digital merchant payment, this includes not using a card to purchase things in a store… 2 in 5 adults have not received a digital payment of any kind nor bought something online…1 in 4 people cannot come up with emergency funds to cover shock events within 30 days.”
Having a well-designed CBDC can address such challenges and improve financial inclusion. CBDCs can be a cheap and effective way for central bank money integration into the economy and help with existing payment systems receive a long-needed update.
According to her Majesty, Queen Maxima, “implementation of any CBDC should be accompanied by policy reforms and safeguards to address some difficulties and risks including overcoming low level and financial digital literacy and operational challenges including cyber security.”
Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, stated in his opening remarks that having a digital euro will not only establish a much more efficient means of payment, but will also bring massive additional benefits such as money programmability.
Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, explained in her keynote address that issuing a Digital Euro will give Europeans confidence since large payment transactions are currently handled by companies outside the EU. Furthermore, approximately 50% of Europeans already prefer to pay digitally. The Digital Euro project will be built on EU infrastructure, bolstering the EU's autonomy strategy.
The Digital Euro will have cash-like features, offline payments that facilitate network effects, and the ability to pay anywhere, in stores or online. According to Ms. Lagarde, the right balance between privacy and illegal activities prevention must be found since according to the lates data, 43% of users value privacy highly.
The biggest challenge, according to Paschal Donohoe, President Eurogroup, and Irene Tinagli, Chair of ECON Committee, European Parliament, is understanding the technical aspects of the Digital Euro. The infrastructure must be able to support a high volume of low value transactions. Although the European Central Bank (ECB) is an important institution in making investment decisions, it may not be the right one to develop and support such a technically challenging endeavor as a CBDC.
The first panel discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities for the financial sector, with participants including the European Commission's Executive Vice President; Christian Linder, Germany's Minister of Finance; Fabio Panetta, Executive Board Member of the European Central Bank; Ana Botin, President of the European Banking Federation and Executive Chair of Santander Group; and Gilles Grapinet, CEO Worldline.
I asked a question about enabling access to the Digital Euro by other, less-developed countries. According to the panel participants, Europe has an open economy. Since the Digital Euro will be an alternative option for retail payments, foreigners could invest their savings in it and that could negatively disrupt their foreign banking system. The Digital Euro means stability and stability requires survival, especially in a heavily competitive ecosystem with 250 payment methods worldwide (Europe covers 150 of those). It's survival of the fittest.
A well-developed payment system with high interoperability and speed must enable instant payment, potentially incorporating p2p functionalities like other digital currencies. Aside from the Know Your Customers (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) that can be handled by the ECB, branding and marketing of the Digital Euro are important - a well-regulated asset and payment system that people can easily adopt.
During a panel discussion with Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market; Eva Kaili, Vice-President, European Parliament; James von Moltke, President and CFO, Deutsche Bank; John Calian, CEO, Riddle & Code; Margherita Della Valle, Group CFO, Vodafone it was mentioned that with the rapid growth of blockchain technology, there’s a massive economic growth opportunity that can be attained through the establishment of digital infrastructure and connectivity. According to the panelists, EU countries should improve their metrics on software education by expanding the infrastructure and incentives required to train software talent.
I hope you enjoyed my short report on the event. In essence, there’s a whole lot more work to be done on the Digital Euro, especially in terms of perception by Europeans.


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Doha round is "deadlocked", says WTO chief
The Doha round of negotiations for liberalising trade is "deadlocked" and the countries need to play a leadership role in opening of the global commerce, WTO director general Pascal Lamy said on Monday.business Updated: Sep 05, 2011 20:18 IST
The Doha round of negotiations for liberalising trade is "deadlocked" and the countries need to play a leadership role in opening of the global commerce, WTO director general Pascal Lamy said on Monday.
"...We know that for the moment the Doha Round is deadlocked," Lamy said while launching the 'Regional Trade Policy' course in the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT).
On its part, India reiterated that the goal posts set in the negotiating Round cannot be altered."Any dilution of the developmental dimension of the Doha agenda will not be acceptable at all," commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said on the occasion.
In the backdrop of the stalemate in the multilateral trade talks, Lamy said it was important that the member countries showed leadership,pragmatism and determination.
Expressing confidence that the forthcoming WTO Ministerial Meeting in December would show a path forward, Lamy said, "Leadership is crucial because trade negotiations are governments' actions and governing requires making choices, taking decisions and being ready to defend them at home..."
While he did not refer to anyone while emphasising the "leadership" role the WTO member countries need to play,India along with Brazil, South Africa and China are seen as advanced developing countries in the developed world.
The rich world, facing the economic turmoil at home want the emerging economies like India to show flexibility in opening their markets, both in the agriculture and industry.
But on its part, India, reiterated that the new goal posts cannot be set. "The discourse cannot be changed..The developing or the poor countries will not to be asked to pay more price than what commitments have been made (in 2001)," Sharma said.
While India hoped at the beginning of this year that a multilateral trade-opening agreement was possible in 2011, " unfortunately it was not materialised. There have been disappointments..." Sharma said.
India and other developing nations are defending their agricultural markets to protect millions of subsistence farmers. Also, New Delhi is willing to take less-than-reciprocal trade opening obligation for industrial products.
The US and other developed countries, however, seek more market access in developing nations, including India.
First Published: Sep 05, 2011 20:13 IST


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COCA-COLA has revealed its famous Christmas truck tour dates - meaning the holiday season is well and truly on the way.
Now in its seventh year, the iconic tour will kick off in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 11 and visit 42 locations across the UK.
After snaking its way across the country, the truck will make its final stop at Essex's Lakeside Shopping Centre on December 17.
At each stop, fans can project festive selfies across the side of the vehicle.
They will also be able to enjoy a 150ml can of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke or Coca-Cola Classic in a 'winter wonderland' setting.
In a statement to Mirror Online, Coca-Cola said : "For those visiting as the sun sets, the truck really comes to life with a special animation celebrating the magic Coca-Cola brings to Christmas."
"Every truck stop will also include a recycling call-to-action, encouraging consumers to recycle bottles and cans in line with Coca-Cola’s recent ‘Love Story’ recycling advert."
Over the last seven years, the truck has travelled more than 730,000 miles – the equivalent of 29 times around the world.
Featuring a whopping 8,772 fairy lights and playing the 'Holidays are Coming’ jingle, it attracts fans from across the country.
A spokesperson for Coca-Cola Great Britain said: “The tour is now in its seventh year and each year we receive hundreds of requests to visit, something that we take into account when creating a route which has a good geographical spread.
“People will have the opportunity to see the truck up close, have their photograph taken and enjoy a choice of a small 150ml can of Coca-Cola Classic or one of our zero sugar options Diet Coke or Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.”
Aedamar Howlett, marketing director for Coca-Cola Great Britain said today: “Coca-Cola is synonymous with the Christmas season and it’s no secret that our much-loved Christmas Truck Tour marks the unofficial countdown to Christmas.
"We can’t wait to start spreading holiday cheer and we are excited to announce a brand new route for 2017 – which brings a sprinkling of festive magic to fans across the UK.”
Where will the truck stop?
- Glasgow, Silverburn Centre – November 11
- Glasgow, Asda Robroyston - November 12
- Newcastle, Asda Bolden Collery – November 14
- Newcastle, Tesco Extra – November 15
- Swansea, Tesco Extra - November 16
- Northumberland, Sanderson Arcade – November 16
- Northumberland, Sanderson Arcade – November 17
- Bristol, The Mall – November 18
- Newcastle, Intu Metrocentre – November 18
- Newcastle, Intu Metrocentre - November 19
- Cardiff, Queen Street – November 19
- Plymouth, Drake Circus Shopping Centre – November 21
- Bradford, Morrison’s Victoria Street – November 21
- Pudsey, Asda – November 22
- Gainsborough, Marshalls Yard – November 23
- Bournemouth, The Triangle – November 23
- Bournemouth, The Triangle – November 24
- Leeds, Whiterose Shopping Centre – November 24
- Hull, St Stephens Shopping Centre – November 25
- Southampton, Westway Shopping Centre – November 25
- Southampton, Westway Shopping Centre – November 26
- Doncaster, Lakeside Village – November 26
- Sheffield, Fox Valley – November 28
- Leyton, Asda – November 28
- Huddersfield, Mccaulay Street – November 29
- Southend-on-sea, Victoria Circus – November 29
- Bolton, Middlebrook Retail Park – November 30
- Harlow, Market Square – November 30
- St Helens, Tesco Extra – December 1
- Ipswich, Asda – December 1
- Peterborough, Tesco Extra – December 2
- Manchester, Intu Trafford – December 2
- Manchester, Intu Trafford – December 3
- Mansfield, Tesco – December 3
- Liverpool, Liverpool One – December 5
- Liverpool, Liverpool One – December 6
- Baldock, Tesco Extra – December 6
- Watford, Asda – December
- Telford, Telford Shopping Centre – December 7
- Wembley, London Designer Outlet – December 8
- Nottingham, Victoria Retail Park – December 8
- London, Jingle Bell Ball – December 9
- London, Jingle Bell Ball – December 10
- Birmingham, Edgbaston Street – December 9
- Birmingham, Edgbaston Street – December 10
- Coventry, Broadgate – December 11
- Reading, Riverside Shopping Centre - December 13
- Rushden, Waitrose – December 14
- Milton Keynes, Xscape – December 15
- Essex, Lakeside – December 16
- Essex, Lakeside – December 17


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Businesswoman who launched popular St Ives shop has died
- Credit: HUNTS POST
Former St Ives businesswoman Gilly Harford - who launched the popular Jackdaw boutique in the town - has died at the age of 86.
The Jackdaw attracted customers from across the region because its range of clothing and accessories which were at the forefront of contemporary trends.
Her original shop, opposite the Bridge Street junction, started in the 1970s but was destroyed in a major fire which wrecked buildings in the town centre. She then moved to a new outlet on nearby Market Hill.
The site of the shop was subsequently cleared, leaving a gap which was redeveloped and became a branch of Woolworths, but it retained a large cross design on the front, replicating the the original building.
Gilly was married to Mike Harford, also a St Ives businessman, who became a local county councillor and was a leading member of the local Conservative Party when former Prime Minister Sir John Major was MP.
Mr Harford said: "She had a natural talent for colour and design. Gilly was well-known to a lot of people and her customers came from far and wide.
"Gilly and I were in business together and then she started the Jackdaw which attracted a lot of people because of its then trendy clothing and gifts.
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"After the fire the whole building came down and she had to relocate to the market square."
Mr Harford, who ran Micol, a St Ives cosmetics business, said his wife had very good eye for fashionable products which made the shop a draw and she was very well-known to her customers.
"She often used to give her customers advice on whether something suited them or not and was respected because of that," Mr Harford said.
He said that after retirement Gilly had been able to devote more time to her hobby of knitting and that some of her work had been featured in knitting magazines.
Mr Harford said his wife, who died unexpectedly, had also enjoyed dog walking.
The couple had a son, Mark, and four grandchildren.
Gilly's funeral will take place at Cambridge Crematorium on December 9, starting at 11.30am, with family flowers only, but donations in her memory can be made to the Wood Green Animal Shelter and EACH (East Anglia's Children's Hospices).


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On-demand fitness service Fiit has launched on Sky Q, enabling subscribers to follow a multitude of workout classes from their own homes.
The app has more than 600 classes available on demand, ranging from HIIT workouts and combat training to yoga and pilates, all fronted by industry-leading trainers.
The launch of the service comes after a surge in home workouts during the coronavirus lockdown earlier this year and ahead of similar restrictions possibly being imposed as winter approaches.
"With Fiit on Sky Q, we're making it easier for people to enjoy their fitness journey at home," said Fraser Stirling, Sky's chief product officer.
"This is just the first fitness experience to come to the platform, reflecting how important Sky Q is to home life.
"TV is now about much more than our favourite show or movie, it's how we listen to music, it's about education, gaming, health and wellbeing and much more, and Sky Q continues to bring you more of what you love in one place in a way that's easy and simple."
In the coming months Fiit via Sky Q will introduce two, four and six-week training plans as well as live workout service Fiit Club and the ability to link heart monitor devices to Sky Q.
All Sky Q customers have free access to 24 of Fiit's classes as well as a free trial, with full subscription plans starting at £20 a month.


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Today, Amazon announced it will increase its minimum wage to $15/hr for all full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary workers. Starting November 1, over 350,000 workers will see an increase in their paychecks due to the collective pressure put on Amazon to pay their employees a living wage.
This decision comes on the heels of months worth of articles and reports criticizing the $1 trillion company for its large number of workers that rely on government assistance. In 2017, the median Amazon worker made $28,466 annually, and one in three Arizona warehouse employees relied on food stamps. During the same period, CEO Jeff Bezos made $39.2 billion. Last month, Sen. Sanders even introduced legislation, the Bezos Bill, that would require companies such as Amazon to pay the federal government back for every dollar one of its workers required in public assistance. The bill’s language around a corporate welfare tax helped amplify ongoing conversations that put Amazon’s business practices in the spotlight, and helped bring us to today’s announcement.
With the federal minimum wage stuck at $7.25/hr since 2009, the company’s unilateral action is quite possibly the only wage increase its workers could have hoped for given this Congress’ aversion to raising wages. As such, the fact that Amazon has listened to the collective voice of fair wage supporters and has taken this step in the right direction is commendable. Rather than ignore the critics, Amazon chose to do the right thing and take the lead in such a major way. It shows the power of sustained advocacy, and that even one of the most profitable companies can come to see the benefits of paying workers a living wage. With Jeff Bezos encouraging his competitors and other large employers to join him in raising their minimum wage, the living wage movement has gained some much needed momentum heading into November.
While the next step for Amazon is to pay their contractors more, as they will not be affected by the wage increase, the next step for the rest of us is to put this same pressure on our legislators so workers at every company do not need to rely on the benevolence of their employers to make ends meet. None of us should want to live in a country where low income people work just as hard as the middle class, but cannot provide for themselves and their families. For the over two million Americans who do not work at Amazon but continue to earn the federal minimum wage or less, a fair wage at the federal level is a must.