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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When the unexpected hits U.S. home and business owners, 1-800 WATER DAMAGE provides those who have experienced property damage what they truly need: an experienced restoration partner they can rely on to safely restore not only their property but their lives.
As a result of its top-quality work and unmatched customer care, 1-800 WATER DAMAGE has nearly doubled its number of franchise owners since the start of 2020, amid the global pandemic. During that span, the property restoration franchise has grown its national footprint to more than 150 locations across 30 states while systemwide revenues grew at an even faster rate, increasing by 123%. Looking ahead, 1-800 WATER DAMAGE expects to reach 200 units within the coming year as it seeks new owners to fill prime territories still available across the country.
“We’re proud of our network of dedicated franchise owners who put their customers first, which reflects our company’s values and our standards for quality work and customer care,” said Rusty Amarante, President of BELFOR Franchise Group.
1-800 WATER DAMAGE is part of the BELFOR Franchise Group, a family of nine industry-leading residential and commercial services franchise concepts owned by the worldwide restoration leader BELFOR Property Restoration. These relationships bring 1-800 WATER DAMAGE benefits, both from the connections with its sister-services brands and the expertise and resources offered by its disaster recovery and property restoration parent operating company. 1-800 WATER DAMAGE franchisees also gain tremendous benefit from these associations including referrals and partnerships with other BELFOR Franchise Group franchisees and from BELFOR’s expansive knowledge, training facilities, operational expertise and industry connections.
The brand provides franchisees training including use of its state-of-the-art flood house, which offers them hands-on experience under real-life conditions. Each franchisee can rely on a national call center to field customer inquiries and book appointments in addition to ongoing national and local marketing support. 1-800 WATER DAMAGE provides water and flood restoration for residential and commercial properties in addition to mold remediation, sewage cleanup, fire and smoke damage restoration and critical cleaning and sanitizing services. Select locations also offer biohazard and trauma clean-up and reconstruction.
1-800 WATER DAMAGE is a recession-resistant company that is growing with individuals who want the freedom of owning their own business and leading with a passion for serving others by helping people after they experience an unexpected disaster.
About 1-800 WATER DAMAGE
1-800 WATER DAMAGE has decades-long experience in property restoration services with a strong emphasis on customer care. With over 150 locations across the U.S., the brand’s restoration services cover water and flood damage, mold remediation, sewage cleanup, fire and smoke damage, and critical cleaning and sanitizing for both residential and commercial locations. The brand was recently ranked #196 in Entrepreneur magazine’s 2021 annual “Franchise 500” list of top franchises.


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Sean Keith, director of new business development at Eagle Eye, writes that it’s clear mobile retail apps provide a platform to engage an increasing number of shoppers at crucial moments in the shopping journeys. But retailers need to consider the costs involved and the utility that effective retail apps provide.
Walmart saw more than half its gain in same-store sales during the second quarter driven by a 37 percent rise in e-commerce revenues. The retailer also announced that next-day deliveries are now available to 75 percent of American households as the chain leverages its physical footprint to expedite in-store pickup and grocery home delivery.
Amazon has opened one of its 4-star stores in its home city of Seattle. The new store, the fourth overall for concept, features highly rated products sold on the e-tail giant’s site as well as other items that are in high demand locally.
Higher prices have enable fast food chains to post revenue gains despite traffic being flat or falling in many locations. Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s have all raised prices on some menu items while keeping others low to balance the need between traffic and profits.
Pill Club, a healthcare startup, is leading the call for a boycott of CVS alleging that the its CVS Caremark pharmacy benefits management business is making changes to its program that could put women who use birth control pills at risk of having their supplies of the drugs interrupted. CVS claims that Pill Club is…
Same-store sales at Kate Spade fell six percent in the second quarter despite parent company Tapestry’s earlier forecast that the brand was on its way to turning its business around. Shares of Tapestry, which also owns Coach, fell as much as 17 percent on the news
Women working in factories in Africa as seamstresses making clothing for brands and retailers including Lee, Levi-Strauss, The Children’s Place and Wrangler have faced sexual abuse and harassment on the job, according to a report from the Worker Rights Consortium.
Migrant workers involved in producing palm oil for FGV Holdings Berhad in Malaysia are being subjected to “slave-like” working conditions where they are forced to sign contracts they do not understand, working in debt and being forced to give up their passports. FGV supplies many of America’s largest food companies including Mars, Nestle and others.
MacAndrews and Forbes, the holding company that owns 87 percent of Revlon’s stock, disclosed in a SEC filing that the company has hired an external financial adviser to help it explore its strategic options. The cosmetic brands company has seen its share price fall 39 percent this year.

domain: news


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It's that time of the year again, when brands and department stores compete for the best Christmas marketing campaigns of the year.
Coca-Cola Japan launched a nationwide reveal of the Christmas-limited design in Japan, in which a tiny pull tab on the label will neatly fold itself into a spectacular festive bow in one smooth movement.
Watch the video to see how it works:
The limited-edition design is part of the company's global campaign, "Taste the Feeling", which was first launched in January this year. (Read more: Coca-Cola reveals new “one brand” packaging)
With the winter theme "Give a Surprise", the new package will be available on regular 500 ml Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero bottles starting on November 21, as the centrepiece of a wider Christmas marketing campaign in Japan. Other side promotions include giving out free pair of socks or "crystal ornament" models to customers who purchase certain amount of Coke.
Two weeks ago, the beverage company reported a 7% drop in global revenues in three months to US $10.6 billion, which mark its sixth consecutive quarterly decline in revenue. However, it pointed out in a statement that Japan is one of the markets standing out from the overall performances. (Read more: Has Coke lost its fizz?)
The national campaign could be seen as an attempt to entice Japanese consumers to stock up on the products for the holiday season.


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We've finally gotten some more details on the Elite Dangerous Fleet Carrier. Just over three months after its initial reveal, details about an open beta and more have been released.
If you haven't been keeping up with Elite Dangerous, you may have missed the announcement of the Fleet Carrier. This is a genuine game-changer in this galaxy-spanning space game. While there are many powerful ships available, this is exactly what it says on the tin: a massive carrier craft that lets you dock up to 16 starships. This is, for all intents and purposes, a mobile base.
The Fleet Carrier also happens to be tremendously expensive. I hope you've been saving up because it will cost you a cool five billion credits. (That's billion, with a B!) Each Elite Dangerous Fleet Carrier is individually owned by the player and has a massive jump range of 500 light-years.
These huge ships do much more than cart around your other craft, though. Commanders can upgrade them with repair docks, refueling stations, shipyards, and more. Owners can also set tariffs on goods traded via the Carrier to support the upkeep costs. You'll need the money, too — these hefty craft make use of a new fuel called Tritium.
The running costs will be such a major issue that commanders will have to carefully balance how they set things up. The press release detailing this new info doesn't state what happens if you fail to pay the bills, but it probably isn't anything good.
When is the Elite Dangerous Fleet Carrier Open Beta?
If you're keen on trying out this brand-new ship, there's good news! An open beta is on the way.
The first open beta will be open to PC players and will start on April 7, 2020. The second open beta will add Xbox One and PS4 players into the mix, taking place sometime in May. These brand-new ships will officially launch in the live game in June 2020.
For now, you can look forward to a livestream from Frontier Developments on their YouTube channel starting on April 2, 2020, at 1:00 PM.
What do you think of the Elite Dangerous Fleet Carrier? Do you think this massive new ship is worth its asking price? Let us know in the comments below!


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Many of the Western tech companies have been blocked in China, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Google, which in-fact moved to Hong Kong because they did not want to comply with China’s censorship regulations.
by Eugene Michaels
On the other hand, there remain a large number of tech giants that successfully entered the Chinese market, for example, Amazon, eBay, Apple, and Samsung. Some of them continue competing with the local tech players.
Although, in the past years, the increasing popularity of Taobao with TMall have entirely taken over the e-commerce market. Furthermore, the domestic phone manufacturers, like Xiaomi or Huawei, are also gaining more and more interest from both the local Chinese and foreigners, thus no longer can be seen as the underdogs.
The Chinese government is known to spend vast amounts of money on building up the local businesses while blocking and censoring anything controversial from outside. From the closing down the Western social media platforms to restricting the use of VPN services (still, NordVPN, among other foreign VPN providers is hanging strong in China), it is not an easy task to merely enter the Chinese market.
Thus, how can the foreign tech companies ever compete in China? It all comes down to the willingness to adapt to the Chinese requirements and comply with the regulations. Google immediately decided to stop most of their work in China, while Facebook has made some attempts (unsuccessfully, as they are still blocked) to lobby the government and gain market access.
To be more successful in China, Western companies need to become “more Chinese.” In other words, they need to localize, which can be done through the hiring of local leadership, cooperation with local companies, translating one’s services. And, once again, complying with the regulations.
One of the successful examples may be LinkedIn. They managed to enter the Chinese market back in 2014 and have continued growing since then. Their secret? They created a dedicated website and an application just for China under the name of Linying. LinkedIn also agreed to cooperate with several local firms to better understand the market and optimize their services for the local customer base – from Chinese language localization to the integration of WeChat with LinkedIn profiles.
Another famous example is Apple, which has been truly successful in competing with the local tech giants locally, as iPhones and MacBooks are widely popular in China. Apple has built numerous manufacturing sites in China, where most of the products are made and assembled. The tech company also has their offices and stores located in many Chinese cities. However, in the recent months, Apple has maybe decided to comply with the Chinese government too much. For this, they have received somewhat mixed responses from the Western countries.
For the past several months, many discussions have surrounded the transfer of iCloud data to China. Back in Autumn Apple announced that it would begin a partnership with Guizhou province and Guizhou-Cloud Big data company, which will take over the management of the Chinese users’ data. Now, since February 28th, Apple has officially begun transferring all this data and encryption keys to the Chinese servers.
The decision came as a compliance with the cybersecurity law, which requires that all the Chinese citizens’ data must be stored locally. Many tech companies have already localized their data storage in other countries, to accelerate their services and be closer to the users. However, in the case of China, people fear that now the Chinese government will be able to access the citizens’ iCloud data, including the photos, messages, and other personal information. Although, Apple has promised strict encryption of the information and official control of the encryption keys, the concerns remain. As Apple was so quick to abide by the cybersecurity laws, their promise to keep the government away from the data does not seem as promising.
While Apple’s decision could mean that they can remain in the Chinese market, many fear that this data transfer could only be the first step in the cooperation. Apple does comply with only the requests that are lawful, but Chinese lawmakers can quickly make them more compliant with the needs of the highest authorities. Nonetheless, the users can do so much but to stay cautious and keep on using the services they have.
On the other hands, us, here at NordVPN, promise to never comply with the requests of any governmental authorities or other third-party institutions, no matter how much they ask. We value the privacy of our customers and do not log any personal information or browsing history.
Image: Matteo Damiani
Topics: ways to enter chinese market,foreign company enter chinese market,barriers to enter chinese market


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“Carrefour provides more than 2,800 direct and indirect job opportunities, and we are proud that Saudi citizens represent 40% of the work team,” Saudi Carrefour said in a statement posted on its official Twitter page.
And Carrefour Saudi Arabia continued in its statement to “support the culture of tolerance and respect for all personal and religious beliefs in the local community.”
For its part, Carrefour Kuwait and Jordan published two statements on its official page, in which they clarified the number of job opportunities they provide, in addition to the rates of supply from local suppliers.
During the past few days, social networking sites have witnessed widespread campaigns calling for a boycott of French goods, against the background of statements by French officials headed by President Emmanuel Macron, which were considered “offensive” to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, after the killing of a French teacher by a young Muslim of Chechen origins.
Some countries in the Middle East region, some formally and others unofficially, joined the campaign to boycott French products and goods, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on people to “not approach French goods and refrain from buying them,” while a non-governmental supermarket chain announced In Kuwait, the boycott of French products in more than 50 of its outlets in the country.
These were the details of the news After calls for boycotting French goods … Carrefour in Saudi Arabia,... for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
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The Australian government made an announcement that will change the way they utilize technology when conducting business operations. They just approved the use of Apple’s iOS system which means that they can use the iPhone and iPad to store and share sensitive information.
Mike Burgess, the Acting director for Australia’s Defence Signals Directorate, explained why a careful evaluation was necessary, “”Embracing new technologies, such as smartphones and tablet PCs, provides government with a genuine opportunity to conduct its business more efficiently. However, the threat of government information being stolen or compromised is also very real.”
Q2 Letter: Baupost won big in Q2 with PG&E, eBay, Liberty Global
Seth Klarman's Baupost recorded "strong" gains for the second quarter, although precise numbers were not included in the July 23 letter to investors, which was reviewed by ValueWalk. Klarman said that during the first quarter, they were "substantial purchasers of securities," while during the second, they were "significant net sellers" due to the strong rally. Read More
The Australian government isn’t the only one that uses Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) mobile products to conduct government business operations. The United States government has already traded their computers and Blackberry phones for iPads and iPhones respectively. And more recently, the U.S. Airforce wants to purchase iPads for the military to use inside select cargo air craft.
The reason for governments opting for Apple iOS products over Google’s Android is simply because of better security. Last summer, Symantec announced that Apple’s operating systems are completely immune to malware and less susceptible to lose data, and other security problems. The same things could not have been said for the Android operating systems.
As more government agencies from around the world make the switch to Apple iPads and iPhones, the demand for secure technology will only increase. If most technology can’t come up with equally reliable products and systems, Apple could soon dominate the entire technology industry. The one thing that is scary about this is that could make them a huge target. Right now we know that the iOS is virtually a safe and secure system but in time, it could lose that safety if hackers and virus creators come up with ways to work around that system. I just hope that Apple’s creators will continue to keep a close eye on their iOS programs and keep them safe for everyone.


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Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, the German Parliamentary State Secretary during his recent visit to Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014 to promote the work of the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles announcement four Bangladeshi ready-made garment (RMG) companies have joined the partnership.
The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles which was recently established by German Federal Development Minister Dr Gerd Mueller with the aim of bringing about environmental and social improvements in the global textile supply chain.
The four companies - DBL Group, Niagara Textiles Ltd, Saiham Knit Composite Ltd. and JMS Holdings signed the Declaration of Accession on the â€˜Partnership for Sustainable Textilesâ€™. They have a combined annual turnover of EUR 580 million and employ 35,000 people according the German Embassy in Dhaka.
At the signing ceremony Fuchtel underlined that they strongly believe that these good examples will be followed by many more soon. He added that the federal ministry for economic cooperation and development has already invested â‚¬10 million in the â€˜Partnership for Sustainable Textilesâ€™ and promises additional funds of â‚¬6 million.â€
At the event, Fuchtel also introduced â€˜Labourlineâ€™ â€“ a labour dispute settlement helpline, which provides information on labour-related issues and address shortcomings in resolving labour disputes. The helpline will support factory workers by settling disputes with owners and managers to ensure their rights. Fuchtel presented a symbolic Labourline to Mikail Shipar, secretary, ministry of labour and employment, Government of Bangladesh. (RKS).
The Embassy said that the four businesses have already been collaborating with GIZ, the German development agency and KfW, the German development bank "for many years to improve their social and environmental standards."
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One-time reports that are issued annually cover the demand and supply trends in the individual country's natural and manmade fiber/filament industries.
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New winter event Blizzard Blast features snow, fire pits, drinks
LAS CRUCES - The Las Cruces nonprofit Revolution-120, created to provide financial support in the form of goods and services to individuals and small groups, is kicking off 2018 with a brand-new event this month.
Blizzard Blast takes place at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19 in the courtyard at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road.
“We declared we would come up with brand-new fundraiser for this community so as not to directly compete with already established events and other charities. This one is definitely different,” said Marci Dickerson, founder of Revolution-120, in a news release.
The outdoor event will include a red carpet, photos, an ice luge, specialty drink stations, food provided by Dickerson's Catering and more. Guests are encouraged to wear their best ski or winter wear as they enjoy an icy paradise.
“We are bringing the mountains to Las Cruces” Revolution-120 board member Sumer Rose-Nolen said in a news release. “The event will feature trees, snow, fire pits and a wonderful winter background.”
Triple Jack and The Ghetto Blaster will also provide music at the event.
Funds raised at Blizzard Blast will benefit the people of Las Cruces through the work of Revolution-120, according to the release.
Individual tickets are $100 per person or $900 for a reserved table of 10. A VIP package is also offered for $2,500, and includes 10 tickets, reserved table, cocktails all evening, hosted by Marci Dickerson, and a chauffeured van to pick you and your guests up and take you back home after. To purchase tickets, text Dickerson at 575-644-0778 or 575-649-1646.
Editor's note: Rynni Henderson, president of the Las Cruces Sun-News, Deming Headlight, and Silver City Sun-News, is one of Revolution-120’s founding board members.


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ADA, Mich., Sept. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — For the nation’s nearly 51 million Hispanics, every day is one of living the colors, flavors, and excitement of Latino culture. From September 15 through October 15, Americans of all ethnicities honor the contributions of American Latinos by celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Amway, one of the largest direct selling companies in the world, is joining in this celebration. It has partnered with broadcast networks Discovery en Espanol and Discovery Familia to create a campaign – “Momentos de Calidad” (“Quality Moments”) – to encourage Hispanics to share those special moments of growing up in Latin America.
To view the multimedia assets associated with this page, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/55818-amway-celebrates-hispanic-heritage-month-momentos-de-calidad-campaign
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120919/MM76689LOGO )
Amway, Discovery en Espanol and Discovery Familia promoted a contest online asking people which memories from growing up in Latin America they yearned for. Mariela Sanchez, 28, from Kissimmee, FL, shared the first ‘quality moment’ that came to mind: seeing her whole extended family, grandparents, siblings, uncles, and cousins, around the dinner table on Sundays.
The vivid picture that the Argentinean Mariela described of this typical ritual – everyone gathered at Grandma’s house eating the favorite local dish – speaks to Latinos of all nationalities. Mariela’s words made her the winner of a trip to Mexico.
Followed by a Discovery crew and with her husband and two daughters by her side, Mariela toured places like the Basilica de Guadalupe and the archaeological site in Teotihuacan. Some of her experiences at parks, plazas and markets in Mexico were captured in video and can be seen in three 60 second segments on Discovery Espanol and Discovery Familia during Hispanic Heritage Month.
“We are thrilled to participate in this very important celebration for Latinos and feel the Quality Moments segments are also a reflection of the rich tapestry that make up Amway in North America through its Independent Business Owners, employees and customers,” says Jori Hartwig, Vice President of Marketing for Amway North America.
The Quality Moments campaign will also include a twitter party that will be “A journey back to our Latin American Roots” on September 26, 2012 using the hashtag #QualityMoments.
Founded in 1959 and based in Ada, Michigan, Amway is one of the world’s largest direct selling businesses and a member of the Alticor family of companies. Amway offers consumer products and business opportunities in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide through more than 3 million Independent Business Owners building their own AMWAY businesses. Top-selling brands for Amway are NUTRILITE® vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements and ARTISTRY® skincare and colour cosmetics.
With more than 20,000 employees worldwide, Alticor is privately held by the Van Andel and DeVos families, headed by Chairman Steve Van Andel and President Doug DeVos, and governed by a board of directors led by members of the two families and two outside directors. The company provides product development, manufacturing and logistics services through Access Business Group and Alticor Corporate Enterprises. Alticor reported $10.9 billion in annual sales for 2011. For company news, visit http://news.amway.com.
SOURCE Amway North America


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Paytm Launches Postpaid Mini
News Desk, News Nation 360 : India’s leading digital financial services platform Paytm announced the launch of Postpaid Mini, an extension of its Buy Now, Pay Later service, driving affordability amongst those new to credit. These small ticket instant loans will give flexibility to users and also help manage their household expenses to maintain liquidity during the ongoing pandemic. This service has been launched in partnership with Aditya Birla Finance Ltd. Through Paytm Postpaid, users can pay at online and offline merchant stores across the country and not have to worry about upsetting their monthly budgets. Paytm Postpaid is currently accepted at thousands of petrol pumps, neighbourhood Kirana stores or pharmacy shops, popular chain outlets (such Reliance Fresh, Apollo Pharmacy, etc.), internet apps (such as Myntra, Firstcry, Uber, Dominos, Ajio, Pharmeasy, etc.) and popular retail destinations (such as Shoppers Stop, Croma, etc.) among others. Paytm Postpaid is available in over 550 cities in India. Bhavesh Gupta, CEO - Paytm Lending said that they want to help new-to-credit citizens start their credit journey and develop a financial discipline. Through Postpaid they are also making sincere attempts to help drive consumption in the economy. Their new Postpaid Mini service helps users manage their liquidity by clearing their bills or payments on time.
Report : Anustup Kundu


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Taxi wars have broken out in the British capital.
London’s iconic black cabs are under threat from rival mobile apps, if their drivers are to be believed. It could be a long road ahead for London’s black cabs. CCTV’s Olly Barratt reports.
Cab drivers in London protest mobile car apps like UberTaxi wars have broken out in the British capital.
In Europe, Taxi drivers say mobile apps like Uber have an unfair advantage. To discuss the sharing economy, CCTV’s Karina Huber is joined by Arun Sundararajan, Professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University.


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£3.6bn goes on buyout revival
MANAGEMENT buyouts are on the rise after six poor months. The value of deals for the first quarter of this year reached £3.65bn, almost the same as in 2000, according to the Centre for Management Buyout Research.
But the bulk of this figure comes from last week's £2bn sale of the Unique and Voyager pub chains by investment bank Nomura to a consortium involving venture capital groups Cinven and Legal & General Ventures.
One of the report's authors, Tom Lamb of Barclays Private Equity, said: 'This deal is the largest we've seen in a long time, though it is a low risk venture because pubs tend to have a predictable cashflow. Many companies have announced disposal programmes but will wait until the economic recovery is sufficiently under way and businesses due to be sold can show a recovery.'
A surge of buyouts is expected in April when a new 10% rate of capital gains tax kicks in. Lamb said: 'This is likely to favour small and mid-market deals.'
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A prominent U.S. short-seller targeted Canadian dairy giant Saputo Inc., SAP-T sending the company’s shares falling Tuesday.
Spruce Point Capital Management LLC released a 147-page report attacking Saputo Tuesday morning. In it, Spruce Point questioned the success of Saputo’s acquisitions and said it thinks a tough global market for milk consumption means the company will have increasing difficulty covering its dividend.
Spruce Point says it sees 40 per cent to 60 per cent downside in the company’s shares, with a fair value of $13.75 to $20.50 a share.
In an unsigned statement sent to The Globe and Mail Tuesday afternoon, Saputo said Spruce Point never engaged with the company. “Saputo is of the opinion that the report is without merit and that it contains mischaracterizations and incorrect information, which are misleading and solely intended to benefit the author.” The company did not identify what it says is incorrect.
Saputo said it “remains focused on its global strategic plan initiatives and driving sustainable, profitable growth for all its stakeholders.”
The company’s stock (SAP-T) was down as much as 7.8 per cent, to $31.62 a share, on heavy volume in early trading. It recovered by day’s end to close at $32.26, down just under 6 per cent from Monday’s close.
The nine analysts who cover the stock have an average 12-month target price of $38.17, according to Bloomberg. At the current trading price, the stock has a dividend yield of just over 2 per cent.
Short-selling shares is a bet that a company’s stock price will drop. An investor borrows shares, sells them, and repays the loan by returning new shares, hopefully bought at a lower price. Spruce Point chief executive officer Ben Axler would not say how large the firm’s Saputo short position is, citing his company’s policy and U.S. securities laws that restrict investment funds’ public statements.
Spruce Point has targeted a number of Canadian companies over the past decade. It made successful bets against Lightspeed Commerce Inc. and Nuvei Corp. in 2021, marking a turnaround for the investment firm after less successful campaigns against Dollarama Inc., Canadian Tire Ltd. and GFL Environmental Inc. over the preceding three years. It had a big winner in 2018 with a bet against Maxar Technologies Ltd., the former MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd.
Spruce Point argues Saputo has a high cost structure “in a thin-margin, low-to-no-growth industry.” Consumers worldwide are consuming less milk, and those who do are increasingly buying private-label products, versus the branded dairy Saputo emphasizes.
“Dairy/milk consumption has been declining in Saputo’s key markets,” Spruce Point wrote. “Spruce Point believes there is no end in sight for this annual decline and in fact believes the decline will become larger as innovation around dairy-free alternatives continues to deliver on taste, quality and nutritional value for both adults and kids.”
Spruce Point believes Saputo’s acquisitions aren’t contributing meaningful organic revenue growth, contrary to CEO Lino Saputo’s recent comments on a conference call that out of roughly three dozen companies Saputo has bought since going public, “every single one of those acquisitions with the exception of one or two have driven a benefit for us. Whether it is product diversification, getting into new categories, getting into new regions, into new countries, they all made sense for us.”
Spruce Point says Saputo is not generating enough cash flow to cover its dividend, despite introducing a dividend reinvestment plan, or DRIP, that allows shareholders to receive their payouts in stock. In its past fiscal year, Saputo generated $693-million in cash from operations, then spent $578-million on property, plant and equipment and lease repayments. That left $115-million, while Saputo paid out $209-million in dividends.
“We estimate Saputo is owned approximately 40 per cent by retail investors,” Spruce Point wrote. “We believe the most pressing issue for these investors should be the sustainability of the dividend.”
Spruce Point also says Saputo has stopped disclosing historical revenue for companies it acquired, production and export data in the key countries where it operates, and excess manufacturing capacity by geographic location. “Spruce Point has analyzed many struggling companies over the years, and a consistent theme we find is that challenges are often accompanied by reduced transparency and disclosures.”


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Lingerie etailer Figleaves is trialling its first bricks-and-mortar retail offer with a concession in indie department store Allders in Croydon.
The concession, which opened last week, stocks own-brand underwear and swimwear and could be rolled out to other department stores if successful.
Figleaves chief executive Julia Reynolds said: “We are now 20% own brand and have had customer feedback saying some want to see and feel the product.”
Reynolds added that the etailer, which is seeking a potential sale after receiving several bid approaches earlier this year, is not plotting any standalone shops.
She added that after a tough 2009, this year had started well with sales in the past few weeks running ahead of the same time last year. “We are running the business better and the economy is better,” she said.
Finlay Clark, senior strategist at digital marketing specialist Big Mouth Media, said Figleaves’ move from clicks to bricks could present the etailer with a good opportunity but warned that pure-play etailers could still scale better online.
“It’s easier to grow your business online through more product and markets than with an avenue that brings new challenges,” he said.
Reynolds said that there were currently no firm bidders for Figleaves, which has appointed corporate finance company GP Bullhound to advise it on the potential sale.


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Apple has allegedly encountered a major hiccup with production of its rumored AirPods Studio headphones that could delay their release says leaker Jon Prosser.
Major hiccup in AirPods Studio production Grimacing face. A few key features have now been cut. Seems they still need to work some things out before we have final units. Looking like they won’t be ready to ship until December AT BEST.
Additionally, Prosser now says AirTags could launch with iOS 14.3 next month. This is significant change from his prediction last week of March 2021.
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Twitter usage is growing rapidly around the world, with most regions experiencing triple-digit growth between June 2009 and June 2010. According to a latest comScore report “nearly 93 million Internet users visited Twitter.com, an increase of 109% from the previous year. The growth was strongest in Latin America -305%, Asia Pacific -243%, Middle-East Africa -142%, while Europe soared -106%. North America’s growth was 22% in June.
Indonesia reported highest penetration, with 20.8% followed by Brazil and Venezuela. The U.S. is tops in Twitter.com access from smartphones, with an 8.3% reach among those users.
“comScore’s numbers don’t include Twitter usage via apps like Tweetdeck or Twhirl, and it doesn’t count Twitter.com visits from mobile sources or public computers (such as Internet cafes).”


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Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel has moved all its prepaid subscribers across the country to pay-per-second, ensuring customers pay only for the time they use the network.
The move comes amid regulator Trai examining whether there are any tariff plans by the service providers wherein call drops actually incentivise or benefit the companies. “… starting today it will move all its prepaid mobile customers nationally to the more affordable per-second bill plan… this will help ensure customers pay only for the time they use the Airtel network,” the company said in a statement.
Prepaid customers constituted 94.4 percent of its total user base at the end of June 2015. With call drops on the rise, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg had also said plans where customers get some free minutes and the billing is minute-based need to be examined.
Bharti Airtel (India and South Asia) MD and CEO Gopal Vittal recently said about 95 percent plans are second-based, so they don’t earn anything if a call gets dropped.
“While we continue to invest aggressively in our network quality and deploy new sites to further enhance our network presence… we are today taking the lead to move our customers to the affordable per-second plans ensuring they pay only for what they use,” Bharti Airtel (India & South Asia) Director (Market Operations) Ajai Puri said.
Though a large majority of its prepaid mobile customers are already on the per-second billing plan, with this initiative, Airtel will ensure all the prepaid base is moved to the per-second plan, the company added.
“While customer’s standard base rate plans will be shifted to a pulse rate of per-second, they will have the freedom to opt for additional tariff discount packs of their choice for discounted per-second or per-minute benefits,” the company further said.
The problem of call drops has become more acute in the last 3-4 months. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also voiced serious concern on the issue and asked the officials concerned to take urgent steps to address it.


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Interglobe Aviation that owns the largest low-cost air carrier Indigo dragged lower by 3% in trade today after its promoters begin share sale today. Two of the company's promoter plan to offload 2.91% of the total equity of the company through an offer for sale or OFS which amounts to as many as 11.19 million shares.
Acquire Services has plans to offload a total of 7.95 million shares and IGE (Mauritius) Pvt Ltd plans to sell 3.24 million shares.
The shares in the offer will be sold for a price of Rs. 1130 per share. Through the OFS, the company aims to comply with the statutory guidelines in respect of minimum public shareholding requirement put forth for listed companies.
The offer for sale will occur for two trading days, December 13 for non-retail investor class and December 14 for retail investor class and non-retail investors who wish to carry forward their unalloted bids.
The stock was trading lower by over 3% at Rs. 1144.20 at 1:51pm on the BSE.


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Angels of the Apocalypse: Angel investors created a bubble. Could crowdfunding make it worse?
- By Cromwell Schubarth & Greg Baumann
(Page 3 of 5)
However badly the apocalypse hits entrepreneurs and angels — accredited investors who by definition can afford to take a bath — the event isn’t on the same scale as the $3 trillion bust that rocked Silicon Valley in the dot-com era.
But the same psychology animates it, Weissman, 62, said. Many angel investors feel the allure of a scene, the same way average investors bought into dot-com hype.
“It was the newly minted angels,” he said. “The hipsters. The ones who think it’s cool to spread money around, like the companies they came from.”
Many of those companies were consumer-facing software startups in the social, mobile and local sectors, so the new angels were more inclined to invest there, he said.
“What’s going on out there is a certain class of startup over the last few years has been able to get somewhere meaningful with a small amount of money,” said Ian Sobieski, a founder and managing director of Band of Angels.
The increase in angel funding wasn’t matched by an increase in Series A funding. Sobieski defines the resulting crunch as a limited problem.
“We’re just talking about one slice of a big pie,” he said.
“You have a combination of market psychology, gold rush mentality, and relatively lower barriers to entry,” Ackerman said.
While the current angel apocalypse may need to grow by an order of magnitude to constitute a threat to Silicon Valley’s economy, the prospect of crowdfunding may provide the hot air needed to inflate a true bubble.
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Chinese social media giant Tencent has admitted to being compromised by cybercriminals, who used an infected QR scanning code to target its users.
The tech firm posted an announcement on its main social media rival Weibo, in which it said user accounts had been hijacked by black-hat hackers and apologized for the incident.
Also known as QQ, Tencent operates instant messaging, online social gaming, and web portal services among others.
Threat actors behind the QR phishing or “quishing” attack - which targeted the login system for its gaming platform - then spammed compromised accounts with “bad image advertisements.”
It is unclear whether Tencent meant indecent or pornographic material by this, but one angry respondent on Weibo said: “Sending indecent information everywhere, it's illegal picture and video software, endangering the public, and must be severely punished!”
Tencent apologized to its users and claimed the vulnerability had been patched and the affected accounts returned to normal after an investigation. “We are collecting and sorting the criminal evidence of black [hat] gangs, and will cooperate with relevant departments to protect the rights and interests of the platform and users,” it said.
It also urged users not to scan QR codes from unknown sources, and called on them to be more vigilant when logging in to their accounts from “unusual” locations.
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The double-hitter of cost-cutting measures and an aversion to air travel since 9/11 has many companies keeping their meetings near home base.
“More of our clients are definitely meeting regionally,” says Traci Baxter, CMP, business development manager at Monumental Meetings, Atlanta. She cites as an example a major pharmaceutical client that had planned a large meeting in California; the company canceled it and held five regional meetings instead. The hotel chain agreed to mitigate cancellation fees if the client used other hotels in the chain, which it did.
Another of Baxter's clients has banned international incentive travel altogether because of security concerns. “Others are reconsidering overseas travel. Their employees' priorities have shifted, and they just don't want to be far away from their families for long.”
Doug Luciani, spokesman for seven Southwest Florida Meristar-managed properties, reports that Captiva Island South Seas Resort, which relies heavily on conference bookings, is attempting to augment lost business by targeting local businesses for meetings, holiday events, and incentive trips. And in Oregon, the state's tourism commission kicked off a $200,000 ad campaign last month targeting in-state travel for fall and winter, with the goal of keeping business and leisure travel local.
“Since September 11, hotels have been scrambling — shoring up contacts both near and far for meetings,” reports Maura Nelson, vice president of marketing for the American Hotel & Lodging Association. “The midweek lull in business travel has hoteliers nationwide hurting more than anything else.”
Luciani does predict a rebound on the horizon. “There's a big lull until after January, but for the second quarter of 2002, event bookings look very near normal, or pre-September 11 levels.”


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January 18, 2014
WWD highlights the 10 must-read stories of the week.
1. Paris Men's Fall 2014 Collections
The French runways took a youthful turn with sporty outerwear, bold prints and leather galore.
2. Victoria Beckham Makes Two Big Moves
The designer discusses her forthcoming New York office and first store, set to open in the fall in London.
3. Super Bowl XLVIII: Big Game, Big Crowd, Big Money
New York’s retailers, hotels, restaurants, bars, taxis, theaters and hundreds of other businesses of all size and scale are getting ready to cash in on Super Bowl XLVIII.
4. Jane Lauder to Take Helm at Clinique
Lauder, who has spent 17 years at the company founded by her family, has been named global brand president of Clinique, one of the beauty group’s top three businesses.
5. J.C. Penney to Close 33 Stores to Speed Turnaround
The shutdowns will result in the loss of 2,000 jobs and a gain of about $65 million in annual savings.
6. Jack Dorsey Looks to Simplify Commerce With Square
As chief executive officer of the forward-leaning payment firm Square, he wants to be at the nexus of the digital tipping point, rearranging the relationship between store and shopper while simplifying commerce.
7. Cyber-Security Breaches Put Retailers on Alert
Retailers are on high alert following the cyber-security attacks at Neiman Marcus and Target affecting more than 100 million consumers.
8. Lululemon Joins Fray With Cut to Forecast
Brought on by slow traffic and heavy promotions that have persisted into the new year, a flood of profit warnings that began in earnest last week continued Monday.
9. On the Red Carpet at the Golden Globes
At the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday in Los Angeles, most actresses turned up the volume on the red carpet with billowing skirts in lieu of the usual body-conscious red-carpet columns.
10. They Are Wearing: Paris Men's Fashion Week Fall 2014
Off the runways and onto the streets and sidewalks for some of the best looks.


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Fund the First, a crowdfunding platform for first responders, military, and medical professionals, and GALLS, LLC®, North America’s leading distributor of uniforms and equipment to the public safety market announce a strategic partnership to further serve America’s heroes.
The partnership establishes Galls, LLC as the official tactical supply sponsor of the Fund the First platform.
Founded by NYPD Detective Robert Garland, Fund the First stops the cycle of scams and corruption commonly seen on other donation-based crowdfunding platforms by fully verifying every campaign to ensure that it is legitimate and proceeds go directly to the first responder, military member, medical professional, or his/her family. With Fund the First, America’s heroes have a trusted place to go, to give, and to get the support they need.
“We are excited to announce the partnership with Galls as we expand our brand into the households of many more first responders, military, and medical professionals. With over 50 years of our nation’s heroes trusting Galls to supply their essential gear and supplies needs, it is easy to see how a partnership with them makes sense. We will now be able to offer our platform users with exclusive discounts and perks to Galls, LLC,” Garland said.
Mike Fadden is the CEO of Galls and a big supporter of Fund the First. “We’ve been searching for a great partner to further Galls’ desire to support the first responder community. Galls is excited to use our national footprint and web presence to help Fund the First grow and, in doing so, help first responders and their families raise the money that they desperately need and richly deserve. I look forward to a long relationship with Fund the First.”


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Lighting manufacturer Osram, based in Munich with its U.S. headquarters in Wilmington, MA, moved to strengthen its lighting services business in the U.S. by acquiring the business operations of Maneri-Agraz Enterprises, Houston, a national provider of energy-efficient lighting solutions in commercial and industrial facilities.
Maneri-Agraz will be part of Osram’s service division Sylvania Lighting Solutions (SLS), which is a segment of Osram’s Lighting Solutions business unit.
Osram didn’t characterize the overall size of Maneri-Agraz except to say the company has annual revenue “in the low double-digit millions” of U.S. dollars. Maneri-Agraz’s client base includes large, well-known food and beverage manufacturing and distribution facilities, as well as technology companies and aerospace facilities, among others.
Maneri-Agraz provides its solutions to a variety of markets, ranging from manufacturing and warehousing to retail and the public sector. The deal allows Osram’s service business to increase its reach in the South and Southwest region of the U.S. in the commercial and industrial business sector.
“The acquisition demonstrates Osram’s commitment to pursuing opportunities that fit our strategic growth plans, and to expanding our service-oriented business,” said Eladia Pulido, CEO of Osram Lighting Solutions.
Maneri-Agraz founder John Maneri will serve as a consultant under his firm’s new ownership and his business partner Frank Agraz, Jr., will join SLS as a business development manager.
“Maneri-Agraz has taken great pride in delivering the highest quality service to our customers for more than 20 years, and we are proud to become part of the Sylvania Lighting Solutions team,” said Maneri in a release.


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Chicago, IL – The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) announced a new partnership with TSC Advantage to address the increasing cybersecurity risks to companies posed by the growing move to digital solutions and resulting third-party access to corporate assets.
As supply chain management changes, numerous regulators now require companies of all sizes to demonstrate third party cyber risk management through board and executive involvement, hiring a designated security officer, independent assessment of supply chain governance, and routine monitoring of vendor/supplier security.
“No organization understands the challenges and emerging issues facing today's supply chain management professionals better than CSCMP,” said Sean Doherty, president and founder of TSC Advantage. “We're very excited to partner with CSCMP to offer cybersecurity education and a program to support those who are making supply chain and vendor management part of their overall enterprise security program.”
“Technology has introduced new and complex security risks that supply chain professionals must be aware of. This partnership provides the opportunity to raise awareness and understanding around cyber risks, and we are excited to partner with TSC Advantage to offer education and solutions,” said Chris Adderton, Vice President, CSCMP.
CSCMP members may take part in a free pilot program to use the TSC Advantage Secure Halo platform to assess the security posture of up to 10 current or potential suppliers/vendors. Secure Halo's online platform and dashboard displays views of cyber risk by individual supplier or across a portfolio of companies. It shows security vulnerabilities by control and provides prioritized recommendations.
For CSCMP members looking to kick-start cyber risk strategy discussions, they can also take the Secure Halo Express survey, which asks 11 questions about security across the enterprise, and provides a customized complimentary report based on responses.


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Plastic Bag Ban Takes Effect In Encinitas
Encinitas grocery shoppers will no longer be asked the question, “Paper or plastic?” when they shop. The region’s second plastic bag ban (after Solana Beach) goes into effect Friday.
Shoppers will be limited to the options of paying 10 cents for a paper bag, or bringing in a reusable bag at grocery stores in Encinitas and the communities of Cardiff, Leucadia and Olivenhain.
John Shamam, general manager of Seaside Market in Cardiff, said the store has taken measures to inform customers, such as offering coupons for free reusable bags, and posting signs.
Shamam said there is a learning curve for shoppers to get used to the new law.
“Because there’s going to be uninformed customers about the ban, we’re going to have to charge for the bag so it’s an extra step for our cashiers," he said. "It’s going to slow down the lines a little bit. They’re small challenges, but I think we’re going to be able to get through them.”
Currently, the store hands out 55 percent plastic bags and 45 percent paper bags. There are no numbers on how many reusable bags are brought in, but Shamam said there has been a tremendous increase over the years.
Some customers seem to be on board with the idea. Shopper Fred Lundgren of Cardiff said he supports the ban on plastic bags 100 percent. He said he is already in the habit of keeping reusable bags by the door and in the car to take to the market.
Lundgren said the only downside he sees is the 10-cent charge for paper bags, which can add up.
But, he said, the environmental benefits outweigh any inconvenience.
“I think it’s forcing people to have the reusable bags and just bring them with them when they go,” Lundgren said. “And I see a lot more people using it than I have in the past.”
Statewide, 110 ordinances banning plastic bags have passed.
California passed a statewide plastic bag ban last year, but opponents have collected enough signatures to put it on the ballot in 2016.


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New private home sales more than double in September, driven by Lentor Modern, SkyEden@Bedok launches
SINGAPORE: New private home sales in Singapore more than doubled in September from a month earlier, driven by the launches of Lentor Modern and Sky Eden@Bedok.
Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), developers sold 987 units last month, up from the revised 438 units in August, according to figures released on Monday (Oct 17) by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
This is the highest number of sales since May, when developers sold 1,355 units excluding ECs.
Ms Christine Sun, OrangeTee and Tie's senior vice president of research and analytics, said: "New home sales in September climbed to the second-highest level this year on pent-up demand for suburban homes."
On a year-on-year basis, home sales in September rose 18.3 per cent from the 834 units sold in the same month last year.
Sales in September were boosted by the launch of two suburban projects: Lentor Modern, which sold 512 units, and Sky Eden@Bedok, which sold 121 units.
Ms Sun called the sales figures at Lentor Modern and Sky Eden@Bedok "astounding".
"Although their median launch prices were above S$2,100 psf, both projects sold well, moving 84.6 per cent or 512 units at Lentor Modern and 76.6 per cent or 121 units at Sky Eden@Bedok within a month," she said.
"The sales performance of both projects was astounding, considering their price points, interest rate hikes and growing uncertainties on the macroeconomic front."
Ms Sun added that demand remains strong due to a lack of home supply in the suburbs and because Housing Board (HDB) upgraders who sold their flats in recent months need replacement homes.
Huttons Asia's senior director for research Lee Sze Teck said that the number of units launched in September jumped 6.8 times compared to the 134 units launched in August.
"Despite the higher volume of units launched for sale, monthly sales have once again exceeded the launch units, reflecting the strong demand for private homes," Mr Lee said.
"This is the 13th month that sales have exceeded units launched for sale."
The Outside Central Region (OCR) saw the most number of units sold at 686, followed by the Core Central Region (CCR) at 198 units and the Rest of Central Region (RCR) at 103 units.
Mr Mohan Sandrasegeran, senior analyst for research and content creation at One Global Property Services, noted the surge in OCR sales compared to last month's figures.
"Among all the market segments, OCR had the highest growth in the number of new home sales in September. The number of units sold in OCR increased from a mere 90 units in August to an astounding 686 units in September," he said.
"There have been few significant new non-landed condo launches in the OCR segment aside from Amo Residence in July. As a result, interest from pent-up demand fuelled longing buyers and investors who were probably chomping at the bit."
Mr Mohan added that buyers and investors are "starting to embrace the new benchmark price points since the availability of new launches in OCR has been dwindling".
"They are becoming acclimatised to the fact that projects in the OCR would typically have a price point of S$2,000 per square foot or more moving forward," he said.
The proportion of purchases made by foreigners dipped to 4.8 per cent in September, compared to 12.7 per cent a month earlier, according to URA and Huttons Research.
"As almost 70 per cent of the sales in September were in the OCR, foreigners made up a smaller share of the overall sales," Mr Lee said.
Moving forward, the introduction of property cooling measures could have a moderate impact on private home sales, said Ms Sun.
"New cooling measures were introduced on Sep 30, 2022. The calculation of the total debt servicing ratio was increased by 0.5 percentage points for property loans granted by private financial institutions," she said.
"While the change will reduce the loan quantum available to homebuyers, there could be a moderate impact on the private residential market.
"The revision was widely expected, and many borrowers were already exercising prudence as they knew that interest rates may continue to rise next year."
Depleting unsold inventory and a lack of major launches in October are also likely to cap sales at about 300 to 400 units, Mr Lee said.
However, Ms Sun noted that there could be strong demand for units at two EC projects that will be launched by the end of the year: Copen Grand in Tengah and Tenet in Tampines.
"Despite the cooling measures, demand for these ECs is expected to be robust owing to the limited supply of ECs in the market," she said.
"Currently, most EC projects have been fully sold except North Gaia, which was launched this year. As prices of new suburban condos continue to rise, we may expect more eligible buyers to turn to the EC market as these homes are still more affordable and value for money."
Two launches in the CCR in November – Hill House and Sophia Regency – could also boost sales, said Mr Lee.
"The quantum for these two projects is very attractive for those who desire to own a prime District 9 address," he said, adding that Kovan Jewel in the OCR may also be launched for sale in November.
The new 15-month waiting time for private residential property owners and former private residential property owners to purchase resale HDB flats may also affect the market, said Mr Mohan.
"Some private property owners who are looking to right size or downsize into the HDB resale market will now be starting behind the eight ball," he said.
"Hence, these private property owners who are unable to wait the 15-month period might consider smaller private resale condos instead.
"Alternatively, they might consider looking into the new launch market, especially developments that are about to hit their Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) in the immediate future. Projects that are about to be completed might garner more interest from savvy buyers and investors as a form of likely alternative to those considering to right size or downsize as well."


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It’s hard to fit much on a bumper sticker.
They’re built for quick-hitters — pithy slogans or the occasional play on words for the amusement of those stuck behind you in traffic.
Then there’s Claire Thomas, an associate professor of biology and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State who managed to interweave race, sexual orientation and gender identity on her first crack at the genre.
Look closely at the bottom left-hand corner and the American flag even makes a cameo.
It’s a lot to juggle, but that’s the kind of thing you sign up for when you devise a slogan as all encompassing as “You are in the 100 percent. Be kind, be inclusive.”
“I think the idea is to try and get everybody to take a pause and think about how we’re all human,” Thomas said.
The image was a non-partisan reaction to last November’s contentious election, a humble rebuttal to any notions of “otherness” that may have permeated the culture.
It was important to Thomas that her design represented everyone. Inspirations included professor Nina Jablonski’s comprehensive theory of human skin tone or “sepia rainbow,” and artist Gilbert Baker’s rainbow flag, interweaving elements intended to represent how those different elements intersect and the wide variety of people to be found in the world.
She shared the design with friends as it continued to develop.
“This was the one that people reacted to very strongly,” Thomas said.
In addition to the bumper stickers, decals bearing the image are also available to businesses that want to declare themselves open to anyone who cares to walk through the door.
To get the message out, Thomas tries to approach at least three or four stores a day. Scott Dutt, owner of Happy Valley Optical, has already placed a decal in the window of his shop on South Allen Street.
Dutt believes that it’s important for local businesses to support residents of the community.
“I see them as an anti-hate sticker, and I think we should treat each other better,” Dutt said.
The bumper stickers and decals are available for pick up at Webster’s Bookstore Cafe.
For more information, visit 100percentsign.org.


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Blog: Basket case
Catherine Sleep | 20 October 2005
A new project aimed at improving people’s understanding of what drives packaging development and the demand for packaging in Europe was launched this week by EUROPEN, the European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment and STFI-Packforsk, a leading Swedish research institute.
The European Shopping Baskets Programme is intended to help improve the environmental impact of packaging and maximise resource efficiency. It will record packaging data for the most commonly used products across the EU over a three-year period. National shopping baskets containing about 100 products will be defined, based on data from A. C. Nielsen.
The project is being extrapolated from a smaller Swedish shopping basket project. It is significantly more sophisticated, though, in that it will cross-reference the packaging data with social and demographic data, an innovation aimed at helping identify and quantify the impact of societal trends on packaging demand.
It is hoped the project will help the industry and consumers engineer a better balance between consumer demand for functional packaging and environmental and economic concerns.
Sounds good. We’re packaging-mad in this country. I make a conscious effort to reduce the amount of packaging I buy, and dump, yet I know our household still puts an embarrassing amount of packaging out for the refuse collectors each week. Recycling is an important part of the solution but prevention, as they say, is better than cure. Anything that helps us use less packaging, or better packaging, is good news.
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Since Theresa May took over as UK Prime Minister in the wake of the country's referendum vote to quit the European Union, she and her ministers have been at pains not to divulge their negotiating posi...
Greenpeace's long-running campaign against UK tuna brand John West, owned by seafood giant Thai Union, is now directing its fire against Sainsbury's....
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Francis Jones sorts books for the second container.
The Costa del Sol-based International Black & White Association (IBWA), which aims to “promote understanding and appreciation of different peoples”, has this week re-launched its appeal for the donation of second hand books that will be distributed in schools, colleges and libraries in Africa.
The not-for-profit, non-political and non-religious organisation, established in 2011, has to date sent more than 10,500 books to sub-Saharan Africa in collaboration with the Bisila Bokoko African Literacy Project (BBALP), an international body that promotes literacy.
“We sent over 10,000 books in our first container and now we’re more than half way through filling our second. We currently have about 7,000 that have already been donated to us, which is amazing, but we’d like another 4,000 to fill the container to the brim before it heads off to Africa,” IBWA’s Wendy Van Der Veen tells SUR in English.
“The majority of the first shipment of books went to Equatorial Guinea because they were Spanish books, and Spanish is the national language there.
“However, most of the books in this second container that we’re now working on are in English, and will be sent to Nigeria for distribution. Therefore, we’re really appealing for more English books this time around.
“Books of all descriptions – novels, non-fiction, dictionaries, encyclopedias, children’s books, and adults’ books – are all very welcome and will be gratefully received.”
The official IBWA drop-off point is the ‘W and M’ shop in Fuengirola (Calle Feria de la Cremá).
Wendy continues: “Sending books to Africa might seem like a simple idea but it really is transformative for those who receive them.
“By being literate, by being educated, people in these poor parts of Africa have a future. So, giving a book is, really, giving hope - where there could be none, or very little, at the moment.”
The International Black & White Association, established to help unite people of different races, religions and backgrounds through art, music, culture, sport and supporting charities, is the brainchild of its president, Nigerian-born Fuengirola resident, Francis Jones Ezeileoba.
In January 2012, during the first committee meeting, he told this newspaper that he had dreamed of setting up an organisation of this kind for more than 15 years due to the racism he had experienced whilst travelling around different parts of Europe.
Today, says Wendy Van Der Veen, the IBWA is “going strong and has gained unswerving support” from prominent public institutions and brands, including the Fuengirola Town Hall, the Embassy of Nigeria, Fundación Málaga, Central Ciudadana and Málaga Club de Fútbol.
Both the Mayor of Fuengirola and the Nigerian Ambassador to Spain have been awarded as ‘Members of Honour’ of IBWA in recognition of their support.
For more information you can email the association at email@example.com or find IBWA on Facebook and visit their website: www.ibwassociation.com


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With the upcoming Capsule Collection “woven stitches” Stoll presents a new technique: Stoll-weave-in which stands for a technique where floats can be interlaced ...
Prestigious brands and industry experts gather for a seminar to discuss the transformation of the fashion industry.
Veit has won this year’s Texprocess Innovation Award. The jury paid tribute to Veit’s Fusing 4.0 concept to achieve interoperability in line with the ...
PFAFF Industrial, Dürkopp Adler, Beisler and KSL present themselves as a strong unit at a large joint stand.


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We’d like to thank everyone who participated last week in our first ever Community Contest. We posted a video on our YouTube page Wednesday inviting people to LIKE our Facebook page for a chance at a $20 Amazon Gift Card, and to SHARE the video that explained the contest on their feeds for a chance at their choice of two of our completed paperbacks.
Of our now 391 LIKES, the winner of the $20 Amazon Gift Card is:
Paul David Parker Olson
Of the over 65 SHARES, the winner of two paperbacks of their choice is:
We’ll be contacting both winners today to make sure they receive their prizes, but another huge thank you to all of you who LIKED and SHARED last week and for helping to spread the word about BWN, the world’s premiere episodic literary network.
We reached almost 2500 people, and are close to hitting 400 Facebook fans.
Don’t forget to keep spreading the word, thanks again, and congrats to both winners!


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Debenhams reveal latest opening dates
- Credit: Archant
Debenhams department stores have revealed when they will reopen their Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds stores following lockdown.
The high street icon said it will reopen 50 of its stores in England on June 15 as coronavirus restrictions are eased.
Debenhams in the Arc Shopping Centre in Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich’s Tavern Street store will both open, as well as those in Colchester and Chelmsford.
Debenhams was already struggling financially before the Covid-19 pandemic and went into administration on April 9 in a protective measure against creditors demanding their money.
Even those opening their doors on June 15 have been struck by staff cuts, with 40 members of staff at the Ipswich store made redundant over a video call with just three days warning.Debenhams said preparations for the reopenings are “well under way”, with strict social distancing and hygiene procedures being implemented across all stores.Managing director Steven Cook said: “We are delighted to be welcoming customers back to our stores in the coming weeks.“From the installation of Perspex screens at till points to the roll-out of social distancing procedures and PPE, we have been working hard to ensure our colleagues and customers can work and shop with confidence.“Our reopening plans follow the successful conclusion of lease negotiations on 120 stores, meaning that the vast majority of our stores will be reopening.”There are 142 branches of Debenhams across the UK at the moment, with the retailer confirming 22 of those will permanently close.


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1er April 2022
From April 2022, all 50cl PET bottles of Coca-Cola with or without sugar, Coca-Cola light, Sprite and Fanta brands will be made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET). This transition represents more than 200 million bottles per year, which represents approximately 4,000 tonnes of virgin plastic used each year in their manufacture*. The use of 100% recycled plastic reduces the carbon footprint of each bottle by 70%**. They join Tropico, Smartwater, Honest, Powerade and Fuze Tea, which are already available in 50cl format, 100% recycled plastic (rPET).
The goal by 2030 is to achieve 100% recycled plastic on all bottles in the portfolio, eliminating over 200,000 tonnes of virgin plastic used per year in Europe.
In December 2020, as part of its Climate Plan, CCEP France set a target of an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 30% across its entire value chain by 2030 (compared to 2019) and an ambition of “Net Zero” carbon neutrality by 2040, in line with a trajectory of limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5°C and the Paris Climate Agreements. CCEP has committed to invest €250 million over three years to accelerate the decarbonisation of its activities.
*Excluding caps and labels.
**Compared to a bottle that contains no recycled material, source ADEME 2017.


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Apple sells 100 millionth iPod [updated]
Apple today announced that it has sold the 100 millionth iPod. “The first iPod was sold five and a half years ago, in November 2001, and since then Apple has introduced more than 10 new iPod models, including five generations of iPod, two generations of iPod mini, two generations of iPod nano and two generations of iPod shuffle,” Apple said in its announcement of the milestone. “Along with iTunes and the iTunes online music store, the iPod has transformed how tens of millions of music lovers acquire, manage and listen to their music.” Apple has also updated its website with the graphic shown here, along with a message thanking music lovers everywhere.
Updated: Apple representatives this morning told iLounge that details about the 100 millionth iPod—the model and color of which are unknown—are yet to be disclosed by the company, though it appears to be in the company’s possession rather than on a store’s shelves awaiting sale. Long-time iPod watchers will recall that Apple announced in January, 2005 that it was keeping the commemoratively engraved 10 millionth iPod as a momento.
What’s next for the company? “We’ve been pretty aggressive in this space,” said Apple Vice President of Hardware Product Marketing Greg Joswiak, listing all of the iPod generations that have come before, without naming any new addition to the family. Though iPhone is coming in June, Joswiak said that it—like Apple TV—is a separate business for the company, and not a replacement for the iPod.
In addition to the iPod’s sales velocity—reaching the 100 million sold mark faster than any music player in history—the company is marking the launch of over 4,000 accessories specifically designed for iPod, with more to come. One previously announced new category of iPod integration—iPod-to-airplane entertainment system connectivity—is coming “this year,” with additional details soon to follow.
- Apple to drop first-gen Apple TV, iPod classic support as of Sept 8th
- Apple releases iOS 8.4.1, iTunes 12.2.2
- Apple releases fifth iOS 9 beta to developers
- Apple releases second iOS 8.4.1 beta to developers
- Apple releases second iOS 9 public beta
- Home Sharing for Music returns in iOS 9 beta 4
- Report: iPad Pro to be official name of large iPad, more details revealed
- Mozilla begins rollout of Firefox for iOS preview
- Google releases Google Street View app for iOS
- Apple admits Apple Music still needs work, says iTunes downloads remain strong
- Judge approves $415M settlement in anti-poaching lawsuit
- Report: Apple to debut ‘iPad Pro’ on Sept. 9
- iPhone 6S to use 7000 series aluminum from Apple Watch Sport
- CBS Sports to stream Super Bowl 50, select NFL games on Apple TV
- Report: New Apple TV gets A8 chip, but not 4K support
- Report: New Apple TV will feature universal search, cost $149
- Divoom AuraBox Bluetooth Speaker
- Belkin WeMo + OSRAM Lightify White Tunable Starter Set
- Logitech Logi BLOK cases for iPad mini + iPad Air 2
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- iHome iSP5 SmartPlug
- Spigen Apple Watch Nightstand S350
- DODOcase Lorna iPhone Wallet Case for iPhone 6 Plus
- A First Look at iOS 9’s Transit in Apple Maps (Updated for watchOS 2)
- Instant Expert: Secrets & Features of iTunes 12.2
- Instant Expert: Secrets & Features of iOS 8.4 + Apple Music
- CE Week 2015: IK Multimedia, Monowear’s Apple Watch bands + More
- Live From CE Week 2015: Brand New iPad, iPhone + Mac Accessories!
- Opinion: The ‘Grand Experiment’ of shifting to Google Photos
- Will removing a credit card from Safari also remove it from Apple Pay?
- Can I mute Handoff calls coming into my Mac from my iPhone?
- How do I keep my iPhone calls from ringing on my Mac?
- Why doesn’t Traffic show up on my Today Notifications Screen?


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Primark Says No 'Special Discounts' When Shops Reopen
In the News
Primark is planning to reopen all of its 153 stores in England on 15 June when lockdown restrictions are lifted, its owner AB Foods has said. However, they’ve reported to have said there would be no "special discounting" to shift almost £2bn-worth of stock to sell, double its normal stockholding.
Really? Primark, the king of the high street for its cheap fashion, won’t be doing ‘special discounts’? I suppose they do discounts all-year round, so it’s indeed not going to be ‘special’
Are you looking forward to shopping in Primark?
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15 March 2005 – Dallas (TX): CompUSA has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), requiring it to pay for rebates that a supplier failed to deliver to customers.
The FTC said the message it was sending out to retailers was clear. "If you promise to provide a rebate of your own, you must honour that promise in a timely manner. Even if you are advertising someone else’s rebate programme, you may not turn a blind eye when that company fails to honour its rebates."
The FTC revealed that thousands of consumers will be eligible to receive rebates, ranging from $15 to $100.


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The FSA’s new CEO is well equipped to handle the coronavirus crisis, with work to ensure safety and supply underway. Not forgetting Brexit, of course
I look back and think, ‘how could I have thought ‘no deal’ was going to be massive? THIS is massive.” Food Standards Agency CEO Emily Miles is talking, of course, about Covid-19.
Prior to joining the FSA last September, Miles was at Defra, heading up the department’s domestic preparations for an EU exit. Before that, she worked for almost 15 years in home affairs, including stints in the Home Office, Downing Street and Cabinet Office, as well as several years as an advisor to Tony Blair.
Brexit was “the most fascinating, intense, supercharged learning moment of my career,” she says. It was also a big factor behind her move to the FSA, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. “I thought the FSA would be an extremely interesting place come our departure from the EU, because we’ve taken on responsibilities from the Commission and the European Food Safety Authority,” she adds. “It’s a great moment for the FSA to step up and come of age.”
But, just as is the case for PM Boris Johnson, Miles’ first year in office isn’t turning out as she expected. Because as the global coronavirus outbreak continues to worsen, putting unprecedented strain on UK food supply chains, Brexit is taking a back seat.
Although the evidence suggests Covid-19 is “highly unlikely to be spread through food”, the outbreak has significant potential implications for food safety. “If there are significant staff shortages anywhere in the food chain - from delivery drivers, to abattoirs, to testing labs - there can be food safety implications,” says Miles. “Also if food supplies are repurposed at short notice then there are risks around maintaining accurate ingredients lists and traceability information.”
“If there are significant staff shortages anywhere in the food chain, there can be food safety implications”
As a result, it’s fast become priority number one for the FSA, which recently published joint advice with Defra to assist food businesses trying to navigate the coronavirus crisis. It is also working with the food industry to make sure businesses are aware of their responsibilities when it comes to maintaining safety standards and protecting staff. “Food businesses take this very seriously and I’ve been impressed at how much care I am seeing,” says Miles.
With the FSA also facing the possibility of “significant staff absence”, the months ahead will no doubt be a huge challenge for the regulator, as well as industry.
Thankfully, the years spent leading no-deal planning at Defra mean Miles is well-equipped to handle such a fast-moving situation. “I learnt a lot from that: the need for wide sharing of information at high frequency because the implications unfold fast; the need for swift issue escalation and resolution; the importance of marrying delivery skills with policy and legal skills; the fact that you can’t anticipate everything.”
And the FSA has already kicked off decisive work to ensure food supply chains can keep moving during the crisis. One particular area of focus has been meat hygiene inspection, says Miles. “We have people in every abattoir and meat plant in England, Wales and NI on the line checking that meat is safe.”
Just like the NHS has asked former doctors, nurses and midwives to return to service, the FSA is looking to coax former meat hygiene inspectors back into plants. It is also considering “possible changes we can make in the way we implement the rules to make them less onerous”, she adds.
To ensure that food on the shelves remains safe to eat, the FSA has also “taken action to ensure that non-essential activities can be deprioritised, so that critical food safety duties can be carried out,” Miles says. “This includes deferring meat premises audits for highly compliant sites, and advising local authorities to take action to reduce non-essential activity.”
It’s taking a similar approach to ease the burden on office-based staff, who are now working remotely. With restaurant and cafés forced to close, plans for an allergen awareness campaign for small businesses have already been put on hold. “We are really sad about it, but it’s absolutely the right thing to do. We will refresh it when the time is right,” says Miles.
The FSA has also paused consultations with industry on “anything that is not Covid-19 related” and is reviewing “all other programmes” including its ‘achieving business compliance’ programme, looking in particular at modernising local authority controls and intelligence, and its operations transformation - which was about moving to more flexible arrangements in meat plants. “For these, we will prioritise anything that we think helps the Covid-19 effort,” says Miles. “Decisions on the remainder will be made once we have a sense of how much remaining capacity we have.”
Family: Married to Paul since 2001, two teenage children, one six-month old puppy called Leelu.
Potted CV: 15 years working largely on home affairs issues, before moving to Defra in late 2015 and co-ordinating its work on the domestic consequences of EU exit. Moved to FSA in 2019.
Worst career decision: Some decisions felt sketchy at the time (like when I agreed to lead work to close down a police arm’s length body, which was disheartening), but each one taught me invaluable lessons.
Best career decision: Staying in the Civil Service. I nearly gave up in 2015 because I felt my style didn’t fit; but in the end I found a home for my more people-centric, emotionally open approach. Plus, the work is extraordinary.
Desert island meal: Sausages with greens, creamy potatoes and onion gravy, then my Mum’s home-made treacle tart, washed down with some rioja.
One area of work that must continue, though, is preparing for the end of the Brexit transition period in December 2020. The FSA has a number of responsibilities in this area, Miles says. “One is making sure imported food is safe. So we are heavily involved with port authorities and making sure the food that hits our shores is safe to eat. We’ve also done a lot to enhance our strategic surveillance approach.”
Once the transition period ends, the FSA will also take on “new responsibilities around what we broadly call the risk analysis process”, she adds. “It’s got two parts - one is a product authorisation process and the other is an ability to offer considered, scientific advice on any risk that anyone wants to think about in terms of food safety or hygiene.”
The product authorisation process is “particularly significant” because “this is where novel foods, food packaging or food preparation processes like chemical washes get considered from a food safety and hygiene point of view,” she adds.
Currently, Miles says, “EFSA conducts the risk analysis, while the EU Commission does the risk management piece”. Under the new system “we’ll take on the responsibility of both EFSA and the Commission, so we’ll compile the evidence and offer advice to ministers, who will then decide to accept it or not”.
That means the FSA will be at the forefront of UK future decisions on CBD products, as well as on things like chemical washes. “This debate about chlorine washed chicken misses the fact it will be the FSA deciding whether a chemical wash is appropriate for any food consumed in the UK,” Miles notes.
In preparation, the FSA has recruited more scientists and expanded its advisory committees. One important thing it can bring to the table, says Miles, is transparency. “We will be publishing our advice to ministers, who will be taking their decisions in public.”
With Covid-19 putting a hold on UK-EU trade talks, the FSA must prepare once again for a no-deal scenario, which would require additional border checks on food and drink. That’s no small feat. But, as Miles suggests, even that doesn’t compare to the “unprecedented challenges” the coronavirus poses for us all.
Follow Carina on Twitter: @CarinaPerkins


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Amazon has announced that it is bringing the X-Ray for Movies and TV Shows feature to Fire TV and Fire TV Stick devices via a software update. The update begins rolling out today and will reach all Fire TV devices over the next few days.
X-Ray for Movies and TV Shows was originally introduced on Amazon’s Fire tablets and allows the users to view information about movie or TV characters in the scene, fun-facts about title and other details right on your device while watching a movie or TV Show. Amazon uses information from IMDb to provide these details.
“We’ve all been there: you’re sitting on the couch, watching a favorite movie or TV show, and a familiar face enters the scene—but you can’t for the life of you remember who he is, or what other movies he’s been in. X-Ray solves this—it integrates the vast database of IMDb right into the viewing experience, so you can easily see trivia, actor information and soundtrack music behind TV shows and movies. We think Amazon Fire TV customers are going to love this elegant experience on the big screen at home, and it’s just one simple click of the remote away,” said Peter Larsen, Vice President Amazon Devices.


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April 06, 2018
Industry profits dropped 4% to $1,676.9 million from $1,754.5 million in Q4, which includes half a billion dollars in Tax Act-related charges, on revenues that increased 8% to $45,235.1 million from $41,814.3 million.
Sporting goods and consumer products have escaped the initial list of $50 billion in products on which the Trump Administration will slap 25% tariffs but tensions about the dispute seemed to heat up as the week progressed, ending with the U.S. threatening to add an additional $100 billion in Chinese imports subject to higher duties after initially calming the discussion by saying it did not expect to have to actually impose the duties because of ongoing discussions between the countries to resolve the issues.
February and March for us is like drinking from a fire hose of news with all the earnings calls, and that doesn’t count the distractions of trade wars, bankruptcies and hostile investors looking to shape up management or ship them out.
The trustee for the estate of the now liquidated company is demanding that the court allow it to follow through on an investigation of the circumstances behind KPMG’s refusal to sign off on PSG’s 2016 financial statement, an event that created a default on the company’s credit agreements at the time and ultimately led to the bankruptcy filing.
That will probably shock nobody, but Nike’s recent disclosures about its own efforts to increase the number of women and minorities in key positions show that its results to date are basically in line with those at Adidas and Puma and there are very few specifics disclosed by other key industry companies like VF and Under Armour.
The world’s largest sporting goods retailer continues its assault on the North American market with a store outside of Montreal.
Former contract printing manager Brad Leinbach was found liable for stealing thousands of confidential documents on a flash drive before leaving the company for a job at 47 Brands.


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Eighty-eight percent of the state is in a drought, creating widespread effects. One local farmer says the product experiencing the greatest impact, is honey.
Paul Mielke is a big supporter of local farmers.
"I was just driving by today and saw the sign," he said.
At Oakview Farms in Wetumpka he found exactly what he was looking for.
"I got a nice big thing of honey, pure honey," said Mielke.
But there is just a little less of it stocking the shelves this season.
Owner Joe Lambrecht says honey is their third biggest money maker behind grits and hydroponic lettuce, but he says it's the bees, and ultimately the honey, that's been hit the hardest by the drought.
"When it's dry, we don't have anything blooming. With nothing blooming, we are not making pollen. We are not making nectar," he said.
Lambrecht says each one of the bee colonies is 80 pounds short on honey this year, which is 80 pounds of product they can't sell.
"If we run out of honey early, it's going to hurt us," he said.
It's a financial hit that seems inevitable.
"We are probably going to be 50 percent off on our honey production this year," said Lambrecht.
When demand is big and bees just aren't as busy, that could only mean one thing for you and me.
"All that relates into is less market for us and higher prices for the consumer," said Lambrecht.
"I haven't seen any in the food prices yet, but it's coming," said Mielke.
Honey prices haven't gone up since last year, but Lambrecht says because of the drought, you can expect higher prices next year.


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How MSMEs are Profiting Through PSBs with Government's Action Plan
Grow Your Business, Not Your Inbox
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
after meeting the CEOs of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) yesterday, the Finance Minister announced that an amount of rupees INR 81,700 was granted to the business enterprises during the nine day outreach ‘loan mela’ organized by the banks that began on October 1, 2019. Another ‘Loan Mela’ will be held around 21 October this year.
Further, Finance Secretary mentioned that out of the total amount given INR 34,342 crore was disbursed to the new players in the business sphere. Banks followed the prudential norms while remunerating the loans to businesses
The Finance Secretary addressed the media to deliver the details of the meeting conducted by the Finance Ministry with the Chief Executive Officers of the PSBs. He mentioned that all Public Sector Banks are maintaining its regulatory capital levels.
Profit Measures for MSMEs
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that banks have sufficient liquidity and measures are being taken to ensure that due payments are released to MSMEs (Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises) by corporate giants.
To guarantee liquidity for independent ventures, Sitharaman said that banks have been approached to give bill discounting facility to the MSMEs against installments due from the big corporates.
Aiming the MSMEs benefits, Ministry stated that corporate affairs ministry has a complete data of the companies which agreed that they owe around 40,000 Crore to the MSMEs. Also, FM declared the tentative deadline of dues payment to MSMEs and said that measures have been taken to ensure that MSMEs get their dues ahead of Diwali this year.
MSMEs have been facing trouble related to the due payment and stressed loans since past few months. Government has taken developmental efforts to ensure the timely due payment and distressing loans from MSMEs to augment the economy. These measures announced today by the Finance Minister and the Finance Secretary would help these enterprises grow smoothly with profitable margin.


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Even though GDPR officially took effect back in May, companies all over the world are still scrambling to get their privacy rules in order. While most companies seem to be steadily rolling with the new changes, others haven’t been so lucky. Here are the five worst cases of GDPR mishaps we’ve seen in the past few months.
1. Ghostery Shares User Email Addresses
For a company founded on data privacy protection, the incident was ironic, to say the least. Ghostery has since released an appropriately apologetic statement, claiming full responsibility for the event and vowing to report the incident “as mandated by the GDPR.”
2. U.S. Newspapers Bid Europe Adieu
Even though everyone was given a two-year notice, some U.S. newspapers waited until the very last minute to make themselves GDPR compliant — and learned a valuable lesson about procrastination. After the May 25 deadline passed, major newspapers such as the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the New York Daily News went dark for European visitors, all because the papers were still “working on technical compliance solutions.”
Similarly, USA Today built a separate site specifically for European Union visitors. Much of the core content remained identical to the U.S. edition, but all of the adware and other tracking tools were removed for EU browsers. The move inadvertently showed the sheer amount of bloatware that plagued the U.S. site, as users quickly pointed out the drastic differences in speed between the two versions.
3. Forbes Visitors Experience Interruptions
Post-GDPR, new visitors to Forbes.com are now met with a stark landing page that offers a simple request: please enable cookies to enjoy the website’s “full power.” Users are then given the option to select preferences pertaining to cookie usage.
There are three levels of cookie choices available: required cookies, functional cookies, and advertising cookies. In theory, selecting the bare minimum option should give users access to the site, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Many users on Reddit have said that when they chose only required cookies, a message appeared saying Forbes is “processing” the request. However, after a few minutes, the users were redirected back to the settings options and asked again to update their cookie preferences to allow for data collection.
On the flipside, when visitors chose to allow all three levels of cookie preferences, they were able to browse the site immediately.
It’s debatable whether this move by Forbes holds up against the new regulations, but either way, the opt-in/opt-out gatekeeping is certainly an inconvenience to site visitors, especially those who are already wary about the website’s previous malware ad practices. Luckily, for those who don’t want to enable cookies, Forbes isn’t the only news site on the internet.
4. Klout Calls it Quits
Rather than adapt to the changes brought by GDPR, some companies have decided to close shop entirely. Klout, a former social media analytics platform, is one of them.
Marketers looking to work with digital influencers often used Klout to seek new partners. The Klout algorithm analyzed a person’s present on social media and took into account how many followers, likes, and shares they received. Based on the findings, the algorithm pumped out a score ranging from 1 to 100 that indicated a person’s value as an influencer.
It’s easy to see how Klout would have its problems with GDPR’s rules, as the tool pulled data from a wide variety of sites, each with their own terms of service and privacy policies in place. Getting consent to access that data would definitely have been a challenge, if not impossible.
To their credit, GDPR may not have entirely forced the service to stop. After being acquired by Lithium Technologies, a customer relationship management service, Klout lost much of its unique value. Marketers simply weren’t relying on Klout scores as much as they had in the past. That, combined with the upcoming wave of GDPR restrictions, proved too much for Klout to handle, and on May 25, Lithium quietly shut down the service.
5. Facebook Offers Vague Promises
Most of the major internet players, like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, updated their legal documents in time for GDPR, but a recent study claims some haven’t made their changes clear enough.
The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), a consumer protection group, has created an experimental artificial intelligence system whose purpose is to analyze privacy policies and check for GDPR compliance. Dubbed “Claudette,” the A.I. scans for language it considers “potentially problematic” and checks for instances of “insufficient” information. In other words, it sees if companies are being transparent enough about their practices.
After work began, Claudette immediately flagged one of the biggest — and most predictable — offenders: Facebook. According to the researchers, Claudette found that while Facebook’s privacy statement appears to acknowledge GDPR, it offers vague “legal terms, buzzwords, and catchphrases” instead of a “truly user-centric” GDPR policy.
This post originally appeared on Anura.