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We've been awarded the 2016 California Small Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration! To learn more about this prestigious honor, read the press release below. Thank you to all who have supported us throughout the years.
WASHINGTON D.C./SAN FRANCISCO, CA (March 14, 2016) - The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has awarded San Rafael-based Equator Coffees & Teas the prestigious title of 2016 California Small Business of the Year. This makes the coffee company the first LGBT-owned business—certified as an LGBTBE by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce—to receive the award.
Partners Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell co-founded Equator Coffees & Teas, Inc. in 1995 in a small, Marin County garage. The company has since grown into a 5,500-square-foot flagship roastery in San Rafael with a thriving wholesale business. More than twenty years after its founding, Equator now has 90 employees, more than 350 wholesale customers, retail cafes at LinkedIn, micro-kitchens at Google, and three retail stores in Northern California with two more on the way. Their loyal wholesale customers include Thomas Keller’s Michelin-starred The French Laundry and Traci Des Jardin’s Jardinière.
“Brooke and Helen’s shared love for artisan coffee and a desire to have an impact on an industry with evolving social, economic and environmental issues is profound,” said Chef Thomas Keller, whose restaurants serve its own unique blend of Equator Coffee. “It is their commitment to forging personal relationships with farmers and hands-on approach that make them inspirational leaders and business owners; they are most deserving of this prestigious award.”Equator strives to be a high-impact coffee company focused on sustainability, quality, and social responsibility, committed to transparency and empowerment initiatives at every step of the coffee supply chain.
“This celebrated recognition of Helen and Brooke’s outstanding work not only exemplifies what we know of women in business leadership; it also illuminates an answer to the challenge of our time, demonstrating that businesses can be both successful and sustainable,” said California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom. “Their example and their achievements set the standard for small businesses to follow and I congratulate them both on their contributions to the community and the state of California."
Equator was the first American coffee company to become a certified B-Corporation, and was at the forefront of pioneering the direct trade model that focuses on building trusting relationships with coffee producers. Equator finances social and environmental initiatives in coffee-producing countries and supports work in food security, community development, environmental stewardship, and womens’ empowerment. The company planted a sustainably-planned high altitude coffee farm in Panama in 2008, and garnered a Good Food Award for the first harvest that arrived this year.
"It is such an incredible honor to be recognized by the SBA as Small Business of the Year for the State of California, and we are grateful to the GGBA for advocating on our behalf, to Capital Access Group for nominating us for this prestigious award and to the NGLCC for being a champion for LGBTBE firms at the national and international levels” said Helen Russell, Co-Founder, Equator Coffees & Teas, Inc. “As an entrepreneur, a women-owned business and a LGBTBE-certified business, I am proud to say that the SBA has been there for Equator at all stages of our growth over the last 21 years. The SBA knows that small businesses like Equator are creating quality jobs and driving our economy. The SBA has had our back at important milestones in our evolution. We celebrate this achievement with our employees, our partners and our collective communities."
Equator will be honored on May 2nd in Washington DC. The private event is being held as part of the 2016 National Small Business Week celebration, May 1-7.


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In fashion, the first Monday in May belongs to Anna Wintour. And this year, the stakes are higher than ever. The American Vogue editor (and global chief content officer at publisher Condé Nast) is set to stage what might be the most important Met Gala of her career.
It’s a critical year for the Costume Institute, a part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which experienced a serious financial shortfall during the height of the pandemic. The Met is counting, as always, on sales of tickets to the glitzy event (booking a table can cost $200,000 to $300,000, sometimes more) to generate funds — and compel people to visit the museum. After being canceled in 2020, the gala brought in a record $16.4 million last September.
It’s also a critical moment for Vogue. As its bread-and-butter advertising business comes under increased pressure, the title is doubling down on new revenue streams, including its efforts to monetise the high-wattage red carpet that precedes the gala, the coverage of which the publication began to sell advertising against as early 2015, according to Amy Odell’s new biography on Wintour, set to be published on Tuesday.
For Wintour, who has become the Costume Institute’s primary fundraiser through a combination of savvy strategy and sheer force of will, this means balancing the tension between a charitable dinner and a profit-making digital content play.
According to Vogue Executives, Wintour and her team do this by making sure the content they create not only offers viewers exclusive access to the gala, but encourages them to visit the museum and see the Costume Institute’s annual exhibition. (This year’s show, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” is the second part in a series showingcasing American designs.)
“At the end of the day, this is an extremely important fundraiser,” said Anna-Lisa Yabsley, Vogue‘s global digital strategy lead and executive director of content for the US edition. “Everything we do content-wise is about raising awareness and getting people through the door.”
But the Met Gala is also a significant money-making opportunity. For the second year in a row, Vogue is livestreaming the event, this time across several social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. (Instagram is also a sponsor.) Vogue is charging $1 million for two six-second spots over the course of two hours, as well as additional amplification through influencers and other channels such as Instagram, according to multiple sources familiar with the proposal. Vogue refused to comment. (The programme’s hosts are La La Anthony, Vanessa Hudgens and editor Hamish Bowles.)
Along with the livestream, Vogue will once again publish a liveblog as well as a voting tool where users can promote their favorite looks, which it sells advertising against. That’s in addition to the stories and videos the site has been publishing in the weeks leading up to May 2.
“These are all little tweaks and enhancements, but ultimately have a very high return,” Yabsley said.
Advertisers include Cartier and Motorola, according to sources, although the company declined to comment regarding which brands have signed on. Mercedes Abramo, president and CEO of Cartier North America, told BoF in a statement that the company, which is a top online advertiser for many publications, wanted to support the Gala because of — at least in part — its importance to New York City, where Cartier has had a store for more than 100 years.
Vogue is able to charge a high premium for the event not only because it remains a prestige media brand, but also because of the online attention the Met Gala receives. While other outlets cover the red carpet with regularity, Vogue‘s insider access and brand association give it an edge.
Elizabeth Webbe Lunny, the chief brand officer of Condé Nast’s style division, said it’s about bringing “consumers and advertising partners alike into Vogue‘s inner circle.”
In 2021, Vogue‘s Met Gala stream generated 16.5 million views, both live and on-demand, in the first two weeks, according to the brand’s internal tracking. Vogue.com itself garnered 8.2 million unique views on Met Gala content alone within three days of the event, with an average 24.5 minutes spent on Met content only. Across social media, there were 260 million Met Gala-related views in 48 hours.
Unlike the Oscars or other live events, the red carpet is all that viewers can consume of the Met Gala, so it’s the focal point. In fact, the Met Gala generated $543 million in media impact value (MIV) — or the effect of placements and mentions across different media platforms — compared to the Super Bowl’s $520 million, according to tracking firm Launchmetrics.
The Met Gala’s success as a pop-cultural phenomenon that transcends fashion is a prime example of why Wintour is seen by Condé Nast leadership as a value-creator.
And yet, there is more Vogue could do to capitalise on the event. A television element — such as a partnership with a streamer — is one of the biggest opportunities. The 2016 documentary, “The First Monday in May,” which covered 2015′s Met Gala, was only a modest success, generating just over $1 million in theaters worldwide, according to The Numbers. But each year, popular American cable channel E! hosts an entire evening of Met Gala coverage from which Vogue makes no money.
The more Vogue markets the Met Gala as the Super Bowl of fashion, and the only place to see it all, the more it can presumably charge for advertising. Of course, finding brands that can afford Vogue‘s hefty prices are not easy, especially in the fashion space, where marketing budgets tend to be conservative compared to consumer packaged goods, automobiles or hard luxury. The goal for Voguethen, is to find advertisers who want to reach an audience simply interested in fashion.
“It would be a brand that is interested in finding people who want to be involved in fashion, a part of the conversation,” said Jen Soch, executive director of channel solutions at media-buying firm GroupM. “There are lots of brands looking for fashion-forward-type projects.”

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The Android 8.0 Oreo update has started rolling out to the HTC U11 units in HTC’s homeland, Taiwan. HTC’s community manager confirmed the news via HTC’s forums in Taiwan, as this update arrives carrying the 2.31.709.1 build number. HTC’s community manager did not mention anything about this update rolling out to other countries, but considering it has started hitting the HTC U11 units in Taiwan, it’s safe to say that other markets will follow soon, and HTC will probably reveal more info in the near future.
Android 8.0 Oreo is no longer the very last version of Android, as Android 8.1 Oreo update was released by Google way back, but very few devices have Android Oreo now at all, so HTC fans are probably quite excited right about now. Android 8.0 Oreo is not a huge revamp of Android or anything of the sort, but it brings a number of optimizations to the table, as well as some new features, and it also redesigns some UI elements a bit. Android 8.0 Oreo will bring the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) to the HTC U11, which essentially means that you’ll be able to watch a YouTube video in small windows while you’re doing something completely different on your phone. Do keep in mind that this feature is quite limited at the moment, and it seems like it’s reserved for YouTube Red users at the moment. Android 8.0 Oreo also brings a number of battery optimizations, and it takes better care of apps, as it will make sure that apps do not drain your battery in the background. ‘Notification Dots’ are also coming with this update, while some new Autofill options are present as well.
These are only some of the new features that you will get via this update, which is rolling out over-the-air (OTA) in Taiwan, by the way. The HTC U11 is HTC’s flagship phone, next to the HTC U11 Plus which was announced quite recently. The HTC U11 is made out of metal and glass, and it sports a front-facing fingerprint scanner. The device is fueled by the Snapdragon 835 64-bit octa-core processor, while it packs in 4GB / 6GB of RAM and 64GB / 128GB of native storage. This phone sports a 5.5-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) display, while a 12-megapixel shooter is placed on its back. Click here if you’d like to know more about the HTC U11.


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Penney expects the year ahead to "remain very challenging for the American consumer," the company says in a release, adding that it is making the cuts in order to balance its ongoing merchandising and marketing efforts. "We will further reduce new store openings and renovations from 2008 levels and continue to focus on rigorously controlling inventory levels and operating expenses."
Adding that it believes the cuts will allow it to "improve both our competitive positioning and market share," the company says it will only open 20 new or relocated stores in 2009--down from 36 new or relocated stores that will open this year, and far short of the 50 stores per year it had previously vowed to open through 2011. But it still plans to open its first store in Manhattan in 2009, which it believes will be its highest sales-volume store.
And the new plan calls for renovating 10 to 15 stores, down from the 20 it plans to complete this year. Previously, the company had said it would overhaul 65 stores per year.
All told, the company is cutting its capital expenditures to $650 million, "versus $1 billion expected for 2008, and $1.2 billion in 2007."
Still, some observers believe that sales are improving somewhat at department stores, and that JCPenney is particularly well-positioned to gain when consumers do decide to return to the mall. Before the announcement of the revised expansion plans, for example, Deutsche Bank, citing slightly improved sales trends and its reliable earnings estimates, upgraded its recommendation from "hold" to "buy."


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The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) 2018 jobs figures, announced by Heather Humphreys T.D. Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Pat Breen T.D., Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, show that 36,666 people are employed by 7,164 Local Enterprise Office supported companies.
This is the fifth year of employment growth for the Local Enterprise Offices, with 3,656 net jobs created in 2018. There has been an 11% jobs creation increase in current companies within the LEO portfolio since 2017. Since the LEOs were established in 2014 their clients have created over 18,000 jobs in small businesses across the country. The Local Enterprise Offices also approved €18.2million worth of financial assistance to 1,259 projects.
In 2018 the Local Enterprise Offices worked successfully with 171 of their client companies to help them transfer to Enterprise Ireland along with 796 associated jobs. This was up from 60 companies making the transition in 2017.
The 31 Local Enterprise Offices nationwide, an initiative of the Government of Ireland, are operated in partnership with Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities. They provide expert training, mentoring and financial assistance to entrepreneurs and small businesses who may want to start, develop or grow their company.
The Local Enterprise Offices have played a key role in preparing small businesses in Ireland for Brexit. This includes Brexit Mentoring, Technical Assistance for Micro Exporting grants for small businesses looking to diversify into new markets, the Brexit SME Scorecard, the Trading Online Voucher Scheme for those selling online internationally and LEAN for Micro enabling small companies to trade more effectively and competitively.
The Local Enterprise Offices will also roll out the Brexit Customs Training across the country beginning in February which will enable any small business to learn about the customs import and export procedures that will be required post-Brexit to ensure they can continue to trade effectively with a country outside the single market.
Minister Humphreys T.D. said; “The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are a hugely important part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in this country. They do Trojan work in every county right across the country and these 2018 jobs figures highlight the significant contribution they make to the economy as a whole. This is the 5th year in a row of employment growth for the LEOs, which support our indigenous businesses to create jobs locally. Not only are they helping small businesses to plan, start and grow, but they are also working closely with their 7,164 client companies to minimise their Brexit exposure. The LEOs will continue to play a key role in 2019 and beyond, ensuring that every small business has access to the support it needs. I was delighted to allocate them an additional €5m in Budget 2019 to further support their invaluable work on the ground.”
Oisin Geoghegan, Chair of the network of Local Enterprise Offices, said; “These figures highlight the important role that the Local Enterprise Offices are playing in creating jobs and sustaining small businesses all over Ireland. The LEOs are the first engagement any entrepreneur or small business owner should have when they want to develop or grow their idea or company. Every day Local Enterprise Offices help small businesses to get off the ground, overcome challenges, hire new staff, fund innovation, prepare for Brexit and plan for the future. The range of supports on offer from the Local Enterprise Office will help anyone seeking to start or grow a small business through highly practical services such as professional business and management training, mentoring, networking opportunities, finance and much more.”
Paul Reid, Chief Executive, Fingal County Council on behalf of the CCMA said; “Local Enterprise Offices play a fundamental part in local authority efforts to support economic development in our areas. The LEOs translate policy into practice and delivery on the ground. Their impact is very clear on days like today when we step back and take stock of the very strong employment they help to create. But it is evident also on a daily basis, when talking to entrepreneurs and businesses around the country who are benefiting from LEO support and gaining the increased confidence needed to grow their businesses.”


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Is OpenAI in danger? Is AI development being handled irresponsibly?
This issue is just one topic of last week’s news on CMSWire. Read on for news on the future of TikTok, Adobe innovations and more.
The Rapidity of AI Growth
Let's take a glance through the highlights from CMSWire's past week:
AI Policy Group Wants FTC to Investigate OpenAI, Shut Down GPT-4 Innovation Dom Nicastro | March 30. Is OpenAI GPT-4 in danger? The Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP) wants the FTC to conduct an investigation into OpenAI, possibly shutting down product development of GPT-4.
Musk, Wozniak and 1,100 Others: 'Pause Giant AI Experiments' Dom Nicastro | March 29. Is the race to develop AI systems “out of control?” A group of tech and business leaders call for pause.
7 Things on Adobe's Innovation Radar You Should Know About Jennifer Torres | March 28. The competition was fierce in surviving Adobe Sneaks, an innovation competition, at Adobe Summit.
What Happens Next to TikTok? Alex Kantrowitz | March 28. TikTok CEO Shou Chew recently appeared before Congress. Despite his position as CEO, he struggled to answer questions and seemed to have limited power.
Why Ecommerce Needs to Evolve for Gen Z Shane O’Neill | March 27. How does advertising need to change to engage Gen-Z? Consider short attention spans, popularity of videos, and more.
CMSWire Connect: May 10-12, Austin, Texas
You did know we're bound for the Lone Star State, right? CMSWire is holding its first in-person conference since November 2019 when it brings CMSWire Connect to Austin, Texas May 10-12.
Here's our Session of the Week:
[Master Class] From Data to Delight: The AI-Powered Customer Journey
As customer demands continue to rise, companies are exploring new ways to improve their customer journey. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool to help companies enhance their customer experience.
In this interactive 90-minute master class, Shawn Goodin, a renowned AI expert, will share his insights and best practices for designing a modern MarTech + CX stack powered by AI. Shawn will explore the role of AI in marketing, technology, data, and analytics and provide real-world examples of how businesses can incorporate AI to transform their customer journey.
Connect With Our Editorial Team
Speaking of connections, there are a few ways we encourage you to connect with our Editorial team:
Got a news tip? Send it [email protected].
Want to become a CMSWire Contributor? Check out the guidelines for applications.
Got a press release? Got a press release in the customer experience or marketing arena you think deserves a spot on our Wire site? Send it to us at [email protected].


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FDA will require e-cigarettes and contents to be reviewed
The federal government expanded its authority over tobacco products Thursday, for the first time issuing regulations about e-cigarettes, hookah tobacco, pipe tobacco and all types of cigars. The new rules, covering a rapidly expanding, multibillion-dollar industry, are intended to give some protection to consumers while corralling the skyrocketing use of e-cigarettes by teens.
The Food and Drug Administration will require reporting of ingredients, including harmful and potentially harmful chemicals, and warning labels on packaging and advertisements. Products will have to undergo an FDA review of their design and contents to stay on the market.
And sales to those under 18 — online and in person — will be banned.
New Jersey already sets the minimum age for tobacco purchase, including regular and electronic cigarettes, at 19. The new federal rules are expected to increase enforcement of the ban on underage sales, especially via the Internet.
“Millions of kids are being introduced to nicotine every year, a new generation hooked on a highly addictive chemical,” said Sylvia Burwell, the Health and Human Services secretary. “We cannot let the enormous progress we’ve made toward a tobacco-free generation be undermined by products that impact our health and economy in this way.”
The rules, five years in the making, are expected to reignite the debate over whether e-cigarettes are a helpful tool for tobacco users who want to quit or a gateway to addiction for teens lured by flavors such as gummy bear and hot-fudge sundae.
“The market has proliferated widely in the absence of these rules,” said Cris Delnevo, director of the Center for Tobacco Studies at Rutgers and interim dean of its School of Public Health. “They are long overdue, and for that I applaud them.”
Use of e-cigarettes by high school students increased from 1.5 percent to 16 percent from 2011 to 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three million middle and high school students in 2015 were current e-cigarette users.
No consensus on risk
E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that turn liquid nicotine into an inhalable vapor. They lack the chemicals and tars of burning tobacco, but the cigarettes have not been extensively studied and there’s no scientific consensus on the risks or advantages of “vaping.”
People who use the newly regulated products “deserve to know what they’re being exposed to,” said Michael Steinberg, director of the Rutgers Tobacco Dependence Program and a physician. “The first step is to determine how harmful or safe these products really are.”
The FDA’s new oversight will make possible studies about the long-term effects of such products, he said. It will enable research to validate or disprove the claims about their role in helping smokers quit.
Steinberg says there is little scientific evidence to support the role of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation. His program treats smokers who are highly dependent on nicotine and have tried repeatedly to quit. “Almost all of them have tried e-cigs to help them stop smoking,” he said. “None of them have been successful.”
But at local vaping shops, merchants and customers said their experiences were different.
The vast majority of customers at NJ Vapors in North Arlington are former tobacco users who began vaping to get off cigarettes and cigars, said Joe Lumba, its owner. His in-store video display used to show the names of 1,900 customers who quit smoking, he said.
One customer, Aaron Wojcieschowski, 50, said it had helped him quit a decades-long addiction to tobacco. He bought some vape juice with his son Josh on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s ignorant to think that it’s smoking; it’s not,” Wojcieschowski said. “I’m healthier. I breathe better. Other than the nicotine it’s harmless. You would think the government would know better.”
Another customer, Aaron Johnson, 22, never smoked but began nicotine-free vaping last year. “It’s just something my friends and I do. My breathing is fine. My lung capacity is fine. I think everything should stay as is.”
At Good Guys Vapes in Clifton, Ralph M. Sabato, a customer, said he would probably go back to smoking if he didn’t have access to e-cigarettes.
“For me, all of the detrimental effects of smoking, like a constant cough and phlegm, stopped after two or three weeks of using an e-cig,” he said. “It blew my mind, and it disappoints me to hear all of this might change.
“I’ve tried so many times to quit smoking,” he added, “but you form a habit that is tough to break.”
For now, the nation’s estimated 20 million e-cigarette users may not see big changes. Companies have two years to submit their information to the FDA and another year while the agency reviews it. Government officials said this process is critical to taming the “wild west” marketplace for the products.
Do regulations go far enough?
Some health advocates, however, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the rules didn’t go far enough. The government passed up “critical opportunities” to prohibit marketing tactics and flavors that target children, they said.
But Delnevo, of Rutgers, said the rule “opens the door” to future regulation of flavors and other aspects of the products.
Owners of vaping shops said they would try to modify the new rules or block their implementation in Congress.
The regulations are the equivalent of a slow-motion ban on the industry, they said; few of the smaller manufacturers and shops can afford the costly review the FDA has mandated.
Leonel Avanzado, an employee at Clifton’s Good Guy Vapes, said the regulations would drastically curtail the range of “juices” with different flavors and nicotine levels to be mixed at the store, as well as devices with varying batteries, tanks, coils and atomizers. Only the largest brands will be able to afford the expense of complying with the regulations, he said.
“Every product on the market today would have to undergo a pre-market review,” said Gregory Conley, of the New Jersey-based American Vaping Association. “That is going to cost seven figures, and is going to lead to only Big Tobacco and maybe one or two Wall Street backed companies being able to compete in this market.”
Public health experts, however, said the rules would have a broad benefit.
“We have the lowest smoking rates in the United States that we’ve had in 50 years,” said Delnevo, of Rutgers. “Policy, regulation, taxation — these are tools and levers that have been used to bring down the rate of consumption of a very dangerous product.”
Staff Writers Scott Fallon and Andrew Wyrich contributed to this article, which also contains material from The Associated Press. Email: email@example.com


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Iran, Jordan suspend beef imports from Brazil
SAO PAULO: The Brazilian agriculture ministry said on Thursday that Thailand, Iran and Jordan had temporarily suspended imports of beef from Brazil while authorities investigate a case of mad-cow disease in an animal from Para state, according to a statement.
The ministry also confirmed that Russia had halted imports from Para state after the discovery of a mad cow disease case there.
Thailand, Iran and Jordan “have temporarily suspended beef imports from all over Brazil and Russia has introduced an embargo on beef exported from Para,” the ministry said. In addition, Brazil has suspended beef exports to China to fulfil terms of a trade agreement.
There is only one meatpacking plant in Para authorised to sell beef products to Russia, it added.
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2023


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How can we maintain consumer attachment when a brand becomes a giant?Dentsply and Sirona become the Dentsply Sirona brand. This merger comes with a radical change of identity that inevitably impacts the perception of users of both brands. Bader Creation is commissioned to come up with an international reassurance marketing campaign strategy for the company's Endodontics division.
Two leading dental companies, Dentsply and Sirona, merge. The new brand becomes an international giant.
To reassure endodontic customers about the continued quality, Swiss manufacturing and human contact.
A campaign that President Jeffrey T. Slovin hailed as a new standard in terms of communication for the group.


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With the clock winding down on production of the Holden Commodore, Chevrolet dealers are snapping the remaining lot of SS models being exported to the U.S. Wheels has learned from Chevrolet that the extra 1,000 SS models Holden was planning to build for the U.S. market have been snapped up.
“All US dealer orders are in for the allocated production of the 2017 Chevrolet SS. This includes any additional units that were confirmed for production last year,” said Chevrolet.
Originally, Holden was planning on building 2,000 SS for the U.S. However, the large demand by dealers for the last SS models caused Holden to add an additional 1,000 models for export.


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The factory-outlet store, which will hold a grand opening on Wednesday, “is completely in line with what our shoppers are looking for,” mall General Manager Christine Szalay said in a prepared statement.
American Eagle targets consumers between the ages of 15 and 25 and specializes in denim, but also sells other apparel. The new store is next to the Gap Factory Store in the corridor adjacent to the food court.
The Pittsburgh-based retailer has reported fast-rising profits over the last two years, and analysts expect more of the same in earnings scheduled to be released on Wednesday.
The Outlet Shops of Grand River is next to I-20 at exit 140 in Leeds.


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Rouse is delighted to announce that it has retained the services of Flavio Mascetti to further develop and promote its enforcement data solutions, CHORUS.
Flavio was previously lead advisor in the anti-counterfeiting team of a luxury goods company for more than a decade. He is already very familiar with CHORUS and has clear ideas of how it can be enhanced to continue to meet the needs of in-house teams.
CHORUS was developed by the enforcement experts at Rouse. It provides the data that brand protection teams need to run successful enforcement programmes.
Nick Redfearn, who leads Rouse’s global enforcement team as well as the initiative which develops technology solutions within Rouse, said: “We are delighted that Flavio is going to be working with us. He has invaluable in-house anti-counterfeiting experience and is very well-respected in the IP industry. We are looking forward to learning from him.”


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Air ticket might skyrocket if airlines commence operations-Sirika
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has said that there is an indication that air ticket might skyrocket when the flights commenced, saying that passengers may not be able to afford it.
Sirika, however stated that the Federal Government is dialoging with airline operators and other stakeholders in the aviation industry to ensure that the prices in air ticket do not escalate.
He further explained that the prices might be different from what passengers were used to, he, however, added that the prices will be affordable.
Speaking on Monday during the briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Sirika said: “Skyrocketing of flight ticket may not necessarily be the case because as I speak with you, day in day out, we have been meeting with stakeholders in the industry to find out how best to open up the industry in such a way that it does not bring hardship to the airline industry in general because definitely physical distancing will come into effect in the airport itself.
“The happenings around airports certainly is putting people together and getting them to socially interact and do businesses and to create huge economic activity. So, we are coming up with measures to cushion the effect.’’
Virgin Atlantic Airways said yesterday it would resume flights on the Lagos/ London route effective August 24.
According to the airline’s Manager, Marketing and Communications – Nigeria, Promise Ukandu, the new date will provide connections to a range of destinations in the United States.
However, the airline said the restart of flights into Lagos and other routes will be dependent on the lifting of travel restrictions around the world.
Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, Juha Jarvinen, said: “As countries around the world begin to relax travel restrictions, we look forward to welcoming our customers back onboard and flying them safely to many destinations across our network.
“From 20th July, we will resume services to New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, then from 1st August onwards, we will resume passenger flying to 17 additional destinations around the world, including Lagos, Tel Aviv, Atlanta, Mumbai and Las Vegas.’’
“However, we are monitoring external conditions extremely closely, in particular the travel restrictions many countries have in place including the 14-day quarantine policy for travellers entering the UK.
“We know that as the Covid-19 crisis subsides, air travel will be a vital enabler of the UK’s economic recovery. Therefore, we are calling on UK Government to continually review its quarantine measures and instead look at a multi-layered approach of carefully targeted public health and screening measures, including air bridges, which will support a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses” he said.


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Egypt Electricx was held at the Cairo International Convention and Exhibition Center on Nov. 3th. At the exhibition, CHINT and JUSHI Egypt, ENARA and SOLAR INSTALLER signed a MOI and letter of intent of cooperation on the JUSHI 7.5MW photovoltaic power generation project.
Mr. Qian Zhiwei, the deputy general manager of JUSHI Egypt, Mr. Wang Chunyun, the purchasing director, Mr. Abdallah, the vice chairman of SOLAR INSTALLER, Mr. Muhamed Adel, the investment director of ENARA ENERGY, and Mr. Cai Jianhua, the deputy general manager of CHINT West Asia and Africa, attended the signing ceremony. Mr. Cai Jianhua gave a speech at the ceremony and introduced the achievements and vision of CHINT's localization in Egypt. Mr. Cai said that this project cooperation is another milestone in the development of CHINT's business in Egypt.
It is reported that the project is currently the largest single-roof solar project in the Middle East and Africa and the first private sector PPA project in Egypt. It will also become another iconic photovoltaic project of CHINT overseas market. The signing of the agreement on the cooperation of this project is a beneficial attempt for the new business development and business scope innovation of CHINT Egypt market. It shows that CHINT’s strong resource integration capability in the Egyptian market, which will further boost the business of CHINT whole industry chain.
After the opening ceremony, Mr. Gaber Desouky, the CEO of the EEHC, visited CHINT booth, and expressed his appreciation for the rapid growth of CHINT in Egyptian market in recent years and the active integration by sponsorship in local university.
The Electricx is one of the most influential power and new energy exhibitions in Egypt and the Middle East. The contents of CHINT show for this time include building power distribution systems, Next meter, fire pump industry, solar energy systems and other products and system. Through the live product onsite, the advantages and application scenarios of CHINT's medium and high voltage products were highlighted. The pitch, VR and motion game have also attracted many exhibitors' attention.
New moves of localization in Egypt
In April this year, CHINT Egypt subsidiary was formally established. It is another milestone in the localization of the company after the establishment of the CHINT EGEMAC joint venture factory in 2017 and the operation of the logistics center and after-sales service center in 2018. In the ten years of deep cultivation in Egyptian market, CHINT has continued to promote the breadth and depth of professional services for the Egyptian electricity market, and now CHINT gradually become one of the well-known international electrical solution providers in local market. The products are widely used in the Egyptian utilities, government and military.
In February, 2017, the establishment of CHINT EGEMAC joint venture factory marked the further improvement of the response and service level of CHINT's localized manufacturing and distribution solutions. It has now developed into a leading brand of power distribution equipment in Egypt, as well as the Middle East and Africa. Now its products have been successfully applied to key projects such as the construction of the new capital of Egypt, the government's landmark commercial buildings and housing construction, public hospitals, and the national power system. The services are radiating to the neighboring countries and regions such as Jordan and the Middle East.
In December 2018, key electrical equipment such as CHINT Distribution Transformer was successfully approved by EEHC. At the same time Medium Voltage Switchgear and RMU got the approval. The deployment of key power equipment has effectively has effectively enhanced CHINT's core competence inserving the Egyptian power industry.
In the future, with the platform of CHINT's "whole-industry, multi-division, integrated service", CHINT Egypt subsidiary will also implement the "Great Electric Strategy" and promote transmission and distribution, instrumentation, solar energy, automation and other products and service. CHINT will thrive provide integrated power services with competitive advantages in the entire industry chain for Egypt and surrounding markets.


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RadioShack’s shambling remains were given another shock of life today. Autozone Radioshack… when they were acquired by another company that plans to relaunch the once-great retailer as an online-focused brand name.
The store’s remains were purchased by Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), a start-up founded in 2019 that’s been scooping up brands from other faded retail giants as well, consisting of Pier 1, Modell’s Sporting Item, Dressbarn, and more. REV says RadioShack’s site already has “strong existing sales and sales capacity,” and the company is “confident” it can further raise awareness of the brand name internationally.
REV declares it’s effectively reversed other companies it’s introduced as online brand names. The Wall Street Journal reported that Dressbarn more than doubled its revenue in between the second and first quarter of 2020.
RadioShack was founded in 1921 and ended up being a retail staple in the ’80s and ’90s for anybody seeking to grab tech essentials. For a long period of time, that implied actual radio elements, but wound up consisting of great deals of electronic toys (one Edge editor fondly remembers his Armatron) and eventually phones. Its fortunes declined greatly as online shopping got here, and the business declared insolvency two times in the past 5 years. RadioShack still licenses its name to third-party “licensed” stores and offers branded products within some locations of HobbyTown, a crafts merchant– comparable to how you can still find “Sharper Image” products at Kohl’s although that retailer shut its physical doors over a years earlier. REV didn’t say whether those RadioShack licenses would stay. Autozone Radioshack
REV says it will “soon relaunch” RadioShack’s website. For those of you still sticking on to fond memories of the store, there’ll be a familiar sufficient location to go when you desire to purchase costly HDMI cables and knockoff earphones.


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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Bebe Stores Inc. BEBE, -0.38% Thursday said same-store sales rose 8.2% in October. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for an increase of 8.3% for the month. Total retail sales for the four weeks ended Oct. 28 jumped 21.2% to $47.4 million from $39.1 million in the same period a year earlier. Shares of the Brisbane, Calif., women's apparel retailer closed Wednesday at $24.21, down 2.5%.
Bebe Stores October same-store sales rise 8.2%


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Nala has set its sights on revolutionizing cross-border payments, as it recently announced the inclusion of Nigeria as a key remittance destination. This strategic expansion holds immense significance for Nala, a company that initially established its roots in East Africa and is now ambitiously reaching across the entire continent.
Nigeria, boasting the largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $441 billion as of 2021, presents an opportune ground for Nala's aspirations to take root. The company's decision is further fortified by Nigeria's substantial diaspora, comprising nearly 400,000 individuals in the US and 200,000 in the UK, contributing significantly to the nation's economic vigor, evidently in the about $21.9 billion received through official channels in 2022.
Nala is poised to assist diaspora citizens in effortlessly sending money from the US and Europe back home to Africa. This strategic expansion firmly places Nala as a formidable player in Africa's fintech landscape. The company's grand vision aligns with other prominent West African players like Send by Flutterwave and Lemfi, reflecting its intent to reshape the conventional norms of cross-border transactions and foster financial inclusivity throughout the continent.
Nala has been making waves in recent news due to its strategic partnerships, one of which involves collaborating with Pan-African Payments Company, Cellulant. This partnership facilitates remittance payments from the UK and the US to countries including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ghana. Additionally, Nala has secured licenses to provide mobile money services and direct integrations with banks and telecom companies in Tanzania.
Benjamin Fernandes, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nala, with his extensive experience in African payments spanning over a decade, envisions Nala as a catalyst for change. As Nala expands its operations into Nigeria and West Africa, it aims to enhance payment solutions for Africans worldwide by pushing the boundaries of conventional tools and widening access to advanced technological infrastructure. Fernandes emphasizes Nala's commitment to forging local partnerships, generating employment opportunities, and fostering collaborations with financial institutions and payout providers within Nigeria.
Beyond just convenience, Nala's ambitious agenda tackles a persistent challenge: the high transfer fees associated with sending money to Africa from abroad. With the World Bank estimating average transfer fees at around 9%, Nala has taken on the mission to challenge this norm. The company's pledge of transparency and fairness seeks to empower users with greater control over their finances, effectively eliminating hidden charges and uncertainties.
At the heart of Nala's achievements lies its diverse team, comprising experts in African payments and leaders from esteemed American and European tech firms. This collective expertise, combined with Nala's mission to expand payment accessibility across Africa, underscores its potential to drive transformative change.
By launching its payment services in Nigeria, Nala takes a momentous stride towards revolutionizing cross-border transactions throughout Africa. As Nala's presence widens, it paves the path for financial empowerment, making secure and dependable payments accessible to individuals and businesses across the continent.


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By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Companies being investigated for anti-competitive practices or billion-euro deals will continue to face rigorous EU scrutiny despite the temporary absence of antitrust supremo Margrethe Vestager, officials and industry executives said on Thursday.
Vestager took unpaid leave last week in a bid to become the first woman president of the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (EIB), which doles out millions in loans, guarantees and equity investments to countries.
Her antitrust portfolio, which include ongoing investigations into Alphabet's Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft, was subsequently assigned to EU justice chief Didier Reynders.
The Belgian commissioner will decide on Photoshop maker Adobe's $20 billion bid for Figma, Amazon's $1.7 billon acquisition of robot vacuum cleaner maker iRobot, and other high-profile deals.
His dossier also includes alleged cartels involving Volkswagen, Renault and other carmakers; between perfume manufacturers Givaudan, Firmenich, International Flavors & Fragrances, Symrise; and between fashion companies.
EU antitrust enforcers won't be going soft under Reynders, said a senior Commission official.
"Don't expect a caretaker commissioner to change the policy line. I don't expect wild things in the coming weeks. We have a framework in which we operate, established by Vestager," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"We don't have time to start a new policy."
Another senior Commission official concurred, saying cases are driven very much by the process, with no changes expected in coming weeks.
For one major company already in the Commission's crosshairs, Vestager's absence was definitely not a topic of conversation in its office.
"Literally I haven't heard a single person mentioned it. She's only going to be gone a few weeks," an executive said, referring to speculation on Vestager's low chances of securing the EIB job and subsequent return to her post.
Another company which faces regulatory heat was unfazed with the situation.
"Cases are moving, it's very process driven, the Commission services can move things along regardless of who is the competition commissioner," said an executive.
The Commission said it "seamlessly continues to develop and enforce competition policy."
Lobbying group DigitalEurope, which represents more than 45,000 businesses operating in Europe, decline to comment.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by David Holmes)


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Singer-actress Seiko Matsuda, 47, shines in a new commercial for the latest products in the Diosa range of hair dyes by Schwarzkopf & Henkel.
Matsuda, who wears a backless black dress in the commercial, said that she thought beige was the best color for women around 40, bringing out the beauty in their skin. Matsuda went on to say it was a fine color for classy women and said that it would make them love themselves even more.
The Diosa range entered the Japanese market last year targeting women around 40. Demand was high for a “classy beige” product and Schwarzkopf released their Beige Brown and Deep Beige Brown hair dyes on March 2.
The commercial airs from Wednesday.© Japan Today


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More than twice as many patients than physicians are embracing consumers’ use of new digital technologies to self-diagnose medical conditions on their own. On the other hand, 91% of doctors are concerned about giving patients access to their detailed electronic health records, anticipating patients will feel anxious about the results; only 34% of consumers are […]
Patients are concerned about private risks of personal health data, resulting in some patients not disclosing certain information to health providers to protect their perceived EHR privacy and security risks. Peoples’ mixed feelings about sharing personal health information with their providers and EHRs is explored in The double-edged sword of electronic health records: implications for patient […]
Expanding its wireless footprint in health care, Verizon, the telecommunications company, announced the start of Verizon Virtual Visits today. The program will be marketed to employers and health plans to enable patients to see doctors at home or when traveling, via Verizon’s wireless network. I spoke with Christine Izui, Verizon’s quality officer, mobile health solution, earlier […]
The rising costs of health care in America, and consumers’ growing cost burdens, has many impacts on the U.S. health ecosystem. In particular, patients have been self-rationing due to costs, without necessarily paying attention to quality or medical outcomes. Doctors have begun to pay more attention to costs and their impacts on patients in their […]
In our increasingly-DIY society, most consumers expect high levels of access and customer service from the organizations with whom we engage. With more consumers reaching into their pockets to pay for health services and products, the health industry is increasingly a retail-facing environment. So expect quality service levels from their healthcare touch points. The pharmaceutical […]
About Jane & Health Populi
Jane Sarasohn-Kahn is a health economist and management consultant that serves clients at the intersection of health and technology.
Her clients include all stakeholders in health, including providers, payors and plans; companies in biopharma, medical devices, financial services, technology and consumer goods; non-profits and NGOs. Jane's lens on health was best described by Dr. Regina Benjamin, U.S. Surgeon General, who says that health is where we live, work, play and pray.
California Healthcare Foundation White Papers
- Consumers blame insurance and pharma for health costs, but love their primary care doctors October 22, 2012
- Patients want online communication with doctors, and more clinicians are listening July 26, 2011
- ePatients: a connected, collaborative, creating community September 30, 2010
- Patients want to see the notes their doctors write about them: the power of transparency in health care October 2, 2012
- Activity tracking is consumers’ #1 demand for smartwatches September 30, 2014
- Health-wear – at Health 2.0, health met fashion, function and care September 29, 2014
- Crossing the digital health chasm between consumers and providers – talking with Dr. Eric Topol September 26, 2014
- Dr Eric Topol on the digital democratization of health care September 22, 2014
- Health Care Products Market "sub | AnjumsList: […] Health-wear-at Health 2.0, health met fa...
- Crossing the digital health chasm between consumers and providers – talking with Eric Topol | Health Populi: […] new book due out by the end of the year,...
- Crossing the digital health chasm between consumers and providers – talking with Eric Topol | Health Populi: […] this context, we discussed the Open Note...
- Thought Leader Fridays – September 19th | MedNexus: […] Jane Sarasohn-Kahn states that “...


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Britons’ annual spending on ethical products and investments has surpassed £100bn for the first time, as lifestyle changes linked to Covid and the climate crisis stoked demand for plant-based foods, secondhand clothes and furniture, and greener gadgets.
The value of the “green” pound surged by nearly a quarter to £122bn in 2020, according to a new Co-op report covering the most recent year for which figures are available. That total was bolstered by £57bn of ethical savings and investments.
Shoppers spent £61bn on ethical products and services, which was nearly 30% more than in 2019. That equates to £2,189 a household, a £489 increase. The equivalent figure for 2010 was £1,028.
The retailer’s ethical consumerism report, which is a barometer of the extent to which consumers’ shopping habits reflect their concerns about the environment, animal welfare and social justice, also found more shoppers were boycotting brands on ethical or social concerns. These businesses suffered a £3.9bn loss of sales, which was £600m bigger than the previous year.
Steve Murrells, the Co-op’s chief executive, said shoppers were “turning up the heat” to get companies to change. The boycotts were a “warning to brands that they must do business in a better way for workers, communities and the planet”, he said.
The huge increase in ethical spending also showed that when businesses provide choice, and the government offers helpful incentives, “consumers will respond positively”, Murrells added.
The area of the market that saw the biggest increase was eco-travel and transport, where sales rose by more than 70% to £12.2bn. This reflected the rise in electric car ownership as well as the impact of the pandemic, which revived cycling to levels last seen in Britain in the 1960s.
Britons are also trying to make their homes greener by investing in energy-efficient boilers as well as other household appliances or switching to “green” electricity deals. Taken together this market had expanded by a third to be worth £20.5bn.
However, this push fell short of what is needed to hit the government’s net zero targets, the Co-op said. For example, while households spent £5bn on energy-efficient gas boilers, just £130m went on heat pumps.
The report also highlighted the growing appetite to buy secondhand goods, be it for financial or environmental reasons. Sales of secondhand clothes increased by nearly a quarter to £864m while spending on “pre-loved” furniture was up by more than £100m at £837m.
In the now £14bn ethical food and drink market the sales trends reflect people making changes to their diet, with demand for vegetarian and plant-based foods up 34% at £1.5bn. Fairtrade and organic food also grew strongly, up 14% and 13% respectively, while free-range egg sales exceeded £1bn for the first time.


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It's been a year as of this weekend since the United States blacklisted Huawei Technologies. So for good measure, the U.S. Commerce Department is upping the ante by banning sales of chips to Huawei that are made with U.S. technology, even if they're made outside the United States.
China is set to retaliate. That means the trade war over China's best-known telecom brand has started a new skirmish, one that could cause collateral damage to major U.S. tech names such as Apple (AAPL) .
Shenzhen-based Huawei started its annual analyst meeting on Monday, and will be streaming it from headquarters over the next three days. It's normally when Huawei unveils its latest innovations, to great fanfare.
Instead, it is fending off the latest salvo from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. To get around the blacklisting on national security grounds last year, Ross says Huawei has responded with an "indigenization effort," in which it gets chipsets made to its specifications outside the United States, using U.S. software and technology.
"This is not how a responsible global corporate citizen behaves," Ross said. So he announced a change in the rules to restrict semiconductor purchases abroad if linked to U.S. tech, to stop them from "enabling malign activities." There will be a 120-day grace period before that kicks in.
The share price of chipmakers such as SK Hynix from South Korea were hurt on Monday, falling 1.0% in Seoul on a day Korean shares rose 0.7%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) , the world's biggest contract chipmaker, fell 2.7% in Taipei, with the Nikkei reporting that TSMC has stopped new orders from Huawei in response to Washington's moves.
TSMC said on Friday it will build a US$12 billion plant in Arizona. The U.S. Commerce Department said such a move demonstrated "good will," suggesting it may get a break on dealing with Huawei.
China vows revenge. It will take a "series of countermeasures," according to the official Global Times newspaper, used to spread China's foreign-policy intent abroad. They include imposing restrictions on U.S. companies such as Apple, and stopping airplane purchases from Boeing BA, the paper says, quoting a "source close to the Chinese government," which means the Chinese government.
It's the first time that specific U.S. target companies have been identified. The headline states that "China readies biggest counterattack against US."
China may add U.S. companies to its own "unreliable entity list," and launch "endless investigations" into or impose restrictions on Qualcomm (QCOM) , Cisco (CSCO) and Apple, to name a few. It may scrutinize them under China's Cybersecurity Review Measures and its Anti-monopoly Law. These punitive measures against large U.S. techs would be the "nuke bomb," and would let the U.S. companies "feel the pain," according to sources quoted by the Global Times.
Officially, China's Ministry of Commerce on Sunday urged the United States to stop its "wrong actions" and abuse of export controls. China said it would take "all necessary measures" to defend the legal rights of Chinese companies.
The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security added Huawei and 68 of its subsidiaries in different countries to its "Entity List" on May 16, 2019. It explained that "there is reasonable cause to believe that Huawei has been involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States." It noted that Huawei has been indicted in New York court for exporting products from the United States to Iran, in violation of sanctions.


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The CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank Ltd (FirstCaribbean) is selling its business in Grenada to the Grenada Co-operative Bank Ltd after receiving approval from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
The Barbados-based bank is expected to finalise the sale by July 14.
In a press release, CIBC FirstCaribbean’s managing director for Barbados and OECS Donna Wellington said, “We are pleased at the approval of the sale in Grenada. This helps us deliver on our strategy of simplifying our business. We give our clients in Grenada our commitment that while we are working with Grenada Co-operative Bank Ltd to complete the transfer, we will continue to provide them with first class service right until the moment we close our doors for the last time and our employees with the best possible work experience.”
Commenting on the sale, managing director of Grenada Co-operative Bank Larry Lawrence said, “We wish to thank all the stakeholders involved in this process thus far and express our delight in having received the approval of the sale. We are working assiduously to ensure a smooth transition of FirstCaribbean’s customers and look forward to welcoming them to the co-op bank family.”
The CIBC FirstCaribbean – a member of the Canadian-based CIBC Group – offers a full range of market leading financial services in the areas of retail and business banking, wealth management and capital market. They have a market capitalisation of US$1 billion and operate in 13 Caribbean countries.
At the end of the first financial quarter for this year, FirstCaribbean reported a net income of US$68.1 million, a 51 per cent increase from US$45.2 million reported for the same period last year. After adjusting for US$0.8 million of operating expenses relating to previously announced divestitures, adjusted net income was US$68.9 million. The uplift in financial performance was attributed to higher US interest rates which positively impacted the US dollar-denominated businesses.
In 2021, CIBC FirstCaribbean announced the proposed divestiture of its business in St Vincent, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis and Dominica. Last month FirstCaribbean successfully transferred its St Vincent clients to Bank of St Vincent & Grenadines.


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Three weeks ago, US president Barack Obama and Chinese president Xi Jinping made a groundbreaking announcement in the White House Rose Garden—both governments pledged to stop supporting cyber theft of the other country’s corporate intelligence. Just one day after that deal was made public, entities affiliated with the Chinese government attempted to hack into a US tech company, according to data security company CrowdStrike. Several US pharmaceutical and tech companies have been attacked since, CrowdStrike says.
The hackers are looking for corporate intelligence, Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder of CrowdStrike, said in an Oct. 19 post on the company’s website:
…the primary benefit of the intrusions seems clearly aligned to facilitate theft of intellectual property and trade secrets, rather than to conduct traditional national-security related intelligence collection which the Cyber agreement does not prohibit.
Many of the attacks were made through web servers, using SQL, a programming language used to gather data. No intellectual property was stolen during any of the attacks, CrowdStrike said. Still, “the very fact that these attempts occurred highlights the need to remain vigilant despite the newly minted Cyber agreement,” Alperovitch said.
So does this mean the Obama-Xi agreement is a failure? It is possible that China’s government-affiliated cyber-intelligence community just needs more than three weeks to halt all activity. Still, it’s not a great sign. When the cybertheft agreement was announced Sept. 25, Obama said “The question now is, are words followed by actions?” The short answer appears to be “No.”


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Picking out groceries can feel like judging a beauty contest. Instead of choosing the nearest fruit or vegetable they see, some shoppers like to root through the pile until they’ve found a specimen that’s free of blemishes. An immaculate apple may look nicer on the kitchen counter, but it’s no healthier than its bruised or misshapen peers.
Customers’ disdain for “ugly” (yet perfectly edible) produce is a major contributor to food waste. As The Independent reports, the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's recently looked at consumer pickiness when it comes to bananas. Data gathered by the UK’s waste advisory group Wrap shows that Britons are throwing out 1.4 million bananas a day. Now Sainsbury's is launching a banana rescue initiative in an attempt to lower that number.
Many of the bananas that land in the trash are salvageable: The report found that 13 percent of those surveyed will discard the fruit if it has any green on the skin. One in three responders confessed to tossing bananas at the first sight of a bruise or black spot.
Sainsbury’s wants to rebrand the brown banana. Starting the week of May 15, the chain is erecting hundreds of pop-up “banana rescue” stations inside its stores. The stands provide shoppers with recipe inspiration for bananas that might otherwise get tossed. Bananas approaching an unappetizing shade of black, for instance, are perfect for baking. As bananas ripen past the point of yellow perfection, enzymes convert their starch into liquid sugar. Sainsbury’s recommends using the sweet mushy mess to make banana bread. Other applications for bananas past their prime include smoothies, fruit salads, and dried chips.
The campaign likely won’t get every bruised banana into shopping carts and out the door, but it’s a start. The overripe bananas the supermarket chains is unable to sell will be baked into banana bread by in-store bakeries at 110 locations. As Paul Crewe, head of sustainability, engineering, energy, and environment for Sainsbury’s, tells The Independent, “The quest for a perfectly a-peeling banana is resulting in waste that could be avoided ... There’s no need to bin the bruised ones anymore.”
[h/t The Independent]


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Xiaomi is known for launching smartphones at regular intervals. This means that the Chinese smartphone maker might have to work on various devices at the same time and gradually launch them in markets that those are intended for. In some cases, those phones are rebranded and launched with different names in different markets.
This is precisely what we saw recently when the company was preparing for its flagship Xiaomi 12 series. We not only came across a compact Xiaomi 12, a vanilla Xiaomi 12, Xiaomi 12 Lite, Xiaomi 12 Pro, even a Xiaomi 12 Ultra and probably a few more.
While the company did introduce three of these phones – Xiaomi 12, Xiaomi 12 Pro and Xiaomi 12X right before the year ended, there was no sign of the Xiaomi 12 Ultra. This is probably the most anticipated variant which is expected to launch with powerful camera-centric features and is rumored to succeed the now discontinued Mi 11 Ultra.
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It might launch with a different name
Now a report suggests that we might have got it all wrong and Xiaomi might not even launch the Xiaomi 12 Ultra or worse there is no such device at all.
If this report is to be trusted, Xiaomi’s most powerful device could be the Xiaomi Mix 5 Pro, not the Ultra variant. Backing its claim, the publication says that the company might not have certified a device that could be launched as Xiaomi 12 Ultra and the codenames assigned to other devices of the Xiaomi 12 lineup do not have a scope for this device.
The Xiaomi 12 had a code name L3 while the Xiaomi 12 Pro was listed as L2. Going by this logic, the Xiaomi 12 Ultra should be listed at L1, however, that’s not the case. Instead, it’s the Xiaomi Mix 5 Pro that’s listed as L1. That’s not all, a base variant of Xiaomi Mix 5 is also listed as L1A – which probably corroborated this theory.
These codes not only help the brand identify between multiple devices but also help it differentiate phones intended for a specific market. In most cases, the variant set for a China launch may have C as a suffix. So, if the code ends with a C, it would mean that it’s the Chinese variant of Xiaomi 12 Pro. While the global variant may have a letter G in the end.
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We all got it wrong, probably
Apart from this, the leaked design of Xiaomi Mix 5 Pro looks extremely similar to the device that we were all thinking of as the Xiaomi 12 Ultra. The massive camera bump is present there as well.
Historically, Xiaomi’s most premium devices have been launched under the Mix lineup, including the foldable phone. A known Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station has also confirmed that same theory in his latest tweet where he says that, “Of course, the L1 series is also positioned higher, with a 50mp super-outsole main camera, as well as high-resolution super-wide-angle and super-telephoto and other image-oriented stacking materials. The overall situation is stronger than the previous generation.”
These were the specifications that we thought belonged to the Xiaomi 12 Ultra. In fact, another tipster has also confirmed that it’s the Xiaomi Mix 5 Pro that will have the Leica branded camera system.
That said, Xiaomi will neither confirm nor deny any of these rumors till the time it is ready to launch the smartphone. Hence, we have to wait.
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Jitendra has been working in the Internet Industry for the last 7 years now and has written about a wide range of topics including gadgets, smartphones, reviews, games, software, apps, deep tech, AI, and consumer electronics.


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Wonder where that 1986 Ford Taurus you traded in last year ended up?
Odds are pretty good that it ended up at one of ADT Corp.'s two South Florida auto auctions. And if Kari Laihonen got his hands on it, it is probably bouncing down some street in Moscow or St. Petersburg.
Laihonen, a Finnish national living in Fort Lauderdale, and his wife, Sirkku, exported 13 cars to Helsinki in the last week of February. From there, a Finnish company will export them to Russia. The Laihonens think they can ship nearly 20 times that number in 1994.
"We are shooting for 250 cars this year," said Laihonen, who is among hundreds of immigrants and foreign nationals who flock to ADT's used car auctions in Davie and West Palm Beach each week in search of cars to export. Together the auctions are major hubs in South Florida's thriving car exporting business.
"We average 1,400 dealers through the gate auction day," said John Kneece manager of ADT's 66-acre auction yard near the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach. "There have been people in from newly opened European countries and peripheral countries like Costa Rica."
The West Palm Beach auction offers up to 2,100 cars a week at its auctions, Kneece said. On average, about 65 percent of those are sold and 30 percent of those end up being exported.
Passenger vehicles and used auto parts regularly rank as Florida's No. 1 and No. 4 exports, according to the Florida Department of Commerce. In 1993, the Miami Customs District exported motor vehicles worth $730.5 million, said James Call of the Florida Department of Commerce. That was about 70 percent of the state total.
While the U.S. Census Bureau does not differentiate between new and used cars, exporters said most of the business is in used cars.
Used car exports have grown dramatically in recent years thanks to tariff cuts of 50 percent and more by such major Florida trading partners as Venezuela and Costa Rica, said Al Redlhammer, owner of Seariders, a Fort Lauderdale freight forwarded that exported about 4,500 mostly used cars last year.
Exporters are only beginning to tap growing demand in former Soviet republics like Estonia and Russia, said Lai honen, a Seariders customer.
"Just one percent of the population has money, but that's still a couple million people," he said. "The first thing they want is a western car and then a house."
ADT's South Florida auctions produces a cacophony of languages and engine noise. As auctioneers bleat out a barrage of numbers in English, bidders mill about with cellular phones stuffed in their pockets. They peer under hoods and confer in Spanish, French and Caribbean-accented English, all while keeping an eye on the staccato solicitations of the auctioneer. "West Palm Beach is more Bahamians, Finns, Germans and other Europeans," Redlhammer said. "Fort Lauderdale is more Central Americans, Caribbeans and Latin Americans."
Laihonen came to South Florida in 1988 to exploit a loophole in Finnish tariffs. The country taxed utility vans at a much lower rate than passenger vans, so Laihonen would buy passenger vans in Florida, remove their seats and ship them separately.
When Finland closed the loophole in June 1990, Laihonen scrambled for new markets and products. He began exporting canned orange juice to Finland. Last year a Finnish company asked him if he could begin supplying cars for customers in Russia.
The company offered to forward Laihonen money to buy and recondition the cars and export them to Helsinki. In exchange, they would work on getting the cars into Russia.
Laihonen figures a used Taurus he buys in South Florida for $2,500, can be shipped from Jaxport to Helsinki for $1,000 and sold in Russia for $5,000.
Like many of South Florida's used car exporters, Humberto Lema works through relatives and friends oveseas. His contacts include a Lexus dealer on the Spanish island of Majorca and a car dealer in Iquique in his native Chile.
He scouts ADT auctions for loaded, late-model Japanese sports cars for Spain and Ford Aerostars and 4x4s for Chile.
Lema got into the export business five years ago because business was difficult at his Hollywood used car dealership.
"The local car market is not good," Lema said. "There are no margins and you must give credit."
In Europe, by contrast, buyers will pay high prices for top-of-the-line cars available only in the United States.
"America is the No. 1 market in the world for cars," said Lema. "Every [manufacturer) wants to be here, so American cars are loaded. You buy a Mercedes in Europe without power windows or air conditioning. A Sentra in Chile has no carpet and plastic seats."


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(Host) New technology is being introduced today at a few farmers’ markets. And the Agriculture Agency says it should help farmers and some low-income consumers.
Many of Vermont’s 50 farmers markets have accepted food stamps for a long time.
But most people who qualify for food stamps no longer use the old-fashioned paper coupons. Instead, they get electronic cards similar to a debit card.
So the Agriculture Agency has set up a system where shoppers at a farmers market can swipe their cards at a central kiosk and get coupons that they can then present to farmers for payment.
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts says the new program is being piloted in Winooski, Bellows Falls and Brattleboro.
(Tebbetts) "The goal here is to get as much fresh produce into low-income families as we can and also tap into the market and get more money in farmers’ pockets."
(Host) Tebbetts says about four-and-a-half million dollars in food stamp benefits go to Vermonters each month, but little of that goes directly to farmers. He says state officials hope the electronic system will begin to change that.
The kiosks also will be available for people who want to use a traditional bank debit card.
If the system is successful, the Agriculture Agency plans to look into ways to expand it in the future.


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Contractor certification training in Rockland
Rockland — By Jan. 1, 2013, all contractors working within 250 feet of any water body (the shoreland zone) will be required to have a certified contractor on site.
For contractors still in need of the required training, the Maine Department of ...
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The Food and Drug Administration recently denied a petition by the Corn Refiners Association to rename high fructose corn syrup "corn sugar." Soon after that, the mayor of New York City proposed prohibiting the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks ("large" defined as more than 16 fluid ounces).
These two events could be viewed as big government regulating what should be personal choice. However, to me, they demonstrate our conflicted feelings about the sweet stuff. Whether sweetness is in the form of table sugar (sucrose) or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), both contain fairly equal amounts of fructose.
As a sweetener, HFCS has been controversial. Food scientists are exploring how the body handles it and if there are differences from table sugar. It's great that we can distinguish HFCS from sugar on food labels. Especially because there are people with fructose intolerance who absolutely must avoid HCFS.
Soft drink makers are even switching from HFCS back to sugar. After all, sugar seems more natural and even healthier — right?
Sugar-containing drinks, such as fruit drinks, sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks and sweetened bottled waters, are the major source of added sugar in the American diet. About half of the U.S. population — adults and children 2 years old and over — have sugary drinks on any given day.
This habitual sipping of sugary drinks has been linked to poor diet, weight gain, obesity and type 2 diabetes.
So don't be fooled. The recent decision to not allow HFCS to be called sugar is fine by me. But the trend away from HFCS to sugar in soft drinks is no improvement.
The proposed ban on the sale of large sugary drinks in New York City is fine by me too as a wake-up call to kick our national addiction to sweets.
What are your thoughts?
June 07, 2012


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A San Antonio man has been arrested on seven charges between two counties, including stealing from a San Angelo Walmart while disguised as an employee, according to law enforcement.
On Monday, April 20, 2020 two men entered a San Angelo Walmart at 610 W. 29th Street and took two employee vests from an employee only area of the store. They then took items from around the store while disguised as employees, according to a Facebook post by San Angelo police on April 23.
Walmart employees told officers that a man entered an area marked with signs stating “Associates Only” and “Personnel/Training Office” around 6:30 AM, according to an arrest affidavit. The man was not an employee.
Security footage showed the man leaving the employees-only area wearing an employee vest, then taking items from the store. The man then left in a white SUV, according to the affidavit… GoSanAngelo


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Wisconsin Bill Aims to Prevent Obesity-Related Suits
Madison, WI-Wisconsin lawmakers introduced the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption bill, which would exempt from civil liability in obesity lawsuits food sellers, distributors, advertisers, packers, marketers and manufacturers.
The bill was referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee and is expected to also be sent to the Senate Committee on Labor, Small Business Development and Consumer Affairs. "Rising obesity rates are a series problem," said Ed Lump, Wisconsin Restaurant Association president and CEO. "But multimillion-dollar lawsuits are not the solution." -Nation's Restaurant News


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FLUX gaming platform creates loyalty by making game developers and players investors in its global gaming ecosystem
The company models its Blockchain developments to that of the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin for various purposes.
UTN tokens by Universa project have sparked enormous interest where they were offered as a part of inter-project token swap (IpTS). The number of applications for tokens more than 5 times exceeded the supply, with the swap lasting for just 4 days (from 6 till 9 of November). The holders of ICOS tokens had an […]
Unregulated crowdfunding is one of the major innovations introduced by Blockchain technology, but it’s causing a few problems.
Confido, an ICO startup whose name means “I trust”, has done a bunk with 1,235 ETH. The company was supposed to have been creating a trustless payment system using smart contracts. Instead, it was the project’s founders who have proven themselves trustless after deleting all their accounts and going dark. The $375,000 exit scam highlights […]
For many, the services provided by the current financial industry are sub-par in their attempts to bounce back from the financial crisis of 2008. Since then, there has been a justified and politically-mounted backlash against the financial industry which is struggling to make any lasting impact. Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article The damage has […]
Is Blockchain really suitable for flying or is this just the latest fad?
Dutch blockchain tech company GUTS Tickets is beginning a well-funded foray into the cryptocurrency markets after its ICO made over $2.5 million within the first few hours of launch — and it’s kicking up quite a storm. Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article Based in Amsterdam, the event ticketing company has designed a service to […]
If I sell my Bitcoin, it will be for other cryptocurrencies: Brock Pierce.
Who is The NAGA Group? Founded in 2015, The NAGA Group AG broke records earlier this year, launching the fastest-performing German IPO in the last 15 years. Listed on the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt, NAGA Group shares are currently trading at nearly 500% above their original issue price. The company employs a team of […]
Have you used a Bitcoin ATM before? The next generation of BTM is here.
ICOs have been executed for cryptocurrencies with diverse applications – from supporting the cannabis industry to Trump’s election campaign. The latest to join the ICO bandwagon is Christopher Woodrow, who has produced movies like the …
It’s a reward!
Initial coin offerings have gotten a bit of a bad rap over the past few months. That is not entirely surprising, as this method of raising money raises a lot of questions and provides very few answers. Over in Japan, it seems the people are more open-minded when it comes to ICOs. In fact, one local […]
There is complete uncertainty about the cost of car ownership thanks to out of control car repair shops. A new Blockchain aims to fix that problem forever.


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President Trump’s trade war is about to see another player in the motorcycle industry jump ship from American soil, and this time it is heavyweight Polaris Industries.
According to a report by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Polaris is considering moving some of its production capacity to Europe, eyeing a production facility in Poland that would build units for the European market.
The move is a direct response to the retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union on motorcycle imports, which itself was a response to the Trump Administration’s taxing of steel and aluminum imports.
“The recent EU retaliatory tariffs have required us to expend time, energy and resources to evaluate mitigation plans, including the possibility of moving production of Indian Motorcycles destined for Europe from Iowa to our facility in Poland,” said company spokeswoman Jess Rogers, in an email to the Business Journal.
This news is of course similar to what we have seen already from Harley-Davidson, as the iconic American brand is set to move to Thailand the 40,000 motorcycles per year it makes in the United States for the European market.
Indian makes far fewer motorcycles for Europe in its various facilities in the USA, but the brand is under tremendous growth, with the European Union a happy hunting ground for the American-styled cruisers.
According to Indian, the tariffs imposed by the European Union will cost Polaris $15 million in 2018, which doesn’t include the added expense from the increased cost of steel and aluminum.
The amount pales in comparison to what the tariff will cost Harley-Davidson – our math indicates that the tariff will mean $200 million in added cost – but it is still a sizable sum for the fledgling Indian Motorcycle brand.
Already facing pricing difficulties in Europe because of the exchange rate on the euro against the dollar, the 25% tariff increase on large-displacement motorcycles (which now totals 31% in added tax) is a tough obstacle for brands to overcome across the pond.
The writing is on the wall for American manufacturing, the day will come when production of American motorcycles for foreign markets will occur outside of the United States.
But what about the day when these iconic American brands are merely “assembled” or worse “designed” in America only?


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Spredfast, an Austin-based social media management, has received $1.6m in a Series A funding from Austin Ventures.
This initial round will help accelerate the company’s business development and increase brand awareness in the social media management market.
Spredfast enables companies to manage and measure their social media campaigns and customer acquisition initiatives through one dashboard, across multiple platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr.
It also currently supports WordPress, Blogger, MoveableType, Lotus Live Connections, Drupal and most XML-RPC enabled blogging platforms.
Since its public launch in January, Spredfast has increased its customer base to include companies such as TOMS Shoes, Doner and Oracle, which joined existing early customer adopters like AOL, HP and IBM.


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By Ed Attwood
In his 19 years at Juniper Networks, Rami Rahim has seen a start-up grow to become an $11bn Silicon Valley giant. After taking over as CEO during a tough period for the firm, his results are starting to speak for themselves
Rami Rahim is one of those rare beasts — a man who has spent almost two decades in Silicon Valley working for the same company.
That company is Juniper Networks, which Rahim joined as its 32nd employee and its most junior engineer. Juniper initially made its name building and selling routers — the machines that help to funnel massive amounts of data at high speeds around the internet. And since its launch in 1996, the firm has grown at a rapid rate, now commanding a market cap of just over $11bn.
Rahim — a relaxed and gregarious interviewee — has seen his own fortunes rise along with the company. From helping to develop Juniper’s first product to moving into management, the Lebanon-born engineer took on the top job at the firm in November last year.
“No year at Juniper has been the same as the previous year,” he says. “I’ve learned something every step of the way, and that has really helped me because I have a lot of insight into the challenges that our customers face, and a deep appreciation for how technology solves those challenges.
Rahim’s appointment as CEO, which was welcomed by analysts, turned the page on a tough period for Juniper. His predecessor, Shaygan Kheradpir, who had previously worked in the finance industry, quit in November last year after a brief but painful 10 months in the hot seat. During his sojourn as CEO, Kheradpir oversaw a $160m cost-cutting programme - which included laying off 6 percent of Juniper’s staff — and came under pressure from two activist investors concerned about the firm’s stagnant share price. Staff morale dropped and by the time Kheradpir had agreed to step down, Juniper’s share price had slid by 9 percent in 2014, making it one of the worst-performing stocks in the S&P500.
For Juniper Networks, a company that had made its name posting stellar growth numbers year after year since its foundation in 1996, last year came as something of a rude awakening. From annual revenues of $3.8m in 1998, the company’s initial public offering (IPO) sent its stock soaring nearly 200 percent on the first day of trading, a then-record that instantly made it a genuine Wall Street darling. By 2004, Juniper had hit $4bn in revenues and was taking a massive bite out of the market share of Cisco Systems, its older and more established rival.
But, as the firm matured, the breakneck pace of growth slowed. Juniper pulled in $4.6bn in revenues in 2014, on a par with the year before, and posted a $334m net loss — though the latter was largely due to an $850m hit from a non-cash goodwill impairment charge.
Rahim doesn’t mince his words when he describes the situation he faced when he took on the top job at Juniper.
“Because of the change we undertook as a company in 2014, there were people that were worn out, that needed to be inspired and motivated again,” he says. “So helping people to see the full potential of this company was initially one of the more difficult things that I had to do.”
Rahim says he spent the first few months of his tenure in candid discussions with people both inside and outside Juniper, which helped him form a strategy. “Really, since then, it’s been all about execution on those imperatives and innovation,” he says. “When we kicked off this year, we went out with a big bang announcement of a new set of products that solves some of the most difficult networking challenges in the industry.
“I have not been this excited about the products that we’re developing and getting to market as I speak, since probably the introduction of our first product, the M40.”
Given that Juniper’s M40 router changed the game when it came to accelerating the movement of booming internet traffic through nationwide networks (instantly bringing the firm a 15 percent slice of the market), that’s a pretty tall order. But Rahim’s faith in the new strategy looks like it’s well placed. As of last Tuesday, Juniper’s stock was up just over 28 percent in the year to date. And in October, the firm announced a 34 percent increase in third-quarter profits year-on-year, boosted by an 11 percent rise in revenues.
“Juniper has been a bit of a soft target for a while, and it’s now getting back to where it used to be, regathering some of its old glory,” Synergy Research Group chief analyst John Dinsdale said when the third-quarter figures were announced.
Those results were supported by a 30 percent rise in switching revenue, while routing and security product revenue were both up by 13 percent year-on-year. From a geographical perspective, Juniper saw improvement in each of its three regions, with Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) posting the best growth at 27 percent year-on-year. Rahim says that diversifying revenue sources has been a pillar of his strategy, especially given the cyclical nature of investment from large telcos (previously a significant part of Juniper’s customer base).
“We’ve been trying to diversify our business across different technology areas, different geographies and also across vertical market segments, so Juniper is no longer a company that focuses exclusively on telcos,” he says.
“Our enterprise business saw great growth in the third-quarter timeframe, and large cloud operators around the world have been a very healthy set of customers for us in driving that growth. So that diversity has helped us offset some of that cyclicality and enabled us to grow consistently over the last few quarters.”
The new products that are driving sales include enhanced routers, a new set of ‘spine switches’ and what Rahim refers to as the “world’s fastest firewall”. Altogether, he thinks the products will go some way to solving some of the challenges that all companies face right now.
“Today, CEOs have to deal with unprecedented growth in network capacity while their revenue and profitability is under pressure. The CIOs of large Fortune 500 enterprises wake up every day thinking: ‘How am I going to stay relevant to the strategy of my business when 70-80 percent of my resources are just devoted to keeping the lights on’.”
“We believe that the recipe for this is moving towards next-generation approaches to solving network problems. Those approaches typically have one thing in common and that is the cloud. The movement towards the cloud — towards a scaled-out service delivery architecture is the direction of travel for all market verticals in networking today.”
As a result, Rahim says Juniper has “essentially doubled down” on the cloud, a trend that he sees as being especially relevant in the Middle East, where he counts outfits such as Jumeirah Group, Saudi Telecoms Company (STC) and the Higher Colleges of Technology as clients. The firm has 160 employees in the region, and while it does not break out regional performance results, Rahim says growth has been “robust”.
“Generally speaking, the economy here is quite healthy,” he says. “Certainly the effect of oil on the economy of Saudi Arabia — that can pose a challenge in terms of the investment that can happen and so forth. But we’re still — I guess — relatively small enough that we’re not really impacted by this. The total investable market is tremendous for us and the opportunity for us to grow is certainly there.”
Juniper’s business has a roughly 60/40 split between North America and the rest of the world, and as a result Rahim says that growth outside its home market is an area of focus. And while most CEOs have a fairly cautious — if not downright pessimistic — view about 2016, Juniper’s boss is pretty sanguine.
“North America I feel very good about in terms of the economy, in terms of the appetite for telecoms operators and enterprises to invest,” he says. “Asia is a huge region and it really varies country by country. China, which is a huge market, is a tremendous opportunity. It’s a challenge, not just for Juniper, but for many international corporations that are trying to break into that market. But outside China, the growth is there and the growth is robust.”
In recent times, Silicon Valley has been beset by activist investors seeking to amend corporate strategies to provide bigger returns to shareholders. Yahoo Inc CEO Marissa Meyer is under pressure from groups suggesting that the high-profile former Googler should be fired in the middle of her turnaround programme. Carl Icahn’s famous campaign to get Apple to use its colossal cash pile to buy back shares may have been good for investors, but won’t help the company long term. Just last week, chip maker Qualcomm announced that it would not split in two despite lobbying from Jana Partners.
Juniper has faced its own pressure in the form of hedge fund Elliott Management, run by the billionaire Paul Singer. Elliott made its move in January last year, having amassed a 6.2 percent stake in Juniper, and demanded that $3bn be returned to shareholders, along with a cost-cutting programme. Juniper bowed to pressure, and added two new directors to its board in February this year as part of a settlement with Elliott. When questioned about activist investors in the tech industry generally, Rahim says he can’t speak about the experience other firms have had, but from his perspective, the Elliott move had a positive outcome.
“There is nothing that the activist investors that had invested in Juniper did or influenced us to do that was not good for us,” he says. “At the end of the day, we believe that everything we did as a company, in terms of the restructuring, the cost cutting and the refocusing, was a plan that we came up with and executed by ourselves.
“At the end of the day, I am responsible for the strategy of this company. I am always going to be very open to suggestions and ideas from our shareholders, especially our large investors — and that includes activists, but it’s certainly not exclusive to activists. It was a good plan, and it resulted in some very real, key outcomes for us.”
As well as input from the likes of Elliott Management, reports in the media quoting unnamed sources have suggested that Juniper might be up for sale, or close to a partnership with a competitor. Rahim says that when it comes to M&A, he is only thinking of potential acquisitions that Juniper may make in the future.
“The goal again here is not to grow the scope of what we’re focusing on as a company. The market opportunity we serve today is close to $45bn, of which we have around 10 percent,” he points out. “Today we are focusing on a largely organic strategy to achieve our full potential. I believe there is room for us to make strategic acquisitions of companies that will complement our tech and accelerate, if you will, our ability to capture that opportunity.”
At the same time, however, competition in the tech space is as tough as it’s ever been. In November, Ericsson — a company with which Juniper had previously had long-standing ties — announced a partnership with arch-rival Cisco, which some analysts suggested had left the smaller company out in the cold. Rahim insists that Juniper is “comfortable” about the level of competition, especially with regard to firms with a far bigger financial war chest.
“Certainly there will be alliances, there will be large companies that consolidate, there will be large companies that break up into other companies,” he says. “Selling products is not just about what you want to sell, it’s about what your customers want to buy. As long as we as a company can innovate in ways that find real values for our customers, I’m not concerned about finding the right path to the market.
“We have a large number of partners around the globe that will help us in taking the technology to our customers, and in all cases we — at least in the market verticals that we solve — have direct relationships with our customers.”
It seems that for every challenge, Rahim has an answer, and based on a strong performance in the first year of his tenure, Juniper’s future looks promising. Discussion over the company’s future — which will feature yet more diversity and the transition towards software away from hardware — also features a mention of the CEO’s favourite book; ‘Only The Paranoid Survive’ by legendary former Intel boss Andy Groves. The basic premise of the book is that only those firms that are constantly looking over their shoulders in a bid to spot the milestones (such as technology changes) will survive in the battle to win market share. For Rahim, who confesses that his primary concern is staying on top of industry trends and keeping Juniper’s competitive advantage, the choice is apt.


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Apple has announced a brand-new 16-inch Retina Display MacBook Pro, which is aimed at photographers,...
Wednesday November 13, 2019
Nikon adds animal detection AF, CFexpress support to Z6, Z7 cameras
How to update the Nikon Z6 / Z7 firmware with Eye-Detection, Animal-Detection AF
Canon EOS R5 price listed at €10K at EU retailer


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For a long time, experts have warned against high valuations of US equities. Wall Street is unimpressed: several experts remain positive. Analyst recommendations and price objectives of all well-known banks as well as independent research institutes are continuously evaluated. The opinions of the experts on U.S. stock are still quite positive for some companies.
For the Apple stock, which has already risen about a third this year alone, 32 analysts continue to make a buy or better recommendation. Nine experts are neutral. Sale, however, is not advisable. The US investment bank Morgan Stanley recently raised the price target from 182 to 194 dollars and remained “overweight” in the research note. Currently, the stock is trading at a good 151 dollars. Raising average selling prices across the entire product line is the key point of the latest product launches by the iPhone maker, analyst Katy Huberty said last week.
Just a few days ago, the company presented, among other products, the iPhone X, which costs a proud 999 dollars. Huberty stressed Apple is an aspirational brand. Among the customers is a high degree of loyalty and together with a weaker dollar, the company is therefore in a position to raise prices, without fear of losing demand. Toni Sacconaghi, Sanford C. Bernstein senior research analyst, also recommends buying the stock with a price target of 175 dollars. In his opinion, the high prices are likely to overcompensate any downturn in demand.
Social media giant Facebook is already on a high altitude flight this year. And yet the analysts remain well upbeat towards the company of Mark Zuckerberg. Almost all the experts put their vote on buy. Analysts from JMP Securities, RBC Capital and Barclays expect the stock to outperform the social networks or even the entire US stock market over the next 12 months.
The online streaming service, Netflix , whose share has increased by more than half since January, is backed as buy rated by 42 analysts and three recommend holding it – with a single sale. While several analysts have reiterated their estimates in the past few days, the latest detailed analysis is from the beginning of August – when the end of the partnership with Walt Disney became known. However, JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth noted that this is unlikely to have a significant negative impact on the number of subscribers to Netflix because the service itself has broad content.
Not only analysts are largely positive for their companies. Investment guru Warren Buffett also supports the view – at least in the long-term. The Dow Jones will rise to one million points in 100 years, he said recently at an event organized by the Forbes magazine. On Thursday both the Dow and the S&P marked fresh record after Fed statement.