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As the demand for cannabis legalization increases internationally, Canada has the opportunity to become the world leader in cannabis exports. Canada is the first G7 country to legalize the consumption and procurement of recreational cannabis and has the first mover advantage to build rapport overseas. It’s projected that international cannabis sales will reach $35 billion by the end of 2022. Today, Canadian licensed producers (LPs) with the proper certifications and permits can only export cannabis for medical and clinical research purposes. Some larger Canadian cannabis producers are turning to the medical cannabis market as the recreational sector experiences turbulence.
The European Union is proving to be a lucrative market for Canadian exports as more EU countries choose to legalize cannabis. Germany imported a record amount of cannabis for medical sales and scientific use in the first half of 2022, making it the EU’s biggest market. Canada is the top export partner of cannabis in Germany, exporting 6,493 kg in 2021, but due to recent legalizations in neighbouring EU countries, Canada’s market share in Germany’s imports is diminishing and some of Canada’s larger players have been outsourcing their production and then exporting to Germany.
In Canada, the recreational sector has an oversupply of cannabis. “What we’re seeing is an oversupply – we have way too much cannabis in Canada today. People are carrying it on their books and their inventory, they’re selling it at bottom low prices just to get cash in the door or they are destroying it,” states CCXs Erin Butler.
It is estimated that 425,325,000 grams of unpackaged cannabis were destroyed by LPs in 2021. As for the product that is packaged, the amount sitting in corporate inventories far exceeds the amount sold. One proposed solution for the oversupply issue is to funnel funds from the cannabis excise tax back into the industry to help producers export their products rather than destroy them.
The Canadian Cannabis Exchange (CCX) has several international export opportunities and is looking for Canadian or global cultivators and processors with GMP, EU-GMP, or GACP certifications. If you are prepared to make your first international deal with the help of our live cannabis brokers, please contact firstname.lastname@example.org.


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cult.fit, India’s leading integrated fitness and wellness platform, has acquired TREAD, a Bengaluru-based connected fitness start-up that recently launched a smart fitness bike. The acquisition will help cult.fit launch its hardware-at-home business vertical.
Following cult.fit’s launch of digital at-home fitness last year, the platform has seen a massive uptick in live workout classes on its app. cult.fit has been continuously innovating with computer vision tech applications for at-home workouts. In a move to further enrich the experience, cult.fit is launching a suite of smart fitness hardware products.
The acquisition of TREAD is the first step towards launching a suite of products like TREAD smart bikes, bench, etc. cult.fit’s deeper expansion into the connected fitness hardware market places the company further on its path to becoming India’s leader in everything related to fitness.
TREAD, which will continue to function independently, has developed a smart indoor connected fitness bike similar to Peloton but at one-third the price. This value-for-money product for India will have many social features like live workouts, leaderboards to compete with friends, etc. TREAD’s hardware IP with cult.fit’s digital content and computer vision tech will create an exciting experience for customers. cult.fit will also help TREAD with tech, customer reach, and offline distribution.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mukesh Bansal, Founder, cult.fit, said, "There is immense scope in the burgeoning fitness hardware market and as a leader in the fitness space, we aim to make the best technology and products available to our customers. The acquisition of TREAD is a leap in that direction. With their team, we plan to offer a unique suite of products that will help us foray into the at-home fitness hardware market and further differentiate the cult.fit platform from any other in the fitness industry."
Shamik Sharma, Head of Digital Health, cult.fit, added, "We are excited to welcome TREAD and its team to the cult.fit family. Globally, the connected fitness market is on the rise and we are committed to bringing the best innovation to our customers in India. We will soon offer a wide range of home fitness equipment to better serve the demand of at-home workouts."
Dinesh Godara, Founder, TREAD, said, "We are glad to be joining cult.fit as we have a common mission of making fitness fun and easy. With cult.fit, we will be able to significantly accelerate product development and reach more customers. We are launching a suite of connected fitness cardio and strength products. The TREAD One, A smart indoor exercise bike is our first product which will be followed by digital weight and resistance products, and smart home gym kits. We have already received a lot of interest and several hundred customers have placed pre-orders."

domain: news


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Napster Inc. said yesterday (Jan. 6) it will begin selling music downloads as unprotected MP3 files in the spring, joining other online retailers.
The file format change will apply only to single tracks and album purchases, according to a company press release. Tracks downloaded as part of the company’s music subscription service will continue to have copyright restrictions.
“The ubiquity and cross-platform compatibility of MP3s should create a more level playing field for music services and hardware providers and result in greater ease of use and broader adoption of digital music,” Chris Gorog, Napster’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
The company did not say which record companies had agreed to license music for sale as MP3s via Napster.
Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and EMI Group cleared the way last year for some online retailers, including Amazon.com, to sell their artists’ music as unprotected MP3 files. Many analysts Sony BMG Music Entertainment to follow suit this year.
Napster, which offers a la carte downloads and a monthly unlimited music subscription plan with the option to transfer copy-protected tracks to certain devices, said it would continue to focus primarily on its subscription business.
The company recently told subscribers that it will increase fees on its basic subscription plan from $9.95 to $12.95 a month beginning Jan. 30. It gave existing subscribers the option to lock in the lower monthly fee if they pay for a full year in advance.
Napster did not change the $14.95 monthly fee for its top subscription tier.
The company disclosed in November it had narrowed its loss in the second quarter, which ended Sept. 30, to $5.1 million, from $9 million in the same period a year earlier.
Napster ended the quarter with about 750,000 paid subscribers. Napster shares closed at $1.94 on Friday.


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Kicks 4 Kids is back again for the third consecutive summer to provide free shoes to young people in the Lawrence community.
The shoe drive was started in 2020 by Ja’Darius “JD” Woods and Anthony Harvey Jr., who both graduated from Lawrence High School in 2016 and wanted to find ways to give back to their community. In addition to Kicks 4 Kids, the duo host Coats 4 Kids in the winter.
“When JD brought this idea to me during the COVID summer, we were nervous if we could gain enough support to do this, and ever since the first summer, we have been blown away by the love and support the community has shown for the kids and young adults in this city,” Harvey said.
“Lawrence is a beautiful city and JD and I couldn’t be more thankful and blessed to have grown up in a city like Lawrence.”
Last summer’s Kicks 4 Kids resulted in around 150 pairs of shoes given to kids and approximately $1,000 raised for Lawrence Public Schools IPS program and Unified Sports, Harvey said. With around 300 pairs of shoes given away the first year, Harvey said their goal is to stay in the 150 to 200 range this year and that kids are oftentimes able to walk away with multiple pairs each.
“The best is when a kid comes thinking they will get like one pair and they leave with three to five, and it makes our day,” Harvey said.
Cash donations will be given to Van Go this year. The social service agency works to foster youth expression and creativity through art in Douglas County. Young artists recently unveiled commissioned benchmarks featuring their original art at an event to conclude the annual Van Go Benchmark summer program.
Woods and Harvey will be accepting all sizes of new and gently used shoes up until the morning of the upcoming drive. For questions or to coordinate a location to drop off donated shoes beforehand, contact Harvey via his Instagram account, @homeboyharv, call him at 785-979-7755, or reach Woods via his Instagram account, @hollywoodwoods1.
Harvey said he recommends people who cannot donate, but still want to support, attend the event anyway and “just see the kids’ and parents’ smiles” and enjoy the “good vibes.”
Cash donations can go to @homeboyharv on Venmo or Cash App.
Kicks 4 Kids is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 20 at the Lawrence High south parking lot, 1901 Louisiana St. Kids in need of shoes can stop by anytime during that window. No registration is needed.


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Before taking the wraps off the new Cadillac ELR at the 2013 Detroit Motor Show, General Motors is teasing the car one last time. They just released this photograph of a heavily camo’d ELR going about its business – testing, mostly – driving through the mountains of Southern California.
This could be a sign that the design of the production Caddy ELR is different than what we saw as a concept. Technologically, this electric vehicle with extended range should be almost identical to the Chevrolet Volt.
“Cadillac customers are going to enjoy the unique features ELR will bring to the market. We’re going to change the way people think about luxury and electrification,” said Chris Thomason, ELR chief engineer.


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- SFLMaven, a premier distributor of luxurious items, has introduced a stability sheet allocation to bitcoin and intention to settle for BTC as fee.
- The firm began purchases of BTC, noting they added a line merchandise for it on the stability sheet and can proceed “periodic investments.”
- SFLMaven mentioned report breaking money flows and elevated internet site visitors via 2022 allowed them to strengthen diversification in bitcoin.
SFLMaven, a premier supplier of luxurious items, will start accepting bitcoin as fee for product purchases and intends to strengthen its reserves with BTC, in accordance to a press release.
The press launch states that SFL Maven has already begun the method of diversifying into bitcoin as a line merchandise on its stability sheet.
“We believe in the future of Bitcoin and digital payment systems and that fiat currency systems represent a risk to the productivity of assets on the balance sheet because they are subject to monetary expansion, stimulus, and debt, which could continue to drag down value,” mentioned Joseph Ladin, CEO of SFLMaven.
The firm’s diversification technique is being carried out, however the means of permitting purchases via bitcoin is nonetheless being labored out. Ladin explains the corporate’s hopes of permitting these purchases whereas commenting on their intention to proceed allocation into BTC.
“As such, we have begun to diversify the Company’s exposure on the cash side with periodic investments in Bitcoin,” Ladin mentioned. “We will also augment this step by transitioning to allow purchases in BTC as we continually work to widen our access to viable end-market customers interested in our unique products.”
SFLMaven has skilled unprecedented will increase in money circulation over the course of 2022, per the discharge. The firm has additionally seen a slight change of client base because it took discover of extra tech-savvy prospects on the lookout for a unique expertise, which in the end led the corporate to search the mixing of other types of fee.


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See how our customers are changing the world. Below you will find references and customer case studies for you to be inspired, learn and get ideas. Customer Stories highlighting customer and partner success with Pricer products and solutions.
Real-time price comparisons top shoppers demands for improving CX at the shelf-edge
With inflation remaining high, price-conscious UK shoppers now want the shelf-edge to become more dynamic when it comes to pricing and promotions to help them secure the best deals, the latest research from Pricer, the world’s most trusted provider of shelf edge automation solutions, reveals Original research of 1,000 UK shoppers by Pricer showed that real-time visibility of prices delivered at ...
Five ways our new production line brings more digitalization to retail
In the spring of 2023, Pricer opened a new production line in Germany. It is a fully automated production line built in collaboration with Zollner, the Electronics Manufacturing experts. The new capacity will bring many benefits to retailers across Europe and elsewhere. Let’s take a look at some of the key advantages for the industry.
Magnus Larsson presenting at ABGSC Investor Day - May 24, 2023
Today’s retailers need to adapt to market trends such as limited staff availability and changed consumer behaviors – trends that may permanently reshape the industry.
Pricer research: Many UK shoppers blame cost-of-living crisis for poor product availability
A Pricer survey of 1,000 UK shoppers reveals that 69% blame the cost-of-living crisis for poor product availability in-store, as stubbornly high food prices and the impact of inflation production, manufacturing and logistics continues to put pressure on supply chains. Typically, UK shoppers are reporting 17% of their food shop as being unavailable on shelf when they shop in-store, while 22% of ...
AI can help stressed retailers
For many retailers, AI remains a vague concept that could potentially help us in the future. But AI is already here and in uncertain economic times, it can help retailers make more accurate decisions. Pricer’s AI expert, Serge de Gosson de Varennes, lists the pitfalls of the field and offers advice to retailers who are ready to take the next step.
AI will make a difference in retail
In the past few months, many people have been fascinated by a new AI-driven chatbot that can provide answers to most questions. This kind of tool makes AI more tangible for the vast majority of people, and that may be necessary, especially for retailers, which must dare to start experimenting with AI. Serge de Gosson de Varenne, Pricer’s AI expert, shares use cases in which AI can make a ...
Cost-of-living prompts discounter switching: 56% of UK shoppers have switched entire weekly shop to Aldi or Lidl
The continued cost-of-living squeeze is prompting consumers to switch their grocery spend to discounter supermarkets, such as Aldi and Lidl, as well as making shoppers less loyal to the grocery brands they buy from, the latest research from Pricer, the world’s most trusted provider of shelf edge automation and communication solutions, reveals. Original research of 1,000 UK shoppers by Pricer ...
Market Report: Store performance in the era of hybrid retail
How can grocery, DIY, homewares and large format retailers improve the performance of their stores in order to better manage operational costs and enhance the shopping experience?
Pricer shortlisted for Retail Systems Awards 2023
Pricer is proud to announce that the company has been shortlisted to win a 2023 Retail Systems Award in the category ”In-Store Technology of the Year”. The category identifies a new and innovative in-store technology that has the ability to significantly improve a retailer’s operations.
Staff picking online orders in store is making customers unhappy, the latest research from Pricer shows
As the role of stores evolves and pressure is placed on bricks-and-mortar estates to perform more digital roles and support ecommerce operations, the picking of online orders in-store is causing customer experience (CX) headaches for shoppers, the latest research from Pricer, the world’s most trusted provider of shelf edge automation and communication solutions, reveals. Original research of 100 ...
New market drivers for ESLs in Bulgaria
Increasing labor costs, the need for quick price changes, and the introduction of the euro – these are some of the drivers behind the increased interest in solutions based on electronic shelf labels in Bulgaria. Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) are a powerful tool for retailers in terms of price management and promotions. Solutions based on ESLs are very widespread throughout the world, as drivers ...
Retail Tech Trends from EuroShop 2023
At EuroShop 2023, the industry got together to discuss the best and most promising technologies for retail. Pricer was there and presented the next generation of in-store innovations, with focus on bringing digital engagement to life at the shelf-edge. The experts at Pricer also took time to distill some of the key themes from this year’s fair for those who could not make it.


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Six decades ago Ken McQuestion, wearing his customary bow tie, set up shop on Northwest 23rd Place. His original Uptown Hardware store was small — narrow and long, in step with the norm of the times — and thrived for more than five decades, finally shuttering for good in 2006. Meanwhile, Uptown Hardware Inc. continues to flourish, bucking a national trend. “There have been a lot of changes,” said Duane Cook, McQuestion’s son-in-law who, along with wife Sherry, has helped run the company since 1967, assuming full ownership in 1982. “It’s just amazing.”
The original Uptown Hardware opened its doors in 1950, occupying a 4,000-square-foot space at 27 N.W. 23rd Place. The company subsequently opened two more stores, acquiring Woodstock ACE Hardware, 4430 S.E. Woodstock Blvd., in 1998; and opening Pearl ACE Hardware, 1621 N.W. Glisan St., in 2003.
In the 1950s, Cook said, the trend was for neighborhood hardware stores to carry large appliances — refrigerators, washing machines — in a bid to increase the female customer base. McQuestion embraced it.
“He went whole hog,” said Cook, 65. “I would say he’s a pioneer in developing female shopping in hardware stores.”
The company’s two stores have seen sales increase this year, Cook said. And the closure of the original store was the result of a snafu with the lease, he says, not flagging receipts.
Cook credits that success partially to location. Uptown’s big box competition is absent from the portions of Portland where the stores operate. And he believes the tough economic times have actually been a boon to business. “People tend to do more home projects,” he said.
–excerpt from Dirk Vanderhart, Special to The Oregonian


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How an iconic New York video store wound up tied to the mafia in SicilyJanuary 27, 2023 | 6:52pm
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Long-abandoned Art Deco cinema gets new life in ManhattanMarch 22, 2022 | 3:10pm
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Wegmans deal signals reawakening appetite for Manhattan leasesOctober 17, 2021 | 6:03pm
When huge stores such as Barneys and Century 21 stand vacant, and “for lease” signs outnumber occupied storefronts on many Manhattan blocks, any sign of a retail uptick is welcome.
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Alamo Drafthouse cinema chain files for bankruptcyMarch 3, 2021 | 11:20am
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Unlike his character in the film, the star was reportedly in a great mood.
Alamo Drafthouse to host clown-only screenings of 'It'August 24, 2017 | 6:01pm
According to the company’s website, the bizarre event requires that “all attendees should arrive dressed as a clown in order to attend.”


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Keith Loria is an award-winning journalist who has written for major publications on topics as diverse as veterinary medicine, travel and entertainment. He started his career with The Associated Press and has held editorial positions at publications aimed at health care, sports and technology.
Read Articles Written by Keith Loria
Viviana Burgos, the practice manager and co-owner of Eagle Fern Equine Hospital in Estacada, Oregon, knows that running a large clinic is expensive, but she instantly cut some bills when she joined The Veterinary Club about a decade ago.
“I had just purchased the practice and was trying to save every penny I could, but there are things you need to keep a business running,” Burgos said. “A GPO [group purchasing organization] is a great way to help. They are not just for the small animal clinics.”
By joining The Veterinary Club, a national GPO based in Middleburg, Virginia, Burgos saved money in numerous categories. She received 22% off her Verizon phone bill, plus big discounts at Office Depot and on the purchase of radiation badges and diagnostic equipment.
“We have a 50% discount on paint at Sherwin-Williams, so we took advantage of that several times and keep the clinic looking good,” she said. “You can also save some money on credit card processing fees. Every little bit counts so that we can be more profitable and spend more on the clinic.”
Burgos, who owns Eagle Fern with her veterinarian husband, David Asmar, DVM, is among the thousands of veterinary GPO members. Fewer than 10 such organizations operate across the United States.
Essentially, a GPO brings practice owners together as a large entity that negotiates prices and terms with distributors, manufacturers and service providers. Independent and small-chain practice owners are able to narrow the gap with the meganetworks, which commonly enjoy bulk discounts.
“A GPO helps organizations … realize savings and efficiencies by aggregating purchasing volume and using that leverage to negotiate discounts with manufacturers, distributors and other vendors,” said Bryan Benitz, managing partner of The Veterinary Club. “We can help organizations with contracting and sourcing on strategic categories that may or may not be covered under an existing contractual agreement.”
AAHA, VHA and TVC
The American Animal Hospital Association started a GPO program, AAHA Advantage, in 2017.
“By helping AAHA-accredited practices become more financially sound and giving them access to the products and services they use daily, AAHA provides its members with the tools and savings necessary to be successful in delivering excellent care for their patients,” said Nathan Chambers, the association’s strategic business manager.
AAHA Advantage, like all GPOs, negotiates exclusive discounts, preferred pricing and rebates from vendors and passes the savings on to members.
The Veterinary Hospitals Association, which started in 1984, is the oldest veterinary GPO. Jeff Benson, executive director of the Minnesota-based VHA, considers it a hybrid group purchasing organization, with 415 member clinics, a warehouse with drivers and vans, and an onsite pet crematory.
“About five years ago, we started a business services division and can provide clinics with bookkeeping, payroll, social media marketing programs, recruiting and financial support,” Benson said. “We try and cover a little bit of everything. We have about 2,000 SKUs in our warehouse, and the rest we get from distributor partners.”
VHA partners with three distributors. Members can place an order and have it delivered from the warehouse or drop-shipped from the distributor.
“We’re not just product-based. We have business service support and our own staff, so you can call us and ask questions,” Benson said. “Vets have to decide if they want [a GPO] more full-service oriented or not.”
The Veterinary Cooperative, founded in 2012, doesn’t do any warehousing but does offer discounts and rebates to its 4,000 members.
“Our key differentiator has to do with the term ‘cooperative,’” said Nick McCart, vice president of the Evanston, Illinois-based TVC. “All the profit that our organization makes is returned to the owners, so that’s different than our friends at the other GPOs. We have returned millions of dollars in profits over the years to our hospitals.”
TVC members pay a one-time, lifetime fee that grants access to discounts and dividends. TVC also offers business training as well as a members-only conference and free continuing education.
Evening the Playing Field
GPO leaders noted that membership isn’t all about finding great prices and discounts. Those can change constantly.
“GPOs and cooperatives exist to even the playing field for independent businesses against a continual corporatization of the business landscape in the U.S.,” said Steven Manyak, DVM, the owner of Pine Animal Hospital in Long Beach, California.
Dr. Manyak, a member of The Veterinary Club, said all the organizations do a lot of good.
“It’s been an important part of our success as it’s helped keep costs down and allowed us more time to focus on what we need to focus on,” he said.
Rolando “Ro” Pansoy Jr., the manager of purchasing and inventory at SAGE Veterinary Centers in Northern California, counts four key benefits of joining a GPO:
- The ability to benchmark prices on goods and services.
- Checks and balances to ensure a vendor is honoring GPO-contracted prices.
- Time and labor savings by not having to negotiate prices by yourself.
- Better controls on pricing changes.
“There’s a direct connection to manufacturers regardless of the distribution,” Pansoy said.
Joining a GPO is a no-brainer, the VHA’s Benson said.
“Every GPO is in the same boat,” he said. “We’re all trying to give better benefits and better pricing.”
A Multiple-Choice Option
Some veterinarians join more than one GPO and then price-shop, thinking multiple groups will offer different savings at different times.
“We see it all the time,” Benson said. “We don’t see it as a great thing to do because you’ll be paying a membership fee for multiple organizations and the pricing is going to be generally equivalent, especially for the major manufacturers and major pharmaceutical companies.
“One GPO may be cheaper on these 50 products and someone else will be cheaper on those 50 products by a few cents,” he said. “You put it all in the wash and at the end of the day it will be very little difference.”
In some cases, a manufacturer will require a veterinary clinic to align with one GPO so that member rebates are properly managed.
“We do not recommend practices join more than one GPO, but it is up to them,” AAHA Advantage’s Chambers said. “We advise practices to compare GPOs’ vendors, pricing and services and make the best decision for themselves. AAHA-accredited practices have access to over 40 vendors within our member savings programs. Vendors include but are not limited to nutrition, compounded medications, medical products, ultrasound devices, supplements and pharmaceuticals.”
Anyone who finds a cheaper price at another group purchasing organization should call their current GPO and ask that the variance be researched and that the better deal be matched, Benson said.
Many members of The Veterinary Cooperative join more than one GPO, McCart said. He thinks that makes a lot of sense.
“We are maturing as an industry and that means there will be some who choose to be part of multiple groups,” he said. “We all want to help independent businesses thrive.”
- Members: Over 1,000
- Vendors: More than 40
- Established: 2017
- Membership qualification: AAHA-accredited practice
- Information: bit.ly/2CJMgX7
The Veterinary Club
- Members: 6,000-plus
- Vendors: 450
- Established: 2009
- Membership qualification: Veterinarian-owned practice
- Information: theveterinaryclub.com
The Veterinary Cooperative
- Members: 4,000
- Vendors: 80
- Established: 2012
- Membership qualification: Hospital owned primarily by a veterinarian
- Information: tvc.coop
Veterinary Hospitals Association
- Members: 415
- Vendors: “We have access to everything.”
- Established: 1984
- Membership qualification: Veterinarian-owned practice for full membership
- Information: veterinaryha.org
Other group purchasing organizations


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Right now, there is a lot of talk about the concerning state of supply chains - in particular, the overwhelming amount of security risks and disruptions they face. And this is with good reason. Across the globe, organizations in every industry, at every level, are dealing with new, unprecedented threats. As the Internet of Things, cloud and other technological advancements continue to sweep through businesses, transforming processes and operations at every level, it is creating an environment of extreme vulnerability.
The threat landscape is intensifying and organizations that don't adapt to this changing atmosphere become significantly more susceptible to suffering a disruption. Failing to heed safety and security standards, as well as being proactive in ensuring the best practices for data protection are implemented, makes it much more likely that supply chain managers will have to pay the price for it. This "price" can come in many forms - whether it be a loss of financial data from cybercriminals, production delays due to system failures or profit loss from something like cargo theft.
Companies must apply all the safeguards they possibly can. The problem is that supply chain leaders may hear again and again that they are at risk - but it likely won't hold any real weight, or motivate them to act on mitigating those risks, unless they actually understand how easily they can be affected by it and how dire the consequences can be if and when this occurs.
The threat of third parties
There have been many stories over the past year or so about how a company has fallen into hot water due to something one of its suppliers did (or didn't) do. Take Samsung, for example: The smartphone manufacturer had to discontinue production of one of its biggest series of devices because it wasn't able to adequately pinpoint, let alone correct, the source of a hardware error. Even if an issue can be attributed to a supplier in a very distant tier of the supply chain, ultimately, it doesn't matter. With vendor relationships today, there is a domino effect. Essentially, the behavior, practices and policies of one party influence, to some degree or another, those of the partners it is connected to.
This should be a concern for supply chain managers today more than ever. Why? As more high-profile cases of data breaches make headlines, it is becoming increasingly obvious that there is no company too big or established for hackers to infiltrate. All it takes is attackers finding one security vulnerability in someone's critical infrastructure and they have access to vast amounts of sensitive data and information - and the power to impact organizations throughout that firm's network.
As supply chains continue to digitalize, many are adopting new systems and technologies. Implementing and using unfamiliar processes and software leaves a lot of room for human error, which can create security loop holes and be a vector of attack for cybercriminals. We live in a highly connected world now and the reality is that everyone is at risk.
According to Info Security Magazine, research has found that:
- On average, an organization's network is accessed by almost 90 third-party vendors.
- Seventy-five percent of companies have grown their supplier networks within the past 24 months.
- Less than 35 percent of businesses are aware of the number of log-ins their third-party suppliers have access to.
- Nearly 70 percent of organizations believe they did or might have have experienced a security incident within the past 12 months that could be attributed to a vendor.
Obviously, it would be in supply chain managers' best interests to take a sounder, safer and more skeptical approach to supplier relationships.
Undetectable malware on the rise
Vendors that a company has very close partnerships with can be a threat - without either party realizing it. There is a reason why cyberattacks seem to be occurring so frequently and on such massive scales: Hackers are becoming more advanced and sophisticated in their capabilities every day. Their techniques are maturing are accelerating faster - and more aggressively - than even the most trained and experienced IT security professionals can keep pace with. Not only are they getting more aggressive, but they are also getting stealthier.
Malware can now penetrate a network and go undetected for months. Too often, supply chain managers - and other business leaders - don't realize that they could be breached and not even know about it until the damage has already been done.
This is a concern within itself, and certainly gives organizations plenty of reasons to ramp up their cybersecurity efforts. However, it is not just internal operations within their own companies that supply chain managers need to pay attention to. It's also those of third-party suppliers.
One of the biggest mistakes businesses can make is assuming they aren't a target. Although a company may not be a massive organization or operate on a big scale, it can still prove useful to hackers. Cybercriminals can infiltrate one system and use that as a backdoor into other ones.
With globalization and remote connectivity on the rise, supplier networks are getting bigger. Unfortunately, this means that they are also becoming more susceptible to attack. To build a stronger defense, enhance end-to-end supply chain security and mitigate the risks constantly presenting themselves to organizations, it is imperative that business leaders take a thorough and aggressive approach to cybersecurity. This means not only assessing and implementing security best practices for their own internal communications and operations, but for third-party vendors as well.


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Food and Beverage Automation Solutions
Companies operating in the food and beverage industry face stiff competition and tightening profit margins. For this reason, many are investing in new technologies and innovative ways to get a competitive advantage.
Some of the most powerful new technologies available to the food and beverage are rooted in automation, and billions of dollars are spent globally on automation products and systems within the industry every year. Research shows that food and beverage automation helps to protect profit margins and contain costs. It also plays a vital role in food safety, sustainable manufacturing, reduction of waste and usage of energy, and in minimizing brand risk.


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Nigeria’s most successful co-working space, ‘Co-Creation Hub, popularly known as CcHUB has launched a design lab in Kigali, Rwanda.
This move makes Rwanda the first place CcHUB has put down roots outside Nigeria.
The launch was streamed live on video via CcHUB’s official Facebook page.
According to a SautiTech report, the design lab will “become a leading creative space where its multidisciplinary team of product designers and engineers will collaborate with scientists and stakeholders globally, to explore the application of emerging technologies that will solve Africa’s systemic problems in Public Health, Education, Governance and the Private Sector.”
Mymediaafrica.com gathered that the lab was launched by CcHUB’s Founder and CEO, Bosun Tijani alongside Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire.
“We spent more trying to listen to what is needed – the innovation is not Tap and Go; the innovation is what the Tap and Go system can do for the context in which you are launching it. It is important to understand the challenges you are solving.”
According to Bosun;
“We’ve been building tech businesses alongside African entrepreneurs for almost a decade and in that time, we’ve identified a common challenge that businesses face when it comes to sustainable growth – Design and Innovation.”
Other guests at the event are; Kampeta Pitchette Sayinzoga who is Director General Rwanda’s National Industrial Research & Development Agency; Patrick Buchana Nsenga, CEO of AC Group Rwanda; and Jeanine Condo, Director General of Rwanda’s Biomedical Center.


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We proudly look back on our successful HortiRoad2India trade mission around The World Food India in Delhi, 3-5 November 2023. During the trade mission Dutch Greenhouse Delta’s partners worked tirelessly to explore and strengthen new horizons in horticultural collaboration between India and The Netherlands. The trade mission marks a milestone in our commitment to promoting Dutch food safety systems globally.
The cluster of Dutch leading horticulture companies, coordinated by Dutch Greenhouse Delta, Innovation Quarter and Rotterdam partners, made significant strides towards collaboration in fresh food production. New business opportunities have been discovered and the mission has yielded valuable leads.
The high-tech greenhouse demo at World Food India was a real highlight, attracting a large audience. India’s largest food exhibition, hosted in Delhi. This showcase was not just a crowd-pleaser but a great representation of Dutch expertise in sustainable food production. The Dutch showcase and ideation session garnered significant attention from media, politicians, and entrepreneurs.
The trade mission continued in the states of Goa and Uttar Pradesh, where the Dutch cluster met with many high-level government officials. Exchanging insights with top officials confirmed that horticulture is increasingly becoming a focal point in India. Furthermore, a visit to LuLu Hypermarkets provided valuable insights into the rapidly growing luxury retail concept targeting the vast Indian middle class.
Desh Ramnath, director DGD India and coordinator of NLHortiRoad2India concludes: “We are determined to move forward as a cluster by developing concrete business cases. Additionally, we plan to attend the Fresh Produce Fair in Mumbai in March 2024.”


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The South Korean tech company is expected to announce the Galaxy Note 10.
Samsung is set to unveil its latest Galaxy Note smartphone, with support for 5G expected to be among the feature updates on the new handset. The technology giant is holding a live event in New York today (7 August) where it will formally announce its latest…
…. Reed More from source link silicon


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KALAMAZOO, MI — The restaurant and bar industries have been under the microscope as the world grapples with how to safely gather and enjoy dining during a global pandemic.
After a slew of executive orders have opened, closed and restricted the industry, a look back at 2020 shows that at least 11 Kalamazoo business owners took the risk of opening, despite the pandemic.
There have been closures as well, with some owners citing the coronavirus among factors that led to those decisions.
Eight well-known Kalamazoo-area restaurant owners closed their doors this year. A Paw Paw restaurant announced plans to close, but an overwhelming flood of community support buoyed the eatery enough to stay afloat and remain open for delivery and takeout.
A Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association survey of 175 restaurant owners shows 48% are considering closing down until the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
Here are a few of the notable additions, and losses, to Kalamazoo’s bar and restaurant scene in this unprecedented year:
Rollup Ice Cream & Tea
A classic treat with a trendy twist came to Kalamazoo when Rollup Ice Cream & Tea offered up a new dessert option. The shop at 3262 Stadium Drive opened in February.
Flavors include strawberry cheesecake, brownie batter, dairy-free orange dreamsicle and cookie dough delight.
Nonla Burger’s Drake Road location
Kalamazoo’s best burger joint opened a second location in February. Nonla Burger expanded to a new location at 1700 S. Drake Road in Oshtemo Township that features a drive-thru option.
The new Nonla Burger, located in a shopping plaza near the intersection of South Drake Road and Stadium Drive, offers the same menu items and aesthetic as Nonla’s original Burdick Street location.
TaKoKaT, a Mexican restaurant in Paw Paw, was among the first to take a hit and close its doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Kalamazoo-area community rallied around the local staple, though — so much so the restaurant reversed course. TaKoKAT remains open today, and has expanded its delivery zone to adapt to indoor dining restrictions.
Middle Eastern Appetite
Just two weeks before the coronavirus pandemic forced restaurants to shutdown, Western Michigan University students and family members took a chance, expanding their food truck to a brick-and-mortar business.
Middle Eastern Appetite opened its doors in March at 2625 W. Michigan Ave. near Western’s campus in Kalamazoo.
Bravo! Restaurant and Cafe
Bravo! Restaurant and Cafe closed its doors in May after operating for 33 years in the Kalamazoo area.
The restaurant, located at 5402 Portage Road, closed in March during the stay-at-home orders and then opted to permanently close on May 5.
Moe’s Southwest Grill
Moe’s Southwest Grill’s location in Kalamazoo permanently closed in May.
The restaurant, located at 4206 Stadium Drive, is part of the Atlanta-based chain specializing in burritos and other Southwest-influenced food. The Westnedge Ave. location of Moe’s remains open.
Station 702, a breakfast and brunch restaurant and coffee shop in Kalamazoo, permanently closed in June.
The restaurant, located at 702 Douglas Ave. in the city’s West Douglas Neighborhood, offered gluten-free and vegan menus along with more traditional fare of omelettes, salads and sandwiches.
Load A Spud Potato Bar
Kalamazoo welcomed a new franchise in June as Load A Spud Potato Bar opened its doors at 2624 W. Michigan Ave. near Western Michigan University’s campus.
The Grand Rapids-based franchise offers a baked potato in 20 different signature ways including with fixings like steak and cheese, surf and turf, taco, pulled pork or chili potato.
Theo & Stacy’s — Westnedge location
The Westnedge location of Kalamazoo’s beloved Theo & Stacy’s restaurants went up for sale in July.
The location was closed during the stay-at-home order and initially planned to reopen in late summer 2020. The family decided to put the restaurant up for sale instead, said Betty Peristeridis, the co-owner of the downtown location and daughter of founders Theo and Stacy Skartsiaris.
The downtown location on Michigan Avenue is now the only remaining Theo & Stacy’s location. The local restaurant brand’s Portage Road location closed in 2018.
Buddy’s Detroit-style Pizza
A slice of the Motor City came to Portage in July when Buddy’s Detroit-style Pizza opened at 5314 S. Westnedge Ave.
Buddy’s was established in 1946 and is the birthplace of the original Detroit-style pizza, the restaurant says. Over the last seven decades, the restaurant has grown its footprint across Michigan, CEO Burton Heiss said in an interview with MLive.
Two Fellas Grill
Two Fellas Grill cured late-night cravings from a new location, just around the corner from the restaurants’ original building. The new building opened in August at 2730 W. Michigan Ave. in a former Wendy’s restaurant.
The Two Fellas menu will keep favorite wraps like The Bronco and Southern Hospitality.
A new bistro featuring burgers, pizza, fried chicken and salads opened in August in Portage. ZooCity Beastro opened its doors at 5222 Portage Road.
In addition to “munchies,” grinders and pizza, the restaurant’s menu also includes 11 different burgers including “The Beast Burger,” which features two half-pound patties.
Kalamazoo got the sweeter side of Mexican cuisine with the opening of Little Mexico at 3501 Stadium Drive.
The sweets shop opened in September and specializes in authentic Mexican snacks and desserts like fried ice cream, churros rellenos and raspados.
Finley’s Grill and Smokehouse
In September, the Finley’s Grill and Smokehouse location in Kalamazoo announced it would not reopen after closing for the coronavirus shutdown.
A year earlier, the Finley’s restaurant in Jackson closed after being a community staple for 47 years. The Battle Creek location of Finley’s remains open.
Zazios, located inside the Radisson Plaza Hotel, permanently closed its doors in November. The space will undergo a total transformation into a new restaurant, which is slated to open in summer 2021.
Zazios served upscale Italian and world cuisine for 16 years in Kalamazoo. The restaurant underwent renovations in 2016 in an effort to make the space less formal and more inviting.
Turbo Chicken promised to be better than its fast food competitors by making everything from scratch when it opened in September.
Located at 5234 Portage Road, the restaurant is the latest development from the owners of Kelvin & Co. Urban BBQ.
Rose St. Nutrition
Kalamazoo’s newest health store offers up protein shakes that don’t compromise calories or flavor from its downtown location.
Rose St. Nutrition, located at 402 S. Rose St. under the apartment complex there, offers 70 flavors of shakes. The health store had its grand opening in September.
Kalamazoo’s newest pizza joint claims the biggest slices in town, deeming them “the fastest two-handed meal for $5.”
Benny DiCarta’s, located at 232 E. Michigan Ave., offers 28 inch pies and pizza by the slice. The downtown Kalamazoo location is the first in the Midwest for the franchise, founded in Virginia.
The Union Carbaret and Grille
Union Carbaret and Grille, a downtown restaurant and entertainment venue on the Kalamazoo Mall, closed its doors this fall after 18 years in the community.
The bar and restaurant reopened in September after taking a hiatus after the March shutdown. Despite making adjustments to staff and seating, the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic ultimately closed the restaurant, owners said.
The business, one of several in the Kalamazoo area owned by Millennium Restaurant Group, closed after a final day of business on Saturday, Oct. 31.
One of Kalamazoo’s most beloved sweet spots, Mackenzie’s Bakery, announced its last business day is scheduled for Christmas Eve. The bakery opened up 40 years ago on West Main Street.
Both locations of MacKenzies’ Bakery, on Harrison Street and West Main Street, been up for sale for a few years now, owner John MacKenzie said in an interview with MLive in June 2019. MacKenzie said he is ready to retire.
Also on MLive:
Kalamazoo New Year’s Fest plans in-person celebration, video streams
20-plus diners in Michigan that could use a little love right now
Michigan’s Air Zoo is backdrop for new holiday movie, ‘A Christmas Hero’
Sweet Michigan treats to ship this season


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DENVER — The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s (NCBA) President Jerry Bohn released the following op-ed for publication.
There is an ongoing conversation in consumer spaces about beef’s contribution to climate change. In many circles, beef is being painted as a villain that can be minimized and/or eliminated to help solve global climate issues. On the ground, as cattle producers, we know this isn’t accurate. In fact, we know it’s an outrageous lie that’s being used to sell consumers a fake meat product they don’t want or need and one that won’t do anything to solve climate problems. The reality is that we know cattle can be a part of the solution. We know that pasture and rangeland, through proper management, can actually reduce the amount of carbon and more than offset the short-lived methane emissions of our cattle.
Climate and environmental stewardship matter to farmers and ranchers, we feel the impacts of our stewardship decisions every day and we are the first, and most affected portion of the population, when it rains too much or too little. We are the first to be impacted when the weather is too hot or too cold and we’ve seen time and again the consequences of a changing environment. Because of this, most of the farmers and ranchers I speak with are committed to protecting the resources we manage and doing our part to make improvements. However, to make real change, Americans and decisionmakers around the world must recognize that cattle farmers and ranchers are part of the solution. Every food has an impact so simply swapping out beef for alternative proteins or lab-manipulated fake meat will never be an effective solution.
The reality is that consumers in the United States and elsewhere are going to continue to consume meat and there is no nation better at raising cattle and beef in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner than we do right here at home. U.S. cattle producers don’t clear forests for pastures, we don’t plow up land that shouldn’t be farmed and we ensure that our animals are cared for through every phase of their life. On our feedlot in Kansas, we make certain that animals have fresh feed and clean water every day. We take pride in management practices that both care for our cattle and produce the best quality beef possible. By ensuring the beef we produce meets consumer demand we’re also helping to reduce food waste when our products reach the consumer.
On our farms and ranches, cattlemen and women are controlling invasive weeds and maintaining the pastures that feed our animals. Our farms and ranches provide open spaces that create habitat for wild animals that would otherwise be pushed out by housing developments and urbanization. We do these things because it makes our operations better but also because it is the right, sustainable thing to do. Our families depend on our lands year-after-year, generation-after-generation.
If consumers choose alternative proteins rather than beef, they should know the facts about those products and not just the sensationalized marketing that some activists are using to sell a product that has historically been ignored by consumers. In the past, consumers have largely rejected these products as a highly processed, expensive and inferior alternative to real beef. There are people who have invested in fake meat companies seeking to profit from legitimate consumer concerns about climate change and the environment.
The science disputes the claims of alternative protein companies. The fact is, even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that U.S. beef production has a minimal footprint when it comes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Beef production is responsible for only 2 percent of U.S. GHG emissions. Even when the production of animal feed, fuel and electricity necessary for beef production is factored into the equation, it is still responsible for just 3.7 percent of GHG in the United States, according to EPA. In contrast, emissions from electricity generation account for 28 percent of U.S. emissions and transportation accounts for 29 percent of U.S. emissions.
It’s likely that you’ve heard individuals like Bill Gates claim that U.S. livestock’s contribution to climate change is immense. However, these claims are flat out wrong. Some activists and others like Gates often cited old claims made in the United Nation’s debunked report titled Livestock’s Long Shadow. They also use global numbers about U.S. cattle production to back their marketing claims and sell their products.
It’s critical that Americans understand that global GHG emissions are skewed higher because they include emissions from nations whose cattle and beef management systems are far less efficient than the those in the United States. Global numbers also include countries like India, which have large bovine populations but where harvest is very low or non-existent because of cultural or religious practices. In global terms, U.S. beef cattle production counts for just .5 percent of global GHG emissions, so even if every American stopped eating beef in favor of fake meat substitutes, there would be virtually no discernable impact on our changing climate.
The U.S. beef production system is among the most productive and efficient in the world and it continues to improve over time. Between 1975 and 2017, beef cattle emissions declined 30 percent. Today, the U.S. produces 18 percent of the world’s beef with just 6 percent of the world’s cattle numbers. This is possible through commitments to animal welfare, better animal nutrition and advancements in genetics. Those statistics are often overlooked or ignored by individuals like Bill Gates, the writers at OZY and others who are working to advance an agenda that drives people away from eating meat using scare tactics and unsound science to advance their cause and line their pockets with grocery money from well-meaning, concerned consumers who have been sold something they don’t want and never needed in the first place.
–Jerry Bohn, NCBA President
For more articles concerning the cattle industry, click here.


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During the past five years Seeley International has undertaken significant expansion. This has included company acquisition and manufacturing improvement and development. At a time when many other Australian manufacturers are closing their doors, downsizing or looking to move off-shore Seeley International has been able to strengthen its Australian manufacturing development by continuing to focus on innovation, developing world class technology and integrating high levels of automation. Recent company acquisitions have also been a perfect fit for Seeley International’s trajectory growth to become a $1bn company.
Seeley International announced the acquisition of Coolerado Corporation’s business assets, a Denver-based manufacturer of innovative, award-winning, air conditioning systems for commercial, industrial, government, and military use during June 2015. This acquisition established a US-based manufacturing facility representing another exciting step in Seeley International’s growth strategy to move closer to North American customers. Coolerado’s indirect evaporative air conditioning products have become part of Seeley International’s brand portfolio.
During May 2016, Seeley International announced its acquisition of the business assets for the Commercial and Industrial HVAC business AIRA, a prominent Australian manufacturer of Heating, Cooling and Energy Recovery Ventilation equipment based in Melbourne. Seeley International is pleased to have added the AIRA range of Australian-made evaporative coolers and gas fired heaters to the award-winning product portfolio. AIRA has been a leading Australian manufacturer and supplier of commercial and industrial products since it first began in 1965.
Seeley International announced its acquisition of commercial and industrial HVAC business Integrated Comfort Inc (ICI), a leading and well-respected Sacramento-based manufacturer of highly efficient patented evaporative pre-cooling products during November 2017. Seeley International was very impressed by ICI’s highly-successful DualCool commercial and industrial cooling technology. ICI has successfully completed the installation of DualCool evaporative pre-coolers in more than 380 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores across the USA, which equates to more than 2570 DualCool units.
During August 2015, Seeley International announced that as many as 125 displaced manufacturing and car industry workers could be thrown an employment lifeline. This exciting development came about as a result of plans to fast-track the development of a next-generation air conditioner and increase operations at Seeley International’s Lonsdale-based factory. Several of Seeley International’s development and expansion plans were brought forward after receiving a grant of $5m, made available through the Federal Government’s Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Programme. This grant, which Seeley International matched dollar for dollar, was used to construct a $10m high-volume residential Climate Wizard heat exchanger and cooler production facility at the Lonsdale-based factory.
Seeley International announced in March 2018 it had purchased land to create a $20m manufacturing hub in Wodonga, Victoria. The proposed 12,000 sq/m state-of-the-art manufacturing hub also includes an existing warehouse on the new site, which will further improve logistics and efficiencies in the new facility.
This exciting new facility is a significant strategic milestone for Seeley International, providing an ideal base for current and future growth. It also enables Seeley International to maintain a strong employer presence within the local community, with projected direct employment growth of around 60% in the next five years.
This innovative manufacturing hub replaces a dated, much smaller current facility in nearby Albury. Using state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies and integrating advanced automation, the hub will manufacture several key products. These products will include market leading, energy efficient Braemar residential heating products, hyper-efficient Climate Wizard commercial air conditioners and the entire AIRA commercial heating and cooling product range.


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New research from ImpulsePay reveals that Charge to Mobile reaches one and a half times as many consumers as credit cards and over four times as many as PayPal.
The research proves that with over 85 million active mobile subscriptions in the UK alone, Charge to Mobile – known globally as Direct Carrier Billing – has the largest share of users of any mobile payment option in the UK.
Online merchants have the potential to reach 93% of all adults in the UK by including a Charge to Mobile option at checkout – an additional 47% when compared to a stand-alone credit card option at checkout, or an additional 325% more than PayPal.
The figures are compared to the 58 million credit cards that were in circulation in the UK in early 2014, of which only 66% were active, and the number of UK registered PayPal accounts, of which there are 20 million.
The comparison also takes into account similar smartphone apps that allow users to pay for goods direct from their mobiles such as Barclays’ Pingit, which in 2014 had been downloaded just 2.5 million times (equivalent to only 3% of active mobile subscriptions).
Charge to Mobile is the term for the technology that allows a customer to make a purchase via their phone, in a quick transaction without entering their credit card data. The cost is then charged to the customers’ mobile phone account, or taken from the available credit if they are on a pay as you go tariff.
“Digital merchants are looking for a payment method that’s quick and universal,” explains Tim Green, editor of payments site Mobile Money Revolution. “They’re finding that many of their customers either don’t have bank cards or just drop out at checkout because the process is so awful. Charge to Mobile has immense potential to solve these problems.”
Fees for mobile payments are now comparable to the fees charged for credit card or PayPal transactions and have moved a long way from the 30% transaction fee charged by app stores.
“The goal for Charge to Mobile has always been to reduce the rates enough in order to compete head to head with credit cards as a payment method,” adds Paul Paterson, Commercial Director of ImpulsePay. “A great deal of work has been done by the Charge to Mobile providers and the network operators, and as a result new transaction fees of only 9.9% were introduced last year, alongside simpler payment flows.”
It has been estimated that by 2017, global financial transactions through mobile payments will reach £1 trillion, with revenues billed to direct carrier billing expected to grow to £3.9 billion by 2017.
By allowing customers to pay for goods using their mobile phone number, many new potential customers are available for merchants, including under 18s or the hundreds of thousands of households that lack a bank account, who are otherwise excluded from making purchases via a mobile phone.


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| ||Thread Tools|
|16th August 2007, 10:01||#1|
Join Date: May 2002
Nvidia reportedly selling 128-bit version GeForce 8400GS chips in China
A 128-bit version of Nvidia's GeForce 8400GS chip which was not in Nvidia's original roadmaps has recently been reported to have surfaced in the China market, according to sources at graphics card makers.
The 128-bit version GeForce 8400GS chip is very similar to Nvidia's GeForce 8500GT due to both graphics cores adopting the same G3-128 package, but the 8400GS's core frequency is lower, noted the sources. The original GeForce 8400GS adopts a G3-64 package, explained the sources.
|Thread||Thread Starter||Forum||Replies||Last Post|
|Driverheaven Nvidia Mobility Modder Released V184.108.40.206||jmke||WebNews||0||6th August 2009 13:12|
|NVIDIA Geforce GTS 250 Selling "like mad"||jmke||WebNews||0||9th June 2009 17:04|
|NVIDIA GeForce Driver Version 177.79 Released||jmke||WebNews||1||30th July 2008 09:30|
|NVidia considers an across-the-board overhaul of its marketing strategy||Shogun||WebNews||4||9th May 2008 13:08|
|NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 Dual-GPU Version Preview||jmke||WebNews||0||18th March 2008 20:42|
|Twintech intros Nvidia Geforce 8400GS PCI Express||jmke||WebNews||0||20th June 2007 14:38|
|Nvidia to release an AGP version of GeForce 7300GT||jmke||WebNews||0||10th September 2006 13:56|


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Now that the economy has cooled, could auction houses become victims of their own success in propping up the art market? Auction results determine the mood, like it or not. Sotheby’s slick and successful hybrid auction in July 2020 warmed up an industry frozen by the Covid-19 pandemic. Then, in 2022, Christie’s returned the favour in New York with its high-octane sale of works from the collection of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, keeping the multimillion-dollar engine running.
Auction houses have become the investment banks of the industry, doing more than matching willing sellers to buyers. By lending money against works, structuring guarantees and then re-packaging some of these to third-party investors, they oil the whole market machine. This keeps sales—and thus fees and commissions—turning over. The public nature of auction transactions, even more visible thanks to livestreaming, also signals to the market and beyond that all is well, encouraging more supply and demand.
Or otherwise. Sales from May’s nine evening auctions in New York were down 42% on the previous spring’s season, according to ArtTactic, confirming what we all suspected: the art market is still vulnerable to economic wobbles.
This seems likely to damage the lucrative tools auction houses use behind the scenes to shield art prices from organic market conditions. Guarantees are a prime example. These both entice sellers into the market with a sure deal and prove to anxiety-prone buyers that demand exists. They also provide a tantalising opportunity to art-market financiers; a third-party guarantee means getting either a favourable price for a good work or a tidy profit for absorbing the auction houses’ risk.
Unfortunately, as demonstrated by Christie’s evening auction of Gerald Fineberg’s collection in New York in May—unguaranteed and disappointing—the increased presence of guarantees over the past ten years has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. When they don’t exist, the market gets spooked.
Meanwhile, their average return has shrunk. ArtTactic finds profits from guarantees decreased from 22% in 2021 to 11% in 2022. Its report concludes: “lower margins, coupled with interest rates on the rise and higher risks associated with the economic climate, could deter potential guarantors [in 2023].”
This puts the auction houses in a difficult financial position. Their best tool for boosting supply and pre-sale confidence is becoming less profitable and less persusasive to risk-sharing partners when they most need it to keep their increasingly expensive businesses going.
Lower-priced categories, which rarely command guarantees—including luxury goods, collectibles and fashion items—look to be taking up some of the slack at the moment. Offering sellers alternative incentives, such as a slice of the buyer’s premium, could keep the auction houses’ supply chain stable, albeit at the cost of lower profits. And, as we have seen in cooler periods before, works can be channelled through their private sales teams—though this area faces strong competition from the mega-dealers and sacrifices the PR benefits of public sales.
Auction houses are responsible for putting guarantees and other financial sweeteners in the mix, but right now they might be yearning for simpler times.


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According to official data published today, May 25, 2023, production in Germany, the largest economy in Europe, fell by 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, after a contraction of 0.5% at the end of 2022. .
This is what is called a “technical recession”that is, the situation in which the economic production of a country, normally measured through the gross domestic product (GDP), decreases for two consecutive quarters.
“The persistent price increase continued to be a burden on the German economy at the beginning of the year,” said the German Federal Statistical Office. “This was particularly reflected in household final consumption spending, which decreased by 1.2% in the first quarter of 2023,” he added.
Claus Vistesen, chief euro area economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, Indian that consumer spending in the first quarter was constrained by “the shock in energy prices.” European energy prices were already on the rise when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year pushed them to record highs. Moscow proceeded to cut gas supplies to European countries, prompting Germany to declare a state of emergency.
On the other hand, there is optimism that the German recession may be short-lived. The most recent surveys indicate that business activity in the country expanded again in May, despite a sharp decline in manufacturing. Germany expects its economy to contract by 0.1% in 2023, according to the latest forecast from the International Monetary Fund.
Fear of international “shock waves”
The recession in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has the potential to send shock waves across the region and beyond. There are several ways in which this event could affect other countries, and the uncertainty that arises from these possibilities can generate fear and instability in global markets.
economic interconnection: European economies are closely interconnected and many depend on Germany’s strong performance as an economic engine. If Germany buys fewer goods and services from other countries due to its own recession, it could cause these economies to slow down.
Domino effect in trade: Germany is a major exporter, therefore a decline in its production could disrupt supply chains in other countries that depend on its products, especially in the automotive and machinery industry.
Market confidence: The recession in Germany could dampen investor confidence across the region, which could lead to disinvestment and a decline in capital investment.
inflationary pressures: the inflationary pressures in Germany, exacerbated by the energy crisis, could spread to other countries, particularly if they are dependent on Russian gas and if German inflation leads to tighter monetary policies by the European Central Bank.
Energetic politics: The energy crisis that contributed to the recession in Germany is a problem that affects the whole of Europe. If left unaddressed, it could lead to similar economic problems in other countries.
And how would this affect bitcoin?
The recession in Germany, if it becomes widespread, may have a significant impact on risk markets. When we talk about risky markets, we mean investments that have a high degree of uncertainty, such as stocks, derivatives, and bitcoin (BTC).
In the event of a general recession, investors may become more cautious and withdraw your funds from these riskier markets to seek refuge in safer investments, such as government bonds, gold and currencies considered stable. This could cause price declines in risky markets as demand wanes.
In particular, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could be strongly affected. Although some investors view bitcoin as “digital gold” or a hedge against uncertainty, its recent history shows that it can be highly volatile during periods of market turmoil. In times of economic uncertainty, investors may choose to sell their cryptocurrency holdings to cover losses in other parts of their portfolio or to accumulate cash, especially if they believe that the cryptocurrency may further decline in price.
However, some investors may also view falling prices in these risky markets as an opportunity to buy at lower prices, especially if they believe the recession will be short-lived.


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Google announced back in November that it was rolling out changes for AdWords Impression share reporting (the number of impressions received in a campaign or ad group divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive).
The company added new columns to separate search and display impression share, and added hour of day segmentation and the ability to apply filters, see charts and apply automated rules using impression share metrics. They also improved the accuracy of how data is calculated.
Today, Google reminds users that it is continuing its plans to phase out the old impression share columns on February 4th, which is coming right up.
“Any saved reports using the old IS columns will need to be updated to use the new columns,” says product marketing manager Rob Newton. “If you don’t remove/replace those columns before they’re retired on February 4th, you won’t be able to run those saved reports.”
Saved reports will be updated to use the new columns.


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Tag: medion akoya mini e1211
IFA 2008: Medion Akoya Mini E1211 – a 10-inch netbook for the market
No, this isn’t another of the endless teasers about the Dell E, this is actually about the Medion Mini as announced at IFA 2008 today. The only problem is that Medion didn’t bother sending out any pictures and, what with the famous Dell pencil, it seemed like the perfect image to get across the sense of what I’m talking about.
So, the market launch of the Medion Akoya Mini E1211 is planned for October…


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The mobile marketing industry is ever-changing, and that applies to the people as much as the technology. Movers & Shakers is our regular feature following the hottest hires in the industry, so you can keep track of who’s joined which company, and what they’re doing there.
OMD’s Hamid Habib comes on board Starcom as UK MD
Media communications firm Starcom has announced the appointment of Hamid Habib as its new UK managing director. The newly created role will see Habib report into Starcom UK’s group chief executive and president of global network clients for EMEA Jodie Stranger, and will centre on creating a truly integrated local and international leadership centre for the company.
While his most recent role was as chief strategy and innovation officer at OMD, the move represents a return to the Publicis Groupe fold for Habib, who previously served as head of strategy for Zenith Media between 2005 and 2012. At Starcom, he will be responsible for driving growth and new business, building the company’s Human Experience positioning in the UK market, and recruiting and retaining talent to service Starcom’s client list.
The hire builds on the unique structure that Stranger has put in place for managing Starcom’s portfolio of international and UK-focused clients, bringing both local and international leadership together as one team. While Stranger will retain overall responsibility for local and international business, Habib will have a direct brief to develop the agency’s local business and team.
“Starcom’s Human Experience focus aligns completely with how I see brands’ interactions with consumers developing,” said Habib. “The future of marketing will be marrying human creativity with new opportunities that technology provides. This blend creates the actions that brands need and the experiences that people love. This is an exciting opportunity to redefine the way in which local and international business collaborate and partner in a global agency setting.”
Impact Radius names martech veteran Scott Brazina as company’s first CMO
Scott Brazina has joined Impact Radius to serve as chief marketing officer for the marketing intelligence and performance firm. Brazina brings over 16 years of experience in software-as-a-service marketing and strategic business development leadership to the team, and will oversee Impact Radius’ global marketing strategy, brand-building and communications.
Prior to joining Impact Radius, Brazina was vice president of martech & media at internet performance management firm Dyn, which was acquired by Oracle in 2016. He also served as chief marketing officer at DataXu, a leading marketing technology company. Brazina will be based in the firm’s New York office, and will report directly to CEO David Yovanno.
“Scott is a talented, multifaceted executive whose deep experience marketing enterprise software, vision and leadership come at a critical inflection point as Impact Radius scales and sharpens its global go-to-market strategy,” said Yovanno. “Scott will work with the EMEA team on delivering an extensive marketing, events and communications strategy to cement our already strong position in this market.”
Impact Radius also announced that Adam Furness would be joining the company to serve as the new managing director of Asia Pacific. Furness is a seasoned executive with experience scaling business operations of media, advertising and tech companies for the past 16 years, and will managing the company’s operations in the APAC region from the Sydney office, also reporting directly to Yovanno.
New general manager for Toronto-based Climax Media
Dana Di Ponio is set to become general manager for Climax Media, a leading Toronto-based digital agency. In her new role, Di Ponio will help oversee operations and new business development, working closely with Climax Media’s executive leadership team as the company prepares for growth and expansion.
With 20 years of agency experience, leading teams across a wide range of sectors, Di Ponio has built a reputation for expertise in project, program and operations management. She most recently served as vice president of project management at Critical Mass, overseeing programs in both Toronto and New York for Citigroup, Bank of Montreal, Inifiniti Global, Nissan Canada and Quinnipiac University. Prior to Critical Mass, she has held several leadership positions at Blast Radius, culminating in director of project services.
“I’m looking forward to joining Climax Media in this exciting time for the company and the opportunity to work with their incredibly talented team,” said Di Ponio. “I was drawn by the impressive client roster, the amazing work being done, and the fresh and innovative approach by this privately held agency.”
Teads adds talent from FT, Accenture and AOL
Video ad tech firm Teads has made 10 new seniors hires, filling spaces at its London office with top executive talent from the Financial Times, GroundTruth, inSkin, Accenture, Maxus and AOL. Within the appointments, Teads has named three domestic industry directors who will fuel the firm’s growth and support the global strategic accounts team, as the company seeks to capitalise on the popularity of its Outstream video format.
The three new industry directors are Jamie Towards, formerly managing partner for content at Accenture and Karmarama; Charlotte Williamson, previously head of luxury at the Financial Times; and Ian Webber, who served as global head of automotive for AOL. They will work with agencies and clients in the FMCG, luxury and auto spaces, respectively, to help them understand where their digital ad spend is going and how their budget can best be deployed.
Alongside the industry directors, the company has made a series of hires and promotions aimed at bolstering all areas of its senior team. Promotions include Rachel Arch, who becomes head of programmatic & business development for UK; Ryan Cook, who is now EMEA vice president of business development; and Paolo Mule, who is promoted to head of international and new markets. New joiners to Teads include Imran Khan, who arrives from GroundTruth to be vice president of strategic development, and Graham Alexander, former global marketing project manager at Maxus, who will be UK director of marketing.
“It’s a privilege to welcome such amazing and varied talent to the Teads team of more than 500 people worldwide,” said Justin Taylor, managing director for UK at Teads. “Advertiser demand for brand-safe, clean advertising across premium environments shows no sign of abating; these ten new hires introduce new expertise and experience to help us fulfil that demand.”
Merouane Saadi becomes SpotX’s first hire dedicated to Belgium
Video ad serving platform SpotX is further expanding its operations in Europe by adding Merouane Saadi as director of platform services. Based in Belgium, Saadi will build a team to help publishers and broadcasters in Belgium with their programmatic video advertising activities, and is SpotX’s first hire dedicated to the Belgian market.
Saadi brings extensive experience from both the buy-side and sell-side of the programmatic ad industry in Europe. Most recently, he worked as managing director for Benelux at Gamned!, following two years as a programmatic trading specialist at IP Belgium, where he launched the programmatic advertising activities for the firm. He has also held roles at Cadreon, Universal McCann and Mindshare. Saadi will report to Elwin Gastelaars, managing director for Benelux and Nordics at SpotX.
“I was attracted to the opportunity of working for a global company that is the most promising advertising platform in a fast-growing market, and to play a key role in developing its Benelux presence” said Saadi. “We are committed to offering the best in customer support to broadcasters and publishers in Belgium, and I’m looking forward to being a part of SpotX’s continued growth across Europe.”


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Toronto neighbourhood getting a massive street festival this weekend
After a brief hiatus during the pandemic, Kensington Market's Pedestrian Sundays made its triumphant return earlier this year.
In case you're unfamiliar, the street festival is famous for being pedestrian-only, with the streets shut down for vehicle traffic and instead being filled with artisans, local vendors, performers, and live music.
Starting at 12 p.m. on Sunday, September 24, you'll be able to explore freely until 7:30 p.m., and we suggest you do as it's the penultimate Pedestrian Sunday on this year's docket (the last one is Sunday, October 29).
If you've somehow never attended this street fest, here are the top-level deets:
Since beginning in 2004, the monthly event has attracted huge crowds and always takes place on the last Sunday of every month (well, the warmer ones at least, as it runs from May through October).
The famously diverse stores and shops spill out onto the streets, giving you — the visitor! — a chance to sample food, pick up treats, or snag a great deal at a sidewalk sale, all to the tune of live musicians.
You might even catch some local artists creating masterpieces right there on the street.
With a focus on celebrating "community, culture, and ecology," according to the Kensington Market BIA, it's honestly the perfect chance to dive deep into all the enclave has to offer.
If you're curious about the merchants, artists, vendors, or other details (like where to find street parking nearby), you can check out the Pedestrian Sundays website.
Join the conversation Load comments


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Dying Light is really the game that just keeps giving! We have additional content inbound via a free content drop for the Dying Light: Hellraid DLC.
With this free content, players can expect a new Story Mode for the Hellraid DLC. New weapons and also new visuals.
Read the official press release below:
Wrocław, Poland – 7 June 2021 – Techland announced that the Dying Light’s dark-fantasy Hellraid DLC is expanding today via a free new content drop that adds a brand new Story Mode, new areas, new weapons and a number of visual and technical enhancements to the dungeon-slasher experience. The update will be available for all platforms today.
Story Mode is a narrative rich addition that sees players venture deep into the demon-infested bowels of Ba’al’s Temple to rescue Lucius, a mysterious and powerful mage from captivity. The mode features three new quests – Clavis Stone, Imprisoned and Beneath Seals, all available in co-op mode – new locations and a fearsome new shield bearing skeleton enemy, that will require a fresh offensive strategy from players.
To assist them on their quest, players will be able to wield Hellraid’s first-ever ranged weapon, Corrupted Justice – an ornate and powerful bow, in addition to getting their hands on Bonecruncher – a heavyweight and formidable Two-Handed Hammer.
Story Mode will sit alongside the pre-existing Raid Mode, which will still be accessible after completing the new narrative prologue.
Furthermore, the content drop overhauls the games lighting system and adds additional environmental sounds which dramatically enhance the tone and atmosphere of the game. The update also introduces changes to in-game animations, improved minimap functionality, inventory management and more. Full patch notes can be found at https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1300710/.
Dying Light: Hellraid is an entirely new game mode for Dying Light based on Techland’s currently-on-hold first-person fantasy slasher Hellraid. It is available to purchase now for PC and consoles.
For more information on Dying Light and Dying Light: Hellraid, please visit https://dl1.dyinglightgame.com/.
What do you think of this update? Are you going to check out this new DLC update? Let us know in the comments after you watch the below trailer on our ever-growing YouTube channel.


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Ross Stores chief operating officer Michael Hartshorn said the off-price retail company will be “highly dependent on how China comes back from their shutdown,” speaking to Wall Street analysts Thursday after the chain reported a first-quarter profit miss on execution and merchandise mistakes.
In a Nutshell: Apparel sales outperformed home in the quarter, even though Easter sales failed to live up to the company’s plan.
CEO Barbara Rentler told analysts the Russia-Ukraine war “exacerbated inflationary pressures on the consumer not seen in 40 years,” adding that the year ahead “may prove to be more difficult than initially anticipated.”
Freight and fuel costs hampered the retailer’s business, though executives blamed their own missteps for the disappointing quarter.
“I wouldn’t really say that that there are problems in any pockets of inventory that we have. And we feel that we can we can improve the assortments. And we can improve our execution. At this point, you know, it’s really about us. It’s about us taking different actions in some of our assortments overall,” Rentler said.
Merchants are refocusing the fashion assortment to prioritize dress over casual, with Rentler saying, “We’re getting into that piece right now.”
Echoing TJX’s comments earlier this week, Ross pointed to a robust availability of goods in the market. “At this stage, if you’re really in the market, there’s a lot of availability, and it’s very broad based—whether it’s in home or whether it’s in apparel. There’s a lot of supply out there,” Rentler said.
This means merchants can take advantage of closeout opportunities, especially in home more so than in apparel, she said.
While inventory levels at quarter end were higher than a year ago, a portion of that consists of packaways that the retailer will pull over the course of the year to meet consumer demand. “Packaway merchandise represented 43 percent of total inventories versus 34 percent last year when we used a substantial amount of packaway to meet robust consumer demand,” Rentler said.
Hartshorn pointed out that the packaway strategy is helping Ross managing home products as well.
“When we came into the year, we planned longer lead times based on what we saw in the fourth quarter,” he said. “So what that meant for us, for businesses where we directly import mainly in home, what happened in Q1 is the supply chain eased somewhat and we received early second quarter goods in home, and we stored them in packaway and will flow them later in the year.”
Store inventories were up too, but still lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Rentler said Ross is carefully increasing prices to be sure customers are still getting a good value. “We monitor that very, very closely,” she said, adding that merchants for both the Ross Dress for Less and DD’s Discounts nameplates monitor and tweak pricing on a weekly basis.
“We remain confident in our ability to successfully navigate through this period. We have shown in the past that a value-focused business model has served us well in both healthy and more uncertain external climate. I believe the current challenging conditions will be no different,” Rentler said.
Net Sales: For the three months ended April 30, net sales fell 4 percent to $4.33 billion from $4.52 billion. Ross said comparable store sales fell 7 percent on top of a 13 percent gain in the year-ago period.
Earnings: Net income for the first quart dropped 29 percent to $338.4 million, or 97 cents a diluted share, from $476.5 million, or $1.34, a year ago.
Wall Street was expecting EPS of $1.00 on revenue of $4.53 billion.
The company provided a more conservative outlook for the balance of 2022, predicting same-store sales for the second quarter ending July 30, 2022 to fall 4 percent to 6 percent, on top of a strong 15 percent gain a year ago, and EPS in the range of 99 cents to $1.07.
For the year ending Jan. 28, 2023, Ross is forecasting comp store sales to fall 2 percent to 4 percent and EPS between $4.34 and $4.58. That compares with prior guidance in March of comps flat to up 3 percent on an EPS range between $4.71 to $5.12.
CEO’s Take: “Our mission continues to be delivering the best bargains possible to leverage our favorable market position, as demonstrated by our long, successful track record. We believe our steadfast focus on the execution of this core strategy will be the key driver of our success,” Rentler said.
Additional reporting by Jessica Binns.


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Israeli food importer and kosher food supplier G. Willi-Food International has announced that it has closed its US$10.0m private placement of shares of its common stock and warrants to institutional investors.
Total net proceeds from the placement, after costs and fees, were around $9.6m, the company said.
“This private placement provides us with the capital to build a new distribution centre that will increase our capacity and enable us to progress in our strategy of international expansion,” said president and chief operating officer Zwi Williger. “We are targeting the $14bn kosher market opportunity in the US, and we are aggressively pursuing additional distribution channels for our innovative line of kosher products. We are committed to delivering value for our investors and are pleased to expand our shareholder base through this transaction.”
G. Willi-Food International, which recently reported a 23% increase in first-half revenues to $22.0m and a 724% increase in first-half net income to $5.7m, said a total of 1,652,893 ordinary shares were sold at a purchase price of $6.05 per share. Warrants to purchase 561,982 additional shares at an exercise price of $8.00 per share were also issued in the transaction, with Roth Capital Partners acting as the placement agent.


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Payback makes headway in Poland
6.5 million cards in circulation after first year
The Polish version of the Payback multi-partner loyalty scheme has built up 6.5 million cardholders in its first year.
German-based Payback said Polish cardholders are collecting points from retail, service and online partners, with household penetration in the major cities reaching 28%.
“Germany and Poland are the engines of economic growth in Europe. That is why we have ambitious targets and high expectations for Poland, too,” says Kai Klippel, MD of internationalisation at Payback.
Klippel added that he wants to achieve a total of around ten million active cards before the end of the year and gain additional new partners.
Over the past few months, the range of opportunities for customers to collect points has been expanded as several new partners joined the programme. The ten largest partner companies that have been with Payback in Poland from the start have been joined by pharmacy chain Apteka1, the Danish furniture house JYSK and the TV and online service provider Mango Media.
Other main partners include BP (the largest private service station chain in Poland), Orange and TP, Real hypermarkets, and Allegro, the country’s largest online auction site (one of 40 online partners). Consumers can also collect points at Bank Zachodni WBK, Accor Hotels and Mix Electronics stores.
In total Payback now claims to have 24.6 million active cardholders in Germany and Poland. In Germany it claims a household penetration rate of 60%.
Payback Polska is based in Warsaw and is operated by Loyalty Partner Polska, a wholly owned subsidiary of Payback GmbH (Munich).


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LYNDHURST, N.J. — Sika Corporation is launching a new branding campaign in the United States. The initiative highlights the breadth of Sika product offerings in concrete, waterproofing, roofing, flooring, sealing and bonding, refurbishment, automotive and industry applications.
To kick off the national campaign launch, Sika will be hosting a major consumer one-day event in Dallas on Oct. 7, 2015. The event will bring the architecture and construction communities together to discuss the trends and innovations that are defining our industry and shaping our cities.
“This campaign brings awareness to the public of the ways that Sika helps shape their lives in important and often unseen ways,” said Sika Vice President of Marketing - Roofing and Flooring Jay Thomas. “Sika technology helps make stronger, better and higher-quality buildings, public infrastructure, industry applications such as wind turbine blades and solar panels, and automobiles every day.”


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General Motors has confirmed it will build Formula One engines from 2028 onwards, handing a boost to Andretti-Cadillac's bid to join the grid.
GM, the parent company of Cadillac, made the announcement ahead of this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix, marking another significant moment in F1's continued growth in America.
The news strengthens Andretti's proposal to join the F1 grid in the coming seasons, which has been accepted by the sport's governing body, the FIA, but is awaiting approval from the sport's commercial arm.
Michael Andretti, who joined forces with GM last year, recently said his team is ready to join as early as 2025, although that could be delayed until 2026. His bid, which was approved by the FIA in October, included a technical partnership with Cadillac, although until now there had been no commitment to a full engine deal.
If the bid is approved, Andretti would have to seek a short-term deal with an existing power unit manufacturer until Cadillac's engines are ready in 2028. The team has already held talks with Renault about a supply deal, although the conversations were with the French manufacturer's previous management.
If Andretti joins in 2025, Renault will be bound under F1's rules to supply the team regardless as they currently have the fewest customers. In 2026, Renault, Honda and Audi will all have one works team each (Alpine, Aston Martin and Audi, respectively) and no customers.
Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Power Trains are the other engine builders signed up for 2026 when new engine rules will see electrical energy make up 50% of the overall power output.


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The food and beverage industry trends - 2021 & 2022.
Consumer behaviour has been irreversibly altered in the post-pandemic world. As a result, new preferences, behavioural patterns, and food & beverage aspirations have changed from what they were. So, as this year draws close, let us see some latest food & beverage trends of 2021. From contactless menus to capturing data leads, here are the following highlights by Rhythm Gupta, Co-Founder & CPO, Easy Eat.
Personalization has always been the divine grail for restaurants, especially for tech-savvy users who are used to brands like Amazon to remember their past orders and automatically make recommendations based on preferences and purchasing patterns. In the coming year, restaurants will make the order experience stellar by using AI to remember previous user interactions, food preferences, habits, etc. Likewise, businesses will take advantage of customers’ digital footprints to understand’ practices and create unique experiences.
A recent YouGov survey discovered that a growing number of orders are now coming from QSR apps, indicating a new trend. Furthermore, in response to the high commission costs of platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy, restaurants began to develop their apps, thus controlling the entire business process from production to delivery. As a result, lower delivery costs and higher margins proved to be a win-win situation as it eliminated expense layers for both the customer and the service provider.
Cloud Kitchens have proved to be major disruptors in the restaurant industry. In 2021, there was a rise in multi-brand cloud kitchens. A multi-brand cloud kitchen owns several brands under one parent company. All the brands share ample kitchen space and are under one roof. In addition, each brand is positioned to cater to different customer needs. This approach will help restaurants capture a significant market share and increase customer frequency.
Without any doubt, 2021 has been a contactless year. Contactless and automated online ordering solutions reduced human interaction, evolving a strong trend of the year. Contactless dining, whether in-house or delivery, meant tech-enabled. The use of QR codes to link food menus to mobile phones is a trend that has spread quickly during the pandemic and may become irreversible.
In the pandemic's aftermath, most eateries discovered that they couldn't rely exclusively on third-party aggregator platforms for user acquisition. Digital marketing, influencer engagement, Whatsapp ordering, and integration with a 360-degree technology platform like EasyEat are some new ways restaurant owners explored to create more revenue post-pandemic.
Monitoring food and beverage stocks, envisioning quantities, and even planning reorders are time-consuming, and in the coming year, more restaurants will try and adopt automated inventory management. AI will assist restaurant owners in reducing food costs, tracking inventory, supply management, thereby helping restaurants run the business efficiently.
While in-house delicacy will never be replaced entirely by food retail, to-go, or delivery, and human contact will never be rendered obsolete by a snazzy online delivery channel, the priority balance will transition substantially in 2022 and beyond. The future winners will be elevated, well-branded restaurants with the forethought to transition to reduced touchpoints. All in all, it's safe to say that the future of the food & beverage industry is digital.


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In another move by Mattel to fight stereotypes, Barbie's Moschino ad featured a boy playing with the iconic doll for the first time in the brand's history. It really is "so fierce."
"So fierce," a boy in the Moschino Barbie commerical said.
The Internet is loving the adorable boy and praising Mattel for taking a stand against gender norms. This ad could benefit the brand by opening them up to a whole new demographic of customers.
And Mattel could use the boost. The brand has been on the decline for the past four years. It's received criticism in the past for perpetuating stereotypes but it looks like it is trying to reinvent itself.
Just a few years ago Mattel tried to break stereotypes and failed.
The 2010 book"Barbie: I Can Be A Computer Engineer" sounds like it's correcting gender stereotypes within the STEM field, but was criticized because the book showed Barbie needed male engineers to help her.
Last year, news organizations took notice and Mattel issued an apology.
But as we mentioned, the brand may be on the road to redemption. (Video via Barbie)
For example, remember when Giuliana Rancic made a controversial comment about Zendaya's dreadlocks smelling like marijuana earlier this year?
Some, including Zendaya, saw this comment as an offensive and harmful stereotype toward people with the hairstyle.
Mattel honored Zendaya for standing up for herself and her culture with a Barbie. The doll got lots of praise, including from rapper Nicki Minaj.
This holiday season will be a perfect testing period to see if the brand's efforts pay off.


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Settlements using the Kazakh tenge, Armenian dram and Kyrgyzstani som will be discussed at the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council
Russia plans to propose expanding the use of national currencies in trade settlements between the members of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council (EAEU), news outlet RBC reported on Thursday, citing a draft of a Russian decree for the council meeting, to be held in Kyrgyzstan on August 25 and 26.
The decree offers recommendations on economic cooperation between EAEU member states – Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
According to the document, the use of national currencies in mutual trade settlements is proposed in order to enforce economic sovereignty of national economies of EAEU members amid “changes in the architecture of international trade” and “global restructuring of supply chains.”
The document also proposes to expand the interaction among the national payment-card systems of EAEU member states, so that national debit and credit cards like Russia’s Mir and the Belarusian Belkart can be freely used in all EAEU countries. Moreover, it offers to introduce an alternative in exchanging financial information between EAEU countries’ banks without using SWIFT within the framework of mutual settlements.
According to the draft decree, the current share of national currencies in mutual settlements of the EAEU states in 2022 is 74%, and over half of the settlements are made in Russian rubles.