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When working with a well-informed customer base, it’s vital for tire dealers to be up to speed on tire features, performance and options. This is definitely the case when it comes to UHP summer tires, as these performance drivers usually know what they want out of their replacement tires.
Whether it’s for a sporty daily driver or weekends spent at the track, it’s up to the dealer to help these customers weigh their options and choose the right rubber for the road. We spoke with representatives from several tire manufacturers who share the unique trends, features and demands of UHP summer tires.
Overall Market Stays Stable
The market has remained relatively flat since 2014 for UHP summer tires with “W” speed ratings and higher, according to David Poling, director of tire development & product marketing for Giti Tire R&D Center (North America) Inc. Within the segment, there has been growth in larger rim diameters and lower aspect ratios, which mirror the trends of other markets, he adds.
“The segment has remained relatively stable for the last decade, but, as usual, the big numbers don’t tell the whole story,” says Duane Sampson, Yokohama Tire product manager of PCR. “UHP summer applications on SUVs are increasing, as are the relevant rim diameters. The 22-in. UHP summer tire volume still grew through the COVID-19-plagued 2020. While there are still high-volume sizes in 17- and 18-in. rim diameters, the future of UHP summer is 19 in. and above.”
The segment’s flatness, and even a slight decline according to Daniel Kelly, product manager for Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, U.S. and Canada, is due in part to the increasing popularity of UHP all-season tires.
“With that said, for drivers looking to get the most performance out of their sports cars, sports sedans, and sporty crossovers in the warmer months, UHP summer tires still offer the best performance,” he says.
Kevin Arima, senior product manager for Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp., adds that as sporty light trucks are becoming originally equipped with high-performance tires featuring larger rim diameters, lower aspect ratios and higher speed ratings, it will help drive the replacement market.
“The sports car and light truck segment continues to evolve with EVs and in support of those performance demands, a UHP tire that can apply that power to the pavement without sacrificing many of the other ride characteristics becomes important,” he adds.
Trends Within the Segment
Within the UHP summer segment, there are many trends affecting the products these consumers may seek when it comes to tire replacement.
“In this segment, there have been continued efforts toward pushing the limits,” says David Shelton, director of industry relations for Giti Tire USA. “[There has been] a great deal more effort in tailoring products to focus on improving and designing the tires for a specific sub-category, and then taking that better all-around performance and providing more tread life for street use.”
Currently on the market are UHP summer tires dedicated for track day use, autocross use, DOT legal race tires, drift tires and great-performing UHP street tires, Shelton adds.
“Today, amateur drivers are attending an ever-increasing number of sanctioned high-performance driving events,” says Tsuyoshi Johnson, product manager of PCR tires for Falken Tires. “From local track days to national autocross events, the typical weekend warrior is an educated consumer who knows what they’re after: UHP tires that tailor to their uber-specific needs. Combine this sentiment with the tremendous improvements in tire technology of late, and you get demand for a variety of UHP summer tires with distinct strengths and focal points.”
This is why manufacturers have developed several sub-segments within the UHP summer category over the last decade, he adds.
“In the past, the general UHP summer title was used to encompass all products that fell under the traditional performance summer tire segment,” Johnson explains. “But, as the performance of tires in this segment has continued to improve and evolve, it’s necessitated the creation of more specific sub-categories. A few of these are max summer, extreme summer, competition summer, as well as more recent names like super UHP and hyper summer. The tires in each of these segments can be differentiated by their unique compounds, varying tread designs and respective UTQG treadwear ratings.”
Top Performance Demands
What do consumers in this segment seek when it comes to performance attributes of their UHP summer tires? While the nuances may vary depending on their intended use of the tires, there are several baseline expectations.
Since the UHP summer tire segment originated in Europe, grip and handling on both dry and wet road conditions are very important, as these tires were developed to meet European-specific wet-weather conditions and high-speed driving conditions, according to Jay Lee, product planning director for Nexen Tire.
Giti Tire R&D Center’s Poling explains that tire usage profiles can be lumped into four distinct categories:
- Base level is a daily driver with between 200-600 horsepower whose owner wants dry traction and handling, but also wants some amount of treadwear and low level of noise since they are driving the vehicle every day. These fitments require more wet traction, since they may see more days in the rain. This first category is by far the largest volume.
- The second category is when you begin to step up to the sports cars that are driven on a limited basis with more horsepower and more enthusiasm behind the wheel and at the gas pedal. These drivers are looking for maximum dry grip as they push their sports cars to the limit and expect their tires to be able to handle these extremes.
- The third category is even more extreme, demanding higher levels of grip by enthusiasts with high horsepower in both stock and modified cars who drive their cars even harder on the road and occasionally at the track.
- The fourth category is the track-only tire fitments that are used on modified cars at the track and require the highest level of dry grip and responsiveness.
“The sports car of today has both the power of a supercar and the refinement of a luxury car of yesteryear,” says Yokohama Tire’s Sampson. “As the level of sophistication of modern vehicles increases, the need for a sophisticated tire raises, as well. While the constant aspect of dry grip has not changed, UHP summer tires now need to also incorporate [reduced] road noise and even rolling resistance to address the customer’s needs of today and tomorrow.”
Tire Technology & Design Features
In order to meet these extreme demands, manufacturers must design UHP summer tires with a multitude of attributes.
“Tires need to provide maximum stiffness and rigidity out of their pattern and compounds to enable superior dry handling, while at the same time providing the necessary tire void and compounding for excellent wet traction,” says Björn-B. Gläser, product manager of performance tires, PLT Americas, for Continental Tire. “Premium manufacturers spend a high level of effort optimizing the pattern design to ensure a comfortable, quiet ride — and while this is not the core focus of this segment, it is one of the added benefits of premium UHP summer tires.”
To secure the wet grip, tire companies need to adopt a silica-based compound, as well as reinforce the tire structure — especially the belts — for high-speed endurance, according to Nexen Tire’s Lee.
“Optimizing the contact patch is one of the key design features of a UHP summer tire,” says Toyo Tire’s Arima. “This is done through computer-aided engineering and understanding the loading characteristics that a performance tire needs. Lateral and longitudinal grip in dry and wet is the most sought-after performance characteristic of a UHP summer tire. Utilizing high silica compounds, coupled with circumferential grooves, help to create a well-balanced, high-grip UHP summer tire.”
Falken Tires’ Johnson says the two most important performance aspects of a UHP summer tire are structural integrity and the endurance to sustain the brutal effects of high-performance driving.
“For most performance-minded drivers, a responsive tire is so crucial. We can’t overstate the importance of a tire that effectively propels the vehicle in the direction its driver has in mind,” he explains. “This may seem obvious, but there’s more to this than simply developing a ‘sticky’ compound. If a tire’s internal construction and tread pattern layout aren’t dialed in, it’ll be impossible to make the most of a great compound. Thus, it’s critical that each aspect of the tire is designed to work in unison to provide the level of vehicle predictability high-performance drivers demand. Additionally, it’s important for any UHP tire that its performance remains consistent as it heats up and goes through heat cycling.”
Meeting Customers’ Nuanced Needs
As with any enthusiast segment, it’s important for tire dealers to be knowledgeable about UHP summer tire features and uses when serving these customers.
“Many customers in this category are considered enthusiasts and have more than likely done their homework and know the performance capabilities they are looking for,” TBC Corp.’s Vance explains. “The key to serving these customers usually comes down to availability of the fitment. Proper installation is also critical given the sensitive nature of these tires.”
Ask questions with an open mind, as key needs will come up in a discussion with the customer, advises Yokohama Tire’s Sampson.
“When the dealer has the knowledge base of the nuanced attributes of each UHP summer tire in regard to longevity, performance, fitments and availability, the right product will present itself,” he says. “The customer who has the ability to have a UHP summer tire on their vehicle will likely be more discerning and latch onto a specific attribute more than the typical tire buyer.”
The key is to understand how a customer is going to use their car and tires, adds Continental Tire’s Gläser, explaining that while some simply enjoy matching their performance car with a performance tire, others look for maximum performance for track events. This influences the importance of certain characteristics and tradeoffs — for instance, in some cases a customer may be willing to trade tread life, wet performance and ride comfort to gain dry performance.
“There are typically two consumer groups for the UHP segment,” says Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations’ Kelly. “The first group of consumers are true enthusiasts who love driving spiritedly and seek out performance tires to get the most out of their vehicle. The second group of consumers owns a vehicle originally equipped with performance tires, but prioritizes other performance characteristics, such as wet and dry traction and long-lasting tread wear. As always, Bridgestone recommends that dealers work closely with their customers to understand performance expectations, which will help to determine the best tire to meet those requirements, while complementing the demands of their performance or luxury vehicle.”
“It’s important to know what type of weather conditions your customers encounter throughout the year,” Falken Tires’ Johnson advises. “Certain UHP summer products are designed using specialized rubber compounds with higher glass transition temperatures needed for peak performance in mild, dry conditions. Because of this, it’s not ideal for these tires to be used when temperatures drop near or below freezing. The rubber can get brittle and cracking may occur if the tires aren’t gradually brought back to milder temperatures in a controlled manner.”
He also recommends dealers discuss tire wear life expectations with customers, as there are several factors that, when combined, may cause some frustration for customers who don’t fully understand what they’re buying into.
“For one, these tires are simply designed to prioritize dry grip at the expense of wear life,” Johnson explains. “To make matters worse, tire life is directly affected by driving behavior, so the tendency for this consumer group to drive more aggressively can really shorten the lifespan of a UHP summer tire. And, lastly, if the consumer has a staggered setup, their inability to rotate tire positions from drive to non-drive axles will result in more rapid wear overall.”
UHP Summer Tire Options
The manufacturers that provided information for this article recommended the following tire options in this segment:
- Bridgestone Potenza Sport (launching Q2 2021) and Firestone Firehawk Indy 500
- Continental ExtremeContact Sport and General G-Max RS
- Falken Azenis FK510/FK510 SUV
- Nexen N’Fera SU1
- GT Radial Champiro HPY, Champiro SX2 and Champiro SX2 RS
- TBC Corp.: Sumitomo HTR Z5
- Toyo Proxes Sport
- Yokohama Advan Sport V107, Advan Apex, Advan A052 and Advan Neova AD08R
This article courtesy of Tire Review.


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HIGHLAND, Utah -- They're back and stealing your holiday cheer. This surveillance footage was captured Tuesday in Highland and shows a man taking Christmas packages off a front porch.
This family now joins the more than 20 million Americans who have their packages stolen from their homes before they can even open them. The Ball family says this thief went up to their porch in broad daylight while they were all home.
“I went outside to check on our Christmas lights and saw the empty box and I thought that's really odd,” said Nick Ball of Highland.
When Nick rewound his surveillance, he saw a man who appears calm, cool and collected as he goes up to the porch with a box in hand before putting it down and picking up the other boxes—all of this happening in broad daylight.
“You kind of feel violated, there wasn't much value in the boxes, replacing the stuff isn't a big deal: but you feel vulnerable at that point in the middle of the day on a busy street, you feel violated for sure,” Ball said.
While this thief didn't get away with much in these packages.
“We bought some Christmas gifts for the kids' teachers, so we had some personalized candy jars and personalized notepads with their names on it so nothing they can do anything with,” Ball said.
Police say this is a painful reminder: tis the season, when packages are ripe for the picking. All over the valley we see the numbers rise as modern day Grinches are getting away with gifts again and again.
During this time of year, most police departments are on the lookout for package thieves and are setting up stings or even baiting packages with GPS devices, leading them to the bad guys and delivering them to jail.
Many of these crimes are caught on camera, and when the surveillance is posted online for thousands to see it makes it easier to catch the criminal.
“Now I feel a little empowered, people keep seeing the video, and I feel hopeful we'll hatch the person and prevent it from happening to someone else,” Ball said.
If you recognize the man from the surveillance, call Lone Peak Police.
Police encourage residents to make sure they are requiring a signature upon delivery so packages aren't left unattended, or they suggest having the packages delivered to a workplace.

domain: news


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Archive for the ‘WII’ Category
Posted by DaRipp3r on June 18, 2013 under Euro, News, PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games is pleased to announce that Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara is available today as a digital download from the North American PlayStation Network and globally via Steam and coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the European PlayStation Network from tomorrow, J... more.
Posted by DaRipp3r on June 12, 2013 under Euro, News, PC, PS3, Portables, WII, Wii U, Xbox 360
Leading video games publisher Namco Bandai Games America, today revealed its stellar product lineup for the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, CA. The company will display a total of 11 titles in rooms #304 B&C on the second level of the South Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center. These 11 titles represent the pinnacle of game development for an assortment of ... more.
Posted by DaRipp3r on June 10, 2013 under Euro, News, WII, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Majesco Entertainment Company, publisher of the Zumba Fitness video game franchise that has now sold more than nine million copies worldwide, has unveiled the first next-generation screenshots of Zumba Fitness World Party on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft. Zumba Fitness World Party is a culturally-rich dance-fitness experience that embodies Zumba’s in... more.
Posted by DaRipp3r on June 7, 2013 under Euro, News, PC, PS3, Portables, Wii U, Xbox 360
Sega of America, Inc. today announced a line-up of five eagerly awaited titles for this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. The show will see a world premiere of one of Sega’s most iconic franchises, the HD remake of a gaming classic as well as the finest in PC strategy gaming. Sonic Lost World: ◆ Making its hands-on debut at E3, Sonic Lost World puts Sonic up... more.
Posted by DaRipp3r on May 29, 2013 under Euro, News, PS3, WII, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Majesco Entertainment Company, an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, announced today its line-up for this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) being held in Los Angeles, June 11-13. From Zumba Fitness World Party, the culturally-rich fitness experience that expands your horizons, to the adventure-filled fun with the boys of summer in Phineas and Ferb: Quest for Coo... more.
Posted by DaRipp3r on May 28, 2013 under Euro, News, WII, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Majesco Entertainment Company, publisher of the Zumba Fitness video game franchise that has now sold more than nine million copies worldwide, announced today that Zumba Fitness World Party is expected to launch this October on Kinect for Xbox 360 Wii U and Wii, and later this year on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft. Immerse yourself in the movement and m... more.
Posted by DaRipp3r on May 20, 2013 under Euro, News, Wii U
With the Strategic Mission Interface (SMI) hub, the lines are blurred between the single player campaign and co-op as the narrative is deepened with Sam Fisher and Isaac Briggs. Players can earn in-game currency and unlock additional weapons or gadgets via specialized co-op missions assigned by Grim, Briggs, Charlie and Kobin. Tom Clancys Splinter Cell Blacklist will be available in No... more.
Posted by DaRipp3r on May 14, 2013 under Euro, News, Wii U
Today, Ubisoft invites fans to dive into Rayman Legends and explore a deep underwater fantasy in a new gameplay video introducing the 20,000 Lums under the Sea world. Throughout the underwater level, players will manipulate light and dark using gameplay mechanics requiring stealth and infiltration to defeat new types of enemies and levels. Rayman Legends will be available on PlayStation... more.
Posted by DaRipp3r on May 13, 2013 under Euro, News, PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
It is now the dawn of the Eighteenth Century Assassins Creed games have always been designed with real history as its backdrop. In the latest Assassins Creed IV Black Flag trailer, gamers get a glimpse into the Golden Age of Piracy, when men of fortune sought riches and pirates of legends like Benjamin Hornigold, Calico Jack, Charles Vane and Blackbeard ruled the treacherous high seas... more.
Posted by DaRipp3r on May 10, 2013 under Euro, News, PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
In the screenshots, Aiden Pearce connects with Clara Lille, a woman with her own dark past and questionable methods. He uses any and all methods to exact vengeance against his enemies, be it hacking into personal cell phone conversations or using physical threats to get what he wants. Players will assume the role of Aiden Pearce, a new type of vigilante who, with the help of his smartphone,... more.
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Hands-on We’ve been hands-on with the PlayStation Access controller and it’s shaping up to be an impactful, important, and exciting addition to the PS5 hardware ecosystem.
Sony has confirmed the selection of games coming to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium in October 2023.
Lowest ever If you're in the market for a new PS5 SSD then these Prime Day deals on our five favorite storage solutions are the answer to your data woes.
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Lowest ever If you're looking to get a PS5 headset before the sales events start then these are the ones I'd personally pick ahead of Prime Day.
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SPRING MARKS the start of a new tax year. With new tax rates and thresholds coming into force on 6th April 2019 for tax year 2019/20, David Redfern, Managing Director of DSR Tax Claims Ltd, explains what these new tax changes mean for individuals and businesses alike.
For individuals, the main news is that the tax-free Personal Allowance has increased from £11,850 to £12,500. This means that workers now have to earn more than £12,500 before they are subject to tax at 20%.
There have also been changes to some of the tax thresholds, with the threshold for higher rate tax at 40% rising to £50,000 from £46,350. Taxpayers start to lose their personal allowance once they reach earnings of over £100,000.
Married Couple’s Allowance, open to couples where one partner was born before 6th April 1935, increases by £250 to £8,695 while Marriage Allowance increases by £40 to £1,190. Scottish taxpayers, who are subject to different rates and thresholds of Income Tax to the rest of the UK, have also seen an increase in the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500, before they are subject to the starter rate of 19%. From 2021/22, personal allowances will be indexed with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and will rise accordingly.
Rates for savers and investors remain unchanged with the Personal Savings Allowance staying at £1,000 per year for basic rate taxpayers and Dividend Allowance staying at £2,000 per year. However, the Capital Gains exempt amount has risen to £12,000 from £11,700.
National Insurance rates will remain the same, although some limits and thresholds have changed which could mean that high earners pay more in National Insurance. There is also a small rise in Class 2 National Insurance contributions for self-employed taxpayers.
For businesses, the most significant change is the increase to minimum wage and National Living Wage rates.
For workers aged 25 or over, the National Living Wage rate increases 38p to £8.21 per hour, with minimum wages rates also seeing across-the-board increases.
There are different minimum wage rates dependent on the age of the worker. Workers between 21 and 24 are now entitled to earn £7.70 per hour, with those aged 18 to 20 entitled to £6.15 per hour and those under 18 entitled to £4.35 per hour. Apprentices who are under 19 or in their first year of their apprenticeship are entitled to £3.90 per hour.
The New Enterprise Allowance scheme has been extended for a further 2 years, offering money and support to people wishing to start a new business, which will provide a further 30,000 mentoring places for suitable new businesses. In addition, small retailers could benefit from Business Rates Relief which could lead to businesses in properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less paying no business rates.
David commented, “Small businesses on the high street have been crying out for a helping hand in recent years and eligible businesses will no doubt welcome a reduction in their business rates, although it remains to be seen whether this will halt the decline of the UK’s high streets.”
Other changes include an increase in the Access to Work allowance for disabled employees and those who suffer health conditions which impact on their ability to work and changes to the Benefit in Kind rate of company cars, which will be based on the CO2 emissions of the company car. Fuel duty remains frozen for a ninth consecutive year.


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The average price of a new vehicle in the U.S. dropped by 2.6% in January 2024, as luxury brands offered significant discounts to boost their sales. According to Kelley Blue Book, a subsidiary of Cox Automotive, the average transaction price (ATP) for a new vehicle was $48,763, down from $50,031 in January 2023.
Luxury brands increase their market share with lower prices
One of the main factors behind the decline in new vehicle prices was the increase in luxury brand sales, which reached a record high of 19.8% of the total market in January 2024. Luxury brands, such as Audi, BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz, lowered their prices to attract more customers and compete with non-luxury brands.
The average price of a luxury brand vehicle was $60,978, the lowest since the summer of 2021. Luxury brands also increased their incentives to 6.2% of the ATP, more than double the level of a year ago. The incentives included cash rebates, low-interest financing, and lease deals.
Some of the luxury models that saw the biggest price drops and discounts were the Audi Q5, the BMW 3 Series, the Lexus ES, and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. These models are among the most popular and profitable for their respective brands, and they face fierce competition from non-luxury models, such as the Toyota RAV4, the Honda Accord, the Hyundai Sonata, and the Ford Fusion.
Non-luxury brands face margin pressure from higher costs and lower demand
While luxury brands lowered their prices to gain market share, non-luxury brands faced margin pressure from higher costs and lower demand. The average price of a non-luxury brand vehicle was $44,697, down from $45,378 in January 2023. Non-luxury brands also increased their incentives to 5.5% of the ATP, up from 2.6% a year ago.
The higher costs for non-luxury brands were mainly due to the rising prices of raw materials, such as steel, aluminum, and plastic, as well as the higher cost of labor and transportation. The lower demand was partly due to the economic slowdown, the higher interest rates, and the lower consumer confidence.
Some of the non-luxury models that saw the biggest price drops and discounts were the Chevrolet Silverado, the Ford F-150, the Nissan Rogue, and the Toyota Camry. These models are among the best-selling and most profitable for their respective brands, and they face intense competition from other non-luxury models, as well as from luxury models.
Electric vehicle prices decline as Tesla slashes prices to boost sales
Another factor behind the decline in new vehicle prices was the decrease in electric vehicle (EV) prices, which dropped by 10.8% in January 2024, compared to a year ago. The average price of an EV was $55,353, down from $62,067 in January 2023. EV prices also declined by 3.2% from December 2023, when they were $57,184.
The main reason for the decline in EV prices was the price cuts by Tesla, the market leader in the EV segment. Tesla slashed the prices of its Model 3, Model S, Model X, and Model Y by up to $5,000 in January 2024, in a bid to boost its sales and market share. Tesla also increased its incentives to 3.0% of the ATP, up from 1.0% a year ago.
Tesla’s price cuts were partly due to the expiration of the federal tax credit for EVs, which was reduced from $7,500 to $3,750 for Tesla vehicles in January 2024. Tesla also faced increased competition from other EV makers, such as GM, Ford, Hyundai, and Kia, which launched new and improved models in 2023 and 2024.
According to Kelley Blue Book, the decline in new vehicle prices in January 2024 was a sign of the normalization of the market, after a period of high prices and low incentives in 2022 and 2023. The market is expected to remain competitive and dynamic in 2024, as automakers adjust their prices and strategies to meet the changing consumer preferences and market conditions.


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The Italian milling company Molino Spadoni makes its debut on Israeli TV. Its flours are protagonists of “Nadia Ellis, the Vegan Italian Chef”. It is a new international television format conducted by Nadia Ellis, the first vegan host of Italian cuisine in the Middle East. The show will have a strong media impact in Israel, the country with the highest percentage of vegans in the world and one of the most attractive markets for Italy.
Click here to discover the profile and products of Molino Spadoni on Italianfood.net platform
In fact – according to the elaborations of the Italian Embassy on CBS data, Bank of Israel, Italian Trade Agency-May 2020:
- The trend of Italian trade with Israel is characterized by a constant growth (+3.9% yoy average over the last 10 years). In 2019 exports reached 2.55 billion euros;
- Italy is Israel’s sixth supplier for all products;
- The agri-food sector is one of the driving sectors of Italian exports, with a market share of 6.7% (on total Italian exports in the first months of 2020), thanks also to the growing popularity among Israeli consumers of Italian food and wine products.
With this initiative Molino Spadoni becomes an ambassador of the Italian gastronomic excellence in Israel.
THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTION OF MOLINO SPADONI
This operation will give a great visibility to Molino Spadoni and the opportunity to communicate and promote his flours in a country that is among its foreign customers. In addition to the Middle East, the Ravenna-based company’s leading markets are Europe, Oceania and the United States (in these four areas, the group achieves more than 80% of its export sales). Molino Spadoni has a strong international vocation, to the point that exports represent about 25% of its turnover.
Today the company exports mainly in the food service channel, but it also aims to expand in the large-scale retail. Among the most exported references are flours, frozen pizza balls (basic dough) and gluten-free dry pasta. Molino Spadoni is therefore positioned as one of the main Italian exporters of specialty flours. The goal of the company is to continue its development on foreign markets, focusing on the diversification of its offer.


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“We do anything that any other team does,” Vonesh said. “Obviously, it’s not enjoyable to lose. When you’re on that kind of streak, you find other things to get excited about like winning a half or the first four minutes or team chemistry and relationships.
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WD-40 has joined the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA).
The brand, invented over 60 years ago by the Rocket Chemical Company in California, was first sold as a Multi-Use product in aerosol cans in 1958.
BHETA’s DIY and garden sector director, Paul Grinsell commented: “This is great news. WD-40 must be one of only a few seriously famous global brands in our industry sector and I’m thrilled to welcome the UK team to BHETA.”
BHETA is a trade association for manufacturers, suppliers and distributors in the DIY, Housewares, Garden and Home Improvement markets.


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Global e-commerce marketplace eBay Inc has recorded a loss of $61 million (about Rs 392 crore) on its investment in Jasper Infotech, which owns and operates online marketplace Snapdeal.
At the same time, the consumer Internet giant has recorded a gain of $167 million on the sale of its India business to Flipkart, according to its annual report.
In 2017, eBay picked up a 5.4% stake in Flipkart, India's largest e-commerce company, a two-step transaction that saw it sell its domestic operations to latter for $211 million, while also investing in the Bengaluru-based consumer internet giant.
"During the third quarter of 2017, we received a 5.44% ownership interest in Flipkart in exchange for our eBay India business and a $500 million cash investment, resulting in a cost method investment of $725 million," said the company's annual report.
eBay and Flipkart also entered into an exclusive agreement in which they will jointly pursue cross-border trade opportunities.
- 'Origin' debate to benefit us: eBay India
- eBay CEO's early wins have yet to erase Wall Street's doubts
- eBay sells its classifieds unit to Adevinta in $9.2 billion deal
- Ebay nears deal to sell classified-ads unit to Norway's Adevinta: Report
- Ebay nears $10 billion sale of classified ads unit: Sources
- EBay picks up over 5% stake in Paytm mall


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We never seem able to learn how widespread disinformation is. Anyone can pop up on a website claiming to be a “security researcher” and push out all sorts of wild claims. Not only that, but the wilder their claims, the harder we find it to focus on what really is important.
Last Thursday, 12 November, Apple had a bad day with online services. Perhaps the most prominently affected was the release of macOS 11.0.1 Big Sur, yet by far the most consequential was a failure in ocsp.apple.com which for several hours left many users unable to launch the apps which they use every day.
By a strange coincidence, someone claiming to a “hacker and security researcher” chose that same day to publish an article alleging, among many other things, that “your computer now serves a remote master, who has decided that they are entitled to spy on you”. He then uses that overtly paranoid thought to discourage anyone from buying Apple’s new M1 Macs – a motive which should lead you to wonder whether it’s ulterior. He also states categorically that “there will be no way to boot any OS on the new Apple Silicon macs that won’t phone home” without apparently even having seen, let alone used, an Apple Silicon Mac.
Those who take the trouble to read the carefully-researched account by Jeff Johnson, one of the most knowledgeable and experienced Mac developers on the planet, will get an accurate picture of what happened. In short, when you launch an app in a recent version of macOS, which I believe includes Catalina and possibly Mojave as well as Big Sur, macOS checks its signing certificate with an external service, to confirm that the certificate is valid and hasn’t been revoked. This is performed using a standard protocol, OCSP, and is now the preferred method of checking the validity of security certificates for other purposes, including those for TLS in secure web connections.
We did have an alternative in macOS, which used to maintain a local database of revoked certificates, or so we suspect, until over a year ago. At the height of its use, that database was updated every couple of weeks. So if Apple revoked a certificate being used to sign malicious software, it could take another two weeks or more before that revocation had trickled down to all active Macs. One of the advantages of the newer OCSP approach is that your Mac can block software within minutes of Apple revoking its certificate, something we saw only too well with the recent accidental revocation of some old HP printer software.
This checking of certificates is quite separate from another phenomenon which Jeff Johnson has studied in Catalina, in which notarization checks are performed when executable code is first run. Those checks are normally only run once on any given executable, though, so while you can question whether it delivers data you’d rather not share with Apple, in practice any potential impact is far more limited than a service which operates pretty well every time you launch a signed app.
I’ll leave you to ponder whether Apple is going to dominate the world by studying all your app certificate checks on its new M1 Macs, but point out a far more real and immediate danger: Apple’s OCSP service. What happens when, as occurred last Thursday, it isn’t available?
There are fallbacks. If your Mac doesn’t have an internet connection at all, or the route to Apple’s OCSP service is blocked, your apps still open, with their certificates unchecked. It’s when that service isn’t inaccessible, but has failed, that the biggest problems arise. This is a well-known engineering problem, fail-safe design.
As Apple so devastatingly demonstrated last Thursday to millions of Mac users around the world, its design of the
trustd signing certificate check doesn’t fail safe in those circumstances. It may be difficult to design a mechanism which is both fail-safe and secure, but without that, checking certificate revocation using a service is forever flawed.
I for one am very happy that my Macs enjoy these security protections, but repeatedly disappointed that there are so many weaknesses which make them unreliable. Security is only ever as good as it is reliable. When the user is denied access to their work simply because there’s a problem with a single remote service, the Mac as a computing platform is inherently unreliable. But see the Postscript below.
For those who subscribe to paranoia, even a reliable service won’t be good enough. Indeed, the only choice they have starts with building their own PC, building their own Linux, and surviving without placing any trust in vendors like Apple. That means no AppleCare, no Apple Support, no Apple Store, no notarization, and only the security which you create and maintain for yourself. If you really feel that you can’t trust Apple, then that’s your only course. And the best of luck to you in tackling the likes of Facebook and Google.
Apple announced on 16 November 2020 that “to further protect privacy, we have stopped logging IP addresses associated with Developer ID certificate checks, and we will ensure that any collected IP addresses are removed from logs.” It will also be making the following changes over the coming year to the OCSP mechanism which Macs use to check for revoked certificates:
- “a new encrypted protocol for Developer ID certificate revocation checks”;
- “strong protections against server failure”;
- “a new preference for users to opt out of these security protections”.
I’m very impressed: this must be one of the fastest and most complete responses of its kind. Thank you, Apple.


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Xiaomi is planning to unveil its first electric car prototype in August 2022.
The first electric vehicle prototype will be revealed at an event in Beijing, China, on August 1st. The car is designed by the Maven concept maker HVST Automobile Design. After its unveiling, the prototype will go through more road testing before it hits the market.
More than a year ago, the company announced that it would enter the EV market. It said it would invest $1.5 billion in the first year and then $10 billion over the next 10 years.
A couple of months ago, Xiaomi also announced its plans to build the Xiaomi Auto headquarters in Yizhuang, which will allow it to produce 300,000 vehicles annually. The company also plans to hire more than 1,000 workers at the site.
- The fastest-charging electric vehicles in the world
- SM Malls with EV charging stations
- Xiaomi products price list
Production and sale of the Xiaomi cars are still a long time away, as it’s expected to leave the production line in 2024.
Reports say Xiaomi plans to launch A+ and B segment vehicles. The first one will come equipped with L2 autonomous driving technology and will likely cost from CNY 150,000 up to CNY200,000 yuan. The second will get L3 autonomous driving and may come with a price tag from CNY 200,000 up to CNY300,000.
Source: Sina Tech


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While developers often ask “where’s the next Nashville?” or “where’s the next Austin?” there is still ample opportunity in the established hotel markets. The efforts of major urban centers to expand their downtown footprints through new developments (convention centers, sports venues, etc.) and revitalization projects continue to create more demand for hotels, and in most circumstances the need for new hotel rooms. However, developers often voice their concern over the lack of top-tier brand availability. As a result, developers focused on specific locales must decide between two risky prospects: a) selecting an unproven, fledgling brand in a primary location, or b) finding a site in a secondary, up-and-coming area where they can raise one of the premium brand flags.
The mantra for many hotel investors is “best brand available,” with the mindset that a strong brand will often trump a “B” location.


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Nuband fitness trackers, which are distributed by Dartmouth Brands in the UK, have added contactless payment technology to their devices.
The X-Pay model has been created in collaborataion with Barclaycard’s and uses bPay technology to allow people to pay for items costing less than £30 with a tap on a card reader.
Funds can be added to the X-Pay using Visa or Mastercard credit cards, or it can be linked directly to a registered debit card.
There are currently almost half a million points of sale in the UK that accept contactless payments.
As an added incentive for retailers to sell Nuband X-Pay in the new year, customers will be given a £10 credit for their bPay account if they register it before February 28.
The fitness tracker retails for around £70.


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We all know that running a Factory Reset in a phone means cleaning off all data from it. That’s what we do before selling an old smartphone, run a Factory Reset and then sell it off. But least are we bothered how much effective is this Factory Reset option? Does it really clear away all content? The answer is unfortunately no, for Android Phones.
This shocking information was found by a research group at Cambridge University. The research paper titled, “Security Analysis of Android Factory Resets” said that their study involved the security of Android phones which failed miserable when the Factory Reset feature was examined. The study was carried out with older versions of Android, versions primitive to that of Android KitKat. It was found that 21 Android devices from five different manufacturers have failed to format all data accurately. Even though older versions were used for the research study, researchers are confident that the same problem will persist in newer versions also.
It has been found that Factory Reset could not erase many confidential data. These data include SMS, emails, contacts, Account credentials from various apps such as Facebook and WhatsApp, Google’s master token that are being used for authenticating many in-built apps.
Now what can be the solution? Scientists suggest that users should encrypt their device before running a factory reset. The paper writes,”Full-disk encryption has the potential to mitigate the problem, but we found that a flawed Factory Reset leaves behind enough data for the encryption key to be recovered. We discuss practical improvements for Google and vendors to mitigate these risks in the future.”
You can read the entire paper here.


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695: As Public Perception Changes, Opportunity Advances | Louie Reformina, CFO, Turning Point Brands
Manage episode 291020858 series 1039141
Chances are that CFO Louie Reformina never expected to be in the rolling papers business.
Having advanced down a career track populated with different private equity firms, a stint at Goldman Sachs, and a Stanford Business School degree, Reformina could have landed inside any number of industries offering him multiple C-suite doors of entry.
However, not unlike the pick-and-shovel entrepreneurs who once outfitted troves of Gold Rush prospectors, Reformina is confident that his arrival inside the CFO office at Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB) is well timed for an uptick in cannabis sales due to the industry’s quickly changing regulatory environment as well as public perception.
In addition to cannabis, Turning Point, a marketer and distributor of “alternative smoking accessories,” is now seeking to satisfy its appetite for growth inside a number of product categories such as cigar wraps, hemp paper and paper cones.
“The majority of our profits now come from our Zig-Zag brand of rolling papers and wraps products—we have now put fixes in place to grow the business to where we can now take advantage of the tailwinds in cannabis,” says Reformina, who first joined Turning Point as vice president of business development in 2019.
“There’s the changing regulatory framework, and then there’s the changing consumer framework,” observes Reformina, who quotes recent research showing that 7 out of 10 Americans favor legalizing cannabis at the federal level.
“The perception 10 or 20 years ago was that cannabis was a drug, whereas today there is a health and benefits perception to cannabis, and this has been accelerated in part due to the pandemic,” explains Reformina, who anticipates a domino effect in the wake of New York and Virginia joining the list of states where cannabis is already legal.
“States will just not want to lose the tax revenue that cannabis will be generating,” adds Reformina. –Jack Sweeney
GET MORE: Order now The CFO Yearbook, 2021


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With the unstoppable tide of automotive electrification, battery swapping is considered to be a significant energy supply method for electric vehicles (EVs).
NIO’s (NYSE: NIO) 800th swap station went online on January 21 at IKEA Hangzhou. With 100 new stations added in the past 43 days and an average of 2 stations coming online every day, it must be said that NIO’s construction speed is amazing.
According to NIO, the achievement of 800 exchange stations is not only a milestone, but also a new starting point on the road ahead in 2022.
Of these battery swap stations, 212 are located along highways, exceeding NIO’s goal announced last September of increasing the number to 169 by the Chinese New Year holiday.
Up to now, NIO has built 805+ power swap stations in China while the company aims to build 4,000 by the end of 2025, of which 1,000 will be located overseas.
The regional density of NIO’s battery swap stations is recording continuous growth as well.
Under the “NIO Power 2025” plan, the company expects 90% NIO users to be living less than 3 km away from its battery swap facilities in 2025.
Next week is the Chinese New Year holiday in China, and the peak of travel for the population begins to arrive this week. The picture below is a NIO vehicle blocked by cars queuing for refueling after changing the battery.
( Last April，NIO announced a strategic partnership with Chinese state-owned oil producer Sinopec to co-build EV charging and battery swapping infrastructures .)
Our take：2022, NIO will continue to layout and complete the construction of 1,300+ exchange stations to achieve the vision that adding electricity is more convenient than refueling.


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Check out all the on-demand sessions from the Intelligent Security Summit here.
Samsung brought a robot to its keynote at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show. The tech giant took the wraps off Ballie, a small, rolling home robot with a built-in camera, microphone, and speaker. Details are forthcoming, but Sebastian Seung, executive vice president and chief research scientist at Samsung, said it’s designed to understand, support, and react to owners’ needs.
“We believe AI is the future of personalized care,” said Seung. “We see on-device AI as central to truly personalized experiences. On-device AI puts you in control of your information and protects your privacy, while still delivering the power of personalization.”
Ballie’s on-device AI enables it to serve as a fitness assistant, as well as a mobile interface that seeks solutions to various wants. It acts as a security robot, patrolling rooms at night and when folks are away during the day. It can follow an elderly member of the family around and call for help if they suffer a fall. And thanks to its local, offline processing capabilities, Ballie is ostensibly able to do all this while maintaining “stringent” data protection and privacy standards.
Intelligent Security Summit On-Demand
Learn the critical role of AI & ML in cybersecurity and industry specific case studies. Watch on-demand sessions today.
Ballie also tap into smart home device platforms like Samsung’s SmartThings. During the briefing, H.S. Kim, president and CEO of Samsung’s consumer electronics division, walked through a demo video that showed Ballie opening curtains, turning on a TV, and kicking off a vacuum’s cleaning routine.
Engadget notes that the “Ballie” name emerged in trademark filings last month. Samsung said it wanted to use the name for robots with various functions, such as cleaning, teaching, security surveillance, and daily chores.
This evening’s unveiling comes a year after Samsung introduced a veritable robotics platform that includes Bot Care, a robot designed to check in on elderly patients, and Bot Gems, a wearable exoskeleton. The roving Bot Care can give health briefings, check basic vitals, and make sure a patient has taken their medication. As for Bot Gems, it’s a wearable exoskeleton akin to LG’s CLOi SuitBot — a motorized suit that enables wearers to lift heavy items with ease. Other products in the portfolio include Bot Air, an air quality monitor for the home, and Bot Retail, an in-store assistant for brick-and-mortar locations.
Home robotics — and robotics, generally — have proven tough to crack for even the best-funded ventures.
In April, Anki — the San Francisco startup behind AI-imbued robotic toys like Overdrive, Cozmo, and Vector — closed its doors after raising close to $200 million in venture capital from Index Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, J.P. Morgan, Andreessen Horowitz, and others. Anki claimed to have sold 6.5 million devices in total and 1.5 million robots last August alone, with revenue close to $100 million as of year-end 2017.
Anki’s demise followed that of Bosch-backed startup Mayfield Robotics, which was developing a larger, pricier ($700) home robot dubbed Kuri. Robotics company Jibo, which engineered a social robot featuring a bespoke conversational assistant, shut down earlier in the year. Honda canceled its Asimo program. And in a somewhat related development, industrial robotics company Rethink Robotics was recently forced to cease operations after attempting unsuccessfully to find an acquirer.
But that hasn’t stopped others from forging ahead. Temi, a startup headquartered in New York that’s developing a $1,500 telepresence robot with voice assistant integration, recently raised $21 million, in part from former Alibaba chief technology officer John Wu. Separately, wellness robots like Mabu and Diligent Robotics’ Moxi have found their way into hospitals, homes, and nursing centers, where they’re doubling as orderlies and symptom trackers for chronically ill patients.
Perhaps the best-known home robot success story is that of iRobot, which has sold more than 25 million units to customers around the world. Chief technology officer Chris Jones attributes the company’s success to its singular focus on housecleaning — and to perseverance in the face of logistical challenges.
“You have electrical, mechanical, software … and all that has to come together in a practical package that actually does something valuable, and getting those to work together efficiently and effectively is a challenge,” he told VentureBeat in an earlier interview, describing the industry as an art rather than an exact science. “Every home is different — people interact with robots differently. It’s a tall order, and that’s why staying focused on practicality really matters.”
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.


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Police said the customer crawled out of his car and into the drive thru window to get his fish sandwich, after slapping the McDonald's employee in the face.
"After he slaps him, he takes his food," said Ryan.
Perhaps suggesting how hungry the suspect was, Ryan said he then threatened the employee by telling him "I'll be waiting for you when you get off work."
The police report said the suspect "then walked out of the store with his fish filet sandwich," went to his car, still parked in the drive thru lane and left.
However, he never came back for the employee, leaving McDonald's and Bill Bass to wonder if the suspect had ever seen or heard the words to its TV ad "Give me back that Filet-O-Fish, Give me that fish."
365 Black is a marvel marketing practice that McDonald's has implemented and it has yielded incredible results.
According to Ryan, the customer yelled at the employee and pushed him against the counter.
We at SBPDL expect to see many more stories of this type of behavior at the restaurant and until then, we'll just grab a Filet-O-Fish.
For many more stories that help paint the picture of the 365 Black world we live, click here for another SBPDL entry on McDonald's.


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Taking place March 9-11, 2022, Sustainability in Packaging US will return to Chicago, Illinois, to unite a wide variety of stakeholders from brand owners and retailers, to packaging converters, manufacturers, suppliers, recyclers and more, to network, connect, and explore the future of sustainable packaging. Learn more about the key challenges, industry trends, market drivers, and new solutions that are steering the supply chain towards an increasingly circular economy and more sustainable future.
Learn more about in-person and virtual ticket options available in 2022.
Don't miss this opportunity to hear from key influencers and leading industry experts including PepsiCo, Google, Etsy, Sabra Dipping Company, Mars, Canopy, Campbell Soup Company, Resource Recycling Systems, The Recycling Partnership, and many more!
View a preview of confirmed speakers and presentations below!


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Pump Solutions Group (PSG™) is proud to announce the opening of a new PSG regional office in the Asian nation of Singapore. The new PSG Singapore facility is located at #06-03A KA Place at 159 Kampong Ampat.
“This new Singapore office not only denotes a further step in the ongoing globalization of PSG and it brands, especially in Asia, but also shows a strong commitment to our customers and channel partners in the Asian region,” said Danny Sanders, Director of Sales, Asia/Pacific for PSG. “Having this office will surely increase our Asian regional capability and improve responsiveness to our customers and the market. We look forward to seeing all of our customers in the Singapore office soon and enabling them with the PSG tools that will increase the success of their businesses.”
PSG’s Singapore office will primarily operate as a Competency Center that will be used to assist in the goal of growing the reach and marketability of all PSG brands throughout Asia. A specific focus will involve optimizing application engineering in order to further expand PSG’s reach to targeted business channels and customers. PSG’s leading brands include Almatec®, Blackmer®, EnviroGear®, Griswold™, Mouvex, Neptune™ and Wilden®.
Additionally, the Asia Competency Center will be used for distributor training that will focus on specific PSG products.
For more information on Pump Solutions Group (PSG™) and any of its member companies, please visit www.pumpsg.com.


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Apple revealed three new Macs last night based on its own M1 chip: the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, and the Mac Mini. The company’s indigenous ARM-based chip marks the start of its shift from Intel CPUs on its own computer systems.
The new chip packs a lot of intriguing things, so let’s get directly into it.
The M1 processor has eight cores — 4 high-performance and four efficiency– with a claimed 3.5 x efficiency increase. It also includes a 12MB L2 cache which makes data processing quicker.
The chip has massive 16 billion transistors, made possible by the 5nm fabrication procedure. Anandtech notes that this might lead to approximately a 120mm ² sized processor.
There’s also an eight-core GPU with advertised 6x performance overhead. Apple says it can run 25,000 threads at the same time, making it capable of managing numerous 4K streams or rendering 3D graphics. There’s likewise a 16-core neural engine that’s capable of 11 trillion operations per second.
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” title =” Share Apple M1 chip block diagram on Twitter “> Apple M1 chip block diagram Apple’s ARM-based CPU is suitable with Thunderbolt with support for USB-4, leading to potential 40Gbps information transfer speed. For security, it has the most recent Secure Enclave and storage controller with AES file encryption hardware. Plus, there’s assistance for run-time defenses on macOS Big Sur. What does it mean for you? First of all, Apple’s brand-new Macs are here with the M1 chip: a MacBook Air, a MacBook Pro, and a Mac Mini.
The ARM architecture is matched for mobile makers as they supply effective efficiency and terrific battery life. That’s why Apple claimed that the brand-new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have video playback battery life of 18 and 20 hours. Now, we might get lower battery life than that with combined usage.


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THE Shepparton Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that free (timed) parking permanently in Shepparton would go a long way to helping breathe life back into the city, and help to boost shopping in the CBD.
At its monthly meeting, the chamber discussed several ways of helping to achieve this positive outcome for the city, with parking fees being high on the agenda as being significantly negative to shoppers and visitors to the city.
Shepparton Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Carl Hainsworth said, “The challenge is to make Shepparton as shopping friendly as possible in an ever changing business world.
“Shepparton is competing with large shopping centres, other large regional cities and many smaller towns who don’t charge for parking.
“According to businesses during the last free parking trial in 2013, which council experimented with free parking on Mondays during a six week period, there was a huge increase in early week shopping, with one of Shepparton’s largest retailers, Harris Scarfe, experiencing a 33 percent increase in business.
“The chamber advocates free timed parking to boost shopping and at the same time encouraging car park movements in the CBD.
“To help reduce the abuse of free parking by employees and business owners, the chamber would encourage number plate recognition fines, something carried out successfully in other regional cities.
“The chamber believes that results of free parking in the CBD would be considerably noticeable among shoppers and retailers soon after implementation, however for Shepparton CBD to thrive again, it would require long term implementation as soon as possible.”


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MOBILE, Ala. - Amazon recently launched a new feature. it's called the "Send to Kindle Button".
No more hunting around for that website or blog that caught your eye. Just open your Kindle and all the content you sent is right there. The "Send to Kindle Button" lets you send that content to your Kindle to read later on any of your Kindle devices, or Kindle reading apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.
The "Send to Kindle Button" is also good for collecting content to use in work projects, school assignments, or hobbies.
There's a new photo sharing app for iPhone called "Throwback ". It's different because it lets you take a picture, and send it to yourself or a group of friends at some point in the future. The app won't even let you see the picture you've taken any sooner than a month!
The creator says it's an exploration between photography and nostalgia. After you take a picture, you'll select a date or range of time from six months to a year, or you can choose "surprise".
A new service launched yesterday, intended to connect college students and employers. It's called CollegeFeed. It's for students who don't have any work experience. It helps them connect in different ways that they can't get from Linkedin, because of their lack of experience.
They offer tuition help, jobs, interview preparation, and mentors. Just go to collegefeed.com to find out more.
That's your Daily Tech.
As college football prepares for the final Bowl Championship Series, featuring a Florida State-Auburn championship game, it's easy to see why the coming four-team playoff won't solve all the postseason problems.
A Baldwin County resident and his girlfriend were shopping at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Foley recently and noticed an envelope sitting on a shelf with money in it.
In a rare meeting between two of the nation's most storied programs, No. 3 Alabama and No. 11 Oklahoma will face off Jan. 2 in the Sugar Bowl at New Orleans.
Robertsdale police say a man was the victim of a hit and run Saturday, around 30 minutes before the start of the city's annual Christmas parade.
Residents in Creola and Saraland have a lot on the line this week as voters prepare to head to the polls Tuesday, December 10.
A year ago the Auburn tigers finished the season 3 and 9, winless in the SEC. Following the 2012 season, Auburn hired a new head coach, Gus Malzahn – who has changed the script for the Tigers.


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Europe is supplying its own grapes for around 15-18 weeks per year, while overseas supplies the other 36-40 weeks. “We are currently in the heart of the European season, by November we will switch to overseas grapes.” During this time of the year, the European grape market is mostly split between Italy and Spain, Claure explains: “The main difference is that Spain started to use newer varieties a few years before Italy. Thanks to their new and more productive varieties they have bigger volumes available than their European competitors.”
A specialty among the newer varieties is the Itum-line, which was developed in Spain and has a very intense flavor: “This makes Itum grapes to a viable competitor of varieties from the US or Israel. For good reason it is currently the only breeding line that is being exported from Europe to Latin America to be cultivated onsite,” indicates Claure. While this variety is not yet a staple on the German market, it takes England by storm.
Nowadays one of the most important aspects for new grape varieties is that they need to be seedless. A development that only became possible in recent years, Claure recalls: “Seedless grapes are better in terms of convenience, but only a few years ago they could not keep up in taste. Now, the taste has a higher value for breeders and they try to combine the tastes of old varieties with seeds with the convenience and productivity of new, seedless varieties.”
Breeders need to find a balance between the taste of consumers and the right attributes for growers and retailers: “Muscat grapes are difficult to replace because of their unique flavor, but they are difficult to market due to their short shelf life. New varieties have a better productivity and better shelf life. The challenge for the grape sector will be to find varieties that can accomplish all of these things.” There are many new varieties on the market but in the future, he expects that only a few will actually make it beyond their initial tests. Claure does not think that all club varieties will play a big role in the grape sector: “Some of those varieties are a big investment and many rules need to be followed by a grower– not everyone is able to afford this process. I think the productivity of the plants and the marketability will mark the success of any new variety.”
Italy is the main supplier for grapes on the German market in the summer and fall and shares the overall European markets with Spain without much competition, Claure claims: “Greece almost exclusively grows traditional, white varieties such as Thompson Seedless, Sultana grapes from Turkey nowadays are found mostly on wholesale markets and losing market share on retail. One Reason is the high demand in Russia and Eastern Europe. From our side, we see increasing interest of red and black seedless varieties by German consumers and this trend we keep in mind for the next months and years.
Until week 29, retailers sold grapes from Egypt and Morocco. Jose Claure explains: “After that point, most of them switch exclusively to EU imports, no matter of the quality. It surely be possible to find premium merchandise from Egypt and Morocco even as far as week 32-33 but the low prices in Germany doesn`t make it profitable for growers.”


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Meta’s number-one app has achieved a landmark moment amid a quarter of positive revenue growth
Facebook, the world’s largest social network, exceeded 3 billion monthly active users for the first time, its parent company Meta reported today (July 26) in its second-quarter (pdf) financial results.
In recent months, Meta has emphasized its work with artificial intelligence, virtual reality projects and the metaverse, and its newest app, Threads, a text-based service that’s functionally a copycat of Twitter. But the 3 billion user feat by Facebook is a landmark achievement for the company’s primordial social media platform and former corporate namesake.
Facebook monthly active users (MAU)
Quartz | qz.com Data: Meta Platforms Inc.
User growth has mostly plateaued for Facebook in recent years, with its monthly user base growing by 3% since this time last year. That’s about half the growth rate of Meta’s “family of apps”—also including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger—which grew 6% year-over-year to 3.88 billion, covering nearly half of the world’s population.
Meta had a successful quarter, reporting 11% growth in revenue ($32 billion), most of which comes from advertising, and a 16% improvement in net income ($7.8 billion). The company’s stock rose nearly 5% in after-hours trading after the announcement.
“There’s a lot to feel good about when it comes to Meta right now,” Debra Aho Williamson, a principal analyst at the market research firm Insider Intelligence, said via email. “While its competitor Snap has yet to emerge from its own advertising slump, Meta has been able to successfully turn around its business.”
Still, she said the firm expects Meta’s market share in digital advertising to fall this year, facing threats from TikTok and Amazon, and noted that the company’s metaverse and AI businesses have yet to prove themselves.
“These challenges will weigh on Meta in the second half of the year,” she said, “but thanks to the momentum of a better than expected Q2, it will be in a stronger position to face those challenges.”


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The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition said it may strike a responsibility deal on public health with the drinks trade, and Wine & Spirit Trade Association chief executive Jeremy Beadles has urged the industry to seize the opportunity.
The deal aims to improve people’s health, encourage a healthier diet, foster a culture of responsible drinking, encourage people to become more physically active and support the UK workforce to lead healthier lives.
The Department of Health has suggested the drinks trade could become involved by supporting local action through Community Alcohol Partnerships and similar initiatives; maintain a system to prevent inappropriate advertising and product promotion and promote sensible drinking.
It could also support improved drinks labelling; the offering and promotion of alcohol-free and reduced-alcohol alternatives; developing a responsible retailing code for the off-trade and helping companies develop and implement workplace alcohol policies.
The WSTA is hosting a workshop on October 27 to discuss the issues and hear from secretary of state for health Andrew Lansley on his vision for the deal.
Beadles said: “I have long argued that we in the drinks industry will do best when we focus on the big issues and agree with government what we – and it – should do. Now we have our chance.”
Analysis by Jeremy Beadles, page 16


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The main points are to use cooking oils in moderation, Lichtenstein said. The government's U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that Americans include a small amount of oils in their diets every day to supply essential fatty acids, because the body can't make these acids and thus must get them from food. There are two such fatty acids, and both are polyunsaturated fatty acids: linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid.
A wealth of marketing material, blogs and anecdotes claim that cannabis oils can cure whatever ails you, even cancer. But the limited research doesn't suggest that cannabis oil should take the place of conventional medication, except for in two very rare forms of epilepsy (and even then, it's recommended only as a last-resort treatment). And, experts caution that because cannabis oil and other cannabis-based products are not regulated or tested for safety by the government or any third-party agency, it's difficult for consumers to know exactly what they're getting.
Since the 1960’s, medical research has collected research supporting the safety of CBD. Typical doses of 10mg to 100mg a day show no negative effects. Even one study where patients took 1,280 mg a day did not see a problem. The director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse has stated that CBD oil is safe, and recently the FDA approved CBD oil for use in children with epilepsy.


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A knife-wielding Father Christmas forced staff at Next to open the safe and hand over cash before making off on a bike.
The thief displayed a severe lack of festive cheer when he walked into the clothes store wearing a red Santa suit and threatened an employee.
Fearing for their safety, the staff member did as they were told and gave up the money before the robber fled on two wheels.
The incident happened at around 9.30am today at Oxford Retail Park in Cowley.
Detective Sergeant Mark Stalder, from Thames valley police, said: "This was a frightening incident which has left the staff member very shaken.
"We would urge anyone shopping around the Oxford Retail Park this morning who saw a man on a bike, dressed as Father Christmas, and who has not spoken to us already to get in touch as a matter of urgency.”
The robber was white, of medium build, 5ft 9ins to 6ft tall, in his thirties and wearing jeans and a blue fleece under his Santa outfit.


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MRC -- China's gasoline exports fell 20% in October from a year earlier, data showed on Saturday, as domestic road travel surged during the Golden Week holiday, said Reuters.
Gasoline shipments of 770,000 mt were down from last year's 1 MMt and below September's 1.09 MMt, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
Domestic road travel received a boost during an extended Golden Week holiday, which ran from the end of September through the first week of October. Trip numbers were up 71.3% from a year earlier and 4.1% higher than in 2019, according to data released by state media outlet Xinhua. Diesel exports remained strong, up 4.4% in October from a year earlier to 1.1 MMt, as a worsening slump in property construction continued to suppress domestic demand.
Exports of diesel, which account for the biggest share of refinery output, eased slightly month-on-month from September's 1.18 MMt. Domestic diesel demand continues to face significant headwinds from China's property slowdown and an uneven recovery in its manufacturing sector. Jet fuel exports stood at 1.53 MMt, up 5.5% from September and up 32% from a year-earlier.
Domestic kerosene demand is benefiting from the domestic travel surge, with domestic flight levels already above pre-COVID levels and expected to step up further. However, international airline capacity in and out of China in October and November this year was around 56% to 57% of the figure in the same months of 2019, before the pandemic halted international travel, according to data from aviation analytics firm OAG.
Fuel provided to international flights is counted as an export in customs statistics. Regional refining margins continued to fall, declining from $6.72/bbl at the start of October to $2.79/bbl at the end of the month. Total refined fuel exports, which includes marine bunker fuel, continued to ease month-on-month in October, customs data previously showed. The data released on Saturday also showed China imported 5.17 MMt of LNG in October, up from a relative low of 4.03 MMt last year.
We remind, GS Caltex Singapore Pte Ltd said on Monday it has sold its first cargo of biofuel-blended marine gasoil to Maersk Oil Trading (MOT) at the world's largest bunker hub Singapore as it seeks to expand into lower carbon fuels.The sale by the Singapore-based trading arm of South Korea's second-largest refiner is part of GS Caltex's plans by to expand its biofuels supply chain overseas. More of such biofuel bunkering trials are taking place at key global maritime hubs this year as the shipping industry tests new and cleaner fuels in a bid to reduce emissions.


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A delegation from Amazon visited several sites in Metro Atlanta this week as part of the search of the e-commerce giant for a second headquarters. Several sources with direct knowledge of the situation told of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
with state and local government and business leaders on Thursday and Friday. The two-day visit offered coveted personal access to Amazon officials and the opportunity to showcase top development locations, as well as praise the region's workforce, research universities, transportation and quality of life.
Is Atlanta really a contender for Amazon HQ?
"We were thrilled to have the opportunity to welcome Amazon to Georgia this week," said Pat Wilson, state economic development commissioner, in a statement. "As we've already said, we truly believe Metro Atlanta is the best location for HQ2, and we've invested in mobility, people development and education, and prioritized what we see in our thriving business climate ̵
- AMAZON COVERAGE: Read more about officials' attempts to lure Amazon to Georgia at myAJC.com/amazon/
Amazon explored downtown Gulch and several Midtown sites as part of the visit, two of the people said.
31st March 2017 – Atlanta – Midtown was on the agenda for Amazon Tour of Atlanta BOB ANDRES / BANDRES @ AJC .COM
The Atlanta Journal Constitution
The hunt for Amazon is arguably the most public Hunt in modern history. Amazon has obtained bids from 238 communities in North America before limiting its competition to 20 in January, including Atlanta.
Amazon is expected to announce the home for what it calls HQ2 later this year, although people in business development circles expect Amazon to cut its list of contenders in the coming months before making a final decision.
Learn more about this later on the subscriber website myAJC.com.
An Amazon delegation expects to visit Atlanta shortly to visit HQ2 on-site
What could Georgia offer Amazon for HQ2?
Election policy threatens Georgia's bid for HQ2


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Sadapay, an Islamabad-based fintech, has successfully raised $7.2 million in a seed. The seed round was led by Recharge Capital, a New York-based cross-border platform that uses fin-tech and fin-tech ideas to enable traditional industries to innovate, incubate, and accelerate.
This is for the first time; a Pakistani setup has closed the largest-ever seed. It includes the participation of returning investor Kingsway Capital, Raptor Group, and notable fintech angels, including Ualá’s founder Pierpaolo Barbieri, Ribbit Capital’s Brian McGrath, former General Catalyst partner Ilan Stern, and Valon Technologies’ founder Andrew Wang.
The platform aims to build a “neobank” for Pakistan. The digital wallet and debit card are not yet available for the public to use; however, they are available in private beta. Its mobile wallet is one of the most anticipated fintech products in the country and has over 200,000 people on the waitlist. We can’t wait not to carry our wallets anymore!
Pakistan is at an infection point for digitalization. Brandon stated in a conversation with a publication, “My first visit to Pakistan really opened my eyes to the amount of opportunity that has been hidden from the rest of the world due to the country’s difficult history from over a decade ago”.
Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world but has the third largest unbanked population after China and India.
In a statement, the CEO of the company said, “Pakistan has a refreshingly progressive regulator, a burgeoning unbanked middle class, widespread smartphone adoption, and over 70% of the population is under the age of 35. We believe that a combination of factors makes Pakistan one of the best places for emerging fintech in the world, and we are excited to be a leader in that ecosystem.”
“Since SadaPay does not bear the high costs of managing the physical infrastructure of traditional banks, it passes those savings to its customers in the form of free financial services. The company will generate revenues from premium product offerings such as merchant services and remittances,” noted the statement.
Have something to add? Let us know in the comment section below.
For more news and updates, stay tuned to Wow 360.


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BOLTON’S new Market Place cinema has been given the go-ahead by council planning officers — paving the way for work to begin on the multi-million pound redevelopment.
The shopping centre’s new owners the Moorgarth Group is set to transform the complex with a nine-screen cinema and a host of restaurants, after buying it for about £24 million last year.
Under the plans, the current car park will be partly demolished to make way for the new screens, which are anticipated to have up to 1,200 seats.
Moorgarth’s chief executive Tim Vaughan said he was “absolutely delighted and very excited” about the scheme.
He said it already has a company lined up to run the cinema — which could include 3D capacity — and that a further planning application to allow restaurants to be built in the basement of the shopping centre will be submitted next week. Mr Vaughan added: “We are doing what we said we were going to do — one of the issues in the town is that people weren’t sure if it was going to go ahead.
“We’re creating that destination and event location, and we’ve seen figures that show an unbelievable ability for a cinema to thrive in the town centre.
“I must thank the local authority for the assistance they have given us getting it through this quickly.”
The Market Place will stay open during the work, which Mr Vaughan said he hopes will be completed as soon as Christmas.
Keith Davies, director of regeneration and development at Bolton Council, said the cinema was a “real winner” which had the capacity to transform the town centre.
He added: “It’s another big milestone for the regeneration of the town centre.
“For a long time we’ve wanted to secure a cinema and it looks like that is going to be delivered — the fact that the planning permission has been provided so quickly means they are in a position to get the work started.
“One of the things that we have been aware of, and certainly visitors to the town centre have said, is that we do have a night-time economy but it is largely focused on a particular demographic and age group, “If you want to go clubbing we’ve got the facilities for that, but what we haven’t got — with the exceptions of the Octagon and Albert Halls — is a night-time family leisure option, and this addition will be really good.”


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Acer India witnesses growth in PC monitors in India
Acer India has seen tremendous growth across segments and it is becoming the No. 1 PC gaming brand in India.
With a range of monitors catering to different segments, Acer has been the brand of choice for home, professionals and businesses. The new lineup of high-end monitors for video and photo editors, gamers and 4K entertainment has seen huge demand and growth along with segments like surveillance.
Chandrahas Panigrahi, CMO & Consumer Business Head, Acer India, said, “We are delighted to be positioned at No. 2 in the overall monitor market. Over the last couple of quarters, Acer has recorded a massive growth in this category in India. Our new lineup of monitors has taken the market by storm and we are confident of reaching the top spot shortly.”
The success in consumer and commercial business segments highlights Acer’s continued commitment to lead in innovation globally and providing customized solutions to our customers to meet any PC needs. Acer’s passion for innovation and customer-centricity has taken the company to unprecedented levels, and the company is well poised to change growth orbits.


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Following the success of its budget smartphone series—Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL—Google will reportedly come out with two affordable smartphones in 2020. However, unlike the Pixel 3a series, the upcoming smartphones, which are supposedly called Pixel 4a models, will be different from each other with network connectivity.
According to a report, one of the Google 4a devices will come with 5G connectivity, while the other will work on 4G networks. Apparently, the 5G edition of Pixel 4a will cater to markets in the US, Europe and a few countries in Asia, where the 5G network is gaining momentum. The 4G edition might be released in other price-conscious markets with a slightly lower price bracket.
Tipped by a twitter user
A Twitter user called @akes29 has tipped XDA-Developers about the code names of the upcoming Google devices, he has discovered. Following the lead, XDA-Developers dug through the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and the latest Pixel 4 firmware. They found three device names that are expected to be launched in 2020. XDA-Developers has also found out the respective SoCs the devices will come powered with.
According to the report, the upcoming Pixel-branded smartphones will appear in the market with codenames reading sunfish, Redfin, and Bramble.
Sunfish, Redfin, and Bramble
The Sunfish variant of Pixel phone will come powered by the sm7150 platform, the codename of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 730 SoC. The Snapdragon 730 SoC is a popular chipset which has been used in popular smartphones like Samsung Galaxy A71 and Realme XT and offers 4G connectivity.
The Redfin is based on the sm7250 alias Snapdragon 765 mobile platform. The upper mid-range SoC from the house of Qualcomm came with 5G connectivity and was announced in late 2019. The Redfin version runs on Android 10 out-of-the-box. It is being developed by FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn.
The Bramble will also use Snapdragon 765 SoC and is still going through the development process with Android 10 and the upcoming Android 11.
Renders leaked recently
A few ago, some renders of Pixel 4a were leaked by @onleaks and 91Mobiles. The images revealed that the upcoming Pixel smartphone will sport a punch-hole style display. However, the punch-hole style selfie camera will sit on the top left corner of the screen. The leak also mentioned that the Pixel 4a display size will measure either 5.7-inch or 5.8-inch and will house USB Type-C port, 3.5mm audio out port besides having speaker grille on either side of it. The rear side will sport a square camera module and pack a single camera sensor.
Google's earlier affordable series of Pixel smartphones Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL come in different display sizes and received mixed results. While the Pixel 3a has experienced amazing sales records across the globe, the big display variant Pixel 3a XL is still struggling in the market.
Besides, Google would also come up with its 2020 flagship device Pixel 5. But, until now there is nothing much available till now in the rumour mill. But since the release date of Pixel phones, which is sometime in September, it's too early to know about the upcoming Pixel 5.
However, we expect that with Pixel 5, Google would come out of the battery disasters experienced by Pixel 4 users. , Pixel 5 is also likely to go with 6 GB RAM, 5G connectivity and an OLED display with in-display fingerprint recognition.
We also think that Google would pack an extra ultra-wide lense in Google Pixel 5 and 5 XL to win hands down in any department of smartphone photography. The Android 11 powered smartphone would also pack an enhanced Titan M security chipset to offer state-of-the-art device security.


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This refers to the recent move by commercial banks to levy transaction charges on cash deposits and withdrawals beyond four times. According to the Finance industry experts the brunt of the negative impact of the move would be faced by self-employed and small businesses, while the salaried class might not face much inconvenience. Frequent visits to bank means lot of wastage of time while standing in queue. Since most of the people are now switching to make and receive payments through credit/debit cards and mobile wallet modes, this should not be a matter of concern for anyone except for and by those who consider it sacred to oppose whatever the Government proposes. Banks and financial institutions are bound to recover charges incurred during their service to customers. For some it appears as if earning has become a crime, saving a crime and spending is also a crime in India but it is not so. This is a positive step towards government’s recent thrust on expanding digital payments. Time has now come when customers will have to develop the habit of making digital transactions even for small amounts, and move away from dependence on cash.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)


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An appeal to help stock up the free food bank at High Peak Nightspot is being launched as the area’s poorest prepare for a tough winter.
The Foodbank is intended to tide people over for short periods of desperate need – often caused by redundancy or the recent spate of changes to benefit status.
Shoppers will be asked to drop non-perishable foodstuffs such as packets, tins, pasta and rice at a stall in the Spring Gardens Shopping Centre, Buxton, from 8.30pm to 5pm from September 17 to 23 inclusive.
“With it being the build-up to winter and Christmas, it would be an ideal opportunity to get the public to participate and show support,” said Nightstop’s Kath Sterndale.
“There are a lot more families calling upon us.
“It’s growing at a steady rate, but we are expecting an upsurge over the winter as more people make the difficult decision of whether to eat or heat.
“There have also been a lot of changes to benefits.”
Kath asked shoppers to buy a little extra in the Spring Gardens shops and donate it to the Foodbank stall, or to bring items from home. The longer the sell-by date, the better.
High protein items, such as tins of tuna, corned beef meatballs or ravioli, are especially welcome, as is long-life milk.
Kath emphasised that the Foodbank was not intended to help indefinitely “It is a short, sharp intervention.” she said.
“It’s not a long-term solution to a family’s problems.


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A bipartisan group of lawmakers want to do keg stands on the grave of the proposed merger of Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller, but there’s a problem: They’re struggling to find a tap.
“We’re going to stop it,” Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) told The Daily Beast. But when pressed on the details of their strategy, the co-chair of the House Small Brewers Caucus was at a rare loss for words. “We haven’t figured that out yet.”
The proposed merger isn’t just turning heads on Capitol Hill. It’s causing nervous chatter in craft breweries and pubs across the nation, because allowing it go through could blunt the craft beer revolution being witnessed nationwide. SABMiller controls roughly 26 percent of U.S. beer sales, while AB InBev sells about 45 percent of the suds consumed at frat houses and football games, and everywhere in between.
If the two companies combine, they’ll control more than 70 percent of the U.S. beer market. AB InBev already owns Becks, Stella Artois, Bud Light Lime and Corona, among dozens of others. SABMiller ranges from Fosters to Keystone Light, and its portfolio includes Coors to Blue Moon. Globally the two sell about one in every three beers.
The new beer behemoth could jack up the cost of the frothy beverages we all love. While the mega breweries like Budweiser rip on craft breweries, they’ve also been buying them up at an astonishing rate, which means many craft beers are now actually AB InBev too.
AB InBev’s growing collection of distributors nationwide has also raised the investigative eye of the Justice Department. If the merger happens, local craft breweries fear distributors owned by the new beer giant would limit store shelves to their watery beers (think Budweiser, Coors, and Miller), the craft breweries they’ve already acquired (everything from Chicago’s Goose Island to a Seattle favorite, Elysian Brewing Company, and Bend, Oregon’s staple, 10 Barrel Brewing, among others), or to craft beers they quietly bought a stake in (like Redhook and Kona).
That’s why lawmakers are scrambling to blunt what many see as a marriage made in hell; at least for those of us not sitting in a corner office at AB InBev. The full details of the deal are expected to come out by Wednesday, and lawmakers are preparing to attack the proposal from all fronts.
Still, the final ruling comes down to the Department of Justice, which has lawmakers scratching their heads trying to figure out the best strategy to employ from the Capitol.
DeFazio is crafting a letter that he’ll ship around to his 182 member group of fellow craft-loving lawmakers. “We are going to express our concerns to the Justice Department about the anti-competitive nature of this potential merger, both on the supply side, in terms of who produces and distributes, you know, the beer, and also in terms of who might own the distributors,” DeFazio said.
Other lawmakers are taking a different tact. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D) is a member of the Small Brewers Caucus. And since her daughter is preparing to launch a new craft brewery in their home state of Maine, it’s safe to say she’s wearing her colors on her sleeve.
Over beers (of course), Pingree unleashed on the monopolistic feel of the proposal.
“It just seems like a really bad thing. And what’s the point? What’s the good in it?” Pingree said. “What’s the value to the consumer? And why do we have antitrust laws if it isn’t to prevent too big of a market share, fixing prices and all the things that can potentially happen when you own that much of a market?”
Pingree said she planned to derail the proposal by revving up her base with a petition. It’s been successful in the past. With the help of progressive groups, she got 162,137 signatures on a petition opposing the merger of Time Warner and Comcast. She also got 198,787 (!!!) people to help her “save the Monarch butterfly.” But can that strategy work on private beer conglomerates? She’s banking on it.
“It’s a good moment in time to sort of draw attention to this in a way that might make them think about the perception of their brand, because they’re not going to like your beer anymore if you think now they’re just starting to step on everybody, and they’re going to control more of the prices and less competition,” Pingree said.
While Pingree hopes to kill the merger by raising public pressure, it’s a different story in the Senate.
“We’re not trying to drum up support or opposition,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) told The Daily Beast in an interview. “We’ve asked no one to write letters. We won’t do that.”
The former prosecutor is the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, which is already planning a hearing into the proposed merger once the full details are made public. Klobuchar and the chair of the subcommittee, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), a Mormon constitutional lawyer who hates monopolies more than he hates booze, want to use the committee’s full resources to delve into the details of the merger.
If you’ve witnessed congressional hearings in years, or even weeks, past—everything from steroid abuse in Major League Baseball to Benghazi—you may be brushing aside the notion that lawmakers can make a difference from within the confines of a stuffy hearing room.
Klobuchar disagrees. She argues that Congress has a unique role to play in the process, because the parties involved in the merger will be sworn in, thus facing jail time for perjury, before giving testimony.
“We actually have witnesses testifying under oath about what they see as the effect of the merger on both sides,” Klobuchar said. “It creates a record for the Justice Department to use. Mike [Lee] and I often do a follow-up, we do letters about our concerns, or what conditions we think should be in the merger. So what we are not the ultimate decision-maker, and no legislation needs to be passed. We’re like an investigative committee for Congress.”
Klobuchar plans to go into the hearing objectively, but her local Minnesota craft breweries will be in the back of her mind. “They are homegrown beer companies, and so the small craft brewers have legitimate concerns about being able to compete if there is a monopoly [or] that somehow creeps into a monopoly on distribution and makes it harder for them to distribute,” Klobuchar said.
When the details come out, Justice officials will likely balk at allowing one company to control more than two-thirds of the nation’s beer market, so the companies are expected to propose selling off some U.S. entities as they make a bigger grab at the global beer market, in places like Africa.
Everyone’s watching for that little devil hiding in the details.
Matt Laslo is a veteran congressional report and hosts the craft beer and politics show Bills and Brews.