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Tata Steel makes £6 million upgrade to Trostre plant
Tata Steel has made a £6 million investment to upgrade the Continuous Annealing Process Line at its Trostre plant in Llanelli, Wales.
Silgan announces record Q2 results
Silgan Holdings has reported record second quarter net sales of $1.54 billion, a 14.5% increase over the prior year second quarter net sales.
Canpack invests $140 million in new Brazilian facility
Canpack SA has announced it will increase its manufacturing capacity of aluminium beverage cans with a new production facility in Poços de Caldas, in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The Recycling Partnership elects CMI’s Scott Breen to board of directors
Top leaders in sustainability, industry, and the circular economy were recently elected to The Recycling Partnership’s board of directors, including the Can Manufacturers Institute’s Scott Breen.
Stolle Announces new vice president of SATO
Stolle Machinery has announced Kevin Dallman as the new vice president – Stolle Advanced Technology Operation.
INX International prepared for future two-piece ink demand
INX International Ink Co president and CEO, John Hrdlick, says he believes that after judicious planning, strategic investments and hard work, INX is well positioned for the remainder of 2022 and the future.
Continuing the beverage boom
Evert van de Weg studies the growth pattern of the beverage can market with Mark Smyth, author of the recent Smithers study The Future of Metal Packaging and Coatings to 2027.
Crown to add second high speed line to Italian plant
Crown Holdings has announced that it will construct a second high-speed line at its Parma, Italy aluminium beverage can facility.
CMB Engineering appoints new sales manager – Americas
CMB Engineering has announced the appointment of sales manager for the Americas, Zach Cheatham, who will be based in the US.
Rio Tinto announces Canadian aluminium investment
Rio Tinto, Anglo-Australian miner will spend C$240m (US$188m) at its Alma smelter in Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, Canada to boost the production of low-carbon aluminium billets.
Pepsi to open largest US plant
PepsiCo Beverages North America is set to open a new High Point facility in Denver, CO in 2023.
Roeslein UK relocates to new office space
Roeslein UK has relocated to a larger office space in Northampton, with 9,800 square feet and the capacity to hold up to 40 employees.
Canpack emissions target reductions ratified by SBTi
Canpack Group has announced that its ambitious new emissions reduction targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Xiamen Baofeng announces expansion
Chinese aluminium easy open ends company, Xiamen Baofeng Industry Co, has announced the construction of a new plant in HuBei province in central China.


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Recently Discord was in talks to be bought by Microsoft. Not only did that plan fall through, but now Sony has announced investment in the platform and that it will be coming to PlayStations next year.
This has been announced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) President & CEO Jim Ryan. On the SIE Blog, Ryan reveals that Sony has made a minority investment in the Series H round of Discord’s funding.
“Together, our teams are already hard at work connecting Discord with your social and gaming experience on PlayStation Network. Our goal is to bring the Discord and PlayStation experiences closer together on console and mobile starting early next year, allowing friends, groups, and communities to hang out, have fun, and communicate more easily while playing games together,” Ryan writes.
This announcement doesn’t specify if Discord will be made available on the older PlayStation 4. While games and software is still being released for the last gen console we have to imagine that, by early 2022, the majority of the focus for Sony will be on the PlayStation 5. Once again we’ll have to wait and see.
What’s also interesting here aside from the Microsoft / Sony flipflop is that Discord has been trying over the last few years to shed its public perception that it’s only a platform meant for gaming. Coming to PlayStation makes a lot of sense, but it is a gaming console.
“From our very first conversation with co-founders Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy, I was inspired by their lifelong love for gaming and our teams’ shared passion to help bring friends and communities together in new ways. Empowering players to create communities and enjoy shared gaming experiences is at the heart of what we do, so we are beyond excited to start this journey with one of the world’s most popular communication services,” Ryan adds.
Updates are promised from SIE as well as Discord on Twitter. Speaking of that, here’s Discord’s tweet about the news:
— Discord (@discord) May 3, 2021

domain: news


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Orlando, FL, Wed., Nov. 19th, 2014: Strong’s Marine was named the #7 dealer in North America by Boating Industry at the Top 100 black tie industry gala Wednesday in Orlando.
“For a decade, Boating Industry has recognized the best boat dealers in North America as the Top 100,” said Boating Industry editor-in-chief Jonathan Sweet. “These dealers are truly the elite of the marine industry, recognized for their business acumen, customer service and overall excellence.”
Strong’s Marine also topped the list of Northeast dealers this year.
This is the 10th consecutive year Strong’s Marine has ranked among the Top 100 dealers.


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Feel the price of organic fruits and vegetables are too expensive? Do not worry, it appeared that some types of fruit and vegetables more resistant to pesticide contamination.
Environmental Working Group (EWG) in the US has just released guidelines in 2017 Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce, which contains a list of fruits and vegetables were found the least affected by exposure to pesticides in the analysis tests conducted with the US Department of Agriculture.
In other words, not all fruits and vegetables should be purchased organic, when you buy organic food goal is to reduce exposure to pesticides.
Unless you have other objectives, such as supporting the production system that does not poison the environment, buying organic food as possible has become mandatory.
But according to Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst at EWG, still very few people who eat 100 percent organic.
More people make healthy decisions, but still compared with their spending.
It also expressed by nutritionists Jansen Ongko, MSc, RD, that's not healthy to be eating fruits and vegetables organically.
"Organic produce is not necessarily nutritional content is higher. If it is socioeconomic able to buy organic products is okay, but that does not mean that non-organic baseball is healthy," said Jansen in the event Press Conference: PT Sewu Segar Nusantara and PT Nusantara Tropical Farm Reaffirms commitment will Nusantara Branded Food Safety Fruit Sunpride International Standard in Cassis Kitchen, Jakarta (16/3).
Vegetables such as sweet corn and avocado rated the cleanest of pesticides. Pesticides were detected in only one percent in meat sweet corn and avocado.
Given the relatively expensive organic avocado, this could be good news for lovers of avocado. Only, avocado skin needs to be washed clean before it is cut.
Other fruits and vegetables at least affected by the pesticide is pineapple, papaya, asparagus, onions, and cabbage. More than 80 percent of the samples tested even no pesticide residues at all.
Here are 15 types of fruit and vegetables that do not need to worry if you do not buy organic:
1. The sweet corn.
6. sweet peas (frozen).
13. Melon orange.


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The companies that help Facebook to earn billions of dollars a year are in open revolt against the social media giant. Whatever way the row goes, it is likely to have significant repercussions for the firm's Irish operations, writes Adam Maguire.
Facebook is arguably in the midst of the biggest challenge in its 16-year history.
Already under increasing scrutiny from governments and regulators around the world, the firm is now being hit in the bank balance by discontented brands.
Their complaint - that Facebook turns a blind eye to hate speech and misinformation - is hardly new.
The company has long accepted it had a problem to address, particularly in light of its role in the 2016 US Presidential election and the Brexit referendum.
The changes it has made, and the promises for more, have fallen short of many critics’ demands, but it had generally been enough to keep it a fringe issue.
That was until six weeks ago.
Black Lives Matter
The death of George Floyd in late May prompted a wave of protests in the US - and around the world - which in turn prompted an angry response from US President Donald Trump.
That culminated in a social media post where he repeated a phrase first uttered by a Florida police chief during the 1967 race riots, seemingly suggesting that protesters' actions could lead to them being shot.
In response, Twitter marked the post as "glorifying violence" with the platform, for the first time, obscuring one Mr Trump's tweets from view.
Facebook, however, opted to leave the same message untouched on its service - making it visible to all with no warning or qualification.
"I disagree strongly with how the President spoke about this, but I believe people should be able to see this for themselves, because ultimately accountability for those in positions of power can only happen when their speech is scrutinised out in the open," wrote Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg the following day in a post where he attempted to explain the rationale for their hands-off approach.
That decision sparked both internal and external criticism of Facebook but it also appears to have lit the fuse that ultimately exploded into a multi-million dollar boycott by advertisers.
Stop Hate for Profit campaign
Set up by a number of US civil rights groups, the Stop Hate for Profit campaign has called on companies to stop buying ad space from Facebook until it made significant changes in the way it handles hate speech and misinformation.
Among other things it wants Facebook to find and delete groups focused on white supremacy and anti-semitism, and to stop amplifying the content of those associated with hate and conspiracy theories.
It also wants the company to raise civil rights to the boardroom, while also opening itself up to regular external audits on its handling of controversial content.
At first the campaign gained some modest support, with outdoor clothing brands such as Patagonia and North Face among the first to sign up.
In the final days of June, however, the trickle of backers became a deluge - with big names (and big spenders) like Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Unilever joining in.
Many firms have pledged to boycott Facebook for July only for now. That has prompted the suggestions that companies are simply taking the opportunity to jump on the bandwagon, with normal service resuming later in the year no matter what the campaign achieves.
Others argue that firms would have been reigning in ad spend due to the Covid-19-related downturn, and the campaign gives them PR-friendly cover to do so.
However, Professor Theo Lynn from DCU Business School feels the stance firms are taking is sincere.
"You have 900 or 1,000 companies, they're not doing it for publicity - because you don't know all the companies," he said. "You also have to think about the America that they’re operating in where political retaliation by senior government officials is a real threat."
He cites Pfizer as an example, a company that may not gain much revenue from consumers thanks to its stance - but could miss out on opportunities if it finds on the wrong side of the current US administration.
And while there has been a suggestion that joining the boycott is a handy way for firms to build their progressive reputation, Prof Lynn points out that that may not be much of a revenue-getter for "true blue American" brands like Levi’s and Ford.
The sincerity of boycotting brands is echoed by Suzanne McElligott, CEO of digital advert body IAB Ireland, which represents brands and ad agencies - and platforms like Facebook too.
She feels that brands are increasingly showing genuine concern about the context of the ads they buy.
"I think it's becoming very important to all of us, even as consumers, in terms of looking at brands and looking at their priorities and environmental ethics and labour ethics," she said. "Similarly for brands it is becoming increasingly important and they’re playing a more active role in understanding where their advertising spend is going."
An ad boycott involving hundreds of big companies could be a significant threat to Facebook's bottom line.
Last year, the social media group got 98.4% of its global revenue from advertising - representing $20.7 billion.
Almost $95m of that came from Starbucks US alone, according to data analytics platform Pathmatics, while Unilever accounted for an estimated $42.3m in 2019.
The Irish element
So far the boycott has remained a very US-centric issue, with the impact in Ad Land Ireland relatively small.
Some Irish brands, like Guinness and Jameson, have halted ads on the network - though that is largely as a result of the stance taken by their respective multinational parent companies.
"One or two advertisers have contacted us saying that they were looking into this with their advisors and their agencies," said Suzanne McElligott, CEO of digital advertising body IAB Ireland. "Some advertisers have come out and said they're taking that stance, but we haven't had actually a lot of contact about it at the moment.
"That's not to say it's not happening in the background."
Some brands here that have joined the campaign may be doing so for selfish - rather than high-minded - reasons.
One digital advertising professional told RTÉ News that many of their clients had asked for ads to be paused as they were worried about the backlash they might receive if they continued to use the platform.
However, they also stressed that the move was likely to be temporary.
Meanwhile, others may feel they do not have the luxury of joining big names like Adidas and Honda on the virtual picket line.
Another person working in digital marketing said that, while they supported the call for change, they had decided to continue to use Facebook, as it represented too significant a source of revenue for its small business.
While there are alternatives out there, they said switching would involve more investment and upskilling than they could afford at present.
But the impact the boycott may have on Facebook Ireland is about more than what Irish advertisers are doing.
Ireland is where Facebook books most of its non-US earnings, so the loss of ad dollars from hundreds of multinationals may prove significant to its Irish accounts.
"The impact on the Irish scene isn’t just the domestic market, it’s the induced and indirect market that they get from across Europe," said Prof Lynn.
Ireland is also a major hub for the moderation of Facebook content, largely through a contract with Dublin-listed recruitment firm CPL Resources.
That means that any measures Facebook takes to meet the campaigners’ demands will have a ripple effect on its business here too.
Those factors also raises questions about what role Ireland has in forcing change at Facebook.
"What’s weird here is that the big brand companies are filling a gap that really policy makers should be addressing," said Prof Lynn. "In the Irish context their international HQ is in Ireland, their moderation is in Ireland, so what is the role that Ireland has in influencing this?"
For its part, Facebook had accepted that it has work to do and says it will continue to work with civil rights groups to improve its response.
It said it had already banned 250 white supremacy groups from Facebook and Instagram, while its Artificial Intelligence was succeeding in intercepting the vast majority of the hate speech that would otherwise make it to its platform.
In response to the Stop Hate for Profit campaign the company also promised to tighten rules around the content it allows - banning outright, for example, hate speech directed against a specific group of people.
However, Mark Zuckerberg has also characterised its stance on the matter as an ideological one - reflecting his desire to see Facebook as a kind of digital town square.
He wants to give space to as wide a range of views as possible which, he says, will inevitably lead to controversial opinions and arguments appearing on the service.
And even as it tightens some rules he also says content deemed "newsworthy" will be given more latitude, even if it's in breach of its content policy. The kind of caveat that might allow a post implying violence against political opponents to stay visible, perhaps.
Face-to-face with Facebook
But while the Stop Hate for Profit campaign has extracted some changes out of Facebook those involved feel the company is still falling far short of where it should be.
Earlier this week, its representatives held a video meeting with Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.
It did not go particularly well.
"#StopHateForProfit didn't hear anything today to convince us that Zuckerberg and his colleagues are taking action," said Jessica Gonzalez, Co-CEO of Free Press, which is one of the partners involved in the campaign.
"Instead of committing to a timeline to root out hate and disinformation on Facebook, the company's leaders delivered the same old talking points to try to placate us without meeting our demands.This isn't over. We will continue to expand the boycott until Facebook takes our demands seriously."
Another involved in the discussion said it was "abundantly clear that [Facebook is] not yet ready to address the vitriolic hate on their platform."
Central to the campaign’s complaint was a lack of specifics from Facebook - including a timeline for the introduction of the changes they want to see.
Business as usual?
But while the boycott has the potential to cut Facebook’s revenues, or at least increase the money it needs to spend to better police users, you wouldn’t necessarily know about it if you were only watching its stock price.
Following a brief dip as the Stop Hate for Profit campaign began to gather steam in June, Facebook shares are now at an all-time high. At the time of publishing, their value was 8% higher than it was when Donald Trump made his controversial post six weeks ago.
The reasons for this are hard to know - but it does suggest that investors aren’t too worried about the company’s future prospects; or future dividends.
Perhaps that is due to the fact that Facebook is, for many smaller advertisers, too big to fail.
It is also possible shareholders are confident that Facebook will ultimately find a way to bridge the gap between its current policies and the demands of campaigners.
Or maybe the temporary nature of the boycott has put investors at ease - with many probably pricing in a recovery in ad spend once the current scrutiny begins to fade.


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The Grand Prairie Farmers Market will feature a cooking demonstration presented by the culinary arts students from Dubiski Career High School at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, at Market Square, 120 W. Main St. Shop the market 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday and see the talents of Dubiski's culinary students.
The Grand Prairie Farmers Market sells locally grown fruits and vegetables. meats, cheeses, wines, tamales, candles, soaps and much more. The market is open every Satruday, March to December, form 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information about the Farmers Market, call 972-237-4599 or visit www.gptx.org/farmersmarket.


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PESHAWAR: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has provided other safety equipment shipments to the Department of Health and Rescue 1122 emergency services against the coronavirus pandemic.
A total of 1000 N-95 masks, 13125 surgical face masks, 13125 a pair of gloves, 14885 protective clothing, 2940 safety goggles, 7918 shoe covers, 14875 surgical caps, 25500 shoe covers, 1020 face shields, 1020 googles, 8500 small bottles of cleaning, 6800 bags and other safety equipment are provided to the Department of Health.
Safety equipment was also provided for Rescue 1122 including 2615 face masks, 180 N95 masks, 2625 protective clothing, 30 thermal weapons, 1,200 bio hazard bags, 2625 surgical caps, 4500 shoe covers, 180 face shields, 2625 a pair of gloves 800 small bottles of cleaners and other equipment.
Nestle Pakistan donates relief items to the Peshawar and Khyber quarantine centers. Up to 30,000 Bunyad 26g, 30000 500ml Water, 20000 Cerelac 25g, 50000 200ml Juice, 50000 250ml Milk Pack donated to PDMA for further distribution to the Peshawar and Khyber quarantine centers.
PDMA Provides 20000 bottles of mineral water, 30000 200ml juice, 30000 Milk Peak 250 ml to the Peshawar quarantine center. While 10,000 bottles of mineral water, 20,000 200ml juice, 20,000 250 ml milk packs to the Khyber quarantine center. PDMA Director General Parwaiz Khan thanked Nestle Pakistan for their generous support. He added that PDMA provided safety equipment for all relevant departments including, the Ministry of Health, hospitals, related departments and district administrations for quarantine centers and others to support them against the corona virus in the province. He added that the PDMA Province Emergency Operations Center was active all the time and could be contacted at the toll free number 0800-01700.


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Who Owns Whom? The Industry's Acquisition Binge
This has been the year that the music products industry around the world plays musical chairs. After six years of recession in which sales of drum sets (and some other instrument categories) plummeted, the industry has undergone a wave of consolidations, company sales, and new partnerships.
DW Goes On A Last Minute Binge
In the fall, Sabian started snacking on smaller companies, buying accessory makers and then taking overCrescent Cymbals early in the new year. But the biggest news in January was DW's purchase of LP Music, Kat, Toca, Gibraltar, and other brands from Fender Music's KMC subsidiary. They also got the distribution rights to Gretsch drums in that deal. Most drummers and industry-watchers were blindsided by this deal, since there had been zero rumors about it beforehand. But Fender has been unloading assets (Takamine, Guild) since last year in an attempt to slim down and remake itself. This was just weeks before Fender spun off the rest of KMC's distribution business to Jam Industries, a large Canadian distributor.
Subsequently to the DW deal, the internet went wild with speculation. Would DW be good for Gretsch? Or was this the end of an historic brand? What happened to dealers? Artist endorsers? The mix of product lines? A pair of hilarious Hitler parody videos hit the web (with an unforgettable Fuhrer wondering what brand he can play jazz on if Gretsch were to ever disappear.)
As things have quieted down and more news has trickled out, those who predicted a percussion apocalypse were a little hasty in reacting. The deal had been in the works for a year, but at some point DW backed out, and then late last year, the deal was on again. Don Lombardi, DW founder, and President Chris Lombardi both intend to keep Gretsch production in South Carolina. They anticipate no changes to Gretsch's product line for now, instead focusing on marketing, sales, and distribution strategies. Needless to say, they've got a lot on their plate but in talking with the company they are confidently moving ahead.
And Then There Was Sonor
The news from DW was so big that it swamped the announcement that KHS America, the distributor of Mapex and Majestic, took over Hohner America, which puts the Sonor drum brand under their control in the US. Sonor has been almost invisible in the US in recent years, so that might explain why that news didn't exercise fans to the degree that Gretsch's did.
The word on that deal is that Sonor has been a bit of an invalid, and KHS has high hopes for the brand. The drums they build in Germany are still great and there are a lot of Sonor fans worldwide. According to Marketing VP Mike Robinson, the company is taking its time integrating Hohner's many brands and product lines into the KHS operation. But once they do, he expects Sonor to have a much higher profile than it has had. KHS, founded in Taiwan in 1930, is a big player in the global music industry. They have a large stable of brands they distribute worldwide such as Altus flutes, Jupiter band instruments, Majestic concert percussion, and Walden guitars. They should have the know-how to pull this off and do a great job with Sonor.
This Is The End?
Just in case that was not enough excitement for the young year, in early February, the industry had a new topic on its mind: whether or not Guitar Center was headed for bankruptcy. Analyst Eric Garland, in a post ominously titled, "The End Of Guitar Center" laid out the case that Guitar Center will never be able to fully service the debt it was saddled with by previous owners Bain & Company (yes, that Bain). And, because of that, new owners Ares & Co. will sooner or later need an orderly bankruptcy process to shed debts and slim down the firm. Fuel was added to these fiery thoughts when GC laid off more than 100 managers at the end of January. [Several longtime friends of DRUM! departed the company at that time—we're glad that many of them have already landed in new positions.] A visit to Guitar Center in February yielded a little insight. The company is working hard on its current plans, and several new executives have been brought in to turbocharge areas such as e-commerce. They have lots of new products and even store openings in the pipeline. And, they have a deep reservoir of talent on their staff. Despite the difficulties the company may have experienced, Garland has made similar predictions in recent years. He hasn't been right yet.
What will the future hold? Our crystal ball is no better than yours. For now, we're just enjoying the show.


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Consumer Brands Association Forms Coalition Tasked With Informing Federal CBD Policies
The Consumer Brands Association (CBA) yesterday announced the formation of coalition dedicated to advocating for stronger enforcement of the CBD industry.
Some of the more notable participants include the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), and the National Confectioners Association (NCA), among others.
“The coronavirus gave CBD bad actors yet another opportunity to peddle cure-alls devoid of scientific backing, crystallizing our need for greater research and federal oversight of the marketplace,” CBA president and CEO Geoff Freeman said via the release.
Indeed, the popularity of products containing CBD has swelled since the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which decriminalized industrial hemp and opened up the door to a flood of businesses looking to incorporate hemp-derived CBD into their food, beverages, and health & beauty offerings.
Over-the-counter CBD items have been advertised as a way to help reduce anxiety and stress, and help those with joint pain, difficulty sleeping and even depression. However, those claims have been heavily scrutinized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and experts within the medical community.
Last year, the FDA sent warning letters to 15 companies it said were illegally selling products containing CBD. At the time, the FDA said there was a lack of scientific information to support some of the claims being made about CBD, and that it could not conclude whether CBD was “generally recognized as safe (GRAS)” for use in human or animal food.
Currently, it is illegal to include CBD in any over-the-counter products other than cosmetics. Nevertheless, several brands have pushed forward and incorporated the compound in food, beverages, and supplements, while simultaneously touting its supposed wide-ranging benefits.
The proliferation of CBD brands currently on the market, and the lack of clear federal oversight, is what drove CBA to form the coalition.
In a press release, Housin Police Department chief Art Acevedo, who serves as the president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said “the public deserves transparency and accountability about CBD products, and local law enforcement needs clear guidance.”
“The current regulatory patchwork puts us all at a disadvantage and without additional resources for enforcement and science, public safety and public health will continue to be adversely impacted,” he said.
A recent report from New Frontier Data, a global marijuana research firm based in Washington D.C., found that 18% of Americans have tried CBD and 86% of Americans know of the compound.
For its part, the CBA's own research suggests that one-in-three Americans have used CBD and 76% believe CBD products are subject to federal regulation.
Meanwhile, 29% of Americans are likely to purchase CBD in the next six months, according to New Frontier.
The launch of the coalition comes about four months after the CBA established an advisory board to “guide the organization’s work to enhance safety and ensure appropriate oversight” in the CBD market.
That board included former Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett; former Boston Police Department commissioner Edward Davis, Digital Citizens Alliance executive director Tom Galvin; former FDA administrator Karen Tandy; and former FDA deputy commissioner Michael Taylor.
The widespread acceptance of CBD is expected to lead to $20 billion in annual U.S. sales by 2024, according to BDSA, a Colorado-based research firm that tracks the cannabis market.
A press release with additional information is below.
Consumer Brands Launches Coalition for Smart CBD Regulation
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Consumer Brands Association today announced the launch of the Coalition for Smart CBD Regulation, a cross-industry group committed to protecting consumer safety and advocating for necessary resources and uniform federal policies around cannabidiol (CBD).
The diverse coalition includes some of the country’s preeminent law enforcement organizations, the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), the National Narcotics Officers’ Associations’ Coalition (NNOAC) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA); leading consumer watchdog group, the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA); and critical industry groups, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), the National Confectioners Association (NCA) and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).
“The coronavirus gave CBD bad actors yet another opportunity to peddle cure-alls devoid of scientific backing, crystallizing our need for greater research and federal oversight of the marketplace,” said Consumer Brands President and CEO Geoff Freeman. “We’re proud to have the support of this coalition in protecting consumer safety.”
“The NNOAC is pleased to join the Consumer Brands Association in this robust and diverse coalition to ensure that the CBD products purchased and used by American consumers are safe, effective and grounded in accepted and trusted science and clear regulatory processes,” said Bob Bushman, president, NNOAC. “Safety must be a priority.”
“The public deserves transparency and accountability about CBD products and local law enforcement needs clear guidance,” said Chief Art Acevedo, president, MCCA. “The current regulatory patchwork puts us all at a disadvantage and without additional resources for enforcement and science, public safety and public health will continue to be adversely impacted.”
Consumer Brands’ research shows that although one-in-three Americans report using CBD, the overwhelming majority (76%) assumes CBD products are subject to federal regulations, when in fact, few regulations exist. A recent investigation by DCA found that 70 percent of American CBD users were replacing medications for CBD for issues ranging from anxiety to Alzheimer’s disease.
The Coalition for Smart CBD Regulation is the next step in Consumer Brands’ advocacy campaign for clear, uniform guidance and federal leadership on CBD. In January, Consumer Brands formed its CBD Advisory Board and submitted its funding requests for research on the health and safety of CBD and more resources for market surveillance and enforcement to the U.S. House of Representatives. This week, Consumer Brands’ CBD Advisory Board and the NNOAC both sent letters of support for these appropriations requests to congressional leaders.
The Consumer Brands Association is also a member of the Attorney General Alliance industry working group on CBD, currently working with attorneys general across the country in stopping bad actors from continuing to market CBD as a treatment for coronavirus.
The Consumer Brands Association champions the industry whose products Americans depend on every day. From household and personal care to food and beverage products, the consumer packaged goods industry plays a vital role in powering the U.S. economy, contributing $2 trillion to U.S. GDP and supporting more than 20 million American jobs.


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CTOnews.com November 20 news, Loto Technology today released e-commerce platform double 11 intelligent projection promotion data (October 23-November 12), which shows that China's intelligent projection (excluding laser TV) online open retail channel sales of 432000 units, down 12.3% year-on-year; sales of 960 million yuan, down 24.0% from the same period last year.
Loto Technology said that due to the uncertainty of income growth, the lack of consumer confidence, and the fatigue caused by the normalization of sales promotion, consumers' buying behavior continued to retreat sharply, just like the last big promotion cycle of 618. The decline in the Singles' Day market is actually to be expected.
CTOnews.com found that Loto Technology believes that with the end of the last market boost of the year with negative growth, the decline in the size of China's intelligent projection market in 2023 is basically a foregone conclusion, and annual sales are expected to fall back to less than 6 million units.
▲ Map Source Lotu Technology
▲ Tuyuan Lotu Technology Lotu Technology also said that the decline in the price of the relevant intelligent projection has also led to an increase in sales. The price of the main model has dropped by about 5% RMB20%. The price of entry-level products has reached less than 3000 yuan, driving the average price of laser products down to 4797 yuan, a decrease of 1348 yuan compared with the first quarter of 2023:
In terms of brand, the market concentration of laser light source is relatively high. Nuts, Dangbei, Vidda and Epson rank in the top four in terms of sales and sales, with a combined share of more than 95 per cent.
On the technical side, with the development of brands such as Vidda, nuts and Dangbei, tricolor laser penetration has accelerated, accounting for 69.2% of the laser market during the promotion period, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in the first three quarters of 2023.
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CTOnews.com, October 25 (Xinhua)-- Renault announced on Wednesday local time that as part of its global strategy, the car company will invest 3 billion euros by 2027 (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 23.25 billion yuan
CTOnews.com, January 31, according to the mechanic's official news, the new dawning 16 Pro water-cooled notebook will be released at 19:00 on the evening of February 1, with top configuration, brand new 13-generation Core i9-13900HX processor, the most
On November 30, 58 Group, the leading enterprise in the field of life services, and Huawei held the launching ceremony of Hongmeng native application development. At this ceremony, 58 Group announced that its 58.com and Anjuke core App will be launched based on HarmonyOS NEXT.
CTOnews.com, March 20 (Xinhua)-- according to the latest revelation, Apple's first HomePod speaker project with a screen has been postponed until next year or later, as part of a series of measures taken by the company to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The revelation came from Bloomberg.
CTOnews.com, August 7 (Xinhua)-- Musk announced today that the X platform will add a "semantic search" function in the future to improve users' ability to find relevant content on the platform. Musk said that this "semantic search" function is currently under development, and the first phase will be side by side.


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She just became the youngest inaugural poet in history, but Amanda Gorman is not slowing down when it comes to milestones. Now, the 22-year-old has officially signed with IMG Models.
As announced on January 25 via a press email, under the guidance of the leading modeling agency, the National Youth Poet Laureate will now work to expand her personal brand through endorsements and editorial opportunities.
Amanda recited her original work "The Hill We Climb" at the Presidential Inauguration on January 20 — wearing Prada, looking fabulous — bringing global attention to her extraordinary talent. Amanda's move into the world of fashion is not unforeseen, however, given her past work within the industry, specifically focused on sustainability.
"Change is occurring in the fashion industry, and it’s a shift that each of us can advocate for across all brands," Amanda told Teen Vogue back in 2019 while working as a reporter for Prada on their sustainability mission. "At times the climate emergency can seem so overwhelming that we’re frozen in apathy or fear. But solutions exist, especially when we make materials with informed purpose. Whether you shop at Prada and/or your local thrift shop, each dollar we spend on a sustainable product is an investment in the future we stand for."
National Youth Poet Laureate, the youngest to recite at the Presidential inauguration, and now a future leading model? To put it simply, we love to see it.
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Update your gear at annual Ski Swap
It’s out with the old and in with the new at this weekend’s always popular Great Falls Ski Swap.
New this year are two presentations focusing on backcountry winter recreation.
The Great Falls Ski Club event, which runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at the Trades and Industries building at Montana ExpoPark, offers a chance to sell old gear and find new stuff.
Merchandise includes skis, boots, poles, snowboards and cross-country skis, as well as jackets, gloves, socks and hats.
The Ski Swap also features used gear consigned by local skiers and snowboarders.
Consignments should be dropped off starting at noon Friday and ending at 10 a.m. Saturday.
There is a 5 percent consignment fee for nonski club members and a 10 percent fee for all equipment sales.
Proceeds go to the Great Falls Ski Club.
Items that aren’t sold can be donated to Eagle Mount.
The Ski Swap won’t sell straight skis but will have a bin of the old skis that people can take for free. Those are often used to build chairs, fences or other decorative items.
The backcountry presentations will include ski patrol members, search and rescue and staff from Bighorn Outdoor Specialists.
Search and rescue will discuss how a search works.
“I think there’s a little misconception of how quickly that happens,” said Tony Malisani, director of the Great Falls Ski Patrol.
Ski Patrol will talk about avalanche awareness.
Bighorn will give a primer on equipment needed to get into the backcountry.
The presentations are free and will be held in the classroom between the Trades and Industries building and the Fine Arts building. The same presentation will be offered twice — at 4:30 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday.


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Kraft Heinz’s new chief executive yesterday admitted he had “significant work ahead” after unveiling a $1.2 billion writedown of the food giant’s brands following sluggish sales, sending the shares tumbling to record lows.
Miguel Patricio, 55, said: “The level of decline we experienced in the first half of this year is nothing we should find acceptable moving forward.”
The world’s fifth biggest food company, which counts Warren Buffett as its largest investor, admitted that it was struggling to adapt to changing consumer tastes and was feeling the heat from supermarket own brands.
Mr Patricio stopped short of outlining a new strategy but said that the company had been “too focused on the present and literally on firefighting”.
The food group was formed in a 2015…


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Bad be-SHAVE-ior! One in four women admit to secretly using someone else's razor on VERY intimate areas - while a quarter of people confess they've used another person's DEODORANT
- Personal grooming brand Dollar Shave Club conducted research into people's hygiene habits as part of a new campaign
- The brand found that 24.4 per cent of women have used someone else's razor on their bikini area or their armpits
- One in four milliennials and Gen Z-ers confessed to using another person's razor without permission
- Many women say that they regularly use razors that are marketed towards men, and actually prefer them over the products geared towards women
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, personal hygiene has never been a more talked-about topic - but that still hasn't stopped some people from making a rather revealing confession about one grooming product: razors.
One in four women have admitted to secretly using another person's razor to shave either their armpits or their bikini area, with the same number of millennials and Gen Z-ers confessing to borrowing a razor without asking for permission.
The confession comes as part of a personal grooming survey by Dollar Shave Club, which looked into the hygiene habits of 1,000 women in the US, many of whom revealed that they actually prefer using razors targeted at men, instead of those that are marketed specifically for females.
Secret: One in four women have confessed to secretly using another person's razor to shave their bikini area or armpits (stock image)
66.4 per cent of women said they had used a razor marketed to men, and 70 per cent of Gen Zers and Millennials said razors that are marketed to men actually worked better for them.
Which would explain why 29 per cent of respondents said that they would choose to share a razor with a significant other instead of a toothbrush - however deodorant was the clear winner in this category with nearly half of the women (42.2 per cent) picking this as their shared hygiene item of choice.
But razors are not the only products that people are sharing in secret; 10 per cent of the respondents in the survey confessed that they have secretly used someone else's toothbrush before, while one in four admitted that they've borrowed deodorant without asking.
Shaving is an essential grooming habit for the majority of women however, with 40 per cent of respondents saying that they would rather have their period on their wedding day than not have the chance to groom their body hair before getting intimate with a new partner.
Meanwhile nearly 60 per cent of millennial and Gen Z ladies (59.2 per cent) said they would rather be caught on a first date with food stuck in their teeth than miss out on a chance to shave before having an intimate experience with a partner.
Sly: More than 65 per cent of women said that they've used a razor that was marketed for men
Essential: Many women said that shaving is one of the most important grooming habits for them - particularly before they are intimate with a partner
Older women - Gen X and Boomers - agree, with 53.3 per cent making the same admission.
When it comes to using a razor marketed towards the opposite sex, a lot of women confessed to having done so in the past - 66.4 per cent to be exact - and a vast majority believe the products not only work as well as the razors that are meant for females, but that they are actually better.
'Of those Gen Zers and millennials who had used a razor marketed to men, nearly three in four (71.5%) said the razors marketed to men worked better than razors marketed to women,' the Dollar Shave Club survey revealed.
Beyond the functionality of gendered razors, many women believe that it's important to have genderless products on offer to all - no matter what sex they are.
'More than half of respondents said it’s not important to have genderless grooming products, such as razors, deodorant, shampoo etc.,' Dollar Shave Club revealed.
The brand has even launched a special $5 two pack of razors so that couples can order them together and both use the exact same product for all of their shaving needs - be they male or female.


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Today, American Trucking Association’s Technology & Maintenance Council and Decisiv Inc., said parts and labor expenses dropped during the second quarter of 2023, according to data released in the latest Decisiv/TMC North American Service Event Benchmark Report.
“With rising build rates for new equipment and less mileage reducing the need to operate aging trucks, fleets are finally seeing a definite improvement in parts and labor costs,” said Decisiv President and CEO Dick Hyatt. “The data that Decisiv collects and analyzes for TMC on Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standard system level codes points to a return to normalized trade cycles and more predictable service and repair costs. Along with greater stability, the highly detailed data and reporting enabled by Decisiv SRM allows fleets and service providers to focus on ways to continue to drive down expenses.”
After an extended period of cost increases, the combined parts and labor costs for the top 25 VMRS codes fell 1.3% in the second quarter from the first. Labor costs decreased for the first time in the past year and parts costs were down for the second quarter in a row. On a year-over-year basis, from combined parts and labor costs rose only 5.57% in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period last year – which is far slower than the 15% increase in costs seen 2022.
“After many months of rapidly increasing parts and labor costs, we are pleased to see this positive trend in the maintenance expense data,” said TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell. “The Council’s fleet membership will benefit from this important parts and labor cost analysis and plan accordingly going forward.”
While economic and inflation pressures are still driving parts prices and labor rates to comparatively high levels, OEMs are effectively managing fewer supply chain disruptions that had negatively impacted production capacity. With the steady elimination of pent-up demand, fleets are finally taking delivery of new, less repair intensive trucks. Additionally, the influx of replacement vehicles and lower freight volumes are decreasing the demand for service and repair activity and consequently lowering parts and labor costs.
The data reflecting lower parts and labor expenses in this quarter’s Decisiv TMC Benchmark Report indicates how a number of factors interactively impact service activity. Changes in mileage related to freight volumes, the effect of newer versus aging trucks and the ongoing stabilization of the supply chain all impact each other and have a resulting effect on fleet service operations.
Looking ahead, there is a growing expectation that service and repair costs will find a new equilibrium and consequently settle into a more predictable cycle in line with what was experienced in the past.
Data on the top ten VMRS code categories shows that engines and related systems accounted for the largest percentage of all costs in the second quarter. In total, Powerplant (35.9%), Exhaust (12.9%) Cooling (6.1%) and Fuel Systems (5.3%) equaled 60.2% of costs during the quarter.
The Decisiv/TMC North American Service Event Benchmark Reports are generated using data from the Decisiv SRM platform on service and repair events for more than 7 million commercial assets operating across the U.S. and Canada. The industry’s largest asset service management system is being used to manage a weekly average of 70,000 service events at nearly 5,000 locations.
ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council issues the reports to its fleet members. The reports are organized based on the Council’s Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards sorted by VMRS-coded vehicle systems and geographic location.


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In the ever-evolving landscape of global economics, few stories have been as remarkable as China's rise to become an economic superpower. In just a short 50 years, China emerged as a global leader in manufacturing and redefined the dynamics of the global supply chain.
In today's interconnected world, it's hard to find a corporation that isn't inextricably linked to China in some way, whether it's the manufacturing of products, the sourcing of vital components, or playing a critical role in supply chains. However, the post-pandemic era has brought about new and significant complexities. China’s central policies and other factors have weakened its economy, and these changes are rippling across the globe. Companies worldwide, who are dependent on suppliers and critical manufacturers based in China, now find themselves grappling with newfound risks and uncertainties.
Although China’s economic decline has been making headlines only recently, RapidRatings has been alerting our clients to China’s downfall since the very early days of the pandemic.
Capturing China's Economic Downturn: Insights from RapidRatings
At the core of China's economic decline lies the deteriorating financial health of companies operating within its borders, many of which are pivotal players in global manufacturing for global corporations.
At RapidRatings, we have the proprietary financial health data on both the public and private companies within China.
- As shown in the graph above, the trajectory of Core Health (CHS)—reflecting medium-term operational efficiencies—has steadily declined over the past couple of years.
- The state of Financial Health (FHR), gauging the probability of short-term default, has also seen a significant decline.
The year-over-year risk concentration shows the same story.
- Very Low-risk companies, with an FHR of 80 and above, are sharply declining, making up just 14% of China’s corporate landscape.
- Medium to High-Risk firms, with FHRs of 60 and below, are becoming the dominant category. This transformation highlights the distressing risk concentration within China.
Broader Insights: Looking at Other Asian Countries
China's decline becomes even more pronounced when compared to its Asian counterparts, where companies, in general, exhibit greater financial strength and health.
- The FHRs and CHSs of both public and private companies in Asia have experienced an uptick since the pandemic downturn, or at the very least, have remained stable.
- As shown in data on the bottom figure, risk concentration in Asian countries primarily resides in the Low-Risk category, comprising 31.4% of all companies.
- This aligns with their steady recovery, marked by a decrease in High-Risk companies and a slight uptick in Low-Risk companies.
Staying Ahead of Global Risks with the Power of Data
China's economic transformation underscores the importance of enacting due diligence on the companies that touch your business, most notably when those companies are confronted with geopolitical issues, such as currency fluctuations, policy changes, and economic downturns. While outsourcing your supply chain to other countries has many advantages, including cost effectiveness in manufacturing and the ability to obtain hard-to-get parts, it also opens your company up to risk.
As the world economy changes, RapidRatings can protect your business from emerging risks. We arm our clients with unmatched predictive data accuracy and financial health insights, enabling them to navigate global risks with confidence.
To learn more, read our latest eBook which delves into strategies that Supply Chain Leaders can adopt to conquer the challenges of globalization, remain vigilant, and stay ahead of risk.


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Recession or stagnation?
On Friday, US GDP data for 2Q16 was released showing an expansion that looks ever more anaemic and unconvincing. Is this just the new normal in an era of stagnant global growth or is the US more perilously poised? To answer that question, imagine the US economy having two parts in the shape of “consumer GDP”, which represents about three quarters of activity, and the remainder being the nonconsumer “production” portion.
In order to obtain a clear view of the trends within these two economic segments the chart shows the real 12-month rate of change for each series, subject to a two quarter moving average. The data reaches back to 1958, allowing comparisons across multiple cycles. Right now, the key takeaway is that the non-consumer part of the US economy is in recession and has been for some months, while the consumer economy continues to register positive performance — the former is shrinking at -1.1% a year, while the latter is growing at about 2.5%. Such a divergence warrants the following observations.
1) Only once since 1958 has the non-consumer part of US economy shrunk without the period later being recognised as an official recession, and this was in 2012 when the Federal Reserve was in full monetary stimulus mode. By contrast, the Fed is now musing about raising rates and the US monetary base looks fairly well moribund.
2) Consumer spending growth must be considered dubious as the series is driven by items such rent and healthcare, which must be considered “enforced” consumer spending, leading to lower consumption of other goods and services. I would not be surprised if consumer spending (exrent and healthcare) has also fallen into contractionary territory.
3) The spread between the two series has seldom been higher and in the past this discrepancy has usually corrected by consumption going down rather than production rising. In fact, consumption, especially at the end of a cycle, seems to be very much a lagging indicator.
What this says is that the “production” part of the US economy is plainly in recession and historical precedent points to the broad economy going the same way. And in my book, contrary to the Keynesian doxa, production is far more important to economic growth than consumption.
As such, there was little in Friday’s soft GDP data release that was terribly surprising. What is unusual, if not especially startling, has been the anemic pace of US economic growth in this cycle, and on the other side the anemic rate of decline observed in these miserable growth rates. The key question is whether, at some point, the pace of decline accelerates, or instead does the US economy just maintain its slow crawl lower? In other words, is the US on the same trajectory as the Japanese, French and Italian economies in ending up in an ex-growth funk?
To put things even more succinctly: are we seeing the long term results of a Keynesian policy as simple stagnation? There is plenty of logic to such a proposal, but as an investor, I am left with the same “heads I lose, and tails I don’t win” proposition. Not an attractive outlook.


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Accor has just launched a 48-hour 50% off of sale for properties in Australia for stays between September 9 and October 8, 2013. The sale ends at 4PM AEST on September 11, 2013, and you can access the sale page here.
Note that this sale rate is prepaid, non-refundable and non-cancelable. Accor Advantage Plus members receive additional 10% off of the 50% off rate. [click to continue…]


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Nationwide Insurance targets drivers on iPhone
Nationwide Insurance is joining the mobile applications bonanza with the launch of Nationwide Mobile for iPhone, designed to help customers after they get into a car accident.
Nationwide's tagline is "After a car accident, it can be difficult to think clearly and remember all of the details that need to be taken care of next." This free iPhone application, available in Apple's App Store, helps Nationwide customers find local resources, document the accident and submit claims information via their handset.
"Part of the personalized experience we want to deliver to our customers is allowing them to interact with us in whatever way they choose, and for a growing group of people we know this means via their mobile device for certain things," said Susan McManus, associate vice president of interactive marketing for Nationwide, Columbus, OH. "Basically, we want our customers to know that we ?get it' when it comes to the importance of mobile in their day-to-day lives.
"We have been tracking the sharp increase not just in adoption, but usage of mobile devices for much more than voice services, such as SMS texting, social networking, uploading pictures and videos, checking news and weather -- particularly with younger consumers," she said.
For Nationwide, iPhone owners represent coveted demographics.
"We chose to start with the iPhone because we believe that smartphones are the way of the future, and that iPhone to date has been setting the standard for the next generation of smartphones," Ms. McManus said. "They have totally changed the mobile market with the launch of their App Store.
"It is the apps themselves that are going viral and make the iPhone so much more than just a phone, and as a result, such an important part of its owner's life," she said. "Ultimately, we want our mobile app to be one way that we can show our customers that we are ?On Your Side' in a modern way."
Others industry players such as Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Mobile (see story) and Research In Motion's BlackBerry (see story) have announced mobile applications storefronts modeled after Apple's App Store.
Nationwide is a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest insurance and financial services organizations in the world.
Nationwide worked with independent interactive marketing agency Rosetta to develop the mobile application.
Nationwide Mobile has been launched alongside Nationwide's new ad campaign "I am On Your Side."
The campaign includes a TV ad featuring a Nationwide associate showing off the new Nationwide Mobile app for iPhone.
Nationwide Mobile helps users to contact local authorities and emergency services following an accident.
The application will also help Nationwide customers contact local towing services, Nationwide Blue Ribbon Repair Service Facilities and Nationwide agents in the customer's area.
To help with the claims process, Nationwide Mobile provides an interface for collecting and exchanging accident information with the other driver involved in the incident.
In addition to the other driver's insurance and contact information, users can also store photos of the accident taken with the iPhone's camera and automatically record the location of the accident using the iPhone's built-in GPS.
Nationwide Mobile helps its customers start the claims process at the scene of the accident and lets them share photos and other information that could help expedite the process.
Users can let Nationwide know the times they are available to have a call center representative follow up with them.
Other features include a flashlight function and a tool to help non-customers locate a Nationwide agent in their area.
Nationwide Mobile is available for free in Apple's App Store or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore.
"The app is not just for Nationwide customers -- anyone with an iPhone can use many of the features, including the accident tips, find an agent, the ability to exchange information or capture accident pictures or even the flashlight," Ms. McManus said. "Nationwide is serious about our investment in mobile.
"In addition to promotional content on Nationwide.com, we will be featuring Nationwide Mobile for iPhone in national cable and local market TV spots, as well as digital display ads on sites such as Weather.com, Discovery Network, Facebook and Web MD," she said.
"We have been encouraging our associates to spread the word via Facebook and Twitter."


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At a press conference in Louisville today, the Cardinals and adidas announced a 5-year, $40 million shoe and apparel deal, making it the third-richest partnership of its kind in college athletics, behind only Notre Dame and Under Armor’s agreement ($9M per year) and Michigan’s deal with adidas ($8.2M per year).
The deal will include up to 5 new football jersey choices, and dozens of overall combinations.
"Adidas has been a loyal partner for 16 years and I am thrilled that we will continue through this significantly expanded agreement as we move into a new era in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The synergies with the sport of soccer and our new stadium, future innovative uniform designs, and the passion adidas displays towards outfitting all of our student-athletes at the highest level nationally make this a model relationship,” said Cardinals Director of Athletics Tim Jurich.
The new agreement comes on the heels of Notre Dame jumping from adidas to Under Armor (10 years, $90M), and promises to give a jumpstart to the Cardinals’ marketing effort as they move to the ACC in July.
The third-largest shoe & apparel deal in the ACC is now between UNC and Nike, for a reported $3.4M per year, according to The Portland Business Journal.


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Kingfisher has been struggling financially, with profits falling by more than 50%.
The firm also announced that boss Veronique Laury will be stepping down.
Miss Laury has said she will stay on until someone is found to take over the role.
Kingfisher has announced it will be shutting an extra 15 stores between the two brands – B&Q and Screwfix – including some in the UK.
On top of this, Screwfix will disappear from German high streets, becoming a web-only service.
Pre-tax profits for Kingfisher fell by 52.8% to £322million in the year to January 31.
Sales at B&Q dropped 3%, while sales at Screwfix rose 4.1%.
Miss Laury has faced calls to resign recently following Kingfisher's poor performance.
She said: "Leading the transformation has been so exciting but also very challenging."
Kingfisher has not said how many jobs are at stake.
If you wish to contact Tim, you can email him at firstname.lastname@example.org


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Albany Molecular Research Inc. amri Friday evening said it is considering an appeal to a judge's decision denying the company's request for a preliminary injunction in the ongoing patent infringement case related to Allegra. Earlier today, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. BRL, +0.00% said the court had denied a motion filed by Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc. SNY, -0.36% and Albany that would have forced Barr and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. TEVA, +0.00% to stop selling generic versions of Aventis' Allegra allergy tablets. Barr and Teva launched the fexofenadine hydrochloride tablets last September.
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The Harvard Ed Portal has announced programming and vendors for the first-ever Allston-Brighton Winter Market, taking place December 7–10 in conjunction with the Harvard Ceramics Holiday Show and Sale and Allston Open Studios.
The four-day Winter Market will feature artisan vendors, live music, a food truck, a beer garden, and interactive programming. Of the 21 confirmed vendors, at least 14 Allston-Brighton residents will have goods available for purchase including jewelry, skin care products, clothing & accessories, paintings, prepared foods, photography, and prints. Hosted at 224 Western Ave in Allston, MA, the Winter Market will be a festive celebration of local creative entrepreneurship. All are welcome to stop by, and there is no admission fee.
On Saturday and Sunday from 12:00-7:00pm, the Winter Market will feature a beer garden with local favorite Lord Hobo Brewery, and will have food for purchase from Boston-based food truck Bon Me. Weekend highlights also include live music curated by Allston Pudding on Sunday, as well as Saturday performances by singer-songwriters Ali McGuirk, Dietrich Strause, and Harvard student Martine Thomas.
The Allston-Brighton Winter Market coincides with the Harvard Ceramics Holiday Show and Sale, a weekend exhibition and sale of work by Ceramics Program artists, taking place next to the Harvard Ed Portal at 224 Western Ave. and running on the same schedule; with the Allston Arts District 31st Annual Open Studios at 1 and 119 Braintree Street (Saturday and Sunday only); and with Barry’s Shop at Zone 3, which runs November 30 through December 23.
Thursday, December 7: 4:00-8:00pm
Friday, December 8, Saturday, December 9, Sunday, December 10: 10:00am-7:00pm
Planning to attend? Let your Facebook friends know!


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Is Buffett selling Apple?
In 2019, Buffett reported to his own investors that his company had spent $35.287 billion buying Apple shares.
In February 2020, it was revealed that he had sold some $800 million worth of Apple shares..
At what price did Warren Buffett buy Amazon?
Now they know just how much. Warren Buffett’s conglomerate revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday that it bought 483,300 shares in the first quarter. With Amazon’s closing price Wednesday of $1,871.15 a share, that puts the value of the stake at just over $904 million.
How much of Apple Does Bill Gates Own?
So 2.25 percent of the $79 billion in Apple shares owned by Berkshire Hathaway is owned by Bill & Melinda Gates, which today accounts for… $1.8 billion worth of Apple stock. Percentage-wise, only 0.13 percent of Apple’s total value is owned by the Trust.
Who owns the most Apple stock?
Top 10 Owners of Apple IncStockholderStakeShares ownedThe Vanguard Group, Inc.7.12%1,235,167,420Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (Investm…5.66%980,622,264BlackRock Fund Advisors4.32%749,722,492SSgA Funds Management, Inc.4.09%709,057,4726 more rows
Why did Buffett sell Apple?
Warren Buffett Sold Off $800 Million of AAPL Stock Last Quarter. … Apple accounts for 30 percent of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio. Another possible reason for the sell-off is to cash out after Apple’s stock surged by a third last quarter, from around $219 to $294.
When did Buffett first buy Apple?
Berkshire Hathaway, through one of Buffett’s lieutenants, bought its first 10 million Apple shares in May 2016.


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Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin and Elon Musk
The Thursday filing also said that Musk is in ongoing talks with other parties including former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who is the second largest individual stakeholder in the company after Musk.
Other investors include Sequoia Capital Fund, which pledged $800 million, and VyCapital, which pledged $700 million, according to a Thursday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. But Ellison, who is also a and Tesla board member, is making the biggest contribution, pegged at $1 billion.
Technology venture capitalist Ben Horowitz said his firm, known as Andreessen Horowitz or a16z, is investing $400 million because it believes in Musk's ``brilliance to finally make it what it was meant to be.''
``While Twitter has great promise as a public square, it suffers from a myriad of difficult issues ranging from bots to abuse to censorship,'' Horowitz tweeted Thursday. ``Being a public company solely reliant on an advertising business model exacerbates all of these.''
Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud has pledged 35 million in Twitter shares in support of Musk, according to the filing.
Musk in earlier regulatory filings revealed that he has sold roughly $8.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla to help fund the purchase. Musk later tweeted that he doesn't plan any further sales of the company's shares, meaning he would need outside commitments to help fund the $44 billion deal.
Because of the new funding listed in the SEC filing Thursday, Musk will cut the $12.5 billion in margin loans against his Tesla shares in half, to $6.25 billion. The transaction is also now being funded by $27.25 billion in cash and equities, up from $21 billion.
Shares of Twitter Inc. have remained below the per-share offering bid by Musk of $54.20 because there are still doubts on Wall Street about whether the deal will go through.
The new round of funding pushed the price of Tesla shares closer to what Musk is paying, with the stock jumping almost 4% at the opening bell, to $50.85.
``In this game of high stakes poker the Ellison and impressive list of backers will remove more of an overhang from Tesla shares as the Musk leverage of shares now becomes less onerous,`` wrote analyst Dan Ives who follows Twitter for Wedbush. ``This was a smart financial and strategic move by Musk that will be well received across the board and also shows the Twitter deal is now on a glide path to get done by the end.''


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By Jana Hock, Senior Research Officer, ShareAction
Transport is responsible for over 24 per cent of global CO2 emissions. Up to three quarters of this is from road vehicles.
In Europe, where transport is the biggest source of emissions (28 per cent), it is the only sector where emissions have risen since 1990.
To achieve global ambitions of net zero emissions it's clear we need to address the transport sector. But despite a flurry of climate announcements by car manufacturers, European auto makers are still falling short.
Investors are well-positioned to accelerate progress, and ensure their portfolio holdings are aligned with the EU’s climate targets ahead of upcoming regulation.
European standards could force a race to the top
Under the EU Green Deal, the European Union has set its own targets to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. To achieve this, it's looking closely at the transport sector, with aims to review and likely tighten carbon dioxide standards for passenger cars in June this year.
Car manufacturers need to show true climate leadership to get ahead of this regulation - those failing to align with the EU Green Deal could face significant fines.
Take Volkswagen, for example. For failing 2020 carbon targets by a small margin, it's now facing a predicted fine of 240 million euros.
As standards are tightened, more manufacturers are at risk of such heavy charges if they do not step up their ambitions in time.
Meanwhile, the political tides in Germany and France are moving ever more towards electric vehicles.
A phase out of the internal combustion engine (ICE) looms – with a potential end to all European sales of non-electric cars by 2035, and therefore the car manufacturers’ traditional business.
Where can regulation go from here?
To reach net zero by 2050 in the most cost-effective way, models by Transport & Environment give insights as to how regulation might develop.
The main objectives include:
- A phase out of the internal combustion engine by 2030, or 2035 at the latest;
- A reduction in passenger car emissions by 25 per cent by 2025; 40 per cent by 2027; 65 per cent by 2030; and 100 per cent for 2035.
How aligned are European car manufacturers?
While most German or French car manufacturers’ climate targets compare poorly against the potential tightening of CO2 standards in line with net zero by 2050, some companies are performing better than others (Figure 1).
Renault leads the group. It has an ambitious EV sales strategy and has announced its plan to phase out internal combustion engines by 2035.
Acclaimed German electrification leader Volkswagen is still playing catch-up.
Daimler, BMW and Groupe PSA (Peugeot) severely lag behind their rivals, seemingly asleep at the wheel on climate change.
Figure 1: Ranking of German and French car manufacturers against climate performance standards
If these laggards cannot mobilise quickly enough, they might follow the same fate as the likes of Nokia and Blackberry when the telecommunications industry was disrupted.
They may find themselves displaced by competitors better positioned for the transition to zero-emissions transport.
Despite an increase in climate announcements by these car manufacturers, investors should hold back from applauding too soon.
Investors are well-positioned to use the opportunity to engage with their portfolio holdings, to ensure climate alignment ahead of new risks arising from potentially tightened CO2 standards.
Key engagement questions could include:
1. Does the car manufacturer have a plausible net zero commitment for emissions from vehicles in use by 2050, including short- to medium-term targets?
Best practice: The company has an emission reduction target for vehicles in use of minimum 25 per cent by 2025, 40 per cent by 2027, 65 per cent by 2030, and 100 per cent by 2035.
2. Does the car manufacturer have electric vehicle sales targets aligned with its emission reduction commitments?
Best practice: The car manufacturer has sales targets corresponding to a minimum share of 20 per cent fully electric vehicle sales by 2025, 35 per cent by 2027, 55 per cent by 2030, and 100 per cent fully electric vehicle sales by 2035.
3. Does the car manufacturer have a commitment to stop selling internal combustion (ICE) engine cars?
Best practice: The company has an ICE phase out date commitment for 2035 the latest.
4. Does the car manufacturer have plans to transition away from hybrids and towards fully electric vehicles, in light of a required ICE phase out by 2035 for net zero in 2050? What is its thinking around alternative and synthetic fuels for passenger cars?
Best practice: The company has a clear hybrid phase out date by 2035 at the latest, and hybrids make up less than 35 per cent of its electric sales targets by 2020 and less than 25 per cent by 2030. Alternative fuels also require combustion engines, meaning they need to face a similar phase out in passenger cars by 2035.
Read the report >> European Auto Makers: Still in the slow lane?


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In 2013, the Group launched a number of initiatives to extend its environmental commitment to the dealer network. In Italy, Group-owned dealerships, with a total surface area of around 105,000 square meters, implemented measures that led to a 5.5% or 6,400 GJ reduction in energy consumption over 2012, reducing CO2 emissions by 685 tons and generating cost savings at the same time. Similar initiatives to improve sustainability are planned for dealers outside Italy.
In the U.S., for the second consecutive year, Chrysler Group managed the Dealer Environmentally Conscious Operations (ECO) Program, which recognizes dealers with a demonstrated commitment to eco-friendly business practices. During 2014, best practices will be shared with the rest of the dealer network via the DealerCONNECT portal.


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Techies drooled this week when Apple released its impossibly thin new MacBook Pro — which seems light years beyond the cumbersome gadgets in Apple’s past
Ah, the Apple I. The computer that started it all was hand-built in 1976 by Apple founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs — in Jobs’ parents’ garage. The machine was originally presented to the iconic Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, Calif. Wozniak insisted on an initial price of $666.66 for the bare-bones machine because he liked “repeating digits.” Now, with only 50 in existence, a working Apple I can fetch upwards of $120,000.
View slideshow at The Week.
PHOTO: CC BY: Kyro
All the top stories from The Week.


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A First-Of-Its-Kind Virtual Reality Game Featuring the Exclusive New Track ‘Saved’
Absolut® Labs unveils Absolut deadmau5 – an interactive virtual reality gaming experience created in collaboration with world renowned electronic musician deadmau5, which invites fans to join the artist on an epic night out in his own virtual world.
As the latest venture from Absolut Labs, the brand’s nightlife think-tank and idea incubator, Absolut deadmau5 is part of the brand’s ongoing mission to redefine and reimagine nightlife through its Absolut Nights campaign. Connecting people in new and unexpected ways – both in the real world and, now, the virtual world – is in the DNA of the Absolut Nights campaign, creating nights that memories are made of.
Starting July 27, the Absolut deadmau5 app will be available for download in all major app stores, including iOS, Android and Samsung, and is best experienced using the Limited Edition Absolut deadmau5 VR cardboard headsets – available for pre-order starting today, for $15, at www.Absolutdeadmau5.com.


text: Ben22 writes "The Register is reporting that soon new 'Robot Agents' will handle all of our online disputes. The new system is called e-Dispute and could eventually be used on services such as eBay or even all online stores. Perhaps it will help usher in an age of simplified, safe online shopping. Someday, Congress and the Senate might even use programs such as this to resolve conflicting bills. The possibilities are endless."


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Mumbai/New Delhi: Seven months after a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) plan for Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd hit a dead end, ICICI Venture Funds Management Co. Ltd, the main investor in the troubled retailer, considers its investment in the company a “write-off” and is struggling to find buyers for its stake, according to a person familiar with the development.
“The investment is already written off in a way. Its equity value has eroded,” this person added, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The firm can’t be revived now.”
Lost case?A file photo of a Subhiksha store. Private equity firm ICICI Venture, which holds about 23% in the beleaguered retailer, has been unable to find buyers for its stake and feels Subhiksha can’t be revived. Harikrishna Katragadda/Mint
ICICI Venture holds the largest non-promoter stake in Subhiksha, but a senior executive at a large consulting company said the private equity (PE) firm would not face any loss from writing off its investment.
“ICICI Venture rather made (a) profit on (its) investment while selling 10% stake to PremjiInvest,” the consulting company executive said, requesting anonymity for himself and his firm citing business relations with the PE firm.
ICICI Venture, an arm of ICICI Bank Ltd—India’s largest private lender—currently holds about 23% in Subhiksha and has an estimated exposure of about Rs106 crore in it. ICICI Bank, one of the lenders to Subhiksha, was in charge of drafting the revival plan for the retailer.
The person familiar with the matter said ICICI Venture had approached strategic buyers to take over the defunct retail chain, but failed. “Buyers looked at the company on behest of ICICI Venture, but nothing worked out as they saw no value in buying it.”
A spokesperson for ICICI Venture said in an email reply that the firm “would prefer not to comment on the issue”.
R. Subramanian, Subhiksha’s managing director, did not respond to an email seeking comment sent on Tuesday. He did not answer phone calls or reply to text messages.
PremjiInvest, the PE arm of billionaire Azim Premji, had bought a 10% stake in Subhiksha from ICICI Venture in 2008 for Rs230 crore.
Trouble for Subhiksha began in late 2008 when the company ran out of cash, bringing its operations to a standstill.
The cash shortage eventually resulted in Subhiksha closing its nationwide network of 1,600 supermarket stores, and defaulting on loans, vendor payments and staff salaries.
Subramanian had attributed the collapse to the debt-led rapid expansion of the firm on a small equity base. He had said Subhiksha’s growth to 1,600 stores in 11 years and a nearly Rs4,000 crore annual revenue rate was achieved through a high level of debt.
ICICI Venture had earlier written to the Chennai office of the Registrar of Companies to investigate Subhiksha’s books, saying the retailer had not shared its audited accounts after June 2007. It also asked for an independent audit of Subhiksha’s accounts.
In August 2009, the Madras high court admitted two separate winding up petitions by Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd and HCL Infosystems Ltd to recover their dues from Subhiksha.
Subhiksha owes at least Rs750 crore to ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank Ltd, Yes Bank Ltd and other lenders.
A consortium of lenders tried to revive Subhiksha with a debt restructuring plan, but failed to file a proposal to the CDR office by a July deadline.
Premji, chairman and managing director of India’s third largest software firm Wipro Ltd, has since termed the Subhiksha investment an “error”.
In an interview with The Economic Times on 11 March, Premji had said there was an overstatement of accounts at Subhiksha, as well as fake inventory, bills and companies that money was transferred to.
When contacted about the Subhiksha investment, PremjiInvest declined to comment. “We are not at liberty to share anything due to legal proceedings in the court,” said Prakash Parthasarathy, chief investment officer at the firm.
Last year, PremjiInvest sent legal notices to six serving and former directors of the retailer, charging them with not performing their duty and keeping investors in the dark about Subhiksha’s financial status.
ICICI Venture’s former managing director Renuka Ramnath and former senior director Bala Deshpande were among those to whom the notices were sent.
Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Monday that American PE company TPG Capital is set to take over Vishal Retail Ltd, another debt-laden Indian retailer.


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Cyber-attack hits JBS world's largest meat supplier
The world's largest meat processing company, JBS, has been a victim of a cyber-attack. Computer networks in the USA, Australia and Canada were temporarily shut down.
JBS believes that the ransomware attack came from a Russian criminal group and was not the sophisticated work of vegan vigilantes. However, the attack may cause a rise in meat prices and a shortage of stock.
Meat supplier JBS
JBS is the world's largest meat supplier, founded in Brazil in 1953 by rancher José Batista Sobrinho. Now, the company has over 150,000 employees across the world and among its top customers, fast food outlet, McDonald's. JBS processes nearly one quarter of the beef used in the USA, from steaks to quarter pounders.
United Food and Commercial Workers Union has urged JBS to ensure employees that they will still receive their wages.
Earlier this year, a ransomware attack targeted the Colonial Pipeline, which halted fuel delivery for a few days. The attack is also believed to have been the work of a criminal group in Russia.
Despite the US government encouraging companies not pay criminals in ransomware attacks, as this will only encourage further hacks, Colonial Pipeline has confirmed it paid a $4.4m (£3.1m) ransom to the cyber-criminal gang responsible.
This payment may have led to the attack on JBS.
JBS and White House take action
In response to the attack, JBS released a statement: “JBS USA determined that it was the target of an organized cybersecurity attack. The company took immediate action, suspending all affected systems, notifying authorities and activating the company's global network of IT professionals and third-party experts to resolve the situation. Resolution of the incident will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers.”
In the USA, a White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre also made a statement in support of JBS and said it was investigating the issue.
"JBS notified [us] that the ransom demand came from a criminal organisation likely based in Russia," said Karine Jean-Pierre White House spokeswoman. "The White House is engaging directly with the Russian government on this matter and delivering the message that responsible states do not harbour ransomware criminals."


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GlobeX Data Ltd. (CSE:SWIS, OTCQB:SWISF)
Leader in Swiss Hosted Data Management and Secure Communications. A Cybersecurity and Internet Privacy leader in Swiss hosted Secure Document Management, Secure Email and Secure Communications.
In its latest move to crack down on counterfeit and unsafe goods, Amazon (AMZN +1.4%) will soon require U.S. sellers to display their business name and address on their public profile.
Amazon has always had access to this information, but making the details public could help consumers (and brands) track sellers they suspect are listing counterfeit or unsafe goods.
The change goes into effect on September 1.
Sellers in Europe, Mexico, and Japan were already required to display the business information.
Amazon has 461K sellers in the U.S., according to Marketplace Pulse data.
The e-commerce giant recently formed a Counterfeit Crimes Unit, which includes a global team of former federal prosecutors, investigators, and data analysts to identify and potentially sue sellers of counterfeit goods.
Slack (NYSE:WORK) announces acquiring enterprise directory company Rimeto for undisclosed terms.
The company will directly integrate Rimeto’s profile and directory features into its collaboration platform.
Slack will also continue to offer Rimeto as a standalone product, becoming the company’s first independent app.
Rimeto raised $10M in private funding.
WORK shares are up 1% pre-market to $31.80.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Teams is getting a “together mode” that displays participants in AI-generated theater-style seating.
In internal tests of the mode, participants looked at others more and kept their cameras on longer. Users were also better able to retain content from the meeting.
Together mode will roll out in August. Additional views will be added in the future.
Later this year, Teams will add speaker attributions to its live transcripts and captions.
Microsoft plans to expand meeting capacity to 1,000 participants, who can all speak and appear on video. A view-only meeting experience can support 20,000 participants.
Teams competes with Zoom Video (NASDAQ:ZM) and Slack (NYSE:WORK).
Rosenblatt analyst Mark Zgutowicz thinks Twitter (TWTR +8.0%) is “highly unlikely” to launch a subscription tier for general users.
A data analytics tier for power users would make sense, but the analyst says the initial total market would be less than 10M users.
Earlier today, TWTR shares gained after a job listing was posted for a Twitter team codenamed Gryphon, which is building a subscription platform.
Twitter earns more than 84% of its revenue from advertising, and a subscription product would offer diversification as sales growth lags. In Q1, Twitter’s sales rose 3% Y/Y, the smallest gain in over two years.
Apple’s (AAPL +1.8%) program for supplying iPhone repair parts, tools, and manuals to independent repair shops expands into 32 European countries and Canada.
The initiative launched last year in the United States, and Apple now says 140 businesses with 700 locations signed up.
In the past, Apple had authorized-service providers like Best Buy perform warranty work.
The expansion comes amid store closures related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Morgan Stanley says Apple currently has 410 of its 510 retail stores open worldwide, down from 457 last week. Apple has closed 92 of its 271 U.S. stores due to virus spikes.
Apple stores are usually in prominent malls or business districts, making the closures an indicator of shaky retail reopening.


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Star Alliance said it welcomed THAI Smile Airways as a Star Alliance Connecting Partner at an official ceremony held in Bangkok February 25, 2020.
The auspicious occasion was celebrated with a traditional Thai performance at THAI Airways International headquarters in the presence of member airline representatives.
THAI Smile became the second Connecting Partner of Star Alliance. The Connecting Partner Model was first introduced in May 2017 allowing airlines to connect to the Star Alliance network without becoming a member airline.This collaboration is the first of its kind in Thailand, according to Star Alliance.
THAI Smile offers more than 396 weekly flights to 32 destinations in nine countries and regions. As a Connecting Partner, the airline will extend the Star Alliance network by ten new destinations.
Following the partnership, passengers travelling on any itinerary, which includes a transfer between certain Star Alliance member airlines and THAI Smile on a single booking, will enjoy comforts such as passenger and baggage through check-in. In addition, customers who hold Star Alliance Silver and Gold status in any Star Alliance member airline’s frequent flyer programme will enjoy a tailored set of privileges.
Currently, such privileges are available on eligible connections between THAI Smile Airways and Austrian, Lufthansa, SWISS, and THAI Airways International.
Star Alliance CEO Jeffrey Goh, said: “Our Connecting Partner model was introduced three years ago to offer airlines an attractive way to connect to our global alliance network without requiring full membership, and we are continuing to expand the model to provide customers with more travel options. I am pleased to welcome THAI Smile Airways today as a Star Alliance Connecting Partner, from which customers will benefit through greater connectivity and enhanced services in Asia.”


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Barbie, at 59, is pretty good about keeping up with the times thanks to links with all sorts of cool kids brands. Coming up next is a big one that puts it in line with streetwear’s popularity: A collaboration with Puma that’s due out in late fall that has the two brands linked on a collection for women and girls.
“Barbie is a really exciting canvas for brands to play with and we love our partnerships and we love working with partners and Puma represents a really exciting, iconic brand similar to Barbie,” said Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and general manager of Mattel Inc.’s Barbie.
The collection retails from $50 to $100 and includes footwear and apparel.
The deal certainly places the Barbie brand in the mix on the trend in street style, a maneuvering the brand has been able to do across different trends, McKnight said, pointing to activewear, high fashion and festival fashion as examples.
Barbie in March revealed a limited edition collection with Sephora. The brand teamed for a second time with U.K.-based fast-fashion e-tailer Missguided on a festival-inspired collection last month. That was followed up with a resort collaboration done with Show Me Your Mumu.
“I think what’s exciting for Barbie is her rich heritage and our connection to fashion for almost 60 years,” McKnight said of why the brand has been able to successfully transcend most consumer segments.
About three years ago, the Barbie brand shifted strategy from programs that related less to what Barbie is to a focus on what the brand inspires and why it matters, McKnight explained.
That’s materialized in a number of ways, whether it be the product collaborations, or more ethnic and body diversity across the Barbie and Ken brands.
“Right now, I couldn’t be more excited about the trajectory of the brand,” McKnight said. “Barbie’s experiencing some really exciting momentum.”
The Puma collection’s release will be a nice tee up with Barbie preparing to celebrate its 60th anniversary next year. McKnight declined to provide specifics other than to say more collaborations can be expected from the company.


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Celebrating the 25 years of mobile devices, NTT DoCoMo, a leading Japanese service provider, put together an exhibit to showcase the evolution of cell phones over the last two and a half decades.
NTT DoCoMo, which has been around for 20 years, is featuring their exhibit during Tokyo Designers Week 2012. The exhibit features over 600 mobile devices starting from 1987 to the present day, marking the technological advancements companies have made through designs, size, shape and function. As guests browse the wide collection of mobile devices—from ancient clunky devices to modern slim smartphones—the evolution of cell phones is clearly an eyeopener to how much the world has progressed over the last 25 years. The exhibit also illustrates the trends, in style and in necessity, of technology throughout the years.


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Vegans and vegetarians rest easy: Chipotle is putting tofu on the menu, report our friends at Bloomberg Businesweek. That’s right: your burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads will never be the same (or have to contain meat.)
In February, Chipotle started testing Sofritas, “shredded tofu braised with chipotle chilies, roasted poblanos, and a blend of aromatic spices” in seven California restaurants and now, the company hopes to roll out the product throughout the West coast by the end of the month. The organic, non-genetically modified tofu is made in California and one reviewer reportedly compared it to “scrambled eggs in a tomatoey rancheros like sauce,” reports Bloomberg Businessweek. And Sofritas have been a suprising success, now accounting for up to 5 percent of sales in the state.
“We’re expanding the Sofritas test to include our restaurants in the Pacific Northwest this month, and we’re considering additional markets this fall, when we expect additional supply to become available of our tofu,” Steve Ells, Chipotle founder and co-chief executive officer, said during a recent earnings call.
Though it may not be a surprise that notoriously health-conscious Californian’s are all about the tofu, some are wondering how consumers in other states will take to Sofritas – tofu sales in 2011 were down $3 million since 2008.
Chipotle execs are hoping that the product will attract consumers who hadn’t thought about adding tofu to their burrito, are curious, or are looking to be more health conscious.
So tell us, will you be ordering up a Sofritas with the hot salsa and extra guac on your next burrito run?
The best way to learn the true secrets of a Latin kitchen is to get out there and explore its origins!
On a daily basis, The Latin Kitchen will head Out in the World, enlisting the help of some food-savvy global and local contributors who are eating, drinking, and discovering the latest trends, hotspots, chefs, and news growing in the Latin food space. Whether its the latest spirit coming out of South America, a street food experience in the Caribbean, chef headlines from Spain or food festival coverage from cities around the United States, this blog will report back the Latin food stories you won't find anywhere else.
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BBC News: Possible food shortages at Christmas
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It has been a difficult few months for the hospitality, food, and logistics industries as Britain continues to struggle with product shortages. McDonald’s is out of milkshakes, KFC has multiple missing menu items, and Nando’s has no chicken left. Now, it is possible the UK could be hit with a wine and Prosecco shortage ahead of Christmas.
The UK’s biggest wine company has warned the UK could soon face a wine and Prosecco shortage.
Food shortages are already prevalent in British supermarkets and even some pubs, including Wetherspoons, have run out of alcohol.
It is likely gaps will remain in supermarket shelves during the run-up to Christmas.
The problem stems from a shortage of HGV drivers in the country.
There is a shortage of lorry drivers in the UK because many have returned to their native countries.
In the aftermath of Brexit and the pandemic, many EU citizens working in the UK went back home.
According to the Road Haulage Association (RHA), Britain is currently short of around 100,000 lorry drivers, compared to a shortage of 60,000 in February 2020.
This has meant that many supermarkets, pubs, restaurants, retailers, and companies have missed out on deliveries in recent weeks.
As for drinks shortages, Robert Foye, Chief Executive of Accolade, has said there could be issues with wine and Prosecco supplies ahead of December 25.
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Accolade owns brands including Hardys, Echo Falls, and Banrock Station.
Mr Foye told the BBC: “These shortages, if they continue, could definitely impact Christmas.
“We are trying to get ahead of it, but it does depend on the situation for the entire transport and trucking industry in the UK.”
The chief executive also said products could be more expensive this Christmas.
He added: “Ultimately, costs will go up.”
Other companies have warned of increasing food costs too.
According to the latest industry data, food prices are set to go up due to rising supply costs.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned that supermarket prices are likely to rise following months of increased commodity and shipping costs.
BRC’s Chief Executive, Helen Dickinson, said: “Food retailers are fighting to keep their prices down as far as possible.
“But mounting pressures – from rising commodity and shipping costs as well as Brexit-related red tape – mean this will not be sustainable for much longer, and food price rises are likely in the coming months.”
Ms Dickinson added that non-food categories, such as electricals, are also likely to see prices of their products rise.
Retailers will soon have no choice but to hike the prices of their stock.
This is due to global issues with delayed shipping and microchip shortages.
Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight at NielsenIQ hoped that retailers will be able to keep food prices low, despite problems within the supply chain.
He said: “With shoppers now returning from their summer holidays many will be reviewing their household budgets.
“So, the next few months will be an important time for retailers to keep prices stable by absorbing as much of any increase in their supply chain costs as possible.”
Source: Read Full Article


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Boparan Holdings reported its operating profit was down by 57.6% to £8.4M – after the temporary closure of its 2 Sisters’ West Bromwich poultry plant – in its first-quarter results.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell by £32.1M to £151.3M during the 13 weeks to October 28 2017.
Total sales climbed by 3.8% to £849M, while like-for-like sales were up 3.1% year-on-year. Net debt rose by £46M to £823.6M in the first quarter of the firm’s 2017/2018 financial year.
Ranjit Boparan, 2 Sisters Food Group ceo, said the business had grown revenues during the first quarter, despite the tough market environment.
“We are taking action now to improve margin performance and we should see the results of this coming through in the second half of the year, as we work through our plans to strengthen our business in all areas,” said Boparan.
The business remained optimistic that its change programme, coupled with some softening in commodity prices would improve its position in the second half of the financial year.