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We wish you larger successes in 2022, bigger sales, and more joys both in your work and personal lives!
The holiday season is behind us. We hope you survived it with minimal battle scars and that you made the most out of it, as well. This year definitely has a lot in store already. Let’s take a look at some of the latest news.
Jewelry eCommerce News 📰
10% of Etsy sellers use TikTok to promote listings
A first in the eCommerce world, marketplace Etsy is actually encouraging sellers to promote their listings through TikTok. This came after surveying their sellers to find out how many of them were already doing so (10% they found out). So they teamed up with the social media channel and created a webinar on TikTok promotion strategies.
As a visual (video-center) platform, TikTok would be a great option for jewelry sellers to advertise on, as well. The relatively young audience there is also hard to reach on any other platform, giving sellers more opportunities to get found.
Amazon drops to 4th place in global ranking for shopping apps
While still first on the US market, globally Amazon has lost a few spots as the most downloaded shopping app. Shopee, Shein, and Meesho are now in the top 3. However, Amazon’s GMV numbers are still multiple times higher than all the other apps.
As a seller, this means that while Amazon is still a great platform to sell on, other marketplaces are coming strongly into the mix. We frequently talk about diversification and the importance of cross-channel selling. With mobile eCommerce on the rise, such applications should definitely be on your radar.
Fedex, USPS and other international shippers suspend multiple services
With the latest COVID variant spreading around the world and the current severe winter weather, more international destinations and services are being interrupted by multiple shipping companies. USPS and Fedex are just two examples. While the holiday season is over, holiday returns and sales are still happening in large numbers.
This can greatly affect jewelry sellers, particularly new or small businesses, as individual order quantities are small and the inconveniences may not be worth it for buyers. As a seller, you should proactively plan for and let customers know about possible delays in shipping and handling. Also, make sure to stay up to date with the latest news on this topic, as circumstances can change quickly.
Walmart InHome deliveries on the rise
30 million US homes – that is the number that Walmart is targeting with their InHome delivery services. Their current milestone is 6 million, which makes this a big leap. This service, made possible through smart apps, allows the delivery person to drop the package inside the home, bringing buyers the ultimate shopping experience.
Even though jewelry is still a small category in the Walmart catalog, most of the products are small, light and, therefore, easy to add onto larger orders. So sellers should still plan on listing their products on this marketplace this year and catch a piece of that 30 million buyers pie.
Demand for jewelry products has been increasing
If you thought that the jewelry industry is saturated and there is no more room for new sellers to enter, this news will prove you otherwise. Research is showing that necklace, earring and bracelets sales have been increasing (by 27%, 25% and 16% respectively), placing these categories among the top fastest growing in eCommerce.
This only tells part of the story. With marketplaces expanding in number and reach, and a lot of complementary products on the rise as well, the sales opportunities for jewelry are even larger.
UK Royal Mail to reduce 2022 shipping prices
In an attempt to help local businesses through this period, Royal Mail has decreased international surcharges and business contract products (e.g. tracking and signature services). They have also removed most temporary air carrier supplements, making shipping more affordable this year.
This can mean an opportunity for UK sellers to offer new promotions and sales, including shipping discounts. However, they should still keep in mind shipping restrictions caused by the pandemic and severe weather.
2022 Major dates for eCommerce sellers
The holiday season may be over but 2022 packs a lot of holidays and busy seasons ahead. For the US, MLK Day, Winter Olympics, Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day are the next ones in line for the first two months. These come with both delays, due to office closures and high demand, as well as great marketing opportunities.
Jewelry has been a seasonal product line for decades and it will continue to be so in the foreseeable future. While trends like self-spending are quickly gaining traction, gifts will still be around. So mark your calendars and take advantage of all these holidays and events ahead.
2022 eCommerce experts’ opportunity predictions
Here are a few points eCommerce experts say that sellers should pay attention to in 2022:
- Consumers, especially young ones, are looking for goods that are both sustainable and meaningful
- Due to digital privacy, data-driven marketing is going to get considerably more challenging – brand messaging and content are the strategies to focus most on
- 78% of global consumers value the entire shopping experience over individual products or services, with live shopping becoming the hottest new trend
- Omnichannel / cross-channel continues to be a competitive marketing strategy in 2022
- Online stores will get crowded and customers will face choice overload, so it is critical to guide them to more easily find what they’re looking for
- Constant optimization of all business activities is important for staying competitive
Our Valigara online management software is already helping jewelry sellers stay on top of a number of these opportunities like cross-channel selling and listing optimization.
Social selling is set to reach $1.2 trillion worth of goods sold by 2025
According to a new study from Accenture, global sales made through social media in 2021 were expected to reach $492 billion. By 2025, that number can be as high as $1.2 trillion, with millennials and Gen Z users leading the way. More than half of past year’s social sales were done by small-to-medium sized businesses, and around 69% of shoppers would buy from the same seller again.
As a jewelry seller, one cannot ignore this growing trend. Jewelry items are perfect for social selling, as they can more easily be presented during a live stream or video. Instagram is now a standard platform for any jewelry sales. Augmented reality is Instagram’s bucket list too. Such virtual experiences, as well as branded products, are at the center of this social selling trend, and should therefore be prioritized.
The pandemic has increased cross-border sales
Shoppers from around 40 countries have looked outside their geographical borders when shopping for products online. Started in 2020, this trend has been increasing and 51% of these buyers plan to continue shopping from abroad in the coming years. Amazon is the marketplace attracting most of these sales, but all of them have been actively encouraging and promoting cross-border shopping.
Being so light, jewelry is an easy item to ship internationally, making it easier for jewelry sellers to take advantage of this trend. With 61% of cross-border consumers having received free shipping, this would be another incentive sellers should consider when selling internationally.
Igor’s Tip of the Month:
2022 stresses the importance of branding and brand awareness.
With that in mind, make sure that your social strategy supports your brand image, or that you create one if you haven’t yet. Also, use your existing client base and all marketing tools to create a ripple effect and multiply your brand awareness. Focus your marketing on the communities and spaces that your clients and ideal audience spend their time in.


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More in News
Homemade for the holidays fair
RUMFORD -- Preparations are being made for the "Home Made For The Holidays Fair" to be held at the Rumford United Methodist Church, 455 Linnell St., from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 12.
The United Methodist Women's group have been holding workshops for making the variety of products found at the fair every year. Those lovely gift baskets will be back this year in a variety of themes.
Gifts for pets are always included. Fleece mittens, hats and gloves, bean bags and assorted finshed crafts will be at their craft table. Handmade Christmas ornaments and decorations will be available at the Christmas corner.
The "Kitchen Helpers" area will be stocked with aprons (reversable for the holidays), pot holders in a number of shapes and sizes, crochet topped kitchen towels, and dish cloths. The Bake Table will be staffed by Naomi
Robertson and Peggy Welch with all your favortie goodies.
Jane Shuck will once again will guide people through the Silent Auction process. This has become a favorite table at the Fair. Our members have a tradition of quilting and their talents really shine in the offerings at this table.
Mary Pulsifer is back this year with a special area, Krafter's Korner. This is the place where people have donated those no longer wanted crafting items and supplies, notions, needles, fabric, yarn, unfinished projects, patterns, magazines, and Christmas decorations.
Dee Holman will be hosting the "Vintage Jewelry" table. Judy Kuhn will be serving up a corn chowder lunch.

domain: news


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Cabinet approval has been granted to provide compensation for the business owners affected by the recent Kilinochchi fire as per a Cabinet Memorandum submitted by Minister of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs D.M. Swaminathan.
The Cabinet paper was submitted on 21st October 2016, by Minister Swaminathan, in concurrence with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
As per the recommendations of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe it has been approved to pay 74 million rupees for the 122 affected owners of the business establishments.
In addition, approval has been granted to establish a sophisticated fire brigade system in Kilinochchi with fire fighting bowsers, rescue vehicles etc at a cost of 97 million rupees.
It has also been approved to construct a market complex in Kilinochchi to support the business established destroyed by the fire at an estimated cost of 150 million rupees.
The fire broke out in Kilinochchi destroying nearly 122 shops on 16th September 2016. (Colombo Gazette)


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It is possible that many people are unaware of how carelessly they waste money, where small mistakes add up to big losses.
But once you’re aware of these bad money habits, making small lifestyle changes and curbing unnecessary spending can help you reduce debt and increase savings, experts say.
About 76 percent of 1,015 Americans surveyed by personal finance product review site The Ascent in 2019 said they have paid excessive or unnecessary fees, 73 percent have paid excessive or unnecessary interest, 71 percent have resorted to impulse buying , while 68 percent have become redundant repeat purchases.
Other common ways of wasteful spending cited by survey participants included not returning unnecessary items after purchase, buying luxury items, overpaying for digital services, and not comparing prices or looking for discounts.
We spoke to personal finance experts to identify some of the most common types of money wasted and solutions to fix the problem.
Pay for unused subscriptions and memberships
You don’t have to have Netflix, Amazon Prime, Shahid, Disney+, OSN+, and Apple TV all at the same time, says Joseph El Am, general manager at wealth manager StashAway Mena.
Many people also forget to sign out of an app after the seven-day free trial. These subscriptions may seem fairly small (Dh20 or Dh30 per app per month), but they can quickly add up and waste your money, he warns.
According to an April survey of 1,000 people by US market research firm C+R Research, 86 percent of people have some, if not all, of their subscriptions on Autopay. About 42 percent said they forgot they were still being billed for a subscription they no longer use.
The survey found that 30 percent of respondents underestimated their subscription cost by $100 to $199, while 24 percent underestimated it by $200 or more.
Fitness apps or subscription boxes with free trials can be a great way to try a new product or service without full commitment. While signing up is easy, it’s also easy to forget about a free trial, especially if you’re only using it for a short time, according to Sophia Bhatti, a chartered wealth manager in Dubai.
Apps like Truebill can help you identify subscriptions you pay for but don’t use, she adds.
“If you’re not careful, you can easily end up spending hundreds of dirhams a year on subscription services that you don’t even use,” says Rupert Connor, Partner at Abacus Financial Consultants.
“Review your bank and/or credit card statements for the past year, identify subscriptions you are not using, and cancel unused subscriptions.”
An impulse buy is when you buy something that you didn’t plan to buy. Before you know it, those small, impulsive purchases can add up to hundreds of dirhams a month, experts warn.
According to an August survey by shopper marketing agency The Integer Group, an overwhelming 90 percent of shoppers buy items that aren’t on their shopping list. The most popular reason for impulse buying is a special offer or promotion, followed by shoppers finding a coupon to make a purchase.
“Coupons save you a little money, yes, but if you’re just doing couponing, you’re still wasting money,” said Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Dubai-based Century Financial.
“Stick to coupons for the things you already buy. The exception to this is when you make an expensive but necessary purchase that you don’t make regularly, such as a car. B. A car repair that you cannot repair yourself, and you can find a special coupon or discount for it.”
One solution to avoiding impulse buying could be to limit the number of shopping apps on your phone and also the number of trips to the mall, says Mr. Connor.
It’s better to buy consciously, says Mr. Valecha. Whether you’re shopping for clothes or groceries, you always have a list, he adds.
“Always ask yourself: do I need this? If the answer is no and it’s not on your list, resist,” says Mr. Valecha.
If you want to buy an expensive item, according to StashAway’s Mr El Am, wait 30 days. If you still think you need it, you can buy it; if it’s just a nice part, avoid it.
Use bonus and discount apps to save more. Some of them can get you up to 50 percent off purchases, he adds.
Going to the supermarket hungry can also be bad for your wallet, warns Ms Bhatti.
Hungry shoppers are more likely to be tempted by two-for-one deals, expensive snacks, and groceries they don’t really need, she says.
Before you go shopping, make a list of what you need to buy so you don’t get tempted when you arrive. If you head to the checkout hungry, be sure to stop for a light snack before heading down the aisles, says Ms. Bhatt.
Ordering most of your meals to-go gives you an opportunity to save money.
Sixty percent of US consumers are spending more money on grocery deliveries each month than before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a May survey by training platform eduMe.
About 22 percent of respondents said they now spend an average of $50 to $99 a month on grocery deliveries, and 11 percent spend between $100 and $149, according to the survey.
“Many restaurants increase the cost of their items in delivery apps to account for the additional logistical headaches and service fees that delivery apps charge, and on your end there’s the delivery fee and a potential tip for your supplier,” says Mr. Connor.
“The key to financial health is making takeouts a thing you do every now and then, not for every meal. Try making your food at home by making dinner in the evening and making something for your lunch the next day.”
You could also avoid daily delivery orders by spending an hour every Sunday preparing food for the week. It will save you time and money, suggests Mr. El Am.
Watch: The UAE’s first female delivery driver
Make minimum payments by credit card
You should pay off your credit card balance in full if you can afford it, says Ms. Bhatti.
“Your credit card balance will balloon quickly if you’re only making minimum payments and have a balance month after month,” she says.
“A high-yield debt can quickly accumulate and become unmanageable.”
Thirty percent of 1,249 Americans experienced an increase in credit card debt over the past two years, according to a March survey by financial services marketing firm LendingTree.
The survey found that 42 percent of millennials and 45 percent of parents with young children have struggled to pay credit card bills during the pandemic.
It’s important that you prioritize your credit card debt over any other transaction because you’ll drown month after month if you use the money for your own expenses and ruin your credit score too, warns Mr. El Am.
Take a look at last month’s credit card statements to see how much you’ve spent in card fees and interest, says Mr. Valecha.
“Try to save enough money before you buy something – that way you avoid having to buy it on credit,” he says.
“Pay off debt as quickly as possible: Make more than the minimum payment amounts and prioritize paying off debt before other luxuries. Set up direct debit orders for your credit card accounts to ensure you pay off interest charges as soon as your paycheck arrives.”
According to Ms. Bhatti, additional bank charges can waste money and be avoided by being more thoughtful about the purchases.
Overdraft fees can add up if you don’t monitor your account as payday approaches, and regularly hitting a negative balance is a sure sign something needs to change, she says.
Some banks may also charge fees for one-off items, such as
“Always ask if there is a charge for a one-time request, and consider if what you’re asking for is actually needed.”
Fear of missing out can make it easy to give in to social pressures to attend multiple brunches with friends.
At an average of Dh300 to Dh500 per brunch, expenses can quickly add up, says Mr Connor.
If you do one a week, that’s up to Dh2,000 a month, or Dh24,000 a year, he adds.
“Perhaps if you only think about brunch for special occasions or other activities for the weekend, those costs will be significantly reduced.”
Use the 50:30:20 rule for budgeting: Spend 50 percent of your monthly income on expenses like groceries, rent, and transportation, 30 percent on things you want like shopping, dining out, and travel, and 20 percent percent for things you want Savings and investments, says Mr. El Am.
Sunday brunch in the UAE – in pictures
While extended warranties on your car or electronics can offset the cost of future repairs, they’re not always a good deal for consumers, Mr. Valecha says.
“Sometimes the cost of the plan exceeds the cost of potential repairs or doesn’t cover your problem,” he says.
“Also, many credit cards include extended warranty coverage for some purchases, so you may be paying for the coverage you already have.”
Consider funneling your extra money into an emergency account that you can use to cover repair costs should they arise, he says.
If you already have a fully funded emergency account, you might be able to skip this expense, he adds.
Updated September 29, 2022 6:47 am


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At I/O 2019, Google announced that all its smart home products going forward would be branded “Google Nest.” The first new product to launch is the Nest Hub Max this summer, while the Home Hub was immediately rebranded. Retail boxes are now being updated with stickers to publicize the Google Nest Hub brand in the real world.
While the new Nest Hub name is already live on the Google Store and other online retailers, packaging has so far remained unchanged from the Smart Display’s launch in October. That is still mostly the case, but newer “Google Home Hub” boxes feature a sticker announcing the new brand to consumers.
Help has a new name.
Google Home Hub is now
Google Nest Hub.
Find out more at g.co/nest
That URL opens the Google Store page detailing the new branding, like Google’s commitment to privacy and its smart home ecosystem. The gray sticker leveraging the Google Sans font and is affixed over the plastic shrink wrap.
At one Best Buy we visited this weekend, only Charcoal Nest Hubs featured the new marker. Along with how the stickers are precisely affixed to the bottom edge of boxes, this was likely added at the factory by Google before it was shipped to retail locations around the world.
At I/O, “Google” was officially appended to the names of Nest thermostats and security cameras. However, packaging and in-store placards for those products have yet to reflect “Google Nest.” That brand is also coming to Google Home smart speakers, but the company is likely waiting for new products to make it official.
More about Google Nest:
- New Google Nest Cam arrives at FCC, likely updated Indoor camera
- Google Nest, Golden State Warriors gave away a whopping 19,000 Home Minis last night
- Source: Google Home Hub will be rebranded as Google Nest Hub
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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Viacom’s BET Networks has teamed with Tyler Perry to create a subscription streaming service that combines the prolific auteur’s library of movies and TV shows with BET’s programming vault.
The service dubbed BET Plus will bow in the fall with a handful of original series and productions and a deep library offering that will be enhanced by other properties in Viacom’s portfolio. There was no word yet on a monthly price for BET Plus, which is set to debut in the fall.
BET Plus joins a parade of subscription VOD offerings set to roll out during the next year or so. Although the marketplace is getting crowded, BET Networks president Scott Mills said the company sees opportunity in a streaming offering targeted to the audiences for BET and Perry’s productions. Viacom said BET Plus would feature more than 1,000 hours of content at launch.
The comedy series “First Wives Club” will premiere on BET Plus, after originally being developed for Viacom’s linear Paramount Network cabler. Viacom said the service’s original content slate will include a new series from Perry and a separate series from producer Will Packer.
“African-Americans are the leading consumers of streaming services, with higher SVOD adoption rates than other consumers, which is why we’re so excited to launch a premium product for this underserved audience. BET Plus is a natural extension of BET’s linear network, which has been the leading home of black culture for decades,” said Mills. “Tyler Perry is the perfect partner for BET Plus. The combination of new, original shows and his giant library of popular movies, series and stage plays that Tyler brings to our joint venture creates an amazing product for his large and passionate fan base.”
Viacom’s move on BET Plus underscores the reasoning behind the rich and wide-ranging production pact that Viacom reached with Perry in July 2017. BET Plus will be the streaming home of his long-running “Madea” comedy franchise and it will host videos of the touring stage plays that made Perry a force among in the African-American community starting in the 1990s.
Viacom’s move on BET Plus comes as the company is believed to be circling merger talks with CBS Corp., it’s corporate sibling under the Redstone family umbrella. BET Plus is seemingly the kind of niche streaming service that could easily tuck into the CBS All Access SVOD platform that the Eye has been building up since 2014.
Perry likely has a stake in the venture as he is contributing his own library, which is a big selling point.
“In our industry, the way people consume content is constantly evolving. I’ve paid attention to my audience and what works for them and, for that reason, I’m very excited not only about the idea of partnering with BET to create new and exciting content, but also about the idea of giving people a personalized experience through the ability to curate the content they love to consume,” Perry said. “On a personal level, this will also be the first time I’ll be working in areas like unscripted and variety television, which will afford me the opportunity to work in fresh, creative ways with new voices and to discover new talent.”


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The list of hand sanitizer brands the FDA considers a health risk is growing. The agency’s list now tops 100 brands of sanitizer that may contain methanol which can be absorbed through the skin and cause harm, even death.
The FDA reported Friday there are 101 brands that should be avoided. The new report also clarifies, “certain hand sanitizers have concerningly low levels of ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol” both of which are safe and effective ingredients regularly used in approved hand sanitizers.
The FDA says this last group of products is considered sub-potent and has been added to the non-recommended list that also includes methanol.


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The cable television industry’s costs are increasing while its user base is simultaneously vanishing. “2013 marked the first year in which the paid TV industry actually shrank,” reports USA Today. More and more people are looking to a cable-less future, flagshipped by a trend dubbed “cord-cutting”, while the current generation of millennials will probably exist as something more along the line of “cord-nevers”. However, multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), including cable television/pay-TV operators like Comcast, satellite operators like DirecTV, and telco companies like Verizon, all rely on the current model and won’t give it up without a fight…a fight finally unified under the banner of: ‘TV Everywhere’.
America easily made the transition from a broadcast- to a cable-nation. An endless array of channels featuring a smorgasbord of programming perfectly suited our appetite for consumption, while also fixing some of the technological issues found with (free) antenna-based broadcasts. In 1996, the Telecommunications Act created the cable industry as we know it by “relaxing regulation on media cross-ownership…to foster competition…[and allow] telephone companies to offer TV service and cable operators to deliver phone service.” This also opened the door to FCC-approved mergers between the big boys of the media industry, resulting in the monopolistic fact that all content creators are controlled by a few major companies: Comcast/GE, Walt Disney, Viacom, CBS, News Corp. [that recently spit out other giant 21st Century Fox], and Time Warner Inc. Several of these companies own local TV stations in key media markets. Comcast is also the largest cable provider in the country, even more so if their attempted acquisition of Time Warner Cable (a separate entity than Time Warner Inc.) is allowed.
As online distribution continues to rise, consumers wouldn’t be faulted in wondering why content creators still kowtow to the Man. The answer will in no way surprise you: money A.K.A big bucks in the form of affiliate fees. Every year, $32 billion flows from the cable companies to content creators in order to grease the machine. “Estimates suggest that the annual affiliate fee revenue at companies like Viacom and Disney is around $1.5 billion and $2.0 billion respectively.” So for content creators, the strategy becomes entirely focused around “profit maximization.” Find a couple hit shows, while keeping the rest of the lineup relatively inexpensive to curb programming costs. “The ‘hits’ make you a ‘must have’ for any cable or satellite carrier – granting you the right to ask for fees.” Content creators want channels balanced at just the right point between costs high enough to give a few shows the production-cost/marketing edge they need, while still keeping the overall schedule cheap enough to reap the benefits of affiliate fees. Why are there so many sports channels? Remember the mantra: “If you own exclusive content, you might as well build a channel around it.” In this way, even with online distribution an option for the content creators, the cable companies still have them hooked on precious affiliate fees.
The case of Hulu is a great example. With stakeholders including Fox, Disney, and NBC Universal, the service was initially a consumer-friendly (read: free) way of streaming their favorite shows whenever they so desired. Nicely personified by Bill Gurley of Above the Crowd, pay-TV distributors smiled nicely at the content creators, while through gritted teeth said, “[w]e pay you an affiliate fee to distribute your content to the homes we serve. We understand you have multiple distribution partners. What we don’t understand is why you would give content to some of them for free, and still expect us to pay our fees…” And like that, Hulu became a subscription-model service itself. Join us or die, says Pay-TV…
Now the rebellion seems to have moved to a grassroots level. The cable bigwigs created the pay-TV model by charging customers a subscription price in exchange for a cable package of channels. Once-reasonable prices have grown with the scope of television, driven by our increasingly cinematic desires. Like the DVD boom fueled the booming budgets of Hollywood, TV scale has increased to the point where millions and millions of dollars can be spent on a single episode of Lost or Game of Thrones. Spectacle is where the eyes drift. Cable companies have also reduced spending in the customer service department, leading to an immense decline in consumer satisfaction, with jokes about Comcast’s lack of reliability just as relatable as the age-old classics like “what’s the deal with airplane food?” While $86 on average in 2011, cable bills are expected to climb as high as $123 by 2015. Addicts, and by that I mean television viewers, have realized they might be taking a ride they wouldn’t actually have to pay such exorbitant costs for elsewhere. So, they cut the cord, and end their subscription to cable. The age of “cord-cutters” and “cord-nevers” began.
Eyes opened when Netflix emerged as an instant streaming titan, alongside video purchase and rental systems like those present on iTunes and Amazon Prime. Combine such services with products like the AppleTV, the Roku, or the new Amazon FireTV, and a hassle-free solution to cable company headaches became clear to a lot of people. Instead of a high cable bill, a one-time purchase of a streaming device opened the door to a still-immense quantity of content. With many cable customers already in possession of a Netflix account, Amazon Prime login, or iTunes videos, it seems the costs ended there, with no messy dealings with Comcast needed. This ‘a la carte’ or ‘over-the-top (OTT)’ model of content consumption already had a popular infrastructure in place, and now quality products popped up to streamline the process further.
According to Jim Edwards of Business Insider, “1.3 million of [cable distributor] Charter Communications’ 5.5 million customers no longer want TV – only broadband [as of November 2013]…[p]eople are giving up on cable TV as a standalone product.” Fewer households are stocking televisions as a part of their personal American Dream, content to consume media on technology like mobile devices, tablets, and laptops. Instead of plopping down on the couch in front of the tube after a hard day’s work, people instead boot up their electronics, Mom upstairs, Dad in the basement, the kids in their rooms…it’s come to be known as “vampire media,” coming out after dark and sucking away life as the pay-TV industry knew it.
Even antennas are making a comeback, able to offer the Netflix-enabled population sixty channels or so of free broadcast content, in better-than-cable HD, and, if new company Aereo has its way, the ability to record and rewatch free broadcast content on the device of their choosing. In this case, broadcasters claim theft, while Aereo responds it’s only supplying the equipment (“arrays of small antennas – one for every subscriber – to stream over-the-air television signals to its customers”) and not the content.
Many like Aereo have taken up the ‘cord-cutting’ mantle and proclaimed it the future, a weapon to use against the supposedly greedy and inept cable giants. Video for the people, made by the people, distributed by…well, here’s where it gets tricky. Returning to Aereo, the company has found itself before the Supreme Court, its business resting in their hands, while cable calls for blood. The Court finds itself in a tight spot. While it views Aereo’s business as unconstitutional, their ruling’s wording must be very carefully constructed in our digital age – they don’t want to accidentally outlaw the Cloud alongside Aereo. With such a thin line between legal and illegal a distinct possibility, how is cable to combat the rising threat of Silicon-Valley-fueled distribution while keeping consumers firmly in their (certainly not free) corner? Enter Jeff Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner, circa 2008.
Bewkes, who once headed HBO and led it to success, watched as cable’s cultural grasp slowly loosened. He also noticed how HBO was experimenting with an online streaming service, in select Wisconsin cities, where as long as viewers could login as an HBO subscriber (‘authenticate’ their account) they could stream all the HBO they wanted. Bewkes, along with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, saw such a model could be viable for cable subscriptions as a whole. Thus, TV Everywhere was born.
Bred slowly through systems like Time Warner’s TWCTV and Comcast’s Xfinity TV, TV Everywhere has now been picked up by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), rebranded in trendy lowercase ‘tv everywhere’, and put forward as cable’s Netflix-generation killer app. CTAM is readying its member companies (including A&E, Discovery, Disney, Time Warner, Comcast, Viacom; 16 cable companies and 25 content providers in full) to advertise all of their diverse subscription/streaming services under the singular new banner in order to promote unity and simplicity. “’The cable industry has been very good at not jumping too early on a technology, and watching it play out first,’ says Colin Gounden of Grail Research, which advises companies on new products. ‘They have a knack for getting the time right.’” CTAM’s goals for the new year have been set in stone by the board of directors, made up of programmers and cable operators from across the spectrum of the partnered companies. The First Commandment of tv everywhere is for half of all cable subscribers to be aware of tv everywhere by the end of 2014, up from about twenty percent now. The Second is to make the half already aware into devoted users.
Bewkes illustrated such a possibility with his battle plan to use viewers’ familiarity with cable’s huge brands and turn their love of streaming against the new independents by restricting digital rights to popular shows. The goal of tv everywhere is “to keep subscribers happy by letting them access cable content wherever they might be. In practice, this means lots and lots of apps,” like HBO Go, FX Now, and Xfinity TV. Comcast’s new X1 box operates very much like a Roku, full of app offerings like Pandora and even video games, but with a full cable subscription stacked on top. CTAM is also betting on the remaining cable figures: 56 million people are still subscribers, on top of their cord-cutting-enabling devices. To Multichannel News, CTAM CEO John Lansing said, “Compared to an $8-per-month over-the-top service, offering past seasons of shows plus some new original series, TVE is ‘all-original, it’s all last night, it’s live streaming [like the recent Olympics and Oscars] and it doesn’t cost you another nickel.” TV Everywhere was ‘broadcasting’ 150 million videos per month as of the end of 2013.
There are those within the industry that criticize CTAM’s label, saying it could distract or confuse consumers when they’re presented with the veritable cornucopia of tv everywhere services, and that it would be more valuable to expend effort improving the content instead. Cord-cutting proponents point to recent contract renewals between cable companies and content, where cable has been forced to loosen up on digital rights to make the increasingly pricey programming costs digestible. That said, controlling distribution is the pump that keeps the affiliate money flowing to the content creators in the first place. Right now, Netflix is profiting from the content owners’ need to reach the eyeballs of America. However, according to USA Today, Disney’s cable expenses soared over $8 billion last year, and “$7.99-per-month Netflix subscriptions are never going to float a ship that big.”
If tv everywhere, as a brand itself, is able to build enough of a reputation, USA Today suggests, “it may be just a matter of time before more of this content is kept in-house and Netflix finds itself stuck with whatever’s left.” Once tv everywhere, silly lowercase spelling or no, evolves into a more coherent form, and content creators settle down and move in, the disruption will end, most likely with a whimper. Remember, the cable companies know how to lie in wait, slowly absorbing technological advances, and then pouncing, armed with their special weapon: billions of dollars. Cord-cutters are right about one thing, at least. Get out your scissors, and cut that connection…but the cable companies have cut ties and migrated to the Clouds, too. The future of media is a big ol’ party, and everyone’s invited. Just remember there’s always got to be a cover charge, and the big guys like to collect. Personally.


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Too many airlines and online booking companies are forcing air travelers to take out travel insurance, which often does not offer the promised coverage, according to a new report from a member of Congress.
According to Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Airlines such as American, Delta and JetBlue as well as online booking sites such as Travelocity and Orbitz published aggressive and misleading pitches to persuade travelers to buy policies frequently. There are so many fine print Exceptions are that they are of little value to anyone but airlines and insurers.
These rules add as much as 7.5 percent to the cost of a domestic ticket and more for some international tickets, according to "Flyer Caution: Is the Travel Insurance Worth It?"
With the boom in air travel, the travel insurance business has also grown a lot. However, the report criticizes how online ticketing agencies and airlines market the insurance. While many of their websites allow consumers to bypass other additional options, such as early boarding, it is said that these websites generally require consumers to purchase or refuse travel insurance prior to checkout – and in some cases not without an ominous warning to see the dangers of leaving. And the parking lots work: About 82 percent of the passengers sign up for the guidelines.
The report says CheapTickets.com's "Total Protection Plan" is anything but. It also states that United Airlines is selling a guideline for electronic devices like laptops that only pay $ 500 for the first lost bag, $ 250 for extra bags, up to a total of $ 500 for everything. The United Police will also require the original receipt before reimbursing travelers for an item that costs more than $ 150. Other policies make it difficult for travelers to make successful calls if their flights are canceled or interrupted due to illness or injury, the report said. An anonymous traveler quoted in the report filed a lawsuit with the Better Business Bureau, complaining that they had bought $ 65 travel insurance for a trip to Puerto Rico that paid zero after the hurricane canceled the trip
Some of the airlines and booking websites received a cut of every policy sold, the report says. The Senator Seeks Additional Financial Information from AIG Travel Guard and Allianz Global Assistance Writing Guidelines for Travelers on More Than a Dozen Airlines or Booking Sites
Airlines for America, the lobby of the industry, failed to address the specifics of various travel insurance options a spokeswoman. But she added that many airlines offer fully refundable ticket options to passengers worried about having to make last-minute changes.
The report – compiled with publicly available information – can be found here.
Read more from Tripping:
New York law that slows down Uber and Lyft may spread – and again focus on congestion prices
Widow sues American Airlines over husband's encounter with baggage handler
Metro rejects some OkCupid ads as too political, but leaves others to


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A wave of direct investment by Chinese and other Asian companies into Australian livestock exporting businesses has been a prominent trend in the livestock export sector this year.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture says it has decided not to issue new recommendation letters for future Indian beef imports, recognising “buffalo meat has not been successful in stabilising the price of beef in Indonesia and that the Ministry would like to increase Indonesia’s beef production.”
Australia’s emerging beef cattle export trade to China has gathered further momentum this week, with WA-based Phoenix Exports yesterday sending its first, and the trade’s third, shipment of cattle from Portland, Victoria.
Some Indonesian importers are resorting to extended credit terms for butchers in order to get cattle moving out of the feedlot. In the past this has often resulted in an ultimate failure to pay, demonstrating just how desperate some importers are. (Bahasa language version of this report also available)
Some Indonesian importers are resorting to extended credit terms for butchers in order to get cattle moving out of the feedlot. In the past this has often resulted in an ultimate failure to pay, demonstrating just how desperate some importers are.
Australia’s largest livestock exporter Wellard Ltd is hoping a successful first shipment of slaughter beef steers to China will facilitate the issuing of feeder cattle import permits for the market.
Last month I described the situation for importers as a stalemate. This month I think that the best description of their position is one of a serious fight for commercial survival.
Bulan lalu, saya mengibaratkan situasi para importir sebagai jalan buntu. Bulan ini, saya pikir gambaran yang paling pas adalah ‘pertarungan sengit’ demi kelangsungan bisnisnya.
Australia’s largest livestock exporting company Wellard Limited says it has agreed to commercial terms to deliver the company’s first shipment of beef cattle to China.
Stalemate: For the first time since the beginning of the trade, producers don’t have to drop their prices in the face of reduced Asian demand, and at the same time importers can’t pay any more because they they will make a loss if they do. Meanwhile, China is defying the currency and pricing challenges being faced by other major Asian importers.


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The UK’s four million SMEs are more likely to opt for IT freelancers, rather than recruiting a full-time member of staff, research has found.
Online firm PeoplePerHour.com surveyed 360 of its members for the findings, and revealed that 61 per cent of respondents intend to increase their investment in IT and web technology.
In addition, 38 per cent of small business owners plan to channel this investment into increasing their use of IT freelancers, with just 18 per cent intending to hire in-house staff. A total of 43 per cent of small business owners see IT as a role for freelancers exclusively, not as supplements to in-house IT professionals, the research said.
Xenios Thrasyvoulou, chief executive of PeoplePerHour.com, said: “The last decade has seen a boom in remote freelance working, facilitated by the internet. This has been led by the IT industry, which lends itself to freelancing.
“Our survey findings suggest that the importance of the IT industry to the freelance economy is set to grow.”
The top skills needed by respondents include PHP, SEO, Wordpress, Joomla, iPhone Apps, MySQL, HTML and .NET Developer.
Infrastructure provider says international sales now make up 51 per cent of its revenue
Suzanne Chappell of TMS plans sailing venture after selling Oxfordshire-based TMS to acquisitive Chess
Withdrawal of credit insurance by some providers a 'reflection' of current challenge facing IT sector, according to MD Steve Soper
SMART's UK managing director joins Lenovo to boost SMB business


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2014 State of Logistics: Air’s slight improvement despite headwinds
July 01, 2014 - LM Editorial
As noted in the 25th Annual State of Logistics report, the airfreight industry has been facing chronic overcapacity and deteriorating yields. New details surfacing in similar new research mirror these findings.
Even though the overall airfreight logistics index has improved 4.4 points from June 2013, the June 2014 data contained in the Stifel Logistics Confidence Index suggests that the airfreight market still remains fragile, declining 1.9 points to 53.8. The present situation remained the same in May, with Europe to the U.S. the only lane to decline, down 2.0 points to 49.7.
The latest figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for April indicate that while the freight market improved 3.2 percent above previous year levels, demand has not. Traffic levels in April were slightly below those of January and 1.1 percent lower than what was recorded in March.
IATA indicated that European airlines saw demand for air cargo fall by 0.7 percent compared to April 2013, marking a slower start for carriers as they entered second quarter—particularly as GDP growth in the Eurozone was just 0.2 percent in the first quarter.
However, a slightly different and more encouraging story for airfreight seems to be playing out in Asia, where preliminary traffic figures for the month of April showed some growth in international air cargo markets.
According to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), international air cargo demand in freight ton kilometers (FTK) increased for regional carriers by 4.7 percent in April, on the back of sustained demand for Asian exports. However, freight load factors remained under pressure due to capacity expansion.
With offered freight capacity expanding by 5.3 percent, the international freight load factor averaged 64.3 percent in April, 0.4 percentage points lower than the same month last year.
“International passenger traffic demand continued to grow, with the region’s carriers registering a 5.2 percent increase in international passenger numbers during the first four months of the year,” says Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general. “This was on the back of an improvement in business and consumer sentiment in most economies worldwide.
During the same period, air cargo demand for the region’s carriers grew by 4.2 percent, thanks to an improvement in global trade conditions.”
Analyst Rosalyn Wilson makes a similar observation in her report, noting that passenger jets are carrying growing volumes of cargo in their bellies, taking market share from cargo freighters.
All cargo airlines carry more than 79 percent of revenue ton-miles of freight and commercial passenger carries account for the rest. The amount being carried by passenger jets has been increasing especially because there’s more room in the bellies of these aircraft with the proliferation of baggage charges. According to Wilson, belly cargo in passenger planes is very profitable, estimated at close to 65 percent, so passenger airlines have been pursuing it more aggressively.
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US food giant Kraft won its five-month battle for control of Cadbury after shareholders backed its takeover offer today.
The vote will end Cadbury’s 186-year history as an independent company.
The cash-and-shares deal, recommended by the Cadbury board two weeks ago, values the UK firm at around £11.4bn.
Kraft hopes the acquisition will create a global confectionery leader and the world number one in chocolate and sugar confectionery.
Kraft first approached Cadbury in August 2009 but was accused of trying to buy the firm ‘on the cheap’ with a ‘derisory’ offer. The Cadbury board relented two weeks ago when Kraft increased its bid.
Cadbury employs more than 6,000 staff in the UK and 46,500 globally.
Business secretary Lord Mandelson will appeal for Kraft boss Irene Rosenfield to save Cadbury’s British factories and workforce when the two meet tonight
‘Instead, the fate of manufacturing workers in Terry’s of York, who found that Kraft ownership saw their plant close, weighs heavily on the minds of the Cadbury workforce.
‘Kraft cared little for the great history of that plant or for the skills of its workforce, so we must seize the opportunity now to ensure that Cadbury and its workforce do not suffer the same fate.
‘The Government must secure meaningful pledges from Kraft, and police them so that Kraft cannot again walk away from a UK workforce. Ministers must make it abundantly clear that closures and mass redundancies will not be accepted by the British Government or the British people.
‘The Government has said, and rightly so, that we must rebuild our manufacturing base. It is simply wrong, however, that hostile takeovers of successful British companies can happen.’
Unite said there was still no information on the consequences of the deal for the workforces of both companies and called on Kraft to make its intentions clear, warning that workers were ‘extremely worried’ for their future.
Read more: HYPERLINK “http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247938/Kraft-set-control-Cadbury-shareholders-make-decision.html#ixzz0eYwQZJJy” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247938/Kraft-set-control-Cadbury-shareholders-make-decision.html#ixzz0eYwQZJJy


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Accident suddenly overheated iPod nano occurs again
At GIGAZINE in January this yearAccident that iPod nano suddenly overheated and explodedAccording to the report of Nippon Television, it seems that a similar accident happened again.
Details are as follows.
Nittele NEWS 24 Overheating accident on iPod Successful injured person No
According to this article, there seems to be an accident that Apple's iPod nano overheated suddenly while charging in Tokyo in early this month. Fortunately it seems that there was no injury to the user just because the paper nearby was burned in, but it was said that it became a fuss about to notify the fire department.
The overheated iPod nano belongs to the first generation released in 2005, the same thing that caused the explosion accident in January of this year, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry already has the accident in JanuaryPublished as a serious accident suspected to be caused by productsdoing.
Incidentally, since the example of overheating iPhone 3G, iPod touch, iPod classic etc which are currently on sale has not been confirmed, it is only the first-generation iPod nano users need to be careful.


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- The official European Environment Agency (EEA) estimates showed a 1.5 percent drop in Greenhouse gas emissions. The vast majority of the decline in emissions in 2008 was due to lower CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the energy, industry and transport sectors as a result of economic recession
- Thousands of factories in China’s Pearl River Delta have shut their doors since late last year
- Output of autos, electronics and other goods from factories in Mexico’s Ciudad Juárez, Monterrey and Toluca has fallen sharply that the amount of cargo trucked across the U.S. border has dropped 40 percent. (Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/188200)
- In India, small steel-rolling mills around Delhi have closed down bringing down the levels of sulfur dioxide (which forms acid rain) by 85 percent in October 2008 compared with a year earlier. (Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/188200)
- According to the Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, the rate of deforestation from last November through January, fell 70 percent from the same period a year before. About two thirds of Brazil’s 200 million head of cattle graze in the Amazon where virgin forest once stood, making cattle the single biggest cause of deforestation there. According to the climatologists falling beef prices combined with the shortage of farm credit has acted as a natural brake on forest destruction
To put things in perspective- economic recession is not an environmental strategy- it is neither desirable nor sustainable. It hurts the poor, the most. At the same time, it gives a pause, a time to think of consequences and of alternatives. Recession puts a useful brake – from an environmental point of view – on consumption, waste and excess use of resources.
Over the last few decades there has been a transition of world’s manufacturing units from the developed to the developing nations that have milder environmental standards and poor implementation of what exists. Also, across the world, inefficient units tend to be the most polluting ones. At the same time, these are most vulnerable to recession in terms of a sudden drop in demand. The global recession has hit such operations especially hard. Under these circumstances the government supported bailout packages are unlikely to help major polluters forcing them to scout for more efficient and environmental friendly ways of operation, if they are to survive.
But a recession does not mean resource-exploitation or ecological destruction will stop, it will still have an impact on the environment. There is also a danger of companies reducing their investments into research & development as these do not produce short-term results. From a consumer perspective, with lesser purchasing power, one tends to go for products that cost less. Environment-friendly products, on the other hand, are typically more expensive, at least in the short-term.
Economic recession provides a short-term opportunity to deemphasize polluting manufacturing in favour of cleaner economic activity. Can we use the downturn to institute greener practices?


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What are you hoping out of upcoming first person adventure game Firewatch? According to developer Nels Anderson, it shouldn’t take that long to finish.
All in all, you can finish the game within five to six hours. Nels says it feels like finishing a TV miniseries or a trilogy of movies. Nels also points out there is a larger area in the park that’s off the beaten path’ which the player never has to visit, but apparently you could go to if you’re curious.
And now, here’s another revelation that may or may not disappoint you. Nels explains that they have no plans for VR with Firewatch. It’s not completely ruled out, and Nels says Campo Santo does think VR is cool. Nels says their immediate concerns are the amount of work that would be needed to adapt it to VR since it wasn’t planned for it in the first place.
Firewatch will be released on PC and PlayStation 4 on February 9.


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Gurugram-based Samast Technologies which runs hyperlocal discovery platform Magicpin has reportedly raised $20 Mn (INR 141 Cr) in a round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners US. Following this deal, the platform is now valued at $100 Mn.
The round was closed last month, with participation from existing backer Lightspeed India Partners, the domestic franchise of the Menlo Park-based venture capital firm, and WaterBridge Ventures. Till date, Magicpin has raised around $30 Mn in three rounds of funding.
Lightspeed partners Jeremy Liew and Ravi Mhatre led the round.
Magicpin, founded in 2015 by Anshoo Sharma and Brij Bhushan, provides a platform where merchants and consumers can discover and interact and also transact. It helps drive the businesses of the local retailers across various categories such as restaurant, fashion, beauty, grocery among many others.
According to the official website, at present, Magicpin has over 5 Mn users and is operational in 12 cities including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Goa, Chennai, and Ahmedabad. It is also looking to expand its reach in other cities. It also claimed to have grown 5x in 2018.
The platform has over 800K merchants listed on its platform including the local kiranas to established retailers and brands such as McDonald’s, FabIndia, Hard Rock Cafe among others.
Other major investments of Lightspeed in India include OYO Hotels, edtech venture BYJU’S and B2B online marketplace Udaan among others.
[The development was reported by ET.]


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Why They're Slinging Mud over Bud
Hot dogs, apple pie, and Route 66 rank high as emblems of American culture. Some might say that brands associated with them—Oscar Mayer, Sara Lee, and Chevrolet—are no less representative of America's national identity. So what happens when a beloved U.S. brand is acquired by a foreign company?
That's the situation bubbling up right now in the hotly contested $46 billion hostile takeover bid by Belgian brewing giant InBev for Anheuser-Busch, the St. Louis maker of Budweiser. A militia of petition-wielding cyberactivists has come to the defense of Anheuser-Busch (BUD), intent on impeding the attack by InBev (INTB.BR). The volunteer league of supporters highlights the economic patriotism that such controversial acquisitions conjure up.
Rather than focusing on how a stronger corporate parent might help lift Budweiser, online bloggers and activists have instead drafted petitions and enlisted politicians to fight what they see as foreign encroachment. "More Americans are realizing that we can't remain an independent country if we are under foreign control," says Roger Simmermaker, author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism. "The Anheuser-Busch brand has a lot to do with American culture and American life."
Loss of Jobs and Tax Revenues
Simmermaker, who says he became a brand activist in 1994 when he realized how hard it was to shop for American-made and American-owned products, is one of several people to create an online petition to block the InBev deal. He's concerned that the deal could cost jobs in St. Louis and siphon corporate profits and taxes from America to Belgium.
So far, the threat posed to Anheuser-Busch hasn't created the near-hysteria that arose in 2006 when Dubai Ports World, based in the United Arab Emirates, bought a half-dozen U.S. port operations. (The company finally bowed to political pressure and sold its U.S. assets to American International Group (AIG), embarrassing the Bush Administration, which had vigorously supported the initial deal.)
Nor has the xenophobic rhetoric over InBev reached the level seen after France refused to participate in the invasion of Iraq. Weeks of boycotting ensued, during which people poured bottles of Bordeaux down sewer drains and restaurant menus began sporting references to "Freedom Fries" and "Freedom Toast."
The wave of French-bashing even prompted the maker of a popular condiment to issue a defensive-sounding press statement: "For the record, French's would like to say, there is nothing more American than French's Mustard." Oddly enough, that product—as well as numerous other famous "American" brands such as Lysol, Woolite, and Air Wick—is owned by Anglo-Dutch consumer products company Reckitt Benckiser (RB.L).
The fact that French's is an American staple owned by Europeans points to the slippery nature of brands in the era of globalization. It's now common for foreign companies to acquire U.S. brands—just as U.S. companies have been doing abroad for decades—and usually the deals occur with little publicity or opposition. But when resistance does occur, often fanned by the increasingly influential online crowd, the battle can get ugly.
The reason some takeovers spur such reaction may come down to the notion of "nation brands," says Iain Ellwood, head of consulting at New York's Interbrand. "Every nation brand is supported by a catalog of corporate brands," he says. Coca-Cola (KO), McDonald's (MCD), and Ford (F), Ellwood says, are indelibly associated with America's image and status on the global stage, much as Sony (SNE), Toyota (TM), and Nissan (NSANY) help define Japan. And though Anheuser-Busch as a company has little influence in the daily lives of Americans, Ellwood adds, its flagship brands, Budweiser and Bud Light, are closely linked to American rituals such as barbecues and baseball.
Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer, sums up that idea in a recent op-ed article for The Washington Post. "A glass of Bud contains an American epic," she writes. "That's why I love Anheuser-Busch and Bud. I am they, and they are me: a mixture of old world and new; hard work, tenacity and ambition."
Interbrand's Ellwood says that people are more sensitive about foreign takeovers when they fear they're losing their nation brand. "It's a very patriotic defense," he says. Still, he argues, the value of an unimpeded free market outweighs the sometimes emotionally difficult loss of a national icon to a foreign buyer.
Bud Will Still Be Bud
Murray Weidenbaum, a professor in the economics department at Washington University in St. Louis, where the 30,000-employee Anheuser-Busch is headquartered, agrees. "I've noticed that the sales of domestic beer in recent years have been, I am sorry to say, flat," he says. Weidenbaum views the InBev bid in purely economic terms and argues that consumers usually benefit from increased competition, whether foreign or domestic.
Besides, he notes, economic patriotism cuts both ways. "If it's so sinful for a foreign company to take over an American brand," he asks, "what does that mean for American companies trying to buy foreign brands? That's one of the things that worries me." There's ample evidence already of such barriers. In 2005, for instance, PepsiCo (PEP) made an abortive effort to buy French food giant Danone (DANO.PA), but the deal was squashed by a protectionist government.
If InBev is successful in its bid, Ellwood says, Budweiser drinkers needn't worry about their suds. The Bud in stores tomorrow, he says, will be the same as today's. "InBev wouldn't be stupid enough to tinker with something they had just paid $46 billion for," he says.
For a look at other famous American brands that already belong to non-U.S. owners, check out BusinessWeek.com's slide show.


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Trans World Airlines announced an innovative marketing proposal yesterday to induce travel agents to help make their new routes to Florida a success.
TWA said it would offer a discount of $10 on any round-trip TWA ticket to Florida, even discounted promotional fares, that are written by travel agents. And on top of the normal commissions that travel agents get from the airlines for selling their tickets, TWA will give the agent an additional $10 handling charge for writing a Florida ticket on TWA.
The plan is subject to the approval of the Civial Aeronautics Board, which is likely to be receptive.
"The offer is being made exclusively through the travel agent because we recognize that the travel agent is the key to our being successful in the building of business in this new market for TWA," Donald M. Casey, TWA senior vice president for marketing, said. "That's why we are offering this opportunity to the travel agent to give his customer a better deal than even we can offer."
It is likely that this TWA plan will spur other airline proposals. Competition into Florida will be keen this winter since deregulation and the CAB have allowed airlines to begin new routes easily. Both TWA and United Airlines, which have had extremely limited service into Florida until now, are moving into the state in a big way this winter, as are several of the smaller airlines.
TWA will begin services Dec. 15 with 38 new daily nonstop flights between 10 Northeast and Ohio cities into Florida. Washington is among the new cities being served. It has had a half dozen flights daily until now.
In another development yesterday, shareholders of Trans World Corp., TWA's parent company, and Centruy 21 Real Estate Corp. approved a merger agreement whereby Century 21 will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Trans World Corp.


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Now, after having been an also-ran for years, Eveready Industries India Ltd, which owns the brand in India, is now looking for dominance in global markets with its zinc carbon batteries, albeit under another name, Lava.
While some of the efforts have paid off, like tapping foreign markets for exports, yet there were others where the company learnt that diversifying into the manufacturing of new items may not be an easy run, like in the manufacturing of lithium ion batteries for cellphones.
During 2002-03, it touched a record high of selling 1.2 billion battery units and the focus for the future is clearly to enter new markets where zinc carbon batteries still find acceptance and become an efficient global supplier of these batteries to the world. Eveready now exports its zinc carbon batteries to USA, Mexico, Venezuela Ethiopia, Sudan, Mexico and Bangladesh.
Yet, Eveready operates in a product category that is shrinking the world over, namely making zinc carbon batteries. If you say the market is not growing anymore, then that is a fact worldwide. Alkaline and rechargeable batteries are growing and for rechargeables, it is the value of sale that matters and not the units since they are expensive. One interesting trend is that whenever there is a recession, the market moves towards zinc carbon batteries. In those times the alkaline batteries simply disappear from the market. Alkaline batteries are excellent for heavy drainage equipment but zinc carbon probably suits 80 per cent of ones equipment. In India, 95 per cent of the equipment will be run well by zinc carbon batteries which is a very good value-for-money technology. In India, the zinc carbon batteries are also very well priced and, therefore, the sale of alkaline batteries are declining but that is not so internationally where the prices of zinc carbon and alkaline batteries are very close. Therefore if this has worked out for us in India, we are sure it has to work in certain similar markets in Africa and South America. In fact, in some of these countries, there is actually a growth in D-size batteries but that market in India is shrinking, explains Eveready Industries India Ltd director Mr Roshan Joseph.
Tapping global markets with zinc carbon batteries
Eveready says that its force has always been with its distribution, especially its strength in rural penetration. While it was perceived as a force to reckon with in the villages, it was gradually losing its urban thrust. To address the problem, Eveready devised a cities-specific Give me Red advertising campaign in 1992 which almost worked but was soon discontinued. Rural India is our heritage that we have acquired after years of merchandising there at a local level. We have a 1000-odd vans selling everything from packet tea to flashlights moving 25 days in a month in far-flung villages. Then there are also the melas that we organise for the masses. Therefore, a campaign targeting the rural population was always due and Full-full masala was devised about two years back, Mr Joseph says. The company has now adopted a dual advertising policy re-launching Give Me Red for the urban areas while Full-full Masalas target audience remains with the rural population.
About three years back Eveready appointed data research firm Renoa Consultants which said that if the company regularly covered the outlets where it has a good presence then its marketshare could shoot up to anywhere between 60 and 100 per cent. The agency also pointed out that if the outlets are irregularly covered then the marketshare could come down to around 30 per cent and if not visited at all it could come down to the level of 15 per cent. It only confirmed what we believed in. In fact, the genesis of us going into rural is that India had always been a poor per capita consumption market and wholesellers would only take those products that have a demand in the market. Batteries and flashlights hardly reached these far-flung places and the basic pioneering work to reach these places was carried out by us in the last 98 years, says Mr Joseph.
Eveready had also explored making new products like cellphone batteries but has backed off since all the cellphone handsets manufacturers are located abroad. Moreover, there are a multitude of models and each one of these manufacturers has a particular configuration for batteries. If we had to make the batteries then we had to churn out huge quantities to make profits and to operate as an OEM supplier to these companies wouldnt have been possible as all of them are based outside India, says Mr Joseph.
Although, making the cellphone batteries did not work out for the company, some new vistas had opened up. The company made a foray into rechargeable batteries and developed a charger that is bundled with the batteries. It is also manufacturing batteries for cordless phones and has recently launched an alkaline batteries. The company is currently test marketing the products in select markets.
So far as managing its 3,316-strong workforce is concerned, Eveready has taken significant steps towards change management. While the actual stress on quality management began in 1992 with the introduction of Total Quality Management (TQM) along the lines suggested by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). The initiative was sparked off by Mr BM Khaitan himself. Since then we have worked steadily towards reducing the cost of manufacturing and today, barring the Chinese, we are among the cheapest manufacturers in the world, says Mr Aniruddha Roy, Evereadys director.
Another initiative was the setting up of seven modules of Basic Training Programmes which is an 8-hour awareness and attitude building programme addressed by the local manager. Today, from practically nothing a few years back, an average Eveready employee is made to undergo a 30 hours classroom training a year. The company has so far implemented about 50 quality circles Our plants used to work with about 50 per cent efficiency level and the integrated battery and flashlights manufacturing plants are performing at over 90 per cent level in Noida, Hyderabad and Chennai. The current defect level is about 3.3 pieces per thousand, says Mr Roy.


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The recent surge in the FTSE 100 Index continued today as the London market followed Wall Street's lead in heading towards a record high.
Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average have consolidated their recent all-time peaks after it emerged that US businesses added 281,000 jobs last month, up from 179,000 in the previous month.
The figures extended a recent run of positive economic news on both sides of the Atlantic, helping the FTSE 100 Index climb 31.8 points to 6848.3.
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The all-time record close of 6930 set in December 1999 is now back in sight as the top flight continues its recovery following a disappointing June.
The pound remained near its six year high against the US dollar, even though the latest CIPS survey for the services sector showed a slight slowdown on the previous month.
With the reading still well above the measure of 50 which indicates expansion, the pound held firm at 1.71 against the US dollar and 1.25 versus the euro.
Stronger demand, as indicated by recent economic updates, helped mining stocks post strong gains in the FTSE 100 Index. Antofagasta set the pace with a rise of 31.5p to 813p, while Anglo American was 27p higher at 1512p.
Other big movers in London included mobile phone giant Vodafone, which rose 2.8p to 197.4p, and Barclays with a gain of 2.1p to 219.2p.
In the FTSE 250 Index, Poundland was more than 3% higher after issuing better-than-expected full-year results. Underlying pre-tax profits rose 23.5% to a record £36.8 million while the retailer also reported a strong start to the new financial year, with first quarter sales up by 18%.
Shares, which have fallen since the company's stock market flotation earlier this year, surged by 11.75p to 340.45p as Poundland set out plans for 60 new outlets this year.
In contrast, shares in Balfour Beatty dived 11% - off 26.25p to 206.75p - after it highlighted a further deterioration in the performance of its mechanical and electrical engineering operation in the UK.
It has uncovered a further £35 million shortfall in profits at the division, although trading in the rest of the company is in line with expectations.
Shares in pub chain Greene King were 3% lower after it reported a slowdown in sales over the first eight weeks of its new financial year, having seen a rise of 4.1% in the previous year. The stock was 29.8p lower at 817.2p, even though the chain reported another set of record annual profits.


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You probably remember the Foxconn explosion from last May that killed four people and left 18 others seriously injured. Charles Duhigg and David Barboza of the New York Times have a massive profile on the human side of a totally avoidable dust explosion in a plant frantically rushing to keep up with demand for iPads, and all the negligence that went into it.
To say things weren’t at all in line with Steve Jobs’s 2010 impression of the factories was of “restaurants and movie theatres and hospitals and swimming pools” would be a massive understatement. Workers say that those are a thin layer of icing on a very rotten cake. Internally, Apple seems to agree, with a former executive giving probably the starkest comment of the piece:
“We’re trying really hard to make things better,” said one former Apple executive. “But most people would still be really disturbed if they saw where their iPhone comes from.”
It’s important to note that other companies have been found to have terrible working conditions as well. The Times points out that “Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lenovo, Motorola, Nokia, Sony, Toshiba and others” have all had the finger pointed at them. But because of Apple’s uncommonly exacting attention to detail, suppliers’ profits are pinched in almost every facet of manufacturing. That in turn leads to them to cut corners, use cheaper safety equipment or more dangerous ingredients to achieve the same end effect:
“The only way you make money working for Apple is figuring out how to do things more efficiently or cheaper,” said an executive at one company that helped bring the iPad to market. “And then they’ll come back the next year, and force a 10 per cent price cut.”
To its credit, Apple has since undertaken a huge if seemingly ineffective campaign to improve conditions. It has educated over a million workers on their rights in the workplace and better practices. It’s also conducted hundreds of audits per year to find and try to correct the problems with threats of taking its business elsewhere. The Times notes, however, that these threats have mostly rung hollow, since only 15 suppliers have been axed since 2007, despite hundreds of violations. The ineffectiveness of Apple’s correction system was especially tragic leading up to the explosion:
Just two weeks before the explosion, an advocacy group in Hong Kong published a report warning of unsafe conditions at the Chengdu plant, including problems with aluminium dust. The group, Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, or Sacom, had videotaped workers covered with tiny aluminium particles. “Occupational health and safety issues in Chengdu are alarming,” the report read. “Workers also highlight the problem of poor ventilation and inadequate personal protective equipment.”
No one ever responded to the report.
More than the human face (and cost) this puts to your iPad or any other gadget you own, this should put that same face to every pissant little inconvenience you encounter having to do with them. iPad orders backlogged? You have to sit on your arse and wait for FedEx to update your shipping information; workers overseas have to slave away working unforgiving hours to try to meet demand. You should absolutely read the entire feature at the New York Times for the full picture, including a heartbreaking look at one 26-year-old victim who had only recently started at the factory. [NYT]


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Airfreight, with its high carbon emissions, isn’t salmon’s only route to distant markets, Hiddenfjord insists
B.A. Baracus famously loathed airplane travel for any of the A-Team’s daring missions. But while the ‘80s TV character’s “I ain’t getting’ on no plane, fool!” protestations were typically ignored by his cohorts, his view is one that Faroe Islands salmon producer Hiddenfjord believes in with regards to getting its fish to end-markets in North America and Europe.
Hiddenfjord CEO Atli Gregersen’s insistence that “fish should never fly” flies in the face of industry norm. Like all fish and seafood, salmon is highly perishable in fresh or chilled form, and as costly as it is, air freight is usually the fastest means to get such a product to market when production occurs a long way from the intended consumers.
But with COP26 and the release of the 2021 IPCC report sounding the alarm on the climate crisis, seafood is increasingly under fire to reduce carbon emissions. In the case of Hiddenfjord, the family-run fish farming company is determined to do things greener.
“Our core company value is environmental sustainability,” Gregersen told the Advocate. “We must take care of our environment, so future generations can have the same opportunities as we have today. We must farm salmon in harmony with nature, and we strive to ensure that all our activities are performed with minimum impact on the environment.”
With analysis from the Norwegian research organization SINTEF finding that air freight produces around 50 times more carbon dioxide (CO2) than transoceanic sea freight, Hiddenfjord ceased its use of planes in favor of ocean-going ships in October 2020. The move led to a 94 percent reduction in emissions for the 12 months that followed.
According to the company’s estimates, in volume terms, flying salmon from the Faroes or Norway to the U.S. East Coast produces 7 kg of CO2 per kilo of fish, while shipping by boat to the same market produces less than 0.5 kg. Meanwhile, flying to China adds 15 kg of CO2.
The idea to purge air freight wasn’t a new one, Gregersen explained.
“We have worked with the concept for years and have systematically reduced the use of airfreight year by year,” he said. “At a board meeting in December 2019, we took the step to eliminate air freight from our business practices entirely.”
He admits that the market reacted badly to the move at first.
“Many buyers thought we were crazy because they were sure that the quality would be affected by the prolonged transportation time,” he said. “They thought we would ruin the brand and our good reputation. We lost customers. But in time, we have managed to convince buyers that our salmon’s quality is just as good as salmon transported by air and we have gained new customers.”
Together with shipping company Eimskip, Hiddenfjord developed the shipping route from the Faroe Islands to Portland, Maine, USA, via Reykjavik in Iceland, to better fit the needs of its fresh salmon.
Ceasing all air freight when it did – in the middle of the global COVID-19 pandemic – worked in Hiddenfjord’s favor, Gregersen pointed out: “With airports around the world shutting down, our decision to ship our products exclusively by sea ended up increasing demand for our product, because we could provide a consistent supply. We were able to maintain a steady business while other organizations had to limit their shipments.”
According to Gregersen, various factors ensure the quality of Hiddenfjord’s salmon is preserved when moved by ship and that any prolonged transportation times are mitigated.
First, to help uphold fish welfare and the quality of product, its harvesting methods look to minimize stress.
Secondly, the company has developed a processing method that ensures salmon are “very well cleaned” before chilling. It also makes sure that the core temperature of the salmon stays below 2 degrees-C prior to being packed, with all the fish packed within three hours of harvest.
Thirdly, by using containers that are transported by truck and ship, the result is an unbroken cold chain from factory to customer, which is not always the case when transporting by air. Gregersen noted that air-freight shipments can sit outdoors in warm weather for extended periods, affecting the product temperature.
“The container that is packed in the Faroe Islands is the same container that the customer receives. The containers are temperature-controlled and closely monitored. Their room temperature is below sub-zero degrees Celsius which ensures optimal refrigeration without freezing the salmon,” he said. “The low temperature and thorough cleaning of the product minimizes bacteria growth, prolonging shelf life.”
Although some skeptics were initially concerned by the amount of time involved in shipping and thought that the fish would lose quality, Hiddenfjord’s multi-step process – harvesting, processing, and cooling paired with an unbroken cold chain – have alleviated such worries, Gregersen said.
“It’s taken us years to refine these practices to ensure the highest quality for our customers, but we’re confident that we have a good system in place. In fact, The Consumer Evaluation Center conducted a blind taste-test of salmon shipped by air and by sea, and more than 100 consumers could not tell the difference, rating both equally favorable in categories of taste, texture and aroma.”
Prior to eliminating all air freight, Hiddenfjord sold frozen products to Asia, but its decision to switch to sea cargo routes meant it was forced to stop selling fresh salmon to Asia. Frozen-seafood sales channels in Asia will be explored later.
Hiddenfjord’s shipping stance isn’t the first risk it has taken. Because feed is another big contributor to salmon production’s carbon footprint, lowering the feed conversion ratio (FCR) has a big impact. In 2020, Hiddenfjord used just 1.06 kg feed to produce 1 kg of salmon.
“For us, the facts were clear: We all need to immediately stop using airplanes to transport goods in order to reduce climate change. Ethically, it is absolutely the right decision. If we claim that we want to be a truly sustainable company, we must take responsible actions,” Gregersen said.
“With this move, we have made a decision that is unprecedented in a global food industry, which too often engages in a lot of talk and very little real action on true environmental protection.”
Further evidencing that salmon supply chains are seeking to lower carbon their footprints, an additional rail service carrying fish from northern Norway for processing in Denmark, Poland and other European countries was recently launched by CargoNet. According to the company, one fully loaded train can carry 700 metric tons (MT) of fish, doing away with 10,000 road trailer journeys and reducing 20,000 MT of CO2 over the course of a year.
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Jason Holland is a London-based writer for the international seafood, aquaculture and fisheries sectors. Jason has accrued more than 25 years’ experience as a B2B journalist, editor and communications consultant – a career that has taken him all over the world. He believes he found his true professional calling in 2004 when he started documenting the many facets of the international seafood industry, and particularly those enterprises and individuals bringing change to it.
Innovation & Investment
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rippling through the aquaculture industry, promising greater efficiencies and insights, as well as investor interest.
Aquafeed giant Skretting recently appointed Jorge Diaz as its sustainability manager to advance its ambitious sustainability agenda.
There is urgency to conversations about the role of blue food in mitigating climate change, increasing momentum toward some specific goals.
The aquaculture value chain can significantly reduce carbon emissions with innovations in feed, transportation and operations.


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In a similar design as the Dunk Low, Nike will be releasing a “Legacy” edition of the Air Max 90 that comes constructed with recycled materials as part of the brands “Move to Zero” line.
Dressed in a College Navy, Light Bone, Sail, and Chile Red color scheme. This nike dunk lick women boots on back was created from scraps, or “space junk,” constructed in a mix of materials made of at least 20% recycled ingredients including Nike Grind on the rubber outsole of the toe and heel. Similar details includes a removable velcro “Move to Zero” pinwheel tag logo on the heels.
nike dunk lick women boots on back Legacy Release dunk
Check out the additional photos below, and look for this women’s nike dunk lick women boots on back “Legacy” to release on July 14th at select retailers and Nike.com. The retail price tag is set at $140 USD.
Color: College Navy/Light Bone-Sail-Chile Red
air jordans for sale size 7
Release dunk: July 14, 2021
UPdunk 6/30: Nike confirms that the Air Max 90 “Legacy” releases July 14th for $140 USD.
UPdunk 6/3: Nike reveals official photos of the “Legacy” Air Max 90. A release dunk still has yet to be announced.


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Capri is looking to cross-sell sales and financing services on the new car platform
CarLelo plans to use the incoming funding to expand its geographical reach and dealership count
Founded in 2013, CarLelo is a new car sales marketplace, selling cars and related products, such as car loans
Capri Global Holdings, the holding company of the listed non-banking financial company (NBFC) Capri Loans, has reportedly acquired a 51% stake in CarLelo, an online new car marketplace, for INR 150 Cr.
With the acquisition, Capri is looking to cross-sell sales and financing services on the new car platform. On the other hand, CarLelo plans to use the incoming funding to expand its geographical reach and dealership count.
Rajesh Sharma, MD and founder of Capri Global Holdings was cited by The Hindu as saying, “This investment is a testament to our commitment to driving the growth of the online new car sales and financing market.”
Sharma added that Capri Loans is looking to target customers’ needs and recognises the investment as an opportunity to foster the expansion of the online new car sales market.
Capri Global Holdings, in a separate statement, said that CarLelo will improve its presence, services and technology with the incoming funding to step up customer acquisition. “CarLelo currently has 1,200 associates across 34 cities in India who regularly interact with customers, delivering them end-to-end services for all their new vehicle-related needs,” the statement said.
The company also plans to handhold around 8,000 authorised dealerships in the country to improve customer experience on CarLelo. With this, Capri Loans said CarLelo intends to sell 7,000-8,000 cars per month.
Founded in 2013 by Gaurav Aggarwal, CarLelo is an online new car sales marketplace selling cars and other related products, such as car loans. The platform partners with several banks and NBFCs to offer car loans to customers buying cars on its platform.
The company’s website shows CarLelo being a joint venture of Capri Loans post the acquisition.
For Capri, car loans have emerged as a significant variable over the year ended March 31, 2023, as the NBFC originated INR 6,013.3 Cr in new car loans during the financial year.
According to its filings with the BSE, Capri also saw a net contribution of INR 117.9 Cr from the car loans vertical. As such, acquiring CarLelo would give Capri access to a customer base looking for car loans, creating a synergy between the two companies.
Apart from CarLelo, recent acquisitions include BrightCHAMPS acquiring Metamorphosis Edu, BharatPe picking up a majority stake in Trillion Loans, and Nazara’s NODWIN picking up a 51% stake in Branded.


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With the recent 10 GB RAM in the smartphone market, Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 has been launched. Competition is at peak for better specification between phone maker companies. But there are some brands that want to be more prominent in flagship smartphones and be one step ahead of other companies. According to a media report, a post on Weibo has been posted, according to which two flagship smartphones will be launched soon, which is likely to be given 12 GB RAM smartphones. They can be offered until March of the following year. Let us know that the smartphones that are being talked about are not OnePlus or Xiaomi’s phones.
Samsung and Huawei will launch the phone:
Reports say that Samsung and Huawei are behind this innovation. Samsung Galaxy S10 X5G and Huawei P30 Pro will be offered with 12 GB RAM. Both of these phones will be offered in the ultra-premium flagship category. Samsung will soon launch some flagship variants including Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 Plus, Galaxy S10 X and Galaxy S10 X 5G. Galaxy S10 X can be offered with 8 GB RAM. Similarly, Huawei is also preparing to launch P30 and P30 Pro. P30 can be offered with 8 GB RAM and P30 Pro with 12 GB RAM.
In addition to RAM, there is nothing to know about the storage. But it is said that the Galaxy S10 can offer 128 GB internal storage. At the same time, 256 GB and 512 GB of storage can also be provided with 12 GB RAM. If this news is correct, then Samsung and Huawei will become the world’s first such brand which will launch a phone equipped with 12 GB.
Huawei will launch the phone with 12GB RAM:
Similarly, Huwai is asked to launch P30 and P30 Pro. Maintaining the 12 GB RAM for the Pro version, the previous version will play 8 GB of RAM. It has been seen with both brands that have left a 10 GB RAM configuration for some unknown reason.
There is no way to confirm that this report is 100% accurate. If it’s true, then Samsung and Huawei will beat Xiaomi, who launched the world’s first 10GB RAM smartphone, as soon as we think.
There is no information about the rumoured storage capacity of the phone, but a separate report shows that Samsung will offer 128 GB of storage in its basic version Galaxy S10. He said that the high-end version can easily offer 256 GB or 512 GB because the company is ready to add 12 GB of RAM on the board.
S10 that could come with 12GB of RAM. Samsung will most likely launch three models of the Galaxy S10 smartphone in the form of Galaxy S10, S10+ and S10 X along with a 5G variant in select markets dubbed as S10 X 5G. While Samsung will offer just 4GB of RAM with the base variant of the Galaxy S10, it is only the Galaxy S10 X 5G variant that will come with 12GB of RAM.


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TYLER, Texas – Hormel Foods Corporation and Brookshire Grocery Co. partnered to donate more than $100,000 in proteins as part of the Hormel® Cure 81® Hams for Hunger® program to food banks in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas to help feed those in need this holiday season. The two companies are donating pork loin and peanut butter to food banks and food pantries in communities where Brookshire’s, Super 1 Foods, Spring Market and FRESH by Brookshire’s stores operate.
Hormel Foods and Brookshire Grocery Co. hosted a virtual presentation event yesterday morning with representatives from Northwest Louisiana Food Bank, FoodNet Food Bank and East Texas Food Bank. Representatives from each organization discussed the significance of this donation in supporting hunger relief in communities supported by the food banks.
“Our company is committed to supporting hunger relief in the communities we serve, and we are so grateful to have this partnership with Hormel Foods to help make a difference,” said Brad Brookshire, Chairman and CEO for Brookshire Grocery Co. “We care about our communities and are committed to doing what we can to lessen the impact of COVID-19 and slow the spread. We know people are in need this holiday season and that the food banks are seeing increased demand for resources in all of the communities we serve.”
The makers of the Hormel® Cure 81® brand created the Hormel® Cure 81® Hams for Hunger® program in 1989. The program involves a partnership between Hormel Foods and grocery retailers across the country. Throughout the years, more than $15 million dollars in hams have been donated, feeding tens of thousands of families.
“Hormel Foods is proud to partner with Brookshire Grocery Company to support hunger-relief efforts in the communities served by the company’s stores,” said Kelsey Tynan, Hormel® Cure 81® brand manager at Hormel Foods. “The Hormel® Cure 81®Hams for Hunger® program highlights our long-standing relationship with Brookshire Grocery Company, and we are honored to work together and make such a substantial contribution for those in need.”
Hormel Foods will donate more than 55,000 hams to charities nationwide through the Hormel® Cure 81® Hams for Hunger® program this holiday season.


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The new report, Health on the Shelf published by RSPH and Slimming World, exposes the marketing tactics used to drive sales of unhealthy products and reveals that supermarket layout, pricing strategies and shopping environment is fuelling the obesity epidemic.
The report is published in advance of the Government’s expected response to the consultation on layout and price promotions.
The report also reveals that over one third of shoppers reported that they impulse purchase unhealthy products because they are on special offer, and one in five say supermarkets cause them to go off track when attempting to lose weight.
An audit of small, ‘local’ style supermarkets found that many unhealthy products such as confectionary and crisps are located in multiple prominent areas around the store, including at the end of aisles and around the checkout. RSPH and Slimming World are now calling for government and industry to do more to support supermarkets in encouraging healthier choices to consumers.
Shirley Cramer CBE, Chief Executive of RSPH, said: “The environment in which we live is a major contributor towards obesity, and supermarkets have both the power and influence as well as a responsibility in tackling their contribution to this “obesogenic” environment. There has been some progress by supermarkets in areas such as removing junk from check outs, but our research shows that shoppers and industry experts feel there is much more supermarkets can and should do to promote healthier choices – reducing the shelf allocation for unhealthy products, providing clearer labelling and signage and even changing the shopper experience. We wanted to practically show what this new approach could look like, by unveiling the UK’s first supermarket designed by public health experts.
“Alongside Slimming World, we are calling on the government to commit to legislation to support supermarkets in promoting healthier choices through legislation. If we change the environment we can encourage healthier choices for all.”


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A man stole a Mercedes-Benz from a Mission Viejo home, then used it to smash through the front of a nearby liquor store before fleeing with cash and lottery tickets early Saturday, sheriff’s officials said.
The destructive burglary took place just after 4 a.m. at a liquor store in the 2500 block of Charlinda Drive, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said in a written statement.
But first, the burglar stole a car from a nearby home overnight, officials said.
As a surveillance camera recorded, the just-stolen luxury car smashed through the front of the liquor store.
The burglar backed out and then entered the business through the massive hole he has just created. He fled with trays containing money and lottery tickets, officials said.
The man wore black pants, a black shirt and gray shoes during the crime, officials said.
The value of the damage and stolen property was yet to be determined.
Anyone with information was asked to contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at 714-647-7000. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to O.C. Crime Stoppers at 855-847-6227.