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The Liberty makes a splashy debut in Detroit, passing the inspection of hundreds of showgoers. The vehicle hits the market in the summer.
DETROIT - Two-time Jeep Cherokee owner W.C. Trapp and his wife, Ann, have decided what soon will replace her Eagle Summit wagon: the Toledo-made 2002 Jeep Liberty.
The Armada, Mich., couple were among hundreds of people circling Libertys yesterday during the first day of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, trying to get a good look at the Toledo-born brand's newest compact sports utility vehicle.
The Trapps were among those raving about the Liberty, which will replace the Toledo-made Cherokee for the 2002 model year. Liberty models will be made in a new $750 million DaimlerChrysler factory on Chrysler Drive in the spring and arrive on dealership lots in the summer.
“It's not too big, but yet it's roomy enough,” said Mrs. Trapp.
“If this is just as rugged as mine,” Mr. Trapp said of the Liberty, “I'll be more than happy.”
Before the Liberty was unveiled at media previews for the Cobo Center show last Sunday, some die-hard Cherokee fans were anxious about losing the 17-year-old SUV's boxy shape, solid-axle suspension, and proven engine. Many showgoers yesterday, though, were pleased with the Liberty's looks and many features.
The Liberty, which is slightly shorter than a Cherokee but has more headroom, will be on display at the show through next Sunday.
Ted Miller of Springfield Township is convinced he will make the Cherokee's successor his first Jeep.
“It's a very sharp car,” he said. “It still has a Jeep style to it. It's different, but it's not different, for a Jeep.
“I think it's going to be a hot seller like the [Chrysler PT] Cruiser.”
Price will help determine how popular the Liberty will be, some dealership managers and others in the industry have said. DaimlerChrysler has not announced a price for the Liberty, but it is expected to be in the low to mid-$20,000 range.
Jeep could sell a lot of Libertys if the price started around $18,000, said Dave Turner of Perrysburg, whose 18-year-old son, Chris, is looking to replace a Ford Ranger with a Jeep.
Other showgoers yesterday agreed the Liberty should start about $18,000 to $19,000 for a Sport model. Some put $25,000 to $30,000 as their top price for a fully loaded Limited Edition model of the SUV, which should get slightly better gas mileage than the Cherokee's 15 miles per gallon in cities and 20 mpg on highways.
Former Suzuki Sidekick owner Russell Barr of Center Line, Mich., said he is interested in a Liberty because it would have power for pulling a boat. The Liberty's V-6 has 210 horsepower and 225 pounds of torque, and the SUV can tow 5,000 pounds.
Sarah Watson of Detroit said she has wanted a Jeep for five years. While she likes the Detroit-made Grand Cherokee, the Liberty's size is better for her to handle while its styling fits better than a Toledo-made Wrangler, she said.
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Taiwan’s Egis Technology announced it has begun supplying its fingerprint sensor systems to two leading South Korean automakers for fitment in their high-margin vehicles.
Egis, described as one of the world’s largest fingerprint sensor technology companies, has been working with Hyundai Motor and Kia Corporation for two years on developing systems for their vehicles.
Its technology will appear first in Hyundai’s Genesis line and in the Kia K9 flagship sedan.
Egis supplies mainly fingerprint sensors to smartphone manufacturers including Samsung Electronics and Oppo Mobile Telecommunications, and has been keen to expand into the automotive industry.
Its automotive fingerprint sensors replace passwords as a means of unlocking and activating vehicles, as well as to operate the Kia Pay system. The system also memorises and automatically activates personal settings in a car, such as seat position, rear-view mirrors, internal temperature and dashboard settings.
The company said it shipped its first sensors to Kia for mass production in May 2021.

domain: news


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It's All Logistics: Shipping Becomes a Pandemic Hero
December 27, 2020
As an investor and venture capitalist, I’ve always sought out opportunities in the firms, products, and industries that produce returns and improve peoples’ lives. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a number of new industries rise to prominence, while many former economic giants have contended with rapidly evaporating market shares and changing consumer behavior.
While the rise of streaming services and tech firms during the pandemic has been well documented and frequently discussed, little conversation exists around the industry I think has truly powered the economy during this difficult time—logistics. As we continue to navigate the pandemic, I can’t help but think how this industry embodies the ethos of my central investment philosophy.
With COVID-19 confining millions to their homes, Americans have relied more deeply than ever on logistics and delivery services—from the Postal Service to Postmates—to acquire the goods and services they need. Whether we have noticed it or not, the logistics industry has played a significant role in our lives over these last few months.
The demand for efficient, quick deliveries first began to skyrocket during the onset of the pandemic, when restrictions were at the tightest and national anxiety at its most acute. With nearly all nonessential retail closed in major markets like New York and Los Angeles, millions of Americans took to Amazon to acquire items from consumer goods to face masks to household essentials. When many Americans felt unsafe traveling even locally to pick up groceries or medications, micro-delivery platforms like UberEats and Postmates filled in a crucial void.
With the holiday season fast approaching, countless Americans are again counting on logistics and shipping firms to move their gifts from point A to point B. As many consumers conduct the entirety of their holiday shopping online, delivery services have increasingly taken on the role of Santa Claus.
Even more importantly, logistics will play an inextricable role in our nation’s mass vaccination campaign. Now, as pharmaceutical firms like Pfizer and Moderna have obtained emergency FDA approval for their COVID-19 vaccines, the logistics space is tasked with getting millions of vials of the vaccine from factories to health care clinics around the country, no matter how remote. Even air carriers, one of the pandemic’s most salient victims, have begun to contribute, retrofitting passenger airplanes to transport vials of the vaccine around the country. With vaccines on the way, our capacity to recover from this pandemic will be good as our logistics capabilities.
In many ways, we would not have made it through this moment without logistics firms and providers. Our well-being depends on them.
While accelerated by the pandemic, the logistics and shipping industries have grown over the last few years. And where there’s growth, there’s opportunity to service that growth. Over the last few years, I have gotten in on the ground floor of this trend by investing in warehouse space within ten miles of the nation’s major airports, which helps store key inventory for online retailers.
In this very moment, logistics perhaps most appropriately embodies my principal investment philosophy of supporting the ventures that generate social and economic returns. I would encourage aspiring investors to look for innovative opportunities in this field.


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Carl’s Jr. said its newly opened unit in Houston set a company record with $117,203 in sales its opening week. The revenue topped the chain’s domestic and international sales mark, Carl’s Jr. said Thursday.
Texas must be stoked to have a California-based burger in town. The previous top-grossing opening for Carl’s Jr. was also in the Lone Star State with $115,536 in sales generated opening week in Leon Valley, Texas.
That location opened in November 2009, while the Houston Carl’s Jr. opened Jan. 14.
“It’s an amazing start for a brand new market,” Andrew F. Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants, said in a statement.
CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, plans to open 350 Carl’s Jr. restaurants throughout Texas by the end of the decade. Upcoming Carl’s Jr. openings in Texas include Austin and Waco on Jan. 31, followed by another Houston unit in March. Other local fast-food chains invading Texas include Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger, Santa Ana-based Wahoo’s Fish Taco and Lake Forest-based Del Taco.
Tell us: If this is how Texas reacts to Carl’s Jr., what will happen when In-N-Out hits Dallas later this year? I can only imagine!


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In "National ranking" Banks.ru, frequent complaints of issuance of credit cards with a zero limit. Why the customer comes in with a credit card, and de facto receives a debit? And then what to do with this "piece of plastic"?
"I Took a map of halva in order to installments for 40 Tr, in fact got 10 cents," complained the user under the name A. Oparina in the "people's rating" (spelling and punctuation here and then saved. — Approx. ed.). Client Sovcombank said that he had applied for a "Paste", and pre-the credit limit the Bank, she approved what sent the appropriate SMS. But, having received from the courier plastic and going with him to the store to shop, A. Oparina was surprised to find that the limit on the card — 0,1 ruble.
the Bank explained that the credit limit the client is temporarily denied, but it can perform operations on the map at their own expense. "In the future may increase the credit limit on the initiative of the Bank", — stated in the reply of the credit institution.
On similar cases in the last month in the "people's rating" complained also clients of OTP Bank and MTS Bank. First, according to him, on the phone promised to send a card with a limit of about 270 thousand rubles, and sent with a limit of 1 ruble. The second was calculated on 25 thousand, and got plastic with a zero limit, for which pay 299 rubles.
In MTS Bank noted that MTS CASHBACK, in question, is a universal card that can be as credit limit and without it. Financial organizations claimed that the contract signed by the client, was the mark on zero limit. OTP also noted that the Bank is entitled to unilaterally change the size of the credit limit.
to Promise limit does not mean to give
Pre-approved limit is not a guarantee of receipt of funds. In the end, the Bank may set a limit less than requested or to refuse to issue credit cards at all. The final amount available loan funds will be known after underwriting — verification of documents and interview with the client. Each Bank has its own method of checking the borrowers, which shall not be disclosed.
the threshold is Usually the credit limit, which can install the Bank, is not less than 5 thousand rubles. However, customers of some banks may get and "empty" credit card. "Very often in conditions and tariffs credit cards do not specify the minimum amount of credit limit, i.e. it is permissible that the limit can be zero", — said the expert on credit cards Banks.ru Olga Stanchak.
Zero limit perfectly valid to map "Paste" Sovcombank. The procedure is as follows: the client on the website fills in the form, he receives an SMS about the pre-approval limit, but the final limit will be paid only after verification. "Otherwise, at the hands of the customer remains a debit card, the limit is 0.1 ruble," — said the press service of the Bank.
This is possible and on the cards of OTP Bank. For example, if the decision on the credit limit was taken at the time of card issue, but at the time of delivery and the time that the client was decided on its activation, the situation of its payment behaviour has deteriorated. "The credit limit on the client is known at the time of sending, but when the activation and the client has changed some risk indicators, the limit may change to 1 ruble", — explained the press service of the Bank.
the procedure for changing the limit, including its reduction, should be spelled out in the contract. Usually such measures banks are if the client is delayed, significantly worsens your credit history for a long time did not commit the transactions on the card or did not re-issue plastic at the end of the validity period.
what is the reason for the Bank?
If limit is zero, and use the card as a credit card customer can not. However, in some cases, this does not mean that the plastic will be free. For example, in the case of MTS the fee for issue of a card with a zero limit will not be refunded. The Bank explains this by the fact that before obtaining a card in the cabin is provided to the client agreement, which defines all terms of service, including credit limit. User Kirill GAPONOV, who left a complaint with the "National ranking", in the form of exclusion of MTS Bank has promised to meet and Commission to return.
the service Charge is usually independent of the size limit. However, when the zero limit, the Bank may make an exception. For example, OTP Bank, in most cases, when the limit on the card "reset to zero" Commission to take will not. With Sovcombank, the same situation — paid services, which are available for "Halva" as a limit for the same card with no limit is totally disconnected.
At Citibank issuing cards with a zero limit are considered to be economically feasible. However, not all would agree with that. "Banks can provide cards to clients which are not yet able to approve a greater limit, but I see the potential," — noted in the Bank.
"If the borrower does not pass the test Bank for the provision of card with the requested credit limit, the Bank would be profitable to release a debit card or a card with a minimum limit amount, not to lose a new customer because he can use on her own means, later even transfer her salary or pension," — says Olga Stanchak.
Evgeniya OGURTSOVA, Banki.ru
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(Relaxnews) – Need a way to keep your kids quiet while traveling, entertained at a restaurant or just want to teach them some facts? More and more parents are letting their kids aged 11 and under loose on a tablet device.
A new study by market researcher Nielsen has found that adults commonly use tablets to pacify their children while they are out of the house.
More than half of adults said their children used a tablet as a form of entertainment while traveling. Two out of five gave their children a tablet to keep them occupied while they were at a restaurant or event.
Children were eager to download and play games on the tablet computer, but were also happy to use the device for educational purposes. In fact, Nielsen found that education was the second most popular tablet activity for children after playing games.
“Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed said children play downloaded games on their tablets and 57 percent said children used tablets to access educational apps,” said Nielsen.
Parents are also turning to the tablet as an alternative media consumption device for their children. Forty-three percent of parents reported that their children often watched TV shows or movies on their tablet.
The only activity that children shied away from was using the device to communicate with friends or family. Only 15 percent reported that their young child used the tablet to stay in touch with friends or family.
Mobile devices are starting to become ubiquitous in family homes and kids have been quick to learn that their parent’s tablet can be the gateway to many exciting possibilities.
As schools start to swap heavy books for digital devices and initiatives such as the Khan Academy or Apple’s digital textbooks hit mainstream, you can expect younger generations to have their hands and fingers attached to a touchscreen at all times.
In the fourth quarter of 2011, seven out of ten children in tablet owning-households were allowed to use the mobile computing device, up nice percent from Q3 2011.


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The decoration products made by the children of RMN Foundation school are now ready to go to the market.
RMN Foundation school – which provides modern education free of charge to deserving children – had started a ‘Learn to Earn‘ program two months ago to help students earn their livelihood.
In order to make products under this program, RMN Foundation has set up a small production unit in Dwarka, New Delhi. The products made by the students will be sold under the “My Life” brand name.
In order to make and market these products, a select group of students at the Foundation is learning all subjects of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) including purchase, manufacturing, quality assurance, public relations (PR), modern marketing, and sales.
Currently, the products using ice-cream sticks are made under a pilot program which will now be leveraged to augment the scale and scope of production.
Other Programs of RMN Foundation
The profit from the sale of products will be shared between the students and RMN Foundation while making it a self-sustaining project. The initial investment is being made by RMN Foundation, which is offering its charity services without any external support.
The activities of RMN Foundation are being run single-handedly by RMN Foundation founder Rakesh Raman, who is a government’s National award-winning journalist.
Depending on the success of the current business model, RMN Foundation plans to extend it as a comprehensive cooperative venture in which, besides RMN Foundation school students, other deserving people will also get benefited.
As RMN Foundation has limited resources, it invites people to get involved and donate for the Foundation’s educational as well as other social activities.
Donate for the RMN Foundation Charity
Donate for a cause. Your donation will help us provide our services to the poor and the needy. You can choose the amount that you want to donate from the options given below.
You also can select any of the Payment Methods:
Offline Donation: To know our bank details for online bank transfer and payment by cheque.
PayPal: To make payment by Credit / Debit Card or PayPal account.


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Earlier this year, in CES 2012, Toshiba showed an Intel Atom N2600 Cedar Trail processor based netbook. If you are waiting to get Toshiba NB510 netbook in the US, then you better stop waiting. Because, Toshiba has no plan to offer any new netbooks in the US. It is an unexpected, heart breaking news for Toshiba fans, although there are some reasons behind to take the decision.
There are multiple reasons behind Toshiba’s decision to scrap netbook sales in the US. One is the increasing dominance of tablets. Other is the introduction of ultrabooks. And, netbook sales has been going downward for some time.
Previously, some netbook makers including Dell, Lenovo, Samsung and Sony have officially announced that they are not interested to introduce new netbook models any more. Two other netbook giants, Acer and HP, are still selling netbooks but sales of products have been falling for some time.
Instead of netbook, Toshiba is focusing to raise market value by using the ultrabook. For example, Toshiba Portege Z830 offers a similar thin and light with well featured. Although ultrabook is expensive but performance is better.


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Wife of doctor accused of driving his Tesla off a cliff with his family inside shouted to rescuers 'he intentionally drove the car over' edge, DA alleges
The San Mateo County district attorney told reporters it was a "miracle" the family of four survived the 250-foot plunge in Northern California.news.yahoo.com
Tesla set to open Ann Arbor dealership in former Bel-Mark Lanes
ANN ARBOR, MI -- An Ann Arbor Telsa dealership, set to become the third service center and showroom in Michigan, is preparing to open. The Ann Arbor Tesla dealership, 3530 Jackson Road, will open its showroom in the coming weeks, location Manager Adam Cichy, said, while declined to specify exactly when. The service center at the dealership is already open.mlive.com
'He intentionally tried to kill us': Wife's statement to paramedics key to charges against Tesla driver who drove family off cliff
Dharmesh Patel, 41, was arrested by the California Highway Patrol on suspicion of attempted murder and child endangerment after the Jan. 2 crash, but prosecutors waited until after he was transferred out of the hospital to charge him.news.yahoo.com
Elon Musk's mysterious ways on display in Tesla tweet trial
Elon Musk’s enigmatic personality and unconventional tactics are emerging as key exhibits in a trial revolving around one of his most polarizing pursuits — tweeting. The trial, centered on a pair of tweets announcing Musk had obtained the money to take Tesla private in 2018, reeled the 51-year-old billionaire into a federal courtroom in San Francisco for three days of testimony that opened a peephole into his often inscrutable mind. Musk, who now owns the Twitter service that he deploys as his megaphone, was often a study in contrasts during his roughly eight hours on the stand.news.yahoo.com
Elon Musk's tweeting style seizes spotlight in Tesla trial
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s impulsive and sometimes inflammatory usage of Twitter has taken center stage in a trial focused on whether he misled investors with his 2018 tweets indicating he had lined up financing to take the electric automaker private, a proposal that rapidly unraveled.
Analyst: Musk has 'hard sell' to jury in trial
Elon Musk returned to federal court to defend himself against a class-action lawsuit that alleges he misled Tesla shareholders with a tweet about an aborted buyout that the billionaire defiantly insisted Tuesday he could have pulled off, had he wanted. (Jan 24)news.yahoo.com
Elon Musk rebuffed in bid to move Tesla tweet trial to Texas
A federal judge on Friday rejected Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s bid to move or delay a trial over a misleading tweet about a potential buyout of the electric automaker, setting the stage for the mercurial billionaire to be thrust into a legal drama amid the turmoil of his Twitter takeover.
Feds reviewing Musk tweet about disabling driver monitoring
A tweet from Elon Musk indicating that Tesla might allow some owners who are testing a “Full Self-Driving” system to disable an alert that reminds them to keep their hands on the steering wheel has drawn attention from U.S. safety regulators.
11 more crash deaths are linked to automated-tech vehicles
Eleven additional people were in crashes involving vehicles using automated driving systems during a four-month period earlier this year, according to newly released government data, part of an alarming pattern of incidents linked to the technology.
Correction: Russia-Ukraine War-Satellites story
In a story published October 14, 2022, about a request from SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk that the Defense Department take over funding for his satellite network that has provided battlefield communications for Ukrainian military forces, The Associated Press erroneously identified Musk as the founder of the electric vehicle maker.


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This article will cover the recent news about Sega Sammy and the pachinko business, Konami’s move away from developing new video games, and the persona 5 and Battle Slot video games. In addition to these recent news, this article will cover other upcoming games coming into the Japanese market. In addition, this article will touch on the persona 5 and Battle Slot games, which are currently in early stages of development.
Sega Sammy’s pachinko business
The Sega Sammy Corporation is a Japanese holding company that develops video games for home use, manufactures pachinko machines, and promotes video gaming as a leisure activity. The company organizes its business operations into three major segments: the Pachislot and Pachinko Machine Business, Entertainment Contents, and Resorts. While the Pachinko business represents a relatively small portion of the Sega Sammy Corporation’s business, it is the main source of revenue.
The commercial entertainment division of the company has performed well in recent financial reports, even if Pachinko stuff has underperformed. Sega’s packaged goods business performed better than its digital offerings. In addition, the company’s consumer business has seen a number of major releases and a booming schedule for classic Sega games. For example, the company recently released Alien: Isolation, which received a warm reception on the major platforms and led to an increase in consumer business.
Konami’s move away from developing new video games
While the world has been buzzing about the launch of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, a recent news report indicates that Konami will cease development of AAA video games. The Japanese company plans to focus more on developing mobile games and developing pachinko machines. But the decision to focus on mobile games is not without risk. Sega and other Japanese companies have already followed this path. Here’s what you need to know about Konami’s plans for the future.
The company recently announced it would restructure its internal divisions to focus more on other areas. It will dissolve Production Divisions 1-3 on February 1, 2021. This decision seems to push Konami further away from developing new video games, but it doesn’t seem to be completely cutting off the gaming department. While the move may be indicative of corporate restructuring, the company still has internal development teams working on new games.
In a recent press release, Konami said that it was planning to increase its pachislot and teppanjin game sales by 65% in the next fiscal year, based on the expected passage of a bill that legalizes casinos in Japan. The company said that it was optimistic about the future of the pachinko and teppanjin games, with profits in the segment doubling to JPY100 billion within 3-5 years.
While many of the games are free to download, some of the newer titles may cost as much as US$15 a piece. They can have a big impact for a few weeks, and some of them even include single-player experiences. Meanwhile, social casino is making its way to the Japanese market, and local developers are integrating it with popular game genres to create new experiences.
If you’re not a fan of the PlayStation’s exclusive games, you might want to check out the latest one from Sega Sammy . Persona 5 is an anime-themed role-playing video game, and the company has already released a trailer. You can learn more about it, and play it on a real-life arcade game, here.
After Persona 3, this game was a huge hit, so they released a sequel. CR Persona 4 was released in 2012, and it borrows elements from the previous Persona games. It features a continuous battle system and is available in the Japanese market. It’s open to other games, including Pachislot and Pachinko. It also features the Persona 4 series’ signature card battles.
Another great game from the Persona series is Persona 5. This action-adventure title is set in a pachinko parlor, and covers new Pachinko and Pachislottery games that have just hit the market. It’s a fun and stylish turn-based RPG that will provide hours of entertainment. A new edition of the game, Persona 5 Royal, is now available and includes more than just the base game. You’ll find new content, music from previous games, and spin-off entries.


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By Vanessa Liu, SAP.iO Foundries North America
In mere months, COVID-19 propelled us five years into the future when it comes to digital adoption, according to global consulting firm McKinsey.
You can see this playing out across industries. Restaurants are improving online ordering and delivery capabilities. Telehealth is increasingly available for patients who need it. Online learning has become a mandatory option for students of all ages. On and on and on.
“Digital trends were already picking up steam,” said Ashley Crowder, CEO and cofounder of VNTANA. “But COVID-19 has brought everything to the fore now. What used to be a nice-to-have is now a must-have.”
A Transformative Digital Impact
83.1 million U.S. consumers are using augmented reality (AR) every month, according to eMarketer.
“We’re talking about 25% of the population,” Crowder said. “This is a golden opportunity for companies to capitalize on a growing user base.”
Not only is AR’s prevalence unavoidable, but its effects on customer decision making and satisfaction are also undeniable.
- 40% higher conversion rates overall from 3D and AR shopping (Threekit)
- 72% of consumers purchased items they weren’t planning on buying due to AR (ThinkMobiles)
- 40% of consumers would pay more for a product they can customize in AR (U.S. Census Bureau)
There are more numbers like these, but they all tell a similar story: 3D and AR enable companies to better meet customer needs, facilitates confident buying decisions, and increases post-purchase satisfaction.
“Every retailer should be using 3D and AR,” Crowder said. “That has nothing to do with VNTANA’s business. That’s just a fact.”
Empowering The AR Future
Until recently, it simply hasn’t been reasonable or cost-effective for companies to develop customer-facing 3D models of their products at scale.
Sure, most companies already have 3D models for manufacturing purposes. But 3D software and formatting can vary widely, and the corresponding files are typically too big (and not formatted correctly) to easily drop into augmented reality on a desktop or mobile device. 3D artists need 3-5 days to optimize and convert any given product, which can cost a company $2,500 or more every time.
That’s where VNTANA comes into play. VNTANA creates and distributes 3D files at scale — seamlessly integrating with any company’s preexisting design process. With its software and cloud-based content management system (CMS), VNTANA enables customers to provide revolutionary 3D and AR e-commerce experiences at scale.
Rather than 3-5 days, it takes an average of 30 seconds to enable a product for 3D web and AR using VNTANA. The average monthly cost per product is less than $4. Files are automatically compressed — using the company’s patented optimization algorithms — to as little as 2% of their original size while maintaining high visual fidelity.
How does it look? Check it out yourself by scanning the QR code below:
Plugging And Playing
VNTANA began developing mixed reality experiences — often for brands at large sporting events or expos like SXSW — in 2012. At the time, mass adoption of the technology wasn’t there yet.
“Back then, phones weren’t capable of incorporating the experiences we could create, so we focused on location-based experiences,” Crowder said.
During their early work, the VNTANA team noticed clients never had the 3D file capabilities necessary to execute on the VR and AR experiences. That’s when they began developing the software to automatically optimize and distribute 3D files at scale. They quickly realized it was valuable in more ways than one.
“Allowing companies to use existing manufacturing design files and 3D scans to instantly create the 3D files needed for web, AR, VR, and advertising platforms like Facebook and Google Swirl helps make the technology more affordable and more scalable for businesses everywhere,” Crowder said.
The CMS offers a 3D web viewer with built-in AR as well as a plug and play ability to share 3D files to customer e-commerce sites. Today, VNTANA has nearly 20 customers operating on the enterprise 3D solution. Adidas launches thousands of products a year on it, Cotton, Inc. has digitized all its textiles in the platform, and Shah Luxury has digitized more than 5,000 pieces of jewelry.
VNTANA also has partnered with SAP so that any SAP Commerce Cloud user can seamlessly use VNTANA software on their e-commerce sites. The company plans to continue adding configuration and customization options to its software as the months and years go on.
Crowder said the software can be used in practically any retail space, including furniture, apparel, footwear, home goods, medical devices, and more.
“Every single industry is moving to 3D because it provides customers with a better understanding of the product,” she said. “The use cases are endless.”
About The Author
Vanessa leads SAP.iO Foundries in North America, which are SAP’s accelerators for B2B enterprise startups. She has earned degrees in neuroscience and law, and is a champion for social justice and tireless advocate for under-represented business startups, especially those led by women or diverse founders.


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Posted: Thu 23rd Apr 2020
Small businesses are showing signs that they are ready to start to plan for the future, new research by Enterprise Nation has revealed.
The pulse survey found nearly a fifth (19%) said they were already developing future strategy with more than half (53%) saying they felt they would soon be in a stable position to work on building business capability and core skills.
While 83% said they were still working to finalise the finances to take them through the coronavirus pandemic, 63% said they wanted to develop increased online capability such as e-commerce. Another 60% said they were planning to diversify their business so they could easily pivot.
'Entrepreneurs are by their nature resilient'
Emma Jones, founder Enterprise Nation, said: "These are incredibly difficult times. Small businesses have had to hunker down and adapt to the new world we find ourselves in.
"While the majority are still waiting for financial packages to be resolved, it's good to hear that so many are thinking beyond what's happening today and planning, and in many cases pivoting, their business model.
"Entrepreneurs are by their nature resilient and many have already survived difficult circumstances. The fact they are planning to increase skills ready for the end of lockdown suggests they are being positive and expecting the business to survive and custom to return."
The survey, which was conducted last week amongst 500+ small limited company owners and self-employed individuals, found the top skills sets founders planned to work on were marketing and sales (52%), social media (37%), researching new markets (28%) and expanding peer networks (16%).
While 84% said they were open to broadening and diversifying the business to avoid future crises, including adding more online services and potentially developing different new services, just 19% said they would consider protecting their income via insurance.
Business sectors in the survey included business services, creative and media, fashion, food and drink operators.
Bristol-based food delivery service Office Pantry saw its customer base plummet on lockdown. It quickly rebuilt its website capability in four days to allow it to accept home delivery orders on a huge scale.
Co-founder Giles Mitchell said: "We got a home delivery service up and running in 24 hours, with people calling in to make orders from a menu on the website.
"While that was going on, we were building the Home Pantry webpage. It was workable in four to five days and plugged into our back office system. Opening the floodgates means you have to be able to cope with managing stock and deliveries."
The pivot to home deliveries rapidly changed the processes staff used. Drivers had to get used to routes changing every day and working different hours. Packers had to be aware it wasn't business as usual so there was a management shift that also had to happen. They also had to quickly learn to market to a different audience.


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More and more companies are turning to IoT to capture the benefits of connecting their products and services. An IoT implementation strategy and key objectives must be identified to be successful. This can be challenging for any business, particularly global enterprises with a complex and decentralized structure.
In this webinar, Fredrik Östbye, Group Vice President, Head of FutureLab from Grundfos, one of the world’s leading pump manufacturers will talk about how digitalisation and sustainability has been the core of everything Grundfos does and is a top priority today.
Fredrik will highlight how Grundfos is shifting its business model from selling water pumps to delivering water-as-a-service enabled by connectivity and IoT.
Martin Whitlock, CTO of Telenor Connexion will also participate in the webinar.


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Click here for the live coverage page.
The Utility Belt will be live at Apple’s (AAPL) announcement tomorrow (9/5) at Moscone West in San Francisco, where the company is expected to announce updates to its line of iPods. Bookmark this page, or type www.fortt.com into your browser, for the news as it happens.
The announcement is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern.
Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. Sign up today.


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Golfers couldn’t have asked for a better day at the John Holtmann Memorial Golf Tournament, June 6 in Hornby, ON.
Fun, fresh air and fellowship are just three things you will find at the 2019 John Holtmann Memorial Golf Tournament. The industry’s most popluar golf event returns to the Royal Ontario Golf Club, Hornby, ON on June 6. This annual charity event is held in honour of the late John Holtmann, who was the president of Vita Health Fresh Markets in Winnipeg, MB. John also served on the Canadian Health Food Association’s board as a director and board chair. He was inducted into the CHFA Hall of Fame in 2010. John passed away in 2011.
The golf tournament serves as a great opportunity for the industry to come together for a relaxing and fun day, and is also a key fundraiser for Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC). In 2018, the event raised $10,000.
Registration is 10AM, lunch is served at 11AM, and the shotgun start is at noon. A reception begins at 5PM, followed by dinner. For more information, please visit chfa.ca
Retailers: Terry’s Tools & Tips is designed to help you combine passion for health with healthy profits.
As a health food retailer, you’re already passionate about helping people live their best. What if your mission could generate even more success for your store? Terry Naturally CANADA says it can, and Terry’s Tools & Tips from Terry Naturally CANADA can show you how.
Vancouver is well known for its outstanding health food stores. If you’re coming to CHFA West, join us for a tour of five must-see stores on Thursday, February 21, 2019 from 9AM to 5PM. From traditional health food stores to larger super centres, we’ll take you on a tour that highlights their unique offerings and share successes that could easily translate to your location. Join host Bruce Cole of CNHR Magazine for a full day of exploring, learning and camaraderie. Departing from the Vancouver Convention Centre, West Building, the Retail Bus Tour is a great opportunity to network with fellow retailers as you begin your CHFA West experience. Registration fee includes lunch. $40 for members, $50 for non-members.
St. Francis Herb Farm kicked-off its 30th anniversary with a reception on Friday, September 14 during CHFA East. Many friends, partners and retailers were in attendance as company president Paul Rivett-Carnac welcomed attendees, shared the St. Francis story and paid homage to his parents, founders Monique and Jeremy. Monique joined Paul and the St. Francis team in welcoming well-wishers and industry partners
The 18th annual Health & Wellness Fair, – hosted in September by Health Experts Canada and The Apple Market – continues to be a popular and fun natural health event.
The giant Quebec-based natural health retailer opened its newest – and largest – location on June 6 in Laval, QC. One of the most amazing features of this 44,000 sq. ft. store is an indoor farm. The CultiGo automated vertical farming platform is a technology developed in Quebec by Inno-3B and it will allow Avril Laval to grow organic microgreens on-site year-round. Revolutionary and ecological, this farming technique reduces greenhouse gas emissions, eliminates pesticides and encourages local farming for incomparable freshness. Several varieties and blends of microgreens will be grown at the Laval store, and then be distributed to Avril’s other stores. Avril is the first retailer to use the CultiGo platform.
The Laval location – which the company says via press release is the largest health food store in Quebec – represents a $10M investment for Avril, which was founded in 1995 by Sylvie Senay and Rolland Tanguay. The opening of this new store has created 200 new jobs, bringing the total number of employees to nearly 1,000, working at one of the stores, at the logistics and distribution center or at the head office in Granby.
Adapting to its customer’s needs and lifestyle, Avril Laval offers even more choice, based on three main principles: flavour, freshness and simplicity. Customers can now purchase fresh fish, homemade pizza, organic roasted chicken, bread and pastries, gelatos and grab-and-go meals.
The gelatos are prepared in the traditional Italian style. The pizzas are made from the finest organic ingredients, including San Marzano tomatoes, and are baked on stone in a state-of-the-art oven. The fish comes from sustainable fishing practices and most are Ocean Wise certified.
The new store has a 130-seat food court and a 48-seat terrace. Two menus are offered: one bistro-style and a vegan alternative.
Avril Laval has a large natural cosmetics department, designed to display iconic natural and organic cosmetic brands from here and abroad. Customers can also benefit from personalized recommendations from beauty advisors and receive skin care treatments in private treatment rooms.
“The opening of our eighth store in Laval is another step towards achieving our ultimate mission of making natural and organic products accessible to all,” says Sylvie.
CNHR is welcoming back one of its original (and most popular) business writers, Alain Roy. Alain brings a great deal of industry experience, having worked in all facets of our industry over the years, including retail, distribution, manufacturing and consulting. Currently, he is president of Veeva and Natural Business Partners.
Alain will be focusing his efforts into a series of continuing articles on the benefits of strong partnerships between retailers and suppliers. He will be asking industry leaders to share their greatest partnership success stories. “During my career, I have seen and been part of different partnership attitudes. Like personal relationships, working in true partnership means understanding each other’s needs. This new series will focus on understanding the needs of vendors and retailers alike, so we can all continue thriving.” Alain’s first article will appear in the September-October issue. Welcome back, Alain!
Raji Kalra has co-founded a new company called Peopletail. Its purpose is to make it easy for people to include their own links to e-commerce retailers in their articles, photos and videos - making their content into shoppable recommendations for other consumers to buy through. “The user-generated content from everyday people will help increase traffic to e-commerce stores of health food retailers,” explained Raji.
Peopletail (the name combines “people” and “retail”) rewards people for creating content for products they love. “In the natural health channel, people really listen to other people’s recommendation to learn about what products are good and what products work,” said Raji. “This will be a chance for people to get rewarded by sharing their product knowledge and experiences with others. This can be for products they love or believe in.”
Raji, who has been producing content for brands for nearly nine years, feels we are shifting into an era where brands won’t actually have to produce their own content as much in the future. “We envision a future where brands will be able to focus their efforts on rewarding people for their content, especially when certain content generates with retailers.” Peopletail – which will be in testing phase starting June 2018 – will be collaborating with leading brands, magazine publishers and retailers in the natural health industry. Raji is the former head of Alive Studios, a digital division he sold to Alive Publishing Group in 2014. For more information, please email firstname.lastname@example.org. •
Since 1991, the Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF) has funded programs that work to change the lives of women and girls in more than 1,500 communities across Canada. The CWF is one of the ten largest women’s foundations in the world.
This year in particular, women and girls are raising their voices against abuse and for fair and equal treatment.
In its seventh year supporting the CWF, WomenSense – along with Assured Natural Distribution – has announced its spring 2018 campaign. The funds raised through this campaign contribute to ground-breaking programs and services for women and girls in your local areas, creating safer families, stronger communitie, and a more prosperous society for all. When retailers participate in the spring campaign by recommending WomenSense products throughout the year, you are helping to empower women and girls to move out of violence, out of poverty and into confidence and leadership.
Ask your account manager how you can be involved. Assured Natural Distribution thanks retailers for their continued support of its commitment to the CWF. 888/826-9625
The Guelph Organic Conference continues to focus on Canada's rapid organic sector growth. “The show was great with lots of new energy,” said conference manager Tomas Nimmo, in reference to the event which took place Jan 25-28. “We had plenty of new exhibitors join our regulars.
‘Lots of exceptional sales’ is what I heard from many of them. Trade show shoppers are already convinced and knowledgeable about the benefits of organics, which our vendors love.”
The conference is also known as a hub for organic sector networking. "It's the place where many future organic marketing projects get their start and then take flight in the following months," Tomas added.
As interest in organics continues to increase, the conference saw workshop attendance grow and strong interest in the trade show.
Planning for next year’s event has begun. If you are interested in exhibitor or sponsorship opportunities, contact Tomas at 705/444-0923 or email@example.com
Taslim and Hanif Jamal – the owners of Toronto’s The Wholesome Market – just celebrated 20 years of working with Community Builders Youth Leadership. This not-for-profit organization was founded in 1994 by a committed group of educators with extensive experience in teaching, counselling, and working through the arts with children.
Community Builders’ mission and passion is to help create inclusive school communities by developing the leadership capacity of young people and adults. They train elementary students, teachers and parents in anti-bullying, social inclusion, equity and conflict resolution, while raising their awareness of racism, sexism, classism and other forms of oppression.
The Wholesome Market donates $2,000 annually to the group and is planning something big in May: a community event based at the store with the goal of raising awareness of the important issues Community Builders addresses, and $5,000 in donations to support this work. The funds will go toward the recruiting and training of volunteers, as well as additional staff. This will enable the organization to go into more school communities to teach students and raise awareness of the issues.
“What we are doing through the store is trying to get much more involved in the community,” explained Hanif, who recalls being bullied as a youngster when his family was new to Canada. “Community Builders helps kids understand racism, homophobia, classism, ableism and the many other ways that people get hurt. They’re teaching the kids the right words and the most effective approach to dealing with tough situations. This type of community program is something I encourage all business owners to consider supporting.”
Community Builders’ co-founder Jerry Brodey says stepping in to help someone who is being bullied, excluded or targeted by oppression isn't easy for anyone – children or adults. “We’re giving them the skills and tools to be pro-active. Young people believe they can make a difference, and we need to support them to do that. These are skills that will help them to have healthy relationships now when they’re young, and as they go through the rest of their lives. Community Builders is definitely an antidote for hopelessness.”
The Wholesome Market has had support from some of its suppliers, including Mike and Mike’s, Indigo, Purity Life, Sunflower Kitchen, Gordian Health First and Little Stream Bakery. Hanif is hoping more suppliers as well as his customers will join the effort. “This is about helping kids deal with bullying and show caring to others,” says Hanif. “The more people who stand up to bullying and exclusion, the less power it has.”
For more information, visit cbyouthleadership.org or contact Hanif at 647/500-3474 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
The Good Health Mart group of stores celebrates its 25th anniversary July 1. It was 1993 when Eunice and Murray McMahon bought a health food store in Woodbridge, ON. Within two years, they built a second store in Belleville, ON and by the next year, they were franchising their concept.
Through franchising and acquiring existing stores, GHM grew to a 12-store organization. “Some of our staff and franchisees have been with us for over 20 years,” said Murray. “Many more have been with us for over five years and counting. We give heartfelt thanks to our loyal staff and customers and long-time suppliers who have been on this journey with us.” CNHR will be featuring Good Health Mart in the next issue.
Foodsmiths – the “good food store” in Perth, ON. – raised $2,255.75 in November for the Perth Royal Canadian Legion with its third annual Poppy Project.
The Poppy Project, which is based on the sale of hand-knit poppies, was introduced by Foodsmiths co-owner Claire Smith after seeing an appeal for fundraising ideas put out by the Perth Legion. "It was based on the successful British Legion hand-knit poppy project." says Claire. "I asked our cashier and enthusiastic knitter Linda Anderson to tweak the pattern. She did, and our poppy project was born."
Foodsmiths supplies all materials to a core of volunteer knitters, including staff and customers of Foodsmiths. Since starting the project three years ago, Foodsmiths has raised $8,798.45.
One hundred per cent of all proceeds are donated to the Perth Royal Canadian Legion.
It’s been a busy holiday season. Now that you’ve taken a moment to enjoy reading the latest issue of CNHR, please also take a few minutes to visit chfa.ca/west for the most up-to-date information on this year’s CHFA West. The show is being held at the Vancouver Convention Centre on February 22 to 25 and there’s no question the event will live up to its theme, Connecting the Industry.
What can retailers expect? We’ve created even more opportunities for you to network both on and off the trade show floor. And, we’ve developed one of the most comprehensive conference programs to-date. One of the sessions that will be of interest is titled Death by Amazon. It’s a jarring headline that was published in the Financial Post. The article led with “Amazon.com Inc.’s purchase of Whole Foods Market Inc. last month has pushed an already nervous retail sector into a collective panic not seen since the great recession.” But the real headline according to Bruce Winder should be “how retailers can withstand the onslaught.” Bruce (co-founder and partner at the Retail Advisors Network), is often interviewed by leading TV media outlets such as BNN, CBC, CTV News, CP24, Global News and has contributed to the Globe & Mail, the Financial Post, The Toronto Star, Reuters, Bloomberg, Adweek, The Calgary Herald and the Ottawa Citizen just to name a few. We’re excited to be able to bring his expertise to the program.
Another highlight for 2018 is the Retail Leader Round Table where retailers will share challenges, insights and solutions. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to make connections with retailers who share the same experiences. There are a whole host of other great topics including trends and global influences, marketing to millennials, organics vs. “x-ponics” and more. Check it out at chfa.ca/west and register today. •
February 22 & 23, 2018
February 24 & 25, 2018
10:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m. daily
Vancouver Convention Centre
Two in three Canadians (66 per cent) are spending at least some of their weekly grocery budget on organic items, up a staggering 10 points from 56 per cent in 2016. This is according to a September 2017 report from the Canada Organic Trade Association.
And with that increased spending comes the challenge of staying on top of research and trends related to organics.
“Information these days is delivered and digested in quick takeaways and bullet points,” says Kate McMurray, outreach coordinator at The Big Carrot in Toronto. “It’s important to open up the conversation with consumers beyond ‘how does organics impact me’ to the value of the broader organic system that is providing positive economic, social, nutritional and environmental impact.”
At The Big Carrot, a number of different initiatives are undertaken to prepare staff for these conversations. A team of nutritionists provide customer service. Staff play active roles in industry organizations such as the Canada Organic Trade Association, CBAN, the Non-GMO Project, and the Organic Council of Ontario. Initiatives such as Nature’s Finest Fund and Retail Organic Certification are a priority.
All of these activities ensure staff training, constant learning and knowledge transfer are a priority at The Big Carrot.
As part of their industry involvement priorities, The Big Carrot will once again play a key role in the Guelph Organic Conference. A Platinum Patron of the event, The Big Carrot will be exhibiting, and Kate will present “Current & Relevant Organic Research” – a free workshop on Sunday, January 28.
Kate’s workshop will be one of 43 program offerings covering topics from organic crop and livestock production to organic gardening. “This is a dynamic, leading event in the Canadian organic sector,” says Tomas Nimmo, conference manager. “Our conference offers excellent opportunities to network and learn about different features of the organic value chain. We draw a diverse audience including farmers, grain traders, manufacturers and many others.”
“Not only do we stay connected through industry involvement, but we then have these networks as resources,” adds Kate. “Part of our brand and success is the trust customers place in us, and by being involved in various initiatives, including the conference, we have been successful as an organization.”
To learn more about the Guelph Organic Conference (Jan 25 to 28), visit www.guelphorganicconf.ca.
For more information about The Big Carrot visit wwww.thebigcarrot.ca
After 30 years as owner, Susan St. James has sold her store, Garden Health Vitamins in Vancouver, to Deanna Henry. “Deanna has a five year history in the health food industry at Ave Maria in Prince George, B.C. and comes from an entrepreneurial family,” said Susan. “I believe that Deanna is a perfect fit as the new owner of Garden Health and I am pleased that I can leave my legacy to her. My current staff, that have stood by me for several years, will be standing by her as she brings her inspiration to the store that serves this downtown community and beyond. I will be supporting Deanna over the next few months and I hope you will welcome her.”
News, Views and Happenings in the world of Canadian Natural Health.
BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE!
It is the once-a-year issue of CNHR where we turn the spotlight on to our industry suppliers. We share your stories of innovation, determination and creativity in bringing your products to market. It is the opportunity for suppliers to show and tell how they support the natural health retailers.
What is the "deal?"
It is our best offer of the year: When you buy a full or half page ad, you get a FREE full or half page to tell your company’s story. In this issue, our editorial is your company story.


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Sony’s official case for the Xperia Z3, the SCR24 Style Cover Window is now shipping via the Sony Mobile Store in Europe. The case has been in and out of stock over the last week, but it looks like Sony has received more stock as this is the first time we have seen all four colours available (black, white, silver green and copper). The case will set you back £39.99 in the UK and €35.00 in Mainland Europe.
The Style Cover SCR24 includes a smart window function, allowing you to quickly access your most important features without having to open the cover. You can select which smart window apps and widgets you want to see when the case is closed. The NFC-enabled case has access to all ports, including the magnetic charging pins. If you do buy the case, remember to install the relevant app.


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Now create a GIF from Facebook Camera
Facebook has released a new feature which allows its users to make small GIF with the help of an in-app camera. The Gadget report said that many of GIF’s can be personalized through frames and filters and it can be shared on Facebook.
Although these GIFs can only be shared on Facebook, if they are saved on the device then they will be saved in the video format.Although Facebook has not yet made a public announcement of this feature. At the moment, this feature is available to a few users and when it will be released to all users, it has not been clarified.
Significantly, Facebook has recently introduced this service on its virtual reality app spaces to make people live streaming in live video virtual reality (VR). Facebook Space was launched in April, which is the company’s first VR app, which has developed for the company’s Oculus Rift VR headset. Oculus VR is a section of Facebook Inc.


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Demand for manganese in batteries is set to grow over eight-fold this decade, due to new battery chemistries and rising electric vehicle sales, according to Benchmark’s Manganese Sulphate Market Outlook.
Manganese is a crucial element in nickel cobalt manganese (NMC) cathodes and can be used to improve the range of electric vehicles at a relatively low cost. New battery chemistries are expected to use even more manganese.
Automotive companies are increasingly turning to manganese-intensive forms of battery chemistry due to lower cost structures and improved performance.
General Motors has invested in Element25 (earlier post), which is building a manganese refinery in Louisiana, and this month also backed Mitra Chem, a Silicon Valley company which is developing lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathodes (earlier post).
Chinese cathode companies are also expanding production of LMFP cathodes where manganese’s properties can improve performance at a lower-cost.
Next-generation lithium manganese nickel oxide (LMNO) battery chemistries are also soon to be commercialized; Benchmark forecasts a 6% share by 2030.
However, the supply chain for high-purity manganese sulfate (HPMSM) production is dominated by China, which currently accounts for 96% of global supply.
Understanding the chemical complexity of more mature commodity markets is essential as OEMs seek to manage supply chain risks and scale for emerging EV demand. Manganese sulfate is an increasingly strategic input which helps to improve battery safety and lower the cost of cathode chemistries—understanding how manganese refining capacity will scale is at the heart of the lithium-ion economy and its longer-term technological evolution.—Maximilian Court, product director at Benchmark
Manganese’s elemental properties, its lower-cost application in batteries, and its concentration in China is why western OEMs, governments and businesses need to address upcoming market deficits; and it’s important that they engage with that future story now.—Jess Roberts, Benchmark’s Head of Forecasting


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What legislators should now do is treat Facebook and Google for what they are: giant advertising platforms. Effective regulation is no more complicated than effective taxation. Get that right and it would then be beholden on governments, not advertising platforms, to use a substantial new source of tax revenue to fund a media industry decimated by a brutal ride through algorithmic adland.
But there’s a trickier tangle that taxation alone won’t unpick. For many, Facebook and Google are part of the mythical “open web” – one where hyperlinks can be freely posted on any website. That makes sense on, say, Wikipedia, but it does not make sense on Facebook and Google which, despite their scale and mission statements, are essentially closed advertising ecosystems. Sure, news organisations can choose to post articles and videos on Facebook. And in return, people on Facebook may play those videos and click on those links. Rarely, they might click on an advert on the news organisation’s website or pay to subscribe to that publication. Or, if you’re the Epoch Times, you can game Facebook’s engagement algorithm to transform yourself from a low-budget far-right newspaper founded by an obscure Chinese spiritual movement into one of the most-read publications on the planet. If Facebook prioritised social wellbeing over engagement, this wouldn’t have happened.
On Google, the value exchange is different but similarly broken. Google trawls the internet and indexes almost everything on it by default. A news organisation can opt out by inserting a short piece of code on their website’s backend, but doing so would be commercially ruinous. Sure, publications don’t choose to be on Google in the same way that they choose to be on Facebook, but the sheer scale of both platforms makes it an inevitability. Google without news is unthinkable – so unthinkable that Google and Murdoch struck a secret and lucrative pay-to-play deal to keep news flowing in Australia. But a Facebook without news? Well, that’s easier to imagine.
The problem here isn’t Facebook or Google. Nor is it the decades-long failure of the media industry to innovate. The problem isn’t Murdoch’s belligerence or a digitally illiterate Australian legislature. The problem is that we’ve ended up at a moment in history where almost all information in the world is disseminated by two gigantic advertising companies that are better at making an ad for buttless pyjamas stalk you around the internet than they are at stopping an attack on the US Capitol or preventing genocide. Regulators can and must do better to address this imbalance. And no, the answer to our broken internet is not to hand News Corp more power and money. Unless you’re Google.
For years it has been clear that the web, which has been shaped in Facebook and Google’s image, is in no way open. Facebook is not a social network. Google is not a search engine. They are an advertising duopoly. In the US, more than half of advertising spend now goes to big digital platforms. In the UK, Amazon, Facebook and Google account for almost 70 per cent of digital advertising spend. If Facebook doesn’t want news on its platform, that’s Facebook’s prerogative. If Google wants to hand giant wads of cash to Rupert Murdoch to secure deeply troubling pay-to-play deals, that’s Google’s prerogative. It’s an irresistible tug-of-war: there would be no Facebook or Google without the terabytes of stuff we shout into the void every hour of every day. And yet, without Facebook and Google, there would be no void to shout into. Unless you’re still on Bing or MySpace.


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News Corp launches new platform to buy podcast ads
News Corp is seeking to further monetise its podcast offering by launching AirTime – allowing brands and agencies to buy across audience segments and genres.
The organisation’s podcasts within its NewsCast network include From The Newsroom, The Matty Johns Podcast, The Lighthouse, The Men Who Raised Us and Healthy-Ish, which leverage talent and content from across News Corp’s assets including its papers, digital publications, FOX Sports and Sky News. It now has over 30 active podcasts across news, sport, true crime and lifestyle.
In a pitch to potential advertisers at its DECODED event yesterday, the network said it offered unrivalled integration opportunities across its portfolio, with host-read in-show integration which News Corp said had low skip rates and strong completion rates.
It also revealed its new AirTime offering.
“In an effort to offer you more ways to trade, we’re launching AirTime, which gives you the opportunity to purchase inventory in our podcast network by audience and genre,” said Ainslee O’Brien, general manager of commercial networks, said.
“This new way of trading will give you greater flexibility and audience focus in your buying options.”
O’Brien speaking (virtually) to potential advertisers yesterday
Asked for more information, O’Brien told Radio Today the initiative was in response to advertiser demand for greater flexibility.
“AirTime is an opportunity for advertisers to buy on a CPM basis horizontally across the NewsCast network, giving them an audience and genre-based buy. We have always intended to launch new ways to buy into our podcast network and AirtTime is in response to advertiser demand, they are looking for increased flexibility. The podcast market is buoyant and we are seeing a lot of demand.”
In addition, O’Brien told brands the podcast network was launching extended integrated reads – “a new storytelling brand format that allows an advertiser to deeply integrate their brand ambassador or expert within our podcast”.
“This new, longer format involves the host and the brand ambassador engaging in a discussion about the brand, making it feel like a natural extension of the content. It’s a really fantastic way for our customers to leverage the relationship our hosts have with our listeners,” she said.
NewsCast bills itself as “Australia’s leading, premium original content podcast network” and boasts over 5 million downloads per month.


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Updated on 20 Nov 2021, 2:58 pm
Street vendors of Khwairamband market in Imphal have expressed their concerns on the Imphal Municipality Council officer’s alleged response to their enquiry on the allocation of seats at the newly constructed temporary market shed.
In a press meet held at the Manipur Press Club on Saturday, assistant secretary of Khwairamband Keithel Street Vendor Welfare Union L Nandita said that concerning the allocations of seats, the IMC authority has ignored the fourth market shed which is being constructed at Khwairamband Keithel temporary market.
She narrated that the street vendors had visited the IMC office to ask about seat allocation at the newly constructed shed but the IMC authority instead questioned them, “Who is constructing the market shed at the temporary market?” It was very unfortunate to hear such a reply from the authority, Nandita said.
She expressed that such acts puts a division among the street vendors who otherwise maintain a cordial relationship among themselves. The IMC officers also replied that they do not have any paper regarding the seat allocation at the temporary market shed, she further said and questioned whether the construction of the market shed is for the benefits of the rich people.
“Street vendors are running from pillar to post for the sake of survival. The numbers of street vendors are increasing everyday and if the IMC authority is violating the rights of the street vendors against these circumstances, then we will not remain silent. We will seek legal support,” Nandita added.


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Swedish furniture brand Ikea has opened its doors online, although its physical store will have to wait due to delays in construction caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ikea announced its arrival in Mexico last year with a 23,000-square-meter store that was to open in October in the Oceania area of Mexico City. But the company now says the brick-and-mortar opening will happen in the first quarter of 2021.
The company estimated that 300 to 350 direct jobs will be created in the communities surrounding the location, which will include the brand’s Swedish restaurant with seating for up to 665 people.
But as of Monday, shoppers have been able to browse online through 18 categories of goods, including bathroom products, furniture, linens, decor, home security, plants and a host of products offered at less than 50 pesos (US $2.30) including bags, candleholders, frames, planters, containers, rugs, and curtains, among others.
However, the story is shipping only to addresses in Mexico City and certain México state municipalities.
Shipping costs are 79 pesos (US $3.69) for most items weighing less than 24 kilos, and delivery was being promised within three to five days. However, according to the website on Tuesday deliveries were being delayed by as much as four weeks due to high demand.
“Today we open our e-commerce site with more than 7,500 articles and distribution capacity in Mexico City and the metropolitan area. Why first in this area? Well, our goal is to reach as many people as possible, as fast as we can, and this part of the country is the most populated,” Ikea told Forbes México yesterday.
“In the near future, our ambition is to expand delivery to other large cities in the country, and eventually, to the entire Mexican territory.”
With the construction of the store, an e-commerce warehouse and a production plant, Ikea is investing approximately US $500 million in Mexico. Its 10-year plan for Mexico includes opening stores in Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla and Querétaro, the company says.
The world’s largest furniture retailer, Ikea was founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad who was the eighth richest person in the world at the time of his death in 2018. The company operates more than 430 stores in 52 countries.
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Casino equipment maker RGB International Bhd reported third-quarter unaudited profit that was flat judged year-on-year, on revenue that fell 35.2 percent from the prior-year period.
Such profit was MYR9.37 million (US$1.16 million) in the three months to September 30, compared to MYR9.33 million in the prior-year quarter, the firm said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia.
But third-quarter 2017 group revenue slumped by more than a third to MYR61.27 million, from MYR94.55 million a year earlier. The main component of group revenue – sales and marketing of product – fell 45.3 percent year-on-year in third quarter 2017, to MYR38.55 million, compared to MYR70.44 million a year earlier.
The company said in commentary on the reporting period that the reason for a fall in sales and marketing revenue, and of that segment’s profit before tax, was a “decrease in the number of machines and casino equipment sold in the quarter”.
It added the number of machines and casino equipment sold in the previous year’s corresponding quarter benefited from “a bulk order from a new integrated resort”, which the company did not name.
The company stated that the 7.2-percent year-on-year fall in quarterly revenue for the technical support and management division, to MYR22.2 million was “due to implementation of a smoking ban in public areas which has had a slight impact on certain outlets in the Philippines”. But the company added: “Steps are being taken to create areas for smokers.”
RGB International’s earnings per share for the three months to September 30 were MYR0.70 and MYR0.69 respectively on a basic and diluted basis, a fall of 1 percent year-on-year in each case.
Nov 23, 2020All casinos in South Korea’s Seoul metropolitan area, including Incheon, are required with effect from 12am on Tuesday (November 24) to suspend operation due to an uptick in Covid-19 cases in that...
"Unfortunately, I cannot come to Macau nor can any of my team. The global pandemic has created a situation that is very difficult for all of us … I am very hopeful that we can come to Macau to bring back a reimagined House of Dancing Water"
Creative director of the House of Dancing Water show


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STORY: U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, capping off their first weekly gain in four weeks as investors went on a buying spree and shrugged off concerns about the economic outlook.
The Dow rose 1.2%, the S&P gained 1.5%, while Nasdaq jumped more than 2%.
Investors are awaiting August's consumer prices report – or CPI, out on Tuesday - for signs that inflation may be easing.
Wells Fargo economists are predicting just that, as they expect headline inflation will log its steepest monthly decline since the peak of the health crisis in April of 2020.
Christian Ledoux, director of investment research at CAPTRUST, says that even a flat reading for consumer prices would be a good sign for the Federal Reserve as it aims for its goal of 2 percent inflation.
“Last month we had a flat month-to-month – I’m sure everyone heard Biden say that we had no inflation on a month-to-month basis last month – and it would be great for all of us if we saw a slight dip on a month-to-month basis. But that’s not really necessary to see the year-to-year change get better. So if we just stayed flat here for a while, we would actually see 2% some time early next year.”
Tech and growth stocks led the gains Friday, with Amazon and Microsoft both ending higher.
Shares of Kroger jumped after the grocer raised its annual forecast.
And luxury handbag maker Tapestry – owner of Coach and Kate Spade - also rose after the company said it expects revenue of $8 billion by fiscal year 2025.


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Farmers, cheese makers ask Trump to suspend tariffs on Mexican products during NAFTA talks
WASHINGTON, DC - More than 60 companies and organizations representing American dairy farmers and cheese makers are urging the Trump administration to reconsider its imposition of new tariffs on Mexico in light of that country's constructive engagement in NAFTA negotiations and the harm that Mexico's retaliatory tariffs will have on U.S. dairy's trade with its largest and most reliable market.
In retaliation for U.S. actions on steel and aluminum imports, Mexico recently added new tariffs—some of which will reach as high as 25 percent next month—on American-made cheeses, among other products. These tariffs will certainly diminish demand for high-quality dairy products that are produced across the United States. The production of cheese and other dairy products in the U.S. supports nearly 3 million American jobs. The additional Mexican duties also will allow the European Union, which recently signed a bilateral free trade agreement with Mexico, to take hard-earned market share from American dairy companies.
In their letter to President Trump, the companies asked the administration to work collaboratively with Mexico and suspend the steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexican products until the negotiations for a modernized North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have been concluded.
"Our industry recognizes that the U.S. must be resolute in ensuring our trading partners uphold their end of the bargain with us," they said. "We trust that your administration's skilled staff can find a way to resolve this issue, given Mexico's strong commitment to working with the U.S. to further improve U.S.-Mexican trade."
Mexico has been a model for open dairy trade with the United States. Through investment and cooperation, the United States has become Mexico's biggest dairy supplier, with cheese purchases last year totaling nearly $400 million. Today, Mexico accounts for about one-quarter of all U.S. dairy exports. Until the tariffs were imposed, all U.S. dairy products enjoyed duty-free access into the Mexican market.
The dairy industry's trade associations—the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF)—strongly support the goals set forth in the letter to President Trump.
"Our first four months of 2018 showed a strong expansion in the volume of U.S. dairy exports into Mexico," said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC. "But these tariffs have introduced uncertainty and concern. A renegotiated NAFTA 2.0 would go a long way toward restoring our industry's momentum."
Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of IDFA noted that maintaining dairy market access in Mexico is IDFA's number one priority in the NAFTA modernization efforts, specifically because the duty-free access has allowed trade between our countries to flourish and Mexico to become our number 1 export market.
"We're confident that the administration and U.S. negotiators will find a way to preserve this vital partnership, which allows the U.S. dairy industry to create more jobs and drive our economy," Dykes said.
After rising during the spring, dairy futures markets and the farm-level milk price outlook for the rest of 2018 have deteriorated significantly in recent weeks, in reaction to the prospects of lost dairy export sales, said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF.
"No one wants to see lasting damage to our farmers result from lost access to our top foreign market. That's why resumption of tariff-free trade between the U.S. and Mexico is so critical," Mulhern said.


text: Tesla shares have slumped in recent weeks, losing 26% of their value between a record high in late January and its closing price Friday. But at least one analyst sees better times ahead — much, much better. Ark Invest, run by the influential Cathie Wood, expects Tesla shares to reach at least $3,000 by 2025. That’s a rise of more than 350% from Friday’s close — and more than double Ark’s own $1,400 price target it set last year. In fact, even in the worst-case “bear” scenario, Ark thinks Tesla shares have an absolute bottom of $1,500 for 2025, analyst Tasha Keeney wrote in a note Friday. Shares of Tesla\n \n (TSLA) were up more than 6% to $697 in midday trading Monday. Ark has changed its price target so drastically from last year, Kenney wrote, because the firm increased its assumptions for Tesla’s ability to efficiently use its capital to finance its ambitious growth plans. Ark is now also factoring in gains it expects Tesla to reap from selling car insurance to its customers in some states. Keeney also wrote about an upcoming “robo-taxi” ride hailing service that Musk has promised, saying Ark also now believes that there is a 50% chance that Tesla will be able to achieve fully autonomous driving by 2025 — and that such a service would add $160 billion in annual profits by 2025. But other analysts who are critics of Tesla were quick to criticize Ark’s analysis, saying it didn’t take into account the cost of the growth that it is projecting for Tesla. “It seems Ark believes Tesla will have $300 billion to $700 billion in 2025 revenues (vs. $31.5 billion in 2020), with no new debt and no equity issuance,” said Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research, and a frequent critic. “Given everyone is talking about Ark’s price target, the assumptions in Ark’s model should be heavily scrutinized. When we did a bit … a picture emerges of a potentially flawed/misinformed model, in our opinion.” Tesla shares have been facing pressure because of increased competition. Established automakers including Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford\n \n (F) have made new pushes into electric vehicles. While Tesla is the clear leader in electric vehicle sales, with 500,000 cars sold last year, Volkswagen could soon top Tesla. Meanwhile, GM is far behind both Tesla and Volkswagen but has set a goal of selling only emission-free vehicles by 2035, and there are early indications that the new Ford Mustang Mach-E is starting to win some market share away from Tesla in the US market. In contrast to Ark’s relatively bullish outlook, some critics question whether fully autonomous vehicles are as close as proponents believe. These concerns have weighed on Tesla shares in the past several weeks. After 2020’s wild run in which the stock gained 743%, Tesla has fallen for most of the last two months, dropping into bear market territory. Yet even with that recent decline, the company is nearly as valuable as the market capitalization of world’s six largest automakers by vehicle sales — combined.


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Whimsy + Row grew up in the vintage, handmade craft fair circuit and that’s where its roots are, but its founder has much more ambitious plans for the business.
The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company is a multibrand e-tailer and also shares brick-and-mortar space at the co-op boutique Mar Vista Art Dept. in Los Angeles, selling a mix of vintage along with new items from about 50 brands including Knot Sisters, LACAUSA and Christy Dawn. Whimsy + Row today launches its namesake capsule collection — a mix of dresses, jumpsuits, rompers and one blouse — that will be sold online and at a pop-up shop within men’s store Milkmade’s Abbot Kinney Boulevard space in Venice, Calif. The collection, totaling seven pieces, retails for $86 to $198 and is made in L.A. from deadstock fabric. The temporary store remains open through the weekend.
“We’ve been supporting other brands and I’ve been building up the capital to go into our own production,” said founder Rachel Temko.
She’s had the advantage of seeing what does well and what doesn’t from other brands, learning what could have been done better and felt confident on moving forward with her own capsule. She also sees space for her line in the sustainable marketplace.
“For me, I think in the sustainable movement, a lot of stuff that’s out there isn’t either super fashionable or wearable for me personally,” Temko said.
She’s already thinking longer term saying her team is planning for fall, which may be roughly in line with the size of the launch collection, followed by a larger spring 2017 offering. She is also eyeing an expansion into a Whimsy + Row home goods line next year, when Temko’s also considering opening a Whimsy + Row store.
A $150,000 seed round raised via an angel investor less than a year ago is what’s helping fuel the expansion.
Temko studied fashion merchandising, with an emphasis on sustainability, at San Francisco State University and started working at Stitch Fix right out of college. She went from packaging boxes to eventually managing a team of 70 people in the company’s warehouse before moving from San Francisco to Los Angeles. She worked at a few different local fashion brands before deciding to go into business for herself, focusing on selling handmade, sustainable items.
Her start was selling vintage in late 2014 at the Melrose Trading Post flea market in Los Angeles, where still sets up shop in addition to other events and craft fairs to keep close to the company’s customer base.
“It’s something that we’ve done since the beginning, starting at the Melrose Trading Post. We have such a community there,” Temko said. “This model, we don’t know if we’re going to grow it, but it’s something that has humbled us. We do it to see our customers and they love it.”
Her background in sustainability also has her thinking about greater transparency in the company’s communication with customers on the production process, a tact other born-online brands such as Everlane and Reformation have taken. Temko said Whimsy + Row will fall into a slightly different space in the market.
“They’re both awesome companies that are doing super well and I strive to be that but I think what will set us apart is that we’re real and that we’re approachable. We’re also going to hit it at an affordable price point. I think we’re going to hit this middle market. We’re that girl [who] travels a lot, but we’re also not afraid to break a sweat and we want to look like a babe doing that. I just want to be part of the movement. There’s brands out there that are doing sustainable clothing, but there’s not a lot of them and I want to be another brand that’s doing it well that girls can connect [with].”


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Dietary guidelines Committee develops new recommendations
The 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) report was made available to the public on Feb. 19, opening up the public comment period until April 8.
“Positive changes in individual diet and physical activity behaviors, and in the environmental contexts and systems that affect them, could substantially improve health outcomes,” states the report’s executive summary.
On Feb. 20, a media teleconference was held, with comments from six previous DGAC members, including Cheryl Achterberg, Roger Clemens, Joanne Lupton, Theresa Nicklas, Linda Van Horn and Connie Weaver.
“In the new guidelines, there was emphasis on food and full diets, versus only a nutrient or food group approach, but with that approach there are both gains and losses,” commented Achterberg.
She expressed appreciation for how the report considered combinations of foods and how they interact with each other.
Weaver stated in agreement, “I appreciated the context of looking at the diet as a whole instead of overemphasizing a single nutrient approach.”
Achterberg also noted that there are many different kinds of diets that can be healthy for the American public.
“I am pleased that they introduced new issues like aspartame, caffeine, dementia and food insecurity and that they did more work with added sugar,” she added.
The science, she then countered, isn’t perfect.
“We have lost a great deal of evidence, literature and background in more specific advice,” she said.
Achterberg questioned the validity of the conclusions brought forward by the report and stated, “It was not clear that all of these recommendations are science- or evidence-based, which raises the whole issue of how an evidence-based review was done.”
Questioning the relevance to how Americans actually eat, she acknowledged the opportunity for new and exciting research for nutritious diets.
Lupton echoed concern about the research, referencing the report’s indicated health benefits from a diet high in fiber.
“People who eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains may be a proxy for a health conscious person. If someone is eating a lot of whole grains in one day, he or she may also be someone who exercises more or goes to the doctor more,” she explained.
Lupton’s other concern was the emphasis of public policy in the 2015 report.
“In 2005, we were told very clearly to limit what we did and to stick to the science. When it comes to the government, after the report was in, they would deal with public policy,” she noted.
Policy recommendations within the report included required labeling for added sugars and taxes imposed on sweetened beverages.
“I am very interested to see how the government is going to deal with these types of recommendations,” she said.
Concerns raised by Nicklas illustrated inconsistency across the collected data used for conclusions in the 2015 report.
“The criteria used in these studies may have been very different and not consistent across studies,” she commented.
The executive summary of the report stated, “There was variability across the food groupings, and this was particularly apparent in the meat group. For example, ‘total meat’ may have been defined as ‘meat, sausage, fish and eggs,’ ‘red meat, processed meat and poultry’ or various other combinations of meat.”
Nicklas addressed the disparity of meat definitions in the report and stated, “The recommendation to lower intake of red meat and processed meats is a convoluted recommendation, and the broad category of red meat includes both fatty red beef and lean beef, which haven’t been separated out for this particular recommendation.”
The executive summary of the report identified a higher intake of red and processed meats to be more detrimental as compared with lower intake.
Potatoes were also specifically mentioned in the summary, as some studies considered them to be vegetables while others did not. Also, potato preparation, such as baked or fried, was not clearly defined across the data.
“A healthy dietary pattern is higher in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low- or non-fat dairy, seafood, legumes and nuts; moderate in alcohol among adults; lower in red and processed meat; and low in sugar-sweetened foods and drinks and refined grains,” the summary announced.
An important footnote referenced the red and processed meat.
“As lean meats were not consistently defined or handled similarly between studies, they were not identified as a common characteristic across the reviews,” it clarified. “However, as demonstrated in the food pattern modeling of the Healthy U.S.-style and Healthy Mediterranean-style patterns, lean meats can be a part of a healthy dietary pattern.”
The Healthy U.S.-style and Healthy Mediterranean-style patterns were two out of the three patterns modeled in the report, in addition to the Healthy Vegetarian Pattern.
Van Horn recognized further confusion, addressing consumer understanding of how different nutrients are defined.
“I can tell by the media calls that I have had already that there will certainly be continuing concern, and a little confusion perhaps, among the public in regards to some of the previously considered settled science such as dietary cholesterol,” she stated.
Clemens also noted, “The cholesterol and saturated fatty acid stories remain confusing, and that confusion in the general public will be a challenge.”
Further issues addressed by the panelists included how sodium levels were approached, the gap between food patterns that were and were not addressed, and the addition of sustainability as a component in conclusions drawn for healthy Americans.
“I think work ahead will be in helping to further explain how to translate all of these recommendations into a user friendly, day-to-day eating pattern that the public can truly embrace,” commented Van Horn.
Natasha Wheeler is editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoard’s Dairyman.American Dairy Coalition, a grassroots dairy farmer-led organization with diverse geographic representation, announced federal policy priorities and an action plan for 2023.
“Our ongoing efforts have been focused on raising awareness of short- and long-term challenges, collaborating with experts to understand these challenges, proposing practical solutions, and engaging dairy farmers to have a strong independent producer voice at the table on issues of dairy markets and policy,” said Laurie Fischer, ADC CEO.
One key short-term priority is to see the Class I milk price ‘mover’ returned to its previous ‘higher of’ formula in the 2023 Farm Bill.
“The 2018 Farm Bill made the change away from the ‘higher of’ to a ‘simple average’ with a 74-cent adjuster without hearings and without producer referendum. We want to see an equally quick path to change it back,” said Fischer. “We understand this change was intended to be revenue-neutral, but producers ended up being harmed by how it affected their milk checks and risk management strategies, especially during periods of market stress and volatility when they have the most risk to manage.”
For the long-term, ADC seeks a national Farm Bill hearing on the sustainability of Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMO).
“The systemic issues of declining fluid milk sales and declining FMMO participation create instability and uncertainty for dairy farmers. The FMMO system is the only structure for price discovery, market transparency, payment oversight, and other services in an increasingly less competitive, less transparent, and globally significant dairy market, where farmers have fewer milk buyer options and more demands being placed on their farm business practices,” Fischer said.
Declining Class I fluid milk sales and declining overall FMMO participation have accelerated during the decade since 2012, when federal nutrition policies removed whole and 2% milk options from schools and other nutrition programs.
Class I fluid milk sales are what the FMMO system is based on, and Class I milk processors are the only ones required to be regulated by the FMMO.
“In our webinars and discussions with experts, we see Class I sales are now below 20% of total U.S. milk production. This decline and the Class I pricing change together create conditions for massive de-pooling of milk,” Fischer pointed out, citing data showing federal and state milk marketing order participation fell from a high of 85 to 95% prior to 2012, to 60% in 2021.
“Fluid milk has been under attack. We want to see federal policies prioritize nutrient density and release the vice-grip of fat restrictions while restoring truth and integrity in the labeling of milk and dairy products vs. non-dairy alternatives so consumers are able to make informed choices for themselves and their families,” she said.
ADC supports restoring whole milk in federal nutrition programs like National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and WIC. This includes exempting nutrient-dense foods like whole milk from the fat limits the Dietary Guidelines impose on nutrition programs and dairy checkoff promotions.
“We believe pilot programs to get whole white and whole chocolate milk options back into schools would empower children to make healthy choices, to choose milk they will enjoy and therefore benefit from, and improve the next generation performance of the fluid milk category,” she said.
Conservation and Climate
“Cows are also under attack, and ADC is standing up for them as dairy farmers face increased public and private scrutiny of methane emissions. In today’s ‘net-zero’ world -- with the complications of climate targets and data tracking -- it is critical that public and private policies reflect the truth: Cows are not cars,” said Fischer.
“An enormous error is being made in calculating the global warming potential of cow belches using a calculation that greatly overstates their impact. Cow biology is part of a natural cycle that has been going on since the beginning of time. If we don’t get this fundamental methane calculation correct -- using GWP-star instead of GWP100 -- farmers will find themselves constantly trying to make up for the natural biology of their cows, even though this belched methane is not new. It is continually recycled through the air, plants, cattle, and the nutrient-dense milk and dairy foods they produce,” Fischer notes.
This methane, this carbon equivalent, is short-lived, not long-lived. It is existing carbon that is recycled, not previously sequestered carbon being extracted.
“Cattle truly are recyclers and upcyclers, and dairy farmers are essential food producers that are closest to nature as the bottom rung of the vital food production ladder. It is essential that sustainability initiatives be voluntary and incentive-based, not punitive. It’s essential that farmer access to capital and markets not hinge on climate targets, that farmers get credit for what they are already doing, that they be recognized as leaders and have the ability to retain control and ownership of their data and achievements as part of their own farm’s footprint -- no matter how those credits may be counted within or outside of the supply chain,” Fischer added.
American Dairy Coalition is ready to collaborate on these and other priorities so that all sectors of the dairy industry can successfully manage their businesses producing vital milk and dairy foods and getting them from farm to table in a hungry, dynamic changing world.