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Vetsource told its veterinary clients by email on Friday that Mars Petcare is becoming its "lead investor." The move gives the world's largest owner of veterinary clinics a controlling interest in a company that had been perceived as a supporter of independent practices.
Mars Inc., the biggest veterinary company in the world, has acquired a controlling interest in Vetsource, an online pharmacy, prescription management and analytics business with more than 9,000 clinic customers.
In an announcement Friday, Doug Drew, president of Mars Veterinary Health North America, said the company is eager to "accelerate" Vetsource's business "to benefit the entire veterinary and pet ecosystem." The announcement does not provide details. As privately held businesses, Mars and Vetsource are not required to publicly disclose financials.
The sale continues the trend of consolidation in veterinary medicine. Vetsource's chief competitor, Vets First Choice, merged with Henry Schein Animal Health in 2019 to become Covetrus. At the time, Vets First Choice reportedly had 7,500 clinic customers.
Mars Petcare owns more than 2,500 pet hospitals and clinics worldwide, including the chains Banfield, BluePearl and VCA in the U.S. It sells pet food under brand names such as Royal Canin, Nutro, Greenies, Sheba, Cesar, Iams and Eukanuba. Other Mars Petcare businesses include Antech Diagnostics, one of the two dominant veterinary diagnostic laboratories in the country, and Wisdom Panel, which offers genetic tests for dogs and cats for pet owners and breeders.
Vetsource was founded in 2008. VCA, before it was acquired by Mars, was an early investor and customer of Vetsource. Banfield joined as customer in 2012. In 2018, Vetsource acquired VetSuccess, a practice management software and data analytics company; and Vet2Pet, a client communication service for veterinarians, in 2020.
Describing "the pet space as sort of frothy," Vetsource president and CEO Kurt Green said that during the past year potential investors and buyers expressed interest in the company. For his part, he was looking for resources to improve what the company was doing.
Mars watched with concern. "They've been an investor for a long time," Green said. "They are a big customer of ours, too. When they saw other parties interested in Vetsource, they were like, 'We really don't want you to end up in the wrong hands.' And the 'wrong hands' to them would be somebody who didn't care about the profession."
Green said that Mars' size, scale and financial backing will help Vetsource build out systems and infrastructure to deliver an experience that allows veterinarians to compete with large internet retailers, like Chewy, that are "a threat and a challenge" to the profession.
Dr. Daniel Levenson learned about Mars' expanded role in an email from Green on Friday. Levenson owns two hospitals in Albuquerque and has been a Vetsource customer for a couple years. He expressed dismay over the loss of what he considered an ally of independent practices.
"Why would any independent practice recommend Royal Canin dog food, use Antech labs and now Vetsource, when the same parent company is pushing VCA and Banfield to compete directly with us?" he wrote in an email to the VIN News Service.
"What other profession has a private family try to own so many different facets of one profession and control so much of the conversation?"
Speaking about Mars Petcare's investment in his company, Vetsource president and CEO Kurt Green said, "What was most important to us was to try to align with someone that really supports our vision."
Levenson said he'll probably discontinue using Vetsource. "There are not many (if any) alternatives out there, but sometimes principles and ethical behavior have to come before small profits," he said.
Mars Petcare's controlling stake in Vetsource also might raise concerns about practice data ending up in a competitor's hands. Such questions surfaced in 2011, when VCA Antech purchased Vetstreet, an online marketing and client-communication services company.
The purchase moved control of clinic information for nearly 5,000 veterinary practices to the owner of what was then the nation's largest chain of stand-alone veterinary hospitals. At the time, VCA claimed that practice information would be stripped of identifying details and protected by strong privacy agreements. Veterinarians told VIN News the assurances weren't enough. (VCA later sold a majority of Vetstreet to Henry Schein Animal Health.)
Practitioners also voiced concern about what would happen to practice data with the Vets First Choice-Henry Schein merger. They worried it might be used to cut them out of prescription sales. The company has stated repeatedly that its mission is to support veterinarians.
Green said he understands the question about whether Mars will use Vetsource data in some ways to give them a competitive advantage.
His answer is: "We have strong customer agreements already in place that provide good protection around confidentiality and data security. We have a long history of keeping clients' data very secure."
He added, "VCA or Mars has never had any interest in our data, and have no interest in that going forward." But he also said Vetsource is "open to taking a look at our data policies to see where we can be more explicit."
Green noted that Vetsource has experience juggling the interests of competing companies on its own board.
"I think one of the things we've navigated well over the years is this ability to interact with people who kind of compete in some areas but also cooperate in others," he said. At one point, the three largest veterinary distributors were owners in Vetsource — Patterson Animal Health, MWI Animal Health and Schein. "We had to be very careful about what we communicated around the boardroom."
After Schein merged with Vets First Choice, Vetsource bought out Schein's share. MWI and Patterson continue to be part of the company.


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HAMILTON — You might not give a lot thought to the place the greens in your plate come from, however one company with Montana roots has, and it’s setting its sights on altering agriculture by bringing innovation to indoor farming.
Local Bounti constructed its first giant state-of-the art-greenhouse in Hamilton and has plans for a number of extra in the Northwest because it prepares to go public in coming weeks.
“Indoor agriculture is here to stay. It will make a big impact in the food supply globally,” says Craig Hurlbert, co-founder and co-CEO.
Hurlbert grew up in Billings and helped lead Billings West to a state basketball title in 1980. He’s one of many prime novice senior golfers in the nation, however his file as a enterprise chief and entrepreneur is simply as spectacular.
Now he’s hoping to become a recreation changer in the world of managed setting agriculture.
“The world’s going to need 70% more food in just 30 years and yet we’ve lost about 40% of the land that’s farmable,” says Hurlbert.
He began Local Bounti along with his finest buddy Travis Joyner about three and a half years in the past.
The company grows leafy greens, like lettuce and herbs, indoors with know-how that mixes vertical and horizontal greenhouse farming. It supplies some huge benefits to conventional farming together with larger yields and fewer pressure on sources.
“Our technology uses 90 to 95% less water, 90% less land, no herbicides pesticides and year-round production. It’s just a much better product than we’ve been used to, and it’s grown more sustainably,” says Hurlbert.
Another huge benefit is a faster journey from the greenhouse to the shop after which to client’s tables, not like meals that’s grown in the fields and infrequently sits in a refrigeration unit for days after it’s picked and cleaned, then is usually trucked 1000’s of miles. That means a longer life for the produce.
“Our head of lettuce that is barely been touched by a human hand doesn’t even need to be washed. It could go straight from our facility into a package into your home and that product can last three to five weeks in your refrigerator,” Hurlbert said.
Hurlbert hopes that will also make a difference when it comes to the problem of food waste.
Local Bounti has big expansion plans in the future. The company’s second greenhouse will be built in Pasco, Washington, with others to follow, likely in Denver and then Reno, Nevada.
“It is really exciting to be doing it right here in the great state of Montana as a starting point for us,” says Hurlbert.

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Chinese internet conglomerate LeEco has announced its foray into retail stores with its extremely popular model Le 1s. The company which started its journey in India through online sales and saw immense success now plans to enter the retail segment in a big way. To strengthen its offline presence, the company plans to cover close to 70 percent retail stores across India that contribute to mobile sales, by the end of September 2016.
“We have fast-tracked our growth trajectory in India and our entry into the physical retail space affirms it. Since our India launch, we’re thrilled to have seen an incredible response from users and this landmark announcement is a step ahead in making our Superphones more accessible to our users. In the near future, also plan to have our own wholly owned retail stores across the country,” said COO Smart Electronics Business of LeEco India, Atul Jain.
In India the company had launched three models online and in only 100 days of operation it sold five lakh units which makes it one of the best selling smartphones brands in the country. The company feels that with their increasing focus in the retail segment, now more customers will have access to their products.
By Atanu Kumar Das


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Thursday marked a year since Russia imposed an embargo on food products from the EU and US.
Lithuanian companies have managed this crisis ably, the business paper Verslo žinios is pleased to report:
It was a bit of a headache [for businesses] to have to look for ways to open up new markets and find new buyers for their products.
The government also helped in the search for new options. It brought in several state authorities as well as diplomats to help with the task. …
Over the whole year not a single business that had traded with Russia closed down. Only the transport companies came off a little worse for wear.
The other sectors noticed the benefits of this reorientation. … The main thing is to look for new possibilities and to learn from mistakes.


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The monthly report released by the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC) of November revealed that the Chinese car market recorded sales worth EGP 1.8bn, with 12,000 sold units from January until February 2016.
Ghabbour Auto took over the market of Chinese cars, representing 96.8% of the market’s sales.
The two brands Geely and Chery sold 11,500 units out of a total of 11,900 units sold by Chinese brands.
Chery Tiggo managed to stay in the lead with 4,322 units told for EGP 808m, followed by Geely Emgrand 7 in second place with 3,688 units for EGP 466m.
Chery Envy came in third place with 3,536 units worth EGP 472m, and Brilliance V5 with 355 cars sold for EGP 55.7m was followed by Brilliance S30 which sold six cars worth EGP 558,000.
Geely Emgrand had topped the list of Chinese sales from January until November 2015 with sales worth EGP 493m and 5,543 sold cars.
Speranza Tiggo and Envy had come in the second and third places without any sales during September, October, and November 2015.
Chinese brands had achieved sales worth EGP 1.18bn during the first 11 months of 2015, representing 3.8% of total sales of the passenger cars’ market in Egypt, which is estimated at EGP 30.6bn.
Chinese cars represent 6.8% of the number of total sold cars.


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This is Snap's (SNAP -1.04%) worst nightmare. The fledgling social media company utterly loathes when larger rival Facebook (META 0.58%) replicates features borrowed from Snapchat, but has no recourse when Facebook does so. Over the years, Facebook has copied different features with varying success; there was Poke and Camera in 2012, followed by Slingshot in 2014, all of which failed and were subsequently shuttered.
But Facebook has hit it big with Instagram Stories, more than making up for those prior attempts.
200 million and counting
Instagram has announced that Stories, which was launched last August, now has over 200 million daily active users (DAUs). The photo-sharing service is also adding a handful of new sticker tools intended to inspire creativity among users. The DAU figure is the real story here though, as Instagram Stories is now officially larger than Snapchat. Instagram previously announced 100 million DAUs in October 2016 (just two months after launch), and then 150 million DAUs in January 2017.
Snapchat's latest DAU count was 158 million as of the end of December 2016. Snap has yet to report earnings as a public company; its first quarterly report is scheduled for May 10.
Theoretically, it's possible that Snapchat closed out the first quarter with over 200 million DAUs, but that's extremely unlikely. That would require over 42 million new DAUs compared to the fourth quarter, and sequential DAU growth has been decelerating significantly following the launch of Instagram Stories. Snapchat only added 5 million DAUs in Q4 2016, down from 10 million new DAUs in Q3 2016.
Snap has said that DAU growth is heavily reliant on new product features. It introduced a major redesign for its flagship platform earlier this year, including a universal search bar aiming to streamline navigating the interface. The new search function is important, as it can help users discover more content and help engagement, but it's extremely unlikely that these changes brought in tens of millions of new DAUs last quarter.
Instagram Stories overtaking Snapchat within a mere eight months is rather telling. The two companies have been competing for years while Snap was still private, but Facebook can experiment until it hits it big even if prior shots have failed. "Fail harder" is one of Facebook's internal mottos, and the company's prior failures at replication have led to Instagram Stories. Like the old saying goes, "If at first you don't succeed at copying a competitor, try, try again."
Competition will only intensify in the years ahead, except this time in public view. Now that Snap is a public company, the rivalry will take on a whole new level of scrutiny as investors with money on the line watch every move even more closely.


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Dashboard is swiftly making a name for itself in terms of widespread cryptocurrency adoption. In a meeting with BCFocus, Dash Nucleus CEO Ryan Taylor spoke about the coin’s development in Latin The U.S.A., Dash Development, the current collaboration with Kripto Mobile Corp (KRIP) and also the wider cryptocurrency market.
Dashboard adoption in Latin America
The coin has actually been significantly taken on throughout Latin The U.S.A., specifically in Venezuela. Late last month, Dash revealed an unique collaboration with KRIP, which makes cryptocurrency-enabled phones, to supply Latin Americans with an affordable way of using electronic coins for everyday transactions.
Since late August, over 1,000 businesses were approving the coin, consisting of locally run as well as mainstream chains, such as Subway as well as Calvin Klein, Taylor claimed.
” There is no other way to gauge the number of users, however we processed nearly 1 million deals last quarter through a network cardiovascular test, which stood for a brand-new document,” Taylor pointed out.
Dashboard partnerships going ahead
While the token is increasingly being made use of in Venezuela, which is presently plagued with run-away inflation and also alarming financial conditions, the team is discovering more means to trek fostering.
” We have various other initiatives to pursue use cases in energy markets, medical cannabis, high-chargeback industries, international remittances, and also conventional cryptocurrency solutions. So high-inflation markets like Venezuela is only one of the many chances we need to expand,” he said.
Dash is additionally looking for even more partnerships to provide unbanked and underbanked people with more economic alternatives as well as much better financial options.
Taylor stated that his team prepares to create network companions that could give range integrations right into grocery store, retail, transport, as well as friendliness factor of sales systems. “These assimilations can supply numerous brand-new areas with a solitary assimilation.”
Speaking about the recent KRIP collaboration, Taylor pointed out that he had initial fulfilled the KRIP team earlier this year, in January.
” Ever since, business growth group has actually functioned carefully with Kriptomobile to bring in the ideal additional companions and team up closely with the Dash neighborhood on the ground in Caracas,” he included.
In the meantime, Dash is focusing on Latin The U.S.A. to give remedies to the existing economic crisis tormenting the area. However, the business does intend to see traditional fostering throughout the world in turbulent and well-known economic climates.
All eyes on Dash Development
Dashboard is currently servicing Dash Development– a decentralized settlement platform improved its blockchain. According to Taylor, the Dash team has likened the brand-new platform to PayPal or Venmo, but also for cryptocurrency settlements.
The primary difficulty to mainstream adoption is the inaccessibility of this technology to everyday customers. Advancement intends to eliminate all user-facing intricacy of cryptocurrency networks, “providing a tidy PayPal-like experience to users,” Taylor highlighted.
Presently, the team is dealing with longer-term strategies past the preliminary release of Advancement, which will certainly consist of new functions such as joint accounts, boosted safety and security functions, and also increased transaction capability.
Ryan Taylor on bear market
When inquired about the existing bearish patterns seen in the cryptocurrency market, Taylor associated the down spiral to governing uncertainty bordering the worldwide market. He believes that as soon as there is a more constant regulatory structure in place, crypto rates will likely pick up due to the decreased risk for financiers.
Inning accordance with him, cryptocurrencies have the possible to load an important demand in places where fiat money can no longer be relied upon, or where people just require a much more efficient method of quickly and also securely sending out money around the world.
“While federal government regulation could absolutely make life more difficult for the average cryptocurrency customer, we really hope that this innovation will certainly seen by any type of regulatory body as a way to enhance and also improve the economic situation,” he concluded.
Brunda is currently a Blockchain Correspondent at Gamecointalk and has been in the journalism industry for more than 4 years. She churns out different articles on cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology. With writing as a passion and profession, she has previously written several articles on lifestyle, health, cricket, and entertainment. When she is not writing, she is busy binge-watching TV shows or movies.


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Adult Industry News
Thu, Feb 07 2013 02:15pm PST
Wet founder and CEO Michael Trigg met Mario Lopez on the set of entertainment news program "Extra" after winning an online charity bid benefiting Melrose Elementary School.
Thu, Feb 07 2013 01:30pm PST
Larry Flynt may be selling the Beverly Hills office building where his LFP Inc. headquarters are located.
Thu, Feb 07 2013 11:00am PST
Liberator, Inc. today announced the signing of a new three-year, $17 million exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with Japanese male sex toy company Tenga Co., Ltd.
Thu, Feb 07 2013 10:15am PST
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that exotic strippers are legitimate employees and not just independent contractors where they work.
Thu, Feb 07 2013 07:15am PST
More than 60 websites, blogs and microblog accounts were shut down in China’s latest crackdown on online porn.
Wed, Feb 06 2013 06:15pm PST
Now that PinkMeth.com and PinkMeth.so have both gone away, operators have created at least three new ones and have vowed on Twitter a new threat if additional domains are ordered closed.
Wed, Feb 06 2013 04:00pm PST
XBIZ is pleased to announce "the ultimate playground for business" at an all-new, all-inclusive venue for the XBIZ Summit set for May 14-17 in the heart of South Florida.
Wed, Feb 06 2013 03:15pm PST
Entrenue has been named exclusive distributor of the Fun Factory Stronic Eins, which features pulsating drive technology that provides a rhythmic thrusting motion.
Wed, Feb 06 2013 01:30pm PST
The federal appeal involving the conviction and sentence of Ira Isaacs is moving forward despite the fact that the fetish filmmaker and distributor must report to the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin his 48-month sentence in less than two weeks.
Wed, Feb 06 2013 12:30pm PST
Raging Stallion Studios announced today that it has re-signed Tommy Defendi to an exclusive performing contract.


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The Dubai companies that accept Bitcoin are growing, with Damac being the most recent example. The latest news has disclosed that Damac Properties, a famous real estate firm in Dubai, would start accepting Bitcoin payments for its properties.
Invest In Real Estate Using BTC and ETH
Following the publication of a report in the Khaleej Times, the company stated that it would accept payments from anyone willing to pay for its properties in BTC or ETH, the two biggest digital currencies according to market valuation.
According to the corporation, allowing such payments would provide additional options for the general public. Aside from that, the estate developer thinks that enabling property acquisitions via the use of cryptocurrencies has the potential to transform the real estate business completely.
Damac was founded in 2002 and specializes in developing commercial and residential buildings in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). The company also has worldwide operations in Lebanon, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and Iran. Ali Sajwani, the General Manager in charge of operations for Damac, expressed his thoughts on the firm’s recent move to accept cryptocurrency, saying:
“In order to speed up the economy for the present and future generations of our sector, we are moving toward consumers holding cryptocurrencies. It is critical for multinational corporations such as ours to remain on the cutting edge of development. Giving our clients another transactional option is a thrilling prospect, and we are pleased to acknowledge the value that this nascent tech delivers to them.”
Recently, the parent firm of the estate developer, DAMAC Group, declared that it intends to develop virtual cities in the digital world as part of its expansion strategy. The plan, which will be known as D-labs, will be managed by Sajwani, and Damac Group has committed to investing over $100 million in the program. A news statement states that the move is among the company’s overall objectives to expand into NFTs and digital assets.
More Firms In Dubai Now Accept Crypto Payment
Damac’s acceptance of crypto payments demonstrates that many businesses in Dubai are embracing cryptocurrencies. YallaMarket, a firm that delivers groceries, has announced that it would take the stablecoins USDT and USDC as payment. In addition, the business is evaluating whether to pay staff wages in cryptocurrency.
Another Dubai-based company, Bake N More, made history by becoming the first known café in UAE to accept cryptocurrency payments. Following the announcement of the payment option, the owner of the café, Mohammad Al Hammadi, claims that the number of Bitcoin transactions has tripled.
Earlier this month, a Dogecoin-themed food restaurant in Dubai known as Doge Burger opened its doors to accepting payments in various digital currencies, including BTC, DOGE, ETH, BNB, and Shiba Inu. As a result of the country’s crypto-friendly legislation, prominent cryptocurrency exchanges like FTX, Binance, Bybit, and Crypto.com have set up their businesses in the area.


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The UAE’s Central Bank has said the country has sufficient small coins in circulation following concerns consumers were being overcharged for some products following the introduction of value added tax.
Last week, the Department of Economic Development – Abu Dhabi announced that shops had been given permission to round up the cost of items by up to Dhs0.20 if payment is made in cash due to a lack of coins in lower denominations than Dhs0.25 in circulation.
This meant that an item costing Dhs1 before the 5 per cent tax rate was introduced, like water bottles and chewing gum, would now cost Dhs1.25 instead of Dhs1.05 when purchased on its own as few Dhs0.05 or Dhs0.10 coins are available.
The National quoted the central bank as saying it was fulfilling its remit to supply banks with the quantities of coins they require to address customer needs.
“At the moment, the amount of coins including small denomination in the market is sufficient,” the bank said, according to the publication.
Various supermarket chains in the UAE said they were either rounding down or rounding up prices following the introduction of VAT on January 1.
Spinneys said its policy was to round down, while Carrefour and Zoom said they will round bills to the nearest 25 fils, up or down.
The coin policy is forcing many lower paid workers, who would traditionally purchase single dirham items, to buy in bulk.
The 5 per cent VAT is applied to most products and services including food and beverage items, utility bills and fuel.
It was unclear if the change policy announced by the Department of Economic Development applied just to Abu Dhabi or the whole of the UAE, according to a ME website.


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The Government pitched their Childhood Obesity Plan as the start of the conversation. The stronger elements of the plan are progressing well, but these alone are not enough. We now desperately need to return to that conversation to give us the best chance of protecting our children's future health not just over the next 52 weeks, but for every week beyond that.
These days all we seem to hear is how we should be slashing the amount of sugar in our diets, and while it's easy to get caught up in the hype of the latest 'sugar free' diet - as a dietitian, it worries me that most people are still very confused about sugar
It's time to pull on our big boy/girl pants and admit the truth - sugar addiction is not the reason we're overweight or unhealthy, WE ARE THE REASON. There, I've said it and while I know it's not what you want to read, it's time we stopped pussyfooting around with excuses to make ourselves feel better.
Last week, the UK government confirmed legislation for a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, which is set to begin from April
As the UK moves closer to implementing its soft drinks industry levy (or 'sugar tax' as it is more commonly known), more and more companies are announcing their plans to reformulate their products, showing that it's entirely possible to reduce sugar and provide healthier options.
Any public health measure must always consider the financial impact of action. But it is simply misleading to talk about possible financial impact of a measure without also talking about the economic burden we are already facing. The economic argument for action is huge - £27billion a year. That's why we can't afford not to introduce the soft drinks industry levy.
Through all the political turmoil of the past few weeks and discussions about what Brexit means for Britain, one thing has remained consistently true - we need to take strong action on childhood obesity. The UK's very high levels of childhood obesity, dental decay and diet-related ill-health did not magically decrease after the Brexit vote.
The levy (dubbed a 'sugar tax') will be introduced in April 2018, and will hope to generate close to £1.5 billion in the period 2018-21. The government intends to invest the tax revenue for increased physical education, extracurricular activities and breakfast clubs at schools.
Here's a funny thing about drinking: You can drink bottle after bottle of beer, or glass after glass of wine, without a second thought about their sugar or calorie contents. And then, perhaps when having a night off the sauce, you can get very preoccupied with the sugar content of the soft drinks you're having instead.
As a small producer, and working with many other start-ups and other small producers, we have perhaps a unique position from which to view the proposed sugar tax, due to take effect from 2018.


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which turns grains, fruits, vegetables and other plant material into ingredients for food and other items, said Thursday that it will invest $140 million to expand into a range of plant-based proteins. Two North American manufacturing facilities will produce pea-protein isolates and pulse-based flours in 2019. Ingredion has also entered into a joint partnership with Saskatchewan-based Verdient Foods Inc. to invest in an existing facility to make pulse-based proteins and flours made from peas, lentils and fava beans. Verdient is jointly owned and operated by Oscar-winning film director James Cameron, Suzy Amis Cameron and PIC Investment Group, a local family office. The moves position Ingredion to capitalize on the growing taste for plant-based foods and diets, which the company says is projected to grow to a $1.5 billion global market by 2022. Ingredion shares have fallen 31.4% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index
is down 0.3% for the period.


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Pork Industry Environmental Stewards honored at pork forum
Kansas City, Mo. -- The National Pork Board honored four farms as recipients of the Pork Industry Environmental Stewards Award at the annual National Pork Industry Forum. The award, now in its 20th year, recognizes producers who demonstrate a firm commitment to safeguarding the environment and to serving their local communities.
The award recipients are:
-- Russell Brothers LLC, Monticello, Iowa -- Jason and Sarah Russell are building on a family legacy that can be traced back to the Civil War. They farm with Jason's brother, Eric, raising pigs, corn, soybeans and hay. A 50-kilowatt wind turbine helps the farm conserve electric energy by generating 60 to 80 percent of the farm's needs.
-- Bacon Hill Farm, Dodge, Neb. -- Fifth-generation family farmers Danny and Josie Kluthe seamlessly mix pork production and cutting-edge technology. An on-site anaerobic manure digester uses natural gas to supplement fuel for their farm's vehicles and to help provide electricity to area homes. The Kluthes grow corn and soybeans and also raise hogs and chickens on their family farm.
-- Krikke Pork, Greenwich, Ohio -- Howard and Jane Krikke raise replacement gilts for Kalmbach Swine Management. They use state-of-the-art technology in their finishing barns, including tunnel ventilation, drop curtains, self-contained pits, flip-to-clean feeders and Integra-link feed tank monitoring.
-- Blue Mountain Farms, Milford, Utah -- Blue Mountain site 42304, located in the high desert of southern Utah, takes steps to minimize its environmental footprint and give back to the community. Blue Mountain Farms supplies manure to Alpental Energy Partners, which uses anaerobic digesters and large Cat engines to produce electricity.
"These forward-thinking stewards focus on innovative solutions and ideas on their farms. They are great representatives of thousands of pork producers who work every day to protect our environment and to be good neighbors in their communities," said Karen Richter, president of the National Pork Board and pork producer from Montgomery, Minn. "We are pleased to honor them at our annual meeting as pork producers who are raising high-quality pork for customers while adhering to the industry's We CareSM ethical principles."
The Pork Checkoff honors the stewards with a cash award, a plaque, a video and coverage in the Pork Checkoff Report magazine. The stewards also are featured in National Hog Farmer Magazine, co-sponsor of the Environmental Stewards program.
The Environmental Steward award winners were selected by judges representing pork producers and environmental organizations. The judges reviewed applications from pork producers who are committed to upholding the ideal relationship between pork production and the environment. Their operations were evaluated on their manure management systems, water and soil conservation practices, odor-control strategies, farm aesthetics and neighbor relations, wildlife habitat promotion, innovative ideas used to protect the environment and an essay on the meaning of environmental stewardship.
The National Pork Board has responsibility for Checkoff-funded research, promotion and consumer information projects and for communicating with pork producers and the public. Through a legislative national Pork Checkoff, pork producers invest $0.40 for each $100 value of hogs sold. Importers of pork products contribute a like amount, based on a formula. The Pork Checkoff funds national and state programs in advertising, consumer information, retail and foodservice marketing, export market promotion, production improvement, technology, swine health, pork safety and environmental management. For information on Checkoff-funded programs, pork producers can call the Pork Checkoff Service Center at 800-456-7675 or check online at www.pork.org.


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Texas’ Medical Cannabis Program is Open For Business: Compassionate Cultivation Plants its First Cannabis Crop in Austin
As One of Texas’ Two Medical Cannabis Licensees, Austin-based Compassionate Cultivation Plants its First CBD-Rich Plants With Industry Partner MJardin
AUSTIN, Texas — November 1, 2017 — Compassionate Cultivation is ready to make history in the Lone Star State by planting one of Texas’ first legal cannabis crops.
The medical cannabis company—one of two businesses licensed to grow cannabis that is high in non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) and low in psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Texas—received its state license today and will immediately start cultivating its first crop inside its vertically integrated Austin facility.
Our business philosophy is built around a world-class team and responsible leadership that exceeds the state’s expectations. And most importantly we’re excited to deliver on the promise of low-THC cannabis to the Texas medical community—and to the many patients and families hoping that CBD-rich cannabis oil can help stop the cycle of suffering.
Compassionate Cultivation CEO Morris Denton
The Texas Compassionate Use Act, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2015, legalized the cultivation of CBD-rich cannabis—and the sale of an oil derived from that cannabis—to patients suffering from intractable epilepsy. Compassionate Cultivation won one of the state’s licenses to cultivate plants and extract and retail the cannabis oil earlier this summer.
Pending final approval from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Compassionate Cultivation plans to start selling its cannabis oil as early as January 2018—after the first batch of


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NC AM Station complements airtime buys with display ads
By Steve Aust
WHKP, a Hendersonville, NC, AM radio station, with a combination Top 40/talk format, upgraded its exterior electronic message center from a monochrome display to a full-colorWatchfire by Time-O-Matic electronic message center (EMC). The station enjoys greater standing than most on the AM frequency; Richard Rhodes, the station’s advertising director, noted that, with an average of 14,300 daily listeners, it had the highest Arbitronrating of any station in Henderson County. The county has a population of approximately 120,000, and is also a popular tourist destination for fans of the Tarheel State’s picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains.
To leverage its standing among local media (and its office’s location, which 35,000 vehicles pass by daily, the North Carolina DOT estimates), WHKP officials use its EMC to display political ads for various local and statewide candidates (it also sells display space to commercial entities). Rhodes said candidates typically begin purchasing time on the 8 x 16-ft. display approximately 30 days before an election. WHKP enlists three of its sales reps to broker ad space for the display, and one uploads candidates’ content into the system.
“We work directly with the candidates, unless they’ve hired an agency,” he said. “We ask them to send their materials online to be uploaded via PDFs, which works well. We also can upload .TIF files effectively. Some of our more tech-savvy customers try to upload Quark files, but we haven’t found them to be compatible.”
A standard sales package for EMC space is $1,000 for 10 messages an hour for 30 days (for five messages per hour, the rate is $550). Some candidates opt for greater frequency over a shorter period of time, such as 20 messages an hour over two weeks.
The station sets up its advertising message in a continuous loop that doesn’t exceed 60 minutes. If aggregated content doesn’t occupy an hour, the candidate benefits with extra exposure. A candidate’s message typically occupies two or three displays that last eight seconds (North Carolina highway regulations dictate eight seconds of dwell time between EMC messages).
“Unless it’s sent by an agency, we design the ad,” Rhodes said. “We have to leave room at the bottom for a message that lets the viewer know who paid for the advertising. A full-color monitor allows us to use any color under the sun, but, naturally, red, white and blue are popular choices. For high contrast, red and black or red and yellow are also common.”
WHKP doesn’t give away messageboard space as a value-added premium for a radio buy, although Rhodes said it does offer bundled deals with radio spots and EMC ads. Roberts also noted the absence of regulation over advertising fees proves advantageous when selling EMC space for political purposes (which could be a solid selling point when touting displays to the owner or manager of a radio or TV station).
“The FCC requires us to sell airtime to bona fide political candidates for no more than our lowest published rate, what we would sell to a commercial customer who makes a maximum buy,” Roberts said. “However, the lack of Federal regulations over EMCs allows us to sell display space for fair-market value.”


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Nearly 13 million US Facebook users do not use, or are not aware of, the site’s privacy controls, according to a Consumer Reports investigation on Facebook and privacy. As a result, users are potentially exposing personal information beyond their network of Facebook friends.
The report also revealed that a projected 4.8 million people have posted about where they planned to go on a certain day, a potential tip-off to burglars, while 4.7 million have “liked” a Facebook page about health conditions or treatments, details that insurers might use against them.
The Consumer Reports investigation focused on Facebook because it is the largest social network with just over 900 million users worldwide and more than 150 million in the United States. The service makes it easy for people to keep up with friends, family, and colleagues, discover great content, and connect to causes. To deliver this service, Facebook and other social networks collect enormous amounts of often highly sensitive information and distribute it widely and quickly.
All of this data collection is not without risks. A projected 7 million households using Facebook said they had trouble last year, ranging from someone using their log-in without permission to being harassed or threatened — up 30 percent from the previous year, according to the Consumer Reports Annual State of the Net survey. And unless an individual has chosen their privacy settings meticulously, a friend who runs an app could grant it access to their information without their knowledge, including information that was set to “friends only” view. Only 37 percent of users say they have used Facebook’s privacy tools to customize how much information apps are allowed to see, according to the Consmer Reports survey.
For its part, Facebook says it takes privacy and safety issues seriously. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said that the company does privacy access checks tens of billions of times each day.
Nine ways to stay protected
Facebook offers many privacy controls that may not be easy to understand. Below are nine tips from Consumer Reports that will help users understand and utilize privacy tools:
Think before typing. Even if a user deletes his or her account (which takes Facebook about a month), some info can remain in Facebook’s computers for up to 90 days.
Regularly check Facebook exposure. Each month, check out how the page looks to others. Review individual privacy settings if necessary.
Protect basic information. Set the audience for profile items, such as town or employer. And users should remember: Sharing info with “friends of friends” could expose them to tens of thousands.
Know what can’t be protected. Each user’s name and profile picture are public. To protect one’s identity, they should not use a photo, or use one that doesn’t show their face.
“UnPublic” the wall. Set the audience for all previous wall posts to just friends.
Turn off Tag Suggest. If users would rather not have Facebook automatically recognize their face in photos, they could disable that feature in their privacy settings. The information will be deleted.
Block apps and sites that snoop. Unless users intercede, friends can share personal information about them with apps. To block that, use controls to limit the info apps can see.
Keep wall posts from friends. Users don’t have to share every wall post with every friend. They can also keep certain people from viewing specific items in their profile.
When all else fails, deactivate. When a user deactivates their account, Facebook retains profile data, but the account is made temporarily inaccessible. Deleting an account, on the other hand, makes it inaccessible forever.


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Despite being the richest person in the world today, but according to a New York University professor, Mr. Elon Musk also does not have enough cash to buy back Twitter and will have to find a way to borrow money based on Tesla shares.
Last Wednesday, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX made an offer to buy Twitter at a valuation of $43 billion.
Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said that despite his $259 billion fortune, Musk “didn’t have a viable way to finance” the deal. this without putting Tesla stock at risk.
According to estimates by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Mr. Musk currently has only about $ 2.95 billion in cash.
Mr. Galloway laid out Mr. Musk’s various possibilities. “The first is to take out a loan, but he can’t because his company doesn’t have EBITDA (net income excluding taxes, interest, depreciation, and debt due). No firm will lend him more than $1 billion or a few billion dollars, so he has to use $40 billion of his assets..”
Another possibility is to find your friends to borrow money. But according to Mr. Galloway, Mr. Musk’s “friends” prefer money to freedom of speech – if that’s Musk’s motivation for wanting to take over Twitter and take it private.
Mr. Galloway added: “Really, the only viable financial resource for him right now is to borrow money by mortgaging his stake in Tesla..”
Therefore, Mr. Galloway said that Mr. Musk had to borrow about $ 40 billion with between $ 200 billion and $300 billion in assets. “No bank would be a bank if they did… they would have to analyze and come to the conclusion “if this deal is really this bad, we won’t be the one to be taken down by stupidity. this guy’s madness.”
According to Mr. Galloway, Mr. Musk will have to look to a series of banks. “They’re going to put in massive mortgage claims, meaning that if Tesla stock loses a quarter of its price – which is entirely possible and… I still think it’s going to be the most valuable car company in the world – after Then suddenly Mr. Elon Musk was called by margin (stocks stopped from margin) and was forced to sell Tesla shares.”
He added: “You know whose stock will go down if the deal goes through and Musk raises money by collateralizing Tesla stock? Tesla shares will fall to the floor.” Then the risk of someone spending money to acquire Tesla could make Mr. Musk flinch when he plans to do so.
The above possibilities suggest that, despite being the richest person in the world today, it seems that the probability that Mr. Musk can actually complete the Twitter acquisition is not as high as people think – especially when it can affect to Mr. Musk’s rate of Tesla ownership.
Earlier this month, Mr. Musk said he had bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter and became the company’s largest individual shareholder. Asset management company Vanguard Group also owns only about 10.3% of Twitter.
Consult Business Insider
at Blogtuan.info – Source: genk.vn – Read the original article here


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It must have been bring-your-best-friend-to-work-day at the Moschino headquarters as designer Jeremy Scott has enlisted his long-time pal, Katy Perry, to star in the Moschino Fall 2015 campaign. The result? A seriously stylin’ campaign—and the news of their latest collaboration comes a mere month after the duo rocked the red carpet at the 2015 Met Gala, where the pop starlet showed up on Scott’s arm, all decked out in kitschy Moschino.
The full ad has not been released yet, but Perry did tease what’s to come in a first snap uploaded to Instagram. Shot by Inez and Vinoodh and styled by Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele in a patchwork denim jacket, a gold bustier and piles of chain accessories, Perry’s outfit is as reminiscent of the ’80s as her Kris Jenner-esque pixie cut. Of course, it all works with the whole “more is more” vibe that the designer is all about.
So will Madonna, Scott’s other date at the ball, also make an appearance in front of the lens? We can’t wait to see more shots.


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On the first week of December, the company revealed a few impressive Disney+ announcements, with more than 100 movies and shows connected to franchises like Star Wars, Marvel, FX, and National Geographic.
The company’s new strategy focuses heavily on its one-year-old streaming service Disney+, which is all about “quality not volume,” as said by former Disney’s chairman CEO Bob who left the chair nine months ago to focus on content.
On investor’s day, during the presentation, Disney offered insight and updates on the streaming services as well as its plan for theatrical releases. It confirmed estimates for its Disney+ subscriber numbers, and the announcement on increased investment in original content confirming that it will be profitable somewhere in 2024.
New shows in the Star Wars universe, including one featuring fan-favorite characters Ahsoka Tano, were and 3 additional Marvel series featuring the cast of “The Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Disney has released pop culture icons from in front of the camera and behind for these projects and for theatrical releases. The most significant is the release by Lucasfilm on Patty Jenkins to direct “Rogue Squadron,” a new Star Wars film due sometime in 2023.
The company has several films scheduled for theaters in the next years since showcasing continues to movie theaters. This includes two new Pixar films coming in 2022, and with massive participation of Marvel movies.
CEO Bob Chapek announced Disney earning around $13 billion at the global box office in 2019, mentioning that Disney had seven films making more than $1 billion that year.
Chapek said the content strategy is more about “balance” and responding to consumer demand. 80% of Disney projects go directly to Disney+.
Because of these additions, the company expects to see an increase in its subscribers from 230 million to 260 to Disney+ by 2024. Additionally, Disney plans to increase the cost of the service from $7.99, to $8.99.
Disney will reach peak losses in the fiscal year of 2021 and it is expected to be profitable by 2024. The company is planning to spend between $ $9 billion in 2024, a result of spending more on its five core brands.
Here’s a breakdown of the updates Disney shared Thursday:
Disney+ has 86.8 million subscribers. An increase from the 73 million the company reported at the end of its fiscal fourth quarter.
Kareem Daniel, head of the company’s new media and entertainment distribution group, announced that Disney+ will become home to 10 Marvel series, 10 Star Wars series, 15 Disney live-action, Disney Animation, and Pixar series and 15 Disney live-action, Disney Animation, and Pixar films.
In the world of Star Wars, Disney+ will add two new series from Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, the masterminds behind “The Mandalorian” — “The Rangers of the New Republic” “Lando” and “Ahsoka.”
There will also be a series called “Lando” that follows the smooth-talking Lando Calrissian from the original trilogy of films as well as a series called “The Acolyte” which takes place during the final days of the High Republic. It has been dubbed a “mystery-thriller.”
All these new shows will join the previously announced series “Andor,” “Kenobi,” and the animated series “The Bad Batch.”
Kathleen Kennedy, the head of Lucas film, teased the fans that Hayden Christensen will assume his role as Darth Vader in “Kenobi” along with Ewan McGregor in the title role, however, she clarified that the series will take a decade later after the events of “Revenge of the Sith” motion picture.
Marvel Studios already has a few TV shows headed to the streaming platform, but Marvel Studios Director Kevin Feige announced a few more on Thursday. “Secret Invasion” following Nick Fury and the Skrull Talos, “Ironheart” which centers around teenage genius Riri Williams and “Armor Wars” features War Machine.
Disney+ will produce a few original series and films based on older Disney properties including “The Mighty Ducks” and “Turner and Hooch.” It will have live-action versions of “Pinocchio” and “Peter Pan and Wendy” which will be released exclusively to the streaming service.
Disney Animation comes with a series featuring Baymax from “Big Hero Six,” another one based on characters from “Zootopia.” And we can stay without musicals with a comedy series based on “Princess and the Frog” and “Moana.”
From Pixar, there will be series based on “Up” and “Cars” and new original series called “Win or Lose.”
The content list for Disney+ is magnificent and extensive, but executives for the company reiterated that Disney’s strategy isn’t about volume, it’s about quality. Ans it will be also about entering new markets.
Rebecca Campbell, Disney’s head of international operations and direct-to-consumer, last November it launched in Latin America and it was a tremendous success for the company and Disney+ in the next months it will launch in Eastern Europe, South Korea, and Hong Kong in 2021.
The other markets such as Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore will have Star integrated into the Disney+ app starting Feb. 23, 2021. In Europe, it will cost 8.99 Euro and the local equivalent in other markets.
Disney+ will be adding an “opt-in to mature content” feature which will allow older audiences to sign in and watch titles like “Logan,” “Modern Family” and “Atlanta.”
The company also signed a deal with Comcast to bring Disney+ and ESPN+ to the cable company’s set-top boxes and platforms and reach more than 20 million Comcast cable and internet customers.
Disney Nemesis Warner Bros. announced they will be releasing at least 17 films on the HBO Max and in theaters on the same day next year, analysts and investors are eager to see how Disney will respond to such a challenge in a world still confronting the global pandemic.
It’s expected to have more releases from Marvel and Star Wars.
Disney executives said that due to the Pandemic they will stay flexible with the dates about future releases, but the movies “Black Widow” and “Jungle Cruise” will head to theaters on time.
There will be a couple of new projects, the most notorious is another chapter on the Star Wars saga: the “Rogue Squadron.” Expected on Christmas 2023.
The Director will be Patty Jenkins who will be the first woman to direct a Star Wars feature film.
Marvel added a few more titles to its packed slate including a “Fantastic Four” film.
Pixar will release two new movies coming in 2022. First is “Turning Red,” it’s the story of a young teenager turning into a giant red panda every time she gets excited. The second is “Lightyear,” featuring our old friend from “Toy Story”, “Buzz Lightyear” Chris Evans will voice Buzz Lightyear.
Hulu has 38.8 million subscribers and Hulu+ Live TV has 4 million paying subscribers, it is the fifth-largest pay-TV provider overall. Recently, the company raised the platform’s price to $65, up from $55.
Disney announces it will use 20th Century Studios and Searchlight to create original movies exclusively for Hulu subscribers.
Two new shows will be released, one hosted by notorious comedian Steve Martin, Marin Short, and Selina Gomez called “Only murderers in the building” as well as “The Dropout,” a show about Elizabeth Holmes starring Kate McKinnon.
There is also a limited series called “Dopesick” featuring Michael Keaton, Rosario Dawson, and Peter Sarsgaard.
David E. Kelley, the famous writer behind enormous hits such as “Big Little Lies” and “Ally McBeal” will be introducing a new show called “Nine Perfect Strangers” starring Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, and Regina Hall.
The streaming platform will also have new seasons of “Ramy,” “The Great” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
You think we were getting rid of the Kardasians after they announced the ending of the show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” in 2021 after 20 seasons?, well think it again, Hulu announced they will be coming to the platform. Kris, Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall, and Kylie will be creating global content streaming exclusively on Hulu in the U.S. This content is expected to debut in late 2021.
The FX channel, which has original content on Hulu, has granted “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has another four seasons and will have new shows called “The Old Man,” starring Jeff Bridges and “Reservation Dogs” from Taika Waititi.
FX will feature an “Alien” series based on the world of the “Alien” movie franchise. The platform will also have a show called “Shogun” based on the best-selling novel by James Clavell.
Hulu expects to grow another 10 million users by 2024 reaching 60 million subscribers. Disney also anticipates that Hulu will become profitable in the fiscal year of 2023.
The company said it had 11.5 million ESPN+ subscribers.
Disney will add the Southeastern Conference to ESPN+ starting with the 2024 season. ABC will also become the home for Saturday afternoon games in 2024.
The company is developing a new strategy to reach younger audiences.
The platform has also given Steve A. Smith getting his own ESPN+ show and is bringing back “Peyton’s Places” for a third season.


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What happens to airline bags that go unclaimed or are permanently separated from their owners? They end up in Scottsboro, Ala.
Like most Southern towns, Scottsboro is a ring of shops – café, antique stores, feed store – surrounding the courthouse. But a couple of blocks away sits a 40,000-square-foot department store filled with the remains of what was once someone’s checked luggage.
For more than 30 years, the Unclaimed Baggage Center has worked with major U.S. airlines, buying the ½ of 1 percent of bags each year that go unmatched with their owners, says spokesman Brenda Cantrell. Some are bags nobody bothered with; some are cargo shipments trapped in red tape. Others are bags that lost their ID tags (a reason, says Cantrell, to put multiple tags both inside and out.)
A visit is more treasure hunt than true shopping excursion. Had they fit, I would have come home with a pair of Ferragamo sandals with cork heels that looked completely unworn for $200 minus a 25 percent discount being offered on some items. Other options included rollaboard suitcases (from $8), long-sleeve T-shirts (from $5), collapsible strollers (from $2), an Ipod ($160), full-length mink coat ($1,000), paperback books (from $2), a Tiffany stainless tank watch ($700) and a kitchen sink – stainless, with two washing bins -- $45.
Not all have been "previously used.'' Those that came from cargo shipment sometimes still have their manufacturer's tags on them.
The ambiance is TJ Maxx-like: a big open space with sections for men’s clothing, women’s clothing, jewelry, etc. “Some people expect a warehouse, other people expect to find suitcases that they rummage through,’’ said Cantrell. “They’re surprised to find it’s so nice.’’
In case you’re heading this way, the Unclaimed Baggage Center is about an hour west of Chattanooga, an hour east of Huntsville – and about an hour southeast of the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, Tenn. Open Monday-Saturday.
Photos courtesy of Unclaimed Baggage Center.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Posted by DARCOS CRUZ at 7:00 PM


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OVERPRODUCTION AND OVERCONSUMPTION
All of these wonderful options we have discussed offer the customer the choice to re-buy and re-sell, but how do we work towards reducing the waste caused by pure “overproduction” and “overconsumption”, the two, single, most destructive factors within the fashion industry. Academics like the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion and activist groups like Extinction Rebellion say that the growing number of sustainability efforts are a distraction if the shifts in production practices are not accompanied by reductions in volume (Vogue).
The continual drive for “newness”, means that brands are forced to design 4 to 52 collections a year. The continual demand from consumers is the dichotomy of the fashion industry and the desire from brands to maximise revenue at any cost, results in piles of deadstock. Even before the pandemic companies such as H&M revealed they had $4.3 billion worth of unsold clothes. In April, 2020 it was revealed that Primark had taken a £284 million hit from stock it could no longer sell, while Marks & Spencer revealed in May 2020 it would be ‘hibernating’ around £200 million of unsold seasonal stock until Spring 2021. With the lockdown, the issues with overordering, cancellations, reduced sales and closed stores exasperated the already broken model.
What does happen to the excess stock that brands own?
5 years ago, brands wouldn’t worry about burning their deadstock, because the prevailing paradigm was that the perception of leanness was more important than sustainability. Fortunately, and particularly after Burberry came under scrutiny for destroying more than £90m worth of stock, there is more pressure on brands of how they are disposing of this burden.
There is no law that prevents companies from destroying dead stock and it’s often cheaper to do this rather than find a way of recycling, storing and re-using. Overall there needs to be a more positive approach from brands to reduce their overstock in the first place, or maybe it’s time that governments took action as France are doing. France announced that by 2023 it will be illegal to destroy unsold goods, an anti-waste law that Susan Scafidi, founder of the Fashion Law Institute, says is “ground-breaking”.
Another major issue for brands is the number of product returns which is tied to the rise of online sales. Returned items can be tricky to resell because many businesses are not equipped with the necessary infrastructure or technological capacity and they can easily end up as discards. According to Optoro, a reverse logistics company that works with retailers and manufacturers to manage and resell returned and excess inventory, the overall return rate for online shopping across industries is 25 per cent.
Discount outlets are a great way to manage part of the excess inventory, retailers such as “Outnet”, ‘Farfetch”, “AliBaba”, “TKMax” provide this service but it’s usually not profitable for the brand to sell them the stock. Brands can donate to colleges or charities and they can hold sample sales but the cost incurred by the inefficiencies, plus unwanted stock tied up as cash will seriously hurt the bottom line. If a company ends up with 35% of deadstock, that’s 35% of the gross profit that’s just eaten up in holding inventory.
One company offering an all-round solution is the Parker Lane Group, a UK based company that works with clients to handle excess inventory and customer returns. Their remit is to help brands find markets for unsold clothing and recycle items that can’t be resold, they aim to find the most efficient end use for each item. “All waste has value if you know how to handle it” says their chief executive Raffy Kassardjian. US- based Optoro offers brands a similar service for dealing with unsold goods. Using AI and machine- learning software, it’s platform processes millions of items a year, marking each for donation or donation.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled, this equates to a loss of more than $100 billion worth of materials a year. There are many contributing factors to this excess in luxury apparel, one being the lead times of the fabrics versus the timelines of the seasonal calendar, neither are in synch. For example you may have an Italian mill that’s created a fabric where the lead-time is 3 months, by the time you’ve added on shipping and production you have a 5 month production lead time. If you take a season such as Spring/Summer, the order book for wholesale doesn’t close until late September and brands are asked to deliver the stock in January. This means that brands need to place fabric orders well before they know the global sales, undoubtedly even those with the best crystal ball won’t forecast perfectly.
Fortunately, the market for deadstock material is alive and kicking. The New York City based Queen of Raw operates an online marketplace that buys and sells unused fabric waste which is a great way for retailers to free up cash. Co-founder Stephanie Benedetto says that brands can recoup up to 15 per cent of their bottom line by letting them sell their unused fabric stock. In the past year the brand has grown 110 percent, year on year and has over 100,000 users that include fast fashion brands as well as luxury fashion houses. Another luxury group jumping into this space is the LVMH group who launched Nona Source in April 2021, this is a new sustainably focused platform selling dead stock which is open to everyone, not just those brands within the LVMH group.
Despite all these innovative opportunities and channels for managing waste, brands also need to work towards reducing their overall overproduction and customers their “overconsumption”. Both technology and moving away from the standard ‘linear” business model are critical in helping the fashion industry achieve this required change.


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BTS Releases List Of Top 100 Events Of August- 2011
More significantly, as a number one event website, BTS updates its surfers regarding significant business and trade happenings and its venues. BTS has released its top 100 events considering the popularity and quality and conducting an analysis on the huge participation of the exhibitors and visitors. The services which BTS generally offers always take the attention of the organizers, companies and visitors in great number. Popular among surfers as an ideal search engine, it eases their task and effort to find out the concerned events and venues specifying exhibitors, visitors, organizers and venue.
The Expo Comida Latina-San Diego is on the first rank aims to introduce the participants on travel, tourism, recreational and hospitality services. The exposition will run from 28th August to 30th August in San Diego. Service providers and frequent traveler will get the best opportunity to interact with each other and they will also promote their services.
The NBM show ranked at 2nd position, schedule to be held at Long Beach, USA. The event will run for three days from 11th August to 13th August inviting people from printing and publishing industry.
People from agriculture, farming and forestry will get a good time at Hong Kong Food Expo standing on the third position. The trade event will begin on 11th August and will continue till 15th August.
Alberta Gift Show and Mid-Week in Manchester Antiques Show of the similar industry are in the top ten tradeshow list finding their position on 4th and 5th respectively. The trade shows are scheduled to start from 14th August to 17th August and 10th Aug to 11 August correspondingly.
The China Guangzhou International Industrial Gases Fair has occupied 30th position, expected to be witnessed by the companies coming across china and abroad as well working in the field of industrial and engineering products and supplies. This three day event will run for three day from 11th August to 13th August.
For automobile industry and motor enthusiast, the Moscow International Motor Show taking its place on the 37th rank will be of great fun and will provide golden opportunity to extend market and trade. The trade event will be open from 24th August and will be continued for three days show casing automobiles, spare parts and accessories from broad range.
BizTradeShows.com is the largest Trade Show Directory motivated towards bridging the gap between the organizer and the target audience like exhibitors, sponsors, visitors etc. As a successful trade fair directory in business arena, BizTradeShows.com has enrolled over 6100+ Trade Shows Organizers in throughout the globe, around 17,000+ Live Upcoming Business Trade Shows World Wide with complete details. The directory boasts to cover Trade Shows from more than 242 Countries and 46 Industrial Groups. BizTradeShows.Com Procreates Over 2,00,000 Business Inquiries for their members, Facilitate more than 2.5 - 3 Million Visitor Page Views every month and Prominently visible on 150 Search Engines
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The annual Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale ended Sunday with declines in gross, average price and median price despite strong sales at the top end of the market.
The 13-day sale grossed slightly over $215 million for 2,653 horses, a slight dip from last year, when 2,575 horses sold for nearly $219 million over 12 days.
The cumulative average of $81,121 was down 4.6 percent from last year, and the median of $25,000 was down 16.67 percent, despite the sale of 19 horses for more than $1 million each, including 2010 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic winner Unrivaled Belle for $3.8 million.
In foal to top sire Tapit, Unrivaled Belle was the most expensive Thoroughbred sold at public auction this year, according to Keeneland. She was bought by Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm, which was the leading buyer by gross with $7.2 million in purchases, plus another horse bought for $950,000 in partnership with Gainesway.
The leading buyer by number of horses was Korea’s K.O.I.D, which bought 63 horses for almost $1.5 million.
The leading consignor was Lane’s End Farm, which sold 265 horses, including the dispersal of Conquest Stables, for $26 million.
The early books of the sale were strong, but Keeneland officials noted a downturn in the final days of the sale.
Consignor Craig Bandoroff of Denali Stud echoed that concern. “We had a very good sale in books 1 and 2,” he said in the news release. “Once you got to book 4, to me it was like somebody popped a balloon. I would say the market is a lot thinner than you’d like it to be. It’s bad (for breeders) because you’re not covering costs on horses. … Our business is good. I’m not a doom-and-gloomer by any means. But there are definitely some signs on the horizon that this (market) is not healthy all the way through.”


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Pop quiz: what did you do the last time you saw the words "high fructose corn syrup" included among the ingredients of something you considered buying? Did you put it down and choose something with "all natural" sugar instead?
What if the ingredients included something like "corn sugar"? Doesn't that sound a little bit homier? A little more gentle? You're going to start hearing that term quite a bit from now on. Earlier this week, the Corn Refiners Association petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to allow them to begin labeling HFCS as corn sugar and, while the petitioning process will probably drag itself out for as long as 18 months, the CRA has already begun promoting the term.
Whatever your feelings about HFCS – and there are quite a few of you who believe HFCS is nothing short of evil incarnate –this name change, assuming it's allowed to go through, probably isn't a bad idea. The Corn Refiners insist "Relabeling high fructose corn syrup as 'corn sugar' enables consumers to easily identify added sugars in the diet" and, yes, that's certainly a positive thing. What they don't mention, however, is that corn syrup – a byproduct of a heavily subsidized commodity crop – has tanked in sales over the past couple of years to a 20-year low, according to the New York Times.
Various food companies have been dropping high fructose corn syrup from their products in response to consumer concerns about whether the stuff is a health hazard. Hunt's Ketchup, made by ConAgra Foods, did it most famously earlier this year. Is the sticky sweetener really dangerous? As Fooducate pointed out:
"Most scientists agree that HFCS is no better and no worse than plain sugar. The big problem is that Americans consume way too much of both. Some math:
• According to the USDA, every man woman and child in the US consumes approximately 40 pounds of sugar and 40 pounds of HFCS every year.
• That works out to 25 tsp of added sweetener per day.
• Which is 400 calories!"
Even Marion Nestle, famous for her criticisms of industrial food, has stated that HFCS is no worse than ordinary sugar, noting too that that eating too much of either is bad for you. The truth is, no matter how bad it may be for us, we do want the occasional treat and nothing is going to convince us that a tofu-flavored, high-fiber, sugar- and HFCS-free, all-bran cracker is actually more appealing.
So, keep on the lookout for all those added sugars in whatever you buy and, even better, rather than buying sweets and desserts at the stores, think about [link href="https://www.delish.com/search/fast_search_recipes?search_term=cookies" link_updater_label="internal_full"]making them yourself. They'll taste better and you'll have more control over what goes into them. Everybody wins.
Well, everybody except for the people who make all those tofu-flavored, high-fiber, sugar- and HFCS-free, all-bran crackers.


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For the first time ever, brick-and-mortar retailers are not the main source of Electronic Arts' revenue.
Speaking from a prepared statement Tuesday during the company's earnings call, EA COO Peter Moore said that "Apple was EA's biggest retail partner measured by sales."
Moore didn't say exactly how much EA earned from its iOS titles, but the company generated $90 million in smartphone and tablet revenue last quarter. Overall digital revenue hit $378 million, and the company's total revenue reached $495 million.
If nothing else, Moore's announcement was surprising. Electronic Arts, as one of the largest game publishers in the world, has historically relied on physical retail stores like GameStop to generate revenue. But as the company noted in its earnings call Tuesday, digital is a huge component in its business, and its iOS push seems to be paying off. EA currently offers several titles for Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
reading•Apple now EA's biggest retail partner, thanks to iOS
Jul 20•MacOS Mojave beta broke Chrome's checkboxes. Here are two ways to bring them back
Jul 20•Apple Watch, Fitbit could be hit with Trump's tariffs on China-produced goods
Jul 19•Confirmed: 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard resists dust -- to a point
Jul 19•Get MacOS Mojave's awesome Dynamic desktop wallpaper without Mojave


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Ford was an early investor in Rivian, but through a rough 2022 the Detroit-based automaker sold most of their shares in the electric vehicle (EV) startup. According to a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Ford dumped 91 million Rivian (RIVN) shares last year.
According to the filing Ford netted about $3 billion with the sales over the course of the year, which turned out to be a good return on their initial investment of $1.2 billion. After selling 91 million shares, Ford is left with approximately 11 million RIVN shares.
As of last year the biggest shareholder in Rivian is Amazon which holds a 17.34% stake in the automaker. T.Rowe Price and Associates which used to hold a 18.2% stake in Rivian sold some shares last year, but is still the second biggest shareholder with a 15.4% stake. The next biggest investor is the Black Rock investment fund which holds more than 46 million shares, or about 5% of the automaker, according to Yahoo Finance.
Rivian’s share prices (RIVN) have plummeted since its 2021 IPO. The stock debuted on the NASDAQ exchange at $72 per share. Initial excitement in the company propelled the stock to nearly $180 per share, but a slow production ramp and fewer than expected deliveries have caused the stock to trade just under $20 per share on Friday.
Ford also had a rough 2022, reporting this week that it earned just $1.3 billion in net income in Q4, $11 billion of its Q4 2021 revenue from a year earlier. The poor Q4 led to Ford reporting a $2 billion net loss for the year, about $20 billion off its 2021 profit.


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The affluence French brand, which counts BBC brilliant Mary Berry, the Duchess of Cambridge and archetypal Alexa Chung as fans, is acclaimed for its foldable tote bags.
It has food on Oxford Street, Regent Street and at Westfield White City, as able-bodied as concessions in the capital.
In accounts just filed for Longchamp outlet (UK), the close said: “Property rental prices are at a premium, and there is accordingly a accident that the top aspect of anchored costs could advance to food acceptable accident making.”
“Performance reviews of anniversary boutique are conducted on a approved basis.”
Rental woes are on top of apropos about a looming backpack in business ante next year. Beforehand this ages the brand’s UK accepted administrator Paul Lorraine was one of a amount of retail specialists that active a letter to the adjudicator calling for business amount changes in Westminster, to defended approaching advance in the West End.
Sales at Longchamp’s UK arm rose to £8.7 actor in 2015, from £7.3 actor a year earlier.


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Many retailers in Australia may want to take note of a campaign in Melbourne called Look.Stop.Shop., which aims to promote the local businesses in the area for the month of July.
This is a great concept for retail marketing, and will enable participating businesses in the city to expose their brand to many people that visit through the program.
Hosted by the City of Melbourne and curated by Three Thousand, the campaign places an emphasis on the city’s world-class retailing and hospitality services, and aims to attract residents and visitors into experiencing these spaces, and areas that they may not have visited before.
“With over 80 businesses involved, Look.Stop.Shop. has something for everyone – from Swedish massages and Japanese soba tasting to pre-work rock-climbing, bookshop tea parties and rooftop bingo,” said Melbourne marketing portfolio chair Beverley Pinder-Mortimer.
“We have been running Look.Stop.Shop. since 2010, and we do so because we believe our retail and hospitality businesses are key in making Melbourne a vibrant, safe, inclusive and cultural city, open from dawn to dusk.”
On July 25, retailers at the shopping precinct located at Flinders Quarter will be opening their doors late at night for customers and providing them with special discounts, in-store activities, offers and freebies which will be revealed on the night of the event.
A week earlier on July 18, retailers in Albert Coates Lane will be taking advantage of the cold winter weather and providing its visitors with hot chocolates and cookies from nearby cafe Vanishing Elephant.
Fashion retailer Saxony will be planning a mystery window installation for their storefront, and Obus will be providing folk tunes and mulled wine.
By making these events free for the public, it gives customers even more reason to head along to the event and check out local retail businesses and to come back in the future.


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Samsung to Mass-Produce 3D TVs
Samsung this week began mass production of 3D TV panels, becoming the first major CE company to do so. The new TVs will include LED and LCD models, in 40-, 46- and 55-inch denominations.
The company unveiled such products at International CES earlier this month in Las Vegas.
“Recently, 3D displays have captured the industry spotlight,” Samsung's LCD president, Wonkie Chang, said in a statement. “Samsung Electronics aims to lead the global 3D TV panel market in pioneering panel mass production for 3D LED and LCD TVs.”


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Facebook’s acquisition of popular messaging app WhatsApp, claimed to be as one of the biggest acquisition in the tech world till date, has finally received approval by European Union regulators.
Explaining the reason behind approving the deal in a statement on Friday, the Commission said Facebook and WhatsApp were “not close competitors” and that consumers would continue to have a wide choice of alternative communication apps even after the deal is met.
EU antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia says “while Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are two of the most popular apps, most people use more than one communications app.”
“We have carefully reviewed this proposed acquisition and come to the conclusion that it would not hamper competition in this dynamic and growing market.
“Consumers will continue to have a wide choice of consumer communications apps,” Almunia added.
European approval of the deal comes about six months after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the acquisition back in April.
Facebook announced the buyout of the WhatsApp messenger service in February. The deal is said to cost the social networking giant a whopping $19 billion dollars, including $4 billion in cash and approximately $12 billion worth of Facebook shares. The deal is likely to give the most popular social networking site a strong foothold in the fast-growing mobile messaging market.
Launched in 2009, WhatsApp currently has some 600 million global users which it expects will reach 1 billion in next few years.
The deal is likely to get closed by this year end.


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Time is money
When Sandy and John MacLaughlin wanted to learn how to eat with chopsticks, they didn’t just order some Chinese and fumble their way through the fried rice. The Rochester couple bartered some of their time to bring in an expert to help them master the art of eating Oriental food.
"We advertised that we wanted someone to teach us how to use chopsticks," said Sandy. "This nice young man came over, we ordered some Chinese food, and we all shared a meal."
The MacLaughlins' chopstick sensei came courtesy of Time Trader, a time-bartering service run through Family Service Rochester. Part of TimeBanks USA, Time Trader boasts more than 250 members in southeastern Minnesota who trade their services one hour at a time.
Edgar Cahn, a law professor from Washington, D.C., started TimeBanks USA to give people a complementary currency to cash in order to purchase services. In a time bank, people earn time dollars for each hour of service, then spend that credit to get services from other members.
"Everyone’s time is valued the same," said Jennifer Harveland, who administers the program at FSR. "It’s one way to be creative in the economy and get the things you need."
According to a November 2011 article by Cahn in Yes Magazine, there are more than 300 Time Banks in the United States with more than 30,000 members. Those individual TimeBanks range in size from a few members in a new, start-up chapter to more than 2,000 members.
"My family and I went on a two-week vacation and left our dog in another Time Trader’s home," said Harveland, who also participates in Time Trader. "It was a very effective way for us to get our dog care and know it’d be safe and happy. It really can be a tremendous money savings."
For Lana Brown, the benefits of Time Trader were more tangible. When a broken foot kept her from clearing her snow all winter, she spent some time dollars to get a helping hand.
"When I had broken my foot, there was this young man, he volunteered to shovel my snow," she said. He would even ask if she needed anything from the grocery store before coming over, she said.
The injury also kept Brown from driving so she spent some of her banked time to get rides to and from doctor appointments. While she couldn’t get Time Trader members to cover all her rides, in one month she spent about $50 on taxis — each ride costing $7 each way — but would have spent close to $200 without the time dollars.
Brown has been a Time Trader member for about four years, she said. She earns time dollars by teaching people to sew, sewing clothes and delivering meals to people who have had surgery. "I’m going to restring a necklace for someone to earn a time dollar," she said.
She likes to keep about 10 time dollars in the bank for emergencies. "I don’t know when something will come up I need help with," Brown said, though she plans to spend a few banked hours to get someone to organize her workbench and garage.
One of the benefits of Time Trader is that anyone can participate if they have a skill or some time to invest, Harveland said. "Everyone is an asset and has assets," she said. And the services many people buy with their time, she said, are things on which they would normally not spend money.
For the MacLaughlins, the biggest benefit of Time Traders is the adventure of it all. Aside from the night of chopsticks, Sandy has learned how to make mozzarella and ricotta cheeses from a Time Trader. Another time, said John — who drives people to medical appointments to earn the couple’s hours — they found an artist to carve a likeness of their granddaughter into the side of a watermelon, her favorite fruit, for her birthday.
"I think the bottom line is that everyone, whatever they do, is of equal value," Sandy said. "Hour for hour: that equity of time is very appealing."


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The Pope and a ‘fair wage’ in Bangladesh
According to the BBC,
‘The Pope said he had been shocked by reports that some of the labourers had been paid just 38 euros ($50) a month.
“Today in the world this slavery is being committed against something beautiful that God has given us – the capacity to create, to work, to have dignity,” the Pope said at a private Mass.
“Not paying a fair wage, not giving a job because you are only looking at balance sheets, only looking to make a profit, that goes against God,” he was quoted as saying by Vatican radio.’
His reaction is typical of people who have not understood the reality of the situation in Bangladesh and other extremely poor countries. Yes, of course it is shocking to those of us who come from relatively prosperous countries – and even most countries in South America are prosperous compared to Bangladesh – to hear of people being paid so very little. It appals us. He says it is not ‘fair’. But he does not appear to have thought about why it has come about in Bangladesh, when no such low wages exist in Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, America, Germany and so on. Nor does he prescribe any solution.
The BBC, in ‘The World Tonight’ on Radio 4, quoted someone saying that the wages were ‘unacceptable’ and the line of questioning regarding the EU and Primark included the suggestion that we should not accept products of factories with such low wages.
This idea is terrifyingly wrong, misguided and potentially harmful to some of the poorest people on earth. As far as I am aware, the workers were there because the jobs were the best that they could get. That means that if they did not have those jobs, they would be even poorer. So by taking away your custom from Primark, you would make poor people poorer – the very opposite of what you want.
What does the Pope intend to do about it or think that others should do about it? Perhaps raise wages in Bangladesh by law? That would only create inflation that would quickly negate the rise in wages. You cannot dictate prosperity. If you could dictate, the whole world would be prosperous.
What about if we only buy from Bangladesh factories that pay a ‘fair wage’ – say ten times the actual wage? What would be the result? The result would be that garment manufacturers would source their goods from much more efficient factories and suppliers in much better organised countries where the wages may be similar but the other elements of production are better. Bangladesh would lose the one current reason why buyers go there – the low cost of labour. Bangladesh would lose the business. Again, the result would be that seriously poor people would be poorer. It would be horrible and cruel.
The way that I have seen countries all over the Far East improve their wealth and get out of poverty has been through successfully building up capitalist enterprises. That is what happened in Hong Kong and Singapore and, to a good but less spectacular extent, in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. They built up businesses at the low, cheap end. Then, they moved up a level and started doing more sophisticated businesses. Wages kept on rising, year by year, decade by decade. In none of these countries did it happen overnight – just as it did not happen overnight in Germany, the USA and Britain in previous generations. It takes time. The more efficient the government and the more impartial and efficient the legal framework, the better. It has worked. All these countries have, to a great or somewhat lesser extent, risen out of poverty through capitalism.
So why not Bangladesh at the same time? Because it followed a largely socialist path and has been riddled with corruption for much of its short life. So its people have remained poverty-stricken.
What we can do for Bangladesh is to help their capitalist industries grow. We can buy from them with enthusiasm and thus give them jobs. We can encourage the people and government of Bangladesh to give capitalism every chance which includes having a non-corrupt government which is open to trade and keeps taxes low. The government should welcome foreign businesses with 100% ownership. Local ownership of businesses doesn’t matter. Local ownership will come with time as it did elsewhere. What matters is investment, profits and thus rapid economic development. It is the only way out of poverty. It is vitally important that we support the rise out of poverty rather than undermining it as some of these misguided responses would do.
It would be such a breakthrough if the churches of the world understood these things and spread this message.
This article originally appeared on The Welfare State We’re In website.


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Playstation owners will not need an active Playstation Plus subscription to play No Man’s Sky when it launches next month.
There has been a lot of mixed communication regarding Playstation Plus – whether or not everyone who purchases the game will need a Playstation Plus subscription on top of the game purchase. Editor for Game Informer, David Milner revealed the information through his Twitter page yesterday evening.
Just confirmed with Sony: you don’t need PS Plus to play No Man’s Sky online. Some readers were confused by the language on this. Good news.
— David Milner (@DaveMilbo) July 25, 2016
The developers behind No Man’s Sky, Hello Games, have had a lot of troubles with the development of the game. While first being revealed during the Spike VGX in 2012, No Man’s Sky has been faced with numerous delays due to unforeseen circumstances. The latest delay from June to August, resulted in the developer’s founder Sean Murray to receive death threats. Despite the troubles, No Man’s Sky officially went gold on July 7th.
No Man’s Sky is scheduled to launch on August 9th for the Playstation 4 and PC.