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A few years ago, Khaled Zaibak began promoting fried chickpeas in his sleep. “I started to have some dreams about falafel,” says Zaibak, president of Chicago-based falafel wholesaler Zaibak Bros. “As a strong believer in faith, I felt as though it was a message from God.”
Zaibak set about spreading the word. He assembled a research and development team and pitched the traditional Middle Eastern sandwich to Subway. Soon, Zaibak had the blessing of the chain’s co-founder and CEO, Fred DeLuca, to start selling a falafel patty based on Zaibak’s Turkish grandmother’s recipe. Select Chicago-area Subways began offering footlong falafels in April of 2010. They’ve since expanded to restaurants throughout Illinois and Northwest Indiana.
Falafel’s foray into Subway stores is a logical step in the food’s journey into the American mainstream. After watching the rising popularity of hummus in grocery stores across the country, Zaibak says he saw an opportunity for another chickpea-based Middle-Eastern food to become an American staple. If the Subway falafel sandwich goes national, it could give the ethnic treat the most American treatment of all: fast food mass production.
“The history of American food is really a history of immigration, and the nostalgia that comes with a cuisine's decline is an indicator of an ethnic group's confidence in its American identity,” novelist Dana Horn wrote in a 2009 Wall Street Journal piece. “When a group first attains critical mass in America, its restaurants are mostly for its own members.” As generations settle in, the food, like the ethnic group itself, becomes subsumed into American culture: Think chow mein takeout, or drive-through Taco Bell. As later generations stabilize, they tend to cultivate an appreciation of ethnic difference alongside Americanness. “Shortly thereafter, food nostalgia sets in, and the quest for the ‘authentic’ begins,” Horn writes.
The history of the falafel in America, particularly in Chicago, makes it seem like it will conform to the trend. Much of the city’s falafel joints are concentrated in Middle Eastern immigrant neighborhoods, particularly the northwest side’s Albany Park, which saw an influx of Arabs and Assyrians from Iran and Iraq beginning in the 1970s. In recent years, several new lunch spots cropped up outside these traditional neighborhoods offering falafel of varying quality.
Unsurprisingly, reception of the Subway menu item wasn’t met with much fanfare in a city with so many quality falafel outlets. Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Johnson called out Subway for “failing to stay in their place.” But critics aren’t customers. Zaibak says the falafel sandwich has proven to be extremely popular, says Zaibak. Taking a cue from the McDonald’s McRib, Zaibak Bros. and Subway have attempted to drum up a cult following for the sandwich with social media profiles on Twitter and Facebook. “The Subway falafel sandwich is surprisingly not bad,” one diner recently tweeted.
While his company expected to sell just one case of falafels per Subway store per month, Zaibak says the average is closer to 4.5 cases per store per month. (He wouldn’t say exactly how many falafel pieces are in each case.) Of course, some quality has been sacrificed to bring the food down to American fast-food standards. Instead of fresh parsley, a dehydrated version of the herb is used. Falafels arrive flash-frozen from the Zaibak Bros. plant and are heated in Subway toaster ovens. The “cucumber sauce,” which Zaibak says is intentionally not referred to by its more ethnic name “tzatziki,” is a little watery. The patties offer a slightly mushy, orange-tinged version of the traditional falafel. These quirks are by design. “We take the whole ethnic feel out of it and create a relationship that is familiar to everybody,” Zaibak says of the Subway falafel.
Though falafel snobs may scoff at an “Eat Fresh” version of a dish that usually packs an aromatic crunch, owners of Middle Eastern restaurants say Subway’s falafel provides a major service to all Americans by expanding their palate. “It's almost kind of flattering that they want to be offering falafel,” said Shadi Ramli, co-owner of Chicago’s Sultan’s Market. Ramli says Subway’s sandwich is hardly competition, but it is a marketing campaign that could end up helping restaurants like his when Subway eaters and falafel newcomers want to try a more authentic version. “It gets the word ‘falafel’ out there,” he says.
A Subway corporate spokeswoman said the fate of the falafel is unknown at the chain, but Zaibak expects the product to expand well beyond Chicago to new markets like Boston, Northern California, New York, and Houston. All of those areas have sizable shares of either ethnic populations, health-conscious communities, or both. In other words, they’re places where falafel isn’t entirely foreign.
If the falafel goes national with Subway, it would reach places where the food and the cuisine is un-American by virtue of unfamiliarity. Zaibak views this as an educational opportunity as much as a financial one. He sees the spread of falafel as a way to spread Middle Eastern cuisine, and by extension Middle Eastern Americans, to wider American culture.
“For a while in this country, anything Middle Eastern and Mediterranean was not accepted. The falafel’s growing popularity shows we have become open-minded as Americans,” Zaibak says. Besides: “Mediterranean food is delicious.” It’s about time everyone knew it.


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Bolloré's contract logistics arm buys French pharma specialist SLS
French 3PL Bolloré Logistics has completed the acquisition of specialist pharma logistics operator Stef Logistique ...
Samskip, Europe’s largest multimodal and shortsea container operator, is to acquire Nor Lines from DSD Group.
The deal will include its Norwegian terminal activities, warehousing and haulage, and five of its seven multi-purpose vessels will be transferred under a time charter.
The deal follows the attempt by rival Eimskip to buy Nor Lines, thwarted in April by the Norwegian Competition Authority, saying it would have “significantly impeded” reefer vessel competition in the frozen fish market from Norway to North Europe. It will now turn its attention to Samskip’s acquisition bid.
Samskip has grown its presence in Norway in recent years, and transports some 90,000 teu on the route. The operator said the acquisition would boost its presence there.
Its operations, generating annual turnover of €100m, would continue under the Nor Lines brand.
“The Nor Lines takeover represents a major opportunity for Samskip,” said Ásbjörn Gíslason, chief executive officer, Samskip Logistics.
“It is a natural but significant extension of our shipping and logistics activities in Norway, which will further broaden our customer offerings.
“Nor Lines’ financial performance has been disappointing in recent years, but we are confident that by combining our respective strengths and refocusing the business we will create synergies, improve efficiency and provide customers with enhanced services.”
DSD Group, a private Norwegian shipping company, operates 13 vessels. CEO Ingvald Løyning said: “We are pleased to complete our divestment of Nor Lines and entrust the business to Samskip, in a strategic solution for a specialised business that needs to be part of a larger structure to develop and thrive.
“We believe that Samskip will be a good home for Nor Lines, and a good solution for our employees and customers.”
Samskip also owns the frigoCare cold store and terminal in Aalesund and a 50% share in Silver Sea, which has 14 reefer vessels. Its turnover was €633m last year.
In other acquisition news, Bremen-based Harren & Partner is to buy SAL Heavy Lift from K Line. The deal will bring Harren, which also owns Combi Lift, 26 heavylift vessels.
‘K’ Line bought 50% of SAL in 2007, and acquired the remainder in 2011. It said: “SAL has long struggled after financial crisis in 2008 and profitability has been heavily affected by low-prices in energy markets.”
“I am very proud and pleased that we have reached agreement with K Line,” said Martin Harren, managing director of Harren & Partner. “We believe this acquisition will ensure that both SAL and Harren & Partner are very well-positioned for the future.
“Becoming the new dominant player in the super-heavylift market will add strength to SAL and bring with it some much needed pricing discipline.”

domain: news


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news June 8th, according to the Ministry of statistics, 2013 1-4 months China’s average monthly mobile Internet access traffic has reached 121M, an increase of 37.1%. Which 3G mobile Internet access through mobile Internet users accounted for 25%, but the proportion of consumption flows up to 50%.
data show that in 2013 1-4 months, China’s telecom business revenue totaled 369 billion 240 million yuan, an increase of 8.8%. Flow is the main power consumption growth, including fixed broadband Internet access 9 trillion and 807 billion 760 million minutes, an increase of 20.8%; 369 million 183 thousand mobile Internet traffic G, an increase of 58.7%, the four consecutive month growth rate of over 50%. The average monthly mobile Internet access traffic has reached 121M, an increase of 37.1%.
at the same time, the popularity of intelligent information terminal products are accelerating. 1-4 months, the mobile phone handset sales reached 156 million 618 thousand units, the growth rate of up to 30.7%. CNNIC data show that smart phone users in the proportion of mobile phone users has been close to 80%, when the user’s new mobile phone purchase rate of purchase of mobile phones reached 72.8%. April listing of new models of smart phones accounted for 86.2% mobile phones, an increase of more than 8.8 percentage points in March, intelligent sales grew by 77%.
information service innovation prominent features, taxi applications, real-time electricity supplier logistics, Sina, micro-blog and other international business model is recognized as an innovative model of Internet applications. 1-4 months, the national e-commerce transactions amounted to 3 trillion and 180 billion. The CNNIC survey results show that 28.4% users accustomed to using the social network to obtain consumer information, shopping and sharing information on social networks, the consumption habits of the transformation in turn to promote the traditional retailers open network channels. The popularity of mobile phone application in intelligent mobile phone shopping, shopping leisure mining consumer desire, 53.6% users use mobile phone client login website, there were 13.9% and 10.6% users in the use of public transport and waiting for mobile phone shopping.
it is understood that in 2013 1-4 months, China Telecom investment amounted to 65 billion 250 million yuan, of which 3G investment 12 billion 610 million yuan, accounting for 19.3%, Internet and data communications investment 12 billion 880 million, accounting for 20.7%.


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In a significant development, a group of major U.S. utilities which includes Uber and Tesla said they are launching a new lobby group which will lobby for national policies to boost the adoption of electric vehicles.
The lobby group named Zero Emission Transportation Association, aims to boost the adoption of consumer electric vehicle and encourage the retirement of their dirty environment polluting cousins. The lobby group will also advocate for tougher emissions and performance standards and is aiming for full electrification by 2030.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has promised new tax incentives, including new rebates to buy EVs and significantly increase the number of charging stations across the country – policy measures that automakers have advocated since long.
“We can own the electric vehicle market — building 550,000 charging stations — and creating over a million good jobs here at home — with the federal government investing more in clean energy research,” said Biden.
Biden’s measures are aligned with the group’s call for “strong federal charging infrastructure investments” and its goal to reach 100% electric vehicle sales by 2030.
Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, the lobby group will support “Uber’s work to move 100% of rides to EVs in (the United States), Canadian and European cities by 2030 and go fully zero-emissions by 2040. It will take all of us working together to address the urgent crisis of climate change.”
In the United States, in 2019 automakers have sold 326,000 electric vehicles, amounting to around 2% of total U.S. auto sales with Tesla’s sales of this 2% being 60%.
Members of the Zero Emission Transportation Association include Duke Energy, ConEdison, Lordstown Motors, PG&E, Chargepoint and EVgo, Lucid Motors and Rivian. Albemarle Corp, the world’s biggest producer of lithium for electric vehicle batteries along with Siemens and Piedmont Lithium are also part of the group.
Earlier in September, California Governor Gavin Newsom had said, the state plans on banning the sale of new gasoline powered trucks and passenger cars starting from 2035.
Incidentally, California is the largest U.S. auto market and accounts for around 11% of total U.S. vehicle sales. Many states have adopted its green vehicle mandates.


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Households should brace themselves for energy price hikes, not just over the coming year, but over the next five years too, with one energy expert predicting bills could double.
Last winter the big six energy companies all implemented price hikes of between 6% and 11%, but energy experts say households are likely to be hit by further rises (see our Cheap Energy Club to cut bills).
Mark Todd, from comparison site Energyhelpline.com, says over five years they "could be up 50%-100%".
Providers themselves are also hinting at price rises. Only last week Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) warned households that prices will continue to rise. It said unless wholesale prices fall, then it is "highly likely" these costs will be passed on to consumers.
Meanwhile, British Gas, despite pledging earlier this month to use increased profits from the bitter winter to keep prices on hold for "as long as possible", stopped short of announcing a formal price freeze for a defined period (see the British Gas price promise MSE News story).
Energy price predictions
Below are what four energy experts predict energy prices to change over both the coming year and over the next five years:
Anyone on their provider's standard tariff is almost certainly paying too much as the typical cost of such dual fuel deals is around £1,420 a year, whereas average dual fuel users on the very cheapest deals will pay around £1,157.
If you're worried about prices rising, consider locking into a fixed deal now. Npower's Price Fix September 2016, for example, costs an average dual fuel user £1,320 a year and promises no hikes until 30 September 2016.
Meanwhile, EDF's Blue+Price Promise February 2015 is fixed until 28 February 2015, costing the average user £1,190 a year. Both tariffs also have no early exit fees, so if you want to leave early, if prices elsewhere get cheaper, you can.
Energy prices will however vary depending on your usage and where you live. You can use MoneySavingExpert.com's free Cheap Energy Club to find the best deal for you.


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Miscreants can fake your identity, credit card number, and even your social security number, but they can’t fake your online personality. That’s the idea behind the online payment service WePay’s use of social networking sites to verify that users really are who they say.
Using social networking sites to discern personalities, preferences and connections among people goes by the fancy name of “social graph analysis,” and it’s popular among marketers who want to increase their online influence. But Facebook also uses it to cut down on fraud, and financial services like WePay are starting to do the same.
“We are using your online identity to verify your identity in the real world,” says WePay Founder Rich Aberman told CNET.
However, if someone steals peach trees from your Farmville farm…you’re on your own.
Read more at CNET.


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Most vegetarians know that dinner at a fast food place means salad and fries. Okay, let's be real—just fries. But Wendy's is getting in on the action—they're now test-running a new black-bean burger.
The Wendy's Veggie Patty ($4.50) comes on multigrain bun with asiago-Ranch sauce, Colby-pepper jack cheese, tomato, red onion, and mixed greens. (If you're vegan, you're still out of luck.) Right now, it's only available at two locations near Columbus, Ohio, which is a shame: According to Columbus Underground, the sandwich is "shockingly beautiful." It's also in high demand: Wait times for orders are hitting up to 20 minutes. No word on whether this vegetarian option will make its way to menus nationwide, but it seems likely—especially if Steve-O (yes, of Jackass fame) and his petition for vegetarian offerings have anything to say about it.
Follow Delish on Instagram


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The volatility of cryptocurrencies has been one of the crypto trend’s largest problems, and it is still nowhere near being solved for the vast majority of them. However, as an attempt to combat this issue, researchers came up with a concept of stablecoins — cryptocurrencies that would be backed with real-world assets (fiat currencies, gold, etc.), or by other means, such as control of circulating supply or being backed by other coins.
However, most stablecoins were considered to be shady, and not real cryptocurrencies, as methods of controlling their prices often had a certain level of centralization accompanying them. This changed when the crypto winter struck, and investors needed an alternative that would protect them from dropping prices.
Tether (USDT) emerged as the most popular stablecoin, which is a title that it still holds to this day. However, Tether has had a number of controversies which caused many to lose trust in it and turn to alternatives to this alternative.
This is where Ethereum’s Maker DAO and a…


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'Call of Duty Mobile' is already outperforming 'Fortnite' with 100 million downloads in its first week alone
- "Call of Duty Mobile" had a massive launch on Android and iOS with more than 100 million downloads and $10 million in revenue in its first week.
- Activision's "Call of Duty" is one of the best-selling video game franchise of all time and the mobile version is free-to-play. Like many popular mobile games, "Call of Duty Mobile" earns money through microtransactions.
- "Call of Duty Modern Warfare" will launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 18, and it's expected will be one of the most popular games of the year.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
"Call of Duty Mobile" enjoyed a huge first week, amassing more than 100 million downloads on Android and iOS devices.While the game is free-to-play, it's already generated $10 million in revenue and surpassed the early success of popular mobile shooters like "Fortnite" and "PUBG Mobile," according to data from SensorTower.
The mobile version of "Fortnite" launched on iOS first in April 2018, earning 22.5 million downloads and $3.3 million in revenue during its first week in Apple's App Store. According to data from SensorTower, "Call of Duty Mobile" saw 56.7 million downloads and grossed $8.5 million from the App Store alone in its first week.There are some key factors that separate the launch of "Fortnite" and "Call of Duty Mobile." Most importantly, "Fortnite" was available on PC and video game consoles more than six months before it arrived on mobile. The Android version of "Fortnite" also launched several months after the game was released on iOS. Because "Fortnite" is the same across all platforms and shares online play, some players simply chose to stick with their console of choice."Call of Duty Mobile" is exclusive to mobile devices and doesn't offer any cross-play with traditional video game consoles. Though the game shares some of the same content as the console releases, it's clearly designed with a free-to-play model in mind and relies on micro-transactions to generate revenue.
Activision will still release "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare," the next entry in the core franchise, on October 18 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
- Was Sebamed’s competitive strategy strong enough to leave a long-lasting mark on the consumer’s mind?
- Sensex breaches the historic 50,000 mark as Joe Biden's swearing in triggers a cheer in Indian markets
- JBL Flip 5, boAt Stone 1000 and other Bluetooth speakers on discount on Amazon Great Republic Day sale
- Bollywood leading actresses are writing big cheques for Indian startups
- Farmers will 'consider' Indian government's suggestion to put the farm laws on hold


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Wyndham hotels boost presence in Greece, Cyprus
Wyndham Hotel Group, that operates some 8,000 hotels worldwide, plans to boost its presence in Greece and the Balkan area, the company said Monday.
Wyndham said that it is broadening its cooperation with hotel management company Zeus International and that the two will develop a network of 20 hotels in the next ten years in Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania.
The two companies first started working together on Wydham's first investment in Greece, the Wyndham Grand Athens in Karaiskakis square, central Athens. Zeus International will also manage more of Wyndham's hotels along Athens' coastal area and in Loutraki, about one hour out of the capital.


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Nairobi, 30th May 2013: Equity and Google today announced BebaPay, Kenya’s newest cashless innovation to make payments easy and more convenient for consumers and merchants. With BebaPay, bus passengers can sign up for a card and top up for free at Equity agents. Customers can also top up their cards via mobile money. BebaPay helps to overcome the problem of using cash and receiving the correct change when paying for public transport on the bus or “matatu”. BebaPay is the first payments system of its kind for Kenya.
BebaPay makes it easy to pay for your bus fare and helps you budget and track your spending. All you do is swipe your card on the card reader in order to pay. You also get free SMS receipts and the BebaPay website makes it easy to budget and manage your expenses on your mobile or computer. You can get a BebaPay card for yourself, family members or co-workers. Bus conductors can use BebaPay on a Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled Android phone to accept payments from BebaPay smart cards.
Dr James Mwangi, CEO, Equity Bank, says that “The BebaPay card is a first for Kenya and will change the transport industry when it comes to payment. It is a convenient local payment solution that makes it easy to budget and manage one’s expenses on a mobile phone or computer”.
“Research showed that technology could help bus operators and passengers to ease the process of ticketing, so we’re pleased that Nairobi commuters can now enjoy the advantages of BebaPay”, says Joe Mucheru, Google Kenya Country Manager. “Using NFC is part of Google’s efforts to improve transactions for both businesses and consumers. NFC makes it easier for people to pay for goods and services, and gives merchants extra ways to connect with their customers using technology and the Internet”.
Lucia Atieno, a daily commuter who has been using BebaPay card for over 6 months, said “I now spend less on bus fares, since I can plan in advance how much money I need for a particular period of time. The conductors never leave with my change, which used to happen a lot if I forgot to as ask for it. Greatest of all, no more chunks of paper in my handbag in the name of receipts!”
Equity Bank and Google will be using affordable NFC-enabled Android devices that are available in Kenya and can be used for BebaPay. Currently BebaPay is only available at key bus stops such as Kencom House. Equity Bank is working on rolling out BebaPay to more locations over time.


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Business Startup Challenge Returns Oct. 8
Sept. 15, 2021
MISSOULA - Montana’s only statewide student business startup competition returns to the University of Montana campus in October. The 32nd annual John Ruffatto Business Startup Challenge hosted by the University of Montana’s College of Business and UM Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars received applications from numerous student teams across the state to compete for the $50,000 in prize money. The 2021 event is presented by lead sponsors, Ontra Marketing Group and Missoula Economic Partnership.
A panel of judges selected eight teams to compete in the Oct. 8 event. On competition day, teams will pitch their business to a panel of around 40 judges in hopes of receiving a portion of the prize money, all of which is generously contributed by businesses, organizations, and individuals who are committed to the future of entrepreneurship in Montana.
Of these diverse competitors, four finalists are selected during the day to compete for the top four prizes at the evening’s public event, including the $15,000 first place cash prize. Doors open to the public event starting at 4:30 p.m., with the program beginning at 5 p.m. in the Alice Lund Instructional (ALi) Auditorium in the Phyllis J. Washington College of Education.
There is no charge for admission to this year’s event, but seating is limited. Attendees are highly encouraged to reserve tickets online to guarantee a seat (https://bit.ly/3969UtX).
Those unable to make the live event can watch a live stream over Zoom (https://bit.ly/3oKgI9u).
This year's finalists are:
Aizy Tech SAR Drone Project
Morteza Hosseinnejad (MSU), Jordan Gibbs, Yoni Shchemelinin, Tyler Myhre
Aizy Tech SAR Drone Project creates drones specifically for first responders.
Chase Bartlett (UM), Preston Kerr (UM)
Bridgible is an online sports coaching marketplace that helps all players access the best coaching, regardless of the barriers they face.
The Giddy Thrifter LLC
Mariah Karis (UM)
With the dream of creating a more sustainable design world with less fast fashion, while keeping the shopping experience intact, The Giddy Thrifter sells new, used, vintage, and upcycled fashion and decor that is ready for new homes, while also teaching style and bargain decor via how-to videos.
Evan Jackson (UM)
KokuaJ is a personal brand created to be consumed by anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Justin Hunt (UM), Alexa Coyle (UM)
Physico provides a one-stop connective platform for people that are experiencing, or have experienced injury rehabilitation, where users access individuals with similar experiences to increase motivation, mitigate feelings of loneliness, and positively affect home-based physical therapy outcomes.
Posted Software LLC
Michael Mawn (MSU)
Posted Software is the on-campus job posting app for one-time jobs on college campuses.
Red Patch Outdoors
Charlie Luther (UM), Ethan Pateman
Providing outdoor enthusiasts with modular gear options for hunting, fishing, and hiking.
Diana Anyango (UM), Bruce Grant (UM)
The Samaritan App connects individuals in medical crisis to their friends, family and close neighbors, for the help they need.


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Fidelity drops credit card partners American Express, Bank of America
By Tim McLaughlin
BOSTON (Reuters) - Fidelity Investments said on Monday it is dropping long-time credit card partners American Express Co and Bank of America Corp, ending a 12-year partnership that has generated billions of dollars in fees.
Boston-based Fidelity, which has 24 million customers, said its new partners will be U.S. Bancorp and Visa Inc, effective Monday. The exclusive alliance will provide Visa branded credit-card products to U.S. consumers, including Fidelity customers.
The switch is another setback for American Express, already reeling from its lost deal with warehouse club retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. AmEx said earlier this year the loss of the Costco contract would hurt profit for two years. AmEx shares are off 25 percent over the past year and were down 2.9 percent Monday morning. Many other major U.S. financial stocks were also lower, with shares of Bank of America, Visa Inc and U.S. Bancorp all down by more than 2 percent.
Ram Subramaniam, president of Fidelity's retail brokerage business, did not give any specific reason for ending the partnership with American Express and Bank of America.
"It's been a long, good partnership," he said.
A spokeswoman for American Express said the Fidelity portfolio accounts for less than 1 percent of billings.
A Bank of America spokeswoman said the agreement not to continue the relationship with American Express was a mutual decision between the two companies.
"Over the past several years, Bank of America has been exiting from our financial institutions card business where Bank of America has limited opportunity to deepen customer relationships, and this move is consistent with that strategy," she wrote via email. Continued...


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GENEO announces GeneoX Championship winners
New Delhi: GENEO, an NCERT based digital learning platform of Schoolnet India Limited, has announced the winners of its first edition of GeneoX Championship, a National level online olympiad. Aditya Srivastava, student of RBK School, Mumbai, topped the GeneoX championship and bagged the “Geneo Super Kid” title along with the cash scholarship of INR 1,00,000/. The participation in the championship came from over 25,000 students of Class 8- 10 from 13000 schools.
Five winners were titled as Geneo Wonder Kids and received HP Chromebook each, followed by 10 Geneo Stars who won Amazon Kindle each. Besides, 125 children received rewards including Geneo Amazon Vouchers and Free 1 Year Geneo Product Subscription worth Rs 4800/-.
“The inaugural edition of GeneoX Championship is a catalyst to our motto of providing quality education, its effective reach and delivery to students. Our endeavour is to engage maximum students towards developing high order thinking skills while leveraging the modern learning tactics“, said Shourie Chatterji, Head of Digital Initiatives, Schoolnet India Limited.
He further added, “At Schoolnet, we focus on employing new-age methodologies and ideologies to be with students’ journey from learning to employment. We bring together students, teachers and parents to collaborate on our single platform and build the most conducive learning ecosystem in India.”
The championship was delivered through a series of online assessment-based tests designed around their academic curriculum, to test their knowledge while improving their cognitive and creative thinking abilities.
More about Schoolnet: Schoolnet’s partnerships with the government, educational institutions, and international agencies ensure maximum reach and hence, the impact. It is established in 478 districts with strong partnerships with 45,000 institutions and has a significant impact at Scale Cumulatively 38,000 schools; 12 Million students and teachers. Schoolnet has extensive active footprints – Active Physical Presence in 38,000+ schools; 300 Skills Institutes, Frontline project staff -14,000. It has access to 10% of India’s population with 15 million people directly and 125 million people indirectly (family & catchment)


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If you can't beat 'em, develop for 'em. BlackBerry will bring its popular BlackBerry Messenger software to both iOS and Android devices.
As we wait to see what Google will unveil at its annual I/O conference in San Francisco, BlackBerry used its yearly BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando, Fla., to announce its plans for the coming year. During his keynote, CEO Thorsten Heins said that the BBM messaging software would be available as a free app on both iOS and Android devices sometime before summer.
The news marks a significant occasion for BlackBerry: It's the first time in a long time mobile device users have actually paid attention to what the once-dominant phone maker had to say.
BlackBerry has been forced to play catch-up in the touchscreen smartphone era. While its touchscreen Z10 garnered some positive reviews from the press, the reception with the public could charitably be described as dismal. And let's not even mention the PlayBook.
Why expand BBM?
This de-cloistering of the popular messaging service will help BlackBerry retain the customers it still has by giving them the ability to communicate with the ever-growing pool of non-BlackBerry users within their preferred messaging app.
While it's highly unlikely that BlackBerry will be able to make any huge inroads with dedicated Android and iOS users, the company may win back BlackBerry fans by returning to its Research In Motion roots with the physical keyboard enabled Q10, which will be available on three carriers this summer.
"We are confident that the time is right for BBM to become a multiplatform messaging solution," Heins said Tuesday. By that, we take assume he meant that stopping the bleeding may be the best plan for the immediate future.


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I know this makes it two Amazon finals in a row, but you gotta hear this.
The Financial Times is reporting that Amazon’s going to pilot a program next month that will have packages delivered directly to the trunk of your car. The catch is that your car has to be an Audi and you have to live in Munich, Germany and you have to be an Amazon Prime member.
Amazon says a delivery person from DHL, a German delivery company, will get one-time keyless access to your trunk.
In the long term, they’ll make the service available to Prime members everywhere.
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Bunge Limited today announced that Andreas Fibig has been appointed to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Mr. Fibig, 54, is Chairman and CEO of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc., a leading global innovator of flavors, fragrances and cosmetic active ingredients for consumer products from fine fragrances to home, laundry and air care, and from sweet goods, beverages, savory and dairy to beauty products and digital scent. Previously, he was President and Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, the pharmaceutical division of Bayer AG, and held senior leadership roles at Pfizer Inc. and Pharmacia.
“Andreas brings extremely relevant experience to Bunge’s Board of Directors as the leader of IFF, a global company known for innovation, particularly related to ingredients in the food and beverage space,” said L. Patrick Lupo, Chairman, Bunge Limited. “We look forward to benefitting from his strong management skills, as well as his insights on shifting customer preferences and tastes as we continue to grow our Food & Ingredients business to be a larger percentage of our overall portfolio.”
Mr. Fibig holds a degree in Marketing and Business Management from Berlin’s University of Economics. He chairs the Board of Trustees of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology.
Cécile Béliot has assumed the role of Bel Group chief executive officer, following the decision to separate the roles of chairman and CEO. The separation of the functions will enable Bel Group to develop in three areas of healthy snacking. Meanwhile, the company’s former CEO, Antoine Fiévet, has had his mandate renewed as chairman of the board.
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf was grilled by lawmakers during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, where he was slammed over the agency’s handling of the escalating infant formula shortage.
Sweegen is ramping up its efforts to reduce sugar across F&B applications while simultaneously tapping into the benefits of using antioxidants and bitter blocking technology. Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Casey McCormick, vice president of global innovation at Sweegen, says product developers can find a broad range of solutions in Sweegen’s nature-based sweetener systems as brands elevate better-for-you foods.


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By Paulo Winterstein
BRASILIA--Venezuela's assumption of the role of temporary president of trade bloc Mercosur in July represents a "second cycle of expansion" for the bloc, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Thursday.
During a joint address with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Ms. Rousseff said the entrance of Venezuela into the trade bloc, which also includes Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, should help the economic development of Brazil's northern and northeastern regions, as well as Venezuela's southern region.
Trade between the two countries grew to about $6 billion last year, and both leaders expressed confidence that those values will continue to climb in coming years.
On Thursday, the presidents announced a joint project to annually produce about 1.5 million tons of urea, a compound used in fertilizers. In addition to projects between the two countries to produce urea as well as coke, used in smelting iron, Brazil and Venezuela aim to increase integration in the areas of energy and agriculture, they said.
Mr. Maduro said that with the help of Brazil, especially its government-run agricultural research company Embrapa, Venezuela can overcome problems with food production and become a net agricultural exporter.
Mr. Maduro made similar comments in Argentina Wednesday, during his tour through several South American countries. He pledged on Wednesday a "food revolution" in his country with the help of farming giant Argentina.
Venezuela imports between 60% and 70% of its food and consumers suffer periodic shortages of such products as milk and cooking oil.
Write to Paulo Winterstein at firstname.lastname@example.org


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Salaries and bonuses paid to Keydata’s directors totalled £3.7m for 2008 and £4.1m a year earlier. The highest-paid director each year was paid £2m in total each year for the two consecutive years.
Keydata’s first product was launched in 2001 and it had £3bn under management as at March 31, 2008, according to unaudited figures.
Turnover for the year to September 2008 was £15.7m and operating expenses were £17.1m, creating an operating loss of £1.3m for the year to September 2008 but an interest-receivable payment of £1.35m saw the firm post a £1,414 profit while holding £3.4m in cash.
Keydata was set up and led by Stewart Ford with sales director Mark Owen and finance director Craig McNeil.
The directors said the 2008 results were “satisfactory” and they were “confident” that the long-term trend remains positive.
The firm’s £1m term loan due from Fundsworks UK was written down to nil as at September 30, 2008.
Keydata operated from three locations in London, Glasgow and Reading, specialising in the design and distribution of over 50 str- uctured products for individual investors.


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Post-pandemic shopping habits: The importance of hygiene and health benefits of products
Over a year after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, we look at the degree to which the global health crisis has shaped key shopping factors in the FMCG/CPG sector. In this first part of a three-part series, we examine the extent to which the health and hygiene benefits of products have become more important to consumers shopping for household items.Will the demand for products with health and hygiene benefits stick around beyond the pandemic?Our data, collected from 17 markets across the world, shows that more than two-fifths of consumers in the post-pandemic world attach a greater importance to the health and hygiene benefits of household items they shop for (44%). Significant variances are observed in each market, with some of the highest rates registered in Asian markets and Mexico. Topping the list, four-fifths of urban Indian and three-quarters of online Indonesian consumers agreed that the health and hygiene benefits of products was now a more important factor to them than before the start of the pandemic. Generally speaking, fewer people in European markets are placing a greater emphasis on health and hygiene when shopping for household items. In each of Denmark (73%), Sweden (70%), United Kingdom (66%) and France (60%), at least six in ten consumers say there is no change to the importance they attach to the health and hygiene benefits of household items they purchase. But that still leaves significant minorities whose behaviour has changed.In part two of this series, we dive into the impact of the pandemic on consumers’ budget considerations.


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Consumers in Scotland will have to pay a 20p deposit on every bottle or drinks can they buy from shops under an ambitious new scheme unveiled by the Scottish government.
The deposit return scheme, the first national scheme in the UK, will cover glass and plastic bottles, as well as aluminium and steel drinks cans, sold from any shop in Scotland.
It will cover single use bottles ranging from a 50ml whisky or vodka miniature to three-litre bottles of cider. Every can or bottle in a multipack of beer, water or cola will also attract the 20p charge.
It will include online retailers too, with only restaurants and pubs selling drinks for consumption on the premises excluded. Scottish government officials said they did not yet know whether it would include mobile food or ice cream vans.
Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish environment secretary, has refused to exempt small shops from the new scheme, leading to immediate protests from retailers, who are already affected by minimum pricing for alcoholic drinks.
Retailer groups were furious that small corner shops would lose shelf space to install return machines and have to oversee refunds for every purchase. They indicated they would lobby hard for exemptions once ministers publish draft legislation later this year.
Cunningham defended the extent of the measures. “There is a global climate emergency and people across Scotland have been calling, rightly, for more ambition to tackle it and safeguard our planet for future generations,” she said.
She said international evidence showed “a well-run, appropriately targeted scheme could improve the environment, change attitudes to recycling and litter, and support a more circular economy”.
Calum Duncan, from the Marine Conservation Society, said glass had been found littering the country’s beaches during the MCS’s latest cleanup campaign, adding that he was delighted the scheme spanned all these materials.
“Scotland is now ahead of the game and and the rest of the UK must follow,” he said
Willie Mackenzie, an oceans campaigner for Greenpeace, said the measures were welcome and urged the UK government to follow suit in England and Wales. “Crucially, Scotland’s scheme will be far-reaching and include glass bottles, which is what the public supports and will drastically boost recycling collection rates,” he said.
The Federation of Small Businesses said they were dismayed ministers had not allowed the smallest retailers to opt out, as they had believed would happen.
Colin Borland, the FSB’s director of devolved nations, said: “We’re unhappy that the Scottish government hasn’t taken on board our concerns, despite a commitment to address the problems such a scheme poses for small retailers. Ministers need to explain to those that run the smallest shops how this scheme will work for them.”
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, the head of policy for the Scottish Retail Consortium, estimated it would cost £100m to buy and install the machines to take and store returned bottles and cans. Adding glass bottles to the scheme could make it unachievable, he said, while some people could get deposits refunded to them for drinks bought in England.
“That will impose enormous costs on retailers and producers,” he said. “These decisions mean this scheme risks hampering retailers without effectively delivering the environmental improvements we all want to see.”


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Honda’s first electric SUV in the US will be called ‘Prologue’
Honda revealed the name of the first of two electric SUVs it plans to sell in North America, and it’s one that many have already guessed, thanks to a recent trademark application. The vehicle will be called the Honda Prologue, and it will go on sale in the US and Canada starting in 2024, Honda of America sales chief Dave Gardner confirmed to reporters last week.
As a name, Prologue makes sense considering it’s meant to be the introduction to Honda’s efforts to completely electrify its lineup by 2040. It’s also, notably, a synonym for “Prelude,” the name of Honda’s iconic sports coupe from the 1980s.
The Prologue will be the first of two…


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Opposition to the euro 'is softening'
OPPOSITION to British membership of the euro is softening, says the latest Barclays Capital/NOP opinion poll.
Some 57% of the 2000 people quizzed said they would vote against scrapping the pound in favour of the European single currency, while 26% said they were in favour of the move. The net balance of 31% opposing the euro compares with 35% last month.
About two-thirds of respondents said a Government recommendation to join the euro would have little impact on the way they would vote in a referendum.
A separate ICM poll published by the Guardian today claimed that 62% of voters now believe it is inevitable that Britain will join the euro within 10 years.
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Despite storm, tourists hit New York City streets
Related story: School closings, transit and more
Tourists went to mass, searched for open stores and seemed to delight in being in New York City during an historic storm. The normally teeming streets were largely empty, except for the die-hards and out-of-towners.
Bridges and tunnels were closed, along with the trains, buses and stock exchange. Thousands along the waterfront were ordered to evacuate. Surging waters of between 6 and 11 feet could flood subway tunnels, knocking out the underground network of power, phone and high-speed Internet lines that are the lifeblood of America’s financial capital.
It marked the second time in 14 months that New York City has faced a scenario forecasters have long feared: a big hurricane hitting the city or a bit south, with counterclockwise winds driving water into miles of densely populated shoreline.
Still, there was activity at some key locations.
During Saint Patrick’s Cathedral’s noon mass right in the center of Manhattan, visitors were streaming in and out.
“It’s much busier than normal,” said an usher at the cathedral. "We don’t regularly get this many people at mass. I guess no one has any place to go.”
Tourists gathered underneath the scaffolding, trying to figure out what to do next. Wind whipped around the corners, and even Saks Fifth Avenue across the street was completely boarded up. Bergdorf Goodman’s women’s store was boarded up too but the men’s store seemed to be roughing it.
Gillian Hase, from Essex in the United Kingdom, who was traveling to New York for the first time with her daughter, Robyn, said that she wasn’t disappointed by her trip, even though the cathedral was the only site they could visit on Monday, but that she was hungry.
“We couldn’t get anything to eat last night or today,” she said. “You don’t really come to New York and expect to be unable to eat in a restaurant,” she said.
She said it was surprising to see New York’s streets so empty, but she was impressed by how well prepared everyone seemed to be. “In England, we’ve been having terrible flooding, and no one bothers to sort it out until it’s already happened,” she said.
Further uptown, sandbags surrounded the door of the Apple store, a rain-spattered glass cube in the storm. Visitors peered into the glass, but it didn’t appear to provide any answers.
Josh Zietcer, 16, and his brother Joel, 25, also visiting from England, were standing outside the Apple store. They said they were looking for something to do, and that they were hungry too.
“We can’t find anything to eat, and I think we’re going to go back to our hotel. But other than that, it’s pretty exciting. I mean, who of my friends can say that they were in New York during the biggest hurricane ever?” said Josh Zietcer.
But Manuel Larios, a pizza deliverer for Patsy’s Pizza on 34th Street and 2nd Avenue, said that he was much busier than normal, and had been riding his bike all over Manhattan.
“We’re making a lot of money, because everything else is closed,” he said. “As long as we can ride, we can continue working, but hopefully I don’t have to work all day,” he said.
Outside of the Port Authority, normally a transportation hub, a few people lingered, mostly huddling under the scaffolding for protection.
James Davis, who is homeless, said he was going to hang out there for a while. “I don’t want to go to the shelter, because they make you eat their food, and I don’t like their food,” he said. “This isn’t my first hurricane. I’ll be fine.”
Mostly, New Yorkers weren’t on the streets, unless they went out to watch the storm.
Anne Samet took her kids to the 79th Street Boat Basin on the Upper West Side to watch the storm
“We take Mother Nature for granted here in the city. After Irene, I think while it’s not too severe, people like to think it’s not happening,” she said. Bodegas and drug stores were still open near her home, but, “I would have loved to have Starbucks open this morning,” she said.
A police officer in Times Square who refused to be named said that Times Square was still pretty busy. “It’s New York City,” he said. “What do you want?
“But it’s all tourists — New Yorkers aren’t out. If they are out, they’re not holding hands or smiling; they’re walking fast. You aren’t going to see too many of them in Times Square,” he said.
This article includes information from the Associated Press. Email: firstname.lastname@example.org


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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Poll: Should URL Shortening Services Pass Link Value?
A Sphinn thread has discussion around a "quick" study done to test if URL shortening services like TinyURL and others pass any link value. Clearly, all the time you and I spend on services like Twitter, makes this question something that many SEOs and webmasters want to know. The study said that these services do not pass link value. Some don't believe the study, some do. I won't be getting into the validity of the
- Google Starts Emailing Webmasters Regarding Web Site Issues Again
Back in September 2005, Google began emailing webmasters about violations to the Google webmaster guidelines. Then in March 2006, Google started stepping up those notifications. Webmasters were loving Google reaching out to them with issues, so they can address them quickly. But then the spammers and hackers got involved. In May 2007, we reported that fake Google emails were being sent to webmasters, scaring them. These emails repeatedly went out and Google had to do
- Can All Google AdWords Accounts Be "Saved"
There is an interesting thread at WebmasterWorld forums on the topic of saving Google AdWords accounts. You know how Google has this quality score component to AdWords? ;-) Well, sometimes an ad or ad group or account has a very low quality score, making your cost per click prices soar. Some call this the Google Slap. That being said, if the quality score gets really bad, is it ever worth ditching the account and starting
- Is a Bug Allowing Extended AdWords Titles?
Over the past couple months, I have been seeing thread after thread from AdWords advertisers with complaints that their competitors are showing over the 25 character limit in the Google AdWords title of the ad. Google says there is a max 25 character limit for the title, including spaces. But advertiser after advertiser have been posting in the forums, with complaints that advertisers are using more than that 25 character limit. A month or so
- Is Push Gmail Coming to iPhone?
A Google Mobile Help thread might have some signs that Google will be releasing push email for the iPhone. Before you jump up and down in joy, I am making an assumption on this news from the following details. In a Google Mobile Help a Googler named Robin marked a user's answer as being correct, when the person said, and I quote: Google will probably release push email for the iPhone (using an Exchange protocol)
- Craiglist Adds NoFollow Meta Tag To Pages
It appears Craigslist, the very popular and old school directory listing site, has added the nofollow meta tag to most of their pages. If you view the source of the listing pages, you should see <meta name="robots" content="NOARCHIVE,NOFOLLOW"> in the header of the pages. This tag was designed to tell a search engine not to follow any of the links on the page, including all the internal links. This is part of the reason the
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Google launched Google Bus in India (Tamilnadu), WebmasterWorld
- Splitting Large Articles Into Pages (Best Practise?), Google Webmaster Help
- AdWords API Python Client Library Updated (v4.3.0), Google Groups
- Facebook Explains About Failed Twitter Takeover, WebmasterWorld
- How can legal locksmiths convince Google that most search results return phony, unlicensed locksmith companies ?, Google Maps Help
- Tip #18: Organizing Your Account - Ad Group Themes, Google AdWords Help


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Coinbase valuation hits $77 billion as bitcoin soars past $51,000, report says
Coinbasehit a valuation of $77 billion last week, according to a report from Coindesk.
- The valuation is based off of trades from the Nasdaq Private Market, with Coinbase hitting $303 per share.
- At $77 billion, Coinbase is now bigger than Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
The valuation is based off of trades last week on the Nasdaq Private Market, with Coinbase hitting $303 per share, sources told Coindesk. That's a sizable increase from its first week of
If the valuation holds once the cryptocurrency exchange goes public, it would make it bigger than Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange.
The soaring valuation in Coinbase comes as
Bitcoin is up nearly 80% year-to-date.
The Nasdaq Private Market runs auctions in private companies that are on the verge of going public. The secondary market allows current and former employees, as well as early investors, to sell their shares in the company.
Just a tiny portion of Coinbase's shares outstanding are available to trade on the secondary market, meaning its valuation could vary once the company goes public later this year.
But according to Coindesk's source, "meaningful amounts" of shares have been exchanged in recent weeks, suggesting the valuation could hold.
"It's not like a handful of shares being exchanged at $300 a share. Each week it's tens of millions of dollars [worth], a pretty sizable amount," the source said.
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N.C. Company Launches Kickstarter Campaign to 3D Print Furniture & Bring Jobs Back to U.S.
Once upon a time North Carolina, especially High Point, was a furniture hub. It’s where everybody used to get their furniture. Now, thanks to competition from countries with a cheaper work force, such as China, many of the furniture factories in North Carolina have closed down.
One company, HSM Furniture, thinks the way to put North Carolina back on top is through additive manufacturing. Matt Davis and Kevin Belton are Highpoint based and have been in the furniture business for more than a decade.
They buy closeouts from name brand companies and resell them through their website and local showroom. One of the biggest problems that Davis and Belton face while selling is failed closings because the product isn’t exactly how the customer wants it. In the past, Davis and Belton tried repairing and customizing already made furniture for their clients, but it was too costly.
Then Davis and Belton started to see this common complaint as an opportunity— an opportunity to use technology to change things. That’s why the guys behind HSMFurniture.com have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help create customized 3D-printed pieces. They are trying to raise $12,000.
With the money they raise, they’ll buy a Gigabot printer and printing material to make furniture accent pieces. The company will use a wood resin filament for the printer. The filament that they will use purportedly is just like natural wood and can be sanded, stained and veneered.
When customers place their orders online or locally, HSM Furniture will print the pieces and hire local craftsmen to finish the pieces. The company plans on working with local designers as well. This process will allow for complete customization at a low price.
This campaign offers backers the opportunity to get some quality, custom-made 3D-printed furniture for what they’d pay at their local department store.
Fifty bucks gets you a custom footstool, while $100 will get you a wine rack. If you can pony up $250, you can get a custom end-table. All contributors will be acknowledged on the HSM Furniture website. Backers of this project will get a say in the company’s initial designs. So far, the campaign hasn’t had any real traction, even though it’s a good idea that would bring jobs back to the U.S. since most of the furniture made today can’t be customized. Let’s hear your opinion on this idea. Have you considered backing this project? Let us know in the 3D printed furniture forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video below where Davis and Belton discuss their plans.
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Liberty Global offers to sell Film1 in Netherlands to secure Ziggo deal
Cable operator Liberty Global has reportedly offered to sell off its pay-TV channel Film1 as part of its concessions to gain approval in its bid to acquire Dutch player Ziggo.
According to a Reuters source, the company – owned by billionaire John Malone – is trying to push through the Ziggo acquisition as it attempts to deepen its footprint across Europe.
There are anti-trust concerns from the EU over Liberty Global’s proposed $6.8 billion takeover bid, with a probe launched earlier this year by the EU given Liberty Global’s extensive presence in the Netherlands.
It already owns UPC, the country’s second-largest cable operator, and will gain market dominance through its Ziggo acquisition. The EU is concerned that the company will raise consumer prices as a result.
Liberty Global has also said, as part of the concessions, it will not block over-the-top (OTT) TV providers from accessing its network for four years.
OTT companies, including video streaming company Netflix, utilise operator networks to provide content to their subscribers.


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Although Netflix is currently the reigning champion when it comes to subscription-based video streaming services, Apple too is preparing their own challenger. According to a report by CNBC, Apple Inc. is in the last stages of development on their own video streaming services. What’s even more surprising for readers is the absence of giants such as HBO and Netflix, which also indicates there will be a lot of original content.
What Seems To Be The Issue With HBO?
Most readers might already be aware of the Apple and Netflix tussle over the 30% cut in revenue that Apple currently takes. And according to some reports they might increase this cut to a 50% and not share customer data with publishers. Despite no official comment from Netflix or HBO, Apple CEO Mr. Tim Cook has commented, “We will participate in the original content world. We have signed a multi-year partnership with Oprah, but today I’m not really ready to extend that conversation beyond that point. We’ve hired some great people that we have a super amount of confidence in, and we’ll have something to say more on that later.”
This is certainly assuring as some big names like Stephen Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon and Oprah are already in collaboration. But according to an unknown source, HBO’s reluctance might be due to Apple not proposing an offer similar to Amazon. Although talks are still in motion between the two companies, but the revenue split might become a thorn in Apple’s side.
What Other Streaming Channels Can We Expect?
Although Apple aims to compete with Netflix, the absence of HBO will have to be rightly filled if they actually want this service to last. Since other services such as Hulu and Amazon Prime also offer addon services such as HBO. And with Netflix already giving a thumbs down to apple after ditching subscription services for iOS, things do look a little grim for Apple’s ambitions.
Nevertheless, there has been confirmation of the ‘add-on’ services with Viacom, Starz and Showtime expected to be featured. This means users will be able to use these additional services in conjunction with their Apple bundle for an extra charge, of course!


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If Hearst Magazines had a theme song, it might be the 1966 Motown classic "It Takes Two." Because if there's anything that can be credited for the 129-year-old publisher's enduring success in the often-perilous magazine business, it's Hearst's appreciation for the power of partnerships—whether with competitors, advertisers or even the partnership of its two top executives, president David Carey and president of marketing and publishing director Michael Clinton.
Hearst has invested in media entities most would consider to be competition, like ESPN and A+E Networks. More recently, it has bought into digital publishers like BuzzFeed, Vice and Refinery29. "We like to invest in companies who wake up every day trying to kill us," cracks Carey. "They want to build companies of stature, so our association helps them, and we like to be nimble, so it's a good exchange through two cultures."
Those relationships have allowed Hearst to learn important lessons that it has since applied to its own businesses. "We learn how they house their employees, how they attract their teams, and it helps us a great deal," Carey adds. "These companies know that if they don't evolve their products, they go out of business, and we want to think about that metabolism."
These companies' willingness to experiment with branded content has also informed how Hearst operates. "I think in the area of native advertising, big companies like ours, historically, have had too many rules," says Carey. "It really took BuzzFeed to be the early pioneer of native to open that door." And that has also extended to print: Hearst was one of the first magazine companies to test innovations like sponsored covers and to have editors work on branded content.
One of Hearst's buzziest recent partnerships was with Lenny Letter, the newsletter (and now site) founded by Lena Dunham and her frequent collaborator, producer Jenni Konner. Hearst now runs the back end of LennyLetter.com as well as all its ad sales, and according to the Hearst team, the association has resulted in many more upstart digital brands knocking on the company's door.
Working with individual influencers like Dunham is an increasingly important part of Carey and Clinton's strategy to keep Hearst moving forward. In 2012, the company made headlines by tapping former Paris Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld as global fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar, creating twice-yearly spreads in international editions of the fashion title. This past September, Hearst tapped Linda Wells, former EIC of Allure, to create a 16-page insert, "The Wells Report," on beauty trends. (Sponsored by Estée Lauder, it ran in 1 million select subscriber copies of Hearst titles including Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country and Marie Claire.) Next up, another Condé Nast alum, former Condé Nast Traveler editor Klara Glowczewska, will create a sponsored travel-themed insert in multiple Hearst books.
Deals like these "often have very positive, unintended consequences," says Carey. Consider Hearst's announcement last week that it will further expand its partnership with Roitfeld to encompass her own magazine, CR Fashion Book. Hearst Magazines Digital Media will now host CRFashionBook.com on its proprietary MediaOS platform, while the CR Fashion Book magazine will be printed and distributed by PubWorx, a joint venture between Hearst and Condé Nast.
At a time when some publishers minimize the term "magazine," Hearst remains bullish on print. Partnering with outside brands and influencers, it's launched new magazines at a time when others are shutting them or scaling them back. In 2008, Hearst partnered with Scripps to create Food Network Magazine. The highly successful launch (which involved testing a couple of pilot issues before introducing it full force) has informed other products since, including HGTV Magazine and Dr. Oz The Good Life.
This year has seen the introduction of another couple of print brands: The pilot issue of the revived Metropolitan Home, which Hearst gained the rights to as part of its acquisition of Lagardère, debuted last spring, with the follow-up to hit newsstands in early 2017. And just last week at the Airbnb Open, Airbnb Magazine was revealed. The new title—Hearst's first stand-alone travel book—aims to fill a specific void in the market, explains Clinton. "What we learned is that there is this incredible emerging community of travelers who don't want the 'packaged' travel experience. There is a huge market of consumers who now define themselves as Airbnb-ers when they travel, and when we realized that this was a bona fide emerging community, we saw a big opportunity," he said.
Investing in new magazines certainly goes against industry and consumer trends, but for Hearst, listening to what its audience wants trumps conventional wisdom.
"An important lesson is listen to the consumer and don't talk to yourself, meaning the industry," says Clinton. "If you look at our consumer metrics for our new launches in the digital era—Food Network, Dr. Oz, HGTV—they're phenomenal. All three are in the top 10 on the newsstand."
Adds Carey: "You have the age-old 3M adage that every five years, they want 25 percent of their profits to come from products that did not exist. In our case, for 2016, between our digital businesses—which were losing money in 2010—and our Scripps ventures, those now account for 35 percent of the profits of the U.S. company. If we had not taken the steps we have done in digital, or if we had not launched these magazines, we'd be a much smaller business. You almost have no choice but to continue to innovate, because if you don't you are likely to atrophy rather than expand."
Check out the rest of this year's Hot List honorees:
- Media Visionary: Jeff Bezos
- Digital Executive: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg
- Digital Creator: Casey Neistat
- Hottest Digital Brands and Products
- Hottest TV Shows and Networks
- TV Executive: FX's John Landgraf
- TV Creator: Full Frontal's Samantha Bee
- Hottest Magazines
- Magazine Editor: New York's Adam Moss
- TV News Anchor: Fox News' Megyn Kelly
This story first appeared in the November 28, 2016 issue of Adweek magazine.


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Cyprus winemakers are to benefit from an incentives scheme to encourage investments as well as a promotional campaign here and abroad to boost sales.
The schemes, unveiled on Thursday, come as a welcome boost for wine companies struggling as a result of the pandemic.
They were presented by Energy, Commerce and Industry Minister Natasa Pilides, the ministry’s director of industry and technology Christos Fotiades and the head of the ministry’s trade service Panayiota Patsali.
The new €1.65 million incentives scheme will subsidise equipment, buildings and machinery used in wineries. The budget is entirely from EU funds.
The ministry has to this date approved funding of over € 13.5 million for the benefit of 40 wineries, including 11 new wineries, Photiades said.
The new scheme is open to existing and new wineries with the grants ranging from 15 to 40 per cent depending on the size of the enterprise. However, for any agreement signed by October 15, the grant will reach 50 per cent of eligible expenditure.
Patsali said the promotion campaign aimed to boost exports by bolstering the presence of Cypriot wine in markets abroad and to encourage domestic consumption.
The markets selected are the UK, France, Norway, the US, Canada, Switzerland and Japan. The actions include branding, participation in fairs, wine tasting events and seminars.
“We all agree that Cyprus wine can hold its own and compete with the wines of other countries with a tradition. It remains to give foreigners the opportunity to get to know is and this we will do with a series of promotional events as provided by the action plan,” she said.


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Imports may become the new king of beers. While the industry as a whole is on track to decline for the third time in four years, imported beer is showing the kind of strength that was once reserved for craft beers. While that segment's death has been greatly exaggerated, imported beer is now outselling craft over the first six months of 2016 and may be the new big beer trend.
Constellation Brands (STZ 0.31%) recently reported its first quarter earnings that showed it enjoyed 15% growth in the period, driven almost wholly by its portfolio of Grupo Modelo beers, primarily Corona.
Craft beer's watered down future
According to the analysts at market research firm IRI, import beer grew 6.7% in the first two quarters of the year, surpassing the 6% increase achieved by craft brews. While that's down slightly from the 8.7% jump imports saw in the same period a year ago, it puts the category firmly ahead of craft beer, which had surged 17% in 2015.
It's clear beer of all kinds are struggling to maintain their momentum against the rise of new trends and flavors, but the imported market may take up the slack caused by craft beers' decline.
Constellation acquired the rights to distribute Modelo brands in the U.S. in 2013, when Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD 0.37%) bought the Mexican brewer but faced challenges with antitrust concerns at the Justice Department. As a result, it offered to sell to Constellation for $2.9 billion; the perpetual rights to Corona and other Grupo Modelo brands in the U.S., Modelo's Piedras Negras brewery in Mexico, and its 50% stake in the Crown Imports joint venture that Constellation didn't already own.
In its earnings report, Constellation said net beer sales rose 19% for the quarter as the contribution from the Ballast Point Brewing craft beer it bought for $1 billion last year boosted the segment. But it also enjoyed 10% growth in organic net sales, on a constant currency basis, as each brand in its Mexican beer portfolio grew across most channels, and packages helped to lead volume gains among U.S. brewers.
Beyond just the Corona beers, which were actually held back because of a recall that led to some shortages, Constellation says the new 24-ounce can of Grupo Modelo's Pacifico brand is the No. 1 new import this year. Additionally Modelo Especial and Modelo Especial Chelada (its Bloody Mary-style concoction of tomato, salt, and lime in a 3.5% beer) both enjoyed double-digit growth.
Perhaps still the most interesting beer
Heineken (HEINY 0.49%) also reported 7% organic growth in the first quarter, which it said was positive across all regions. It has benefited in particular from its Dos Equis brand, which IRI notes saw the Dos Equis Lager Especial beer grow more than 10% in 2015 to $325.3 million. Between between 2007 and 2015, Heineken says Dos Equis case shipments jumped 35% and it is expecting one quarter of all its future growth to come from the brand.
Of course, some brewers still try to play up the imported roots of their brews knowing the attraction they hold for beer drinkers, even though they're actually made in the U.S. Anheuser-Busch was famously sued for "tricking" U.S. consumers into believing its Beck's brand was an import when it is actually brewed in St. Louis; Diageo's Jamaican-style Red Stripe is also brewed here; as is the supposed Australian beer Foster's, which is made by MillerCoors, the joint venture of SABMiller and Molson Coors.
Beer, generally, is facing headwinds from flavored spirits like Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, Fireball cinnamon whiskey, and everything including hard cider, hard soda, and most recently hard water.
But the changing taste profile of drinkers seems to be hitting regular beer and craft beer harder than imports, and though imports may not see the same sort of meteoric rise craft beer enjoyed, it could mean there is still enough room for there to be heady growth on tap.


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We already knew Sony’s next-gen VR headset for the PS5 is on the way, but recent reports may have revealed additional details about the next PSVR’s specs and launch date.
According to a report from Bloomberg detailing the rising use of LCD panels in VR headsets, Sony is one VR headset maker sticking with OLED. The company plans to use OLED displays produced by Samsung for its next-gen PSVR, despite falling LCD prices from manufacturers like Japan Display Inc. and others.
Bloomberg also says Sony is targeting the 2022 holiday season for the release of the PSVR 2 (or whatever the VR headset’s name will be), which makes sense—due to the global chip crunch, there are still issues with display component supply. Plus, Sony’s already announced that its next-gen PSVR “won’t be launching in 2021.”
We also know a little bit about the PSVR 2's features. A previous report based on research papers and patent filings from Sony suggests that the next-gen PSVR could include new hand-tracking tech and more sophisticated proximity sensors on PSVR 2's controllers, which would help bring Sony’s VR system up to speed with other headsets like the Oculus Quest 2 and the Valve Index.
Another previous report from Upload VR claims Sony’s next-gen VR headset will also feature a 4K resolution (2000 x 2040 per eye), improved IPD adjustments, and even gaze-tracking that supports foveated rendering, which allows a VR headset to reduce processing requirements by reducing the fidelity of graphics not in your primary field of view. The addition of support for foveated rendering could be a huge upgrade for the PSVR 2, as the PS5 still doesn’t offer quite the same level of performance as a modern gaming PC.
Sony hasn’t revealed the design of its next-gen headset, but in March the company did show off its next-gen VR controllers, which feature a brand new “orb” design and adaptive triggers, improved haptics, finger-touch detection, and enhanced tracking with the addition of a tracking ring on the bottom of the controllers.
It will be disappointing to have to wait another year for PSVR 2 to come out, but at the very least this should give people some more time to actually buy a PS5.


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In an incident that has taken locals of Andhra Pradesh’s Palakonda town by surprise, an electric scooter showroom was found to be engulfed in fire, completely incinerating 36 e-scooters and additional components such as batteries at the outlet. The episode occurred at Manam Motors on Monday. Thankfully, no injuries or casualties have been reported. Firefighters rushed to the scene and were instrumental in dousing the fire.
Local police say the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, and that it can only be revealed after the investigations are complete. The overall financial damage caused to the dealership owner is estimated to be Rs 50 lakhs.
Initial reporting suggests that a short circuit may have led to the fire, though this cannot be confirmed at the moment. The dealer reportedly had excess stock at the facility in anticipation of good Diwali sales.
Companies already working on fire-proof batteries
One of the primary setbacks for EV and e-scooter adoption is the lack of charging infrastructure. However, isolated incidents of EVs spontaneously catching fire certainly aren’t helping build public trust. Nevertheless, the industry is well aware of the situation and is working on eliminating the risk of fire from batteries. Komaki recently took the wraps off its fire-resistant battery made using LiFePO 4 (lithium iron phosphate).


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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint from a customer about a marketing mail sent by Ageas Retail brand RIAS.
Ageas Retail is the broking and affinity division of insurer Ageas UK. It includes over 50s brands RIAS and Castle Cover.
The person complained because they had asked not to receive marketing communications from the company and had been assured their details had been suppressed.
The complainant also said the advert was misleading because the wording “Your renewal: December 2015” implied that the complainant had an existing policy with RIAS, which was not the case.
The ASA upheld both parts of the customer’s complaint.
The ASA said: “We told Ageas Retail to ensure that marketing communications were not sent to consumers who had asked not to receive them, and that they complied with the Code’s requirement that consumers were entitled to have their personal information suppressed.
“Further, we told them to ensure they did not imply that a consumer had an existing policy with them, when that was not the case.”
In its response to the ASA, Ageas said that its primary suppressions process had failed in March 2015, which meant that some suppression requests had not been processed. As a result 980 consumers were sent marketing communications after they had requested that their details be suppressed.
The company said it had acted promptly once it knew there was an issue in December 2015.
The company also said that it did not believe the ad’s wording was misleading because ads of that nature were sent to consumers who had previously either held an insurance policy with RIAS or had obtained a quotation.
An Ageas spokeswoman told Insurance Times: “We constantly review marketing material we send and, prior to receiving the Advertising Standards Agency’s final ruling, had made a decision to amend the renewal date wording included in our literature to ensure it was absolutely clear that it was a marketing communication encouraging recipients to contact Rias and obtain an insurance quotation. This new wording will be included on our material during May 2016.”


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Greeks and Philhellenes gathered at the Croatian Club in Punchbowl last weekend to commemorate the…
Tag: New Zealand
“We all know someone with a fridge full of magnets from far away destinations and novelty mugs in the cupboard from places once visited. And so, we have discovered the most popular (and in some cases peculiar) souvenirs from around the world,” says Club Med. And so, what are the most popular souvenirs bought by tourists in Greece and in countries around the globe?
Originally from Athens, Ioannis and Emily Montes moved to New Zealand in 2010. After years of hard work, they have managed to establish Taste Greece – the only specialised Greek product importer in New Zealand – and have also opened a retail store Little Greece.


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MEMPHSIS, Tenn. (CBS.MW) - Shares of American Freightways surged nearly 60 percent Monday after FedEx Corp. said it agreed to acquire the regional trucking company for $1.2 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt.
In total, the package-shipping giant said it would pay $950 million in cash and stock and assume about $250 million of American Freightways debt.
Shares of American Freightways gained $10.13, or 57.86 percent, to $27.63. Shares of FedEx rose 10 cents to $45.27.
FedEx said the acquisition will allow it to expand its next-day regional, less-than-truckload freight service with coverage in 48 states. The combined revenue of American Freightways and Viking, a FedEx trucking subsidiary, would be more than $1.6 billion, according to Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx.
"This acquisition is a perfect strategic fit that will give FedEx a unique competitive advantage, generating incremental volume and revenue that neither business could capture as a stand-alone," Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx, said in a statement. "These two networks complement each other geographically, matching Viking's leadership in the West with American Freightways' strong presence throughout the Midwest, South and Northeast."
The deal still needs to win approval from American Freightways shareholders and regulators. Following completion of the deal, Harrison, Ark.-based American Freightways would merge into a newly created subsidiary of FedEx, the companies said.


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Posted by Megan Halscheid, Product Manager
Both Google and Bing have reached deals with Twitter to integrate tweets into the SERPs. Bing has rolled out a beta real-time Twitter search at bing.com/twitter. Google is set to roll out their product in the coming weeks. This deal allows Google and Bing direct access to Twitter’s real-time data stream to satisfy user queries on hot topics. Bing has also reached a separate deal with Facebook to integrate status updates into the SERP.
The fact that Google and Bing are both incorporating tweets into their search results shows the importance/value the search engines put on content generated through social sites. The goal of the search engines is to connect consumers with sites that satisfy their needs. Social and other emerging mediums satisfy user needs in unique new ways. Therefore, social sites need to be increasingly incorporated into the search results pages.
Twitter/Facebook integration allows the search engines to serve more real-time social content than they were previously able to serve. Often, a search topic will get hot and the major engines will not yet have indexed the latest information. Integrating user-generated content into the SERP solves this problem, thus improving the consumer experience on the engines.


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SHENZHEN, China—Perhaps as soon as October, a Long March rocket will thrust a spaceship into Earth's orbit carrying two Chinese astronauts for a five-day mission.
The launch will mark the latest feat for China's space program, which first shot a man into brief orbit in 2003, and will highlight the country's newfound technological prowess.
It's a far cry from the common global image of China as low-cost factory to the world. Others invent technologies, such as the DVD player. China churns them out for as low as $29 each. Yet that image is a little stale.
A look around China shows a handful of surprising advances in scientific niches, such as gene research, biomedicine and certain aspects of electronics. China's technological capacity is beginning to climb.
Whether, and how quickly, China scales the technological ladder is no small matter for the United States, which holds a quantum lead in matters of science and engineering. If China were to gain ground, that would have a major impact on consumer products it can make as well as the ways in which its huge military could conduct modern warfare.
China has almost no companies with global name recognition, but observers say some Chinese companies are rising, moving significantly faster than neighboring Japan and South Korea did.
"The speed at which this is happening is catching other companies off-guard," said Joe Abelson, the vice president of emerging markets at iSuppli, a global market-research firm in El Segundo, Calif. He noted rapid advances in mobile-telephone, network and appliance engineering as well as semiconductor design.
At a showroom in its landscaped headquarters in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen, a representative for Huawei Technologies shows off streaming video on a tiny cellular handset. The networking company, which makes routers and telecom gear, is taking on global giants, competing with Cisco, Alcatel and Lucent.
"We have recruited a lot of young talent," said Edward Deng, the vice president for global marketing. "We've applied for over 6,500 patents worldwide."
Much hampers China's technological development, though. The government meddles incessantly in private business. Research links between universities and private companies, such as those that gave birth to Silicon Valley, are feeble. Many companies rely on low-cost labor and razor-thin margins to survive. They have few incentives to spend on research when they can pirate technology and operate sweatshops.
"Chinese companies are not going to be leading the way in product innovation," asserted Arthur R. Kroeber, the managing editor of the China Economic Quarterly. "What they are good at is making products cheaper. What Chinese companies are able to do is take things and turn them into commodities faster than ever before."
Much of China's technological development is led and financed by the central government, a vestige of the nation's centrally planned economy. Government cadres still choose "pillar" industries—and the "information industry" is one of them—and throw heaps of bank financing at them. Recently, a state-controlled Chinese bank offered Huawei and its clients an astounding $10 billion line of credit.
As the space program attests, China has the resources to mount major drives in high-tech research. Experts say the Shenzhou VI spaceship that will go into orbit this fall is sharply upgraded from old Soviet technology. China is following the United States and the former Soviet Union in sending humans into space.
Spraying a torrent of cash, China seeks to nurture homegrown technologies and shape global standards for wireless communications, software applications, satellite positioning and even radio-frequency ID tags to track merchandise.
How far China will prevail in imposing its own standards is yet to be seen. Last year, it told foreign vendors they'd have to cooperate in adopting a homegrown standard for wireless communication. When the companies balked, China backed down.
Some of those same foreign companies are helping China climb the high-tech ladder, setting up research and development centers here as a way to get a foot in the door to a huge consumer market.
High-speed computers were once rare here. Not anymore. Even city governments own them, seeking to give local businesses a leg up.
At a high-tech industrial park in the Pudong district of Shanghai, Wang Puyong explained what hummed behind closed doors in his building.
"It is the fastest computer with commercial applications in China," Wang said.
The Chinese-made Dawning 4000A Opteron at the Shanghai Supercomputer Center was ranked the 18th fastest in the world until earlier this year, able to spin out 11 trillion calculations per second, or 11 teraflops. Financed by the city of Shanghai, the center offers computing power to local companies in genetic and pharmaceutical research and major engineering projects, Wang said.
Blocking China from obtaining such technology remains a goal for Washington. In 1989, after the Chinese army's massacre of hundreds, if not thousands, of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing, the U.S. government slapped sharp restrictions on high-tech exports to China, such as supercomputers, that can be used for weapons design and communications decryption.
Given China's technological advances, though, some U.S. business leaders argue that the restrictions may be irrelevant.
Indeed, officials at a company here, Galactic Computing Shenzhen, have boasted to local media that they will build the world's fastest supercomputer. Its Taiwan-born, U.S.-educated founder, Steve Chen, declined requests for an interview.
China is skirting U.S. restrictions in other ways. In a snub to the Pentagon's control of the Global Positioning System, which allows tracking of any object on Earth, China recently joined Europe's Galileo system, a move with geopolitical and military significance. Plans call for building 30 positioning satellites. Galileo may prove a counterweight to GPS, which allows pinpoint accuracy for weapons guidance.
In many ways, China seems to have many conditions that would allow rapid technological advancement. After all, its universities pump out 219,000 engineers annually, compared with 59,000 in the United States.
But an examination of the growing high-tech portion of China's exports shows that a huge percentage came not from Chinese companies but from foreign-invested companies, primarily American, such as Motorola, or Taiwanese.
"About 85 percent of high-tech products are actually exported by foreign-invested companies," said Kroeber, the managing editor of the economics publication.
Promising research often comes from foreign-educated scientists. Foreign-trained experts have turned Nanjing in eastern China into a hotbed of stem-cell research, saying China has none of the ethical qualms about such study that roil the United States. A scientist in China, for example, is placing human genetic material into the cells of other mammals in an effort to learn how to repair damaged organs.
Others are examining other technologies that promise to improve human health.
After returning from postdoctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hu Gengxi founded the company Shanghai HealthDigit, which makes state-of-the-art protein chips that can provide early detection of up to 12 common cancers when exposed to patients' blood.
"This is a very effective way to test tumors at an early stage. It's easy to operate. ... It's non-invasive," said Yu Tijun, the executive director of the Shanghai office of Ming Yuan Holdings, a Hong Kong company that bought HealthDigit last year.
Small private companies may hold promise for China's high-tech advancement.
"The real competitors from China are companies that we don't even know about yet. They are companies with $3 million to $5 million in sales now, which are growing very fast. When they finally show up in your radar screen, it will almost be impossible to stop them," said Ming Zeng, an expert at China's Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.
Others are far less sanguine, saying the government meddles too much in companies once they grow, leading them into areas with no commercial appeal.
For example, seeking to reduce the country's reliance on foreign technology, the government asked China's household appliance company Haier Group to replicate a power-conservation electronic chip, worth about 10 cents, that goes in washing machines, said Anne Stevenson-Yang, an American and a longtime resident of China who's followed technology developments.
"Why would you spend $5 million learning how to make a chip worth 10 cents?" she asked.
Stevenson-Yang said she wasn't worried that China was building technological competence that could threaten U.S. dominance.
"I'm sorry for China that its political system makes it so hard for its scientists to excel," she said. "All of these really cool technologies that I've seen here just never go anywhere because of the political-economic structure of the country."
(c) 2005, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
PHOTOS (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): CHINA-TECHNOLOGY
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Graze has abandoned its long-standing ‘natural’ brown appearance after a decade, having spawned countless copycats with similar looks.
Focusing on a palette of brighter colours, the pack revamp is starting to appear in retail across nearly 400 SKUs, with rollout expected to be completed by September. It means goodbye to the rustic brown design the brand pioneered on its launch in 2008.
“For many years, we were very happy with it,” Graze CEO Anthony Fletcher told The Grocer. “It looked original and showed consumers we cared about the recyclable credentials of our product.”
However, the business began to realise a couple of years ago that it wasn’t “quite so distinctive anymore” he added. Many rivals used similar packaging, flooding the better-for-you sector with “natural, wholesome colours”.
While Graze faced increasing competition from both larger suppliers and start-up brands, it had the “highest level of brand recognition” in its category through its name and logo, said Fletcher. “That allows us to do something a little different with our packaging.”
Traditionally, Graze has created all its own branding. But for this change, which began in earnest around nine months ago, the brand sought help from Jones Knowles Ritchie.
The creative agency wanted to help Graze “capture the spirit of imagination and innovation at the centre of the business and place it at the heart of their brand identity” said JKR strategy director Lee Rolston.
“We believe the simplicity, standout and bold nature of the rebrand will act as the perfect platform for the next wave of growth for Graze.”
Set to be backed by a £2m push from September, the new look will be followed by innovation. “We’re interested in what else we can do with oats,” Fletcher said, revealing that a “breakfast proposition” featuring a probiotic yoghurt drizzle would launch imminently.
The brand would also look at using “clean” plant protein, he added. “We’ve got lots of ideas about where we can take that over the next couple of years.”