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Now, according to a 2012 Nielsen Co. survey on branded trail mixes, Kar's Sweet 'N Salty Mix is the No. 1 branded trail mix in the nation. Kar's sells more than 26 million pounds of the product a year.
The company generated $78 million in total revenue last year and expects to surpass $90 million this year.
Besides its most popular product, Kar's makes other trail mixes, roasted nuts and sunflower seeds, and other products sold in large wholesalers like Sam's Club and Costco, grocery chains like Meijer, Kroger and Spartan Stores, and convenience stores across the country.
In January, Kar's invested in more than $2 million in equipment upgrades and plant expansion to its operation in Madison Heights to keep up with growing production demand. It nearly doubled production capacity through the installation of robotic product packaging lines.
Before the upgrades, the company was producing about 2,500 pounds of product an hour, Kar's President Nick Nicolay said. Now, it can produce 12,000 pounds of product an hour, up to 180,000 pounds a day.
The company started with Kar and her brother Ed Krempa running the business out of her kitchen until 1946, when they moved operations to a 54,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on Wanda Street in Ferndale.
The Nicolay family purchased the company in 1967 for an undisclosed amount. At the time, Kar's revenue totaled about $6 million.
But Nicolay said it wasn't until a 30-minute internal meeting birthed the creation of the Sweet 'N Salty Mix in 1997 that the company began realizing its full potential.
"We thought a sweet and salty trail mix would be a good alternative to candy bars in vending machines in the summertime," Nicolay said. "But it quickly became more than a seasonal item."
In fact, Kar's has seen four consecutive years of double-digit growth driven primarily by its Sweet 'N Salty trail mix.
The company's big break came in 2002 when Bentonville, Ark.-based Sam's Club wanted to carry Kar's Sweet 'N Salty Mix in all of its stores across the country.
Its first order was for 350,000 2-ounce packages.
"We were just a little guy," Nicolay said. "That first order was equivalent to an entire week's of sales for us -- so all of a sudden, we had to find the packaging, warehouse and capacity."
Sam's Club generates about $13 million in annual sales for Kar's, Nicolay said.
Sam's Club's order prompted Nicolay, who took over as president of Kar's in 1995, to move the company into a 131,000-square-foot facility at 1200 E. 14 Mile Road in Madison Heights where it roasts, mixes and packages more than 150 products.
Kar's isn't the only trail mix player in Southeast Michigan, and other companies are also adding products and capacity.
Frank Germack III, co-owner of Detroit-based Germack Pistachio Co., said he, too, is looking at new product offerings to boost sales.
Germack is working on several new products, including a Hawaiian line of trail mix, to sell on the TV home shopping network QVC.
"We are trying to pick up customers outside of the metro area," Germack said.
QVC features Germack products up to three times a week, he said.
Germack said the company is also creating a line of new specialty mixes, including Crispy Corn and Cashew Savory Crunch and Pretzel Mini Bites Gourmet Medley. Last year, it began roasting and selling Germack-branded coffee, and is working on a line of nut butters.
Nicolay said one of Kar's newer lines of business is its healthier trail mixes, called Second Nature. These products, introduced in 2008, generated about $10 million in sales last year.
Kar's next target is getting on more grocery store shelves.
"We are continuing our attack to get in grocery store chains," Nicolay said. "We are looking to the West Coast. There is a lot of geography left."


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domain: news


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News Corp.’s (NWS) Web group is building out its own video search tool, an exec told the McGraw-Hill Media Summit today.
Ron Berryman, who runs the Fox Stations Group at Fox Interactive Media, says FIM is building new search capabilities to supplement its current tools, which can only find video that has been labelled with metadata tags. Since there are only a handful of tags for each video, searchers often can’t find what they need.
It’s a common complaint among video execs: Yesterday a Google official said his company was trying to move beyond tag-based search for YouTube.
Berryman also said that while FIM is committed to streaming TV shows on the Web, right now it’s a money-losing proposition for the company: Streaming costs are too high, and there isn’t enough ad inventory to cover them, he said.
“Today you have just the pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll,” he said. “If you stay in that mode it won’t work.”
“You can have 700,000 viewers, but if you’re only putting in five spots, the revenue, the CPMs, aren’t going to be there,” he said. “We are not making money on it today.” He added, partly in jest: “Rupert has given us 48 hours” to work it out.
Berryman predicted that streaming would remain unprofitable until the cost of distribution comes down to the 4 cent to 5 cent per stream range. He said currently FIM is paying 9 cents to stream a show, but didn’t specify what length he was talking about.
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Iceland volcano tours to the Eyjafjallajokull eruption are on the increase as tour operators try to keep up with the demand from tourists wanting to see the volcano. Numerous day trips to see the Iceland volcano eruption are on offer and Icelandtotal.com, Iceland’s One Stop Travel Shop provide a broad selection of volcano tours to supply for specific needs.
Currently around 10-15 super Jeeps and 2-3 coaches, which is the equivalent of 200 people, drive to the volcano eruption site every night. With the influx of travellers to Iceland and the tourist season soon reaching its peak, this figure is likely to multiply departure times and more tours will consequently take place.
Vignir Gudjonsson, manager of Icelandtotal.com explained, “The volcano tours have proved to be a major hit and contradictory to some recent reports, the volcano at Eyjafjallajokull is of no threat to visitors, as long as they are accompanied by professional guides.”
There is no sign of the volcano eruption coming to an end and it is impossible to tell when the eruption will stop; it could be tomorrow, it could be in a years’ time. However, as long as the volcano is erupting, tour operators in the Iceland travel industry will continue to offer volcano tours.
Gudjonsson added, “Travellers in Iceland realise that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness an active volcano. You can’t compare this experience with anything else and people know that they are witnessing something extraordinary.”
Photographer: Anders Peter Amsnæs/www.imagix.dk


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Broadband providers will be required to display easy-to-understand labels to allow consumers to compare broadband services under the new FCC rules.
The rules were mandated by the Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act (IIJA), passed late last year.
The labels, which resemble the well-known nutrition labels that appear on food products, will display, at the point of sale, details about speeds, fees, data allowances and other essential information.
Among the requirements of the FCC order:
- Prominent display: Consumers must be able to see their true label when buying broadband by requiring providers to display the label – and not just an icon or link to the label – near an associated package advertisement .
- Account portals: ISPs must make each customer’s label readily available to the customer in their online account portal, as well as provide the label to an existing customer upon request.
- machine readability: To further facilitate price comparison, vendors should make label information machine-readable to allow third parties to more easily collect and aggregate data for the purpose of creating price comparison tools for consumers. consumers.
The FCC order also includes a model label, developed by consumers, consumer advocates, and government and industry experts during the hearings and rule-making process. There are specific rules, which can be found in the FCC order.
The FCC also adopted a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on ways to further refine and improve its rules to ensure it pursues its transparency goals for consumers.
“Broadband is an essential service, for everyone, everywhere. For this reason, consumers need to know what they are paying for and how it compares to other service offerings,” President Jessica Rosenworcel said in a prepared statement. “For more than 25 years, consumers have enjoyed the convenience of nutrition labels on food products. We now require ISPs to display broadband labels for wireless and wireline services. Consumers deserve accurate information about price, speed, data allowances, and other terms of service up-front. »
The FCC will announce the effective date of the label after completing the
next steps, including requirements under the Red Tape Reduction Act.


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India's withdrawal from RCEP resulted in India losing out on the opportunity of re-shoring of Japanese investment from China, writes S. Majumder for South Asia Monitor
Japanese investment in India nosedived in 2020. It plunged more than half (54.9 percent) in 2020 against the country’s investment in 2019. No doubt, it is at par with declining Japanese global investment, which tapered in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, the dip in the Japanese investment in India raised eyebrows. This is because major investors like the US, Singapore, UK and the Netherlands raised their investments in India in 2020. Analysts argued about the sudden fall in the Japanese investment, even as the other foreign investors remained upbeat despite the pandemic. This is more surprising considering that Japanese investors were euphoric about India in 2019, according to a survey by Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
Against this backdrop, a moderately slow fall in Japanese investment in China, which should have been at rock bottom after Tokyo incentivized a shift of investment from China, surprised the observers. It dropped by only 7.5 percent in 2020, against the global average fall of 33.5 percent of Japanese investment.
Why did the Japanese euphoria on India disappear? One section of analysts argued that downturn in profitability and losses suffered by Japanese investors in India dented Japanese sentiment. More than 50 percent of Japanese investors surveyed in India projected losses in their operating profits in 2020, according to a JETRO survey. This is the highest among all nations in the world.
Ironically, the ratio of losses in China was at a low ebb - 19.5 percent. This shows that Japanese investors were not put off by the Japanese government’s discouragement and would like to continue to repose confidence in China’s potential.
India’s withdrawal from RCEP
Besides the negative sentiment following large-scale losses, India’s withdrawal from Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) infused a new drag on Japanese sentiment.
Several Japanese subsidiaries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established close tie-ups with Japanese investors in India under the gamut of India- ASEAN FTA. A large part of components, parts and intermediates are imported into India from these subsidiaries under FTA. With India not joining the RCEP last year, Japanese subsidiaries are more likely to divert business interests towards the RCEP member countries. It offers a bigger market and ensures sustainability in duty-free access.
This goes against India’s resurrection of protectionism amid the Covid-19 pandemic and its comparatively smaller market than the trade block. Nearly 400 items are under consideration for a hike in customs duties, according to the Budget 2021-22.
RCEP accounts for 27 percent of global merchandise trade and 30 percent of global Goss Domestic Product (GDP). Its market size by imports is ten times bigger than India. This provides more scope for the Japanese subsidiaries in ASEAN to do profitable business within the block. Eventually, the new dynamism in global trade, driven by the large multilateral trade block, will attract more Japanese investment in RCEP.
Given the situation, it is clear that the increase in Japanese investment in Thailand and Malaysia during the pandemic was the logical fallout of re-shoring of Japanese investment from China, following the Japanese government’s decision to strategically decouple from China. To this end, India's withdrawal from RCEP resulted in India losing out on the opportunity of re-shoring of Japanese investment from China.
India’s vast digital market
India witnessed a major structural change in foreign investment during the pandemic. Notwithstanding the raging viral disease, FDI in the country went up by over 19 percent in 2020-21. Unperturbed US investors increased investment by over 290 percent in the said fiscal. Other major foreign investors, such as Singapore, the Netherlands and the UK, followed the US footprint. The digital economy emerged as the pivot in the spike in India’s FDI inflows. The US investors were allured by India’s target of a USD 1 trillion digital market by 2025.
Demand for digital services increased rapidly during the Covid-induced lockdown as a means of reducing human contract. India has nearly half a billion internet connections – the second highest in the world - and the second most number of smartphone users, thus emerging as a global leader in digital economy.
Globally, the Japanese race in digital transformation is slower than developed geographies like the US, China, European Union as also S. Korea and even India, according to a McKinsey survey. One of the reasons is the lack of adaptability to digital transformation in Japan. The barriers restricting Japanese challenges for digital transformation were the lack of digital talents and understanding among the senior corporate managers.
The survey found that the cultural entrenchment of the senior managers (such as seniority by age, lifelong employment in one company) deflated the understanding of the benefits of the digital economy. Eventually, the lack of support from the senior managers cast its shadow on digital transformation in Japan, according to the survey.
US investors stepped into Indian shoes for building a new model of the economy to push Make in India. On the contrary, Japanese investors lagged in pursuing India’s new vision. They continued to rely on the formal economy like the automobile and the electronic sectors. Automobile and electronic industries are import-intensive industries. These industries suffered a backlash with the protectionist moves in the post-Covid period.
The pandemic dented the automobile industry in India, which is dominated by the Japanese. In April 2020, not a single car was sold in the country, making history. This resulted in a major fall in operational profit of Japanese companies in India. The sharp decline in auto sales and financial crunch in small and medium scale industries related to auto component industries had a debilitating impact on Japanese investment in India.
(The writer is former Adviser, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), New Delhi. The views expressed are personal)


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Dairy alternatives rise as consumers going dairy-free
More recently, biotechnology has entered the arena, brewing milk proteins through biofermentation.
The time is right for the dairy sector to reflect on the success of alternative dairy products and to consider applying those lessons to dairy, according to the latest RaboResearch dairy report Dare Not to Dairy - What the Rise of Dairy-Free Means for Dairy... and How the Industry Can Respond.
Dairy alternatives have competed in the dairy space for decades, but competition has intensified as dairy alternatives broaden in types, styles, and categories of product.
Global retail sales growth for dairy alternatives has soared at a rate of 8 percent annually over the last ten years. With retail sales valued at $15.6bn, dairy-free ‘milk’ represented 12 percent of total fluid milk and alternative sales globally in 2017, according to Euromonitor.
Nutrition, price, and flavour tend to favour dairy, but changing consumer perceptions around health, lifestyle choices, curiosity, and perceived sustainability are increasingly drawing more people to select ‘dairy-free’ products.
The challenge for dairy lies mostly in fluid milk, where retail sales in western Europe ($18.6bn) and the US ($12.5bn) declined at an annual rate of 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively, in the five years to 2017, according to Euromonitor.
The results over the last five years have favoured dairy players who have invested in milk alternatives across the supply chain – from planting almond trees to buying brands.
The investments in dairy alternatives have shown returns above standalone dairy. ■


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Posted Mon Oct 2, 2006 at 11:16 PM PDT by
Like something out of a William Castle movie, the two companies have just finalized a three-year pact that will see the studio release a series of "D-Box enhanced" Blu-ray titles. Each will include codes embedded in the program content that synchronizes D-Box's luxury line of motion-equipped home theater seats with the movement in a scene on a disc.
"We are impressed with what we have seen," said Danny Kaye, senior VP of research and technology strategy at Fox. "After color and sound, we believe motion could be the next big wave in movie viewing. We feel that D-box is a pioneer and are pleased to be partnered with them."
So far, only one upcoming Fox Blu-ray title has been confirmed to include the D-Box enhancement, 'Flight of the Phoenix,' which streets December 5. The studio plans to follow that up with additional 10 to 30 titles in the coming months.
Now, if only the technology would come with a special "Ejector Seat" button to get rid of pesky neighbors and unwanted friends, we'd be totally sold. In any case, we'll keep you posted on future "D-Box Enhanced" titles as they are announced.
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.


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[dropcap]T[/dropcap]igers South Africa, subsidiary of Hong Kong-based logistics company Tigers Logistics has announced the opening of an e-commerce center at its warehouse facility in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The logistics provider said it invested in the center to support growing global e-commerce markets.
The center is equipped with an IT infrastructure connected to Tiger’s ScanPak, which allows staff to conduct scan checks while packing shipments and create waybills for packages.
Together, the IT infrastructure and app are intended to ensure efficient operations at the facility. Following use of the app at this facility, it will roll out the use of the app at its Cape Town warehouse by the end of August, Tigers South Africa said.
“E-commerce is a key market for Tigers, particularly as digital technology and online retail continues to drive innovation in the logistics and supply chain sector,” said Tigers CEO Andres Jilings.
“The new dedicated e-commerce center in South Africa is an important investment in the future direction of Tigers and is a testament to the hard work of the team in South Africa in developing the facility,” he continued.
The parent company has made major expansions since the start of the year, including doubling its storage capacity in Miami, adding cargo screening tech to its operations in Australia, and expanding its digitalized services as the launch customer for freight rate quote startup, Doozee.


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Realme C2 to be available on May 15, next sales to go live on May 23 and May 31
The Realme C2 2GB+16GB is priced at Rs 5,999, whereas, the 3GB RAM variant carries a price tag of Rs 7,999.
Oppo's former subsidiary Realme launched a new budget smartphone last month in the Indian market. Following the launch of the Realme 3, the company announced Realme C2 smartphone along with the Realme 3 Pro . The smartphone carries a sub 6k price tag and comes with some modern set of features such as a dual-rear camera setup and waterdrop style notch among others.
Realme C2 first sale and pricing details:
The Realme C2 is going up for its first sale on May 15 in the Indian market. This will be a flash sale which will go live on Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart's platform. Additionally, the smartphone will also be available for purchase on company's online retail store, i.e, realme.com. The sale will go live at 12:00PM sharp.
The smartphone is launched two different storage and RAM configurations. The standard variant which has 2GB RAM ad 16GB internal storage carries a price label of Rs 5,999. The top-end variant which has 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage comes with Rs 7,999 price tag. The smartphone can be purchased from Black and Blue color options.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has also announced the next flash dates of the Realme C2. The budget smartphone will be made available again in India on May 23 and May 31. The flash sale on these dates will also begin at 12:00 PM. The sale will be live on Flipkart as well as realme.com.
Coming to the specifications, the Realme C2 adorns a 6.1-inch IPS LCD display panel with a resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels. The display comes with a dewdrop style notch which houses an AI backed 5MP selfie camera. The dual-lens camera setup at the rear panel comprises of a 13MP (f/2.2) aperture primary sensor and a 2MP depth lens. The fingerprint scanner is also housed at the rear panel.
The smartphone makes use of an entry-level octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 chipset which clocks at 2.0GHz. The processor is paired with PowerVR GE8320 GPU to render graphics smoothly. The device comes with up to 3GB RAM and 32GB of native storage which one can expand to up to 256GB using a microSD card. To keep everything in check, the device packs a non-removable 4000mAh battery.


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My kind of aesthetic: these half-LCD, half brushed metal watches that get the tech-futurism across without bashing you over the head with binary-encoded time, 60 LEDs, etc. They're available in four colours on Etsy, the eBay for homemade goods, directly from the designer in a run of 500 for $US185 each, which isn't bad at all. [Void Watches, Etsy via Technabob and BBG]
Void v.01 LCD Watch: Tokyo Flash For Minamalists
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Photo. Natacha Pisarenko/AP While watching the FIFA World Cup a few weeks ago, my boss noticed players sitting in race car seats, and ordered me to figure out why. So I reached out to one of the biggest race car seat manufacturers, Recaro. Here's what I learned.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accused one of the British divers involved in the rescue of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach from the flooded Tham Luang cave complex of being a pedophile on Saturday in retaliation for questioning Musk’s contributions to the rescue effort.


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MILAN — Buccellati has found a new home in New York, where it will introduce an updated store concept by the end of October.
Positioned in a five-floor townhouse in a premium location on Madison Avenue, among such brands as David Yurman, Graff, Chopard and Girard-Perregaux, the venue will cover a total of 6,480 square feet, of which 3,240 square feet will be dedicated to commercial space. Haute joaillerie, the bridal engagement and silver collections, bespoke watches and a VIP area will be available over three floors. The fourth level will house a showroom, and the top story will be a space dedicated to parties and events.
The new concept has been designed by Vudafieri Saverino Partners. Architects Tiziano Vudafieri and Claudio Saverino are known in fashion circles for creating concept stores for brands including Tod’s, Roger Vivier, Moschino, Emilio Pucci and Jimmy Choo, in addition to restaurants in Milan such as Pisacco.
“It’s the perfect location,” said chief executive officer Thierry Andretta, explaining that the prime positioning “accelerated” the decision-making. The new store will also allow the brand to expand, as the current space, also on Madison Avenue, at 1,404 square feet, is too small, he noted.
“America is the most important market in terms of notoriety, visibility and affection,” said Andretta. “There has always been a particular attention to us.” The brand has been available in the U.S. since 1952 and today the U.S. accounts for just less than 40 percent of total sales — for which a figure was not provided.
Americans are also among the main customers in Europe, along with shoppers from Russia, Japan, China and the Middle East.
Retail accounts for more than 50 percent of the company’s sales and Andretta said there are no plans to change this balance, continuing to highly select distribution. “Our development passes through highly identified and personalized stores. The positioning is so high that the brand needs to be explained and described,” said the executive, citing as an example how the engraving of a ring takes from eight to 28 hours.
The new store concept blends tradition and modernity, said Vudafieri, and “tells with subliminal messages” Buccellati’s history. For this reason, the architects maintained a number of “signs” from the previous concepts, such as traditional panels in damask fabric and the classic golden glass showcases, while bringing the brand forward.
The combination of tradition and contemporary design, said Vudafieri, includes a dark oak wood floor set in a classic Versailles pattern, vertically striped walls in smoked molten glass alternated with strips of brushed oak and new “superminimal” display cases on which classic Buccellati golden bronze capitals are mounted. The furniture, chairs and sofas are from storied Italian furniture and design firm Giorgetti.
Andretta said the store will be associated with the arts. The first artist selected is contemporary artist Riccardo Beretta, incidentally also chosen by Fondazione Prada for its latest exhibition at the Venice Biennale. For Buccellati, Beretta is creating panels worked as paintings in inlaid and chiseled wood to be displayed on the ground floor of the boutique and in its VIP room. “It’s a very sophisticated concept with an equally sophisticated artisanal quality,” said Vudafieri, noting the closeness to Buccellati’s own craftsmanship.
Andretta said the idea is to create “a warm welcoming space, such as a home.”
The company is set to open a second store in Bal Harbour, Fla., covering almost 700 square feet. “It’s very important as an access to South American customers,” explained Andretta of the location. Coming up soon: a space at Neiman Marcus in Palm Beach, which will grant “visibility to tourists.”
There are two existing stores in London, and units in Milan, Paris and the luxury resort town Cala di Volpe in Sardinia. In the U.S., there are venues in New York, Chicago, Aspen and Beverly Hills. Gradually, each store will be revamped. The New York blueprint will not necessarily be replicated globally. Andretta said the company is looking for “the right” location in Hong Kong, given its “strong growth.”
Private equity firm Clessidra SGR acquired a majority stake in Buccellati last year, with the namesake family still maintaining shares in the firm. As part of its new course, the brand is also launching a new, modernized logo. Creative director Andrea Buccellati is now flanked by his designer daughter, Lucrezia.
EXCLUSIVE: @tomford is opening its first-ever beauty store. The boutique, which opens November 20 in London’s Covent Gardens, was designed with the over-the-top glam Ford is known for. Read the full story on WWD.com, link in bio. #wwdbeauty #wwdnews (📷: Simon Wagner) #TomFordBeauty
New York-based DJ @harleyvnewton threw a party to celebrate the holiday collection of her dress and pajama line @hvn at the Ladurée Beverly Hills. It Girls @katebosworth, @rashidajones and more joined in on the fun, which included cocktails, croque monsieur sandwiches and a photo booth. #wwdfashion (📷: Owen Kolasinski/BFA.com)
For the holidays, @Burberry partnered with 20-year-old artist @blondeymccoy on a series of three outdoor murals in downtown Manhattan. The murals are McCoy’s interpretation of a Christmas eve party, the idea of charity and the spirit of family. His third mural, pictured here, is the most personal. The image depicts McCoy’s grandparents and father in London’s Trafalgar Square in the Seventies. “My work often features lots of sentimental objects.” #wwdeye
For spring 2018, designers applied bold colors and cartoonish motifs on everything from sneakers and belts to key chains. See all the top men’s accessories trends on WWD.com. #wwdtrends (📷: George Chinsee; Prop Styling by @rnasti; Market Editor: @luiscampuzano)
The @dior-sponsored @guggenheim international gala pre-party has a history of drawing cool-girl musical acts to serenade the crowd –– and last night was no exception. @haimtheband performed songs both new and old, and lured a star-studded audience with the likes of Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Mamoudou Athie and more. #wwdeye (📷: @lexieblacklock)
In a partnership between the @metopera and the @englishnationalopera, “Marnie” was born. The opera, with costumes sponsored by @mrporterlive, is an adaptation of the 1961 thriller by Winston Graham. Arianne Phillips, who created the costumes, is no rookie: She’s styled Madonna for her tours and created costumes for a myriad of films in the past. Read WWD’s interview with Phillips, where she talks about her inspiration for the opera’s costumes on WWD.com #wwdfashion
@barneysnyc took a different approach to their holiday windows this year. Instead of Christmas decor, Barneys tapped @thehaasbrothers to tell a story of positivity, gratitude and inclusivity via heartwarming silliness and humor. “It’s about kids and it’s about coming together and being family and loving each other,” said Simon Haas. #wwdfashion (📷: @joshuascottphoto)
Beauty influencer @kandeejohnson makes her foray into hair care with a collaboration with @ogx_beauty — making it the first time that OGX has teamed up for a product creation. The collab includes shampoos and conditioners in three scents. At 39 and a mom, Johnson is a different profile than the emerging social media stars, but is considered one of the pioneers of the digital beauty influencer world. Read WWD’s interview with her on wwd.com, including the strangest beauty product she’s ever tried #wwdbeauty


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Cancel adult friend finder
Meanwhile, the person who originally dumped the information on the so-called darkweb, who uses the nickname ROR[RG}, is demanding more than £10,000 for access to the database of users, and capitalising on the news by marketing his cybercrime services.“I have had so many people ask me to buy the db [database] today,” the hacker wrote on the same forum where the original leak appeared, asking for payment in the anonymised currency Bitcoin.Nevertheless, if you have visited adultfriendfinder.com, it might have been that Adultfriendfinder Cookie silently landed on your browser no matter if you are using Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer.Those cookies are not considered to be malicious as they cannot collect personally identifiable information, such as credit card details or passwords.“Friend Finder employees receive hundreds of sales and marketing spam messages daily, including many from third party cyber security consultants, and any earlier communication on this specific issue was directed to junk mail folders and not considered a legitimate email,” the company said in a statement.In addition to launching an internal review, Friend Finder Networks has hired Mandiant, a high-profile cybersecurity company, to investigate the hack, and is working with the FBI.On November 13, 2016, it was reported that a database of over 412 million accounts, including usernames, e-mails, and passwords, had been breached and leaked from several Friend Finder Networks websites.
It has cautioned that, unless it can repay or restructure its obligation, it will face “a material deficiency in our short term liquidity.” With these shortfalls in mind, the company again announced an intention to make an initial public offering of stock, representing a 49% stake in the company, with plans to use the proceeds to pay down its debt and become listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Much of the company's growth without investment capital has been attributed to its affiliate program, with more than 500,000 affiliates to date.
As of January 17, 2010, Friend Finder Networks had a negative net worth equal to 8 million, million in cash on hand and 0 million in liabilities.
Friend Finder was launched in 1996 by Andrew Conru.
After discovering that users had been using the service to seek sexual partners, he launched Adult Friend Finder as a spin-off, followed later by other spin-offs dealing with different regions and niches.


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The global pharmaceutical market continues to boast reassuring fundamentals. Estimated to be worth $880 billion in 2011, this market has consistently generated positive annual growth in recent years.
A market with bright days ahead of it
“Demand for drugs in all countries in the world is set to remain strong in 2012, despite the slowdown in world growth. However, it is undergoing a major transformation”,
explains Ludovic Subran
, Chief Economist of Euler Hermes Group. The structural dynamism of the pharmaceutical sector will continue to be determined by trends specific to this sector, notably the convergence of the wealth effect, the demographic effect and the growing share of public healthcare financing.
As a result, this robust demand is gradually shifting towards the growth opportunities represented by emerging regions and generic drugs. Between 2009 and 2015, demand for generic drugs is set to be three times greater than that in the overall pharmaceutical market, driven by the growing weight of emerging markets compared with historical markets in developed countries, which are preoccupied with the size of deficits in some public healthcare insurance systems. Moreover, the reservoir of growth in emerging markets is, at present, only a medium-term Eldorado for big global pharma groups.
The gulf between spending power in emerging countries and mature countries is acting as a brake on this growth channel: “In 2011, per capita drug consumption stood at $1,100 in the US, compared with just $15 in India and $40 in China”,
points out Marc Livinec
, Sector Advisor at Euler Hermes Group.
Big pharma groups are seeking to adapt
“The concerns of big pharma groups are partly related to flagging R&D. This trend is explained by the fourfold increase in the cost price of a new drug over the past 15 years and much more rigorous approval criteria by healthcare agencies”, says Marc Livinec.
Big pharma groups are also faced with the development of cheaper generic alternatives, fuelled by the mass expiry of patents on many of their blockbuster drugs. The alternative of focusing on other families of drugs, such as vaccines or self-medication products, is no panacea for big pharma groups given their modest contribution and growth rates.
Growing profitability disparities
The golden age of very high profitability for big pharma groups appears to be over. Although average operating margins should remain high at 20.5% in 2012, this represents a drop of 2.5 points from 2011 and 4 points from 2006.
European pharma groups, whose margins are set to exceed those of their US counterparts by 5 points in 2012 (operating margins are forecast to average 18% in the US in 2012, compared with 22.5% in Europe), are proving more resilient. The US giants are more affected by patent expiries and the repercussions of strong industry concentration. Of the 105,000 jobs axed in the pharmaceutical industry over the period 2009-2011, three-quarters were in the US. In contrast, US biotechnology companies, which are better financed than their European peers, are in fine health.
Generic manufacturers are in excellent financial health, with margins forecast to grow by 6% in 2012. “Weakened by the patent cliff, approval difficulties and their positioning in slower-growing mature markets, big pharma groups, which still generate substantial cash flow, will probably end up losing market share to generic manufacturers, unless they simply acquire them”, concludes Ludovic Subran.


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Killer cereal market hits Weetabix
Family-owned breakfast cereal business Weetabix has suffered its first fall in profits for years, it has been revealed.
The British firm, which also owns the Alpen muesli and Ready Brek brands, has posted annual results for 2000 which reveal pre-tax profits fell to £51.1m from £53.5m in 1999.
In 1999 the firm warned of flat profits thanks to intense conmpetition in the war to provide the nations' favourite breakfast.
Turnover at the firm, based in Burton Latimer, Northhants, rose to £341.4m last year from £308.7m the year before.
In his chairman's review, the firm's controller, Sir Richard George, says: 'The most significant achievement of the year has been the rise of Weetabix to the number one brand in the UK, taking over from Corn Flakes.'
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Lower costs and stronger sales in Brown Shoe Co.’s wholesale division helped drive a solid quarter for the St. Louis-based firm.
Earnings vaulted up 55 percent to $6.2 million, or 14 cents a diluted share. The result beat analysts’ forecast of 10 cents and was higher than the $4 million, or 9 cents a diluted share, in the prior corresponding period.
Revenue for the quarter fell 3 percent to $600 million, versus $618.7 million in the year-ago period. The result missed analysts’ expectations of $621.2 million.
Boosting the quarterly result was strength in the St. Louis-based firm’s wholesale division, which reported a 13.5 percent rise in sales to $196.3 million. Sales for the contemporary wholesale division surged 28.2 percent. Revenues hit $89.1 million due to strong demand for the Sam Edelman and Franco Sarto brands.
On the strong performance of the wholesale business, Diane Sullivan, chairman, president and CEO, told Footwear News in an exclusive interview, “The good news was it was across the entire portfolio. And in our contemporary fashion business, Sam Edelman had an almost 50 percent increase in business in the quarter.”
Meanwhile, Famous Footwear sales for the quarter dropped 8.6 percent to $347.4 million, with same-store sales falling 1.8 percent, largely due to the unseasonably cold winter, which tapered demand for athletic shoes but drove higher boot sales, management said.
On a conference call with investors and analysts, Sullivan said, “Unfortunately, a fabulous 2013 ended with one of the snowiest and coldest winters in recent memory, and we lost nearly 4 percent of our potential selling days in the fourth quarter due to weather. Accordingly, we saw an increase — as you would imagine — in boot sales, which were up 7.5 percent, but athletic sales were down 5.1 percent.”
For the full year, reported earnings were $38.1 million, or 88 cents a diluted share, versus $27.5 million, or 64 cents. Adjusted for one-off items, earnings were $61.5 million, or $1.41 a diluted share. Brown posted sales of $2.51 billion for the year, 1.4 percent higher than the $2.48 billion reported in 2012.
Looking ahead, Sullivan told FN, “We have decent expectations for 2014, although we’re off to a bit of a slow start with all the weather out there.
“We expect the first quarter to be flat to a little bit down on last year, but as we look to our hot and warm-weather shoe markets, we see really strong velocity,” she said, adding that Brown’s management is very bullish on the company’s performance in fiscal 2014 once the weather turns.
She also predicted that shoes designed for the relaxed, casual category will be a hot trend for the year. “Anytime we have canvas slip-on shoes, they perform extremely well, and the relaxed vibe is selling,” Sullivan said.
For fiscal 2014, Brown predicted earnings of between $1.45 and $1.55 a diluted share on revenue of between $2.58 billion and $2.6 billion.
Brown CFO Russ Hammer added, “For 2014, we expect to continue to deliver toward our long-term goals while balancing our realistic outlook in terms of the economy, the consumer and the weather, especially this early in the year.”
Shares of Brown Shoe were 4.2 percent higher, at $26.47, in afternoon trading.


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(by Jesse Smith | Truth Unmuted) – Google is joining Apple in allowing the ability to house digital versions of IDs, driver’s licenses, and vaccine certificates, tickets and more. From NFC World,
Google is rolling out a digital wallet that will enable users to store, use and present digital identity documents and driving licences as well as payment cards, transit and event tickets, boarding and loyalty passes, health documents such as Covid-19 vaccination certificates, hotel keys and office badges on their Android smartphone or Wear OS smartwatch.
In addition to Google Wallet, the company is also to launch virtual payment cards on Android and Chrome that will enable consumers in the USA to make online payments without needing to reveal their card number or manually enter a card verification value (CVV) number at checkout.
Users of the new Google Wallet will be able to add digital cards, tickets and other documents directly from apps and websites operated by transit agencies, retailers, ticket providers, health agencies and airlines that support the service, and Google says that it is also currently “working on ways to make it easy to add objects directly from your phone, too”.
Following the launch of the new Google Wallet, the company will continue to develop Google Pay as “a companion app where you can do more payment-focused things like send and receive money from friends or businesses, discover offers from your favourite retailers or manage your transactions,” Google says.


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Facebook Inc. is planning to introduce “drastically simplified” tools for privacy controls Wednesday, a move aimed at easing concerns about how the site handles user information, according to Bloomberg News.
“The last few weeks have been extremely humbling,” Chris Cox, vice president of product at Facebook, said during a technology conference in New York today.
Users are complaining that Facebook makes it too easy for outsiders to access their personal information. People want easier, simpler ways to opt out of sharing data with applications and websites, said Facebook, the world’s most popular for social-networking site.
The company plans to discuss the changes at an event in Palo Alto, California, at 1:30 p.m. EST, Bloomberg reported.
Read the entire story at Bloomberg News


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OAK BROOK, Ill.
- June 26, 2020
-- The People's Choice Hospital (PCH) is a leader in health care and the company specializes in turning around financially distressed hospitals. People's Choice Hospital (PCH) has experience with numerous financially struggling hospitals and has used its innovative technology and business models to generate new revenue streams for hospitals. While a lawsuit had recently been pending between People's Choice Hospital (PCH) and a commercial insurance company (Aetna), among others, the claims of PCH misconduct by the commercial insurance company have been dismissed. A Stipulation of Dismissal was publicly filed in federal court. PCH continues to seek out new opportunities to use the company's innovative technology and business models to partner with, and generate new revenue streams for financially struggling hospitals. Those interested may contact People's Choice Hospital (PCH) by phone at (312) 763-9604 or via email at email@example.com
or online at peopleschoicehospital.com


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You probably want to take this with a huge pinch of salt, but we are hearing rumors that the recently announced Samsung Nexus S, headed to T-Mobile, is also on the way to Verizon Wireless as one of their new 4G LTE devices.
As reported from Phandroid, information has surfaced from AndroidGuys, who have studied a interesting line of text taken from a Google contest to win a Nexus S handset, which you also may find particularly interesting.
”The currently available Nexus S is a GSM device and is not compatible with CDMA networks such as Verizon and Sprint.”
They have picked upon the fact that Google has decided to include the words ‘currently available’. AndroidGuys think that it’s slightly odd that Google didn’t just say that the Nexus S is a GSM device, without needing to mention CDMA, Verizon and Sprint.
Furthermore, details over at the SamsungFirmware Twitter page has hinted that users should wait until February before picking up the Nexus S, which is perhaps another indication that the device may be coming to other carriers after T-Mobile.
What your thoughts on this? We have already heard about a few rumored handsets which will have support for Verizon’s 4G LTE network, but no doubt that that a 4G-compatible Nexus S would be the biggest attraction to date – only an iPhone would be able to top that.
Would you consider getting the Nexus S if it came to Verizon or not?
*Identifying Monetised Links - outgoing links that we monetise are marked with an '*' symbol.


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Biometrics-based payment system coming soon for Singapore school kids
Singapore-based Coolpay has customized its biometrics-based loyalty and payment solution, Touché, for the school environment.
The customized solution, which eliminates the need for cash, cards, wearables, vouchers or smart wallets by allowing payment through just two fingers, will be an upcoming feature of the POSB Smart Buddy program to facilitate a simpler payment experience for students.
Students register their two fingers once on the device and link it through the POSB Smart Buddy program to their parents’ bank account. The students could then pay using their two fingers at any Touché device in the school. Combined with existing features of the POSB Smart Buddy program, parents can supervise their children’s spending, the items they buy and set limits on their daily expenditures.
“Our partnership with POSB Smart Buddy to demonstrate how the world’s first biometric payment solution can be suitable for school children is an exciting development – it is in line with our Prime Minister’s focus on making Singapore a Smart Nation” explained Mr. Sahba Saint-Claire, CEO of Coolpay. “At Touché, we are incredibly proud of our ‘Made in Singapore’ stamp; and hence, it is just fitting that we have an opportunity to bring the convenience of biometric payments to our Singaporean school kids as early as Q1 2018.”
The Touché platform was initially launched in January.


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QUEENS — A is for Arthur Ashe Stadium. M is for Mets. And Q, of course, is for Queens.
There's an entire alphabet full of notable landmarks, people and icons in the city's most diverse borough, which one Queens dad — a tech entrepreneur — is looking to bring to life in the pages of a new book.
Long Island City father of two Amol Sarva, 36, is running a Kickstarter campaign for his project "Q is for Queens," an illustrated children's ABC book that would highlight all the great things his home borough has to offer, in alphabetical order.
Most well-known children's books set in New York City — like the famous "Eloise" series — tend to focus on Manhattan, Sarva said. He thought a Queens-centric book would be a good way to show some of the borough's greatest features to kids, including his daughters, aged 7 and 3.
"A kid's book is just such an awesome way to introduce them to the world, and how do you introduce them to the place that you’re from?" said Sarva, who grew up in Jamaica and Little Neck.
But "Q is for Queens" isn't just for the little ones.
"Even adults have no idea how much amazing stuff is in Queens," he said.
Among the borough's highlights are The Mets, Lemon Ice King of Corona, MoMA PS1, the Steinway Piano factory, Silvercup Studios, the iconic Pepsi-Cola sign, plus famous and historic figures who have ties to the borough like The Ramones, Louis Armstrong and Cyndi Lauper.
"There's so much to write, there are so many interesting stories," Sarva said.
Sarva, a tech entrepreneur who co-founded Virgin Mobile USA, teamed up with friends Renee Bentley to help with illustrations and Hamad Altourah, who produced his Kickstarter video.
He's hoping to raise $8,000 by next month to cover the cost of printing the hardcover book, which he wants to send to the press by the end of June. Since launching his Kickstarter earlier this week, he said he's already heard from stores in the borough who are interested in carrying "Q is for Queens."
The project has also been an early success — as of Friday, the Kickstarter page had already received $5,511.
"I cannot believe that this has taken off so quickly," Sarva said, saying he thinks people are excited by the idea of giving the oft-overlooked Queens the attention it deserves.
"I think it's an unarticulated feeling. It's like a feeling people haven’t really said out loud before — the idea that you can be proud of all the cool stuff from Queens," he said.
The Kickstarter project has another 56 days to go. Those who donate certain amounts can get rewarded by being listed as an author of the book, or get the opportunity to submit an idea for one of the letter illustrations — and Sarva says he's more than open to suggestions.
"It's pretty hard to come up with ideas for X and Z," he joked.


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FRANKFURT (Bloomberg) -- Daimler has extended Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber's contract by five years, keeping him in charge of the manufacturer's funding as it seeks to become the world's top luxury-car producer in sales and profitability.
Uebber, 54, will continue to oversee finance as well as mergers and acquisitions through 2019, Mercedes-Benz's parent company said in a statement Tuesday.
CEO Dieter Zetsche has vowed to restore Mercedes to the top spot in global premium-car sales after the division lost the title to the BMW brand in 2005 and ceded second place to Audi in 2011.
Mercedes' sales growth beat gains at competitors last year, and Daimler is forecasting that profit in 2014 will rise "significantly" as the company brings out new cars and trucks.
"We are delighted to continue the excellent cooperation with Bodo Uebber," who is an "outstanding CFO," Supervisory Board Chairman Manfred Bischoff said in the statement. "Daimler is soundly financed and has very good access to, and a very good reputation in, the capital market."
The supervisory board gave Zetsche a three-year contract extension in 2013, instead of the more usual five, amid concerns from investors and labor leaders that profit wasn't meeting targets.
The renewal came on condition that Wolfgang Bernhard take over as Daimler Trucks division chief in a job swap with Andreas Renschler, who was assigned to run production and purchasing at Mercedes. Renschler resigned in January, citing personal reasons.
Finance strategy under Uebber, who has been CFO since late 2004, has included winning a 9 billion-euro ($12.4 billion) credit line from 40 banks last year and buying stakes in partners such as Beijing Automotive Group Co.'s carmaking unit and electric-auto producer Tesla Motors Inc.
Uebber has been a member of Daimler's management board since December 2003. He started his career in 1985 at aerospace company Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm, which was later bought by Daimler. He holds an engineering and economics degree from the former Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences in southwestern Germany.


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Bethesda claims new Skyrim content for PS3 is “close”Written by: / / No Comments
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim may have been a massive hit for Bethesda but the developer’s ongoing inability to get the game’s DLC up and running on PS3 has left many PlayStation fans with a sullied opinion of the company.
In a recent tweet Bethesda claims that it’s “close on new Skyrim content for PS3 and PC”. This could mean that next month’s timed Xbox 360-exclusive add-on Dragonborn is headed to PC in the near future, or that PS3 owners will finally be able to get their hands on the Dawnguard and Hearthfire add-ons that Bethesda has had trouble porting to Sony’s console.
Would you buy Skyrim DLC for PS3 considering Bethesda’s track record on the console? Let us know in the comments.
Be sure to browse through El33tonline’s previous coverage of Skyrim for more details about the game’s notorious history on PS3.


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Shop local, buy local
A Sheffield coronavirus directory has been relaunched to support independent businesses and encourage everyone to shop local.
Created by This Is Sheffield, the directory lists local independent businesses that will ermine open during the latest Tier 3 restrictions, including hospitality and service providers.
The guide also advises customers about businesses who have adapted their services in light of this, such as offering take-out only or delivery.
This Is Sheffield is a platform that aims to support local independent businesses by encouraging both residents and tourists to spend locally. The website has a city-wide focus but also showcases each of the city's unique communities, such as the city centre, Kelham Island, Ecclesall, Abbeydale and Castlegate.
Matt Pinder, Co-founder of This is Sheffield, said: “Staying true to our mission to support Sheffield’s independents, we made the decision back in March to create a coronavirus directory to help when businesses needed it most. This has now had almost 46,000 views and it would be an understatement to say that we were overwhelmed by the success of this.
“The popularity of the guide has encouraged us to do a new version in light of the latest restrictions. While it’s been an incredibly challenging time for lots of people, the crisis has also shown the best of Sheffield and how we can work together to help each other and we hope that this directory will go some way to supporting businesses during this difficult time.”
Many well-loved local businesses were forced to close their doors permanently during the first lockdown, including the Devonshire Cat and The Great Gatsby. Without the support of the local community, these latest restrictions could force many others to follow suit.
This is Sheffield also launched an online shop with a range of Sheffield related merchandise created and designed by local retailers and artists, after recognising that their profits would also be impacted with many craft fairs and markets being cancelled as a result of Coronavirus.
To see which local businesses are open and need your support more than ever, click here.


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Given the incredible growth of the cryptocurrency market over the past year, it should come as no surprise that everybody is getting involved. Bitcoin’s record run in December led to a frenzy of investment, and new ICOs were popping up almost daily. It wasn’t just investors who sought to get in on the action, a number of companies decided to try to turn the blockchain trend to their advantage.
Some smaller companies, such as the Iced Tea Company, now known as Long Blockchain (LBCC), saw huge share price boosts by simply implying they were entering the cryptocurrency market without really specifying a project. Larger companies like Kodak (NYSE: KODK) seem to be leveraging their resources to find a genuine solution to a market problem.
These “corporate coins” represent a big potential change in the way new cryptocurrencies are created, and Global Blockchain Technologies (CSE: BLOC ; OTC: BLKCF) is positioning itself to benefit from this new trend.


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Google Rolls Out Chromebook Update Highlighting CES Releases
With new Chromebooks announced at CES 2021, Google has updated Chrome OS with improvements billed as making the netbooks “as seamless as possible”, including faster sign-ins and personalised lock screens.
Acer, Asus and Samsung all showcased new Chromebooks at CES, including the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 and the Asus Chromebook Flip CM5, which are among the first to come with AMD Ryzen processors; the the Asus Chromebook Flip C536 and the Asus Chromebook CX9, which are powered by 11th-generation Intel Core chips; and the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2, the first Chromebook with a QLED display.
To accompany these new Chromebooks, Google has released a Chrome OS update with new features including personalised lock screens. According to Alexander Kuscher, Director of Chrome OS Software at Google, the new lock screens will act like personalised smart displays.
“Show off your favourite photo album from Google Photos or pick from hundreds of art gallery images.
“You can use your lock screen to check information like the current weather and what music is playing; you’ll also be able to pause a track or skip songs without unlocking your device,” he said.
Also unveiled was Web Authentication (WebAuthn), a new streamlined sign-in process for websites, which allows users to log in to websites using the same PIN or fingerprint that unlocks their Chromebook.
“Websites that support WebAuthn will let you use your Chromebook PIN or fingerprint ID—if your Chromebook has a fingerprint reader—instead of the password you’ve set for the website.
“And if you use 2-Step Verification to sign-in, your Chromebook PIN or fingerprint ID can be used as the second factor, so you no longer need to pull out your security key or phone to authenticate,” said Kuscher.
Google has flagged more Chromebook news for March.


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Gamer Doc(TM) Video Games Names Bill Noah First Area Developer In North Carolina
Noah to Direct Store Development in Raleigh and Surrounding Area
April 28, 2009 // Franchising.com // Newport Beach, Calif., – Gamer Doc™, the retail video game store franchise that delivers a new and interactive customer experience, today announced that Bill Noah has joined the area developer team, where he will direct store development in the city of Raleigh and the surrounding area. Gamer Doc currently has area developers for Northern Virginia, Atlanta, Miami, St. Petersburg and Orlando, Florida, Orange County, California, and in the Toronto and Philadelphia metro areas.
"Bill is a great addition to our team as we strengthen our presence on the East Coast, and continue to expand in our existing markets and enter new cities across the U.S. and Canada," said Jim Belanger, president of Gamer Doc. "There are some very exciting growth opportunities in his area and we look forward to much success."
"Video games are the most popular form of entertainment in the country, which is why sales continue to achieve double-digit growth even in this tough economy," Noah said. "The market keeps growing as more consumers of all ages and families choose video games as the best value and the most fun for their entertainment dollar. I am pleased to be part of the team, as Gamer Doc offers entrepreneurs the best opportunity to open their own video game store and be part of this incredible trend."
Gamer Doc is more than a video game store; it is an entertainment center, featuring "Gamer Centers" for Xbox 360®, PlayStation3® and Wii®, making it easy for customers to find the games, consoles and accessories they are looking for. Gamer Doc also sells flat-panel HD monitors and cables, offers console and disc repairs, and the knowledgeable staff can show customers how to hook-up their systems for optimum game play.
"Gamer Doc stores are bringing a new innovation to retail by putting customers in charge of their own shopping experience, whether they are hardcore gamers, casual players, moms and dads, or senior citizens," Noah said. "Customers who know what they want can come in and buy, rent, pre-order or trade-in a game, drop off a console or disc for repair, and be in and out of the store quickly, while those who are new to gaming, or want to browse, can take as much time and ask as many questions as they'd like."
About Gamer Doc
Gamer Doc is an innovative franchise concept that offers the opportunity to own, develop and operate a retail video game emporium. Launched in December 2007, Gamer Doc delivers a new and interactive experience to all customers. From dedicated gamers to Mom or Dad who want to try out a game, trade-in some old games or check out the latest titles and consoles from Microsoft®, Nintendo®, and Sony®, all customers will enjoy the ultimate gaming experience. Gamer Doc offices are located in Newport Beach, Calif.


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Noah Blackstein likes cutting-edge consumer technology. Gregory Church likes emerging-market opportunities. Imagine what happens when you put them together!
"I think that the smart-phone revolution, or the move away from cell phones to what are called smart phones, is really just beginning," Dynamic Mutual Funds portfolio manager Blackstein told CNBC.
So where does Church Capital Management's founder and chief investment officer see opportunities in the emerging markets?
"You want big-cap stocks that do a lot of business overseas," he said. "Those are the areas that are growing. For a long time, the United States has been the engine of the economy. We're the caboose right now."
Blackstein is very enthusiastic about Apple and Research In Motion .
"If you look at the number of units sold by both Apple and RIM, they're still pretty small in a market that's 1.2 billion handsets globally," he said. "This is less about the handset market growing than the market share if these types of devices taking, so, there's still significant room and significant opportunity for both those companies to grow, and to continue to take share from the likes of Motorola , Nokia, and other traditional cell phone vendors."
Church has a couple of favorites that play into the tech appetite of the emerging markets.
"I like some of these big tech companies like Cisco and EMC," he said. "If the handsets are going to be there, they're going to need a place to store data, and they're going to need pipes to run the Internet. Those play perfect; they're cheap stocks...and a lot of business from overseas."
Disclosure information for Blackstein and Church was not immediately available.


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Durable Goods Orders
The first of this morning’s four economic reports was October's Durable Goods Orders at 8:30 AM ET. The Commerce Department announced a 3.0% increase in new orders for big-tickets products at U.S. manufacturers. These are items with a life expectancy of three or more years. Analysts were expecting to see only a 1.5% increase, indicating manufacturing sector strength. However, this data is known to be volatile from month to month and a secondary reading that excludes more volatile and pricey transportation-related products, such as new airplanes, matched forecasts of a 0.5% rise. Those two points have helped prevent a negative reaction in bonds this morning as this was the most important data of the day.


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New Aldi supermarket to open next week
- Credit: Archant
A new Aldi supermarket will open in Portishead next week.
The food store will open for the first time on October 22 at 8am.
Aldi, which will be open seven days a week, has been transforming the former Co-operative site in Wyndham Way over the past four months.
Store manager, Paul Barnes said: “We are pleased next week to be opening our new store in Portishead which will offer more choice for local shoppers.
“The team has been working hard to ensure that the store is ready for our grand opening and we’re looking forward to meeting our new customers on the day.”
The supermarket has 201 car parking spaces for drivers to use.
You may also want to watch:
It is the second premises the company has opened in recent months in North Somerset.
Aldi opened a store in Clevedon near the M5 back in July.
- 1 Grand Pier's future uncertain as Weston enters tier 3
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- 4 Business owner sentenced for fly-tipping in North Somerset
- 5 Preparing for a popular traditional Christmas light display in Kenn
- 6 North Somerset to move into tier 3 after end of nationwide lockdown
- 7 North Somerset nurses retire following more than 80 years of combined service to the NHS
- 8 MPs brand placing North Somerset into tier 3 restrictions 'not right' and 'illogical'
- 9 Store refurbishment creates fresh job opportunities in Portishead
- 10 Sharp rise in coronavirus cases in over 60s


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GMB union has announced further strike dates at two Amazonsites
The strike dates come just days after GMB members at the company submitted an application for mandatory recognition at Amazon to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC).
The CAC - the Government body responsible for regulating collective bargaining between workers and employers - can force companies to recognise a trade union if more than 50 per cent of the work force are members.
Workers will down tools at the company’s Coventry fulfilment centre as well as at Amazon’s new flagship HQ in Birmingham, a £500 million site that only opened its doors in October.
Strike action will take place in Coventry on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 March and in Birmingham on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 March.
Rachel Fagan, GMB Organiser, said:
“Fresh strike action will be a huge blow to Amazon bosses, just days after workers made their bid for union recognition.
“Now two Amazon sites will take strike action this spring to force the company to listen to workers.
“Amazon bosses may have hoped this campaign would fade away, but instead union membership at Amazon has exploded as more and more workers are standing up to demand Amazon listens.
“When Amazon are ready to listen, the message they'll hear is simple; £15 an hour and union rights for UK Amazon workers”.


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Scania on a wave
UK management team reviews a successful year and looks ahead
At a press evening in London, senior Scania personnel updated journalists on the performance of the company over the past 12 months and gave some insights into the way they see the business going in the next year. Inevitably, much of what was said focused on trucks with the recent launch of ‘The Next Generation Scania’ range, a model range that has been warmly received and already carried off the International Truck of the Year 2017 title. Readers of B&CB are not generally that interested in trucks but developments seen on them often herald further developments impacting on bus and coach products.
Over from Sweden for the event was Scania’s Executive Vice President, Commercial Operations, Mathias Carlbaum, who said that he could not go into detail on financial matters until the corporate results were announced on 20 March. However, he was able to reveal that Scania deliveries were up 6% in 2016, up 14% in Europe and the UK was Scania’s biggest market, slightly bigger than Germany. This was despite the size of the truck market in Brazil (frequently Scania’s biggest market) dropping from 92,000 units three years ago to 30,000 last year.
He said that Scania’s focus was on sustainability, spoke of its three core values of respect for the individual, customer first and the elimination of waste (which also meant maximising quality) and stressed Scania was looking to maximise energy utilisation in its whole value chain.
Turning to alternative fuels and showing details of the options available on trucks, he said that all trucks leaving the factory were capable of running on an alternative fuel. Scania was already involved in Swedish-German electric truck trials (using overhead electric catenary) that were about to be extended and had been chosen for truck platooning trials in Singapore. He also mentioned the beginning of battery electric bus field tests in the northern Swedish city of Östersund where Nettbuss will operate three Scania Citywide LFs from the end of 2017. Charging at stations at each end of the route will take ten minutes. They will be joined by three more early in 2019. ‘We can provide interesting electrical solutions that we think are going to be important,’ he said.
Concluding, he emphasised Scania’s wish to stay close to developing technologies, announcing that it had set up an independent company, Scania Growth Capital, with funds to invest in ‘promising, innovative and entrepreneurial’ start up companies. Although it might take board positions, it would not interfere in their running. Likely fields for investment include: digitalisation, autonomous vehicles, connectivity, hybridisation, renewable fuels and smart factory. The board would decide on the first investment this week and there were already 100 applications.
MD of Scania (Great Britain) Ltd, Claes Jacobsson, said that it would be a struggle to stay Scania’s number one market in 2017 ‘but we’ll give our colleagues a fight for it.’ He had not expected 2016, which was Scania’s 125th anniversary, to be such a great year and at the current time he was expecting the market to settle a bit in 2017 and probably drop a bit.
Bus & Coach
Presenting the more detailed story on bus, coach and engines was Bus, Coach & Engine Director, Tony Tomsett. After first talking about engines, a market in which Scania is number one in Europe, Tony turned to the bus and coach sector. He was upbeat about an increase in orders from fleet customers, which had been achieved for numerous reasons. Scania was seeing the return to orders from loyal bus customers especially in the bus sector.
He thought the company had great products, whether single deck, double deck, biogas or even double deck coach and all of them were very well received. The coach chassis had performed excellently with fleet customers who had in turn given repeat custom and orders as well from conquest customers. He said, ‘There had been an absolute acknowledgement that Scania’s total operating economy had been accepted by our customers to such an extent that they were realising that their decision to buy Scania coach had been the right decision for their operations.’
On biogas, he said Scania had embarked on a ‘real structured and environmental gas drive in the UK and it had been very well supported by our colleagues in Sweden. As a consequence we are regularly receiving requests for information and are offering vehicles to customers’ with 2016 seeing the first orders for double deck gas vehicles in the UK. The vehicles for Reading were going in now and working extremely well. There was also an order for biomethane powered Scania ADL Enviro400CBGs from Nottingham City Transport and there were more biogas orders to come. ‘I will be able to announce other order for gas vehicles soon, particularly for double decks in the UK,’ he said.
On retails sales, he said the Scania Touring coach, built in China by Higer, had been a real success. Aided by the launch of the 4×2 version to join the 6×2, sales had risen from 20 in the first year to 40 in the second year. The biggest order so far had been the ten taken by Omega in the spring of 2016.
It had been sad to say goodbye to the OmniExpress product in 2016 but they had chosen to celebrate it rather than lament it by creating the OmniExpress Finesse, a very highly specified coach. They had taken a chance by ordering 25 and these had sold out before they were built.
There was an exceptional relationship with Irizar prompting Tony to say, ‘Our relationship is gaining in strength year on year.’ Twenty Irizar bodied Scanias had been sold to City Circle in 2016 and on the back of that success a further 16 had been ordered for 2017, deliveries of which would start soon.
Summing up the retail operation, he said Scania had delivered close to 130 coaches in 2016 and carried over in to 2017 its best ever order book. ‘It looked as if they might be able to exceed 2016’s retail sales figure going forward.’
New model options
Though the OmniExpress had gone, there was a new model, the Interlink HD, the reaction to which had been ‘unprecedented’ with the real expectation of achieving sales of over 50 units within the first year of its appearance. Like the OmniExpress, it is built at Scania’s Finnish plant.
In the past Scania offered a specialist school coach option based on the Irizar InterCentury called the iSkool. Following interest from the Leicester based operator, Ausden Clark, at the Euro Bus Expo show last year, Scania decided to look at the possibility of building an i4 based iSkool on a three axle K360IB 6×2*4 with two-pedal Opticruise transmission. It was not feasible to produce it as a 4×2 because of weight constraints. Discussions began with Irizar who were enthusiastic about the idea, swiftly producing layouts and specifications. A fortnight later Ausden Clark ordered the first example and another order has since been placed by Carvers, with ‘quite a bit of interest’ from other potential customers.
The specification of the 13.6 long coach includes 80 Prime Passenger Seating seats with all-age seatbelts in a 3+2 configuration. Seating capacity is maximised by the use of the same rear door arrangement with fold out steps found on i4 Scanias supplied to Translink.
Tony confirmed that it would be possible to supply the iSkool with a bespoke specification if customers wanted features such as dark glass or DVD systems and monitors. He also saw no reason why examples meeting DDA specifications could not be built, though this would require a centre door and wheelchair lift.
As reported in last week’s issue, agreement has been reached with the Spanish manufacturer, Ayats, to supply chassis on which it will be mounting the Eclipse coach body. The model will be sold exclusively through Ayat’s UK distributor, Ayats UK Coach Sales, for the UK market, but not in Ireland. Scania will be providing warranty on the chassis element of the coach and there will also be extended warranty options with the possibility of R&M deals if negotiated locally with a dealership. The coach offers a seating capacity of 80 passengers and gives Scania customers a useful additional double deck coach option. The first Eclipse bodied Scania has already been ordered.
Something customers had welcomed was the handover App that had been developed for the Touring. One was now going to be produced for the Interlink and probably for the Irizar range as well.
To complete his presentation, Tony spoke of the success of the used vehicle operation with 176 units sold in 2016. This was aided by the launch of a new used App and also by the quality of stock offered. It was something the company was very proud of.
In the course of his presentation on truck developments, aside from mentioning UK truck registrations of 7,283 and used sales of 3,765, Truck Director, Andrew Jamieson, revealed that a new sales-only used truck facility was being opened at Warrington with a 70 truck capacity and that Scania Finance funded 41% of new vehicle sales in 2016. On optimised services he said there were now 34,000 connected Scania trucks in the UK and he expected that figure to be over 40,000 by the year end. Interestingly, he commented, ‘I see driver training and coaching as the next big partnership between us and our customers, and I tell the sales team if you don’t grasp it you’ll be left behind, just as it was when we first started selling R+M all those years ago – it was different but is now the norm and driver coaching will be the same.’
Mark Grant, Aftersales Director, reported that 2016 had been a very successful year for the Aftersales operation, with record earnings for the fifth successive year. Parts sales were up 7.85%, though the quality of the current Scania vehicle range was limiting the potential for growth. One way the company has sought to maintain growth is by expanding the range of VRS (Vehicle Related Services) offerings. VRS began by offering trailer parts in 2013 and the following year added a consumables range. The latest addition is an all makes truck catalogue which has the added benefit of helping to support the business’s Vehicle Maintenance Unit (VMU) programme which manages customer workshops on their behalf.
Across Scania’s workshop network, including trailers and non Scania vehicles, a 97% first time MOT pass rate figure has been achieved.
In a statistic whose background bus operators are all too familiar with, Mark reported that the average time taken for Scania Assistance to arrive at a call out was 59 minutes, up from 55 minutes three years ago because of the impact of growing congestion.
A big development had been the recent investment in the Scania Technical Centre at Copt Oak near Loughborough. I won’t go back over this as we carried a full report in last week’s issue. Of note was the fact that 50 technical and 12 parts apprentices were recruited last year, taking the total number of current Scania apprentices to 224. With over 800 apprentices trained since 2008 and a 97% achievement rate, Scania plans to recruit a further 80 to 85 individuals to start in September this year.


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Karma launched its social broadband experiment right before Christmas last year, and in that time its customers — like bandwidth Santa Clauses — have distributed a total 1,000 GBs of free mobile data to anyone who has asked for it.
Amsterdam transplant and NYC TechStars graduate Karma is trying to pioneer a new kind of mobile broadband business model, in which customers don’t have to own a device to connect to its 4G network. Any customer can buy one of its $79 WiMAX hotspots, but it’s not that customer’s device alone. Anyone can connect to it through Wi-Fi, sharing the connection with the hotspot’s owner.
That might seem like a odd concept – why would you want to share your connection with strangers? But Karma provides plenty of incentive. Every time you share your connection you get 100 MB of free data. Your bandwidth beneficiary also gets 100 MB to play with so no data is subtracted from your plan.
According to Karma co-founder and CEO Robert Gaal, it hasn’t been difficult convincing people to enter into these “social bandwidth” arrangements. Today about 5,000 people each month are connecting to the Karma network without owning a hotspot. They’ve consumed about 1,000 GBs of WiMAX data over six months, while hotspot owners typically share their connections five times a month, earning 500 MB of data. In total, Karma users have earned about 3,000 GBs of free data. (As a mobile virtual network operator Karma buys capacity from Clearwire(s clwr))
Of course, these numbers aren’t exactly huge in the grand scheme of mobile broadband. Verizon(s vz)(s vod) and AT&T(s t) are delivering multiple petabytes of data over their 3G and 4G networks every months – not terabytes. But Draper Fisher Jurvetson-backed Karma is still a tiny operation that just launched six months ago. Gaal said Karma now has tens of thousands of paying customers, though he wouldn’t reveal an exact number. It’s going to take a while for it to persuade consumers regarding the merits of its social bandwidth model.
But Karma has plenty of help making the case for shared connectivity. Startup Open Garden is trying to accomplish the same thing as Karma through software, crowdsourcing vast ad hoc mesh networks between devices. Spain’s Fon pioneered this model for Wi-Fi, creating a network community that shares their home broadband connections. The Open Technology Institute is creating an open-source networking standard called Commotion.
At GigaOM’s Mobilize conference in October, we’re going to thoroughly explore these kind of ad hoc networking models. Both Open Garden CEO Micha Benoliel and Karma Chief Product Officer Steven van Wel will be speaking on the topic.
But it’s not just a bunch of feisty startups pushing this social contract. France’s Free Mobile has taken the community Wi-Fi model to 4 million residential broadband gateways, creating a hotspot network for its mobile users. Today Free extended that community model to femtocells. Even an entrenched company like Comcast(s cmsca) sees the merits of shared connectivity. Last week the cable operator launched a program that will open up millions of residential Wi-Fi connections to other Comcast customers.
Karma is hoping network effect will allow it to grow. The more people buy its hotspots, the more Karma ambassadors there will be in the wild offering up free connections to strangers. Some of those customers may opt to buy a Karma hotspot of their own and the cycle will continue. Karma is even seeding cities with bandwidth, placing hotspots in strategic places such as New York City food trucks.
If it’s successful, Karma could reach the necessary density of users that would allow it to divorce its mobile broadband service entirely from the mobile device. A gigabyte of data on Karma only costs $14, and it never expires. You just buy another gigabyte when you run out or earn more by sharing bandwidth. With that kind of model, Karma could easily sell bandwidth without a dedicated connection. Users would just venture out into the city and connect to whatever random Karma hotspot was nearby.


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New Westminster Police are asking for the public's help identifying a male suspect who was caught on camera entering the Armani Exchange at Queensborough Landing at the time it was robbed on Dec. 21.
Several thousands of dollars worth of merchandise wasstolen, according to a police press release, and the store was damaged.
The police went to the store at 805 Boyd St. at 5:30 a.m. after receiving a break-and-enter report, the release stated.
Anyone who can provide any information regarding the identity or whereabouts of the suspect is asked to contact Const. Jason Gelderman at 604-529-2532.


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Health and safety payout
THE explosion in health and safety rules is the bane of many companies, but could provide a multi-million-pound windfall for the owners of Citation, a specialist consultancy. The backers of the fast-growing firm, which also advises companies on employment law, have hired PWC to find a new investor.
It is not clear what the business is worth, although analysts have suggested it could be between £50m and £70m. It is most likely to appeal to private-equity firms, a number of which are known to be considering buying into the company.
There has been a surge of interest in businesses that deal with legal matters, particularly since a recent change in the law governing who may own or invest in solicitors’ practices.
Citation was founded in


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Hawaii is slowly moving out of what I call the Dark Ages of Bread.
Dan Wetter also senses this movement. And he knows bread as an associate professor at Kapiolani Community College’s culinary arts program, where he’s taught pastry and bread making for 16 years.
Wetter says the customer base in the islands is becoming better educated after tasting freshly made artisan breads now available in more local bakeries and at farmers’ markets.
“Average people are starting to say ‘Hey, I want to try this.’ They are starting to ask for different kinds of bread.
“What’s happening with bread here is similar to what is going on in the rest of the country,” says Wetter. “People are more careful about what’s in their food.”
He adds: “Up until the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, bakeries in Hawaii were banging out mostly pans of white bread and soft rolls. The notion then was it was hard to find good bread in Hawaii. But that’s changing.”
Wetter says “It’s exciting because now we are turning back to some of the most ancient ways of making breads, using grains that were ground into flour thousands of years ago, and leavening agents like sour dough employed from the earliest days of baking. Bread making is evolving back to its roots.”
The most recent breakthrough is that it is now possible for the first time in Hawaii to buy freshly locally baked organic bread.
La Tour Bakehouse on Nimitz Highway recently became the first bakery in the state to become certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “USDA Organic.”
La Tour’s organic line is made in a separate section of the huge bakery in the former Weyerhaeuser building. Executive Pastry Chef Rodney Weddle says the company is creating bread with premium organic flour from Central Milling in Logan, Utah, which he says is the mill of choice for high-end bakeries across the U.S.
La Tour has also created an Organic 100% Sprouted Multigrain Bread — the first locally baked, certified organic, sprouted bread, sold commercially in the state.
Sprouted bread is made of grains that have been soaked in water in a highly controlled environment until they begin to grow a green sprout; when the grains sprout, they are mixed together and ground into a meal, which becomes the basis for the bread.
Food scientists say sprouted grain bread is an easier-to-digest, low in glycemic products and offers more nutrients than traditionally refined flours.
Thanh Quoc Lam, the owner of La Tour, says he keeps a loaf of the organic, sprouted bread in his car, which he eats by the slice when he is out on the road and gets hungry. I agree. This particular sprouted bread is so tasty I also eat it out of the bag with nothing on it.
“What’s happening with bread here is similar to what is going on in the rest of the country. People are more careful about what’s in their food.” —Dan Wetter, Kapiolani Community College
Many of you already know Lam as the founder of Hawaii’s Ba-Le sandwich shops.
Whole Foods and Costco will begin selling La Tour’s organic, sprouted bread early next year. La Tour currently sells 100 percent sprouted wheat at many Oahu farmers’ markets. Whole Foods is selling five other items in La Tour’s organic line, including nine-grain bread, organic light rye, whole wheat, organic sourdough and organic rustic baguettes.
The movement in Hawaii toward more locally baked and organic bread plays well into the way food habits are changing across the country.
When I walk through Whole Foods in Kahala, I wonder if the health nut customers know that except for the organic loaves from La Tour all the rest of the sliced organic and gluten-free bread on the shelves is baked on the mainland, where it has been frozen before it’s shipped here. This includes well-known organic brands such as Food for Life’s Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Bread and Dave’s Killer Breads.
Consider the carbon footprint to transport the previously frozen loaves from thousands of miles away.
About half of all the bread sold in Hawaii supermarkets, both organic and non-organic, is mainland-baked and frozen before it is thawed out in warehouses here and put in trucks for delivery to retail stores.
Among the brands of previously frozen breads sold here are Oroweat, Sara Lee, King’s Hawaiian Bread and Milton’s Craft Bakers.
Milton’s Bread on the shelves at Costco has a misleading seal on its label that says “Baked Fresh Locally.”
Love’s Bakery Vice President Byron Chong laughs when he says, “Yes, Milton’s is baked fresh locally if you mean baked fresh locally in California.”
Chad Buck, whose company, Hawaii Foodservice Alliance, distributes many previously frozen breads from mainland and local bakeries in Hawaii, says there is nothing wrong with previously frozen loaves.
“The freezing is simply a way of keeping the bread fresh during distribution,” says Buck.
Love’s and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 245 Love’s employees, have tried twice to get lawmakers to pass a bill to require labeling that says “previously frozen” on all loaves of bread that have been baked and then frozen.
“The freezing is simply a way of keeping the bread fresh during distribution.” — Chad Buck, Hawaii Foodservice Alliance
One bill made it all the way to then-Gov. Linda Lingle’s desk in 2005, but she vetoed it. Another version of the bill failed to get out of conference committee in 2006. Still another bill got stalled in the Legislature in 2011. It would have required signs on store shelves to point out the previously frozen bread.
Mark Tonini, general manager of the Hawaii Foodservice Alliance, said in an email that lawmakers scrapped the bread labeling measures because of a number of concerns, including the possibility the legislation would economically harm small bakeries such as Punaluu Bread on the Big Island, which freezes its bread to make it possible to distribute it more widely.
Many of Hawaii’s smaller bakeries pre-freeze their bread prior to distribution to keep it fresher longer.
Tonini says another concern with the labeling bill was that labeling would give the wrong idea that the frozen bread is of lesser quality, while experts such as state Health Department officials testified that there were no health or quality issues with it.
Chong of Love’s Bakery say even though previously frozen bread might be just as healthy as fresh baked bread, there is no comparison in the taste.
“Fresh is fresh,” says Chong. “If anyone puts frozen bread head to head with our fresh baked bread they would be able to tell the difference. Previously frozen bread is harder to the touch than fresh bread. Fresh bread is softer, better on the palate, not dry, and the crust doesn’t break apart.”
Love’s has been making bread fresh in Hawaii since 1851. Although some of Love’s specialty pastry products are previously frozen, all of its bread loaves are locally baked and never frozen. Even the loaves Love’s sends to the neighbor islands are delivered fresh by air freight while most other local bakeries freeze their baked bread before putting it on container ships for delivery.
But many of Love’s breads — just like baked products from large industrial bakeries on the mainland and some smaller bakeries here — are manufactured with additives, which can include high fructose corn syrup, dough conditioners such as sodium stearoyl lactylate to make it easier and faster for machines to process the bread, mono-and diglycerides to extend shelf life, and mold inhibitors such as calcium propionate.
“In the heat and high humidity here we need to have preservatives to prevent mold,” says Chong,
Chong says the preservatives in Love’s bread have no affect on taste.
No matter how delicious the new locally baked breads are, there will always be a market in Hawaii for the mainland-type Wonder Breads because they are less expensive and they have long shelf life.
But baking professor Wetter thinks the chemicals do have an effect.
Wetter says, “If you eat clean fresh bread, you can taste the difference. If you eat breads with preservatives, you will almost always taste a slight aftertaste.”
And when it comes to taste, previously frozen bread can also have issues such as freezer burn. I once found freezer burn on a loaf of Ezekiel’s organic sprouted bread I refroze to keep fresh. It tasted like cardboard.
Buck, who distributes many previously frozen breads that have been baked in Hawaii or shipped in from the mainland, says that taste preferences seem to be a personal matter:
“As far as taste goes, nothing tastes better to me than baking bread at home. That said, the variety is out there to satisfy a variety of needs including price, convenience, value, acquired tastes have found that all types have loyal followings — whether it be Watanabe bread, Ani’s, Punaluu, Love’s, Oroweat, Dave’s Killer Bread or Ezekiel.”
Some friends I asked about previously frozen bread didn’t seem to care if the bread they are buying might have been baked weeks or even months before they brought it home.
Food writer Martha Cheng says, “The bottom line is taste rather than if the bread is baked locally. Some previously frozen bread may have a better taste than fresh locally baked bread. Ultimately it has to do with taste.”
As I mentioned, if you buy previously frozen bread and then freeze it again, it can taste drier. But that does not bother my husband. He says the drier, stiffer bread makes what he calls “a better holder” for the thick, mayonnaise-filled sandwiches he likes to fry in butter for breakfast.
I think that’s the crux of the issue. My husband is accustomed to eating “store bought” supermarket breads. He views the bread mainly as a “holder” for the ingredients he puts in his sandwiches.
For him, bread is to compliment what’s spread over it, not a food item to be savored by itself.
In comparison, really good fresh bread made slowly and carefully, can be eaten by itself with nothing on it, not even butter.
But cost has to be kept in mind. No matter how delicious the new locally baked breads are, there will always be a market in Hawaii for the mainland-type Wonder Breads because they are less expensive and they have long shelf life.
What many wish for now is a way to make it more convenient to buy locally baked artisan breads.
My friend David DeLuca, the director of publishing at Bess Press, says, “The bread scene here could use a jolt. A lot is happening with high-end bread here, but more of it needs to be made available to the public.”
“The bread scene here could use a jolt. A lot is happening with high-end bread here, but more of it needs to be made available to the public.” — David DeLuca, Bess Press
DeLuca says caterers, hotels and some restaurants are serving the new, interesting breads to select audiences but the new “Old World” breads still can be difficult to find in neighborhood markets.
Distribution of the locally baked organic and artesian breads will soon improve.
Both Love’s and Hawaii Foodservices Alliance are vying for the contract to distribute La Tour’s organic breads to the neighbor islands.
The companies say they can see the wave of the future with customers demanding less processed food, more local and more organic products. Chong says next year Love’s will stop using high fructose corn syrup in all its breads.
Food distributor Buck says says his company is building new distribution facilities on the Big Island and Kauai to support neighbor islanders who want their own bakeries rather than having to rely on having so much bread of their bread shipped in.
“This also decreases the carbon footprint of having to barge or fly the products over to the neighbor islands from Oahu,” says Buck.
It is a new world of commercial baking in Hawaii that is looking to the past for ways to make fresher, healthier and more delicious bread.
“It is a slow educational process, but it is exciting,” says Wetter.