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The EPA’s proposed PFAS regulations ignore a major source of drinking water contamination
18 May 2023 | Grist
A new study suggests unregulated “precursor” compounds account for half of total PFAS pollution at sites around the country.
Pentagon’s ‘forever chemicals’ cleanup budget falls ‘dramatically’ short
18 May 2023 | The Guardian
The cost of cleaning up toxic PFAS “forever chemical” contamination around hundreds of US military installations is ballooning, but Congress and the Pentagon are failing to keep pace, a development that is leaving service members and civilians indefinitely at risk, a new analysis finds.
Minnesota Legislature passes environment and energy package that includes ban on "forever chemicals" PFAS
18 May 2023 | CBS News Minnesota
Both chambers of the state legislature on Thursday approved a ban on so-called "forever chemicals" PFAS in consumer products, sending the bill to Gov. Tim Walz's desk for signature.
Communities of color disproportionately exposed to PFAS pollution in drinking water
15 May 2023 | Phys.org
People who live in communities with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic/Latino residents are more likely to be exposed to harmful levels of PFAS in their water supplies than people living in other communities.
Societal cost of ‘forever chemicals’ about $17.5tn across global economy – report
12 May 2023 | The Guardian
The societal cost of using toxic PFAS or ‘forever chemicals’ across the global economy totals about $17.5tn annually, a new analysis of the use of the dangerous compounds has found.
Outdoor brands phase out PFAS, ‘forever chemicals,’ ahead of state bans
12 May 2023 | EHN
The outdoor footwear company KEEN made a discovery about their shoes in 2014: they were rife with stain- and water-resistant chemicals known to harm human health called PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals.’
Lawmakers move to delay start of first-in-the-nation PFAS law
11 May 2023 | Central Maine
A legislative committee has endorsed a bill to delay the deadline for reporting the presence of PFAS in products sold in Maine.
Minnesota poised to ban non-essential uses of PFAS, or ‘forever chemicals’
11 May 2023 | PBS
Minnesota is on the verge of banning non-essential uses of “forever chemicals.”
America’s first high-volume ‘PFAS Annihilator’ is up and running in West Michigan
4 May 2023 | woodTV8
After five years of development, a four-way business partnership has created the nation’s first high-volume closed-loop PFAS destruction system — and it’s right here in West Michigan.
What a pediatrician wants parents to know about PFAS, the ‘forever chemicals.’
3 May 2023 | Novant Health
PFAS are linked to problems with fetal development, thyroid disease, and issues with livers and kidneys.
Another source of toxic PFAS in Wisconsin: Toilet paper?
3 May 2023 | Wisconsin NPR
When you flush your toilet, sending waste to a nearby sewage treatment system, you might also be contributing toxic chemicals to the local watershed.
‘Toxic trail of pollution’: states step up to curb the use of ‘forever chemicals’
2 May 2023 | The Guardian
Partisanship has thwarted Congress’s attempts to limit PFAS, but a patchwork of state laws is pushing for their phase-out.
PFAS lurking in waterways pose hidden threat to health
2 May 2023 | CBS News
"It contained a whole host of industrial chemicals that were washing out of consumer products and people's homes or that were entering from industrial facilities," Nordell said.
Researchers Pin Down PFAS Prevalence in Firefighter Gear
1 May 2023 | NIST
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have conducted an in-depth examination of a range of textiles used in turnout gear coats and pants, which are constructed in three layers.
North Carolina residents urge UN to investigate toxic PFAS pollution
28 Apr 2023 | The Guardian
Chemical manufacturer Chemours accused of violating human rights by releasing ‘forever chemicals’ into Cape Fear River basin.


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With the VAT increase and a continuous rise in the fuel price, President Cyril Ramaphosa has come under fire. To make matters worse, those flames seem to be getting bigger and growing in numbers.
Cyril Ramaphosa and the never-ending fuel price
On Friday, Ramaphosa announced that government will soon be announcing a package to help ease the burden of constant fuel price increases and the VAT increase. South Africans can expect the package to be made public in the next two weeks.
The President was speaking to business and government leaders in Pretoria ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit.
Ramaphosa explained that he has picked a panel of various stakeholders from the economic cluster to create the package.
With South Africans crying out from the effects of the fuel hikes and rapidly growing costs of living, Ramaphosa explained that the depreciation of the rand had played a key role.
“We will be announcing a package of measures to ease the burden of the price increase, this would include the finalisation of the VAT exempt products.
“I will ask the ministers in the economic cluster to finalise the package in a matter of two weeks,” he said.
Ramaphosa has also called on the transport sector and those in retail to hold back on price increases while the new plan is under construction.
In February, then Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba announced the first increase in VAT in 24 years. Since April, there have been, regular increases in the petrol price. With increases in the fuel and Road Accident Fund Levies also being out in place, many are focusing the majority of the blame on the post-Zuma ANC government.
According to Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, the new panel held its first meeting on Thursday night and will meet again on Friday.
“Its mandate had been expanded to look into the effects of the fuel price. I think everyone realises that the people are suffering, therefore there is a need to address the matter with urgency,” FIN24 quotes him as saying.
Currently, another petrol price hike looks likely to come in August.

domain: news


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“We appear to have reached the bottom of the demand downturn in container shipping”
According to Lars Jensen from SeaIntelligence, THE Alliance is now re-inserting 2 sailings on the Transpacific which has previously been cancelled. This follows last week where THE Alliance also re-inserted four previously cancelled sailings on Asia-Mediterranean.
It should be noted that they still have a substantial amount of blank sailings; this development merely reduces the level slightly.
This tells us, at least for now, that the demand downturn has bottomed out and carriers – at least in THE Alliance – are now seeing sufficient demand for their remaining services to even up the capacity a bit.
Furthermore, it also serves to demonstrate the carriers’ approach to capacity management in the current crisis.
They would rather pro-actively cancel too much capacity and then later re-insert in case there is more demand, instead of hoping for demand to materialize and then have to either cancel at the last minute or sail with underutilized vessels.


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Intraday Buy Call For Deccan Chronicle
Technical analyst MB Singh has maintained 'buy' rating on Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited stock with a target of Rs 118.
The analyst said that the stock can be purchased with a stop loss of Rs 105.
The stock of the company, on December 29, closed at Rs 108.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 180.05 and a low of Rs 95.75 on BSE.
Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 10.54 and 10.23 respectively.
Deccan Chronicle has made announcement about major development in the state of Tamil Nadu with an edition printed in Coimbatore from December 27.
The Coimbatore edition was launched by Vijay Reddy, son of chairman Venkattram Reddy and Ravi Reddy, vice chairman, Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited.
The company also introduced a special version for Madurai.
Ravi Reddy, vice chairman, Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited stated, "Deccan Chronicle promises to bring to the two cities of Tamil Nadu and the rest of our readers the same bright newspaper that they are used to. As ever, we owe our success and popularity to our readers who are the wind beneath our wings as we take off to new horizons."


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AT&T and Starbucks have mutually announced plans to deliver AT&T Wi-FiSM service at more than 7,000 company-operated Starbucks locations across the US.
“This is what our customers have been waiting for—free Starbucks-quality Wi-Fi,” said Chris Bruzzo, CTO, Starbucks. “Through our new partnership with AT&T, we also welcome their millions of current customers who can now come in and enjoy free Wi-Fi as part of their daily Starbucks Experience.”
Beginning this spring, Starbucks Card holders can enjoy up to two hours of free Wi-Fi service per day at Starbucks locations offering Wi-Fi access, while more than 12 million AT&T broadband and AT&T U-verse Internet customers get unlimited free access to the service. In addition, more than 5 million AT&T’s remote business customers can access Wi-Fi service at Starbucks locations.
with a custom-fitted case.
Additionally, anyone can buy access to AT&T / Starbucks Wi-Fi for $4 (two hours). Monthly membership will also be available for $20 per month and will include access to any of AT&T’s 70,000 hot spots in 89 countries worldwide.
Editor's note: T-Mobile has been dumped, unceremoniously. That's gotta sting.
And, although Apple isn't mentioned, but their fingerprints are all over this. The hidden, guiding hand of El Jobs, perhaps...
What's your take?
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Your Holiday Trees can be dropped at these Chicago parks for mulching until Jan 20. Don't toss them - Mulch 'em! Info here
We are relieved that the City of Chicago finally launched its first-ever citywide Food Scrap Drop-Off Program, and Chicago residents can drop off their household food scraps for composting at one of 15 locations. The best part -- they will take meat, dairy, cooked foods, bread & grains! All the stuff you can't compost at home. So you now have a way to dispose of all your food waste so it can be returned to fertilize the soil -- and not produce greenhouse gases in the landfill. Read about it here.


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non Finance, non loan, non property, non banking, non credit card
On Feb 22 Wed, police has made known that victims of a private hire car promo package rip-off has lost at least S$7,700.
Police believed that they have gotten at least nine incidents concerning the “Grab/Uber promotional packages” rip-off since last week.
Advertisements or word of mouth was make know to the victims regarding Grab or Uber promotional packages via friends. The seller would inform the victims though whatapps to transfer money to bank accounts to make the purchase of the stated packages.
Once the payment was made, the seller became unreachable and the victims were not able to convert the rides.
The seller will tell the victims to book rides via Whatspps instead of the official apps when they bought the promised discounted pre-paid packages.
Police advised members of the public to only purchase rides from official sources, and to always exercise caution when purchasing items at prices that sound too good to be true.
“When in doubt, please call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722 6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg,” police said.
They also urged those with information about the crime to call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit information online.


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Benefits, Retention Are Business Owners' Biggest Worries
What's worrying America's smallest businesses?
If you answered "everything," you wouldn't be too far off. Retention, benefits costs, growing revenue, even the rise of the gig economy are all among the worries that keep the owners and decision-makers of small businesses up at night. A new survey of employers -- 98% of them with fewer than 100 workers -- found the cost of healthcare and other benefits, retaining workers, and the challenge of increasing revenue are at the top of the list of concerns.
Two-thirds of the 599 respondents to the survey by Principal Financial Services ranked these four issues, and taxes, at the top of the list. Digging into the "why" behind these issues, Principal's report says it's because so many owners and leaders consider workers to be family. "What makes us different is that we're not just a staff of employees, we are a family," one employer said.
That attitude, the report explains, leads these businesses to "look for supplemental ways to take care of staff." These employers, "refuse to cut benefits." In fact, cutting benefits is the last thing employers consider when trying to save on expenses. First they'll look at other parts of the budget; they'll stop hiring and cut bonuses, before reducing their share of the benefits cost.
Millennial-owned businesses are especially concerned about retaining workers, the report found. Much more so than boomer-owned businesses, more than 70% of millennial owners consider retention, attracting and reskilling workers to be leading concerns. Boomer owners, by contrast, are more concerned about costs.
"Boomers," says the report, "believe their 'family' culture sets them apart, while millennials believe benefits/perks differentiate them from larger businesses."


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As individuals, the amount of personal data we have online has grown thanks to social networking and the number of organisations that encourage us to do business via the internet.
It's set to grow still more as the Internet of Things takes off, and this presents problems when it comes to sharing information. Conventional solutions rely on checkboxes or cookies, but these struggle to cope with current demands.
Access management company ForgeRock is launching its new Identity Management Platform, which includes the industry's first use of continuous security and consumer-facing privacy protection to guard data.
"In an era of very public data breaches and heightened consumer awareness, 'fostering trusted digital relationships' can't be considered a buzz phrase. Privacy strategy must include a consent-to-share strategy that looks after the top line of the business," says Mike Ellis, CEO of ForgeRock. "The UMA (User Managed Access) standard was created to give an individual a unified control point for authorising who and what can get access to their digital data, content and services, no matter where all those things live. The new ForgeRock Identity Platform enables private and public organisations to quickly deploy secure identity services based on UMA principles".
The platform uses 'continuous security' which enables organisations to apply contextual identity, adaptive risk and multi-factor authentication at the time a user authenticates as well as at any point during a digital session. This ensures the authenticity of users, devices, things and services at all times and cuts the risk whenever an anomaly is detected.
By employing the UMA standard it makes it possible for organisations to comply with shifting privacy regulations and establish trusted digital relationships. The new software capabilities make it easy for businesses to comply with data privacy regulations, such as Safe Harbour and the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
More information on the platform is available on the ForgeRock website.


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KT&G CEO Baek Bok-in (R) and Sejong City Mayor Choi Min-ho pose for a photo after signing a memorandum of understanding at Sejong City Hall on Friday. (KT&G)
South Korean tobacco company KT&G announced on Monday that it plans to build a new environmentally friendly tobacco packaging factory in the central administrative center of Sejong city.
Under the 180 billion won ($133.5 million) project, the plant will be built in the Sejong Mirae Industrial Zone, an area developed by the government for local manufacturing enterprises, by 2025.
KT&G said the factory will produce tobacco packaging such as cigarette papers and boxes, based on an advanced logistics automation system and digital printing process.
It aims to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, an eco-certification by using renewable energy, including solar power and improving infrastructure for air (pollution) and water waste, the company added. .
“With the eco-friendly factory, we plan to help make Sejong a green city, and also make extra efforts to support the disadvantaged and other corporate social responsibility activities,” an official said. from KT&G.
By Byun Hye-jin ([email protected])


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Even after the horrific Bangladesh garment factory collapse, all that American retail giants like Walmart, Gap and Target can think of is their bottom line.
In the wake of the April tragedy that killed more than 1,100 Bangladeshi workers -- the worst industrial disaster since Bhopal -- there was enormous pressure on the chains that bought from such factories to make sure that catastrophes like this don't happen again. European retailers signed an agreement early this week that binds them to making improvements to Bangladeshi supplier factories. The response of American outlets? A legally toothless agreement that doesn't mean squat.
"They can use all the rhetoric they choose, but if you look at the substance, there's very little there," Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, told the New York Times. "They can walk away whenever they want and there is no real obligation to pay a penny to repair and renovate factories."
Indeed, according to the Inter Press Service, American companies were unwilling to sign on to any agreement at all until they were advised that if they didn't do this, the "Made in Bangladesh" tag might become toxic for many consumers.
In fact, as The Nation reports, the think tank that brokered the agreement, an outfit called the Bipartisan Policy Center, has received funding from Walmart as well as a lobbying firm representing the company. So, the end result is no surprise.
The sad truth is that unless firms take measures to reform the global supply chain, there's little hope for revamping a system where cheap clothes have much more value than human lives. Contrary to what you would expect in the aftermath of such a globally reported event, Bangladeshi exports in June rose 16.3 percent due to robust garment purchases, mainly in Europe and the United States. And even the Obama Administration's recent step to withdraw trade privileges for Bangladesh will not have much of an effect, according to trade analysts.
So, in the end the onus lies on retail behemoths like Walmart. But to expect moral concern from such companies is expecting too much.
"I've done the math on what Alice Walton paid for a certain painting and how many thousands of years it would take one of her employees to earn the money to buy that painting," says writer Rebecca Solnit in the next issue of The Progressive. "Yet the Walton family and other rich people like them are squeezing their employees even more. They're taking away a little more, making their employees a little more desperate, helping their children die of treatable diseases, helping them have that incredible misery of poverty, which is both insecurity as well as basic lack."
Solnit is not the only one critiquing the retail industry. Pope Francis issued a thundering denunciation of working conditions at the Bangladeshi factory complex, calling the workers "slave labor."
"Not paying a just [wage], not providing work, focusing exclusively on the balance books, on financial statements, only looking at making personal profit," the Pope declaimed. "That goes against God!"
Unfortunately, it will take more than even the Pope and God combined to get Walmart and its ilk to focus on something other than money.
Amitabh Pal, the managing editor of The Progressive and co-editor of the Progressive Media Project, is the author of "Islam" Means Peace: Understanding the Muslim Principle of Nonviolence Today (Praeger).


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The Chinese market share of US e-commerce giant eBay plunged to a record low last year as local rival Taobao.com gained further ground, according to an industry report.
China IntelliConsulting Corp, founded by Internet industry analyst Lu Bowang, said yesterday that eBay's share in the Chinese consumer-to-consumer e-commerce market in 2006 was 15.4 percent.
That was in sharp contrast to its 29.1-percent market share in 2005, according to another survey conducted by Lu a year ago. This year's survey was done in the first three months and involved 4,000 online traders in five cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Wuhan.
Local rival Taobao, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba, partly owned by Yahoo!, rose from 67.3 percent to 82 percent in the period.
The situation is a reversal of that three years ago when the US giant held an overwhelming majority of market share in China.
Paipai.com, the online trading arm of the largest Chinese instant messaging firm Tencent, was third with just 2.7 percent of the market share.
"Even I didn't expect the market shares of eBay and Paipai to be so low," said Lu, who has been researching Chinese dotcoms since 2001.
Chinese joint venture Tom Eachnet, which was formed in December and is expected to run eBay's trading business, declined to comment, but said the new trading platform will start operation in the middle of 2007 and will launch localized and richer services.
And 24 percent of sellers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou said in the survey that they planned to open new online stores on Taobao in the next six months, while only 8 percent chose eBay China and 10 percent Paipai.
Up to 26 percent of sellers said they would close their shops on eBay China's website, compared to 7 percent on Taobao and 12 percent on Paipai.
(China Daily April 17, 2007)


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“Cyberpunk tech war is coming," young people are more dependent on their parents, and the term "Yummies" is coined.
Read our roundups in magazine form on Flipboard, via the iOS and Android app or online; click here to find our magazine collection.
-HSBC coins the term “Yummies” in reference to the young urban males with money whom luxury retailers are now pursuing.
-With Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus Rift, Fast Company says a “cyberpunk tech war is coming” over how we experience reality. CNET reports on what the skeptics are saying about the future of virtual reality.
-An Economist special report looks at the rise of robots and argues they will change how we think about technology.
-An FT special report on The Connected Business examines how Big Data is changing how workers make decisions and sparking cultural change at corporations.
–Newsweek argues that banks are getting massively disrupted by new companies that are “smarter about data and use it in more imaginative ways.”
–Time reports that Millennials and the banking industry are at odds, with banks failing to meet the generation’s needs or wants.
–The Guardian covers a European report that found the economic crisis has made young people more dependent than ever on their parents, a trend that has “sobering social and demographic implications for the continent.”
-Entrepreneurialism is on the rise in Greece as more people give up on waiting for the government to turn the country around, reports The New York Times.
-A New York Times op-ed posits that the world is getting more depressed thanks to rising urbanization and people gaining a better sense of their place in the social order.
–The Economist reports that Japanese women haven’t made notable strides in the workplace in decades.
–The New York Times takes a look at the explosive growth of Macau, which “now dwarfs Las Vegas as a gambling hub.”
-Pew Research’s Journalism Project releases its State of the News Media 2014 report.
–CNN spotlights the proliferation of social platforms that involve smaller, more intimate circles.
-As more companies establish a social media presence, many are turning to social media coaches, per The Wall Street Journal.
-Market research, which has relied on outdated technology and techniques, is now moving to mobile devices, reports Fortune.
-An Adweek infographic illustrates the trend of consumers falling out of love with brands.
-A new Deloitte report on “digital omnivores” examines how this growing cohort uses digital devices to work, play, shop and socialize, via Channelnomics.
–The Philadelphia Inquirer takes a look at the rise of “real” people in fashion campaigns as the Proudly Imperfect trend takes hold.
–The Drum discusses how brands are trying to stand out in the sea of visual stimuli at point of purchase.
-Fiction is now both composed and consumed on the go, thanks to mobile apps that make writing more social and informal, reports The New York Times.
-The FT takes a look at why a growing number of businesses are accepting bitcoin.
-Cyber criminals are two steps ahead of retailers, with mobile shoppers especially vulnerable, reports The Washington Post.
-With other screens stealing their time, the number of frequent moviegoers ages 12-24 is falling in the U.S., per Variety.
-In this Age of Impatience, speed reading is making a comeback, via The Wall Street Journal.
–McKinsey argues that companies have an “extraordinary opportunity” to leverage technological advances to improve resource productivity—and ultimately spark the next industrial revolution.
-As How I Met Your Mother reaches its conclusion, The Wall Street Journal explores how Americans typically meet their spouses these days.
–The New York Times examines the public forms that grief is taking in the digital age.
-Luxury bedding is the latest category in which startups are cutting out the middleman and selling online to consumers, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Image credit: Business Insider


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The technology has seen exponential growth amid accelerated change
The intersection of food service and technology
NRF 2023: Retail’s Big Show will share breakthroughs in data, analytics and digital experiences.
How David’s Bridal is using TikTok to rewrite the rules of formal fashion
Retail Gets Real Episode 290: David Bridal’s Chief Marketing and IT Officer on leveraging social media.
The latest tech for boosting consumer loyalty
NRF 2023: Retail’s Big Show Innovation Lab companies are helping retailers meet evolving expectations.


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Top 10 Most Promising Wealthtech Companies In India 2022
With growing digital adoption and increased investor interest, the wealth tech sector in India has seen a robust growth rate. More than 300 startups have emerged in India in the health tech sector, including Robo-advisories, online brokerages, personal finance management, and investment platforms.
It is the fastest-growing fintech market in the world, ahead of the United States. Wealthtech in India has especially grown rapidly. Additionally, because of the pandemic, India’s internet penetration has surged by 8.2% in a year, resulting in greater usage of digital technology. Wealthtech solutions are also in higher demand as disposable incomes increase. Wealthtech companies in Tier-II cities in India are benefiting from these factors, as well as increased investor participation in the sector.
Redseer recently reported that the Indian wealth tech market is estimated to triple in size from US$20 billion in 2020 to US$63 billion by 2025. Also, the report noted that wealth tech stands to benefit from a number of tremendous opportunities in the world’s largest democracy. As opposed to the United States, only 2% of its population invests.
Here are some of the key players in the wealth tech market as the industry is poised for growth.
According to a new report, global fintech funding is expected to reach $210 billion in 2021, up from $125 billion and 3,674 deals in 2020.
India topped the global fintech deal rankings once again, with four out of ten of the region’s top deals coming from the country.
KPMG’s Sanjay Doshi, Partner, and Head, Financial Services Advisory, said this development reveals India’s growing influence in the fintech sector. The arrival of the digital rupee will make new models around neobanking, wealth tech, and insurtech more interesting in the future, Doshi said.
In the second half of last year, fintech funding totaled $101 billion, according to the ‘Pulse of Fintech H2’21 report.
A total of $51.7 billion in investments were made in the payments sector in 2021 – up from $29.1 billion in 2020 – and $30.2 billion was invested in blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the past year.
The report found that a robust payments space has been helped by growth in areas such as embedded banking, ‘buy now, pay later, and open banking aligned solutions.
Investment in wealth tech ($1.62 billion) and cybersecurity ($4.85 billion) also reached new highs.
The value of cross-border fintech M&A deals increased by more than threefold year over year, to $36.2 billion.
The total value of fintech-related mergers and acquisitions increased from $76 billion in 2020 to $83.1 billion in 2021.
“P.E. financing to fintech more than twice from its record estimate in 2021, with $12.2 billion in a business case study to $5.2 billion in 2018,” according to the research.
V.C.’s investment in fintech has more than doubled in the last year, rising from $46 billion in 2020 to a new high of $115 billion in 2021.
The United States received $88 billion in total finance and $52.7 billion in venture capital funding.
Fintech investment in the Asia-Pacific area then doubled between 2020 and 2021, rising from $14.7 billion to $27.5 billion.
The wealth tech sector in India has grown rapidly as a result of the increased development of digital technologies and increased investor interest in the sector. India has over 300 companies offering wealth-Tech services such as Robo-Advisory, online brokerages, investing platforms, and other wealth management services.
India’s wealthy technology sector has seen rapid expansion. India, along with the United States, is developing a record amount of fintech, giving it among the quickest fintech marketplaces. The epidemic has resulted in an increase of 8.2 percent in internet penetration, resulting in increased digital development in India.
A shift in the demography of investors. A future breed of customers who need more than simple, functional, and smooth interactions. Decades of lack of investment in technology have necessitated the creation of a digital world that will drive market distinctiveness. Cybersecurity dangers are always evolving in response to technological advancements.
These are just a few of the obstacles wealth management organizations face as they work to enhance the wealth technology (wealth-tech) they require to service individual and institutional clients. Such advancements in wealth-tech have created winning market opportunities for anyone who can stay up.
The wealth management sector has changed as a result of waves of innovation. The earlier insular, product-based, in-house technology has provided a way to the DIY investor age, which emphasizes wealth firms’ involvement and contacts with their customers, as well as offering them digital, identity tools.
With rapid technological advancements over the years, the period among each latest influx of asset research and innovation has decreased as wealth-influence tech’s, and acceptance percentage by wealth firms has increased. This necessitates wealth managers concentrating their attention on initiatives that assist them in capitalizing on these innovation waves, which begins with keeping up with current wealth-tech developments.
We’ve selected five strategic initiatives that industry executives may want to pursue to remain relevant and prepare themselves for success.
Initiating five strategic initiatives:
- Meeting the changing needs of clients by enhancing the client experience
- Data-driven recommendations to strengthen client relationships
- Drive differentiation with technology
- Combat rising cyber-threats by investing in cybersecurity
- Introducing wealth-tech and preparing the workforce for its benefits
In India, there are a plethora of I.T. areas that are thriving. It is the fastest-growing fintech market among major countries, along with the U.S., and producing record amounts of fintech. The epidemic has resulted in an 8.2% increase in web penetration, prompting a more advanced response in India.
Furthermore, increased access to abundant technology setups is directly related to increased disposable income. In addition to these factors, the wealth tech sector in India is seeing an increase in economic backer demand from Tier-II urban neighborhoods.
According to a new analysis by Redseer, the Indian wealth tech market is projected to expand rapidly from roughly US$20 billion in 2020 to around US$63 billion in 2025.
The paper also highlighted the enormous market potential for wealth tech in the world’s largest vote-based system, where only 2% of the population invests in equities, compared to 55% in the United States.
India is a global fintech powerhouse, with over 2,100 fintech firms which is one of the greatest fintech acceptance rates in the developed world, kudos to initiating internet infrastructure initiatives, a vibrant venture capital (V.C.) landscape, and growing populations, along with a young, digitally savvy population and a rising middle class.
Investors around the world are positive about India’s fintech prospects, having invested billions into the sector.
Fintech funding in India exceeded US$8 billion in 2021, according to data from Invest India, the national investment promotion agency. In the United States today, 17 fintech unicorns are valued at more than $1 billion. The startup scene is exploding, with a plethora of smaller yet fast-growing companies making their presence felt, gaining funding and traction from investors worldwide.
Most Promising Wealthtech Companies In India 2022
Through INDWealth, consumers can track their wealth, save, and grow it. SuperMoneyApp automates the process of keeping customers’ money organized, and it provides tips on how customers can save money and earn more on investments, loans, and expenses. Meanwhile, INDWealth, which offers tax planning, trust administration, private family offices, and succession planning, is a privately owned wealth management platform.
INDWealth offers users the opportunity to keep track of their finances by keeping an eye on loan payments, taxes, and investments. As a result, the machine-learning algorithm helps users improve cash flow and accomplish financial goals.
The company’s parent company, Finzoom Investment Advisors, is a licensed investment adviser with SEBI.
Over the past few years, the startup has earned over US$58 million. Steadview Capital, Tiger Global, and Dragoneer are investors.
Zerodha is one of India’s original cheap brokers and promises to be among the country’s largest stock brokers. Zerodha has more than 5 million clients who trade and invest in a wide range of products, accounting for over 15% of all wholesale volume of orders in India daily. Futures and options, bonds, stocks and IPOs, commodities and currency derivatives, direct mutual funds, and government securities are all available to Zerodha customers.
In the case of interday trades, the company allows users to trade for free. For intraday equities, currency, and commodities trading, Tt pays a nominal 0.03 percent of the deal or US$0.27 (INR 20), whatever is lower.
It’s worth noting that the firm, which is now profitable, has been bootstrapped since the beginning. In comparison to the previous year, revenue increased by 11% to approximately US$127 million in FY2020. The company has a self-value of $1 billion.
Stockbroking company Upstox limited operates in India. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company has a global presence. Investors and professionals can find a variety of investments on the company’s website, including stocks, mutual funds, commodities, derivatives, currencies, and ETFs.
As part of its commitment to complete transparency, Upstox offers zero brokerage fees for equity delivery customs and up to Rs. 20 per demand for intraday and F&O trades, commodities, and currencies. From the moment a client opens an account to the moment they execute financial transactions, the company ensures that they have access to a high-tech online trading platform backed by best-in-class services.
In 2010, Up stock Limited was founded. In 2012, the firm became the first in the sector to provide fixed-price unlimited trading plans. In 2016, RKSV raised a round of funding from Kalaari Capital, Ratan Tata, and GVK Davix to help speed the company’s technology rollout and operations, with a strong focus on mobile and robust trading systems. The company’s underlying idea of making stock market trading easy and accessible for everyone remains unchanged.
Ravi Kumar and Shrini Viswanath launched Upstox Limited. Ravi Kumar is the company’s founder and an Indian businessman. He graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a bachelor’s degree in information technology and computer science. Kumar created R.K. Trading Partnership in 2006 and Upstox Limited Company in 2010.
Shrini Vishwanath is a co-founder of the company and an Indian businessman. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champion between 2003 and 2007. He worked as a Technology Analyst at Morgan Stanley in 2006. He began working at Citi in 2008 as a program manager. Upstox Limited was created by him in 2010. Hard labor, honest effort, and sincerity are the characteristics that the organization believes determine the quality of the product.
Groww is one of the most popular online investment platforms. Groww App, which can be downloaded free of charge, allows its users to safely trade stocks, mutual funds, U.S. stocks, and even digital gold. In 2016, Neeraj Singh, Harsh Jain, Lalit Keshre, and Ishan Bhansal founded Groww, a mobile app startup based in Bengaluru.
With its parent company, Next Billion Technologies, now being an authenticated broker with the BSE, Groww is expanding its stock market services. Users of Groww can use the app and the Groww services for free.
Groww offers no recommendations but encourages users to select their portfolios according to the available information. The SIP option is also available to investors.
Whether you’re ready to invest or not, Groww is a good choice. It provides a secure and convenient platform. To maintain the security of the transactions, routine and strict safety checks are performed. Groww does not pay any fee on its purchases. The platform just acts as a mediator, and all payments are conducted through BSE.
Ribbit, Sequoia, Kauffman Fellows, and other well-known investors have backed the app and its services. It is run by a group of professionals with extensive experience in both technology and finance.
Groww was founded to offer only regular plans. However, beginning in 2018, it has moved to direct plans. Direct plans do not have a distributor commission.
Groww features a feature called ‘Smart Save.’ This function is geared towards saving customer accounts, where the funds will be placed in a money market fund with just an option for immediate redemption.
A re-branded version of Wealth Generators, Kuvera Global, was launched on March 1, 2018, as a re-branding of Wealth Generators. During the time the company operated under the name Wealth Generators, the company provided investment advice and financial services.
Investview acquired Wealth Generators in 2017, and the company now focuses on Cryptocurrency mining contracts. An ROI of 1200 days was earned on one mining contract costing approximately $4999.
Wealth Generators and Investview Inc. operate in a somewhat different way than traditional MLM companies that offer securities. Upon closer inspection, we observed that Wealth Generators (Kuvera Global) did not register under the SEC for its mining contracts.
Kuvera Global has continued to offer cryptocurrency mining contracts through Kuvera Wealth. Several percentages of Kuvera are involved in mining leasing.
With Kuvera Wealth as a side business, the company offers mining contracts similar to what they offered previously under their old name:
- Generator: investment $499.99
- Business: investment $999.99
- Executive: investment $2499.99
- Premier: Investment $4999.99
On the website, the company does not provide any information about its “VIP mining programs,” which cost $ 25,000. According to the above discussion, the old company’s brand had an ROI of 1200 days, which is a long time. Kuvera Wealth now offers consumers open-ended contracts:
Although all mining contracts are valid for 1000 days, they last over the lifetime of the equipment.
We can find two things mentioned on the Kuvera global website: “Market Education” and “Financial Fitness.”
Scripbox, an online investment platform, was launched in Bengaluru, Karnataka, in 2012 by Askoh Kumar E R, Atul Shingal, and Sanjiv Singhal. Scripbox is now one of the fastest-growing asset management firms, with an AUM of 1500 crores and over 1 million customers helping them achieve their financial goals!
Omidyar Network, Accel Partners, and different angel investors have all contributed to the company’s growth.
Millions of dollars have been invested in this quest.
Scripbox’s mission is straightforward: to educate and assist consumers in investing in mutual funds by making communication easy and jargon-free. By thoroughly examining the market, the business has built an algorithm that selects just the top-performing mutual funds. It selects the top ten performing mutual funds out of over 8000 accessible, then divides them into four categories: long-term, short-term, tax-saving, and emergency fund.
Sqrrl was one of the first purpose-built systems for this critical Security Operations Center (SOC) function as a pioneer in corporate threat hunting. Sqrrl’s threat hunting platform, which comes with a wealth of hunting ideas leadership, such as the tracking loop and tracking maturity model, makes it easier than ever for businesses to start a hunting program, even if they haven’t done it previously.
Hunting does not have to be only a practice of the top 1% of security practitioners, thanks to Sqrrl, which lowers the barrier of entry for less experienced analysts. The Sqrrl platform combines aspects of multiple separate hunting tools into one, investigation recording, incorporating a linked data model, asset tagging, a search language, and fusion of multiple domains.
The analyst can then access everything they need in one place.
Sqrrl has developed a platform that combines three key parts of SOC activity: proactive threat hunting, incident investigations, and automated analytics to make hunts repeatable and machine-powered. Neither threat hunting tool in the industry has attempted to address each of these critical components of security and integrate them into a single platform.
8. Cube Wealth
Cube Wealth, a Bengaluru-based fintech, has raised $500K in mid-series fundraising from its current investors, including Singapore-based startup fund Beenext and Japan-based Asuka Holding. The cash will be used to expand the company’s technology and development marketing teams. The company raised around $2 million earlier this year to extend its operations for NRIs.
“I think this pandemic is a critical point for digital wealth management,” says Satyen Kothari, founder and CEO. “Customers will now become used to and require digital services including everything from KYC to managing their investments.” They will also want their wealth providers to be more transparent and ethical. On several fronts, technology performs admirably.”
Satyen Kothari launched the company in 2018 to create an app that is simple to use, delivers the best advisors, and aids in wealth accumulation, particularly for busy professionals. Designers, Engineers, Wealth Coaches, Marketers, and Operations Experts make up the team.
Building Your Perfect Portfolio of Investments, simplistic portfolio tracking, more alternatives apart from mutual funds, over 17,000 funds investment choices such as mutual funds, foreign equities, digital gold, and trading platforms, pretty much any time assistance from wealth coaches, and so on are some of the unique features of the app.
WealthDesk has reviewed the material in this post.
WealthDesk is India’s first B2B2C platform, capturing the whole Investment/Asset Management/Advisory value chain, from portfolio development on top of equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to WealthBasket investment products.
In India, WealthDesk is leading the way in terms of investment product innovation. WealthDesk’s platform is used by more than 50 partners to align their brokerage and consulting offerings. Among them are well-known full-service brokers like Motilal Oswal, J.M. Financial, Anand Rathi, and Prabhudas Lilladher. WealthDesk, as a B2B2C SaaS platform in this market, can bring in B2B and build a larger ecosystem at scale.
In addition to re-branding itself and adding Mutual Funds transactions to its services, Smart Spends, backed by Times Internet, has become ET MONEY. With the change in the brand name, the company will be able to meet all the financial needs of Indians through a mobile-first platform.
It is also crucial to brand it as ET MONEY to make it credible, familiar, and trustworthy.
“We believe retail consumers in India are completely disadvantaged in the financial journey,” Mukesh Kalra, COO at ET MONEY, commented. Through our user-friendly platform, we help users manage their money more efficiently than other providers. With seamless mutual fund investing, we are now helping consumers grow their money.”
Article Proofread & Published by Gauri Malhotra.


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WATERLOO, Wis. (BRAIN) — Trek Bicycle's president, John Burke, is urging Wisconsin cyclists to contact their state lawmakers in support of the state's Complete Streets Law, which Gov. Scott Walker has proposed eliminating.
BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — PeopleForBikes is providing $32,000 to the National Interscholastic Cycling Association this year, through two separate funds.
BOSTON (BRAIN) — Vittoria has hired Spencer Haugh as inside sales rep and logistics support.
MONTREAL (BRAIN) — The Canadian Independent Bicycle Retailer Association will hold its 2015 Leadership Summit Nov. 2-4 in Montreal.
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (BRAIN) — Wigwam Mills, Inc. has added Dry Creek Enterprises to its sales team. Based in Napa, Califorina, Dry Creek will be responsible for all Wigwam product sales in Northern California.
CORTEZ, Colo. (BRAIN) — Osprey Packs has bolstered its marketing team, hiring outdoor industry veterans Rob BonDurant as director of marketing and Kurt Metternick in the newly created position of Web manager.
EMMAUS, Pa. (BRAIN) — More than 100 Rodale Inc employees biked to work on Monday, the first day of Bike to Work week.
JACKSON, Wy. (BRAIN) — MTBparks.com has completed its second annual Best Bike Parks reader survey.
The site has named the top-five rated lift-served parks in each of eight regions in the U.S. and Canada.
SAN FRANCISCO (BRAIN) — Distribution platform Rumbleship is now offering Dainese protective and safety gear to U.S. IBDs.
BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Compression brand RecoFit is celebrating its home town by repeating a marketing campaign that includes other brands from Boulder, Colo.
MADISON, Wis. (BRAIN) — The United States Conference of Mayors Bike Summit kicked off Wednesday night in Madison, Wisconsin.
BONSALL, Calif. (BRAIN) — Petal Power is sponsoring the LUNA Pro Team as its official chamois cream supplier for 2015.
NEWBURY PARK, Calif. (BRAIN) — Giant USA has hired Nick Fisher as a new account executive; he'll be working with Giant and Liv retailers in Utah, western Wyoming, and southeastern Idaho.
SAUSALITO, Calif. (BRAIN) — The luxury cycling touring company inGamba is offering two new programs this year to allow bike retailers to offer travel programs to their customers on an individual or group basis. The company also can arrange custom trips that include IBD employees.
SANDY, Utah (BRAIN) — Reynolds Cycling has set up a Speed Shop website that lets dealers and their employees buy Reynolds products at pro prices.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (BRAIN) — Twin Six has unveiled its new B2B website, allowing dealers to order directly online and see real-time inventory availability.
PORTLAND, Ore. (BRAIN) — The Oregon Tourism Commission has tapped seven of the state's leading bike builders to craft a custom bicycle for each of the state's seven wonders.
COON VALLEY, Wis. (BRAIN) — Borah Teamwear has launched a new promotion built around the idea that custom store riding clothes are a key way to build a retailer's brand.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (BRAIN) — Bike touring brand Velo Orange will embark on a season-long dealer tour starting this month, traveling in retro style in a vintage solar-powered Airstream trailer.


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The World Trade Organisation (WTO) would provide massive opportunities for established textile mills, senior analyst Faisal Shaji of Capital One Research said in his report on Friday.
“We earnestly feel that despite lingering uncertainties, WTO provides massive opportunities for established Pakistani textile mill owners, as they are all set to gain from massive demand emanating from important regions of the world,” said the analyst.
He said: “In our extensive coverage on textiles on periodic basis, we have been reiterating our optimistic stance on the sector especially with respect to key companies outlook.”
However, it is important to highlight some of the glaring facts embracing the textile scene in light of an end to the Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) era and beginning of the quota free world, he said and added: “Moreover, recent developments pertaining to GSP by EU also heave some dampeners for key textile producers.”
While talking of the uncertainty part, many of the textile pundits tend to forget the demand side; which is expected to come alone from the huge US market.
Pakistani exports of value added textiles already surged in FY04 on account of trade concessions due to the front line status. As per international studies, the value of the global textile and apparel industry will go up to $250 billion by CY08, with countries like China, India and Pakistan would be the clear frontrunners.
Pakistan alone has the potential to grow from $5 billion to nearly $10 billion by CY08, which delineates that sales would be up by 6 per cent to about $4 billion in the fourth year of the post quota period.
Time and again, we have highlighted the looming ‘capacity rationalisation’ phenomenon coming in the US, which clearly indicates that existing capacities of the textile producers would not be good enough to meet the projected demand relating to value added textiles.
Despite this rosy picture, it is important to understand few under-mentioned dynamics that would follow suit in the post WTO period for Pakistan.
Worries about WTO: It is true that developed countries have agreed to remove quotas but they can still restrict textile imports from a developing country like Pakistan under the garb of creating legal lacunas by imposing regulations such as anti-dumping,environmental protection laws, product standards and quality compliance to attain relevant benchmarks, intellectual property protection etc.
In other words, by using said measures, developed nations can restrict more market access to Pakistan, which it badly needs.
The Government of Pakistan on its part is also a signatory to various such related agreements under WTO and needs a sea change in approach in running economic policies to maintain competitive edge in textile trade.
This aspect is particularly true in a sense that Pakistan faces a dilemma that it is not a part of any preferential regional agreement and thus cannot receive any preferential treatment as against regional countries close to the world’s major markets.
Likewise, looking at the domestic front, we feel that barring big players in the textile industry, middle and small tier producers still lack speed production, quality control management, marketing and time to market technology, which can hamper their profitable existence in the WTO era.
‘China safeguard’ measures from US not forthcoming, threatening Pakistan’sshare Until now, EU and US have not made significant efforts to curb value added imports from China, which is all set to take a 50 per cent share of the global textile market by CY08.
According to industry estimates, China’s apparel exports would increase to nearly 17 per cent per year to $125 billion in the same period.
Pakistan can also be a victim of quota removal and China’s persistent expansion, which also operates at an average productivity level of 55 per cent as against its own 15-16 per cent in accordance with US standards.
Concessions from EU going under GSP: It is being reported that Pakistani textile products would be subjected to normal custom tariffs from Jan 1 in 25 EU member states. Until now, Pakistan was getting exemptions on custom tariffs under Generalized System of Preference (GSP).
Pakistan, despite qualifying under the newly structured GSP, may not benefit from it, as it does not fall in the category of least developed countries (LDCs). Under this GSP arrangement, only those countries can avail exemptions whose exports to EU are less than one per cent, whereas Pakistan is a bigger supplier of textiles to EU and has a major share.
This implementation would add some vows among the big exporter to the region viz-a-viz Nishat Mills, Gul Ahmed Textiles, Al-Abid Silk Mills, M Farooq and Kohinoor Textile Mills, which would stand to loose the competitive advantage in pricing as against other world players due to high tariffs and existing anti-dumping duties in certain bed linen categories.
Courtesy: `Business Recorder


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Beauty executives and retailers shared insight about success in today’s beauty market to a crowd of about 300 at Fashion Group International’s The Art of the Beauty Start Up. Held in the New York Hilton’s Mercury Ballroom on April 30, the event featured a panel of experts: Howard Kreitzman, vice president of cosmetics and fragrances at Bloomingdale’s; Peter Lichtenthal, president of Bumble and bumble and Smashbox; Paulo Limo, cofounder of IT Cosmetics; Claudia Lucas, QVC’s merchandise director for beauty, and Essie Weingarten, founder of Essie Cosmetics.
Her first day on the job, Mary Murcko, vice president and publisher at Self, introduced moderator Karen Grant, NPD’s vice president and global beauty industry analyst. Grant then opened the luncheon by asking the panel about the key attributes a brand needs to be and remain relevant.
A Stella McCartney sketch of a custom dress made from protein-based silk in partnership with biotech lab Bolt Threads. The dress will be displayed at The Museum of Modern Art's upcoming design exhibition, "Items: Is Fashion Modern?"


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“I’ve been trading cryptocurrencies for two years,” the 29-year-old says.
“Previously I only bought a few coins and barely make any transactions. But I’ve been having nightmares ever since I started dabbling in futures.”
Futures are an agreement between two parties to buy and sell a specific amount of underlying crypto at a specific future value.
It is available on many trading apps such as Binance and MEXC.
Nguyen admits that now she opens the app frequently and spends a lot time researching…


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If you missed out on the nearly 15 minute Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel E3 2014 demo walkthrough, here's a chance to check it out in its entirety — complete with narration from from Gearbox and 2K Australia.
They made sure to mention there may be some butt stomping, joy puking and/or face lasering within, so make sure to take a look if such promises excite you.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel — E3 2014 Narrated Gameplay Walkthrough:
Oh and if you missed it, they also released a "Handsome Jack's Tips for Surviving on the Moon!" video late last week:
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is set for an October 14th, 2014 release on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.


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The Honorable Debbie Stabenow
Chairwoman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Nutrition
The Honorable Thad Cochran
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Nutrition
The Honorable Frank Lucas
Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture
The Honorable Collin Peterson
Ranking Member, House Committee on Agriculture
May 2, 2013
Dear Chairwoman Stabenow, Chairman Lucas and Ranking Members Cochran and Peterson:
The 2013 Farm Bill represents an opportunity to take powerful steps to protect independent livestock and poultry producers from unfair and deceptive contract and marketing practices. In the few years since enactment of the 2008 Farm Bill, the United States has lost 4 percent of its beef cattle operations and 7 percent of its hog operations.
Today, there are only a handful of beef packers, hog processors and poultry integrators. Farmers and ranchers often have little alternative but to accept the terms and prices offered by the few, large firms that dominate the industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should police the marketplace to protect livestock and poultry producers from the unfair, abusive and deceptive marketing and contracting practices that are routine in these markets.
The 2008 Farm Bill included many important and commonsense livestock reforms including improvements to country of origin labeling (COOL), enhancements to livestock mandatory price reporting, authorization for interstate shipment of state-inspected meat and clarified the contract and marketing protections for livestock and poultry producers under the Packers and Stockyards Act known as the GIPSA rule. Farmers and ranchers across the country as well as many agricultural, rural community, faith-based and consumer organizations had long advocated for these sensible protections and were vigorous supporters of the GIPSA provisions in the 2008 Farm Bill’s historic livestock title.
The market access and contract fairness issues facing farmers and ranchers are as critical today as they were when Congress crafted the 2008 Farm Bill. Congress should enact meaningful reforms to level the playing field for livestock and poultry producers in the 2013 Farm Bill. We urge the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to enact these budget-neutral provisions to protect independent family farmers and strengthen the economic viability of livestock and poultry producers and rural communities:
Repeal the rescission of the poultry rules in the 2013 Continuing Resolution: The recently passed Continuing Resolution rescinded several contract poultry fairness rules that went into effect in 2012. These rules provide basic protections, such as requiring poultry companies to provide adequate notice before suspending the delivery of birds to farmers. These and similar regulations are commonsense protections that should remain and be enforced.
Prohibit retaliation against farmers who speak up: It has become common for livestock and poultry companies to retaliate against contract farmers who speak up about abusive contracting practices in the industry, or who try to organize other farmers to work cooperatively for the right to negotiate fair contracts. Congress should make it a clear violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act for companies to retaliate against farmers for exercising their legal rights, such as talking to federal agency officials or members of Congress about their farming operations and contracts.
In addition, Congress should close the loopholes in the Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967 (AFPA) that effectively allow meatpackers and poultry processors to retaliate against farmers who join producer associations. The AFPA was enacted to ensure that livestock and poultry producers could join associations and market their products collectively without fear of retribution from processors.
Allow the final GIPSA Rule to take effect: The 2008 Farm Bill required USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) to issue rules prohibiting unfair, deceptive and abusive practices in the livestock and poultry industry. The USDA, farm advocates and the meatpacking and poultry industry battled for almost three years over these rules. In the end, the opponents to the GIPSA rule convinced Congress to use the annual appropriations process to whittle away at the authority of USDA to address these anti-competitive practices. Congress should immediately remove any limitations of USDA’s Packers and Stockyards Act authority.
Grant USDA administrative enforcement authority for poultry violations: USDA lacks full enforcement authority for poultry under the Packers and Stockyards Act, but it does have this authority for violations related to the red meat sector (beef, hogs and sheep). USDA can investigate poultry violations and issue cease and desist orders to stop poultry companies from violating the law. But to take full enforcement action, the cases must be sent to the U.S. Department of Justice. This split jurisdiction has greatly hampered enforcement of the Act with regard to poultry violations, and allowed unfair and deceptive trade practices to proliferate, leaving poultry growers very vulnerable to abuse.
Establish a USDA special counsel on agricultural competition: Agriculture is one of the most consolidated sectors in the U.S. economy, but the federal antitrust and competition oversight of the food and agriculture sector is fragmented, with uncoordinated oversight shared among USDA, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. The lack of coherent jurisdiction is further complicated by the increasing vertical integration in the sector, where some firms and combinations of firms require monitoring by more than one regulator.
The agriculture and food industry appears poised to undergo another wave of mergers, but the current overlapping jurisdictions prevent sensible oversight and review of the continued consolidation of an already highly concentrated sector. The 2013 Farm Bill should establish a special counsel in USDA on agricultural competition to coordinate and oversee competition and antitrust enforcement activities among the federal agencies.
Require an annual USDA report on concentration in the agriculture and food industries: Despite the dramatic concentration of the agriculture and food sectors, USDA lacks comprehensive, sector-wide and timely information about the overall state of competitiveness in the agriculture and food sector from seed to supermarket. USDA should collect annual information on the consolidation levels (measured by the market shares of the four largest firms) throughout the food and farm sector and issue an annual report.
The study should include industries that provide inputs to farmers and ranchers (such as seed, fertilizer, agrochemical and farm equipment); commodity market handling and processing industries (including grain and oilseed handling, meatpacking, milk handling and processing, fruit and vegetable distribution and processing); the food manufacturing industry; and the retail grocery sector.’
Include the Livestock Marketing Fairness Act: Provisions of the Livestock Marketing Fairness Act, introduced by Senators Enzi (WY) and Johnson (SD) in 2012, would bring secret, long-term contracts between packers and producers into the open and create a market for these contracts. It would require packers (and livestock producers) to buy and sell their marketing contracts in open, public markets where all buyers and sellers have accessto the marketing and pricing information. Currently, formula contracts and marketing agreements are negotiated in secret, which gives packers all the information and market power and forces livestock producers to accept “formula” prices that are finalized on delivery instead of firm, base prices when the contracts are signed. These formula contracts and agreements allow meatpackers to manipulate prices and shut small and independent producers out of markets.
Prohibit packer-owned livestock: Mega-meatpackers such as Tyson, Cargill, and Smithfield Foods use packer-owned livestock to exert unfair market power over farmers and ranchers. These companies can buy cattle and hogs on the open market when prices are low, but, when auction prices rise, they can slaughter their own livestock. This effectively allows meatpackers to manipulate prices and puts long-term, downward pressure on cattle and hog prices, even when retail meat prices rise.
Oppose Any Legislative Changes, Studies, or Delays in Implementation for Country of Origin Labeling (COOL): COOL provides consumers with vital information that they need to make informed choices about their food and allows American farmers and ranchers to differentiate their products from imported food. USDA has issued a proposed rule that strengthens the information consumers are provided through COOL and addresses the concerns of the World Trade Organization. USDA is set to publish the final rule in the near future, thus we urge the committee to oppose any language that would postpone or alter the implementation plan for COOL.
A fair and vibrant marketplace cannot function when the largest players are able to use their scale and market power to distort the basic functions provided by open and competitive markets. The largest agribusiness, meatpacker, poultry and food companies already have the capacity to distort or manipulate prices, impose unfair contract and marketing terms on farmers and create barriers for new market entrants.
Implementation of any of the provisions listed above would be a significant and meaningful step toward preserving marketing opportunities for family farmers Coalition Letter to Agriculture Committees on Livestock Competition Issues in the 2013 Farm Bill and ranchers. Taken as a whole these measures could restore competition and fairness to livestock, poultry, and other agriculture markets.
We urge members of Congress to include these provisions in the 2013 Farm Bill to restore competition to the agricultural marketplace, level the playing field for livestock and poultry producers, benefit consumers and strengthen rural economies.
Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association
Campaign for Contract Agriculture Reform
Cattle Producers of Louisiana
Contract Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
Food & Water Watch
Kansas Cattlemen’s Association
Hmong National Development, Inc.
Independent Beef Association of North Dakota (I-BAND)
Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy
Missouri Rural Crisis Center
Missouri’s Best Beef Co-Operative
National Family Farm Coalition
National Farmers Union
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Organization for Competitive Markets
Poultry Partners (Arkansas)
Rural Advancement Foundation International—USA
South Dakota Stockgrowers Association
Western Organization of Resource Councils


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CABIN / SEATS
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
11 November 2015 | Finnair has been the first European airline to take delivery of the A350-900 and the third carrier worldwide (after Qatar Airways and Vietnam Airlines). Finnair’s 297-seat aircraft is configured in three classes with 208 seats in Economy, 43 in Economy Comfort and 46 in Business. Following a month of ‘familiarization flighs’ to European destinations, Finnair’s first A350 will begin operating long-haul routes between Helsinki and Shanghai on November 21st.
There is a lot to like about Finnair’s (and its design agency dSign Vertti Kivi & Co) approach towards designing the A350 onboard experience, which features several innovative elements.
1. Welcome Onboard: Galley Screen
On most widebody aircraft passengers enter the cabin at the so-called door 2 and often their first impression is the sights of an industrial-looking galley area. Finnair has come up with a clever (and economic) solution by installing galley screens that are lowered when passengers are boarding and which feature a striking photo.
Marisa Garcia from FlightChic summarizes it nicely: “There is a very clever introduction of Finland’s lush green nature with a calm forest image in a galley screen, which I found was an attractive detail. It helps the cabin feel fresh, quieting the disturbing visual noise of galley equipment. It’s really a very simple thing, but Finnair took the time to consider it.”
2. Mood Lighting: Northern Lights
A remarkable feature of the cabin is the dynamic mood LED lighting. When passengers board the plane, they are greeted by the sight of clouds drifting across a blue sky throughout the cabin (video), while cool Nordic blue shades resembling the Northern lights will set the mood as the plane approaches Helsinki.
In all, there are 24 lighting schemes, and for example a warm orange glow can be created to suggest an Asian ambience on flights to the Far East. Says Juha Järvinen, Finnair’s Chief Commercial Officer, “Finnair’s new Airbus aircraft feature a cabin interior largely based on the Space Alive concept developed by dSign, where the main idea is to change the mood of the cabin space as the flight progresses.”
The mood lighting is also integrated with the in-seat IFE system. Jouni Oksanen, VP Digital at Finnair tells Hangar.no, “We’ve also added a timeline for dimming of the displays. This means that during the flight the screens will adapt to the time zones the aircraft passes. When it’s night outside, it will be night on the screens so it does not light up a whole bunch of bright displays that disturbs people who want to sleep.”
3. Business Class: Ladies’ Room
Female passengers in Business Class have access to a dedicated Ladies’ Room which is stocked with cosmetics and other supplies from Finnish brand Clean (images here and here). Australian Business Traveller reports that the ladies-only lavatory will be made available to “high-flying hommes” in the event that there’s a higher than usual proportion of men to women in business class, but as a rule it will be reserved for women. Read full article »
Brazilian ‘value carrier’ Azul goes long-haul with full-flat Business beds, SkySofas, walk-up bar and IFE-based ordering
By Jonny Clark, TheDesignAir
1 November 2015 | Brazil’s Azul, which can be regarded as the Brazilian equivalent of JetBlue, recently launched their new A330 cabins, which include Azul Xtra (a fully fledged Business Class cabin), Economy Xtra (including the infamous SkySofa product) and a standard Economy cabin.
Now flying to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale (Miami) from Sao Paulo’s Viracopos airport, Azul’s A330s will eventually be rolled out to potential new destinations such as New York and Madrid.
Designed with a short lead time by UK based design agency Tangerine, the cabins manage to encapsulate the Azul brand by adapting off the shelf products, and working with the manufacturers to change colour, finish and trim. As an added element of customisation, a walk up-bar has been introduced into one of the galleys to create a social space, and area to allow passengers to stretch their legs.
“Our focus for the project was to rapidly customise a catalogue version of Stelia’s Solstys business class seat and create a bar from a galley. Importantly we had to design and develop all of the colour, material & finish for the seating and cabin, to work on both the A330 retrofit and A350 line-fit aircraft.” said Martin Darbyshire, CEO of Tangerine.
Full-flat beds in Business
In Business Class, passengers are provided with all aisle access in a 1 x 2 x 1 seat configuration, with an identical hard product to those found on Etihad, Air Berlin, Iberia, Thai just to name a few. The seats convert into a full 79″ flat bed and offer a 16″ screen.
Considering Azul hadn’t offered a Business Class or long-haul product before, creating a new product from scratch could have been seen as a tricky task. “Working closely with Azuls’ brand team we were able to co-work and quickly define the right way to build on Azul’s colour palette, moving it into a more sophisticated positioning. Patterns were developed that connect to well-known icons of Brazil, such as the pattern of tiles from Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, used subtly to add a Brazilian zing to the cabin.” said Tangerine’s Derbyshire. Read full article »
By Jonny Clark, TheDesignAir
22 October 2015 | Watch out Fiji Airways, there is a new boutique airline vying for the attention of the Pacific. Hawaiian Airlines revealed their plans to install a brand new lie-flat business class product that matches international standards.
Entering the skies in 2016, the new ‘Premium Cabin’ product will offer 18 customers on each of their A330’s a new level of comfort. The 180-degree lie-flat seats were developed in partnership with Hawaiian Airlines by Optimares.
“We have designed an experience that will usher in a new era in premium service to Hawai’i, one that resulted from a thorough review of guest feedback and intensive research to develop a best-in-class product for our long haul aircraft,” said Mark Dunkerley, President and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines. “Together with our partners at Optimares and PaulWylde, we have created a truly bespoke design that delivers world-class comfort and style, while staying true to our island roots.”
The 3 rows of seats, configured in a ‘honeymoon favourite’ 2 x 2 x 2 layout will convert into 76″ long (6’4″) beds which will not only allow passengers travelling together to enjoy themselves, but with the clever inclusion of a retractable privacy screen, also offer passengers travelling alone, a modicum of privacy too.
Whilst not all passengers will benefit from all-aisle access, the seats are light-years ahead of Hawaiian’s current recliner-style seats and the space between each seat is ample enough to be able to step over your partner if situated in a window seat.
Unlike the awkward static screens found in some carriers, that making watching TV in bed virtually impossible, Hawaiian have opted for an advanced in-flight entertainment experience powered by the next generation of large-format tablets and equipped with a telescoping tablet arm that adjusts to optimize viewing angle and comfort. Read full article »
By Jonny Clark, TheDesignAir
10 September 2015 | Competition in domestic travel in the US is further heating up, with a new wave of interiors just launched by United. Starting with the A319 this week, the new interior will be rolled out on A319s, A320s, 737s and 757s throughout 2016.
The new interiors are custom created for the airline as it pushes hard to compete with more design-led airlines such as Delta, Virgin America and JetBlue. It is no surprise that United have decided to keep up with their competitors and in certain areas possibly even push ahead of the competition.
Tablet holders and storage
Developed with input from customers whom the airline invited to test seat prototypes, the brand new United seats by design firm PriestmanGoode have created features several elements to improve the customer experience, including all-leather seat covers, a patented-design tray table with tablet holder, articulating seat bottoms for greater comfort when reclining and an adjustable headrest; in-seat universal A/C power outlets for customers to charge their devices; increased in-seat storage, including two seatback pockets and side stowage for laptops and tablets; dedicated beverage holders; and real granite cocktail tables (no weight spared there).
At 21.1 inches wide, the new United First seat is wider than the current seat and will have numerous custom-design elements and premium finishes including the signature United-branded tag. Each aircraft will continue to have the same number of premium-cabin seats. Read full article »
By Marisa Garcia, FlightChic
4 September 2015 | Zodiac Aerospace is celebrating the delivery of its 50,000th aircraft galley, a unit shipped to Etihad Airways for its new ‘Reimagined’ A380 cabin, that embodies everything going right with cabin design in recent years.
Far from the utilitarian storage and food preparation area we see on most aircraft, this fine crafted unit for Etihad Airways would fit in the modern living room of a high-concept design home.
This gorgeous cabin monument reveals just how thorough the Etihad Design Consortium was when tailoring the Reimagined flying experience; eliminating all possible eye-sores and creating a sense of place that communicates more hospitality than aviation.
“We are very proud of being part of such a visionary concept like the one that has been realized for the Etihad A380 cabin”, said Olivier Zarrouati, CEO of Zodiac Aerospace. This particular galley program started in 2011 and the first aircraft was delivered in December 2014.
Of course, airlines still buy the generic and utilitarian galleys, but the trend is towards cabin monuments serving a second life as welcome zones or customer social areas, at least for wide-body and long-haul aircraft. Beyond looking pretty, putting this functional space to work as an element of the passenger experience is smart design thinking.
With the limited space available on aircraft, each component should complement the airline’s brand aesthetic.
By Marisa Garcia, Flight Chic
24 April 2015 | Rapidly evolving alternatives to traditional inflight entertainment systems, smarter seat designs and a redefined premium cabin were top themes at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo 2015 in Hamburg, the aircraft cabin show of shows.
Airlines are eager to make the most of potential revenue space on their planes, while air travelers dread crowded cabins. To resolve this tension, airlines need to draw attention away from the pain of the cabin crunch—especially in Economy.
Technology now takes centre stage in Hamburg as inflight connectivity and entertainment offer passengers productivity, emotional comfort, or at least distraction. This technology is a major capital investment, but vendors are introducing solutions which make these IFE technologies more affordable—even a potential source of revenue and a way to optimize operations.
As airlines step-up the rollout of in-flight connectivity, Panasonic Avionics Corporation celebrated the 700th installation of its eXConnect in-flight Wi-Fi system at the show. The company provides a suite of options which combine in-seat entertainment with global coverage of Ku-band satellite broadband Wi-Fi and 3G services for internet, text and telephony through AeroMobile.
Panasonic also announced that Asia’s largest airline, China Southern, chose its hybrid eXO IFE solution for its narrowbody fleet of A320s and A321s. The eXO system lets airlines mix and match Full HD overhead video and in-seat audio, seat-back Audio-Video On Demand (AVOD), and wireless streaming to passenger devices. This flexibility lets airlines configure entertainment on the aircraft by sections, to suit their product strategy. It lowers costs, reduces weight, and allows easy upgrades when airlines chose to update cabins.
Wireless in-flight entertainment (wIFE) has proven successful where installing embedded in-flight entertainment is impractical. It can also complement existing embedded IFE systems.
Gate-to-gate usage of in-seat tablets
Lufthansa Systems’ BoardConnect solution offers a rich user interface for entertainment and connectivity directly streamed to passengers’ personal electronic devices. The company has developed an in-seat product which fits consumer tablets on a frame added to the seat-back.
Read full article »
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
25 March 2015 | As cabin interior upgrade cycles are becoming shorter, airlines around the world are working hard to keep up with this ‘arms race’ by introducing bigger and better premium seats, as well as smarter and lighter designs in Economy.
At the same time airlines are coming up with creative ways to improve the ‘softer’ service elements of the inflight experience. For example, as full-flat beds have now become the industry standard in Business Class, airlines are looking for ways to differentiate the premium passenger experience by ‘dreaming up’ service touches that improve the chance passengers can enjoy a good night of sleep onboard.
Examples include Virgin Atlantic’s Snooze Zone and Delta’s partnership with Westin Hotels. Qantas, meanwhile, has introduced what it calls ‘Business Suites’ on its A330s that let passengers recline from the moment they board until touchdown at their destination.
SAS A330 Business Class
Following years of restructuring in order to create a competitive cost platform, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has recently introduced its first refurbished A330 aircraft. Similar to Aer Lingus’ new A330 Business Class – which offers passengers a well thought-out combination of product and service innovations – SAS’ new premium cabin shows how carriers with a relatively limited long-haul network can respond to the passenger experience standards set by airlines from the Gulf and Asia.
SAS’ new business class cabin features Thomson’s Vantage XL seats – which have currently only been installed by one other airline, Qantas. Designed by UK-based FactoryDesign, the seats are a modern interpretation of Scandinavian design, including metallic edging, gold accents and electric blue in-seat lighting.
As Jonny Clark from TheDesignair puts it nicely: “With touch points of wooden veneer, dark charcoal fabrics with topstitching and electric blue details, the designers have gone for a mix of business elegance with contemporary cool.” Read full article »
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
6 March 2015 | We have reported several times before how airlines target the rapidly growing middle classes in emerging markets in innovative ways. For example, in Brazil TAM sells tickets via kiosks located at low-end retail chains and at subway stations. The airline also allows customers to pay their ticket in multiple installments and provides ‘how to fly’ advice to first-time flyers.
In East Africa, airlines such as Kenya Airways and Uganda Airlines have partnered with ‘mobile money’ providers like M-PESA and Airtel Money to allow people without a bank account to purchase air tickets via their mobile phone, while in the Philippines, Phillipine Airlines lets customers without a credit card book their ticket online and then pay at a nearby 7 Eleven store.
Another airline that has come up with creative ideas to accommodate the large group of first-time flyers is Chinese low-cost carrier Spring Airlines.
Spring Airlines has trialled a new boarding strategy by using fruit signs to guide passengers – especially those who travel by air for the first time – as seat numbers can be hard to find and can be confusing for those who have little experience in travelling by air.
During the Chinese New Year travel season Spring Airlines was expecting a large number of novice passengers and the airline used a visual solution to help passengers find their seats more quickly and and ease congestion in the aisles.
On February 11, passengers on flight 9C8881 between Shanghai and Shenzhen found 4 different fruit signs printed on their boarding passes which corresponded to the seats in four sections – rows 1-2 (blueberry), rows 3-12 (kiwi), rows 13-21 (apple) and rows 22-33 (tangerine). Read full article »
By Jonny Clark, TheDesignAir
9 February 2015 | Korean Air is the latest carrier to embrace the new B/E Aerospace Apex Business Class suite. Following both JAL and Oman Air, Korean Air has opted for these increasingly popular forward facing private suites, which all offer aisle access and increased privacy.
Just like Japan Airlines’ ‘Sleeper Suites’, Korean Air’s ‘Prestige Suites’ turn into 74 inch long beds. When not fully reclined, the seats are still a comfortable 21.6 inches wide and feature a 23 inch widescreen touchscreen TV with handheld controller too, so there is no need to reach to the screen.
In a bid to improve and align their business class cabin with international standards, the biggest improvement comes from the introduction of a fully flat bed, replacing the older lie-flat seats.
The new Suites will make their debut on a Korean Air A330-300 on the Guangzhou, Singapore and Hanoi routes. Korean Air has a further 38 aircraft on order – six A330-300s, twelve B777-300ERs, ten B747-8is and ten B787-9s – and all will be delivered equipped with these new seats.
The airline also announced they will be looking at introducing a brand new First Class product to compliment the new suites.
The advantage of these seats is that passengers can either fly together or in complete privacy, in a similar set-up to British Airways’ long-standing Club World product. The centre seats align perfectly, whilst the window twin seats are staggered slightly, to ensure each passenger has access to the aisle. Read full article »
By Kai-Chin Shih, >talkairlines
3 February 2015 | Recently, several airlines have picked up the Air New Zealand Skycouch concept. While China Airlines introduced its ‘Family Couch’ and Azul introduced the ‘Sky Sofa’, Air Astana has become the latest carrier to introduce a similar yet slightly different product.
The Kazakh airline announced the new ‘Economy Sleeper Class’ in which each passenger will get to enjoy a row of three Economy Class seats, turn-down service, along with various privileges at the airport.
The Economy Sleeper Class is located in the first few rows of Economy Class. The area, similar to Premium Economy products on other carriers, is partitioned from the regular Economy Class allowing passengers to enjoy more privacy. During the flight, Business Class amenity kits will be provided to make traveling more comfortable.
Mattress, duvet, pillow
When it is time to rest, the cabin crew will bring mattress layers, luxurious duvets and pillow sets to transform seats into beds that allow passengers to reasonably stretch their legs and sleep.
Different from Skycouch-related products, which consist of three continuous seats that have raisable legrests to create a large resting area, Air Astana’s Economy Sleeper is simply a set of three regular Economy Class seats. As a result, it can only allow a maximum of one adult and one infant on each seat set. Yet, it can, just like the Skycouch products, be sold as individual Economy Class seats if necessary.
With the new Economy Sleeper, Air Astana is targeting families who want more space and passengers who are unable to book business class seats. The class, with Business Class amenity kits and partitions that separate it from Economy Class, is the first to blend the Skycouch and Premium Economy concepts. Read full article »
16 December 2014 | At airlinetrends.com we continuously monitor the global aviation industry for product and service innovations launched by airlines in response to cultural, technological, and economic changes that influence airline customers’ needs and expectations.
The top 10 product and service innovations we have selected this year reflect how airlines are becoming bolder in the design of new products and services as more airlines are embrading hospitality, design and technology as ways to differentiate the passenger experience.
THE AIRLINETRENDS.COM TOP 10 FOR 2014
1. China Airlines to feature ‘Sky Lounge’ and ‘Family Couch’ on new B777-300ERs
Taiwan’s flag carrier China Airlines is transforming its products and services with the airline’s new Boeing 777-300ER becoming the airline’s flagship aircraft to showcase innovations such as a ‘Sky Lounge’ in Business and ‘Family Couches’ in Economy. Read article »
2. Aer Lingus’ new Business Class ticks many passenger experience ‘boxes’
Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus’ new Business Class cabin in our opinion ticks many boxes of what the Business Class experience should look like in the coming years, as the airline has come up with a very well thought-out combination of product and service design. Read article »
3. Beyond First Class: Etihad’s new A380 features 3-room ‘The Residence’ suite
Etihad has unveiled the world’s first private multi-room cabin on a commercial passenger aircraft. Called ‘The Residence’, the ‘über premium’ space will feature a living room, double bedroom, and a separate ensuite shower room, while passengers will be served by a dedicated butler. Read article »
4. Smart design: Fixed headrest support on Etihad’s new Economy seats
Hidden inside the press storm caused by Etihad’s luxurious new A380 comes a smart design innovation of the airline’s new Economy seats. Etihad’s so-called ‘Economy Smart Seats’ feature a ‘fixed wing’ headrest, designed to provide a firm surface for passengers to lean on while sleeping. Read article »
5. Qantas new A330 Business Suite to offer ‘gate-to-gate’ recline
With the aim to provide frequent flyers in Business Class with the maximum amount of sleep, Qantas is introducing Business Class seats on its A330s that let passengers recline from the moment they board until touchdown at their destination. Read article » Read full article »
Images courtesy Australian Business Traveller
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
9 December 2014 | In the past years airlines around the world have been busy installing seats in Business Class that can be turned into fully flat beds, making ‘full flat’ the industry standard. In an effort to further differentiate their premium product, airlines are increasingly coming up with creative ways to improve the ‘softer’ service elements of the inflight experience. Examples include Virgin Atlantic’s Snooze Zone, Delta’s partnership with Westin and Aer Lingus’ new Business Class which offers passengers a well thought-out combination of product and service innovations.
In an effort to provide frequent flyers in Business Class with the maximum amount of sleep, Qantas is introducing Business Class seats on its A330s that let passengers recline from the moment they board until touchdown at their destination. The innovation, for which Qantas is awaiting regulatory approval, could let passengers get more than seven hours of shuteye on an Australia to Southeast Asia trip.
As aircraft seats are traditionally locked upright during take-off and landing, when most accidents happen, the innovation would allow Qantas to offer the world’s first seats that let passengers recline in their seat from take-off through to landing.
Key to the break-through product’s safety is an over-the-shoulder belt — much like a car seatbelt — that connects with the usual around-the-waist belt to provide extra restraint during takeoff and landing.
The seats won’t be able to recline less than 25 degrees from the horizontal on international flights and 21 degrees domestically. That’s sufficient to allow the shoulder belt to work, withstanding the 16G forces that can be exerted in a survivable accident. The berths can be switched to fully-flat mode once the plane is in level flight. Read full article »
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
5 December 2014 | In order to make as much as possible of the limited ‘real estate’ onboard their aircraft, airlines such as British Airways (‘Club Kitchen’), American Airlines (‘Lobby Bar’), Japan Airlines’ (‘Sky Gallery’) and China Airlines (‘Sky Lounge’) have been reimagining how the galley area of the premium cabin could become the domain of passengers as well after regular service is over.
Virgin Atlantic ‘Wander Wall’
On a similar note, Virgin Atlantic – which is also known for its signature Upper Class onboard bar (one of the very few airlines to actually install a bar on aircraft that are not an A380) – has come up with an inventive concept on its new B787 Dreamliner that is called the ‘Wander Wall’.
While the sit-up bar is for Business Class passengers only, those in Premium Economy on the airline’s B787 are encouraged to stretch their legs and come over to the ‘Wander Wall’ and mingle with other passengers and crew.
The ‘Wander Wall’ is located in the front galley, just behind the Upper Class bar, and is a bulkhead area where Premium Economy fliers can “wander to” and help themselves to snacks, drinks and newspapers. “It creates a space where customers can get out of their seats and stretch their legs,” CEO Craig Kreeger told USA Today. “It gives them a destination, someplace they can walk to that’s not the bathroom.”
Developed to reflect the design of the Upper Class bar, the social space offers a mini fridge, water fountain and a self-serve area where passengers can help themselves to snacks and refreshments.
Reuben Arnold, director of brand and customer experience told Business Traveller: “The Wonderwall [in the galley] is a great place to stretch your legs and socialise. On day flights there will be snacks and drinks here, there is a fridge and a water fountain; on evening flights, there will be things like chamomile tea and hot chocolate with marshmallows. It gives a reason for people to want to go there and leave their seat.”
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
11 November 2014 | Airlines around the world are working hard to keep up with the cabin interior upgrade arms race by introducing bigger and better premium seats, as well as smarter and lighter designs in Economy. At the same time airlines are coming up with creative ways to improve the ‘softer’ service elements of the inflight experience, ideally taking a holistic approach to design a branded passenger experience.
Irish ‘value carrier’ Aer Lingus recently announced details of its new 32-seat Business Class cabin, which in our opinion ticks many boxes of what the Business Class experience should look like in the coming years, as the airline has come up with a very well thought-out combination of product and service innovations. Or as Irish newspaper The Independent put it: “Is Aer Lingus’s hot new cabin a business ‘class’, ‘service’ or ‘experience’?”
Examples include pre-flight dinner in the airline’s JFK and Boston lounges for passengers who want to maximize their sleep onboard, free wifi and ample stowage space for personal devices, the provision of dinner on demand onboard, tapping into Aer Lingus Irish heritage with items such as locally sourced food and the amenity kit cosmetics, and providing pre-flight clearance of US customs and immigration on flights leaving Dublin and Shannon.
Sleep, work, dine, relax
The seats, manufactured by fellow Irish company Thompson Aero, have been customized by Factorydesign who are also responsible for the new Thompson Vantage-based ‘Mint’ Business Class on JetBlue’s new subfleet of transcontinental A321s.
Aer Lingus new Business Class seat transforms into a fully-flat 6’6” (2 metres) bed, which is one of the longest in the industry, with a seat width of 22”. The staggered layout offers direct aisle access to 90 percent of Business Class passengers except those with a window seat in the first row. Irish supplier Botany Weaving has provided the fabrics for the Business Class cabin such as seat covers, carpets and curtains, with the fibres designed to reflect Ireland’s weaving heritage. A video of the new Aer Lingus Business Class cabin here.
Aer Lingus will introduce its new Business Class on its seven A330 aircraft from March 2015, and what makes the airline’s new premium passenger experience of interest is that Aer Lingus aimed to come up with product and services that design for multiple uses of one space based on a passenger’s needs, depending on whether they wish to sleep, work, dine or relax. Read full article »
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
10 October 2014 | With mood lighting now being a standard feature on new aircraft, several airlines have also begun retrofitting mood lighting in their older cabins. Furthermore, besides the ‘generic’ approach towards mood lighting – that is, recreating sunset on evening flights and sunrise in the morning – a few airlines have taken a cue from Virgin America’s iconic red and purple cabin lighting – which has been described by some passengers as feeling like entering a flying nightclub – to come up with their signature cabin lighting.
Says Daniel Baron, founder of Tokyo-based founder of Tokyo-based design agency LIFT Strategic Design, “Airlines should use mood lighting as an integral part of the brand presentation, or as association with origin. As the systems become more sophisticated and available on more aircraft as line-fit items, more meaningful differentiation with the lighting, i.e., not just as a novelty, will become the norm.”
A great example of this approach is Icelandair. In early April of this year, Icelandair – the airline that positions itself as the ideal stopover carrier between Europe and North-America – completed the first aircraft installation of EMTEQ’s full-spectrum mood lighting system onto a B757.
Icelandair plans to instal the system, which is capable of delivering highly customizable scenes with dynamic colors and intensity levels, on 18 B757s.
Commenting on the new mood lighting, Helgi Már Björgvinsson, Icelandair’s SVP for Marketing and Sales, said “Less maintenance and lower fuel consumption was an important case for the upgrade, as well as the desire to create a unique passenger experience and to utilize the lighting for branding purposes.” Read full article »


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