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THE car industry is accelerating its efforts to help customers as the global COVID-19 restrictions begin to lift.
Manufacturers have been quick to react in a number of ways – from enhancing the online buying experience to extending warranties and ensuring the safety of staff as mothballed factories reopen.
In Scotland, a number of dealerships are busy preparing for the day when they are allowed to open the showroom doors once more.
Premium British marque Jaguar Land Rover is among those to ramp up its website offering. Clients can configure a brand-new vehicle or browse stock across the UK retailer network.
New virtual showrooms have been created with video presentations to showcase all models. Phone and video sales appointments are available so that customers can talk directly to specialist consultants to discuss specific needs, removing the need to visit a showroom.
Among the range of finance features and options, including part-exchange, JLR says it is the first manufacturer to show clients opting for finance plans how much extra will be added or removed per month if they build in or cut out options.
Dealerships are also offering tailored services for vehicle deliveries in line with the latest social distancing and hygiene guidelines.
Volvo is another marque to improve the digital sales service, with a new live chat function to help buyers get the best package for them and contactless home delivery with a video handover.
The Swedish brand is also giving a three-month extension to servicing time limits, new-car warranties and roadside assistance packages.
Renault has added an online stock reservation feature to its website, which means most clients will be able to take delivery in just a couple of weeks.
Mitsubishi is offering cash incentives to online purchasers. From now until the end of June, customers can reserve their vehicle for just £99, reduced from the normal £350 reservation fee.
And the delivery of the new vehicle to their homes, as well as the collection of their trade-in, is also completely free, a saving of £100.
The Fiat group, which includes Alfa Romeo and Jeep, is also rolling out a chat function and the ability to set up virtual face-to-face meetings.
It means there is help to configure a car, send in videos for a trade-in evaluation and sort out finances. And its Mopar servicing division is extending any manufacturer warranty, maintenance plan or extended warranty that will expire during the lockdown by one month from the end of the shutdown.
Kia has said many of its dealers are now ready to take remote orders, while some are reopening workshops to carry out servicing, repairs and MOTs.
Online help is even available for classic car enthusiasts, with British Motor Heritage approved specialists able to process orders online and organise courier deliveries for parts for the likes of the iconic Mini and MGB.
Hand-crafted sports car maker Morgan is supporting its customers by adding three months to the warranty of any Morgan dated from October 1, 2017, to May 31, 2020.
German giant Volkswagen has also added three months to cars with warranties that expire between March 1 and May 31 this year.
It has been one of the first marques to resume vehicle production, while providing maximum health protection for its workforce. Skoda, part of the VW group, has also got its Czech plants up and running, as has SEAT in Spain.
In Italy, Ferrari carried out extensive training for staff before reopening its Maranello and Modena sites this week, while Fiat is also going to great lengths to protect staff returning to work.
Peugeot and Citroen, as well as the UK’s Bentley and Aston Martin, have been putting robust sanitary measures in place as they begin a phased return to production.
And Ford has been busy making face masks and shields at sites across Europe so its workforce has the protection it needs now vehicle and engine manufacturing is resuming.
Scottish retailers such as Arnold Clark and Macklin Motors have also been busy preparing branches and training staff.
The measures will ensure social distancing can be maintained in dealerships, see protective screens and hand sanitiser stations installed and provide staff with personal protective equipment.


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PARIS — Karl Lagerfeld, Frank Gehry and Cindy Sherman are applying their creativity to a new and surprising canvas — Louis Vuitton’s famous brown and gold monogram.
They — along with Rei Kawakubo, Christian Louboutin and Marc Newson — were given carte blanche to create bags and luggage for the French luxury giant. The limited-edition items will arrive in stores in mid-October, bringing high-profile attention to a cornerstone of the brand, which is marking its 160th anniversary this year.
Unveiling the project in an exclusive interview, Vuitton executive vice president Delphine Arnault said the project exalts what she described as “the most desirable icon in the world.”
The collaborative items are to retail from about 2,000 to 4,000 euros, or $2,725 to $5,450 at current exchange rates, dovetailing with Vuitton’s efforts to sell more high-priced leather goods and secure its brand positioning.
Lagerfeld and Sherman also created trunks in numbered editions of 25.
Accompanied by an advertising campaign, a dedicated Web site, commemorative book and launch event in New York City on Nov. 7, the product range represents one of the first large-scale initiatives spearheaded by Arnault, daughter of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault and an emerging force in the luxury conglomerate her family controls.
Arnault spoke excitedly about the opportunity to watch the likes of Gehry and Lagerfeld at work: the former constructing a paper model of his off-kilter design; the latter submitting intricate, hand-colored sketches with precise dimensions.
“We have assembled an amazing group of talents — geniuses, I would say. Each one is among the best in his or her field,” Arnault said. “The monogram is at the center of our house, so we celebrate the monogram every day. But we thought this project was really special because the personalities we chose are fascinating and diverse.”
Arnault made the selections in concert with Nicolas Ghesquière, artistic director of women’s collections, who has demonstrated his affection for the monogram by interpreting it in his first two Vuitton collections, for fall 2014 and cruise 2015.
Arnault related that everyone approached “said yes right away. They were very enthusiastic and very intrigued about how to do handbags and work with the monogram.”
Some have previous ties to Vuitton. Kawakubo, the Japanese fashion maverick behind Comme des Garçons, did some monogram bags she designed for the brand in 2008 for a temporary store in Tokyo. Gehry is the architect behind the Foundation Louis Vuitton, a sprawling art museum slated to open later this year on the leafy fringes of Paris.
Others in the group are considered “friends” of the house and, indeed, many were present for Ghesquière’s debut show last March in Paris, including Louboutin and contemporary artist Sherman. Designing a handbag will be a first for Sherman, whose disquieting self-portraits frequently reference fashion.
Lagerfeld is perhaps the biggest coup for the project, dubbed “The Icon and the Iconoclasts,” given his strong association with Chanel, one of Vuitton’s most formidable luxury rivals. But the German designer has created ready-to-wear and furs since 1965 for Fendi, majority owned by LVMH since 2001, and has forged close ties with the Arnault family.
While Vuitton is keeping images of the products under wraps until the fall, Arnault shared a few details, noting that industrial designer Newson chose to create a men’s bag and that Lagerfeld dreamed up a punching bag. “The name alone is amazing,” she enthused of the latter style.
Michael Burke, chairman and ceo of Vuitton, noted that the “Iconoclast” project celebrates the monogram in a way that defies “the conventions of ‘classic,’” and perpetuates the brand’s spirit of innovation and daring.
The collaborations echo Vuitton’s 1996 initiative to celebrate the centenary of the monogram, when the brand invited Azzedine Alaïa, Manolo Blahnik, Romeo Gigli, Helmut Lang, Isaac Mizrahi, Sybilla and Vivienne Westwood to design products using its logo canvas.
“It’s part of the history of the house,” Arnault explained. “A lot of people remember that project, it was really strong. It was when Marc Jacobs was about to arrive at Vuitton and there was no fashion yet. I remember the launch party in Paris with Naomi Campbell arriving on the stage with a live giraffe in tow.”
Arnault scored one of the Alaïa bags, which melded the monogram with leopard spots, and said she always gets asked about the collector’s item whenever she carries it.
The latest Icon bags are meant to be on sale for only a few months, heightening their collectible status, Arnault noted.
She declined to quantify the importance of the monogram to the Vuitton business, but characterized it as an essential ingredient to its success.
“The monogram is the symbol of luxury, a symbol of Louis Vuitton. It’s the son of Louis Vuitton, Georges, who created it in 1896. It’s instantly recognizable and it’s really the essence of our house,” she said.
In a recent research report on LVMH, Citi analyst Thomas Chauvet estimated that within the handbags category, the mix at Vuitton is 50/50 between canvas and leather, and that the gross margin on Vuitton’s leather bags is 10 to 15 points lower than canvas.
He estimates Vuitton generated 2013 revenues of 7.5 billion euros, or $9.96 billion at average exchange.
Given the scale of Louis Vuitton — it boasts some 460 boutiques in the world — the brand has multiple product lines and vectors for expression, including occasional tie-ups with external talents.
“This is a very interesting territory — to have collaborations with exceptional, creative minds,” Arnault commented. “It’s a really fun project. It’s done with a lot of humor.”
Jacobs, Vuitton’s first creative director who exited the brand late last year to focus on his signature house and get it ready for an initial public offering, invited a range of artists to interpret the monogram during his tenure: Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince and, most recently, Yayoi Kusama.
The one with Murakami, unveiled in 2002, was a blockbuster, generating estimated sales of $345 million in 2003, and making the Japanese artist’s multicolored version of the monogram a permanent addition to Vuitton’s leather goods vocabulary.
“Marc Jacobs has really done a lot in that field,” Arnault said. “It was amazing work that he has done for the brand and our house.
“With any brand, you have to create surprise, you have to create excitement,” she continued. “I think the customer’s going to be intrigued that we’re presenting products that are different, creative and innovative.”
The executive noted that the diverse proposals forced the company’s production, development and industrial teams to “really push boundaries.” For example, Gehry’s handbag design, which Arnault likened to a “small sculpture,” was bespoke to the max, with the architect incorporating a small mirror, hand-drawn LV initials and angular hardware.
“None of the lines are straight. They went through a lot of research to produce it to Louis Vuitton’s high quality standards,” Arnault said.
“I was very intrigued to see how each one worked,” she continued, marveling at the degree of detail each of the participants brought to the task, from the colors of materials to the personal touches.
Lagerfeld, for example, added a secret compartment to the bottom of his bags, while Newson autographed some of the hardware on his. “It was really an honor. I was very impressed,” she said.
While an indelible part of Vuitton’s history, the monogram is somewhat enigmatic, with neo-Gothic style, Japan and tiles in Georges Vuitton’s Parisian home among possible inspirations for the mix of stylized flowers and geometric letters.
In recent years, permanent monogram products like the Keepall and Neverfull were showcased in an ad campaign featuring famous personalities including Mikhail Gorbachev, Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie, Catherine Deneuve and Keith Richards.
And while Vuitton has recently shone the spotlight on hyper-luxurious bag styles like the Capucines and Lockit, with actress Michelle Williams fronting campaigns for them, Arnault stressed that the monogram has “always been at the center of our strategy. It’s part of our history and so it’s always been of the utmost importance for us.”
“I think what’s so interesting about the #MeToo movement and this whole new wave of feminism in general, is that women are finally seeing, ’Oh I can start my own company, oh I can lear to code, oh I can leave my nine-to-five job and do the thing I want to do,” said @brooklyndecker ahead of her @sxsw talk for @createcultivate. The former model took the stage to share wisdom about networking and female-driven entrepreneurship. #wwdeye #sxsw (📷: @jgreenery)
“I was making the guacamole when my scout saw me,” says model @stuckinteenage on being discovered just six months ago while working at @chipotlemexicangrill. Since then Williams has signed with @dnamodels, walked in her first show at @calvinklein and landed on the cover of @vogueitalia – a high point of any model’s career. To read @lisajlockwood’s full interview with the model on her experiences thus far, head to WWD.com – link in bio. (📷: George Chinsee)
“I love the idea of dialogue, period. It’s where I’ve always gotten my inspiration from: hearing other women speak, their journeys and their paths,” said @hereisgina, who delivered the keynote speech at the @sxsw conference for @createcultivate, the online platform and conference series for women. For her two panels, Rodriguez chose female empowering, female-led and female entrepreneurs to focus on. Head to WWD.com to read more about her thoughts on Time’s Up, growing up in a family of women and why we “need a girls’ club.” #wwdeye #sxsw (📷: @jgreenery)
Leading luxury brand are shaking things up to keep up with streetwear. Case in point: the arrival of @mrkimjones as artistic director of @diorhomme. Jones, who succeeds @Kris_Van_Assche, is seen as one of the handful of designers who can actually straddle the luxury and streetwear worlds — which could lead to even more changes at established brands. What could this mean for the rest of the menswear landscape? Head to WWD.com to find out what experts predict #wwdfashion (📷: @franckmura)
“It’s like buying groceries. You’re going to buy the best mango, the best mozzarella, the best things. You have to, or others are going to take it all,” said @gabrielahearst on why she uses only the finest fabrics. Last week, Hearst received her first @cfda nomination for Womenswear Designer of the Year, and earlier this month she opened a permanent showroom in Paris. To read @jessiredale’s interview with the designer and find out why this is shaping up to be a big year for her, head to WWD.com. #wwdfashion (📷: @francoisgoize)
“It’s an interesting thing, playing a younger version of your mother. It’s an interesting concept. I adore my mom and love her in every capacity, but it was just something that had never crossed my mind,” says @anniemstarke on playing a young Joan Castleman in “The Wife.” The same role will be played by her mother Glenn Close. Read more about her growing up in the film industry as the daughter of producer John H. Starke and Close and what she has planned for the future #wwdeye (📷: @nataliamantini)
@asics is launching a new streetwear sneaker inspired by its latest ambassador, @steveaoki. The Hyper-Kenzen x Aoki, which will launch at @footlocker stores exclusively tomorrow, is a slip-on style that incorporates the brand’s proprietary Gel technology through beads integrated into the midsole for comfort and endurance. Read the full story on WWD.com.

domain: news


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James Njoroge, an Uber driver in Nairobi, earns barely $5 at the end of a grueling 10-hour workday ferrying customers through snarled traffic across the Kenyan capital. Now a new competitor is in town, threatening to undercut even these meager earnings.
That rival is none other than Mr. Njoroge’s own employer.
Uber is aiming to beat back competing services by pushing its prices even lower. In April, the San Francisco-based company announced it was introducing an even cheaper service at half that price, $1.45, by allowing its drivers to use much older, lower-quality cars.
Drivers say they’re bearing the brunt of the price cuts. In February, drivers went on strike to protest fare cuts that they said made it difficult for them to break even. The new pricing is much lower than that.
The prospect of losing what is already a threadbare living is making Mr. Njoroge, 29, nervous.“We’ve been working for them so much, but now they’re slashing us,” he said recently, slowing down his Toyota, a seven-year-old model, hardly brand-new but newer than the […]


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Bureau Of Economic And Company Affairs
In addition, the precise nature of this crisis implies that some areas may benefit, such because e-commerce, food retail, in addition to the healthcare industry — providing at least some economic growth to counteract destruction. Finally, there is usually the fact that the particular crisis may have the clear end date whenever all restrictions on motion can be lifted.
It is this powerful which includes economists contemplating whether or not the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to a global recession on the scale of the Great Depression. Whilst there is no method to tell exactly just what the economic damage from the global COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic will be, there is certainly widespread agreement amongst economists that it will certainly have severe negative impacts on the global overall economy. To put this quantity in perspective, global GDP was estimated at around 86. 6 trillion U. S. dollars in 2019 – meaning that just a 0. 4 % drop in economic progress amounts to almost 3. 5 trillion U. T. dollars in lost economical output. However, these predictions were made prior to COVID-19 becoming an international pandemic, and before typically the implementation of widespread constraints on social contact to be able to stop the spread in the virus.
This particular data is broken out by sector, such as manufacturing, mining and health care. Note that just to maintain population development, the economy has to add more than 100, 000 jobs every month; otherwise the unemployment rate will rise.
The global economy pertains to humanity’s economic program or systems overall. Policymakers need to continue to be able to sustain the recovery, progressively shifting from income assistance to growth- enhancing guidelines, the report noted. The particular Covid-19 pandemic is a new global shock ‘like simply no other’, involving simultaneous interruptions to both supply in addition to demand within an interconnected globe economy. Within the supply side, infections reduce labour offer and productivity, while lockdowns, business closures, and sociable distancing also cause offer disruptions. On the demand side, layoffs plus the loss of income and worsened economical prospects reduce household intake and firms’ investment. The extreme uncertainty about typically the path, duration, magnitude, and impact of the outbreak could pose an aggresive cycle of dampening company and consumer confidence in addition to tightening financial conditions, which usually could lead to career losses and investment. The more important one is the “payroll report, ” a summation by the Department of Labor of just how many jobs the economic climate has established each month.
Obtained together, this means that is a minimum of possible the particular global economy could encounter a sharp rebound when the pandemic is over. The market-based economy is a single where goods and services are produced plus exchanged according to require and supply between participants by barter or a medium of exchange with a credit or debit value accepted within the network, such as an unit of foreign currency. A command-based economy is one where political agents directly control what is developed and how it is offered and distributed. In a green economy, growth within income and employment will be driven by public in addition to private investments that lessen carbon emissions and polluting of the environment, enhance energy and source efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity plus ecosystem services. A show economy is one by which short-term jobs are assigned or chosen via on-line platforms. New economy is really a term that referred in order to the complete emerging ecosystem where new standards and methods were introduced, usually because a result of technologies.
The economic damage caused by simply the COVID-19 pandemic will be largely driven by a new fall in demand, which means that there are not consumers to buy the goods and services available in the worldwide economy. This dynamic could be clearly seen in heavily affected industries like as travel and travel. To slow the get spread around of the virus, countries placed restrictions on traveling, meaning that many people cannot purchase flights for holidays or business outings. This reduction in consumer demand causes airlines to be able to lose planned revenue, significance they then need to cut their expenses by simply reducing the number associated with flights they operate. Without having government assistance, eventually air carriers will also need in order to reduce lay off personnel to further cut costs.
The particular same dynamic applies to some other industries, for example along with falling demand for essential oil and new cars as daily commutes, social activities and holidays are no longer possible. As firms start cutting staff in order to make up for dropped revenue, the worry is that this will make a downward economic spiral whenever these newly unemployed workers can no longer manage to purchase unaffected items and services. To make use of retail as an example, an boost in unemployment will compound the reduction in product sales that occurred from the particular closure of shopfronts, flowing the crisis over to the online retail section.
Since then, global stock markets have experienced dramatic falls due in order to the outbreak, as well as the Dow Jones reported its largest-ever single day fall of almost 3, 000 points about March 16, 2020 : beating its previous document of 2, 300 points that was set only 4 days earlier. In typically the pandemic, the drop in payroll employment in April was huge and the particular turnaround in payroll work since then reflects some lifting of pandemic restrictions in many states plus some people returning to work in May plus June. But states going through outbreaks began re-imposing limitations and job growth slowed; November’s job growth had been less than in any kind of of the six preceding months. Despite the clear danger that the global economy is in, presently there are also reasons in order to be hopeful that this specific worst-case scenario can end up being avoided. Governments have learned from previous crises that this effects of a demand-driven recession can be countered along with government spending. Consequently, several governments are increasing their own provision of monetary well being to citizens, and ensuring businesses have access in order to the funds required to keep their staff employed all through the pandemic.


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General Motors plans to roll out a voice-activated Internet service in more than a million cars annually, starting with next year's models.
At the Special Equipment Marketing Association conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, GM unveiled an expanded version of its wireless OnStar information service for autos.
"GM is ushering in a new era of automotive communications that is destined to change the role of cars and trucks for the American driving public," said G. Richard Wagoner, GM's chief operating officer. "Today we are delivering on our commitment to produce a Web vehicle in the 2000 calendar year."
Through the OnStar Virtual Advisor, and its companion My OnStar personal Web page, users will have access to personalized Internet data such as news headlines, sports scores, stock quotes, and email in a hands-free fashion, the company said.
GM says the technology will be safe for driving, since it will use voice recognition software and wireless connections, and won't employ screens or displays that could distract a driver.
In addition to plans for integrating Internet capabilities in cars next year, GM, e-GM, and OnStar said they are working together to develop advanced Web applications for automobiles.
These capabilities include MP3 downloads via wireless technologies, handheld personal digital assistant access to OnStar services, and XM's satellite radio capability similar to DirecTV, that will offer radio content from anywhere in the United States.


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TopGum extends fast-rising neutraceutical gummies with organic sugar free variety
Israel’s TopGum Industries has confirmed release of its latest offering of sugar-free, organic gummies to the nutritional health supplement category, writes Neill Barston.
Its emergence comes amid wider growth within the health product sector, as consumers continue to seek a broader array of better-for-you and wellness ranges in addition to conventional confectionery series.
The curated collection of five gummies from Top Gum includes gummies that deliver a range of ingredients such as the B-vitamin Biotin, Vitamin D, and a delicious antioxidant balanced berry blend. TopGum’s new line also includes flavor-challenging ingredients like Zinc and Ashwagandha, making them more palatable for everyone to enjoy.
According to the company’s VP of R&D and Open Innovation, Amit Hyzkihu, precision is the key to the new delivery system that makes sugar-free claims and organic certification possible. “Ticking the boxes that customers expect like sugar-free, and organic and keeping the flavor palatable is highly complex,” says Hyzkihu. “Developing the delivery system requires a highly intricate process of sourcing the right materials, handling the active ingredients with care, and knowing how they will react to the gummy process are especially important, as well.”
As the business noted, it developed the innovation that made the sugar-free delivery system possible without using sugar, sweeteners of any kind, or sugar alcohols, instead relying on the natural sweetness of the ingredient in the matrix of the gummies to provide a delicious taste experience.
The new line of gummies underlines its commitment to the gummy supplement market, having just announced this summer their designation of the company as a USDA-certified organic manufacturer.
Furthermore, the highly sought-after certification calls attention to TopGum’s adherence to the strict standards of the National Organic Program for producing and bottling organic products.
“Our organic-certified gummies are the next evolution in high-end supplementation,” explains Amichai Bar Nir, CEO of Top Gum. “Although they contain no additional sweeteners, they still deliver the same sensory enjoyment of a traditional sugar-sweetened gummy, but without the sugar. “We want our customers to be able to look forward to taking their supplements. Pills and capsules are not as much fun as enjoying a gummy that’s both delicious and good for you.”
The new line joins TopGum’s catalogue of nutraceutical-enriched gummies that are marketed as private-label supplements. It also offers custom formulations to supplement brands looking to formulate and offer gummies with their own ingredients. Using TopGum’s service, brands can take advantage of the growing gummy market faster than if they had to develop the technology on their own.
Notably, the gummy delivery system has been capturing the nutraceutical market, having growth markers that show the gummy is fast becoming America’s favourite way to take their vitamins. TopGum began its journey in Gummiceuticals in 2017, well ahead of the gummy boom that took America by storm in the last two years. Their early start is another reason Hyzkihu felt the business had already gained a strong foothold in the sector.


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The European Commission has said it wants to support e-commerce and online businesses more.
Latest studies show the Internet creates 2.6 jobs for every one it helps destroy.
Speaking at the ‘‘Single Market Opportunity 2012’‘ in Brussels, EU Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani said: “If we want to win the battle against the economic crisis, it’s clear we must fight debt, but at the same time, it’s necessary to work towards growth. Company competitiveness is essential and at the heart of that is technology.’‘
The business forum aims to bring small and medium sized technology companies and start-ups together. The US web giant Google was also there.
Matt Brittin, Google’s Vice-President for Northern and Central Europe said: “We have seen that small businesses are taking a huge advantages of the Web and we have done some research that shows the Internet economy, in Europe, is already between 3% and 7% of GDP, depending on which country and it is already creating millions of jobs. “
Representing Portugal in Brussels was Amen, a company that manages Internet domains and supports companies who want to create web sites. Nuno Matias told euronews that the firm has witnessed remarkable growth and now has over 30 000 customers. In 2010 to 2011 the number of people using Amen grew by 30% while its turnover has seen a 6% percent rise.
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Finding ways to offer DStv customers across the continent an unparalleled viewing experience is of paramount importance. Over the past few years, DStv has introduced new ways of viewing content from platforms such as Showmax, a streaming service that offers the best in African storytelling, and the DStv App, which allows consumers to watch their favorite shows while on the go through their mobile devices.
DStv last month announced another step in the direction of ensuring that customers continue to view content in the highest possible quality to improve their overall viewing experience. The Pay-TV company has now moved eight channels from SD (Standard Viewing) to HD (High Definition). The 8 channels include; Pearl Magic Prime, Africa Magic Urban, Africa Magic Epic, Akwaaba Magic, Abol TV, Honey TV, Maisha Magic Bongo, and CNN.
“We are very proud to be making this announcement as this has been one of our goals for the year. HD will truly improve the viewing experience and sound across all the channels through increasing the resolution, therefore making sure the images are clearer and have more detail,” Mr. Hassan Saleh, Multichoice Uganda, Managing Director said.
He further said they have ensured that to include channels from across the board in this move to serve different audiences.
“Our news-loving audiences will now be able to watch CNN in HD; while our Ethiopian audiences will experience Abol TV in HD and the same goes for our audiences in Ghana and East Africa where Akwaaba Magic, Pearl Magic, and Maisha Magic Bongo will now be beaming into people’s homes in HD,” he remarked.
Saleh also said for its subscribers not to miss any programs or live shows while away from their TVs can download the DStv Now app or watch online via DStv Now on the web.
DStv Now allows connection of up to 4 different users supported with 2 watching simultaneously. So ideally you can have up to 3 people concurrently watching with the third person on a regular decoder. DStv now also allows you to download content for offline video.


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Jul 06, 2021
NewAge Industries, the manufacturer of AdvantaPure(R) high purity tubing products, has expansion plans underway – again – at its corporate facility in southeastern Pennsylvania. The project will add over 3,000 sq. ft.
Jun 10, 2021
Following the choice to embrace solar power, construction involving reinforcement of the roof at NewAge Industries' headquarters began in the summer of 2010.
Apr 29, 2021
As NewAge Industries has grown, so too has its need for additional personnel.
Mar 31, 2021
NewAge Industries is proud to announce that it has achieved B Corp(TM) certification from B Lab(TM), a nonprofit organization serving a global network of companies using business as a force to benefit others.
Jan 27, 2021
Plastic and silicone tubing manufacturer NewAge Industries announces the promotions of Lawrence Morano and Sean Lynch.
Jan 12, 2021
In January 2006, NewAge Industries' owners signed paperwork that sold thirty percent of the plastic tubing manufacturer to its employees. The ceremony was a notable step in the company's journey to employee ownership.
Dec 15, 2020
Tubing manufacturer NewAge Industries has promoted Ken Liszewski and Tony Szoka to new positions.
Dec 01, 2020
Plastic and silicone tubing manufacturer NewAge Industries, the manufacturer of AdvantaPure(R) high purity products, expanded into a recently vacated warehouse at its headquarters in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Nov 05, 2020
NewAge Industries has been growing substantially over the past several years. The company launched its AdvantaPure high purity products group 20 years ago, and demand for its tubing and Single-Use molded components has been rising ever since.
Oct 30, 2020
NewAge Industries, the parent company of AdvantaPure, recently purchased a building in Warrington, Pa., just a few miles from its southeastern Pennsylvania headquarters. The 90,000 sq. ft. facility was acquired as an additional manufacturing site.


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Large companies have Shove Gun Control Up Your Horse shirt. put long-term diversity and inclusion strategies in place, including Gucci, which also launched a new Instagram account, , to share its ongoing commitments to people and planet. Other sizable brands like Nike have made donations in the millions. Still, much of the conversation online around the Black Lives Matter movement and racism in fashion is being led by independent brands and individuals.
Shove Gun Control Up Your Horse shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt
Across the nation, graduating students are currently partaking in their school’s commencement ceremonies (either virtually or with social distancing measures in place Shove Gun Control Up Your Horse shirt. As graduates continue receiving their diplomas through the end of the month, Urban Native Era, an indigenous streetwear brand, wanted to use its platform to highlight the many native students who are also earning their degrees. To do so, the label just released a new T-shirt drop in their honor. Urban Native Era’s new tee, which retails for $15, bears the logo “Indigenous Class of 2020.” It was designed by the brand as a way for indigenous youth to proudly display their end-of-year achievements. “I’m really glad that we’re able to recognize their accomplishments,” says its founder Joey Montoya. “It’s been great to see them rocking it.” The first shipment of tees went out last week, and many indigenous graduates have been sporting them and posting them on their Instagram page or on the Virtual Indigenous Commencement Facebook page, which serves as an online meeting place where indigenous students can share photos and celebrate one another.
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The World Health Organisation has released a set of guidelines to reduce salt intake by keeping a check on the salt levels across different food groups.
Salt, along with adding flavour to our lives, is essential to maintain homeostasis and ensure proper neural functioning in our bodies. Sodium helps in various processes like fluid circulation, preserving cell integrity, maintaining ionic and blood pressure homeostasis. However, over-consumption of salt can lead to non-communicable diseases such as strokes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, chronic urinary disorders etc, that kill around 3 million people annually. Most people consume double the amount of salt that is recommended by the WHO (5g per day).
On 5th May, 2021, WHO released a set of new benchmarks to reduce the sodium content in several foods. The organisation aims to achieve a 30% reduction in global salt consumption by 2025. Packaged foods contain the most amount of salt. Many countries rely on packaged foods as they are affordable. The WHO benchmarks plans to reformulate the salt content of over 60 types of packaged foods, including packaged bread, savoury snacks, meat products and cheese. WHO also plans to harmonise the benchmarks globally as the amount of sodium for a certain food can vary across different countries.
Along with several healthcare experts, WHO assessed the existing patterns of salt consumption, considered which food groups need to be reformulated to reduce sodium levels and prioritised them. The benchmarks were established based on these parameters. Data was collected from 41 countries which gave an idea about the current sodium consumption patterns and which are the common foods that contributed to it. They categorised the food groups into 18 overall categories and 97 subcategories.
The benchmarks were set per subcategory and not the overall category. Setting the targets by food sub-categories would help with being specific and hence provide achievable targets. Benchmarks are defined based on concentration and not on sales or consumption as it is a more transparent approach making it easier to monitor and evaluate. According to the benchmarks, food items like potato chips should have 500 mg of sodium per 100 g, for processed meat, up to 340 mg and for cheese up to 720mg.
There are some limitations these benchmarks need to overcome. In a review published in Pediatric Nephrology, researchers address some of the contradicting contributions of sodium in our body. The positive effects of sodium on blood pressure have been extensively researched. Also, Sodium sensitivity is individualistic and it is not observed in every person. Some patients experience major blood pressure fluctuations even when they consume a low sodium diet. Certain patients suffer from a sodium deficiency (hyponatremia). Some research suggests that there is an association between salt and autoimmune disorders. In conclusion, for salt-sensitive risk groups in the population, even stricter limits of sodium consumption should be set than for young, healthy individuals.
Lowering sodium consumption is a powerful way of reducing the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases and other diet and nutrition-related non-communicable diseases. In order to achieve this goal, progress needs to happen at a much faster rate. By setting these benchmarks and timelines and enabling the decision makers to put forth policies can help with reducing the issues caused by excessive salt intake.
The WHO Global Sodium benchmarks serve to help the food and beverage industry improve the food environment globally, as it has previously worked with reducing industrially-produced trans-fatty acids. They are drafted to complement the ongoing local nutrition initiatives and to serve as a reference for such initiatives, where needed. The benchmarks will be presented and discussed at The United Nations Food Systems Summit in September, 2021.
“We need countries to establish policies to reduce salt intake and provide people with the information they need to make the right food choices. We also need the food and beverage industry to cut sodium levels in processed foods. WHO’s new benchmarks give countries and industry a starting point to review and establish policies to transform the food environment and save lives,” claims Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of WHO.


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oneworld and Moscow Domodedovo airport have agreed to build a branded lounge for customers of the alliance’s member airlines. The lounge at Moscow Domodedovo, which is the home of oneworld member S7 Airlines, will be the first oneworld-branded lounge in the world.
The new lounge aims to deliver a superior customer experience for premium customers and frequent flyers of oneworld member airlines travelling from the airport. oneworld and Moscow Domodedovo airport will announce the opening date and further details in 2020.
“We are excited to launch the first oneworld branded lounge at Moscow Domodedovo in this momentous year, as we celebrate the alliance’s 20th anniversary with an invigorated mission to deliver the highest levels of service and most seamless travel experience to our customers,” said oneworld CEO Rob Gurney. “Moscow Domodedovo is the home of our member S7 Airlines, and we are thrilled that the first oneworld branded lounge will be located at its hub.”
Igor Borisov, the Director of Moscow Domodedovo Airport, said: “Thanks to the joint project of the airport and oneworld, our passengers will receive exclusive world-class service. We are confident that this will have a positive impact on strengthening the alliance’s brand in the Russian market, and Domodedovo will become even more attractive for frequent flyers of the oneworld alliance.”
Domodedovo serves as a major hub for the oneworld alliance in Russia. oneworld member S7 Airlines operates more than 140 daily flights from the airport.
“With Domodedovo Airport being our core hub we will be really glad to welcome passengers of our partner airlines in Moscow. We always strive to provide travellers with excellent service at any stage of their journey. I am sure that opening of the new Domodedovo terminal and the oneworld branded business lounge will enable us to further enhance airport passenger experience,” said Anton Eremin, CEO of S7 Group.
Including the S7 Airlines operations, Moscow Domodedovo airport handles over 150 daily flights by oneworld member airlines, including British Airways, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian. In the first 11 months of 2019, Moscow Domodedovo and oneworld airlines served more than 12.6 million passengers, an increase of 5% over the same period in 2018.


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GEORGES GOBET | AFP | Getty Photos
Ford is investing $1 billion in an electrical automobile manufacturing facility in Cologne, Germany, with the European arm of the automotive large committing to go “all-in” on electrical autos within the years forward.
In plans introduced Wednesday morning, Ford mentioned its total passenger automobile vary in Europe can be “zero-emissions succesful, all-electric or plug-in hybrid” by the center of 2026, with a “utterly all-electric” providing by 2030.
The funding in Cologne will see the corporate replace an present meeting plant, changing it right into a facility targeted on the manufacturing of electrical autos.
“Our announcement at the moment to rework our Cologne facility, the house of our operations in Germany for 90 years, is among the most vital Ford has made in over a era,” Stuart Rowley, Ford of Europe’s president, mentioned in an announcement.
“It underlines our dedication to Europe and a contemporary future with electrical autos on the coronary heart of our technique for progress,” Rowley added.
Elsewhere, the enterprise desires its industrial automobile phase in Europe to be zero-emissions succesful, plug-in hybrid or all-electric by 2024.
A ‘transformative’ decade
With governments around the globe asserting plans to maneuver away from diesel and gasoline autos, Ford, alongside a number of different main carmakers, is making an attempt to ramp up its electrical providing and problem corporations similar to Elon Musk’s Tesla.
South Korean carmaker Kia, as an illustration, will launch its first devoted electrical automobile this 12 months, whereas Germany’s Volkswagen Group is investing roughly 35 billion euros (round $42.27 billion) in battery electrical autos and says it desires to roll out roughly 70 all-electric fashions by 2030.
Final month, the CEO of Daimler advised CNBC that the automotive business was “in the midst of a change.”
“Subsequent to the issues that we all know effectively — to construct, frankly, the world’s most fascinating automobiles — there are two technological developments that we’re doubling down on: electrification and digitization,” Ola Källenius advised CNBC’s Annette Weisbach.
The Stuttgart-headquartered agency was “pouring billions into these new applied sciences,” he added, stating they might “drive our path in direction of CO2-free driving.” This decade, he went on to assert, can be “transformative.”
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Perhaps you’ve heard the news: Adele has a new album coming out.
Seriously, unless you’ve been under a rock, the drumbeat for the release of the British singer’s third album, 25, keeps getting louder and louder as we are only hours away from its arrival.
Here are five things you need to know:
1. Sales of 25 are going to be tremendous and, most likely, record setting given the sheer amount of product going into stores and demand. Columbia Records is flooding the marketplace with 3.6 million physical copies of the album, according to Billboard. Not that stores like
2. If 25 sells the projected 2.5 million in the U.S. (1.5 million physical, 900,000 + digital), Adele could blow past ’N Sync for the largest selling album in one week since the advent of SoundScan in 1991. The boy band’s No Strings Attached sold 2.4 million copies in its week of release in March 2000. That was before the record industry tanked. Before iTunes. Before the recession. Achieving those kinds of numbers in today’s music industry is as likely as seeing a leprechaun riding a unicorn to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And remember, this is just for the U.S. The album topped iTunes charts in 80 countries based on pre-sales alone.
3. Adele’s team is remaining coy about whether 25 will be available via streaming services such as Spotify or
4. Adele’s release campaign has been impeccably managed. While it seems like it’s all we’ve heard about, Adele has been tremendously selective in her appearances, all slated for the maximum bang for her buck but never anything less than elegant. She’s done a handful of print interviews with outlets like The New York Times and Rolling Stone in advance and a few performances, including a stellar live debut of first single “Hello,” at France’s NRJ Awards. She will be on Saturday Night Live this Saturday (11/21), The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (11/23) and Today (11/25), all of which will bolster first week sales, and she taped an NBC special at Radio City Music Hall earlier this week that will air on Dec. 14. It’s a smart, but fairly modest roll out.
5. Her sales follow another great week for retail as we head into the holiday season. In a battle for the hearts and wallets of their young fans, Justin Bieber and One Direction went mano-a-mano this week with new releases. Instead of cannibalizing from each other, it looks like their fans supported both in droves, resulting in the first time in years that two new releases have sold such numbers in the same week (official numbers will be announced on Sunday). Including track-equivalent albums (TEA), it looks like Bieber’s Purpose comes out on top, with sales of around 555,000 units, according to Billboard. One Direction’s Made in the A.M. moved 475,000. Couple that with Adele’s opening numbers (and undoubtedly continued strong sales through Christmas), new albums from Coldplay, Enya, Rihanna (possibly) Bruce Springsteen’s The River box set, Babyface, R Kelly and Chris Brown and it’s looking like a very, very green Christmas.
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When the PS4 launches in Japan, can you get the game?
Posted October 31, 2018 06:53:24Japan’s PS4 is expected to hit Japanese stores on November 6th, 2018, with the US version to launch later in the year.
The company has also announced a PlayStation Store for the country, and a new game called Thunderbolt Software is expected on that same day.
We’re looking forward to getting the game on PS4, and getting a chance to try it out, said Shinji Nakamura, CEO of PS4 Entertainment Studios.
I’m looking forward too to the PlayStation Store, to see what’s going to be on there, and also the chance to play a few games.
The games are still in development, so we’re looking at all possible release dates.
We have a great team working on Thunderbolt.
We’re looking to get the title on PSN as soon as possible.
It’s the same day as the Japanese release of Horizon Zero Dawn, but it’s still in beta and a bit of a work in progress, so that’s a little early to get it.
But the game is going to look awesome on PSVita.
That’ll be a great time to play it, and hopefully get it on PSVR and then on the PSVR Pro.
The PlayStation Store will feature games, movies and other media, and will be powered by Sony’s cloud gaming platform, PSVR.
That means you can play the same content you would normally see on the PlayStation 4 in a completely new way.
There are still a lot of games and other content that you can only see in the PlayStation app, but we think you’ll love the new feature.


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Cocoa, one of Ghana’s major foreign exports, is the backbone of the country’s economy.
As a commodity that generates millions of cedis for the country, one would expect labourers of this essential fruit to earn a good wage; but that is not the case.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ Living Standards Series, some farmers bemoaned the recent price hikes in the country, which they say is affecting their businesses and livelihoods.
Most youth hailing from the northern part of Ghana move down south in hope of greener pastures.
Abdul Rashid may be one of the thousands who are yet to break the shackles of financial constraints after he moved down south.
After his secondary education at Bawku in the Upper East Region, Rashid returned to his aged father at Krachikrom in the Ashanti Region to take up his cocoa farming business.
“My father started this farming business. He used the money he got to cater for my secondary education. But now, he’s grown so I’ve taken up the job.
“The dried cocoa beans can be here for almost a week without me gaining any money. Unless I borrow money to transport them, and use the little I get to pay up the debt,” Rashid said.
Cocoa, as a golden commodity, provides livelihood for over 700,000 farmers in the southern tropical belt of Ghana.
Rashid hoped the cocoa farming business which catered for all his secondary school expenses would do the same now.
But times are not the same anymore. Recent inflation in the country is crumbling his cocoa farming business.
“The money to buy fertiliser is even a problem. Until the cocoa is harvested, I cannot get money to purchase fertiliser. By the time the cocoa is ready for harvesting, I use the money I earn to pay up the debts incurred during cultivation,” he said.
He noted a significant decrease in his cocoa harvests as a result.
“I used to harvest 15 bags, but I can only harvest 5 bags now,” Rashid lamented.
Rashid is not alone in the cocoa farming business.
His brother, Issah Abass, joined him from the North to continue ploughing their father’s 10-acre cocoa farm together.
He anticipated a good living condition in the south; however, proceeds from the farm are not enough to support his family of three.
“I came down South to earn some cash to continue my education, but it appears where I was is better. I have no other job to fend for myself and family. I only rely on this cocoa business.”
His wife, Latifah, is fed up with the recent expensive cost of living at the village.
One may argue that the rural areas are blessed with cheaper and abundant foodstuff.
But Latifah does not sing in unison with this notion.
“We’re not earning enough from the cocoa business. It was better before but not now. I’ve even suggested to my husband to stop farming and find another job,” Latifah woefully said.
The farmers are not the only ones bearing the brunt.
Cocoa carriers are also worried over the meagre commission they accrue after trekking for hours to take home the bags of cocoa from the farm.
Majeed and his colleagues carry a bag of cocoa for GH¢3, an amount they say is not enough for financial upkeep.
“We used to carry a bag for GH₵1.50p, but it’s now GH¢3. The maximum cash I make in a day is just GH¢10. How much from that will I use for food, credit and others?” Majeed asked.
Another carrier, Alfred Owusu, added: “I can only carry three bags. The farms are far from here. I climb hills with this heavy load on my head.”
Despite cocoa being a rich source of Ghana’s income, these actors in the cocoa industry cannot say the same about their livelihoods.


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Machine-vision company Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX), roofing and insulation company Owens Corning (NYSE:OC), and industrial tools company Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) have all seen sharp increases in their stock prices in 2017. So is now the time to cash in some gains? Let's look at what's happened with all three and consider why there may be more to come from them in 2017.
Cognex Corporation is in growth mode
Investors began the year hoping that a combination of recovering U.S. industrial production growth and the potential for take-up of Cognex's products in sectors such as consumer electronics and logistics would lead to outperformance. Fast-forward to the second quarter, and that's exactly what happened.
As readers already know, factory automation revenue in the U.S has created a strong recovery for Cognex, while the promise that large consumer-electronics and logistics orders will turn to revenue in the second half has led analysts scurrying to increase earnings estimates. Meanwhile, Cognex's traditional core strength, the automotive industry, saw better-than-expected sales in the second quarter.
So far, so good in 2017, but I would strike a couple of notes of caution. First, the results and outlook from automotive-related companies such as BorgWarner show that automotive production growth will slow later in the year. Second, back in 2015, management was expecting large orders in the second half, but they failed to materialize, partly because of the macroeconomic environment.
Cognex isn't immune from the economy, so keep an eye out for any slowing in automotive and/or general industrial conditions. Otherwise, its secular growth drivers -- the increasing use of machine vision in automation -- put it in good stead.
Despite the rise in its stock price, Owens Corning looks to be favorably priced on a historical basis.
Of course, this may not turn out to be the case for the roofing, insulation, and composites company if the housing market peaks. New house builds and home sales are determinants of roofing and, to a lesser extent, insulation demand. While these metrics can bounce around a bit, they remain in a long-term uptrend, and according to Owens Corning CEO Mike Thaman on the first-quarter earnings release, "All three businesses are executing on our priorities, and we are well positioned to achieve another year of strong performance."
On the first-quarter earnings call, management didn't announce an adjustment of the full-year outlook, but it hinted at potential improvement in the composites segment and confirmed expectations for a strong rebound in insulation margin. That's led analysts to raise full-year EPS estimates in the past few months from $3.86 to $4.01 for 2017 and from $4.33 to $4.45 for 2018, putting the stock on a forward P/E ratio of 16.1 and 14.6 times earnings for 2017 and 2018, respectively. Provided you think the housing market will remain in a long-term uptrend, Owens Corning still looks a good value. Here's a more in-depth case for buying the stock.
Stanley Black & Decker
Following a strong first quarter, management raised its full-year EPS guidance range from $7.08-$7.28 to $6.98-$7.18 while continuing to expect full-year organic revenue growth of 4%. However, the story with Stanley Black & Decker isn't just about the near term. In fact, the company has been on a long march toward releasing the value in its product portfolio through making structural improvements in its operations.
As previously outlined, management has made some pretty impressive improvements in working capital in recent years and restructured the company for growth. Moreover, in the company's investor day presentation in May, management laid out some pretty impressive long-term targets:
- 4%-6% organic revenue growth.
- 10%-12% EPS growth.
- Free cash flow conversion from net income of 100% or above.
That's impressive for a company trading at a forward P/E ratio of 19.1 times earnings. Provided the construction markets hold up, Stanley Black & Decker still looks to be a good value.
The bottom line
Cognex trades at a forward P/E ratio of 42 and needs to continue its impressive growth trajectory to justify such a rating. Meanwhile, Owens Corning continues to look like a good value, provided the housing market remains in growth mode. Finally, Stanley Black & Decker is now in good shape, and if management delivers on its plans, its stock, too, appears to be a value.


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Samsung's 'Galaxy A' devices are all over the place lately. The Galaxy A3, A5, A7 and A9 have been leaking like crazy recently. The 2nd-gen Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 devices have all been benchmarked at least once, and some of them have already been certified. Earlier today, the Galaxy A7 has actually been certified by TENAA (China's equivalent to the FCC), and now we have some additional info about the Galaxy A9, read on.
The Galaxy A9 has actually surfaced on Geekbench two days ago, and it has now surfaced on the company's official website. The listing has popped up on Samsung Iran website, and the listing does reveal both the design and specifications of this handset. Now, first and foremost, this listing reveals that the phone will launch on December 1st. though we don't know if that's a general launch date or Iran launch date. That being said, let's check out the phone's specs, shall we.
The Galaxy A9 will feature a 5.5-inch 1080p (1920 x 1080) Super AMOLED display along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage (expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card). The phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 620 64-bit octa-core SoC along with an Adreno 510 GPU for graphics. The 16-megpaixel shooter will be located on the back of this phone, and a 5-megapixel snapper will be available up front. Android 5.1.1 Lollipop comes pre-installed on this phone along with Samsung's TouchWiz UI which will be installed on top of it.
The Galaxy A9 is made out of metal, and sports a non-removable battery on the inside (all-metal design). The phone will be available in Gold, White and Black color options, and you can check out its design in the listing itself. That being said, this is a mid-range handset, though some might consider it a mid to high-end phone. Either way, the Galaxy A9 is en route, and is expected to be launched on December 1st, as this listing reveals (if not sooner). So, if you're interested in this rather well-specced mid-ranger, stay tuned for additional info.


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Majority of auto companies have reported their quaterly results. The past week saw releases from the likes of Magna International Inc. (MGA - Free Report) , Johnson Controls International plc (JCI - Free Report) and Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (AAP - Free Report) .
Earnings for Magna and Advance Auto Parts surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and were higher than the year-ago quarter. While Johnson Controls’ earnings were in line with estimates, the figure improved year over year. Additionally, on the revenue front, all three companies witnessed year-over-year improvements. Revenues surpassed estimates for both Advance Auto Parts and Johnson Controls, while Magna’s revenues missed the same.
In the past week, Ford Motor Company’s (F - Free Report) subsidiary Ford Smart Mobility LLC announced that it acquired an electric-scooter-sharing company, Spin. This acquisition is likely to aid the company improve its portfolio of mobility services. Johnson Controls announced its plan to sell the power solutions business. The sale will help the company focus on its building technologies & solutions segment.
Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories
1. Magna delivered third-quarter 2018 adjusted earnings per share of $1.56, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.49. Further, the bottom line was higher than the year-ago figure of $1.39.
Revenues increased 9% year over year to $9.6 billion. However, the top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.8 billion. Light-vehicle production growth was 4% in North America and unchanged in Europe in the quarter.
Moreover, adjusted EBIT declined to $699 million from the year-ago $705 million.
Revenues at the Body Exteriors & Structures segment were $4.2 billion in the reported quarter compared with $4 billion in third-quarter 2017. Moreover, adjusted EBIT rose 5.2% year over year to $322 million.
Revenues at the Power & Vision segment totaled $2.9 billion in comparison with $2.8 billion recorded in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBIT declined 3.4% year over year to $258 million.
Revenues at the Seating Systems segment totaled $1.22 billion, almost flat year over year. Adjusted EBIT declined 27.4% year over year to $69 million.
Revenues at the Complete Vehicles segment increased to $1.39 billion in the quarter under review from $938 million in third-quarter 2017. Adjusted EBIT rose 41.2% year over year to $24 million. (Read more: Magna Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates, Lowers Guidance)
Magna currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
2. Ford’s subsidiary Ford Smart Mobility LLC announced that it acquired an electric-scooter-sharing company, Spin. Based in San Francisco, CA, the acquired company is a two-year-old start-up that offers alternative first and last-mile transportation solutions to customers.
Per Ford’s management, the acquisition will aid the company to improve its portfolio of mobility services. Ford is trying to adjust itself with the changing needs of its markets, which is complemented with the addition of electric-scooters (e-scooters).
Currently, Spin has presence in 13 cities, apart from campuses across the United States. Per a source mentioned in Reuters, Ford will invest approximately $200 million in Spin. Further, the company plans to expand Spin’s services to more than 100 markets in North America within a span of one and a half years.
Among a number of mobility options available to customers, e-scooter has become fairly popular, which is suitable for short distances. Apart from Spin, two other companies namely Lime and Bird offer similar services. The companies offer services through applications that allow users to rent e-scooters within the rate of 15 cents to $1 a minute. These two major players, Lime and Bird attracted huge investments from big companies, valuing $4 billion and $2 billion, respectively. (Read more: Ford Includes Mobility Service Company to Its Portfolio)
Ford currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
3. Johnson Controls has announced that it is selling its power solutions business to Brookfield Business Partners L.P. and institutional partners (jointly, "Brookfield"). A definitive agreement has been signed between Johnson Controls and Brookfield for the sell-off, which is valued at a cash transaction of $13.2 billion. Depending on regulatory approvals and closing conditions, the transaction is anticipated to close by Jun 30, 2019.
Out of the total cash transaction, net cash proceeds are anticipated to be $11.4 billion after deducting tax-related expenses. Johnson Controls expects to use $3-$3.5 billion in debt repayment while the rest will be returned to shareholders. A complete detail on the cash proceeds usage will be reported after the closing of the transaction.
The company started weighing on alternatives for the power solutions unit in March. Apart from this, it functions through another segment i.e. building technologies & solutions.
The sale of the unit will aid Johnson Controls to focus on its building technologies & solutions segment, which is better placed for the integration and development of connected building. Per management, its building technologies have better possibility of capturing opportunities in the HVAC industry.
The company’s power solutions business is a manufacturer and distributor of advanced battery technologies for vehicles across the globe. The division also works in partnership with its customers to meet evolving electrification requirements in cars.
In the last week, Johnson Controls announced its fiscal 2018 results. During the fiscal year, the company’s power solutions unit generated revenues of $8 billion, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $1.7 billion. (Read more: Johnson Controls to Sell Power Solutions Unit for $13B)
Johnson Controls currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
4. Advance Auto Parts reported adjusted earnings of $1.89 per share in third-quarter 2018 (ended Oct 6, 2018), up from $1.43 in the prior-year quarter. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.77. Adjusted operating income increased 12.5% year over year to $193.7 million.
Advance Auto Parts reported net revenues of $2.3 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.23 billion. Revenues were 4.3% higher than the year-ago quarter. During the quarter under review, comparable store sales were 4.6% higher year over year. This marks strongest comparable sales growth in eight years for the company.
Gross profit was $1.01 billion in the reported quarter, higher than the prior-year quarter figure of $947.7 million. Gross Profit margin increased 90 basis points year over year to 44.3%.
Adjusted selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses totaled $813.8 million compared with $775.5 million in the year-ago period.
Advance Auto Parts had cash and cash equivalents of $970 million as of Oct 6, 2018, up from $363.3 million as of Oct 7, 2017. Total long-term debt was $1.05 billion as of Oct 6, 2018, higher than $1.04 billion as of Dec 30, 2017.
In third-quarter 2018, operating cash flow was $681.5 million compared with $401 million in the same period of 2017. (Read more: Advance Auto Parts Beats on Q3 Earnings & Revenues)
Advance Auto Parts currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
5. O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY - Free Report) announced that its board of directors approved rise of $1 billion in its share repurchase program. This brought the total share repurchase authorization to $11.75 billion. Further, this auto parts retailer agreed to purchase all the auto parts-related assets of automotive parts supplier Bennett Auto Supply, Inc., based in Pompano Beach, FL.
O’Reilly pursues an aggressive share-repurchase policy, which continues to boost earnings per share. In third-quarter 2018, the company repurchased 0.9 million shares for $416 million, the average price being $306.22 per share.
Subsequently, from the end of third-quarter 2018 to the date of the earnings release on Oct 24, it purchased additional 0.2 million shares for $68 million.
This new $1-billion share repurchase authorization is effective for a three-year period. Before this hike in share buyback, in February 2018, O’Reilly raised the share repurchase authorization amount by additional $1 billion to $10.75 billion.
On the other hand, the purchase of Bennett assets is likely to be completed by the end of 2018. Over the past six decades, the Bennett family has successfully built its business, which aims to provide excellent customer service. The deal positions the company for growth in Florida by opening up huge opportunities. (Read more: O'Reilly to Raise Share Buyback Program, Buys Auto Assets)
O’Reilly currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
In the last week, Advance Auto Parts gained the most while General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) declined the maximum.
In the past six months, Advance Auto Parts has increased the most, whereas Ford declined the most.
|Company||Last Week||Last 6 Months|
What’s Next in the Auto Space?
Watch out for the usual news releases over the next week.
Wall Street’s Next Amazon
Zacks EVP Kevin Matras believes this familiar stock has only just begun its climb to become one of the greatest investments of all time. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in pure genius.
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While there might be nothing explicitly stopping you from going about your usual online shopping routine during stay-home orders and isolation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the question remains: should you?
We know that delivery services are busy shuttling food, medicine and other essential supplies around the world. People who are quarantined or self-isolating due to a particular vulnerability to COVID-19 are most likely relying on these deliveries while they're homebound.
So whether you're browsing for shirts to add to your video conference wardrobe rotation, junk food to add to your quarantine waistline or games to distract you from a desire for sunlight, fresh air and genuine human contact, you won't have much luck getting those items at brick-and-mortar stores these day. Those are mostly closed throughout in the United States.
That makes online shopping the only option for most of us. And many among us are wondering if buying stuff we don't actually need makes us bad people.
One one hand, continuing your usual shopping habits during the crisis means you're helping to support a sputtering economy. That mitigates the financial disaster at hand by reinforcing the livelihoods of all the people down the line who benefit from your dollar.
Considering the number of Americans who will become uninsured if they become unemployed, there's an argument to be made that it's better to be sick and employed than sick and jobless, therefore, any money you can spare to spend, should be spent.
On the other hand, while most retailers say they are taking additional steps to ensure the health and safety of their employees, it's abundantly clear that community spread from the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is hard to prevent. Total workplace safety is impossible to guarantee, and the idea of putting a parcel worker at risk for a non-essential delivery should make us uneasy.
To those of us wondering if packaging itself could be contaminated with the virus, the World Health Organization says the risk of an infected person contaminating goods is low and the risk of catching the virus from packaging is also low.
Various parties, including provincial and local governments around the world, and retailers and labor unions across multiple industries have spoken up on the issue. But those different entities have landed on different sides. If there's a particular industry in which you have a stake, consider researching how the pandemic is impacting it.
Infectious disease experts have offered various models of how prevalent coronavirus infections could be in America before a vaccine is ready — few of those predictions are encouraging.
There is a middle ground on some platforms designed to allay concerns. Retailers like Amazon are prioritizing essential deliveries and customers can select a 'no-rush' option that gives parcel services the OK to take extra time to arrange non-essential deliveries to minimize risk for delivery drivers.
These are all things to consider next time you look into treating your COVID anxiety with retail therapy. You can take heart in the sentiment that thinking about this at all indicates you're a good person.
But for now, the choice to buy is only yours.
Photo: Getty Images


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(PRESS RELEASE) -- Genting Alderney has launched an online and mobile sportsbook in partnership with real-time platform provider FSB Technology (UK) Ltd.
Genting Bet was soft launched in October with both a desktop and a responsive-design mobile version using FSB Tech’s managed sports betting solution. The branded sportsbook is fully integrated into Genting Alderney's new online platform and will allow it to further bridge its online offering with its retail presence of 44 UK casinos.
Genting Bet is the first operator to go live with FSB Tech’s managed service, designed to help brand owners offer sports betting products to their existing customer base without the need to set up and run an operation from scratch.
The turnkey solution includes FSB Tech’s proprietary live sports betting platform, real-time algorithmic pricing models and market-leading CRM tools for player segmentation and bonusing, all run through FSB Tech’s licence with the UK Gambling Commission. As the service grows, Genting will have the option to bring any of the individual services, or the entire operation, in-house.
Genting Bet will be marketed to customers in the UK with the service providing a range of pre-match and in-play betting markets across major sporting events including football, horse racing, tennis, boxing, darts, snooker and more.
Peter Nolan, Managing Director, Genting Alderney, said: “With the launch of Genting Bet, our customers have the ability to keep all their casino, poker and sports betting activity – both online and offline – under the Genting brand further enhancing our brand presence in the UK.
“We chose FSB Tech as our partners for Genting Bet due to their expertise and delivery of the optimum sportsbook platform, in addition to pre-event and live pricing models which really deliver on customer engagement,” he added.
David McDowell, chief executive, FSB Tech, said: “It is both a fantastic opportunity and an amazing endorsement for us to work with such a well-established operator and to be selected as their sports betting partner. We look forward to helping deliver the best possible betting product to both their online and retail customer base.”
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If you hate losing money, then you’re not alone—no one likes it, especially giant corporations. But in these challenging financial times, it seems as though losing money is inevitable.
Companies spend big bucks to stay in the black, and following the economic disaster that was 2020, the financial sector is uncertain for a lot of players in the game. This uncertainty has led to unprecedented measures to hedge against potential loss in the current economic climate. One such measure is to put their bank in Bitcoin. Bitcoin has grown far beyond its meager beginnings back in 2011, and corporations are taking notice. A steadily growing list of major players has boarded the Bitcoin train as of late.
At the top of the list is MicroStrategy, which has now put ALL of its cash into Bitcoin—a whopping $425 million, to be precise. MicroStrategy is in the business intelligence industry, and CEO Michael Saylor, who was once critical of Bitcoin, has managed to convert the entirety of MicroStrategy’s cash into Bitcoin. “On September 14, 2020, MicroStrategy completed its acquisition of 16,796 additional bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of $175 million. To date, we have purchased a total of 38,250 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of $425 million, inclusive of fees and expenses,” Tweeted Saylor on September 15 of last year. MicroStrategy is arguably the loudest institutional proponent for Bitcoin, and after the Bitcoin Summit 2021 set to take place Wednesday, February 3rd, a lot more corporations are likely to follow suit.
Electric car company CEO Elon Musk has made no secret of his support for bitcoin.
“I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of bitcoin,” Musk said. Now Musk continues to flaunt his affinity for the cryptocurrency by announcing that Tesla may be adding bitcoin to its books.
Musk sparked buzz around Tesla jumping in bed with bitcoin in a response to MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor on Twitter.
“If you want to do your shareholders a $100 billion favor, convert the [Tesla] balance sheet from [dollars] to [bitcoin].”
To which Musk responded:
“Are such large transactions even possible?”
Musk has now changed his tune on Twitter, posting pro-bitcoin tweets, highlighting the possibility for Tesla to buy into Bitcoin. And should Tesla convert its cash assets to Bitcoin, it would pump another $6.2 billion into the bitcoin space, at least.
The list of Bitcoin supporters continues to grow and doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. As more and more companies join in, the more stable will be Bitcoin’s price action, which will then lead to more investors seeking financial refuge with Bitcoin as a viable reserve asset.
Square, the payments platform, announced last year that the company had invested 1% of its assets in Bitcoin. That amounts to 4,709 Bitcoin, or roughly $50 million. “Bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future,” Square says. And to that effect, Square has added Bitcoin payments to its major mobile payment platform Cash App. But Square’s not just limiting their crypto involvement to investing. The payment giant also contributes to Bitcoin open-source work via Square Crypto, which started in 2019. All their Bitcoin involvement has been paying off, as Square reported Bitcoin revenue of nearly $306 in May of last year.
Contributed by Garrett S.


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Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
“I am extremely pleased that Argus and Inter-Urban will now be part of our organization. They are another perfect example of the type of investments we make on behalf of our shareholders – profitable, well managed with a strong regional presence,” stated CEO Murray Mullen.
Canopy Rivers Inc. (RIV-X) says Bruce Linton has stepped down as chairman and director of the company, effective immediately. “We are grateful for all of the contributions that Bruce made to both Canopy Rivers and to the cannabis industry as a whole,” said Narbe Alexandrian, CEO of Canopy Rivers. “As we enter the next chapter of our Company’s history, we are excited to continue working with Canopy Growth.”
Mr. Linton also stepped down as co-CEO and member of the board of its larger affiliate Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED-T; CGC-N) Mark Zekulin has agreed to become the sole CEO of Canopy Growth while the board searches for a replacement.
Goldmoney Inc. (XAU-T) increased its stake in Menē Inc. (MENE-X), an online 24-karat jewelry brand. Goldmoney stated that it has agreed to purchase from Roy Sebag, the CEO of both Menē and Goldmoney, 12.3 million Class A common share purchase warrants. “Upon closing of the warrant purchase transaction, Goldmoney will exercise the warrants, providing Menē with $1,225,900 of additional working capital,” the company stated. “As additional consideration for the warrant purchase transaction, Goldmoney has agreed to reduce the payable Menē owes to it by $1,824,100.”
Callidus Capital Corp. (CBL-T) issued a statement late Tuesday saying Newton Glassman “has asked the board of directors of Callidus not to reappoint him as chief executive officer at this time for health reasons.” The company said Mr. Glassman “has committed to continue as a director and chair of the Callidus credit committee.”
The company said it announced last August that Mr. Glassman was taking a leave of absence from his role as CEO. “Mr. Glassman has been performing his duties as managing partner of The Catalyst Capital Group Inc. during this time and will continue to do so,” the company stated.


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BRENTWOOD will celebrate Independents’ Day tomorrow and Saturday with an array of activities to mark the occasion.
The High Street and surrounding road will be buzzing with entertainment and and fun for all ages.
Independents' Day is a national campaign that promotes and celebrates independent businesses across the UK. Now in its fourth year, the campaign has quickly become the voice of independent retailers to reach the local community who would like to support their local businesses.
Tomorrow (Friday, July 4) is the official day but Brentwood will mark the occasion on Saturday to make it widely available to those who can’t make due to work and school.
As part of the festivities, Maisy Mouse will be at Chicken and Frog in Ongar Road. She will be entertaining children at the shop at about 10.30am, before going to Brentwood Library in New Road, at approximately 11am and giving out balloons from Balloon Boutique in Ongar Road.
She will also be at Mi Nemi baby boutique in Ongar Road at 12.30pm, Crown Street at 1.30pm and Brentwood Kitchen on Wilson’s Corner, Ingrave Road from 2.30pm.
Other activities will include children’s mascots and characters around High Street and King Road, hosted by Harlequin Fancy Dress and Party Shop; author and illustrator Yasmeen Ismail will be at the Chicken and Frog in Ongar Road from 11am-3pm and a Disney Princess will be visiting from 3pm.
Visitors will be able to grab a bargain in Crown Street where the boutique shops will be offering special discounts throughout the day and there will be entertainment. There will also be a chance to win an exclusive yellow duck from Joey Essex’s shop Fusey in a ‘hook a duck’ competition.
The Mayor of Brentwood, Councillor Vicky Davies will also be visiting and showing her support for local businesses.
Councillor David Kendall, chair of the town centre committee, said: “Our unique small and independent businesses are the lifeline of our high streets throughout the Borough and they help make us different.
“For every £1 you spend in local shops, between 50p-70p will circulate back into the local economy. So I’m encouraging shoppers to support the Independents’ Day campaign and go to your local High Street in the Borough.
“You can see what the shops have on offer and maybe have a little break from shopping by having a coffee and a cake in an independent café.”


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2016 Predictions: M2M and IoT to transform operations
Operations to be impacted by M2M and IoT deployments
Editor’s Note: With 2016 now upon us, RCR Wireless News has gathered predictions from leading industry analysts and executives on what they expect to see in the new year.
M2M will move out of the back office
Previously, machine-to-machine has been used to automate internal business processes. However, companies are evolving their M2M strategies to innovate, drive new customer experiences, and increase revenue through more sophisticated, customer-facing connected products and services. In fact, 66% of those already using M2M say their strategy today focuses on external stakeholders, according to the Vodafone M2M Barometer 2015. And, as M2M moves outside the IT department and plays a larger role in customer experience and competitive advantage, we predict by 2016, more than one-third of businesses will describe their M2M projects as innovation projects, rather than IT projects.
M2M deployments will get more sophisticated – and deliver greater ROI
Businesses that are more sophisticated in their deployment of the technology, for instance linking M2M with cloud platforms and big data analytics, will see the greatest positive impact in 2016. While analytics has often been integrated in M2M solutions, it has now gone from a “nice to have” to an essential part of a holistic M2M solution. And these types of solutions are leading to significantly greater returns, with 83% of the most sophisticated organizations seeing significant return, compared to 43% of the least sophisticated businesses. And, 69% of those most sophisticated organizations say M2M has “fundamentally transformed” their businesses. Going into 2016, organizations considering M2M will need to take a sophisticated approach – and vendors will be expected to deliver.
IoT will become vital to the customer experience
Two-way communication is now enabling more sophisticated customer-facing applications. Users are starting to innovate and use M2M to drive superior customer experiences, and increase revenue through customer-facing connected products and services. In 2015, M2M adoption in the retail sector grew an astounding 88% as retailers and marketers began to realize the value of the “Internet of Things” for customer experience. Previously only used for solutions like smart vending machines, retailers now understand M2M can strengthen the shopping experience through personalization, smarter payment methods and digital signage – all while streamlining internal operations. In 2016, we expect the use of M2M and IoT applications for customer experience will go mainstream across industries.
There will be a new focus on connecting the ‘things’ that matter
With buzz around IoT, companies have rushed to connect almost everything. However, just because we can connect everything doesn’t mean it makes sound business sense. As the market matures, we’ll begin to see a weeding out of the solutions that don’t serve a true business or societal purpose. M2M vendors and service providers will focus on connecting the “things” that really matter like – utilities and smart meters, heart monitors, fleet management and chronic healthcare management solutions.


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More value with golf …
Thinking to buy home in Marbella?
Located on a golf resort and with golf views?
The houses within the golf resorts are worth a 19% more than the equivalent properties outside of the resorts. And those with views to the golf course, benefiting from the premium price of 9.5%, compared with the properties without view to the golf course.
The most valued properties are within the golf resorts, according to a new study has resolved. The study has been carried out by European Tour Properties, a global network of 27 resorts and world-class golf courses, with results on the basis of a sample of nine golf resorts and sales transactions completed in 500 plots, villas, houses and apartments during 2017.


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Long-time champion of local sourcing, Greencity Wholefoods has started delivering food to retailers, cafes and restaurants using an electric trike in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint.
The Glasgow-based wholesaler is trialling the Iceni e-cargo trike, which can take loads up to 250kg, this summer. The trike was funded through Glasgow City Council’s Co-Operative and Social Enterprise Fund.
In 2016, the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland estimated that ambient air pollution causes 40,000 premature deaths, over six million sick days, and an estimated social cost of £22.6bn per year. The city introduced Low Emission Zones in 2018 with Phase 2 due to be introduced in 2023, so looking at alternative distribution models for inner city deliveries is essential.
Chris Wallace, who had the idea to trial the e-cargo trike, said: “It’s great Greencity has supported the idea, and if we can make a success of delivering goods in e-cargo trikes in Glasgow, we would then look to expanding delivery options in other cities across Scotland and Northern England. Communities deserve clean air and this is one method that could help mitigate pollution. We need to see more businesses adapt to create a more resilient society.”
Long term member Scott Erwin added: “With Glasgow hosting COP26 in November, it is incumbent upon businesses to find ways to reduce their CO2 emissions and help build a cleaner infrastructure for distribution. This shows one possible alternative mode of transport that could be utilised, but we require greater investment and options on the market for electric vehicles with larger payloads to really make a difference.”
Greencity Wholefoods has been addressing its carbon footprint in recent years; it has installed solar panels at its distribution centre and is currently retrofitting all its existing lighting to LEDs.


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The Stella McCartney £2,000 handbag that began life as a mushroom and £115 Nike trainers made from pineapple: Perfect for virtue-signalling stars, this latest fashion trend is inspired not by catwalks of Milan but by the fruit and veg aisle!
With its supple, black exterior, chunky gold-and-silver chain and discreet magnetic clasp, it looks and feels like any other ‘It’ bag coveted by celebrities and wealthy shoppers the world over. But what makes this £1,995 half-moon clutch so groundbreaking is that no cow was harmed to make its leather.
The must-have Stella McCartney accessory began life as a mushroom – one that was cultivated in a huge indoor farm in the Netherlands before its fibrous ‘roots’ were turned into a durable, ultra-desirable fabric.
When the Frayme Mylo goes on sale on Thursday, it will set a new fashion watermark as the world’s first handbag made entirely from mushrooms.
McCartney, 50, says her design – which has an initial limited-edition run of 100 – will help shoppers make ‘conscious choices’.
When the Frayme Mylo goes on sale on Thursday, it will set a new fashion watermark as the world’s first handbag made entirely from mushrooms
McCartney, 50, says her design – which has an initial limited-edition run of 100 – will help shoppers make ‘conscious choices’
‘I want to make it easier for people to make responsible fashion moves, while never compromising on beauty or desirability,’ she says.
The Prince of Wales, a fellow devotee of sustainable farming is already a fan. He and McCartney discussed her vegan range at the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow last November, and he reportedly found her exhibition ‘enlightening and inspiring’.
Motivated by her late mother Linda, a passionate animal rights activist, McCartney has not used fur, leather or any animal skins in her label since it launched in 2001. Now the rest of the fashion industry is following her commitment to sustainable, cruelty-free fashion with a trend that is set to revolutionise how clothes are produced, and hugely reduce the industry’s impact on the planet.
Following McCartney’s ground-breaking mushroom bag, animal-free belts, bags, wallets and shoes will follow from next year, by the likes of Hermes, high street chain H&M and French luxury giant Kering, which controls prestigious brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta.
And the menu of materials being used to make them reads like a shopping list from the fruit and vegetable section at Sainsbury’s: as well as mushrooms, clothes will soon be spun from pineapples, apples, bananas and coconuts – even grapes left over from winemaking.
Pioneering bio-tech companies are committed to the same cause of sustainable fashion, but shun the label ‘vegan leather’ and instead make the material from cells taken from cows and fish and cultivated in a lab. Silicon Valley firm VitroLabs – which is backed by Kering and Hollywood actor and environmental campaigner Leonardo DiCaprio – is taking cell samples from living cows and turning them into leather in a San Francisco laboratory.
The process is similar to brewing: cells grown inside vats of nutrient-rich liquid are then spread out on racks where, over four weeks, they form into hide-like textiles.
Announcing his investment in May as part of a £39 million funding round, DiCaprio said: ‘Cell-cultivated leather rivals the qualities of animal leather while having a positive impact on climate change.
‘The level of research and refinement done to bring this product to life makes this an exciting industry moment.’
Fashion made from pineapple fibres, by a company called Pinatex are now in vogue
VitroLabs’ chief executive, former fashion designer Ingvar Helgason, believes that growing leather in a lab is the future of the fashion industry.
Not only will it prevent cows, pigs and goats being slaughtered for the hides that are in such demand by luxury fashion houses, but it will also use less water and harmful chemicals in the tanning process.
Helgason says: ‘The opportunity for alternative materials is huge. We see it as the size of the leather goods industry, worth $400 billion (£330 billion) globally. Any technology takes time to scale up, but the consumer demand is there and brands are responding to that.’
McCartney’s mushroom bag is made from mycelium – the fine, branch-like fibres that act like roots as they sprawl through soil.
They are turned into a material called Mylo by California-based Bolt Threads, which is also developing mushroom products with Kering, Danish label Ganni, and sportswear brands Lululemon and Adidas.
Its fungi are cultivated on vertical indoor farms in the Netherlands that are powered by renewable energy and take up a fraction of the land required to rear a cow for its leather.
Producing the base material for the textile takes less than two weeks, compared to several years it can take to raise cattle.
Jamie Bainbridge, Bolt Threads’ vice-president of product development, says: ‘The mycelium grows into a foamy layer on huge trays – imagine a big bag of smashed marshmallows.
‘We then process and dye that sheet of mycelium, and it becomes the Mylo material that gets used to make footwear, handbags, wallets, phone cases and other gorgeous products.’
Other brands piling in to this already crowded field include Ananas Anam, which makes Pinatex fabric from waste pineapple fibres
A team of around two dozen scientists – including physicists and chemical biologists – are trying to perfect the formula for Mylo to make it even more hard-wearing.
Bolt Threads has created prototype mushroom trainers for Adidas, and eventually hopes to produce clothing made from the mycelium fibres, following the unveiling last year of a sample outfit of black corset top and trousers – which was modelled for McCartney by US actress and musician Paris Jackson.
Hermes, the maker of the Birkin and Kelly handbags, has closely followed the fungi-fabric trend. It is working with US firm MycoWorks to make its Victoria bag from another mushroom-based material, Reishi.
MycoWorks’ chief executive, Matt Scullin, says: ‘From the Stone Age and the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, great eras in human history have been described by a key material. We are in the early days of the Biomaterials Age… and MycoWorks and our partners are leading the new materials revolution.’
Other brands piling in to this already crowded field include Ananas Anam, which makes Pinatex fabric from waste pineapple fibres bought from farmers in the Philippines.
It has been used to make Paul Smith and £115 Nike trainers, upholster a chair by designer Tom Dixon, and decorate the Hilton hotel chain’s first-ever ‘vegan suite’, on London’s South Bank.
And eco-brand Pangaia, based in the capital, uses fibres from bananas, pineapples, bamboo and even nettles and seaweed as an alternative to cotton.
Next month, Stella McCartney plans to unveil a range of shoes and bags made partly from grape fibres, as well as the fruit skins and stalks discarded during winemaking. Fashionistas convinced that sustainable fashion is a good look will no doubt drink to that.