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AKRON (Sept. 8, 2015) — After several years of steadily increasing investment in new factories and expanded capacity, the world's leading tire makers eased back on the cap-ex accelerator over the past year, committing more than $6 billion to new projects in the 12 months through mid-August.
This is the lowest 12-month amount tracked by Tire Business since 2008-09 but is essentially equal to the 10-year running average. The actual number is likely closer to $7 billion, however, as a number of companies did not disclose their investments.
Roughly two-thirds of the investment spending on specific projects disclosed in the past year was targeted at plants in Asia, the research shows, in particular China and Thailand.
The investments announced in the past year include a dozen new factories. Combined, the projects tracked by Tire Business represent 66 million units of new annual passenger/light truck tire capacity, at least 9 million units of new truck/bus tire capacity and up to 5 million units of new capacity for other types of tires.
- This article appears in the Aug. 31 print edition of Tire Business.
This contrasts with just three plant closings announced by major manufacturers in the past year: Apollo Tyres Ltd. in Durban, South Africa, (truck and OTR tire plant, 600 workers); Group Michelin in Budapest, Hungary (radial truck tire plant; 500+ employees affected) and Joue-les-Tours, France (radial truck tires, 8,000 units/day, phased out.)
In addition, Michelin phased out all but a few select high-performance tire lines at its Pictou, Nova Scotia, plant.
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. led the league this year with a capital expenditure announcement of $1 billion, although that's spread out over five years and multiple factories.
Goodyear ($635 million), Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. ($500 million) and Apollo Tyres Ltd. ($425 million) are next on the spending list.
In terms of capital spending by fiscal year, the largest firms tracked by Tire Business devoted on average 7.2 percent of sales on capital improvements last year, down nearly one full percentage point from fiscal 2013.
Individually, South Korea's Nexen Tire Corp., India's JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. and Indonesia's P.T. Gajah Tunggal Tbk. nearly doubled that rate at 14.9, 13.3 and 13.2 percent, respectively.
Taiwan's Cheng Shin Rubber Industrial Ltd. also spent at a double-digit rate — 10.3 percent.
Bridgestone Corp. and Continental A.G. spent the most in raw monetary volume, at $2.8 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively.
Research and development spending was up across the board for the companies profiled, but not as much as revenues increased, dropping the industry average a few tenths of a percentage point to 2.6 percent of sales.
Michelin, Pirelli & C. S.p.A. and Nexen topped the tire league with 3.4-percent R&D spending ratios.
Individual expansion projects, by company alphabetically, include:
Alliance Tire Group opened in January its newest factory, a $150 million plant in Dahej, Gujarat, dedicated to making off-highway tires. The plant, Alliance's second in India, is rated at 54,000 metric tons a year at full capacity. It will have capacity for both radial and bias-ply tires, up to 54-inch rim diameters, a spokesman said.
Apollo Tyres Ltd. is planning to double truck and bus tire capacity at the company's 5-year-old Chennai, India, plant over the coming two to three years with a $425 million investment. Capacity will grow to 12,000 tires a day.
CEAT Tyres Ltd. will invest $65 million to build a plant in Butibori, Nagpur, India, for two-wheeler tires. The first phase, for 1.2 million tires a year, is expected on stream by the second quarter of 2016. Two successive phases will triple that, the company indicated, raising the total investment eventually to $195 million.
- Will invest $280 million over four years at its 4-year-old plant in Hefei, China, to boost capacity 75 percent to 14 million car and light truck tires a year and raise bicycle tire capacity there as well to 13 million units a year by 2025. The firm did not say whether this capacity expansion will require expanding the physical size of the 753,000-sq.-ft. factory, which was commissioned in May 2011. The expansions will more than double employment to 2,700.
- Is spending $60 million on a “high-performance technology center” at its tire plant in Korbach, Germany, dedicated to the production of tires in the 18- to 22-inch rim diameter range and to developing advanced manufacturing methods. Conti expects manufacturing at the 12,900-sq.-ft. “factory within a factory” to start by July 2016, with annual production of about 350,000 tires at full capacity.
- Christened an expanded R&D facility at its Púchov, Slovak Republic, tire plant that will support expanded manufacturing at the facility. Conti budgeted $9.4 million for the project, which will include the installation of a tire durability test drum and labs for tire analysis along with infrastructure to connect the new and old facilities.
Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Ltd. has selected a site in Mocksville, N.C., as the preferred base for the retreading plant it is planning to open to serve customers throughout the Americas. Final approval of the site, however, depends on the company's gaining state funding for the modernization of a vacant industrial building in Davie County, N.C.
Federal Corp. has broken ground on a $300 million car and light truck tire plant in Taoyuan, Taiwan, its second factory in Taiwan and third overall. The 150,640-sq.-ft. plant will employ 900 workers making an estimated 6 million tires a year at full capacity.
- Is committing up to $550 million in its unionized U.S. plants for “high-value-added” (HVA) tire production, as part of a deal worked out with the United Steelworkers (USW) union after the Akron-based tire maker opted to build a $500 million to $550 million car/light truck tire plant in Mexico. The new capital spending is above and beyond the $700 million the tire maker already had budgeted for 2015, according to the union.
- Is expanding its four-year-old plant in Pulandian, Liaoning Province, China, with a $135 million investment through 2017 to add capacity for 2.08 million car tires a year. The project will include capacity for 48,000 run-flat tires a year, the company said, and occupy 1.25 million square feet. The added output will expand capacity by nearly a quarter to 10.5 million units annually.
- Is investing $22 million in its Dothan, Ala., plant to boost production of its high-performance light truck and SUV passenger tires. The investment will support “significant” equipment upgrades that will result in a 10-percent increase in production and create about 40 new jobs at the plant, which currently employs 560.
- Will invest $53 million at its plant in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, through 2017 to add capacity for ultra-high-performance tires and more than double the plant's overall capacity to 6,900 tires a day and add 100 jobs to the 950 listed there now.
- Budgeted about $50 million to convert a 135,000-sq.-ft. structure in Piedmont, S.C., to the first manufacturing site for its non-pneumatic Tweel tire/wheel assembly.
Guangzhou Fengli Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd.:
- Has started work on a project at its plant in Conghua, Guangdon Province, to install annual capacity for 10 million eco-friendly, high-performance tires. The project is budgeted at $328 million and is scheduled to be completed by year-end 2015.
- Has set up a joint venture with Chinese vehicle maker China Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd. (JAC) to build a $325 million all-steel radial truck tire plant in Hefei, Anhui Province, China. The plant has a designated annual capacity of 2 million tires. The venture, Hefei Wanli Tire Co., will be located on a 3.66 million sq.-ft. site at JAC's industrial park in Hefei for vehicle components.
Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd., producer of the Advance and Samson tire brands, is building a specialty tire plant complex in Xiuwen, China, where it plans to relocate production from three of its existing factories together with new capacities. The company has earmarked $225 million for the project, which calls for annual capacities of 1.2 million pneumatic industrial tires, 1.1 million small agricultural tires and engineering tires, 180,000 large agricultural tires and radial tires, 270,000 large engineering tires and 500,000 solid tires.
JK Tyre Industries Ltd. invested $45 million to expand JK Tornel's manufacturing capacity in Mexico City, adding 5 million units of annual radial car tire capacity, a 50-percent jump.
Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. is committing more than $500 million over several years to expand capacity at plants in China, Taiwan and Vietnam and build two plants — a radial truck tire plant in Kunshan, China, and a plant in Jakarta, Indonesia, for two-wheeler tires and tubes.
Otani Tire Co. Ltd. has received approval for a $180 million investment for a new factory in Thailand's Nakhon Pathom Province. Further details were not available.
Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. and Egypt's Ministry of Investment signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering a potential investment of about $107 million in the expansion and further technological upgrade of the company's factory in Alexandria, Egypt. The project calls for a 35-percent increase in capacity, to about 1.15 million tires a year.
Qingdao Sentury Tire Co Ltd. is building a factory in Thailand that will cover the company's lines of Landsail and Delinte tires, including new light truck AT, HT and MT tires. Manufacturing capacity will be built out in two phases, Sentury Tire said, starting with 5 million tires annually before expanding to 12 million tires sometime in 2016. The company did not disclose its investment sum.
Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Northwest Rubber L.L.C. has finished construction of a tire factory in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, that is rated at 8 million units a year of radial car tires in the first phase. The new plant represents a $165 million investment, according to the company, and is part of a first-phase project that it said also includes a truck/bus radial line that went into operation in 2010, rated at 2 million tires a year.
Shandong Linglong Tire Co. Ltd. invested $115 million to add radial truck tire capacity to its year-old factory in Chonburi, Rayong Province, Thailand. Linglong International Tire (Thailand), the Thai subsidiary, put the capacity for truck tires at 1.2 million units a year, to go with 12 million units of car and light truck tire capacity, which came on stream a year ago.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. is investing $100 million through 2017 at its plant in Ladysmith, South Africa, to expand overall capacity and upgrade capacity for high-performance tires. The capacity expansion — to 12,200 tires a day by 2016 and 14,500 tires a day by 2017 from 9,600 currently — will help support Sumitomo Rubber expand its tire business throughout the African continent and accelerate the pace of its global expansion.
Trelleborg A.B. budgeted $50 million through 2018 to convert a coated-fabrics plant it operates in Spartanburg, S.C., to the production of radial agricultural tires. The 430,000-sq.-ft. plant is set to start production in the latter half of 2015. The plant should create 150 jobs at full capacity.
The Uzbekhistan government is underwriting a $184 million project involving China's Poly Technologies Inc. as the turnkey construction partner and Uzbekistan's Uzkimyosanoat, a leading chemical firm in the country. The plant, to be built in the Angren Special Industrial Zone, is scheduled to have annual capacities of 200,000 agriculture tires, 3 million car tires and 100,000 meters of conveyor belting.
Vee Rubber Corp. Ltd. is adding 10,000 units of daily capacity for passenger and light truck tires at its Bangkok, Thailand, plant complex to expand its ability to export, especially to the U.S. Vee described the investment as “sizable” and said that it would create 400 to 500 jobs. The company expects the additional capacity to be on stream by mid-2015, which would position the tire maker to take full advantage of the antidumping and countervailing duties the U.S. has levied on Chinese tire manufacturers.
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. is committing $1 billion through 2020 toward expanding and upgrading its tire production worldwide, raising annual production capacity 13 percent by 2017 and nearly 31 percent by 2020. Yokohama said the plan will include tire plant construction and expansion projects in North America, Russia, Europe and China, and will underscore the firm's efforts to increase its business with auto makers in overseas markets. Annual capacity is seen rising to 74 million units by 2017 and 89 million units by 2020, up from 68 million currently.
Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd. has commissioned production of passenger tires at its first overseas manufacturing unit, Zhongce Rubber (Thailand) Co. Ltd. in Rayong Province, Thailand, and disclosed plans to add truck/bus radial production there as well. The plant covers an area of more than 6.1 million square feet, according to the company, and opens with a rated capacity of 5 million passenger car and light truck tires a year. The investment was not disclosed.


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Brace yourself, because your sleep is never, ever going to be the same again…
Swedish furniture giant IKEA has come to the rescue of thousands of couples who find themselves fighting over the bed covers every. single. night.
Introducing… the ‘TOG-ether bundle’ – a genius invention which consists of two single duvets instead of one double.
ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER THIS ADVERTISEMENT
Finally, we can say goodbye to sleepless nights spent trying to tackle the doona back from our other half.
“Many of us find that not getting a good night’s sleep is becoming a regular occurrence,” Carol McSeveny, Textiles Leader from IKEA UK & Ireland said in a statement about the bundle.
“This is why we have introduced this traditional Swedish sleep trend of using two single duvets instead of a double.”
According to IKEA, the bundle comes as a result of research that found 61% of people believe they never get enough shut eye for a number of reasons including having the covers stolen, being too hot or cold and snoring.
At the moment the individual doona covers are only available in the UK, but here’s hoping the trend catches on in Australia before winter!

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Sony Classical has announced Anita Rachvelishvili’s debut album. The new album which is scheduled for release later this year will include arias from “Carmen,” “Werther,”…Read More
DVD and CD Releases
After a week full of high-profile releases, the offerings are rather sparse. The main offering highlights the work of a famed conductor and his operatic legacy….


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Related News & Articles
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'It's not a question of will'
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Splinter Cell: Blacklist is a fine way to finish off this generation's run of Sam Fisher-centric games.
It's not the Splinter Cell of Chaos Theory and Pandora Tomorrow, but it's not the focus-shifting Conviction either. So what is it?
Cut from Wii U in order to ship the game at the same time as other versions, says Ubisoft.
Get your hands on Fisher's latest mission a month before launch.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist may be sitting in the 'end of gen' gap, but Ubisoft believes it can take on the next-gen now.


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Panaji: Onion prices reached 70 per kg in the retail market in Panaji on Wednesday, a 20 jump from last week. Vegetable vendors said the superior pink variety of onions has not been coming to the Goa market for the past couple of days.
“Three days ago, onion rates went up to 65, and today, they touched 70. My customers have cut down their onion purchase by half—most of them are picking up just a few for the day’s cooking alone, in the hope that the prices will go down in a day or two. When they complain, I inform them that people in Delhi are paying 100 per kg,” Panaji market vegetable vendor Madan Naik said. “I have accordingly reduced my bulk purchase of onions,” he added. The wholesale price of onion as of Wednesday was 65 per kg.
At the Goa State Horticulture Development Corporation (GSHDC) stalls and vegetable carts, the kitchen essential is a bit cheaper, the red Belgaum onions selling at 54 a kg. At these outlets, each person is allowed to purchase just two kg of onions per day. Officials have also been asked to stay alert, to prevent the sale of subsidized onions to restaurant staff or vegetable hawkers. tnn
“The sudden price rise is the result of increased demand for Belgaum onions across the country. Belgaum has begun to supply onions to south Indian states, where the crop was affected due to pre-monsoon rains, as well as all the states hit by cyclone Phailin. The resultant shortage has led to the rates being hiked, but they should come down within two weeks,” GSHDC manager (farms) Joaquim de Sousa said.
Until then though, families would have to tighten their belts, as tomatoes have also become dearer, with retail prices reaching Rs 40 a kg. At GSHDC stalls, the rates were lower at Rs 29 a kg.
The rise in price may not affect restaurants much, as most have annual contracts of fixed prices for procurement of vegetables, say vendors. “I still have to supply onions at Rs 45 a kg to the restaurants I have an agreement with—it’s a Rs 20 loss for me,” Naik said.
De Sousa said that such dramatic hikes in onion prices could be prevented if Goan farmers start growing onions. “This year, agriculture department has procured large amounts of onion seeds, hoping that Goan farmers would be encouraged to start growing onions,” de Sousa said.
While there is an onion variety that is grown in Goa, it is of superior quality and would even fetch Rs 70 per kg in the market he added. “The farmers here will not be willing to sell their produce to the corporation,” he said.


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Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling stake in local search engine and e-commerce marketplace, Just Dial Ltd for about Rs5,720 crore.
In a statement, the company says, "Reliance Retail Ventures will hold 40.95% in Just Dial and would make an open offer to acquire up to 26.0% in accordance with takeover regulations. VSS Mani, founder of Just Dial will continue to lead Just Dial as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO)."
Reliance will use a combination of preferential allotment, a secondary purchase from VSS Mani and an open offer for up to 26% at Rs1,022.25 per share (offer price). The offer price is at a 4.5% discount to Friday’s closing stock price of Rs1,072.70. The first two will cost Rs3,500 crore and the open offer as much as Rs2,222 crore rupees in cash.
Isha Ambani, director of Reliance Retail says, “The investment in Just Dial underlines our commitment to new commerce by further boosting the digital ecosystem for millions of our partner merchants, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). We look forward to working with the highly experienced management team of Just Dial as we further expand the business going forward.”
On Friday evening, Just Dial’s board approved the preferential issue of 21.2 million shares at Rs1022.25 per share to Reliance Retail.
Reliance Retail has bought out VSS Mani’s 15.62% stake (13.1 million shares) in the company at Rs1,020 per share.
The move comes as Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate is looking to bolster its digital offerings bouquet. The acquisition is also expected to further boost Reliance’s retail business in India.
Mumbai-based Just Dial was established in 1996 and began by offering users a simple phone search service where users called to locate the nearest salon or repair shops or florist to deliver a bouquet. It now offers local information and buying options for everything from catering to dance classes and electronics repair shops.
According to the Just Dial website, it offers services in more than 250 Indian cities and claims to have a database of 30.4 million listings as of 31st March. It provides information across platforms that include a website, mobile apps, texts and phone.
In November 2020, the Reliance group acquired a majority holding in Urban Ladder, an online furniture seller. This followed stake purchases in Zivame, a lingerie maker, and Netmeds, a digital pharmacy.


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Gluten-intolerant people who are aware of their condition know what they need to avoid eating in order to prevent serious health consequences.
It's easy enough to find celiac-safe products like gluten-free beer these days, but a new study shows that the most common method of assessing gluten levels in beer is inaccurate.
Gluten, a flexible protein found in common grains like wheat, barley and rye, is present in an enormous variety of commonly consumed American foods like bread, pasta, and beer.
An increasing number of people are being diagnosed with gluten sensitivity, a spectrum of immune conditions from mild gluten allergy to celiac disease that can cause digestive issues or joint pain if gluten is eaten regularly. For celiacs, it can eventually lead to intestinal damage and severe nutrient deficiencies.
Promising research may eventually allow the gluten-intolerant to eat wheat products without harmful reactions, but for the time being the only way to manage gluten intolerance is to stick to a strict gluten-free diet.
New research, however, might complicate that effort for beer-loving celiacs.
Australian scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Canberra conducted a study published in the journal PLOS One on February 28, finding that a widely used method of detecting gluten levels in beer is often inaccurate.
Most beers are brewed with gluten-rich malted wheat or barley, but it's possible to extract the gluten after brewing. That process removes enough of the protein to be considered gluten-free according to current international standards, but highly sensitive drinkers often still avoid them.
The researchers examined 60 common beers to see whether their levels of hordein, a common barley-derived type of gluten protein, were accurately detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the test approved by the World Health Organization to detect gluten.
ELISA is relatively simple to perform, but the scientists found that it often failed to accurately detect high hordein levels compared to a more sensitive but complicated method, multiple-reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (MRM-MS).
Whereas ELISA uses antibodies to detect substances, mass spectometry detects the contents of samples by ionizing them, then sorting them by particles' mass and charge.
The methods used in the study measured hordein levels on a scale from zero for completely gluten-free beers, to 47,000 parts per million (ppm) for wheat-based beers.
The findings showed that two of the beverages marketed as gluten-free beer and two of the low-gluten beers had ELISA readings of zero, but were actually revealed by mass spectometry to have significant, or near average, levels of hordein. Six beers gave false negatives, with zero ELISA readings but average hordein content by MRM-MS.
Overall, 10 of the 60 commercial beers were assessed by ELISA as having hordein levels of less than 1 ppm, whereas mass spectometry results showed that they actually had near average hordein content.
Half of the commercial gluten-free beers were free of hordein according to both methods.
The study showed that ELISA fails to accurately measure hordein proteins that are altered during the beer-brewing process, but can still cause health problems for gluten-intolerants. Most barley-derived beers contain only trace levels of hordein, but those levels are still too high for celiacs and gluten-intolerants to drink safely.
The researchers concluded that ELISA, while convenient, is no longer a suitable method of measuring gluten in beverages derived from wheat or barley.
The team is working on a simple, rapid, and more accurate method of measuring gluten based on mass spectrometry, which the food industry and regulatory boards can eventually use to protect celiacs by accurately labeling foods and beverages as "gluten-free."
Until then, gluten-intolerant beer lovers can take comfort in beers that are certain to be gluten-free.
NPR suggests a wide variety of gluten-free beers brewed with alternative free grains like sorghum, rice, buckwheat, or millet, which can be as delicious as beers derived from wheat and barley even for non-celiacs.
"You won't know what you're missing," said Josh Bernstein of Bon Appetit after trying a few.


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SEOUL, South Korea — Special prosecutors investigating the Samsung Group raided the office of its chairman, Lee Kun-hee, and the homes of his aides on Monday, a unusual move in a country both proud and suspicious of family-run conglomerates.
The raids were the first major actions taken by Cho Joon-woong, the top special prosecutor who began his work last week with a mandate from Parliament to investigate accusations that Mr. Lee and his aides had amassed slush funds to bribe politicians, prosecutors and other government officials.
Investigators are also examining whether Mr. Lee used dubious means to help transfer control of Samsung to his son, Jae Yong.
On Monday, investigators searched Seungjiwon, a secluded office compound on a wooded hill in central Seoul, where Mr. Lee often receives guests. At about the same time, other investigators searched the homes of at least five Samsung executives, including Lee Hak-soo, the vice chairman.Continue reading the main story
“The raids were necessary to collect evidence,” said an investigator, Kang Dong-joo. A Samsung spokesman said the company had no comment.
The investigation is presenting Mr. Lee with the biggest crisis yet for the $152 billion corporate empire. The largest and most profitable conglomerate in South Korea, Samsung has 58 affiliates, including Samsung Electronics.
South Korea’s economy is so heavily dependent on Samsung — it generated a sixth of the country’s gross domestic product in 2006 — that few expect the inquiry to lead to a breakup of the conglomerate.
But at stake is the reputation of the Lee family, which is credited with making Samsung a household name around the world but whose insistence on a father-to-son transfer of wealth and control has been criticized.
Samsung has faced similar accusations in the past. But this time, it has an unusual foe: Kim Yong-chul, the group’s former legal adviser, who made a series of statements about what he called a network of bribery that the family had used to defend the father-to-son transfer.
The company has denied Mr. Kim’s statements, saying they were motivated by grudges. But some aspects of his accusations have been substantiated.
Acting on Mr. Kim’s tips, state prosecutors in late November raided the offices of Samsung Securities, a stock brokerage subsidiary, and its computer centers, trying to trace bank and stock accounts reportedly opened in Samsung executives’ names — sometimes without their knowledge, as Mr. Kim alleged — and used to hide slush funds.
While wrapping up an initial investigation, Park Han-chul, a senior state prosecutor, said last month that “a significant amount of secret funds has been found.”
“Much of what Kim said has been confirmed. The basic outline of his allegations is confirmed,” said Mr. Park, who barred 30 Samsung executives and others from leaving the country. But he said at the time that more investigations were needed to find out how the slush funds were used.
Mr. Park handed over his file to the special prosecutor, Mr. Cho, who has 105 days to investigate. His team created a blog asking the public for leads that could help the investigation.
Parliament appointed Mr. Cho after the former legal adviser, Mr. Kim, named senior prosecutors as recipients of Samsung bribes and questioned state prosecutors’ ability to do a thorough investigation. Samsung and senior prosecutors denied that there had been any bribery.
Mr. Cho did not comment on whether he planned to summon Mr. Lee.
Executives at South Korean family-controlled conglomerates have often been investigated and convicted of corruption. But the personal offices of chairmen, who are treated as elders of the economy, are seldom if ever raided.
Profit Down 6.6 Percent
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Samsung Electronics Company said Tuesday that fourth-quarter profit fell 6.6 percent from the period a year earlier, amid sharp declines in prices for computer memory chips.
Samsung Electronics earned 2.212 trillion won ($2.36 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31. It had a net profit of 2.368 trillion won in the period a year earlier.
The result, though Samsung’s fourth profit decline in five quarters, was better than expected. Sales in the quarter rose 11 percent, to 17.48 trillion won ($18.65 billion) from 15.68 trillion won a year earlier.Continue reading the main story


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About 130 Navien executives and top managers, including many from the company’s corporate headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, gathered with independent rep agencies and local dignitaries on Jan. 25 at a Westin hotel in Costa Meza, California to celebrate a company landmark: One million condensing units sold throughout North America.
“I think of myself as a very lucky person, because we have great employees like you to make not only our company better, but also to make our world better through environmental considerations,” said Joon Kee Hong, CEO and president of KD Navien at the top of the corporate presentations that followed a cocktail reception and dinner. “Such an outstanding performance is the fruit of your continuous efforts and contributions. There are not many things that I can say about this remarkable record, but I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you.”
One million sold is a sales landmark for any company, but Navien’s accomplishment is all the more noteworthy considering how relatively young the company and its tankless equipment are to the North American market.
To be sure, Navien is a powerhouse in Asia. The company says it sells more condensing products – water heaters and boilers – than any other manufacturer in the world.
Founded in 1978 as KD Machinery, Navien became the first company in Asia to produce condensing gas boilers just a decade later. The company is the overwhelming market leader for boilers in South Korea, the fourth-largest boiler market in the world – almost three times larger than the U.S. boiler market.
Later, Navien became the first Korean company to export gas boilers to the United States in 2002 and established Navien America in 2006. The company operates the largest single boiler manufacturing plant in the world, and currently, exports boilers and water heaters to 35 countries.
Joon also added that Navien’s North American operations have accomplished “top notch performances with our condensing technology” every year since its start.
“Despite the level of competition, as well as being a product that was unfamiliar to the market … Navien America successfully broke down these barriers with the great support from all of the customers and partners in America,” Koon added. “Tonight, each one of you is a MVP.”
Commitment to Trade
The main reason for the company’s success is based on a strong commitment to wholesale distribution and professional installation.
“Our model is one of simplicity,” Scott Lee, CEO, Navien Inc., told us during a private question-and-answer session with the trade press. “We provide the best product to the trade and only through a limited number distribution partners. This model allows us to remain close to our true customer – the professional contractor. We feel that if we build the best products available and support them with a committed and highly skilled team, we cannot help but succeed.”
To that end, the company last year took a firm stand against the availability of HVAC equipment through online and retails channels.
As a result, straight consumer purchases of Navien products will not be entitled to the benefit of technical support services or the warranties associated with purchasing Navien products through authorized channels.
“Navien’s relationships with our wholesaler partners are extremely important,” Lee added. “Unlike some of our competitors, we are committed to wholesale distribution only and do not sell to retailers, big box stores or through the internet.”
Navien places a consumer-warning label on every one of its shipping cartons indicating that the company’s warranty is void if purchased over the internet.
“Additionally, the first page on our website,” Lee adds, “makes it very clear that acquired our products through the internet or any other non-approved manner, will void the warranty.”
Last year, the company also relocated its New Jersey Training Academy and Tech Call Center, doubling its size with the move to the new facility.
The new location can seat 40 visitors and train them in a separate hands-on room. Navien offers both one-day and two-day training classes.
“In order to join in the overwhelming trend toward condensing/high efficiency technology,” Lee added, “our professional partners will need to be trained. As a leader in condensing technology we will train more than 25,000 individuals this year on the advantage of condensing product and specifically on the installation advantages of Navien products – knowledge we are very happy to share.”
To further help the professional installer, Navien helps consumers understand the lifecycle costs of its equipment rather than just the initial first cost.
“Sticker shock is always going to be top of mind for many consumers,” Lee said. “That is why Navien offer resources to help consumers understand costs associated with selecting a Navien product.”
For example, Lee said the company offers “robust” assistance that informs consumers of local rebates available to them when choosing a Navien water heater or boiler. And with the new efficiency standards implemented by the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act, tanks cost have increased making them that much more comparable in price to tankless heaters.
“Consumers have become savvy shoppers and do a lot of research before they make appliance purchases,” Lee said. “If we can provide tools to help consumers understand the costs and values associated with their next water heater purchases, it will point them to switch to tankless because the cost-savings and value is clear.”
As one more step in the education process, Navien maintains a busy trade show schedule, attending more than 20 trade shows and other industry-related events last year.
In fact, the company’s celebration in California came one day after the close of this year’s AHR Expo in Chicago.
At that exhibition, the company unveiled its new residential and light commercial boiler Navien Firetube Boiler (NFB) with a stainless steel heat exchanger.
“One thing that stands out in my mind … is fighting challenges through innovation,” said another of the night’s speakers, Heung-Rak Sohn, the director of strategic marketing. “Our world is changing rapidly, and trends come and go in various ways, but KD Navien is changing too.”
Sohn said the company – whose name refers to “navigator in environment and energy” – will continue to launch new models featuring the latest technology that is both energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable.
“I believe all this technology, process and customer support will lead us to another record in the near future,” Sohn added.


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The squabbling between Amazon and Apple might soon be over — at least, on the TV front. Amazon’s Video app might finally be heading to the Apple TV this summer, giving consumers an easy way to watch Amazon’s streaming content on the set-top box, Recode reports. Up until now, you were forced to use AirPlay to send Amazon’s streaming video titles to the Apple TV. That’s been one of the Apple TV’s biggest downsides since it debuted in 2015, together with a lack of 4K support.
The deal between Apple and Amazon might also lead to other changes. Amazon, for example, stopped selling the Apple TV in 2015 because it didn’t support its Prime Video service. That likely made a big dent in sales for Apple, especially as newer devices from Roku hit the market with 4K support. If Apple actually plans to release a newer 4K Apple TV this year, as rumors suggest, then landing back on Amazon would be essential.
At this point, it’s unclear if anything will change for Amazon’s Video apps on iOS. You can currently use them to watch Amazon Prime videos, as well as things you’ve already rented or purchased, but you can’t actually make those transactions within the app. That’s similar to how Amazon handles digital purchases on its Kindle and Comixology iOS apps. By forgoing in-app purchases on Apple’s ecosystem, Amazon avoids having to give the iPhone maker a cut of the revenue.
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Those rumors of Apple exploring facial recognition for sign-ins might just have some merit. Calcalist reports that Apple has acquired RealFace, an Israeli startup that developed deep learning-based face authentication technology. The terms of the deal aren’t public, but it’s estimated at “several million dollars.” Cupertino would mainly be interested in the promise of the technology than pure resources, in other words.
We’ve reached out to Apple for comment on the reported deal and will let you know if it has something to add. However, RealFace recently took its website down and left nothing but a skeleton server behind.
Apple is no stranger to buying companies with some form of facial recognition tech. However, a focus on authentication would be both new and logical. If Apple wants to reduce its dependence on fingerprint readers for password-free iPhone logins, it needs a face detection system that will quickly and consistently sign you in across most situations, not just ideal conditions. RealFace’s AI tech is supposed to be highly accurate, so it might not be as finnicky or easily duped as some implementations.
Via: Times of Israel
Source: Calcalist (translated)
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Future iPhones may revolve around more than just an eye-catching curved display. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who frequently (though not always) has a knack for hardware scoops, believes that Apple is designing a whole new Touch ID fingerprint reader for future iPhones and iPads. In order for Apple to virtually eliminate bezels, it needs a reader that sits under the screen — and that means a brand new optical sensor. Development is underway, the analyst says, but development is still early enough that the technology might not be ready in time for the 2017 iPhone.
You might not even need a fingerprint sensor in the future, though. Kuo claims that Apple is looking at using face recognition (not just iris recognition) as a part of the next iPhone’s features, and may even scrap Touch ID in the long run. Face recognition isn’t new (just ask anyone using Android since 4.0), but it would have to be advanced if people are going to ditch fingerprint reading entirely. It couldn’t be fooled by a photo, for instance, and would have to be both very fast and adaptable to a wide range of conditions. You don’t want to have to enter your PIN just because it’s too dark.
Biometrics might not be the only area getting an overhaul thanks to the reported new screen. Kuo understands that the iPhone 7’s existing approach to 3D Touch won’t work with the next iPhone’s curved OLED panel, prompting a switch to a “film sensor.” The change would lead to greater sensitivity and more pressure levels, so you might not have to jab the screen quite so authoritatively as you do today.
As always, it’s important to take these claims with a grain of salt. Analysts can have the inside track on future products thanks to suppliers, but they may have incomplete info or discuss features that are subject to change. Don’t be alarmed if these features don’t make the cut, or if they show up in ways you didn’t expect. If there’s any credibility to the reports, though, unlocking and interacting with your iPhone may be much easier in the near future.
Source: 9to5Mac (1)
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We don’t have an official release date for Lenovo’s next Moto handset just yet, but we do have a leaked set of specs that hint at what’s to come. According to some grainy renders that made the rounds earlier this week, the Moto M will be the first Motorola smartphone to feature a rear-facing fingerprint sensor and its unibody frame puts it solidly in the mid-tier of current generation handsets. But the big spec surprise here is a huge 5,100mAh battery which Lenovo estimates will give you more than a month of standby time.
Your mileage may vary, of course, but that battery is still about 47 percent larger than the Pixel XL and more than 75 percent larger than the iPhone 7 Plus. And even larger than the last big-battery-packing phone we spotted, the LG X Power. To charge a battery that size, Lenovo is also including a 4.5A rapid charger in the box.
As for the rest of the specs: the Moto M will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow with an octa-core 2.0 GHz Snapdragon processor, 4 or 4GB RAM, and 32 or 64GB of storage expandable to 128GB via microSD. According to Krispitech, the Moto M will land in December, although that date is still unconfirmed.
Source: TechDroider, Krispitech
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ConsenSys Diligence, ConsenSys' leading comprehensive smart contract audit service, has notification about the token launch TURN Upcoming. TURN (Time-Unit Representative NFT) creates a new open marketplace for security audited buyers and sellers and goes on sale from August 15 to 19, 2022.
“TURN is the first token of its kind to quantify the immense value of smart contracts and security audits blockchain,” said Gonçalo Sá, co-founder of Diligence in a statement on Tuesday.
“With TURN, we are coding work and helping deliver our vision of a more secure Web3 that promotes a free market economy on the Internet. blockchain".
The upcoming auction will feature a pool of eight TURN tokens, which are compatible with ERC721 and they represent “40 hours of auditable provisioning”. Once sold, TURN can be sold on the secondary market similar to other types NFT other, but the value of TURN is based on a "set" 40-hour period.
Consensys raised $450 million in mid-March, bringing the company's valuation to $7 billion. Consensys product suite serving millions of users Ethereum because it manages Metamask, Mycrypto, Infura, Quorum, Truffle, Diligence, etc. Sa believes that TURN will benefit the blockchain and smart contract auditing industry.
“TURN allows customers to purchase an audit package without queuing for 6 to 9 months. This is the first step towards solving the audit bottleneck in our ecosystem.”
TURN is well-suited for projects that need to be audited, and Consensys says it will allow “exploring the optimal price of service commitments and the cataloging process.” In the world of decentralized finance (DeFi), code audit can help avoid 'waste of money' errors found in faulty code.


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On Tuesday the European Commission opened formal proceedings against Motorola Mobility based on its patent licensing practices surrounding some of its core cellular telephony, Internet video and Wi-fi technology. The Commission’s concerns, echoing those raised by Microsoft and Apple, center on Motorola’s allegedly high royalty rates and its efforts to use injunctions to enforce the “standards-essential patents” at issue.
As it happens, this development is just the latest, like so many in the tech world these days, in Microsoft’s ongoing regulatory, policy and legal war against Google, which announced in August it was planning to buy Motorola.
Microsoft’s claim and the Commission’s concern that Motorola’s royalty offer was, in Microsoft’s colorful phrase, “so over-reaching that no rational company could ever have accepted it or even viewed it as a legitimate offer,” is misplaced. Motorola is seeking a royalty rate for its patents that is seemingly in line with customary rates.
In fact, Microsoft’s claim that Motorola’s royalty ask is extraordinary is refuted by its own conduct. As one commentator notes:
Microsoft complained that it might have to pay a tribute of up to $22.50 for every $1,000 laptop sold, and suggested that it might be fairer to pay just a few cents. This is the firm that is thought to make $10 to $15 from every $500 Android device that is sold, and for a raft of trivial software patents, not standard essential ones.
Seemingly forgetting this, Microsoft criticizes Motorola’s royalty ask on its 50 H.264 video codec patents by comparing it to the amount Microsoft pays for more than 2000 other patents in the video codec’s patent pool, claiming that the former would cost it $4 billion while the latter costs it only $6.5 million. But this is comparing apples and oranges. It is not surprising to find some patents worth orders of magnitude more than others and to find that license rates are a complicated function of the contracting parties’ particular negotiating positions and circumstances. It is no more inherently inappropriate for Microsoft to rake in 2-3% of the price of every Nook Barnes and Nobles sells than it is for Motorola to net 2.25% of the price of each Windows-operated computer sold – which is the royalty rate Motorola is seeking and which Microsoft wants declared anticompetitive out of hand.
It’s not clear how much negotiation, if any, has taken place between the companies over the terms of Microsoft’s licensing of Motorola’s patents, but what is clear is that Microsoft’s complaint, echoed by the EC, is based on the size of Motorola’s initial royalty demand and its use of a legal injunction to enforce its patent rights. Unfortunately, neither of these is particularly problematic, especially in an environment where companies like Microsoft and Apple aggressively wield exactly such tools to gain a competitive negotiating edge over their own competitors.
The court adjudicating this dispute in the ongoing litigation in U.S. district court in Washington has thus far agreed. The court denied Microsoft’s request for summary judgment that Motorola’s royalty demand violated its RAND commitment, noting its disagreement with Microsoft’s claim that “it is always facially unreasonable for a proposed royalty rate to result in a larger royalty payment for products that have higher end prices. Indeed, Motorola has previously entered into licensing agreements for its declared-essential patents at royalty rates similar to those offered to Microsoft and with royalty rates based on the price of the end product.”
The staggering aggregate numbers touted by Microsoft in its complaint and repeated by bloggers and journalists the world over are not a function of Motorola seeking an exorbitant royalty but rather a function Microsoft’s selling a lot of operating systems and earning a lot of revenue doing it. While the aggregate number ($4 billion, according to Microsoft) is huge, it is, as the court notes, based on a royalty rate that is in line with similar agreements.
The court also takes issue with Microsoft’s contention that the mere offer of allegedly unreasonable terms constitutes a breach of Motorola’s RAND commitment to license its patents on commercially reasonable terms. Quite sensibly, the court notes:
[T]he court is mindful that at the time of an initial offer, it is difficult for the offeror to know what would in fact constitute RAND terms for the offeree. Thus, what may appear to be RAND terms from the offeror’s perspective may be rejected out-of-pocket as non-RAND terms by the offeree. Indeed, it would appear that at any point in the negotiation process, the parties may have a genuine disagreement as to what terms and conditions of a license constitute RAND under the parties’ unique circumstances.
Resolution of such an impasse may ultimately fall to the courts. Thus the royalty rate issue is in fact closely related to the second issue raised by the EC’s investigation: the use or threat of injunction to enforce standards-essential patents.
While some scholars and many policy advocates claim that injunctions in the standards context raise the specter of costly hold-ups (patent holders extracting not only the market value of their patent, but also a portion of the costs that the infringer would incur if it had to implement its technology without the patent), there is no empirical evidence supporting the claim that patent holdup is a pervasive problem.
And the theory doesn’t comfortably support such a claim, either. Motorola, for example, has no interest in actually enforcing an injunction: Doing so is expensive and, notably, not nearly as good for the bottom line as actually receiving royalties from an agreed-upon contract. Instead, injunctions are, just like the more-attenuated liability suit for patent infringement, a central aspect of our intellectual property system, the means by which innovators and their financiers can reasonably expect a return on their substantial up-front investments in technology development.
Moreover, and apparently unbeknownst to those who claim that injunctions are the antithesis of negotiated solutions to licensing contests, the threat of injunction actually facilitates efficient transacting. Injunctions provide clearer penalties than damage awards for failing to reach consensus and are thus better at getting both parties on to the table with matched expectations. And this is especially true in the standards-setting context where the relevant parties are generally repeat players and where they very often have both patents to license and the need to license patents from the standard—both of which help to induce everyone to come to the table, lest they find themselves closed off from patents essential to their own products.
Antitrust intervention in standard setting negotiations based on an allegedly high initial royalty rate offer or the use of an injunction to enforce a patent is misdirected and costly. One of the clearest statements of the need for antitrust restraint in the standard setting context comes from a June 2011 comment filed with the FTC:
[T]he existence of a RAND commitment to offer patent licenses should not preclude a patent holder from seeking preliminary injunctive relief. . . . Any uniform declaration that such relief would not be available if the patent holder has made a commitment to offer a RAND license for its essential patent claims in connection with a standard may reduce any incentives that implementers might have to engage in good faith negotiations with the patent holder.
Most of the SSOs and their stakeholders that have considered these proposals over the years have determined that there are only a limited number of situations where patent hold-up takes place in the context of standards-setting. The industry has determined that those situations generally are best addressed through bi-lateral negotiation (and, in rare cases, litigation) as opposed to modifying the SSO’s IPR policy [by precluding injunctions or mandating a particular negotiation process].
The statement’s author? Why, Microsoft, of course.
Patents are an important tool for encouraging the development and commercialization of advanced technology, as are standard setting organizations. Antitrust authorities should exercise great restraint before intervening in the complex commercial negotiations over technology patents and standards. In Motorola’s case, the evidence of conduct that might harm competition is absent, and all that remains are, in essence, allegations that Motorola is bargaining hard and enforcing its property rights. The EC should let competition run its course.


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Last week, Israeli media publication Globes reported that Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) was possibly buying a 10% interest in SodaStream (NASDAQ:SODA). Both companies declined to comment on the matter. Notwithstanding the authenticity of this piece of news, it is worth considering whether synergies exist between the two companies. More importantly, investors should also evaluate these two stocks on their individual merits before committing to either of them on M&A speculation.
Over the years, Starbucks has diversified significantly, both in terms of products and geography.
In terms of products, Starbucks repositioned Seattle's Best Coffee as its mass-market offering for penny-pinching coffee lovers, while Starbucks VIA allows its loyal supporters to have freshly brewed Starbucks instant coffee at their convenience. More importantly, Starbucks has also shown significant interest in the U.S. at-home beverage and cold carbonated beverages markets.
With Verismo, its line of premium single-serve coffee makers, Starbucks has an estimated 13% market share of the domestic at-home coffee market. On the most recent earnings conference call in the second quarter of 2014, Starbucks' management talked with analysts about the progress of Fizzio, its new line of handcrafted cold-carbonated beverages.
Following the successful test launch of Fizzio in the U.S. and parts of Asia, 3,000 stores across the United States, Korea, Singapore, and several cities in China will offer the product. As the leading at-home soda maker, SodaStream will be a good fit for Starbucks as it is at the intersection of the at-home beverage market and the cold-carbonated beverages market.
With respect to geographical focus, Starbucks is traditionally strong in the U.S. and it has made significant inroads into Asia. Starbucks' Asia-Pacific business has grown at high double-digit rates in excess of 25% over the past three years; it now boasts a retail footprint of over 1,000 stores in 68 Chinese cities after operating for 15 years in China. In contrast, SodaStream is very dominant in Europe as the region accounts for more than half of its sales. For example, the penetration rates of its soda makers are as high as 25% in Sweden.
The complementary strengths of Starbucks and SodaStream in different regions will definitely be a plus factor if they work together.
While SodaStream is a well-known name in the investment community, the same can't be said of its brand awareness. This is particularly true in the U.S. SodaStream's U.S. household penetration rate is a mere 1%.
In comparison, Starbucks has successfully leveraged on its local footprint of coffee chains to cross-sell its other products such as Starbucks VIA and Verismo. With a diverse portfolio of coffee and beverages products meeting consumers' needs at different price points and consumption preferences (on-the-go versus at-home), Starbucks has the ability to capitalize on its strong domestic base to boost SodaStream's U.S. penetration rates.
Back to the brand topic, given the nascent nature of its at-home beverage products, SodaStream could get a leg up by associating itself with one of the strongest consumer brands in the world. Last year, Starbucks appeared in the top 100 of Forbes' list of the World's Most Valuable Brands.
In addition, SodaStream is itself no stranger to collaborating with other brands. Last year, SodaStream worked with a leading Korean electronic appliances maker to launch a refrigerator with a built-in water carbonator. In 2012, SodaStream added Kool-Aid powdered beverages to its portfolio; Kool-Aid is a iconic flavored drink mix first introduced in 1927.
Foolish final thoughts
Notwithstanding the synergies between SodaStream and Starbucks, each is attractive on a stand-alone basis. Starbucks boasts multiple growth drivers from new products and geographical expansion; SodaStream is an alternative play on the soda market, given lackluster CSD volumes.


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Of any high-end versions of each mobile phone brand, almost certainly will present its luxury models. No exception of Samsung’s latest smartphone, the Galaxy S4.
Quoted from CNET, Monday (20/5), Galaxy S4 is clad with plain gold, platinum and rose [...]
Map of Japan and Korea also did not show up.
Among users of Bing Maps in a number of countries, was shocked by the disappearance of the map of the three influential countries in the world, Japan, Korea and Israel from the map application.
According to research from GameStop, as many as 60 percent of gamers not interested in buying the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720.
This is related to the possibility of a second next-generation gaming consoles can not play the game used or resale.
BlackBerry seems very serious enrich the application ecosystem. This is evidenced by the achievement of 100 thousand apps in the app store BlackBerry World.
Quoted from Slashgear, Friday (22/3), this means that BlackBerry has added about 30 thousand [...]
Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 astronaut, plans to sell graffiti sheets contains instructions and guidelines that he uses when for the first time landing on the Moon.
Sheets of paper that contains guidelines used Aldrin when Neil Armstrong was driving the Lunar [...]
Have you ever imagined playing your favorite PC games with an XBOX controller? If so, your dream might come true with the release of some updates from XBOX. As confirmed by XBOX official website, now it is possible to use an XBOX controller on our PC [...]
Nikon will launch a digital single-lens reflex (SLR) digital D7100 with a 24.1 megapixel sensor in a number of countries in March 2013.
The camera called Nikon D90 replaces it has a 51-point auto-focus and shutter speed reaches 1/8000 second to 30 seconds.
Computers are often problematic certainly very disturbing your busy day with work or just play using the computer.
Problems that occur on a computer is often assumed to be a problem we can not solve yourself, so you often bring the problematic computer [...]
The latest news coming from the future phablet Samsung, Galaxy Note 3. According to a benchmark results are uploaded into the virtual world, this product is equipped with Android 4.3 operating system.
Unclear codename of Android’s, whether they [...]
The talk on social networking Twitter.
A photo cards appalling universe of cyberspace, especially on social networks. From the photo clearly visible a business card Apple Canada to that of a man named Sam Sung.
A business card is interesting when related [...]
The Samsung has confirmed that they will continue cooperation with Apple.
After emergence page report quoted the Korea Times on Monday, (10/22), about the possibility of termination of their partnership with the Apple.
Today, the Samsung has confirmed [...]


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Qualcomm just scratched past Wall Street expectations, but the wireless technology developer still posted solid earnings for the third fiscal quarter of 2011.
Qualcomm reported third-quarter earnings of $1 billion, or 61 cents a share, in a statement released today. Non-GAAP earnings were 73 cents a share on a revenue of $3.62 billion. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 71 cents a share on revenue of $3.6 billion.
The San Diego-based company's CEO and chairman, Paul E. Jacobs, said in a statement:
Qualcomm delivered strong year-over-year results again this quarter as our business performed well across all … Read more


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Uncork your excitement for UK Sommelier of the Year 2017
The 2017 UK Sommelier of the Year final is just round the corner, and the competition promises to deliver a show to remember from the 12 finalists who’ll be put to the test in front of a live audience at the Savoy Hotel in London.
Sommelier of the Year 2017
As proud sponsors, we’ll be there to see the thrills and spills (hopefully more of the former!) This year’s finalists sees a mix of seasoned professionals and industry newcomers. Both the 2016 and 2017 Young Sommelier of the Year, Romain Bourger of The Vineyard, Stockcross and Piotr Pietras of Launceston Place have a place. And the Fat Duck’s Julia Sewell is fresh from her most recent win at this year’s Ruinart Challenge.
They’re joined by Gareth Ferreira of 67 Pall Mall, who has already had a taste of success as a two-time ‘Best Sommelier of South Africa’. While Serdar Balkaya, Head Sommelier at the Royal AutoMobile Club previously headed up the wine teams at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental and Hakkasan Group’s HKK.
The 12 finalists will be whittled down to six for the first stage of the final, before the judges pick the final three. They’ll compete for the chance to be mentored by the industry’s best and win an all expenses paid wine study visit.
The finalists will be judged by a panel of sommeliers and wine experts from around the world, including head judge, Gerard Basset, who was crowned ‘Best Sommelier in the World’ in 2010, and our very own brand ambassador, Ronan Sayburn, himself a past winner of UK Sommelier of the Year.
Ronan says: “As a former winner of UK Sommelier of the Year, I know just how good the finalists are to compete at this level. I can’t wait to see their skills on display, and I’m honoured to be on the judging panel with the industry greats.”
Some of the world’s best sommeliers have lifted the UK Sommelier of the Year trophy, and we expect great things from this year’s crop of finalists too. Good luck to all the competitors!


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Import Tariffs will cause Collateral Damage to U.S. manufacturers -Experts
Experts have warned that Trump administration is doing lasting damage to the brand of the United States, and the tariff dispute with China will cause collateral damage to the rest of world.
The experts made the remarks at the program The Heat on China Global Television Network (CGTN) America.
Since July, Washington and Beijing have levied 25 percent tariffs on each other’s goods worth 34 billion U.S. dollars, and in two weeks, each country will target another 16 billion dollars in goods.
Professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University said the tariff dispute between China and the United States is escalating, which will cause collateral damage to the rest of world.


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Attack on treaties and imports threatens international operations.
President Donald Trump has upended the global pharmaceutical industry by pressuring US manufacturers to reduce overseas production and to curb imports in order to boost jobs at home. While industry leaders are anxious to avoid price controls and to gain tax breaks and patent protections from the new administration, Trump’s “America First” mantra threatens pharma manufacturing and marketing arrangements around the world.
According to FDA officials, the US imports about 50% of drugs from Europe, Asia, and other regions. And up to 90% of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for US production of finished dosage forms come from overseas, largely from China and India. At the same time, the US exports large quantities of drugs and biotech therapies to Europe and other regions; exports totaled $25 billion in 2015, surpassed only by Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium.
In his first weeks in office, Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, halted US involvement in the Trans-Atlantic Trade & Investment Partnership, and threatened to cripple the long-established North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Even though respected economists around the world have blasted these moves as likely to raise product costs and reduce investment in the US, the new administration anticipates benefits for workers and for consumers. Peter Navarro, head of Trump’s new National Trade Council, predicted important gains from the “unwinding and repatriating in the international supply chains” in ways that reduce imports, including components for finished products.
The White House also has threatened to levy a border tax on imports, a devastating prospect for trading partners on all sides. Such a policy could lead to higher product costs at home and abroad. Ironically, some members of Congress look to reduce outlays on prescription drugs by authorizing imports from Canada of medicines that lack competition sufficient to keep prices under control. One has to wonder if Trump would veto such a measure.
White House pressure, thus, is prompting some US firms, such as Amgen and Lilly, according to press reports, to rethink plans to build or expand plants overseas. Many firms have been investing in manufacturing operations in low-tax, low-cost countries such as Ireland, Singapore, India, and China, as global markets for medical products have expanded.
Such moves stand to save money while also facilitating sales and distribution to newly-industrialized and developing nations. And some foreign manufacturers, such as Indian drugmaker Aurobindo Pharma, are looking to expand production in the US to better serve that lucrative market, particularly for sterile injectables that have to meet high quality manufacturing standards.
In return for supporting Trump’s economic policies, industry leaders are looking for significant tax reform that facilitates repatriation of income. Pharma companies predict that a “tax holiday” for bringing back funds held overseas could help create 350,000 jobs in the US over 10 years. However, analysts note that such expansion in employment did not occur following a similar tax change in 2004, and that companies more likely would use repatriated cash to fund mergers and acquisitions-which often lead to reorganizations and layoffs.
Some economists believe that a new-jobs tax credit will do more to stimulate hiring than changes in how the US taxes corporate profits.
Pharma companies also are cozying up to Trump to gain administration protection of patents in other countries, which may erode with the demise international trade agreements. And industry would like to head off Trump price-cutting proposals, such as permitting Medicare negotiation of drug prices. In recent weeks, the White House has been quieter about accusing drug companies of “getting away with murder” in jacking up prices, but such reticence could change quickly.
Jill Wechsler is Pharmaceutical Executive’s Washington correspondent. She can be reached at email@example.com


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Nectar is the UK's largest customer loyalty programme, and since its launch in 2002, more than ten million UK households regularly collect Nectar points.
The Nectar website, which allows users to spend the points they have earned on everything from CDs and DVDs to discounts on holidays, has recently relaunched with a view to improving usability.
We caught up with Roger Sniezek of Loyalty Management Group (which owns and operates the Nectar brand) to find out more about the site's relaunch.
Advent Venture Partners has announced that it has invested $5m (£2.5m) in online customer feedback provider Fizzback Group.
Formerly known as 'Instant Market Intelligence', Fizzback works with a number of companies, National Express included, to help them capture and analyse feedback from their customers.
Several big brands including Orange, B&Q and 3 seem to have been underperforming on eBay recently, posing questions about the effectiveness of their stores on the auctioning site.
The companies have been using eBay to sell surplus or reconditioned stock - items that can no longer be sold to high street customers but have huge appeal to bargain hunters.
Customer satisfaction with e-commerce sites improved for the second year in a row, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released by the University of Michigan.
Online retail achieved a score of 83 on ACSI's 100 point scale, while offline retailers scored 74.4. The survey was carried out in conjunction with ForeSee Results.
BrowseGoods.com is a new site from US startup Dotted Pair, which aims to create a visual shopping experience. The site was launched in beta last week.
Rather than displaying the first ten product listings, and asking the user to click 'next' to see the rest, BrowseGoods attempts to recreate the in-store shopping experience by freely allowing you to browse hundreds of items at once.
This is a controversial thing to say, but e-commerce hasn’t been a great experience so far for most major retailers.
Despite significant investment, many are left with businesses that generate no more than 5% of their total sales – and somewhat less than their fair share of profit.
Research by online shopping comparison service uSwitch has predicted that online retail will almost quadruple by 2020.
The web currently accounts for around 10% of total UK retail sales, with sales over the Christmas period reaching £3.7bn, a 50% increase on 2005. The report predicts that 15% of UK retail sales this year will be online.
Online gambling firm 888 Holdings Plc has posted a 7% rise in profits for 2006, despite the loss of business which resulted from the recent US ban on online gambling.
888 Holdings lost just over half its sales and was forced to cut 25% of its workforce after shutting down its US operations when Congress banned internet gambling.
Banks are planning to issue their customers with handheld credit card readers under a new pilot scheme to combat online fraud.
The project is being pioneered by APACS, the UK payments association, to give customers greater protection when shopping on the internet or the phone.
Thomas Cook has bought package holiday firm MyTravel, creating the second largest package holiday firm in Europe, with combined annual revenues of £8bn.
The travel group, which will be based in the UK, will be 52% owned by KarstadtQuelle, the German retailer that owns Thomas Cook, and will trade under that name.
Some early thoughts from me on our deal with iCrossing.
Americans are finally beginning to use SMS mobile text messaging, according to new research.
The Mobile Marketing Association's (MMA) latest annual survey found the proportion of customers who engage in texting daily rose from 41% in 2005 to 44% last year; 69% use the feature generally.
It is thought the American Idol pop talent show was a major driving force behind the upward trend - 64.5m SMS votes to the programme set a new texting record in the country last year.


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One of the mantras we have here at 5i Research is “never sell a good stock too early.” Of course, it is easy to say but often hard to follow. But of course, you will NEVER get one of those amazing stocks that rises 1,000 per cent, 2,000 per cent or 10,000 per cent or more if you sell after some early gains.
Some investors automatically sell a stock after a 100 per cent gain. We think that is about the worst thing an investor can do. Instead of selling, ask yourself, ‘Why are others buying?’ Often, they are buying because it is an amazing company doing very well, and selling such a company is almost always the wrong approach. You will never get a triple if you sell after a double.
With that said, let’s take a look at five companies whose stocks have already doubled this year, and see if perhaps there aren’t more gains to come.
Ichor Holdings Ltd. (ICHR on NASDAQ)
Ichor, up 177 per cent this year, designs, engineers and manufactures critical fluid delivery subsystems for semiconductor capital equipment. Why is it up so much? The key word is ‘semiconductor’ as the sector continues to boom. Despite the gains, Ichor stock trades at just 12X earnings. It has a small net cash position. This week it had another big move on the back of a ‘substantial’ new agreement with a key customer. Can it keep going? Probably. With the sector showing no sign of slowing down and a very low valuation, Ichor stock is attracting a lot of new investor attention.
Novo Resources Corp. (NVO on TSX Venture)
Novo is up a stunning 870 per cent this year, on the back of gold nuggets found in July, and investors following Eric Sprott (who owns 9 per cent of the company) and Kirkland Lake (which owns 18 per cent). Novo’s geologists believe its land is a ‘sibling’ of the big South Africa Witwatersrand deposit, and drifted to Australia with continental drift. Despite being very early in its development and geological resource, the company’s market cap is now $1.1 billion. Can it keep going? Much depends on drill results, of course. But if the company can show there is more gold present, our bet is that investors will fall all over themselves to buy into this story. If not, well, then it will be just another geological flame-out. Risks are high here, it should not be entered into by the faint of heart.
Shopify Inc. (SHOP on TSX)
Shopify was everyone’s darling stock until recently when it was attacked by short sellers. The short attack caused a $30 per share drop in the stock, but even with that, the shares are still up 106 per cent this year. Online commerce of course is growing fast, and even the short sellers admit the company has a great solution for merchants. Can the stock keep rising? Ask me in early November: All eyes are going to be on the next quarterly release. The company has beaten every quarterly estimate since going public, and another strong quarter will see investors likely relax and keep buying. If the company misses, for the first time, things could turn ugly. The company also says it will address short sellers’ concerns in its conference call.
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN on NASDAQ)
Align, which designs and makes braces for the misalignment of teeth, has surged 102 per cent this year. I really have done some good due diligence on this one. For the past 18 months, I have been wearing the company’s ‘Invisalign’ braces. I will admit they are a bit of a ‘pain’ to wear but the results have certainly been good. The key to Align is that, according to analysts, it still only has 5 per cent of the ‘teen’ braces market. Obviously, teens are big customers, and if it can increase this market share the stock will likely keep moving. It is not cheap at 57 times earnings, but per-share earnings have quadrupled since 2012.
Square Inc. (SQ on NYSE)
Square went public in 2015 at $9 per share. It is now close to $33, up 140 per cent this year. The company develops point of sale software, and you have likely seen their little white square credit card processing units at merchants. A very expensive stock at 139 times earnings, it is riding the ‘fintech’ wave of investor interest. It has beaten estimates in five of its seven quarters. Will it keep moving? The sector is hot, but the key to Square is margins. It has been spending a lot of money on marketing and product development. This could hurt margins in the short term. If investors look beyond this, though, the stock should do fine. If investors stay short-sighted, however, any change in margins will likely scare off some buyers.
It is not a process that works for everyone, but we would always prefer to buy a stock showing strength rather than one showing weakness. Of course, in a market that seems to set records every day, this gets a little easier to do.


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Bankers and business owners claim that even if some concerns about declined payments and revenue losses persist, the Indian central bank is unlikely to extend a deadline set for companies to add a second layer of security for client credit card information on Friday.
Three banking and merchant sources with knowledge of the matter who spoke to Reuters said that smaller merchants have requested a deferral of the compliance date, but the central bank has not indicated that one is likely to occur.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) did not respond to an email requesting a comment.
According to a banker at a sizable state-owned bank, “the general perception is that banks, card networks, and (bigger) merchants are better prepared, therefore the push from the ecosystem side Neither has there been a significant demand for an extension, nor have we seen anything to suggest one.
If it happens, it will be unexpected, he added.
Three years ago, India launched a significant move to protect card data by mandating businesses to tokenize cards by September 30.
It seems unlikely that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will extend this Friday’s deadline for firms to tokenize credit and debit cards. There has been no indication that the central bank will proclaim an extension past September 30 despite a request from smaller merchants, according to banking and merchant sources.
A banker at a state-owned institution claims that banks, card networks, and merchants are all more prepared than before. Because of this, there hasn’t been much of an ecosystem need for an extension, and we haven’t heard anything to suggest one either.
While major corporations and institutions are mostly prepared for tokenization, smaller merchants are concerned that they may encounter issues that may cost them customers. Merchant organizations got in touch with the central bank to ask for a delay in implementation.
A possible short-term drop in card-related transactions has some business owners and lenders concerned. The same thing happened when the prior deadline approached. Retailers reported that recurring payments have dropped by 10% to 15%. Another concern is what would happen if a product was returned because card information wouldn’t be stored on merchant systems. Since digital payments are expected to reach USD 10 trillion by 2026, analysts argue that tokenization is crucial.
The practice of substituting credit and debit card information with a unique code or token that permits payments without card information is known as tokenization. The guidelines were created by the RBI in 2019, and since then, there have been several public deadline extensions. Businesses in India must remove all stored credit and debit card data from their databases by October 1.
How to tokenize a card: When inputting your credit and debit card details at checkout on an e-commerce merchant website or application, you will have the option to tokenize your card by choosing the “secure your card” option. Use the OTP sent to your registered email address or mobile number to simply approve the tokenization.
Once finished, the card will be tokenized. The last four numbers of the saved card will be displayed when you open the website or app, allowing you to recognize your card.


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- The iPhone Will Fly and Keep Flying
- the internet in your pocket
i have been reading with great interest the opposing analyses of the apple iphone by pc magazine editor-in-chief jim louderback and reviews editor lance ulanoff. jim believes the iphone will fly and then flop, while lance believes it will flop and then fly.
i have had a chance to play with the iphone on a couple of occasions. though jim and lance both make strong points in their columns, i would suggest that my colleagues are both half right. i believe the iphone will fly off the shelves and continue to gain consumer interest and demand. there are three key reasons why i think it will be a major hit and that steve jobs's prediction of selling 10 million units in the iphone's first 18 months on the market is extremely conservative.
when the apple ipod debuted, it was priced pretty high and caught the fancy of only what we often call early adopters. it introduced a new concept in portable digital music with its easy-to-navigate user interface and the way it makes it so simple to acquire and synchronize any content from a pc. but in the five years that the ipod has been on the market, apple has sold 100 million units, and there have been close to 500 million itunes downloads90 percent of them on pcs. the ipod has gained a massive mainstream following that apple has leveraged into increasing brand recognition as well as interest in the mac platform.
i believe something similar will come from the iphone. it is already one of the most anticipated gadgets we've seen in the last five years. the device's multitouch user interface and ability to be used as both a media playback device and a mobile internet connection will make it successful from the start. like the initial ipod, the first-generation product will still be too expensive for the mainstream consumer, but it will get the kind of buzz and early user feedback that will arouse interest and technolust in the broader consumer market. i believe apple can use this to extend the demand for the iphone for a long time. and, if history is our guide, apple will have future generations of this product out at lower prices. with help from at&t and lower-priced devices and service packages, as my friend richard doherty of envisioneering has predicted, apple could sell 100 million iphones over the next five years.
the second reason that i believe the iphone has legs is that although apple does not have any history in smartphone operating systems, its decision to put a complete version of os x and its web browser safari on the iphone creates an extremely robust platform. this is perhaps apple's greatest strength in trying to compete in the cell-phone marketplace. when jobs and bill gates were on stage together at the recent wsj conference, i was struck by the impression that both of them are really software geeks. we have known this about gates for a long time, but almost all of what jobs said during both of his speeches focused on apple's role in developing world-class software for the mac and the ipod. he pointed out that he is now extending that software focus to his third business, the iphone. and perhaps more important, it includes his highly successful digital ecosystem, which ties hardware, software, and services into a single elegant packaged solution. in fact, this is the area in which all other smartphone developers will fail with their iphone-like devices. they may deploy similar touch-screen navigation and tie their phones to some music and video download services, but the lack of a powerful operating system like os x will hamper their ability to create a communications, entertainment, and web-based ecosystem robust enough to compete with the iphone.
you could think of the iphone as a hand-held mobile computing platform. now that third-party software developers can create apps for the iphone, it could empower them to come up with innovative applications that help apple develop a massive following for its smartphone.next: the internet in your pocket >


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April 5th, 2023 | 20:18 CEST
New hydrogen stars First Hydrogen and SMA Solar - how is the share of Plug Power?
Table of contents:
"[...] Why should a modular electrolyzer cost more than a motorcycle? [...]" Sebastian-Justus Schmidt, CEO and Founder, Enapter AG
First Hydrogen: With milestone and undervaluation
Last year, the First Hydrogen share was among the few bright spots in the hydrogen sector. After tripling in value, the share has recently corrected more significantly. This could be over now. Test drives of the Hydrogen utility vehicle under real road conditions have begun in the UK. The programme, in which at least 15 large fleet companies are participating, was launched by Rivus, a large fleet management provider with around 500 partners. This brings the mass market breakthrough within reach. Investors may already be able to get an interim conclusion on 10 May. Then the Company will present at the 7th edition of the IIF digital investor conference (free registration here).
The opportunity for hydrogen in the commercial vehicle sector is huge. After all, it is a clear requirement of politics: the transport sector must drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next few years. In Germany, for example, the share of alternative fuels in light and heavy commercial vehicles is likely to remain in the low single-digit percentage range. This is a big opportunity for First Hydrogen. The Company aims to become the leading manufacturer of zero-emission, long-range hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles in the UK, EU and North America.
While the current generation of vehicles are being tested in real-world applications, First Hydrogen has unveiled the concept for a revolutionary next-generation zero-emission vehicle. The light commercial vehicle (LCV) has been developed in collaboration with global mobility experts EDAG Group. It is on schedule to be available as a hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) model and a battery-electric model. Steve Gill, CEO of Automotive at First Hydrogen, said: "These concept vehicles offer a glimpse into the future of our business and give a clear indication of our brand direction in the light commercial vehicle sector. The spacious and easily accessible cab provides drivers with comfort as well as good visibility of the road. It allows for quick entry and exit, which is essential for express deliveries and time-critical operations where drivers need to make multiple stops. The clean and modern design is flexible and suitable for use in various industries, securing First Hydrogen's position as a developer of functional vehicles that will lead operators to a zero-emission future."
So First Hydrogen is rushing from milestone to milestone, and the experts at researchanalyst.com are very positive about its performance. Compared to the peer group, there is a clear discrepancy in the Company's valuation (to the study).
SMA Solar: Supply chain problems solving themselves, and hydrogen fantasy taking shape
SMA Solar is also currently one of the high-flyers in the cleantech sector. After raising its annual forecast, the share shot up to a new all-time high and is now trading above EUR 98. The Company, known for inverters for photovoltaic systems, expects sales of between EUR 1.45 and 1.6 billion for the current year. EBITDA is expected to increase to between EUR 135 to 175 million. Analysts' expectations so far have averaged EUR 120 million. The Company's optimism is due to continued high demand with easing supply chain problems.
More and more products outside the classic inverters are contributing to growth. SMA Solar has a total of 1,700 patents and utility models. For example, an energy management platform including a battery for the smart home market and industrial customers is in the pipeline. Last year, SMA had already reported on its entry into the hydrogen sector. SMA is developing electrolyzer converters for the production of green hydrogen. The turnkey container solution, including medium-voltage technology, is intended to enable grid-friendly electricity processing for electrolysis.
Analysts lag behind the rapid share price development. Even after the forecast increase, the experts at Jefferies have not changed their "buy" rating. The price target also remains at EUR 85, which is below the current level. Berenberg has not yet published an update. Their latest rating is "hold", with a price target of EUR 60.
Plug Power: Highflyer crashes
Plug Power published positive news yesterday. The American hydrogen pioneer produced 122 MW of the 1 MW electrolyzer stack platform in the first quarter of the current year. This is a new record. The technology group also reported that it had delivered close to 1,000 stacks with a total output of 5.7 MW. Plug CEO Andy Marsh: "Plug is aggressively pursuing every aspect of the green hydrogen economy, including expanding the hydrogen ecosystem and building world-class manufacturing and supply chain capabilities." The Rochester (USA) site is scheduled to expand production capacity to 100 MW per month in the second quarter.
Given the low share price, the stock's muted reaction to the news is surprising. The shock of Monday is likely still deep-rooted among investors. Indeed, analysts at Morgan Stanley had downgraded the share to "hold" and more than halved the price target from USD 35 to USD 15. The analysts are sceptical about whether Plug Power can really improve sales and profit margins as quickly as some expect.
Morgan Stanley's opinion reflects lost confidence in the business models of previous hydrogen darlings like Nel and Plug Power. The prospects are excellent, and the order books are full, but sales are only possible with massive losses.
Hydrogen will have a firm place in the energy mix of the future. But which companies will benefit is anything but straightforward. Since 2022, the wheat has been separated from the chaff. Relying exclusively on the old top dogs Nel, Plug Power, and ITM Power seems risky. The companies are too far away from a profitable business model - despite partly already high sales. In contrast, First Hydrogen is valued low and could conquer the mass market with its commercial vehicles in 2023. With a market capitalization of over EUR 3 billion, SMA Solar is not cheap, but its expansion into new areas, such as hydrogen and battery technology, is exciting.
Conflict of interest
Pursuant to §85 of the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG), we point out that Apaton Finance GmbH as well as partners, authors or employees of Apaton Finance GmbH (hereinafter referred to as "Relevant Persons") may hold shares or other financial instruments of the aforementioned companies in the future or may bet on rising or falling prices and thus a conflict of interest may arise in the future. The Relevant Persons reserve the right to buy or sell shares or other financial instruments of the Company at any time (hereinafter each a "Transaction"). Transactions may, under certain circumstances, influence the respective price of the shares or other financial instruments of the Company.
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First Dunkin' Donuts in the Coachella Valley opens
The rest of the world may have been sleeping at 4 a.m. Tuesday, but at the Coachella Valley's first Dunkin' Donuts, at 42-225 Jackson St. in Indio, a crowd had lined up to be, as one customer put it, "part of history."
Stephanie Muschkov and her two kids, Savannah Summers and Luke Kleine, were the first in line. They had been waiting at the store for 10 hours -- since 6:40 p.m. Monday.
Muschkov said she was drawn in by the promise of a $250 gift card for being first in line. She said she wanted to give the gift card to her boyfriend.
"My boyfriend loves Dunkin' Donuts," she said. "We drove by and I said, 'Let's go check.' There was no one here." Muschkov said to pass the time, they played volleyball and watched movies.
The $250 gift card was also given to the first person through the drive-thru. That person was Nick Armendariz, who said he and his son waited in his truck for about 10 hours.
Just behind Muschkov, Nick Robles gestured to a long line of cars at the drive-thru. "You'd think they want to come inside for the experience, you know?" he asked.
Robles said he enjoys the bagels and the Coolattas, a frozen coffee drink. "Those are good," he said, smiling. "Cheaper than a frappe!"
Dunkin' Donuts' mascot, Cuppy, walked down the line, handing out swag bags to guests and posing for pictures. The contents of the bags varied: Muschkov and others at the front of the line got bags with Dunkin' Donuts coffee and a branded to-go cup while customers down the line received a branded bag with a Frisbee, water bottle and key chain.
The store was scheduled to open at 4 a.m., but at 4:30 the doors were still closed. One woman opened the door, telling people inside that people needed to get ready for work and school. Doors finally opened at about 4:45 a.m., prompting cheers from the line of people, which stretched into the surrounding parking lot.
Susan Stabile, a Rhode Island native, was standing about midway down the line.
"I've been here 18 years and I always said, if they open an Dunkin' Donuts in the valley, I would be at the grand opening." She smiled. "Here I am!"
Stabile said she planned to order a "regular coffee."
"Back East, when you order a regular coffee, that means four creams and four sugars," she said. "I'll see if they know what that means here."
Amy Atkins, who works in marketing for Dunkin' Donuts, said they are planning to expand into the Coachella Valley in the next few years, though she said they haven't pinpointed locations for those yet.
"It's the start to a good relationship in the valley," she said, looking at the crowd of people lined up to order. "This is the 34th store in California. We've opened all of them with success and I'm confident this will be a really good store."
The owner of the local store, Nachhattar Chandi, is donating $30,000 to local law enforcement following the killing of two Palm Springs officers on Saturday. The money will be split between three funds: $20,000 to the Palm Springs Police Department memorial fund, $5,000 to the injured PSPD officer and $5,000 to the Indio police officer injured in a crash over the weekend.


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Zola, a company that offers registries and other wedding-planning services, is unveiling a campaign in San Francisco ahead of the city’s Pride parade.
All around the city, billboards, bus shelters and kiosks will feature words lifted from real love notes that the brand gathered at a pop-up event earlier this month. At San Francisco’s West Coast Craft, Zola set up a station called the “Love Post,” staffed with professional writers and calligraphers. During the fair, visitors could write a love letter to a special someone before sending it off in a stamped envelope.
Of the 924 letters sent, Zola highlighted 10 in its campaign (with permission from participants), many of which feature messages from LGBTQ couples.
Although this is the brand’s first Pride-specific campaign, Jennifer Spector, Zola’s director of brand, said the effort is more about inclusivity than anything.
“Our campaign is not featuring the Pride flag or things that are overtly associated with Pride,” she said. “It’s really more about celebrating love in all of its forms.”
According to the company, the concept for the campaign stemmed from a recent study conducted by the brand that found that 92% surveyed would be “thrilled” if their partner gave them a handwritten love letter, but 60% said it’s been longer than six months since they’ve written even a Post-it for their other halves. Additionally, 18% of couples said they’ve either never exchanged handwritten notes or it has been at least five years since.
To broaden the effort, the company plans to extend the campaign nationally across social. Additionally, influencers will be used to garner reach by sharing their own handwritten love notes and encouraging followers to spread love.
“We really love to tell the love stories of couples, so hopefully this is something that we’ll be able to replicate in other cities and potentially make this an annual event around Pride,” Spector said.
Zola worked with branding and design firm The Working Assembly, experiential marketing shop Rebel & Rogue and creative media agency Noble People on the campaign. Noble People helped Zola with concept and execution, while The Working Assembly designed campaign elements and Rebel & Rogue brought the activation to life.
“In approaching this campaign, we wanted to address a tension we all felt when we kicked off the project: the omnipresent narrative of hate and division that has taken hold of our culture, and that stands in stark contrast with all the love Zola helps the world celebrate,” said Josh Millrod, group strategy director at Noble People. “So we concepted and planned Love Notes as a way to put more love into the world while showing Zola’s deep dedication to celebrating love of all types.”