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A strong milk marketing network requires many thousands of people collecting from far flung farms and distributing to urban centres, but it does not always require central organisation, as Kenya's blossoming milk network is now demonstrating, driven by individual agripreneurs moving into milk collection and on-selling as a lucrative line of self-employment.
With nearly 800,000 Kenyan smallholders depending on dairy for their livelihoods, and the dairy sector providing employment to over 350,000 people in milk collection, transportation, processing and sales; the dairy industry plays an important role in meeting the livelihood needs of poor Kenya households, as well as in contributing to Kenya’s economic development.
Jane Wanjiku is typical of the sector's now burgeoning informal network, as a hawker who buys a litre of milk from farmers at Sh15 and sells to New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC) at Sh25.
“While hawked milk takes care of my expenses, the earnings from milk sold to KCC add up in my bank account boosting my savings. It is a win-win situation,” said Wanjiku, who is based in Murang’a and buys the commodity from farmers that she then retails in the populated residential estates in Nairobi like Dandora and Kayole.
“We cannot just hawk milk to shops only. We also take some of the milk to New KCC so that we re paid like farmers at the end of the month. It is a matter of not putting all the eggs in the same basket,” said Wanjiku.
This grass roots strategy is now having a national impact, according to recent findings by the Ministry of Agriculture, which found that that the liberalisation of the sector had led to a straight-line increase in the amount of milk marketed, and increased licensing of milk vendors.
Financial organisations have also boosted the sector's output and returns, with farmers picking up loans for expansion where their milk revenues are regular and channeled through the banks.
“Farmers need to be members of an organised marketing channel such as Sacco or a company like KCC, Brookside or Buzeka in Western Kenya. The milk must be delivered through the agent and money channeled through our bank account,” said David Odongo, Agri-business Manager with Family Bank, Kenyatta Avenue Branch in Nakuru Town.
Family Bank is one of the many institutions now offering farmers loans to increase their herds, build zero grazing units and increase productivity in other ways.
According to Odongo, a dairy farmer can now borrow from Sh5,000 to Sh5m over a negotiable repayment period, but the norm is 24 months for Sh250,000 and below.
For Sh250,000 to Sh500,000, repayment is usually over 48 months, while loans above half a million shillings tend to be very short term, typically for six months.
Increasingly, service providers such as those offering Artificial Insemination (AI), farm inputs and veterinary services are requiring that farmers deal with financial institutions if they want to obtain these services on credit.
The East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project has also sought to fuel the sector's expansion with improved knowhow, launching a dairy feeding manual for both farmers and extension officers.
The manual covers information on the basic nutrients a dairy cow requires, the available feed resources that provide these nutrients and practical aspects of feeding the animals. It also has information on live-stock production systems and pasture production and management.
Issues of pasture utilization and the use of feed supplements, as well as the different feeding for calves, heifers and dairy cattle, are also discussed in language rural farmers and extension officers can easily assimilate.
The EADD is a regional programme led by the Heifer International in partnership with International Livestock Research Institute, Techno Serve, the World Agro forestry Centre and the African Breeder Service Total Cattle Management. It is based in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project works with 179,000 farmers living in 1-5 acre plots and keeping a few dairy cows.
Such earnings are key to the fortunes of very many Kenyan families. “Clearly, our economic prospects would have been worse if milk sales had been low in recent years. We have sustained our families, educated children and invested some of the milk returns in real estate and shares at the Nairobi Stock Exchange,” said John Kamau, a dairy farmer in Ol Joro orok West, Nyandarua County.
Another new report by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) suggests the liberalization of the dairy sector six years ago has led to growth to a now Sh17 billion industry along the full value chain.
“Allowing licensed small-scale milk vendors to operate leads to increased milk supply to the retail market and continual increase in the number of small-scale milk vendors acquiring licenses to run milk bars to meet the increased demand for milk,” said the report.
This has seen multinationals start positioning themselves to tap in to the growth. Nestle’s Regional head, Pierre Trouilhat, is hopeful that Kenya’s dairy sector will move to more substantial exporting across the Common Market for East and Central Africa (COMESA), through the Nestle value chain.
Through the equatorial regional branch, Nestle entered a partnership with the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project in April, as a bridge to purchasing powdered milk from Kenya.
“The ultimate aim will be to produce cream milk powder, enabling Nestle to export milk products to other COMESA countries and thus boost both availability and affordability in equatorial Africa,” said Mr. Trouilhat in an earlier conference.
Written by Bob Koigi for African Laughter
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Too much junk food is on special offer, according to Scottish parents.
Parents are being persuaded by supermarket deals to fill their trolleys with bargain-buy junk food, new research by Cancer Research UK has found.
A survey asked how offers on groceries that are high in sugar, salt or fat influenced Scots’ shopping habits.
The results were startling, with around nine in 10 – 89% – of parents believing supermarket promotions impact on what they buy.
Cancer Research UK is calling on the Scottish Government to urgently restrict offers on unhealthy food to make it easier for people to make healthier choices.
The poll also shows the offers could be having a profound effect on what type of foods parents are feeding their families.
Almost 57% of parents polled said promotions lead them to buy more junk food than they really want.
The survey also reveals that more than 71% of parents think too much junk food is on promotion, with 75% linking the balance shifted towards healthier items.
The polling was carried out to explore some of the possible reasons why Scotland is in the grip of an obesity epidemic.
And with obesity linked to 13 different types of cancer, the leading charity is demanding strong action from the Scottish Government when it publishes its obesity strategy later this year.
Cancer Research UK cancer prevention expert Professor Linda Bauld, who is based at the University of Stirling, said: “These offers are persuading parents to ignore their shopping lists and buy cheap unhealthy food in large quantities.
“And if that junk food sits in our kitchen cupboards, we’re tempted to keep reaching for it, even if it’s been bought as a treat.
“The consequence of this fatty and sugary food can be seen on growing waistlines across Scotland.
“As part of its expected obesity strategy, the Scottish Government has an opportunity to help families make it easier to keep a healthy weight.
“By restricting special offers on unhealthy food and drink, we can make our shopping baskets healthier.”

domain: news


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Inflation likely slowed further in July, says BSP
MANILA -Overall inflation in the Philippines may have eased for the sixth month in a row in July and settled within the range of 4.1 percent to 4.9 percent, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The midpoint of the forecast range—4.5 percent— means a significant slowdown from the 5.4 percent recorded in June.
This also brings the headline number—covering growth rate of prices of good and services that households commonly purchase—further closer to the upper end of the BSP’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.
The Philippine Statistics Authority is expected to announce the official readout by Aug. 4.
“Lower electricity rates, declines in the prices of meat, fruits, and fish items, the rollback in LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) prices, and the peso appreciation could contribute to downward price pressures during the month,” the BSP said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, higher prices of rice and vegetables as well as higher domestic oil prices are the primary sources of upward price pressures in July,” the regulator added.
Moody’s Analytics said in a commentary that inflation readings across the Asia-Pacific region have eased rapidly since 2022.
The data and research firm said the growth rate of prices should keep moderating given relatively low commodity and fuel prices and finally some easing of food price inflation.
“All central banks in the region have paused their monetary policy tightening, at least temporarily,” the company said.
“But with inflation still exceeding central bank target rates in some economies, including the Philippines, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, at least one further rate hike cannot be ruled out,” it added.
After raising the policy rate by a total of 4.25 percentage points from a historic low of 2 percent to 6.25 percent in March, the Monetary Board of the BSP made no changes in two consecutive policy meetings held in May and June.
In an analytical note, the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro) said the decline in prices is “yet to be transmitted materially,” with China, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam showing only modest declines in retail food prices in recent months, while the rest of the region is still facing rising prices.
The analysis covers the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, as well as China, South Korea and Japan.
“In fact, global and domestic retail food prices remain high by historical standards—world food price indices reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank are still 30 to 50 percent higher than their 2018–19 prepandemic averages, while food prices in the Asean+3 are 10 to 20 percent higher,” Amro said. INQ


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Be Broadband could be set to shift its focus away from consumer web services towards the delivery of business broadband deals.
Chris Stening, the newly-appointed Managing Director at the internet service provider, said he would be looking to promote the firm's wholesale business over the coming months.
Be has historically placed greatest emphasis on home broadband products, but recently launched networking arm Be Wholesale.
"Our superior quality network with proven reliability means that it's truly built for business applications such cloud computing, VoIP and HD video conferencing," Mr Stening said.
"We're the newest competitor in the wholesale broadband market and, backed by O2/Telefonica, we offer a refreshing, credible and reliable alternative to the current incumbent providers."
Mr Stening recently replaced Tom Williams as Managing Director of the broadband provider, who last year took over Felix Geyr's role at the head of the company.


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When he saw that Paul Henderson’s jersey which he wore during the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union sold for a record $1.2 million at auction in 2010, Mike Eruzione came up with idea to do the same venture. And, that was very successful, since his jersey which he worn in the U.S. Miracle on Ice victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics has reached $657,250 at auction.
Beside this item, the stick Eruzione used to score the winning goal and his gold medal game jersey were available via Heritage on Saturday night, which pushed the overall sale to more than $1.3 million.
The stick finished at $262,900, more than five times the $50,000 it was expected, while the blue jersey the team’s captain wore to win the gold against Finland fetched $286,800. Other collectibles connected to Eruzione include gloves he wore throughout the Olympic tournament sold for $53,775, more than 10 times their pre-auction estimates, his red pants went for $28,680, while his warm-up suit sold for $26,290.
”Tonight, we saw collectors show Mike Eruzione, and that entire team, how highly they think of him and of the things he achieved,” said Chris Ivy, director of sports at the Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. ”It couldn’t have happened to a nicer, more giving person.”
The one piece of “Miracle” memorabilia Eruzione declined to put on auction was his gold medal.
“The gold medal will never be sold as long as I’m alive,”Eruzione told ESPN’s John Buccigross in December. “If something happens to me and my kids/grandkids want to do something with it, hopefully it’s for the right reasons.” [BornRich]


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Just three years after hard rock's commercial vitality was in doubt, the first-week sales splash of Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails adds dramatically to the mounting evidence that the aggressive musical genre is thriving.
Soundgarden's "Superunknown" album sold an estimated 163,000 copies last week to enter the national pop chart at No. 1, while Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral" sold an estimated 119,000 to enter at No. 2 when Billboard magazine hits the newsstands Saturday.
That's the highest 1994 first week sales showing since the holiday shopping spree ended in January with No. 1 and No. 2 albums by Mariah Carey and Pearl Jam generating similar sales tallies.
"Anyone who tells you that rock 'n' roll is dead is completely out of touch with what's going on in the music industry," said Mike Fine, chief executive officer of SoundScan, the New York research firm that monitors sales data for the music industry.
"Five years ago, no one ever saw an underground rock act burst on the mainstream pop chart the way they do now. But ever since Nirvana crossed over, the commercial potential of alternative rock is taken seriously by the people who run the music business."
What's particularly encouraging to the industry is that Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails now appear to add to an already impressive list of young best-selling bands, including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins and Soul Asylum. Both the new Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails albums are expected to continue to sell strongly through the spring and summer as the bands tour across the country.
"Rock is definitely going through a big resurgence right now," said Al Cafaro, president and CEO of A&M Records Inc., the label that releases Soundgarden's music.
"There's a flurry of brilliant artists out there like Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails, each exploring their own creative vision. These aren't musicians who manufacture contrived products to appeal to the pop marketplace. The reason they're so successful is that they make inspired, high quality music."
While surveys suggest that the number of rock fans purchasing music has declined since 1989 from 43% to 33% of the $10-billion domestic market, rock-oriented consumers still purchase twice as many albums as country fans and four times the amount bought by rap fans.
Rock music accounted for more than $3 billion in domestic sales last year with many of the nation's biggest hits being delivered by new acts. Pearl Jam--which broke the record for the biggest selling debut in October with its 950,000-selling "Vs."--sold more records in the United States last year than any other artist, generating an estimated $72 million from sales of its two albums.
The success of alternative acts from Pearl Jam to Nine Inch Nails coincides precisely with the rise of Generation X, whose alienation is captured succinctly in a new rebellious music that helps differentiate young fans from their parents.
Many in the industry also credit alternative rock's sudden high visibility to SoundScan. In many cases under Billboard's old system, store personnel frequently failed to report the sales of budding bands with whose music they were unfamiliar.
Alternative rock artists fare much better under SoundScan because figures are entered into a computer every time a clerk runs an album through a bar code scanner at the sales register.
Analysts speculate that this week's showing for Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails will encourage record executives to gamble on signing more unconventional young artists--laying a foundation for an even broader resurgence.
Record companies have already begun to invest more money to develop new acts, giving "baby" bands more time and bigger budgets to build a fan base and hone their chops on the concert circuit. Such efforts have paid off handsomely in grooming acts like Spin Doctors, Blind Melon, Counting Crows, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair and the Afghan Whigs.
"The 13-year-old to 21-year-old customer is a huge chunk of our business and they're buying tons of music by a brand-new crop of original rock artists," said Mike Murray, vice president and general manager of the Ft. Lauderdale-based, 520-outlet Blockbuster Music. "There used to be only a couple sure-bet heavy-hitting superstars out there who dominated the rock industry, but that's just not the case anymore."


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Nothing hits the ‘trending’ list faster than celebrity-endorsed products. However, when it comes to NFTs, the hype isn’t quite what it seems. Recently, with the success of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, celebrities have come out to push other NFT collections, but it can mean anything but a financial windfall for those who buy into the craze.
Risking financial ruin for the possibility of financial gain is a trick as old as time, but statistically, the devastation far outweighs the gain. NFT investments are much the same.
Hype Wins Out
If you were to ask Floyd Mayweather for financial advice, you’d likely find yourself in considerable debt and nearly beggared, based on the celebrity boxer’s recent endorsements. When the Bored Ape Yacht Club came out with their Ethereum-based NFTs, they skyrocketed to success, but Mayweather was touting another bored NFT that tanked.
“What I need everybody to do right now: Go get a Bored Bunny NFT,” said Mayweather, dressed in a Louis Vuitton vest with a diamond bracelet, a necklace, and a gold watch. “You’re hearing it from the one and only Floyd ‘Make-That-Money’ Mayweather.”
For those who did as the celebrity said, the windfall never came. The bored bunny NFT crashed after a brief spike. The project has yet to recover, and while the Bored Bunny team denies any wrongdoing, their team missed some apparent steps in the promotion process.
Bonnie Patten, the executive director of the consumer advocacy group Truth in Advertising, had this to say about NFT and other celebrity endorsements. “Droves of celebrities and influencers have leaped at the chance to shill NFTs to their fans. Many of them don’t disclose that they were paid to do so and don’t acknowledge (or, in some cases, they actively downplay) the serious financial risks involved.”
Not Everyone Buys the Hype
When the Bored Ape Yacht Club first launched in 2021, celebrities like Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton quickly jumped on the ‘bored’ train, picking up Bored Ape NFTs that cost well into the hundred thousand dollars or more range.
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon featured both his and Paris Hilton’s NFTs in a weird celebrity endorsement that left plenty of critics in the crowd.
Montoya, a creator on YouTube, posted a critique of a clip posted to Twitter of the Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon exchange and had this to say: “If Paris Hilton bought an NFT for a million dollars and it dropped down to five-hundred thousand, sweet tax write-off for her, but for the average person, it is a financial… it’s a black hole which they will never recover from.”
CoinDesk, a publication that tracks the cryptocurrency industry, called the influx of celebrities endorsing NFTs “perverse deal-making.”
Risk and Reward Are Rarely Equal
Usually, when you enter an investment agreement, there’s a discussion about risk vs. reward. Most investment companies will tell you if a threat is considerably more significant than the possible reward.
However, with cryptocurrency and NFTs especially, there is little regulation to ensure investors know the risks and rewards of deciding to invest. Even watching the market isn’t a good indicator of how quickly a cryptocurrency will fluctuate. And while Bitcoin and Ethereum seem to be solvent, there’s no telling what could cause them to drop like a boulder or when.
Even investing in stocks, which comes with its own risk, isn’t as financially hazardous as risking your financial assets on cryptocurrency and NFTs if you’re unaware of those possible losses.
With an industry that has come about so quickly that there’s little oversight, some celebrity influencers have started calling out those who willingly endorse NFTs as the go-to answer for financial success.
FaZe Clan, known by his influencer name of FaZe Banks, published screenshots of alleged messages from the Bored Bunny team offering him 500 to 750 thousand dollars to push NFTs for their brand. He said he “didn’t make that mistake” because he’d “educated myself.”
Calling out NFT creators for promises they can’t keep is one way influencers can help keep ordinary people from financial risk that will never gain the reward they’re looking for. Turning down big payouts for endorsements is another way they can help.
Ultimately, however, consumers have to be responsible for educating themselves on the risks and rewards when deciding whether to invest in a product like cryptocurrencies or NFTs.
More Articles From the Wealth of Geeks Network:
- 13 Best Stock & Investment Newsletters for Inbox Alpha
- Best Stock Research & Analysis Apps, Tools & Sites
This article was produced and syndicated on Wealth of Geeks.
Image Courtesy of Unsplash.


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Mount Vernon, WA-based Boo shoot, a biotechnology company focused on bamboo fo rest ry, agriculture and nursery wholesale, and Kimberly-Clark (K-C) have settled on an agreement that will enable K-C to explore the manufacture of tissue products containing fiber derived from Booshoot’s proprietary bamboo propagation technology.
The partnership will work to develop highyield fiber alternatives that can be grown domestically on a mass agricultural scale in environmentally and socially responsible ways.
Under the agreement, Booshoot will deliver tens of thousands of bamboo starts to be grown in K-C pilot projects. The trials are designed to prove the viability of several species of giant bamboos, including Moso (Phyllostachys edulis), as scalable and sustainable tree fiber alternatives. Where conventional northern softwood trees take 60 or more years to reach harvestable maturity, Moso grows close to 100 feet tall and is harvestable in less than a decade, producing several times the fiber of traditional timber and capturing four times the CO2 of most trees.
Booshoot CEO Jackie Heinricher said in a statement “Booshoot has the proven science and production capacity required to eventually produce millions of bamboo plants annually which will play a critical part in reducing the world’s dependence on native forests.”
In 2011, K-C used nearly 750,000 tonnes of primary wood fiber from natural forests. The agreement with Booshoot is designed to help K-C to meet its pledge to halve the amount of natural forest fiber it uses by the year 2025, an amount equivalent to the fiber used to manufacture over three billion rolls of toilet paper.
Booshoot says its patent-pending bamboos are “true-to-type” species that are not genetically modified and produce more biomass on less land in less time than other traditional forest products. Booshoot says that bamboo provides strong, high-brightness numbers suitable for many furnish blends, with the same kraft pulping and bleaching sequences typically used for hardwoods. It can be harvested using standard methods.
In addition to providing fiber for the paper industry, bamboo from Booshoot is said to be an ideal raw material for everything from textiles to biofuels to building materials.
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Elonroad Charges Ahead with SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE Works
Elonroad leverages SOLIDWORKS connected to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to develop a ground-level feeding method for electric vehicles, manage product data, and lead a growing supply chain.
Creating the first electric road for charging electric vehicles. Such roads could help reduce the number and size of electric vehicle batteries, making additional positive impact on the climate.
Develop the first electric road with a ground-level feeding method designed to increase knowledge about electric roads as part of a future fossil-free transport system using SOLIDWORKS® design and the 3DEXPERIENCE® Works portfolio—including Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS, Collaborative Industry Innovator, and Collaborative Business Innovator—on the cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
- Reduced time of entire development process
- Streamlines the entire process for drawing approvals and file tracking with PDM
- Communicate ideas in an effective and extremely efficient way
- Growth of supply chain to deliver larger projects
Electric roads may one day enable “range happiness” instead of “range anxiety” for electric vehicle drivers. In addition to charging electric vehicles, such roads may help reduce the number and size of electric vehicle batteries, making additional positive impact on the climate.
The ﬁrst electric road with a ground-level feeding method is being installed and tested in the city of Lund, in southern Sweden. The Swedish Transport Administration is pioneering a test and demonstration site for a unique electric road system, which is designed to increase knowledge about electric roads as part of a future fossil-free transport system.
Elonroad, a key partner in the project, was conceived by company founder Dan Zethraeus while driving home from work one day. “Why not an electric road?” thought Zethraeus. “I can charge my electric car [while driving], use less batteries, and the car will likely be much cheaper to make so I can actually afford to drive an electric car.”
A charging infrastructure contained on the road is a new approach for electric vehicles. The Elonroad electric road system works for all electric vehicles—cars, taxis, buses, and trucks—regardless of manufacturer. Cars are especially relevant because they account for 60% of CO2 emissions from transportation.
Plug-free Electric Vehicle Charging
“The whole idea behind the company is that we are providing a solution in which electric vehicles can get charged on the go,” says Mechanical Design Engineer, Farrukh Kamran. In other words, once the Elonroad electric road system infrastructure is installed, electric vehicles will be charged while driving. The roads will have sensors, so data, along with electricity, will stream throughout the road, ensuring immediate vehicle identification and notification of accidents or even animals on the road. The road will also be able to identify, hence bill vehicles for electricity.
SOLIDWORKS was essential to the development of the innovative technology. The company experimented with a lot of different designs, and SOLIDWORKS helped facilitate an efficient process. “Without SOLIDWORKS, I don't think we would have been able to make so much progress,” continues Kamran.
Elonroad’s concept involves a conductive rail laid on top of a road. It has inclined sides so changing lanes does not include traversing a bump. The rail is 5 cm high and 30 cm wide; it can be installed either on top of asphalt or integrated into the road. The Elonroad system can also be used in charging stations and parking spots.
Connected Team Propels Productivity
With SOLIDWORKS connected to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, Elonroad teams can collaborate with ease, communicating ideas in an effective and extremely efficient way. Elonroad also leverages PDM for drawing approvals and file tracking, which streamlines the whole process. “The 3DEXPERIENCE platform has helped us to come into a scale-up mode,” says COO Anna Wieslander. “We are now going from concept and technology development into product development.”
The 3DEXPERIENCE platform has helped us to come into a scale-up mode. We are now going from concept and technology development into product development.
Planning for Expansion
Within the Elonroad system, all electric vehicles will have batteries that supply energy for driving on non-electric roads. The electric road is a charging infrastructure placed only on major roads and highways. Electric vehicle batteries automatically take over at exits and roundabouts.
Elonroad is also growing its supply chain so it can deliver larger projects. “We see that we will be able to grow with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with our suppliers,” says Wieslander. Elonroad sees its future as being an important piece of the puzzle in the decarbonization of the transport sector and providing charging infrastructure as a service to its customers. “Together with our partners…we want to make a difference in how we transport people and goods. We want to make it safer, smarter, and more energy efficient,” concludes Wieslander.


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500 jobs to go in holiday cutback
HOLIDAY giant First Choice is poised to announce a package of redundancies after last week's departure of senior executives Paul Evans and Peter Shanks.
The company has set up a restructuring plan similar to that at Thomas Cook, which announced that 60 managers would go as well as 500 other employees. The Thomas Cook changes are not related to the US attacks.
First Choice was also already planning cuts, but the crisis in the travel industry is thought to have brought plans forward. Across the board, holiday bookings are down about 40% in the past three weeks.
First Choice refused to comment last week, but a source said: 'The company is now battening down the hatches and does not want to announce job losses through the press. But the plan has been to have a model similar to Thomas Cook. There may not be as many job losses, but there will certainly be some pain because the business wants to be leaner and the drop in bookings just makes it more necessary.'
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Card Mailer Announces New Restaurant: 6,000 Families Attend Grand Opening
CHALLENGE: A restaurant wanted to promote the grand opening of one of their new stores using effective direct mailers.
SOLUTION: They decided to launch a Triadex Card Mailers restaurant marketing campaign. 50,000 plastic postcards were sent to anyone within four miles of the store. They offered a $10 gift card (no minimum purchase required) and the campaign was live for five weeks.
- With these effective mailers, the campaign produced a 12% redemption rate
- They generated over four times the cost of the campaign in sales revenues
- Over 6,000 local families physically walked through the front door of the restaurant and experienced their unique menu
- Store sales grew significantly after the campaign had ended
- Six months later, they called Triadex to send out another 25,000 pieces to the households that didn’t respond during the first mailing. This time, they chose to purposely exclude prior-redeemers and only reach new customers


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Vodafone is in talks to join forces with Sky by basing its forthcoming television service on Now TV, the broadcaster’s internet streaming set-top box.
The deal would significantly strengthen ties between the pair, which are united by the threat from BT to their strongholds in the pay-TV and mobile markets.
Vodafone already offers the Sky Sports channels on mobile devices as part of its 4G bundles. The mobile operator also recently introduced Now TV as an alternative, granting access to Sky Movies and Sky Atlantic on the move.
Selling television together would be a bigger step, as it would mean Vodafone relying on Sky partner for the set-top technology box that delivers Now TV to full-sized screens.
It is understood the talks are at an early stage and that other options are under consideration. Vodafone announced last week that it will enter the broadband and television market in spring.
The schedule gives it limited time to develop a pay-TV service suitable for its customer base, making Sky and Now TV an obvious partner.
EE, the other mobile operator that has moved into television, did so by developing its own set-top box. It is giving it away to broadband subscribers without offering subscription or pay-per-view programmes. A similar strategy would be counter to Vodafone’s belief in using content bundling to charge a higher price for data connections.
If a Now TV distribution deal is agreed Sky would benefit from access to Vodafone’s 20-million-strong customer base. The streaming service has become the engine of its growth in recent quarters.
A spokesman for Sky said: “Our strategy with Now TV is to be as broadly distributed as possible and that means talking to lots of people.”
Vodafone has limited time to prepare its TV service
The pair are already working on co-marketing of their services and it is rumoured that the network operator will soon provide the basis of a Sky-branded mobile network. If the Now TV talks also succeed, such a ‘virtual network’ contra-deal could allow both companies to offer a full ‘quad-play’ of broadband, home phone, mobile and pay-TV services.
Guy Peddy, an analyst at Macquarie, said: “They’re both high end, both focused on premium brand and superior performance.”
Vodafone has said its broadband and television plans were defensive and designed to safeguard its core mobile revenues from the threat of fixed-line players, especially BT, moving into mobile.
BT is aiming to re-enter the consumer mobile market around the same time as Vodafone moves into broadband, and will aim to grab subscribers from traditional operators by using its fixed-line network to cut costs and bills.
Sky has already felt the impact of BT’s charge into pay-TV and is preparing to cross swords with its rival in the Premier League rights auction early next year.
Vodafone declined to comment.


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Vision Produce Co. has hired Allan Acosta as its vice president of operations for the Los Angeles company’s Phoenix branch.
For the past eight years, he was senior crop manager for tropical fruits at Ready Pac Produce. Acosta’s earlier experience included stints as a production manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s medfly program, and a production manager assistant for Central American Produce Inc.
At Vision Produce, he will work with vice president of sales and procurement John Caldwell. He started April 14 in the company’s Phoenix offices.
“We are excited about the next chapter in the growth of our grower partners and operations under his leadership,” Caldwell said in a news release.
“I look forward to contribute in expanding Vision’s strategic produce sourcing, logistic capabilities and its organizational foundation,” Acosta said in the release.


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Grass Valley acquired by Black Dragon Capital; private equity firm led by Louis Hernandez Jr
Private equity firm Black Dragon Capital, led by former Avid boss Louis Hernandez Jr, is to acquire broadcast manufacturing business Grass Valley from parent company Belden.
The deal comes after Belden put Grass Valley up for sale in October 2019 as part of a strategic review of the business.Black Dragon says it plans to make Grass Valley a market leader in digital media and open cloud technology.
Hernandez, ex CEO of Avid said: “Grass Valley has an iconic brand, track record of strong performance, superb clients and products that compete in the top tier in every category they’re in.” He added: “We’re excited by the opportunity Grass Valley has to lead in an industry where other heritage brands have struggled. Grass Valley’s investments in cloud-based and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions are promising. We believe the combination of a broad product suite; a great team and the direction of the market will make Grass Valley the partner of choice as the digitization of the space accelerates. While Belden won’t retain any ownership or have an impact on operations, we are pleased that they will remain a close, long-term collaborative partner, which will ensure a smooth transition,”
Grass Valley president Tim Shoulders and the senior Grass Valley team will remain in place. Hernandez will become executive chairman.“Black Dragon’s experience and vision will help us accelerate our move to cloud-based and SaaS solution product lines that will please customers seeking the most robust and flexible models for content production and delivery,” Shoulders said.
John Stroup, president, CEO and chairman of Belden, said: “We are very pleased to partner with Black Dragon Capital. Their deep media-related expertise, proven track record and relationships in the broadcast community make them the perfect partner to drive Grass Valley to the next level. We are excited to be part of the partnership.”
The Black Dragon principals and advisors involved in the Grass Valley acquisition include Hernandez; Mohamed Abuagla, former EVP and CTO of Al Jazeera; Dr. Andreas Bereczky, former SVP and CTO of ZDF Germany; Peter Neothen, CEO of Quest Media GMBH; Gary Bettan, CEO of Broadfield Distributing Inc; Sandy Nassari, Founder and CEO of Melrose Inc; Shengli Han, Vice Chairman of Beijing Jetsen Technology; Frank Capria, media product specialist; and Mo Hussein, media finance professional.
The Black Dragon transaction team was led by Tim Greenfield, partner, and Dan Consigli, partner and CFO.Cowen and Company served as advisor on the transaction, and Greenberg Traurig LLP served as legal counsel. Black Dragon Capital focuses on making investments in technology companies.


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Today, is a very special day for those who were retro gamers that grew up on the SNES console back in the early 90’s. On this day 25 years ago Mega Man X was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Capcom. Since its release Mega Man X has been viewed as one of the most legendary action-platformer video games of all-time. Everything from the graphics to the soundtrack along with the storyline that involved stopping a deadly foe in Sigma made Mega Man X a 16-bit gem that is still playable to this day. Out of all the Mega Man games ever created since 1987 Mega Man X is probably the most high profile titles within the series.
Since its release Mega Man X has been ported to multiple game systems including the Nintendo Switch back in September 2018 as a part of the Mega Man X Legacy Collection. The is no question that Mega Man X will always hold a special place in the hearts of retro gamers who owned a SNES during the 90’s and will always be looked at as one of the best 16-bit titles that Capcom has ever made.


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By Godwin Oritse
FOLLOWING the commissioning of the maritime security surveillance portal by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Mr Gambo Ahmed, Executive Director in charge of Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services at the agency, has said that freight rate for Nigeria bound cargoes are expected to take a plunge anytime soon.
Speaking at the commissioning of the agency’s Command, Control Computer, Communication and Information system otherwise known as ‘C4i’, Ahmed who lamented that when freight is high, the economy bears the brunt, explained that goods are more expensive in Nigeria than elsewhere because it takes much more to bring these goods to Nigeria.
According to him, a secured maritime industry will attract more vessels to Nigeria and gradually the freight rates will begin to reduce.
He stated: “Normally when the freight is high, a businessman will typically pass that additional cost to the consumers. So you find out what goods are more expensive here than elsewhere because it takes much more to bring goods to Nigeria.
“With what we are commissioning today, there is going to be a lot more in terms of security. Very soon we will have more vessels coming to Nigeria, you will see lower freight cost because with that insecurity is going to be largely addressed.
“We are in a position to monitor, we are in a position to be able to see whatever you are doing wherever as long as you are around our waters.
“And we will be able to deal with you and where we need to be arrested, we will do that.
“There are going to be helicopters and fast intervention vessels for the purpose of securing the nation’s coastal and territorial waters.”
Similarly, Head of the Home Land Security International, HLSI, an Israeli firm contracted by the Federal Government to provide the new maritime security architecture, Mr Haim Ben Voon, told Vanguard Maritime Report that deployment of this security equipment will reduce criminal activities on the waters and stop illegal fish-poaching in Nigeria.


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Ingram Micro has shaken up its EMEA leadership team, including the appointment of two new leaders to head up its relationships with value- and volume-based vendors. The distribution leviathan announced...
Licensing VAR giant looks to build out services
HP and Lenovo enjoy growth
Chinese giant launches in into wider client space
Data suggests more than half of enterprises have no plans


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Walmart announces 10 ew solar installations in Maryland
Thursday, Jun 27, 2013
BENTONVILLE, Ark., June 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Walmart and SolarCity today announced the completion of projects at eight Walmart stores and two Sam's Clubs across the state of Maryland that will generate clean, renewable electricity. The energy produced by the new solar installations will generate approximately 4.1 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually – enough energy to power nearly 370 homes* – and are expected to supply between 5-20 percent of each store's overall electricity use.
"Building a clean energy economy creates new jobs and provides affordable, reliable clean energy choices for businesses," said Abigail Ross Hopper, director of the Maryland Energy Administration. "The partnership between SolarCity and Walmart shows that we're taking the right steps."
With over 13,400 panels, the Walmart stores in Arbutus, Berlin, California, Cockeysville, Fallston, Hagerstown, Laurel and Severn, along with Sam's Clubs in Salisbury and Severn will provide over 3.1 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity.
"Walmart is a leader in clean energy here in Maryland and across the country," said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive. "Walmart is setting an example for companies in Maryland to follow; it's possible for many Maryland businesses to pay less for solar power than they currently pay for electricity."
This new series of solar systems in Maryland bring the total number of Walmart and Sam's Club locations with SolarCity installations to almost 150 across multiple states with additional locations in the works. Last year, SolarCity installed Walmart's largest solar-power system at its distribution center in Buckeye, Ariz.
"Solar power makes sense for Walmart, and it makes sense for Maryland," said David Ozment, Walmart's senior director of energy. "We are committed to increasing the use of renewable energy, including solar panels, at our stores in Maryland and throughout the country."
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, more than 200 million customers and members visit our 10,700 stores under 69 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. With fiscal year 2012 sales of approximately $444 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity.
SOURCE Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.


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Retail News Breaks Archives
Kerr adds online store finder to free Rx delivery
March 21st, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. – Kerr Drug has launched an online store finder for its free prescription delivery program.
The regional drug chain, which has 90 stores in North Carolina, said customers can now visit kerrdrugdelivers.com to find the nearest Kerr pharmacy to request free delivery.
To use the finder, customers visit the Kerr Drug Delivers web site, enter a city or ZIP code, and select the distance. After locating the nearest Kerr pharmacy, they call their prescription in to a pharmacist to get it filled and request that the prescription be delivered to their home or office.
Non-pharmacy items from the store also can be delivered at no charge. In addition, Kerr pharmacists can help customers who want to transfer their prescriptions from another pharmacy to use the free delivery service, the retailer said.
"Free delivery became a popular service as soon as we started the program, and our new web locator makes the service even easier to use," Tony Civello, president and chief executive officer of Kerr Drug, said in a statement. "There are circumstances when customers can't get to the pharmacy, and providing free delivery is another way to better serve the community, which is what the concept of community pharmacy is all about."
Kerr began the free prescription delivery program in September in select stores and later on expanded the service to its other stores. The chain's delivery staff call patients when they are en route so that customers can be prepared when the medication arrives. Patients must sign for the prescriptions upon delivery.


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US youth entrepreneurship on the slide
Many of us turn to chocolate in times of trouble. But Eric Heinbockel isn't stuffing his face with it, he's making it.
Mr Heinbockel holds a business degree from one of the finest universities in the US. Instead of toiling in a bank or sitting in a plush boardroom, he's the co-founder of his own chocolate company.
Chocolate wasn't his first choice of career, but it turned out delicious nonetheless. With the economy stalling, more and more recent graduates are turning to entrepreneurship to make ends meet.
Mr Heinbockel and two friends, Fabian Kaempfer and Nick LaCava, decided to start a business. They came up with Chocomize.
The concept is simple: people build their own chocolate bars using a combination of ingredients and toppings, like gummy bears, rose petals or, for the more adventurous, bacon bits.
Young and jobless in numbers
of young people are
more likely to be jobless
are not in education or training
Youth unemployment is highest in
North Africa - 27.9%
Growth has been rapid. Since starting the business in late 2009, they have sold over $1m (£646,000) worth of chocolate and they've outgrown their former offices in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. They recently moved to a 5,000 sq ft location in Queens, New York, where they now employ eight to nine people.
"When we set out, really we weren't looking to create jobs for others," Mr Heinbockel says. "We were looking at the very least to create jobs for ourselves."
Given their own experiences searching for work, his partner Mr Kaempfer says being a job creator "feels really great".
Jobs for the young are virtually non-existent in the US right now.
Last year, the jobless rate among 16 to 24 year olds was 18.8%, the highest rate since comparable records began in 1985, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Large numbers of high school and college students typically search for summer jobs between April and July. That's also when many graduates enter the labour market to look for permanent employment.
Figures show that during these months in 2011, the number of 16 to 24 year olds who were unemployed rose to 745,000, an extra 174,000 compared with the same period last year.
"Youth unemployment in America right now and around the world has reached crisis levels," says Scott Gerber, the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.
"We frankly have never seen the sorts of epidemic proportions that are in this American economy of ours right now."
With no jobs for the young, his organisation is promoting youth entrepreneurship.
"Entrepreneurship is not an easy path but it is a viable path, but then in today's economy I think there are no easy answers," Mr Gerber says.
The lack of available finance and support is dissuading many young people from striking out on their own.
Youth entrepreneurship in the US is at an all-time low, according to the think tank Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, which looked at entrepreneurial activity over the last 10 years.
This decline is a great cause for concern. Without young people taking the risk and striking out on their own, many wonder where the entrepreneurs of the future will come from.
The Obama administration is engaged in discussions with groups like the Young Entrepreneur Council about how to support the next generation of business owners.
For many who do decide to go it alone, the best help often comes from family and friends.
After university, Susie Levitt and Katie Shea didn't bother looking for a job.
Using $10,000 of combined savings, they set up City Slips, which sells portable shoes that fold up and fit easily into a woman's purse. Their customers include department store Neiman Marcus and New York beauty shop Ricky's.
The pair started the company after entering a business plan competition during their senior year at New York University (NYU). Nine months later, their first batch of a thousand City Slips arrived at their spacious Long Island distribution centre - otherwise known as Shea's parents' garage.
Ms Levitt says none of it would have been possible without all the support they got.
"We had friends helping us with websites, professors at NYU helping us file for incorporation, our patent pending, so we had a lot of help from the get go," she says.
"That was really given to us mainly because we were on campus at school and really able to tap into their resources."
Today they operate out of an office in New York's fashion district where they have one room to store their products, and where they share a showroom with other businesses in the building.
But it hasn't all been plain sailing. Inventory management was one of their first lessons.
Starting out, they placed an order for shoes that matched the size they wear, small to medium. They quickly realised that wasn't representative of their market.
So looking back, do they have any regrets?
"Maybe it was a bit of luck or naivety," says Ms Shea.
"But our passion was entrepreneurship and small business so that's where we wanted to start."


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Australian fashion website MySale lines up £300m London float
Deal: Sir Philip Green will supply MySale with Arcadia inventory, including Miss Selfridge
Australian fashion website MySale, which last week sold a quarter of the business to billionaire retail tycoon Sir Philip Green, is the latest retailer to announce a float.
The firm, which runs ‘flash sales’ of discounted items to members on behalf of fashion labels, plans to raise £40million on the London Stock Exchange in a placement that will value MySale at between £200million and £300million.
As part of Sir Philip’s investment, he has a merchandising agreement to supply the company with excess inventory from his Arcadia empire, which includes BHS, Miss Selfridge and Wallis. MySale’s co-founders Carl and Jamie Jackson said this agreement currently excludes Topshop merchandise.
MySale, which faces competition from other online sites, holds 60 flash sales a day servicing 10.5million members.
It sold a 25 per cent stake in the business to Shelton Capital, an investment vehicle owned by Green’s wife.
A raft of retailers have come to the market in recent months, from Poundland to Pets at Home, but fashion chain Fat Face abandoned plans due to lack of interest.
Online department store The Hut, which many had expected to float, also said it has no plans to float this year.
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According to an article in The Express Tribune, the garments industry in Pakistan is requesting an end to audit notices and instead, timely release of sales tax refunds from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) stated that the FBR should focus on strengthening the industry and exporters rather than creating problems for them.
The PRGMEA also highlighted that tax revenue collected from the manufacturing sector, which contributes 13% of the gross domestic product (GDP), accounted for more than 51% of total tax revenue. On the other hand, the agricultural sector, which contributes over 26% of GDP, is only paying 2% of income tax.
The association urged for an expansion of the tax base to include the agricultural sector and called for solutions to ease the liquidity crunch, lower production costs, and create a consistent energy tariff policy. The PRGMEA also expressed concern over the removal of competitive power tariffs and its impact on textile exports.
To read the full article visit www.tribune.com.pk


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Loyal Commitment To Quality in Mexico
Desmex analyzed the Mexican market and explored the possibility of entering its solar industry back in 2002, but ultimately decided it was unfeasible. “CFE did not know about the interconnection of renewable energy sources,” explains Andre Von Frantzius, Commercial Director at Desmex. It took until 2006 for the Guanajuato-based company to take its first steps in residential solar installations but its commercial sector breakthrough happened in 2007. Walmart requested solar energy installations for two of its stores in Aguascalientes and another one in Baja California Sur, regardless of the cost. This was Desmex’s first such project in Mexico and involved the first Walmart stores in the country being converted for renewable energy use. In spite of the success working on this project, the company’s focus remained on the residential sector that it found simpler to work with. This is not surprising, as Mexican homeowners in the high domestic consumption tariff represent a 2GW market, according to Desmex. “We have completed over 3,000 residential installations, which gave us a solid background to start pursuing a number of projects below 10MW. Other areas of expertise involve developments for smaller commercial applications, along with single digit MW installations for larger companies. Our success can be attributed to our low and competitive market prices,” explains Von Frantzius. “We would like to install four or five small commercial developments each year and even own and operate our own solar plant to sell energy.”
“Commercial success lies in developing many small and medium-sized projects instead of a few enormous ones,” says Thomas Bjarnemark, CEO of Desmex Solar. “The experience required for colossal projects has not been locally available, although international firms can bring that experience to the table. Plenty of fly-by-night enterprises will enter the residential segment simply because the entry threshold is much lower. But in the larger industrial and commercial segments, such firms will appear and vanish overnight. The threshold is very high and only top-tier companies will make it.” As a distinctive trait, Desmex mostly favors German technology for its PV projects. “We mainly use Aleo Solar’s modules. For inverters, we turn to SMA, the most common and best-known supplier,” explains Jaime Montes de Oca, Head of Engineering of Desmex Solar. This penchant for German technology has to do with product quality, explains Montes de Oca. “We are selling top-notch equipment and have tested the products we use in high-end laboratories where German products have always come out on top. They are not the most affordable but Desmex can manage to move them around the Mexican market. These products have ten year manufacturing guarantees, while Chinese products come with two to five year guarantees.” However, von Frantzius points out that Desmex is currently also working with two Chinese partners who provide the PV modules while the Mexican firm does the rest.
Bjarnemark believes the Mexico’s manufacturing sector will allow the economy to grow at a tremendous pace, but the resulting rise in energy demand will put a lot of stress on the current electricity infrastructure. “Considering the conditions of CFE’s production capacity and grid, there can be no single answer to Mexico’s energy situation,” says Bjarnemark. “Mexico is running out of capacity, contributing to power outages. PV energy could provide a solution, but current infrastructure is inadequate to allow this to happen,” says Montes de Oca. “Solar plants larger than 30MW are going to have a hard time connecting to the grid. Power storage systems can provide solutions for small projects, but not for larger developments such as PV parks,” he adds. “However, renewable energy sources will have to play a significant role in whatever strategy is carried forward. Aside from irradiation rates, solar has a distinct advantage over wind as it is prone to a decentralized architecture whereas wind projects are clustered in certain areas. Moreover, prices for solar energy will continue to drop, which will raise demand even further.” As these prices fall, Desmex is finding solar energy becoming more competitive, which has promoted the appearance of many small competitors that offer low prices. “Unlike them, we are a stable company that has been in the market since 1994,” says Montes de Oca. “We would not be surprised if many of these companies also failed as the same situation took place with solar heating systems. Companies started bringing in thermo-siphons but two years later they were gone as the guarantees, the products, and the results they offered were poor.” Desmex is bracing for an influx of foreign competition over the next two years. “Several suppliers have told us that most European companies have their sights set on Mexico, especially Spanish firms,” says Montes de Oca.
Bjarnemark lays out how being a renowned foreign company is not enough to make it in the Mexican market. He believes it is necessary to know the country well, which cannot be achieved in a matter of weeks. Taking this into account, Mexican firms have a great advantage, says the Desmex Solar CEO. “They understand Mexico in ways no foreign company could, but international companies have the upper hand in many cases because they own the technology and the intellectual property that Mexican companies crave.” Desmex found a good solution to this conundrum. The company has partnered up with strong technology firms, but remains a Mexican company with long experience in the market. “Local experience will turn out to be more valuable than experience developing large projects,” says Bjarnemark.
Working to expand its own capacity, Desmex already has CFE’s permission for a 3MW solar project but the company is still working on signing the PPA. “Permits should not have to take long, but they can take up to a year and a half here at least,” says Montes de Oca.
Five years from now, Desmex plans on being a key player in the Mexican industry and move towards the clean tech and energy efficiency businesses. “We want to expand and not rely exclusively on solar power since we know how changeable and risky the market can be”, says Von Frantzius. The company wants to continue working on making the sector interesting and appealing, hoping to build the renewable energy industry. As Von Frantzius puts it: “Hopefully, I will look back 20 years from now and say I was part of a big change in Mexico.”


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The home furnishings of Bob and Dolors Hope -- think Lucite tables and lamps, McGuire rattan chairs and other design finds from properties that included a John Lautner mansion in Palm Springs -- will be sold at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills from Friday and Saturday.
Hope’s 1970s Lautner, which has been listed for $50 million, is contributing a wealth of 20th century classics to the auction, including a pair of acrylic table lamps by designer Karl Springer (estimated to sell for $2,000 to $3,000), an acrylic backgammon table ($800 to $1,200) and Walter Lamb outdoor furniture manufactured by Brown Jordan ($2,000 to $4,000).
A massive Japanese-style George I parcel gilt bureau cabinet ($75,000 to $85,000) and a papier-mâché praying Madonna figurine by Tony Duquette ($400 to $800) come from another Hope residence, an English-style estate in Toluca Lake by Robert Finkelhor, a prominent Los Angeles period revival architect to the stars.
Items in the auction can be viewed at a public exhibition from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Thursday and during auction hours. The sale starts with a 2 p.m. session Friday and continues with 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. sessions on Saturday. Both auction and exhibition are at Julien’s Auctions, 9665 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 150 in Beverly Hills. For more information: www.juliensauctions.com
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times


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Target: Toni Atkins, Speaker of the California State Assembly
Goal: Praise California for passing a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags
California has just passed legislation to implement the nation’s first statewide ban on plastic bags. It was the state’s second attempt to get plastic bags banned, and thanks to the efforts of grocery store workers and environmental activists, this legislation has finally been made into law. Thank the state for this pivotal law, as it will clean up the state’s waterways and help prevent animals from ingesting plastic.
Plastic can take up to hundreds of years to deteriorate because of its chemical composition. Plastic bags often litter streets, fences, rivers, fields, woodlands, and oceans. They clog up rivers and waterways, and animals often mistake them for food. Plastic rings from soda cans have killed countless animals, whether it be drowning them in the ocean, or preventing them from eating. This man-made creation that was first viewed as a major convenience has turned into a nightmare. Many Californians understand the environmental impact and fought for a ban on single-use plastic bags, and their tireless efforts resulted in this ban.
The new law will prevent grocery stores, convenience stores, and drug stores from selling single-use plastic bags. Stores can charge customers 10 cents per paper or reusable bag—the price is meant to encourage customers to bring in their own bags. The law will also loan $2 million to companies that are transitioning into making reusable bags. The law is not new to California, as many small and major cities have instituted their own bans.
Hopefully other states will follow suit and implement their own bans on plastic bags. By signing this petition, not only will you praise California for this new measure, but you will be encouraging other states to follow suit. Plastic only harms our environment, and the rest of the world needs to understand this. Thank California for becoming the first state in America to institute such a pivotal policy and ensuring that our environment is clean and safe for our wildlife to flourish.
Dear Speaker Atkins,
Recently, the California Assembly passed a law that bans the sale of single-use plastic bags in many retail stores. This law is pivotal in ensuring that our environment stays clean, safe, and and livable for us and other wildlife. As you know, plastic bags take an extremely long time to deteriorate, and many animals ingest this product thinking it is food. There are other dangers with plastic, such as polluting our water supply and clogging up waterways.
I am writing this letter to thank you and the Assembly for ensuring this proposal became law. I hope other states will follow suit and realize that plastic is a global problem. Humans invented plastic, and we need to make sure it goes away for life to flourish.
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: nist6dh via Flickr
Original petition: Support Ban on Plastic Bags


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Intuit to process bitcoin payments with QuickBooks Online
27 June 2014 | 7405 views | 0
Intuit is to make bitcoin payments an option for the 624,000 small businesses who use its cloud-based QuickBooks Online financial management software.
Intuit's new PayByCoin service is made possible via an integration between QuickBooks Online and bitcoin wallet outfit Coinbase.
To use the service, small business operators must register with Coinbase and link their wallets to their existing QuickBooks Online account.
When a customer receives an invoice, they receive the option to pay by traditional methods, such as credit card and bank transfer, or by bitcoin.
Intuit is providing the connectivity and software services to direct customers to the small business operator's Coinbase wallet, and to record the transactions in QuickBooks Online. The firm says it will not receive or hold any funds related to the PayByCoin transactions, either in USD or bitcoins.
Intuit, which last year processed approximately $40 billion in payments, does not currently charge a fee for this new service. Coinbase does not charge any fees for the first $1 million in bitcoin transactions; after that, a one percent payment processing fee will be levied when converting bitcoin to USD.
Earlier this year. Intuit-owned money management app Mint struck a deal with Coinbase to enable users to view their bitcoin transactions alongside more traditional financial accounts.


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Britain's Royal Mint will resume manufacture of gold coins in India, for the first time since 1918, to tap into the world's largest gold market, an official announcement said on the first day of Prime Minister David Cameron's three-day visit to the country.
The state-owned Royal Mint, which is Britain's oldest manufacturer, said it would begin making its gold 'sovereign' in a move that could earn $125 million a year by 2016 for the recession-hit UK Treasury.
The news that a widely recognised British brand plans to invest in India came as Cameron arrived in Mumbai on Monday to promote improved business links, alongside a delegation of more than 100 representatives from business, higher education and the creative industries.
''It is great to see gold sovereign coins being introduced back into India for the first time in almost 100 years,'' Cameron said in a statement.
The Royal Mint hopes its coins, which will be made under licence by MMTC-PAMP, an Indian gold producer and trader, will prove popular at the nation's lavish weddings and innumerable religious festivals, where gold is an auspicious gift.
The coins will be marked with an 'I' to reflect their Indian production.


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Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: A server detailing how they were once given a hate letter instead of a tip, how a crypto scam immediately latched on to the rebrand of Twitter, how a map of where Barbie and Oppenheimer is most popular prompted numerous political memes, and the debut story of Hi-Res, the Daily Dot’s investigations team.
After that, our Senior Culture Reporter Audra has a “Now Streaming” column for you.
Finally, down below we’ve got a story about a Taco Bell customer having a meltdown at the drive-thru over the wait time for their food.
See you tomorrow!
⚡ Today’s top stories
‘They listed all the things I did wrong’: Teen server says table left her a hate letter instead of a tip
This restaurant server has sparked discussion after claiming that a customer left her a hate letter in lieu of a tip.
Cryptocurrency pushers are already taking advantage of the rebranding this week that saw Twitter morph into “X.”
This map of where ‘Barbie’ or ‘Oppenheimer’ is more popular has strong 2016 vibes (and Trump is Barbie)
An electoral map purporting to show where people are searching more for Barbie or Oppenheimer has captivated people online and prompted a slew of satirical political punditry.
‘I soon learned, if you have an opinion the left doesn’t like—you will be harassed’: Twitter icon Catturd, a Trump favorite, revealed
We crawl the web so you don’t have to. Sign up to receive web_crawlr, a daily newsletter from the Daily Dot, in your inbox each day.
📺 Now Streaming
If you liked Ryan Gosling in ‘Barbie,’ watch ‘The Nice Guys’
In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Wednesdays our Culture Reporters Audra Schroeder and Michelle Jaworski review or analyze the latest streaming content in their “Now Streaming” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to you inbox.
🕸 Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.
🌡 Extreme heat has embroiled Texas in recent weeks, and in a dramatic video captured at an H-E-B grocery store parking lot in the South Texas town of Harlingen, Good Samaritans are shown rescuing a baby trapped in a locked car.
🍬 In the name of science, an enterprising young researcher took samples from containers of gummy bears at a candy store to see how clean or dirty they might be.
🗣 This Walmart worker is going viral for calling out last-minute shoppers who come into the store 30 minutes before closing.
🍽 To play the part, you gotta look the part. It’s an ideology that a restaurant guest embraced wholeheartedly when she dressed in all black, pretending she was an employee of the establishment.
⚠ Streaming low-res video is the ultimate live stream fail. These HD cams for live streaming will keep you from ending up on r/livestreamfails for the wrong reasons.*
🤖 There’s been a recent uptick in internet users employing AI to improve their job prospects.
🥪 A Firehouse Subs location in Canada is generating laughs online for its pointed joke about employees who show up to work on their days off to socialize with co-workers.
🧾 In a recently viral video, a TikToker advised other women to flip the long receipts on their food orders so their personal information is hidden.
📹 From the Daily Dot archive: Here’s how local governments are surveilling their workers.
*The Daily Dot may receive a commission in connection with purchases of products or services featured here.
👋 Before you go
A Taco Bell drive-thru worker recently went viral when he posted a video of a customer cursing and yelling about the wait time.
TikToker @andrew_carballo filmed the brief encounter with a customer waiting at the Taco Bell drive-thru window. The video has been viewed over 1 million times.
Carballo films a co-worker opening the window to explain to a customer that his food is currently being fried and will be out in a minute. Instead of waiting patiently for his food, the man cursed at the staff.
🎶 Now Playing: “Push” by Ryan Gosling 🎶


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Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.
On Cyber Monday mobile commerce sales from eBay shoppers in the United States increased 146 percent year over year, with California, Nevada, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida leading the way as the top mobile shopping states.
IBM announced that the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. website has experienced a double digit increase in sales using IBM software to advance its online and mobile commerce initiatives. Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. sells leading brands in apparel, cosmetics and home furnishings.
Online retailers and retail trade and research organizations are forecasting a very merry holiday in cyberspace, with promotions making it increasingly enticing for shoppers to let their fingers do the buying.
Mobile coupons help retailers make gains in sales compared to last year’s numbers.
Online coupon platform Coupons.com has announced that users of its digital coupons, either via discount offers printed off the web or linked automatically to a loyalty card, racked up $1 billion in savings between January and the end of October 2010.
Best Buy Co., the world’s largest consumer electronics retailer, doesn’t just want you to buy mobile phones this holiday season. It wants you to use the devices to shop for the rest of your gifts.
With smartphone penetration on the rise, brands are looking to invest more into their mobile marketing budgets. According to a recent survey from the financial advisory firm BIA/Kelsey, businesses are expected to spend nearly $3 billion on mobile marketing through 2014.
Procter & Gamble is reviewing its multimillion dollar mobile marketing business, which entails responsibilities for several of the packaged good giant's brands. P&G is looking for a mobile shop that can help it in other markets around the globe.
Smartsoft Mobile empowers some of the world’s largest multi-national organizations to extend and improve business processes by providing mobile solutions to their employees and customers. Smartsoft has more than 700 experienced ERP/mobile consultants with over 5,000 man years of experience helping 400,000 plus mobile users achieve their business goals with powerful mobile B2B and B2C applications, designed and developed specifically for today’s popular consumer and industrial grade mobile devices. For more information please visit, http://www.smartsoftmobile.com/. This newsletter is sponsored in part by Smartsoft Mobile Solutions.
Mobile marketing is set to drive a large number of sales this Christmas - one expert looks at how to harness this medium.
One in ten Brits will do their online Christmas shopping from the comfort of their own phone, which could impact how brands carry out mobile marketing campaigns.
This holiday season shows that cross channel marketing is a growing part of a standard B2C e-mail-marketing plan. Friends and family offers that typically were announced only in e-mail are now a staple of Facebook and Twitter posts, and more retailers are sending SMS notices to alert customers when high demand products are back in stock.
Google will add to its massive lead in US mobile advertising for 2010, with Apple in second place. A report released by the IDC research firm also estimates Microsoft and Yahoo! will lose mobile advertising share this year.
The long awaited uptake of the potentially lucrative mobile advertising market by advertisers and consumers has actually started to happen, companies from Canada, Egypt and Poland said on Friday.
Retail Promotion and m-Commerce as post click campaign actions experienced tremendous growth month over month with a 13 percent and 8 percent increase respectively.
eBay expects to top $1.5 billion in mobile sales this year. Since the introduction of its first mobile application in July 2008, on-the-go consumers have bought or sold nearly 30 million items.
Downloads for smartphone apps were up 25 percent over the four days of the Thanksgiving holiday, from Thursday through Sunday, compared to the prior week. Downloads on Thanksgiving Day were the highest, up 54 percent compared to a week earlier.
Mobile commerce exploded in 2010, with hundreds of new m-commerce sites and a variety of new mobile apps hitting the scene. Many sites are very limited in their approach, while others offer fine tuned design and navigation for the small screen.
Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, mobile industry analyst and experienced mobile industry executive, offers both one and two day onsite workshops designed to educate and inform executives and management teams on enterprise mobility and mobile strategies for businesses. This workshop is designed to provide a complete overview of enterprise mobility and what it means to the business. The workshop is customized based upon the needs of participants. For more details visit http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/p/workshops.html.
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Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.


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Delhi: 10 Gurudwaras implement FSSAI food-safety, hygiene guidelines for Langars
(Sourced from PTI)
Ten Gurudwaras in Delhi including the historical Bangla Sahib Gurudwara have implemented the food safety and hygiene standards set by food regulator FSSAI. Around 1L devotees partake Prasad in these Gurdwaras on weekdays and number increases to 5L on weekends/festive occasions, Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjit Singh said. FSSAI initiated Project BHOG (Blissful Hygienic Offering to God) for providing healthy food.
Singh said the management committee has set up hygiene standards for the community kitchens preparing Langar. Desi ghee and edible oils are standardized and tested for purity in government labs. Payment to suppliers is made only after the lab reports are obtained, he said. Vegetables are directly procured from Azadpur Mandi to ensure freshness, while rice, flour, and milk to be procured wholesome.
Reverse osmosis (RO) plants have been set up to provide clean water for cooking to prevent contamination of food. All regular employees engaged in Langar kitchen are required to wear aprons, gloves, and head covers. Certain items like chapatis are prepared using standard equipment without being touched by food handlers. All Langar premises are cleaned twice a day to ensure proper sanitation, Singh said.


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BIG RAPIDS, MI -- Wolverine Worldwide's Big Rapids plant could soon be producing Saucony shoes for U.S. troops.
This week's passage of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act laid the groundwork for Wolverine to bid on contracts to supply the military with its brand of high performance running shoes.
The $618.7 billion defense bill directs the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to comply with the the 1941 Berry Amendment and provide 100 percent American-made athletic footwear to recruits upon their initial entry to basic training.
The Department of Defense has been providing a cash allowance to new service members for foreign-made athletic footwear. U.S. Marine recruits have been required to spend their own funds on these items.
Wolverine's Big Rapids plant is one of the country's largest manufacturers of combat boots, dress uniform and other footwear to the military.
"This legislation opens the door for hardworking manufacturers to compete for the honor of supplying our troops with the best American-made footwear available," said Representative Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, who has been working on Berry Amendment language for years. "This means more good-paying manufacturing jobs can be created right here in Michigan."
This legislation had bipartisan support in Michigan, led by Democrat Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, and by Huizenga and Rep. John Moolenaar on the Republican side.
"Congressional support for American-made products for the Department of Defense clearly demonstrates an understanding of the importance of maintaining a critical industrial capability within our country and ensures that soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines will be provided with a choice of technically advanced, durable, American-made athletic shoes for use in basic training," said Blake Krueger, Wolverine Worldwide's chief executive said in a statement.
Wolverine is in the process of expanding its Big Rapids plant to add advanced manufacturing line for Berry-compliant Saucony running shoes in preparation for the pursuit of government awards. The facility has a workforce of 600.
The Rockford-based footwear maker sells more than a dozen brands from Merrell to Chaco.


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DULUTH, GA. (PRWEB) DECEMBER 11, 2018 – Industry observers expect online sales this holiday season to rise 22 percent according to Deloitte. This compares to 5 percent last year, where online holiday sales totaled $1.05 trillion (1). Many will miss out on this slice of the retail pie if they don’t listen to their customers preference for receiving e-mail marketing and other communications.
A recent survey from PossibleNOW™, the leading provider of enterprise consent and preference management solutions, uncovered that as many as 36 percent of businesses are not actively collecting customer preference data. Additionally, another 31 percent aren’t sure if they’re collecting this data.
Preference management for customers is extremely valuable since it provides a company the ability to respect customers’ needs and wants, increase marketing ROI, and comply with a growing number of regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA. Preference management platforms help customers indicate information they want to receive, how often they want to receive communications from an organization, and through which marketing channels, such as text, email and phone.
Of the 36% of companies that say they are not collecting preference management data, 33 percent say they do not know enough about it. Furthermore, 21 percent of these companies say at least half their customer base is frustrated as a result.
Forty-one percent of respondents said they do not share preference data across all departments and divisions, and 40 percent said they do not maintain historical preference records. This means customers of large companies aren’t having their preferences honored if they’re receiving emails from different groups within the same company. Worse, these companies aren’t tracking the evolution of their customers’ change in preferences, which is problematic if they have a regulatory inquiry.
For those companies that are actively collecting preference data, many are still in the development stages with systems that aren’t fully matured. Forty-seven percent (nearly half) said their systems are in early stages, planning phases or initial deployment.
“Considering GDPR and CCPA compliance laws and more on the horizon, it’s no longer a luxury to have a thorough, comprehensive enterprise-wide preference management platform and strategy, it should be a requirement for companies of all sizes,” said Eric Tejeda, Marketing Director at PossibleNOW. “Many companies will increase their marketing to customers to take advantage of holiday activity, and unfortunately a large percentage of these companies will upset and frustrate long-time customers and lose out on their spending power.”
PossibleNOW leverages powerful technology and industry-leading expertise to enable companies to listen to customers, remember what they like and respond in personalized ways. Its enterprise consent, data subject access request and preference management platform, MyPreferences®, collects customer data, stores it in a central repository and makes it available to other applications across the enterprise.
PossibleNOW’s professional service experts create strategic roadmaps, plan technology deployments, and design consent and preference collection interfaces to position clients for success. PossibleNOW is purpose-built to help large, complex organizations gain control over communications, mitigate compliance risk and reduce marketing expenses while improving customer experience. For more information visit https://www.PossibleNOW.com/preference-management.
1: “Retailers could ring up more than $1.1 trillion in holiday sales, topping last year”; CNBC; Sept. 19, 2018


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Chrysler Recommits to Canada Despite Lack of Financial Aid
Minivans Will be Built in Windsor, Not Mexico
After weeks of negotiations between Chrysler Group and the Canadian government, the automaker recently announced it will keep building minivans in the country, despite previous threats it would move production elsewhere. The automaker had asked Canada for financial assistance to upgrade its Canadian plants in Windsor and Brampton, Ontario, but has since withdrawn that request, stating it will use its own cash.
"It is clear to us that our projects are now being used as a political football, a process that, in our view, apart from being unnecessary and ill-advised, will ultimately not be to the benefit of Chrysler," the automaker said in a statement.
During the negotiations, in which the automaker was requesting $2.3 billion (CAD) for renovation costs, CEO Sergio Marchionne threatened he would consider moving production to the U.S. or Mexico as an alternative. Instead, Chrysler will make the renovations to the Windsor plant without financial assistance, while also stating that its Brampton plant will benefit from upcoming updates slated for the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger and Challenger. Marchionne admitted the importance of his company's Canadian operations, but warns that Chrysler reserves "the right, as is true for all global manufacturers, to reassess our position as conditions change."
That warning has some worried, including officials from the Canada-based Unifor labor union. In an interview with The Windsor Star, Unifor Local 444 vice president Mike Lovric welcomes Chrysler's commitment to minivan production, but worries about future plans.
"Who knows if the minivan will still be popular," Lovric told The Windsor Star. "That $2.3-billion investment was supposed to be for different platforms, different types of vehicles within the Windsor assembly plant, to keep the three shifts running. Now, we're not sure."
Marchionne sees the situation as a lesson learned.
"On a personal note, as a Canadian, I regret my failure in having been unable to convey the highly competitive nature of markets that offer manufacturing opportunities to carmakers that operate on a global scale," he said in a statement. "It is clear that we, at Chrysler, need to do more to explain ourselves and our choices going forward."
Source: Chrysler, The Windsor Star


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iPhone developers the world over have been up in arms recently over Apple’s handling of iPhone application submissions and approvals for the AppStore. Apple has been criticized for keeping their AppStore certification process as transparent as coal and basically giving some iPhone developers the cold shoulder. So, in an attempt to right its AppStore wrongs, Apple has just launched their AppStore Resource Center to try and guide devs through the process of getting their iPhone apps approved. Unfortunately, the move has done little more than to further frustrate iPhone devs.
According to ArsTechnica, iPhone devs have voiced their disapproval of Apple’s new AppStore Resource Center. One developer called out Apple for not really doing anything to help devs. The supposed help center is apparently nothing more than “a collection of documents that were already out there, just condensed into one place.” In its current form, the Resource Center is all but useless. What the iPhone dev community needs, according to another developer, is a clearly defined list of criteria for iPhone app certification. Instead, Apple put a bandage on a half-hearted attempt to get in good with devs, and that’s just not acceptable.
The idea behind the AppStore Resource Center is sound. iPhone developers could use an online resource that clearly defines guidelines for AppStore approval as well as a community where questions can be answered. It’s just too bad Apple let their loose ends trip them up. Public face-plants can be embarrassing.