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Chinese meals can contain as much salt as five Big Macs – close to toxic levels, warns new research.
They should carry a health warning for raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes, claim health campaigners.
Supermarket Chinese ready meals are also packed with salt – with some containing more than two store-bought Pizza Express Margheritas, according to the study.
Iceland’s Takeaway Egg Fried Rice has a shocking 4.1g salt per 350g pack – more than 11 bags of ready salted crisps.
The saltiest Chinese ready meal was Slimming World’s Chinese Style Banquet Rice with 4.40g salt per 550g pack – that’s more salt than two store-bought Pizza Express Margheritas.
Next in line was Marks & Spencer Crispy Sweet and Sour Chicken Banquet with 4.13g salt per 500g pack.
That is over over two thirds (69%) of an adult’s maximum daily intake – the same as
scoffing more than three McDonald’s hamburgers.
When it comes to dipping in soy sauces were by far the saltiest – on average being over five times saltier than seawater.
Incorporating sides and dipping sauces to your meal could provide you with
nearly 4g salt per person alone.
For example, 2 ASDA Hoisin Duck Spring Rolls and 15ml of ASDA Dark Soy Sauce contains 3.82g salt – more salt than nine servings of peanuts.
Of the 141 supermarket ready meals surveyed by Action on Salt – formerly CASH – nearly half (43%) had 1.8g per portion – enough for a red label on the pack.
Sarah Alderton, Assistant Nutritionist at Action on Salt, said: “Considering how many millions of takeaways and ready meals are eaten in the UK each week, the food industry must be held to account, with new salt targets set by the government to ensure the salt content of these meals is reduced to much lower levels, and fast.
“If the food industry don’t comply, they should be made mandatory.”
To mark Salt Awareness Week the report is calling on Public Health England to set new salt targets, make front of pack labelling mandatory.
It also wants it to follow the lead of the New York City Board of Health by ordering chain restaurants to put warning labels on high salt dishes.
Every 1g reduction in salt intake prevents 7,000 deaths, 4,000 of which are premature, from strokes and heart disease.
With 22 million takeaways eaten by UK adults each week – Chinese being the most popular – there’s an urgent demand to drastically cut salt content, they said.
An analysis of Chinese takeaway meals purchased from six independent restaurants in London’s famous Chinatown revealed 97% contained a hefty 2g of salt or more per dish.
Over half (58%) contained more than 3g of salt per dish – which is half an adult’s maximum recommended daily intake in one portion alone.
Combining side dishes would take diners over the top – for the whole day.
The saltiest main with a rice/noodle side dish contained a staggering 11.50g salt (Beef in Black Bean Sauce and Vegetable Noodles from Wong Kei restaurant).
This is the equivalent of five Big Macs – and getting near to acute toxic levels.
There were large variations in the salt content of the same dishes from different restaurants.
The saltiest sweet and sour dish contained a staggering 3.4g per dish – that’s the same amount found in 70 Ritz Crackers. The lowest had just 1g.
Similarly, there was a two-fold difference in salt for Szechuan Beef,
ranging from 2.30g-4.60g.
Beef in black bean sauce dishes were the saltiest on average (1.27g/100g), whilst sweet and sour dishes were the least (0.54g/100g).
In 2016, PHE assumed responsibility for UK salt reduction. But the report said there has been little action – with no progress report on whether the
last set of targets due to be met by the end of 2017 have been reached.
It said every 1g reduction in salt intake prevents 7,000 deaths – 4,000 of which are
premature – from strokes and heart disease.
Sonia Pombo, campaign manager at Action on Salt, said: “Our data shows food can be easily reformulated with lower levels of salt, so why haven’t all companies acted responsibly?
“The lack of front-of- pack colour coded labelling on branded products makes it incredibly difficult for consumers to make healthier choices and that is simply unacceptable.
“This week, as part of Salt Awareness Week, we are asking everyone, including the food industry, to think first and use less salt.”
Professor Graham MacGregor, of Queen Mary University, London, and Chairman of Action on Salt, added: “Salt is the forgotten killer as it puts up our blood pressure, leading to tens of thousands of unnecessary strokes, heart failure and heart attacks every year.
“Reducing salt is the most cost effective measure to reduce the number of people dying or suffering from strokes or heart disease. We are now calling on PHE to take immediate action.”


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Harrods and the brand N°21 teamed up to introduce a new shoes concept.British luxury department store Harrods announced the launch of a new pop-up by N°21. Located in Shoe Heaven, Fifth Floor, the pop-up will open on Monday 18th July 2016 and will run for one month showcasing a special shoes project by Alessandro Dell’Acqua, who, inspired by the iconic floral campaign Whatever the Weather by Harrods, revisited the iconic N°21 Bow Mules. Embellished with black diamonds bouquet, the satin mules come in exclusive colours of sky blue, baby pink, grey, purple and blu.
Debuted on Spring/Summer 15 catwalks, N°21 Bow Mules have quickly gained momentum and have become a hero item of the brand. Alessandro Dell'Acqua, founder and creative director of N°21, refreshes them each season with new colours, materials and details.

domain: news


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The Village of Cap-Pelé is suing a company to which it sold a parcel of land for $1, before the company allegedly sold it for a $1.8-million profit.
Cap-Pelé’s statement of claim filed in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Moncton on Dec. 11, says on Nov. 3, 2010, it sold a piece of land on Acadie Ave., to Gestions CJMPR Holdings Ltée/Ltd. with an agreement that the company would provide a pharmacy and a medical clinic that would accommodate three family doctors.
The claim says if the third-party company, which has since dissolved, was to sell the land, it would need to repay the village the land value at the time of sale.
Seven years later, in March 2017, Gestions CJMPR Holdings Ltée/Ltd. sold the land for $1.875 million, according to the claim.
But the village is now seeking $87,500, which it says was the value of the land at the time of the first sale.
The land now houses a Jean Coutu Pharmacy and a medical clinic.
The village, which says it didn’t learn of the sale until December 2018, is also seeking interest and incidental or unwarranted enrichment damage.
Global News reached the Pierre LeBlanc, president of the now-dissolved company, by phone late Thursday.
He says it’s a “misunderstanding,” but declined to say where the $87,500 was and said he wasn’t sure if he’d file a statement of defence.
The allegations have not been tested in court.
The village’s lawyer declined an interview about the ongoing suit.


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In an unusual move, Walt Disney Co. is reportedly banning Netflix from advertising across its entertainment TV networks. The move comes at a time when Disney is busy building its own streaming service which is expected to be launched next month. This shows that war over gaining more subscribers for streaming video services is escalating. Disney, AT&T Inc., and Comcast Corp. have plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertisement over the next year to draw consumers to their new streaming-video services and compete with two of their biggest streaming competitors, Netflix and Amazon. This is apparently the first of many moves that the company has planned to attract more subscribers.
The entertainment company has reportedly decided to ban Netflix ads across all of its TV networks like FX, ABC, National Geographic and Freeform. However, the industry-leading streaming service Netflix will still be allowed to advertise on ESPN because Netflix doesn’t offer live sports. The development comes close on the heels of Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger resigning from Apple’s board, a clear indication that two companies are serious about their streaming project and going to be serious rivals in the near future. The tech giant is launching it launch its own streaming service Apple TV+ in November. Weeks later, Disney will launch Disney+.
Similar situations were reported when Amazon and Google had engaged in a similar war. At that time, Fire TV devices of Amazon had stopped offering content from Google-owned YouTube. In a tit-for-tat move, the search engine giant’s Chromecast suite of streaming devices had put a ban on Amazon Prime Video content. This cold war went on for several months until they reached a compromise in July 2019. Earlier in 2017, Disney announced it would stop licensing most of its content to Netflix, as a result, only a few movies and shows were left on the platform. Netflix, which used to produce Marvel shows such as ‘Jessica Jones,’ had announced in February that it will stop making new seasons, eventually ending its relationship with the Disney company.


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VIDGO debuts at CES
January 7, 2016
OTT TV streaming service VIDGO has debuted at CES 2016. Now in beta testing, VIDGO offers the most channels of live linear TV and VoD including premium, sports, local and international content. The OTT service works with devices from smart TVs to tablets to smartphones, providing true on-the-go video for a monthly fee.
“VIDGO combines the best of existing online streaming services with live television and VoD,” said Robert Kostensky, VIDGO president and co-founder. “VIDGO is the lowest cost solution to deliver the most expansive catalog of live linear television and VoD to all devices and connected televisions.”
VIDGO will be offered in threed packages, with no long-term contracts required. VIDGO will launch in 15 markets in the US in the first half of 2016, with full coverage throughout the US by Q4 2016.


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The government issued two reports yesterday showing that inflation remained low last month while consumer spending gains, which have been exceptionally strong this year, may be moderating.
The Commerce Department said retail sales rose only slightly in June, as increased spending for a broad range of products was almost offset by a drop in sales by automotive dealers and gasoline stations.
But the 1 percent drop in automotive sales came on the heels of a red-hot May, and analysts weren't ready to conclude that the consumer spending boom that has been a mainstay of the long U.S. economic expansion is really cooling down.
"The June retail sales data show a little moderation, but not enough to draw the inference that a meaningful slowdown in consumer spending is underway," said Ray Stone of Stone & McCarthy Research Associates, a financial markets research firm in Princeton, N.J.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said prices charged by producers for finished goods fell 0.1 percent, primarily because of a large 1.3 percent drop in passenger car prices and a 0.7 percent decline in prices of light trucks, which include popular sport-utility vehicles. Car prices had gone up 0.7 percent in May and light truck prices 0.8 percent.
Economist Gerald D. Cohen of Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York termed both of the reports "market-friendly." If other economic data coming out between now and the Federal Reserve's next policymaking meeting Aug. 24 "show a similar performance, the Fed can remain on hold at that time."
The central bank raised its target for overnight rates to 5 percent from 4.75 percent on June 30 in a "preemptive" move intended to slow economic growth modestly and keep inflation from increasing.
Even with retail sales up only 0.1 percent last month, to $243.3 billion, consumer purchases for the April-June period rose at an annual rate of 7.5 percent because of strong gains in earlier months. And with inflation extremely low, especially for goods, most of that increase represented a higher volume of purchases.
Gasoline station sales were held down by a 1.9 percent drop in prices at the pump, after a rise of more than a third over the previous three months. But food prices rose 0.4 percent as volatile fresh vegetable prices climbed 14.5 percent, which added to grocery store sales.
Over the past 12 months, finished goods prices, which are the prices charged by a producer when a completed item is first sold, were up 1.5 percent.
Some analysts expressed concern that while finished-goods prices showed little inflation pressure in the economy, separate indexes for crude materials, such as coal and oil, and for intermediate products -- lumber and components for industrial machinery, for example -- both rose for the fourth month in a row. These indexes often are referred to as indicators of the "inflation pipeline."
Dana Saporta, an analyst at Stone's firm, said, "These pipeline indexes bear watching, since continued increases in the months ahead would be a signal of building inflation pressures. Also, now that these indexes seem to have bottomed out, they could provide the Federal Reserve with some ammunition for [raising interest rates], which the Fed does not have in the finished-goods data."
Last December, the crude-materials price index was 16.7 percent lower than at the end of 1997, while the index for intermediate goods was 3.3 percent lower over the same period. By last month, the the year-over-year decline in intermediate-goods prices had shrunk to 0.5 percent, and the drop in crude-materials was down to only 0.4 percent.
However, often in the past neither increases nor declines in the crude- and intermediate-product indexes has had a significant impact on finished goods prices, because other costs, particularly for labor, represent a much greater share of total costs for producers.
Maury N. Harris, chief economist at PaineWebber Inc. in New York, said the "soft" retail sales report for last month could be the first of a string. Earlier this year unusually larger federal personal income tax refunds and low mortgage interest rates were both stimulating consumer spending. Low mortgage rates did so by encouraging refinancing of existing mortgages, which reduces monthly payments and may allow owners to take out some of their equity and spend it. At the same time, low mortgage rates boosted purchases of both new and existing homes, which increases demand for furniture, appliances, carpets and other furnishings.
With the surge in tax refunds waning and mortgage rates up substantially, "upcoming retail sales for the second half of the year should post just moderate gains," Harris said.
To Harris's list, Stone would add the fact the employment gains in recent months are down compared with the levels of last year and the first quarter of this year. Smaller increases in the number of jobs means smaller increases in household income.
CAPTION: Keeping Its Cool (This chart was not available)
CAPTION: Slight Moderation


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Over 800 new features coming in Football Manager 2012
Sports Interactive has promised a vast amount of new features in this season's edition of Football Manager.
Football Manager 2012 is to feature 800 additions and improvements and that's not counting the latest versions of the rules for the 50-plus leagues that will be playable in the game.
The major improvements include changes to the transfer and contracts system adding things like loyalty bonuses, better amateur and youth contracts and individually lockable areas of contracts in negotiations to help improve budget management.
There is a deeper scouting system including new squad analysis, tactical information and data on goals scored and conceded. This is just the tip of the iceberg on the scouting front too.
3D match views have been improved with extra cameras, more stadiums and new crowd and weather systems. There's also a new tone system for your team talks allowing you to inject some feeling before matches and at half time to get the lads fired up.
Miles Jacobson, Sports Interactive studio director said: "We're delighted to finally be able to start talking about Football Manager 2012. It's another year of evolution, with some revolution thrown in for good measure so we're pretty sure our dedicated communities, and hopefully lots of new people too, get to play and enjoy the game when it's released later in the year."
Football Manager 2012 will be out on PC and Mac in time for Christmas.
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- Microsoft celebrates the 1st birthday of the Xbox One with free access to Sunset Overdrive
- Hacker group leaks account details for thousands of PSN, Origin, Windows Live and 2K Game Studios accounts
- RedLynx promises online multiplayer is coming to Trials Fusion early next year


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The situation concerning COVID-19 in Morocco
Fortunately, the numbers of infected people in Morocco are low. There are currently about 300 new cases per day. On a population of 37 million inhabitants, this concerns less than 14,000 infections and 245 deaths per million inhabitants.
In comparison, in the United States, are over 100,000 infected people and 1,830 deaths per million inhabitants. Canada has over 36,000 infected people infected and 669 deaths per million inhabitants. And the Netherlands is at over 95,000 infected people and 1026 deaths per million inhabitants.
(Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )
Morocco’s vaccination program is progressing well. Currently, 31% of the population is vaccinated. The Sinopharm vaccine is mainly used. But a batch of Astra Zeneca vaccines has also arrived recently. The Moroccan government is trying to inform the population on a large scale about the benefits of vaccination.
Furthermore, about tourism in Morocco, a large number of measurements have been taken to ensure safe travel as soon as possible.
And of course, all people from Travel Magical Morrocco are following all the standard guidelines and measurements to make sure you will enjoy a relaxed holiday in Morocco. We will help you with the extra travel preparations where ever we can and offer you an unforgettable trip.
In short; Morocco is doing everything it can to give travelers a warm Moroccan welcome as soon as possible.
This is in dire need. Morocco’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism, therefore the situation has an immediate impact on the lives of the people of Morocco. Especially the people in the small towns and in the countryside lost their income. Here you can read how the lack of tourists affects even the shepherds in the mountains.
The current measures will remain in force at least until June 10.
That means that at least until June 10, there is still no income for many Moroccans. We at Travel Magical Morocco have started an online donation to raise money for the people affected by this loss of income. And we started the webshop Help Local with
Love where you can buy handmade products from Morocco; we purchase these items directly in Morocco for a fair price. To at least compensate some people for their loss of income. We are now also busy setting up women’s cooperatives there so that the money ends up with the makers of the beautiful products as fair as possible.
Do you want to know more about the situation concerning COVID-19 in Morocco? Or do you have specific questions about traveling to Morocco? You can always contact us.


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Due to the constantly growing dollar exchange rate in our country, the prices of games are growing day by day. Players are waiting for days of massive discounts organized by platforms such as Steam and Epic Games. So, when will the seasonal discounts on Steam be valid?
Steam seasonal discounts are already here: Autumn, Winter and Spring discount dates!
According to the news published today, the Steam discount season will begin next month. The autumn sale will be available for the first time from November 23 to 29. Since this date also coincides with Black Friday, we expect that the biggest drop in prices will occur here.
The next date among the seasonal Steam sales coincides with the Winter Sale, which will take place from December 22 to January 5. This will be close to the release of school report cards in 3 months. But that’s not all.
Finally, from March 16 to March 23, spring discounts are waiting for us. During this period, games that are probably on sale will be sold at today’s price. So there will be some consolation for those who missed 2 big discounts on the purchase of the game.


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More than two-thirds of Samoans hit by downturn: U.N. research
More than two-thirds of Samoans report having lost income and having trouble repaying debts as a result of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, new United Nations [U.N.] research has found.
The results of a survey on the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic were released on Thursday and the results showed the effects of the economic downturn to be far reaching.
The data showed that not only had 68 per cent of Samoans lost income due to the crisis, but a significant number were even being forced to eat less and were struggling to repay debts.
A total of 286 Samoans were polled online for the research.
Researchers found almost half of households have at least one unemployed member and 71 percent of people are having trouble repaying debts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions.
According to the statement, the COVID-19 has hit the pockets and wallets of Samoans, reducing revenue, increasing debt and for some households – affecting food security.
The online survey took place between 11 June and 5 July 2020.
A total of 57 per cent of respondents were women; 68 per cent were aged between 25 and 44; 47 per cent were the heads of a household and 76 per cent were the main family income earner.
“Close to half of respondents say that the decline of domestic and international travel has led to a reduction in earnings. Twenty-three per cent said their employer has had to close a business, and 15 per cent have had their job terminated,” analysis accompanying the study found.
“The other most common reasons cited for a fall in income included the interruption of social activities and the unavailability of stock for market vendors and shops.
“Some respondents said they quit their jobs because their employer changed employment conditions due to the crisis.”
The survey also indicated that Samoans were not optimistic about the future. A total of 75 per cent of respondents said that if the state of emergency [S.O.E.] continues for another two months, they expect a continued decline in their personal and household income.
“Only 19.6 per cent of respondents said that those in their household who lost income have been able to find a new source of revenue,” the report said.
Simona Marinescu, the U.N. Resident Coordinator for the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau said: “Samoa acted quickly and decisively to implement a state of emergency that has prevented the spread of COVID-19 and saved many lives.
”However, Samoa, like any other country, has been affected in multiple ways by the COVID-19 pandemic whose socio-economic cost continues to grow.
“Although we have avoided a health crisis, all indicators suggest that a protracted economic crisis is on the horizon. Poverty may rise and the hard work done in recent years to advance many of the sustainable development goals could be reversed, unless we take action now to protect the most vulnerable.”
The study found nearly one-third of respondents said that they are receiving some kind of support from the Government during the S.O.E.
The official response to the crisis has included two stimulus packages, which Marinescu said appears to have been timely and working well.
“The initial response of the U.N. system in Samoa was to help the government to deal with the immediate health emergency, such as by boosting testing capacity through the procurement of necessary equipment - and by supporting the health sector,” she said.
“Now we must look at the longer-term socio-economic impact. The first step in this process is to use tools such as this survey to quickly gather evidence and understand how the crisis is affecting ordinary people.
“The next step will be to design programmes that complement and expand the government’s own continued efforts to stimulate the economy and prevent a rise in poverty and hardship.”
A total of 71 per cent of Samoans expressed concern that the loss of income has had an effect on their ability to repay debts. Personal loans, mortgages, store credit, motor vehicle loans and education loans were the most commonly cited reasons cited for owing money.
This debt spiral could exacerbate poverty further, the report authors warned.
Worryingly, the impact of COVID-19 on supply chains and household incomes already appears to have affected nutrition for some Samoans.
A total of 17 per cent of respondents said that they are buying significantly less food.
The nutritional value of food may also have declined due to the crisis.
Around 10.5 per cent of respondents say the quality of their household diet has declined significantly, while 36 per cent say it has “somewhat” declined.


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A recent merger of digital marketing agency Modus Operandi with creative branding and motion graphics company Eyeball has resulted in its first major project as the merged agency, Mod Op: a ‘Culture Wall’ for the Microsoft flagship store in New York City.
Microsoft tasked Mod Op with helping the company utilize its street-facing wall at the NYC flagship store to create an artistic reflection of what technology can bring to the community in an artistic sense. They are collaborating with local artists to bring architecture to life in a digital and dynamic format. Digital artist Tabor Robak was the first to land his work on the wall and more local New York-area artists’ work will be featured in the coming weeks.
“The idea of the culture wall, which is what they call this giant 40-foot LED display that’s on the façade of the store, is really to serve as a connection between Microsoft and the community,” said TJ McCormick, partner and executive creative director at Mod Op. “The bigger objective they have with it is for people to start to view Microsoft less as a maker of hardware and software and more of a company and brand whose focus is on empowering people. Bringing in local artists and showing their creativity is a great representation of that mission.”
Modus Operandi and Eyeball have been working in collaboration with Microsoft for nearly two years, but the newly merged Mod Op allows the company to combine its efforts on both the digital and creative side.
“The synergy of those two companies, having Eyeball coming from a creative, brand and motion graphics history, which has been in business for twenty years, and the Modus Operandi side, having very good digital capabilities and technology capabilities – we combine those two things, it makes it so that we are able to work with clients in a way that either company wasn’t able to before bringing those two skill sets together,” said Eric Bertrand, chief executive officer at Mod Op.
TJ McCormick (l) and Eric Bertrand of Mod Op
For the Microsoft project, that lets them serve as a…


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Out of the corner of neediness: social department stores and repair stores found the quality seal WIRD for better lobbying.
A lot can be made out of old things – above all, the ecological footprint can be reduced in the process Photo: ap
Everyone talks about sustainable consumption, but hardly anyone talks about repair stores and social department stores. The longer clothing, toys, electrical appliances and bicycles are used, the smaller their ecological footprint. Some businesses have now established an umbrella brand under which they work to common quality standards and aim to raise awareness of their offerings.
The WIRD seal of approval stands for the "Reuse and Repair Centers in Germany" and is aimed at "all businesses in the colorful and locally structured public second-hand sector," says Claudio Vendramin from the Herford Recycling Exchange, who initiated the seal. It is awarded by an association that develops common quality standards for the things repaired and offered; it also aims to become a powerful lobby for the second-hand sector and improve its marketing.
There are around 400 non-profit reuse facilities in Germany, ranging from the Diakonia Kaufhaus in Munich with 1,200 square meters of sales space to the Rumpelstielzchen second-hand store in Soest. The companies are often run by a municipality, a church or an association with the aim of providing jobs for people who have a hard time on the primary labor market.
"We have to move away from the purely social idea and focus more on our ecological function and competence," says Vendramin. "We are actually the natural partners of the municipal recycling centers," says Vendramin, "but the word hasn’t gotten out everywhere yet." As a result, he says, old computers or furniture, for example, are often treated so roughly at the collection centers that they can only be shredded and recycled, not repaired.
Faith in the new
Dieter Sommer, Diakonia
"It is important to the donors that their sorted-out things have a use for their environment and are not sold off"
A major problem for repair shops is the stigma attached to used things, says Susanne Fischer of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy. In the circular economy business area, she has investigated throughout Europe why used, repaired things are difficult to sell. The result: "New is still considered better," says Fischer. Companies also believe this, even though they could procure used electrical appliances much more cheaply, for example.
The Wuppertal Institute provided scientific support for the development of the seal of approval. Conclusion: "It has great potential," says Fischer, "because it can create trust among consumers." In Belgium, he says, sales of the reuse industry have multiplied since it began operating under a common label.
An umbrella brand "is a really good idea," says Martin Tertelmann of Stuttgart-based social enterprise Neue Arbeit. With recycling workshops, bicycle service stations and social department stores, the non-profit GmbH generates 60 million euros in sales per year. "We lack the capacity for effective lobbying," says Tertelmann. One example: In the Recycling Management Act, there is a recycling quota, but no quota for the recycling of things, he says. "That would have an enormous steering effect for ecology and labor," says Tertelmann.
Dieter Sommer, managing director of Munich-based Diakonia Dienstleistungsbetriebe, which runs a department store for books, household goods, furniture and, above all, clothing, also views the new seal with interest. "It’s important to donors that their discarded items have a benefit for their community and are not discarded," Sommer says, "and customers want good products." A seal of approval could build trust.
The development of the seal has received 95,000 euros in funding from the Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for the Environment; additional public funds are currently being acquired. In the long term, however, the association will have to finance itself. According to Vendramin, companies will have to pay a portion of their sales for membership. "We have to offer added value for companies," association founder Vendramin is clear about that, because companies need to invest their revenues in a sustainable way.


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ZANDO has become a South African success story, enjoying significant growth on a monthly basis since its launch on 23 January 2012.
“In the short time that ZANDO has been an eBucks partner, we have seen that fashion is a category in which eBucks’ members enjoy spending their eBucks,” says Jolande Duvenage, eBucks’ CEO.
Peter Allerstorfer, ZANDO’s managing director and co-founder, believes the South African market has only begun to scratch the surface of the potential for ecommerce within the fashion industry, and the company has already opened a new, bigger warehouse in Ndabeni, Western Cape.
“The biggest concern that South Africans have with purchasing fashion items online is that the item will not be the correct size, and if it is incorrect, whether they will be able to return it, and at what cost. We have eased this concern with our free delivery offering, where our drivers wait for customers to try on their purchases. If they want to return it, the customer simply hands it back to the delivery person who will return the goods to us, at no cost to the customer. Embracing online fashion shopping requires a mind shift, which we are sure will happen over time as our customers grow to appreciate the convenience and value for money that we offer,” Allerstorfer says.
Building trust boosts online sales
While fashion retailers have used the same strategy online as they did in their bricks and mortar fashion outlets, Allerstorfer believes that if retailers are going to be successful online, they need to ease consumers’ concerns about the safety of online shopping to build trust on all levels.
“South Africans have historically been slow to embrace online shopping in general, compared to the likes of seasoned online shoppers like the Americans,” he says. “This is largely due to South Africa’s low Internet penetration rate, consumers who have not yet experienced online shopping and the perception that online shopping is not secure,” he says.
However, perceptions and behaviour have started to change, making the South African market one to watch in terms of future growth in the online retail sector, he says.
Duvenage agrees, and says that eBucks has seen a significant increase in the number of members using their rewards currency to purchase items online, with a double digit increase year-on-year in its own online shop (www.eBucks.com)
“E-commerce in South Africa is definitely on the rise, and South Africans seem to be more comfortable purchasing online, especially when it comes to fashion, which has shown an upsurge in recent months,” says Duvenage.
Another way to build trust amongst customers and quell security concerns is to offer a variety of payment methods. For example, ZANDO offers customers multiple options to pay for their purchase including credit, cheque, electronic transfer, cash on delivery, PayPal and most recently, eBucks.
“Partnering with eBucks, a leading and trusted loyalty programme in South Africa, not only gives our customers more peace of mind when they pay for their fashion items, but also gives them additional payment choice and convenience,”
“We constantly look for ways to make it easier for our members to stretch their wallets, and ZANDO’s commitment to customer service through free deliveries and returns made it a logical choice for it to be our online fashion partner,” she says.


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Search Results for 'Groupe PSA'
20 results found.
Opel has revealed the first photos of the all-new, 100 percent electric, Opel Combo-e light commercial vehicle.
Opel has revealed the first photos of its all new Crossland, ahead of its arrival here in early 2021.
In Ireland, Opel has announced details of its ‘Take Charge’ offer, which it says is a motor industry first here.
Connacht Rugby captain Jarrad Butler made a recent visit to Windsor Galway Citroën to collect his new Citroën C5 Aircross, sponsored by Casey's Londis, Galway.
The Peugeot Partner van, the joint-winner of the Irish Van of the Year 2020, was Ireland’s best-selling van in January.
Peugeot Ireland has announced plans to introduce the all new 208 to motor dealer showrooms across Ireland in January. It promises to be available from launch with a choice of petrol, diesel or electric Powertrains.
The PSA Group (Peugeot, Citroen/DS Automobile, Opel/Vauxhall) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (Fiat/Fiat Professional, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lancia, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram truck) have agreed to combine and pool their resources.
The PSA Group trio of the Citroen Berlingo/ Opel Combo Cargo/ Peugeot Partner Van, a joint collaboration of the three marques, has been voted the Continental Tyres Irish Van of the Year 2020.
The new 208 will be introduced to dealer showrooms here next January, according to Peugeot Ireland. It promises to be available from launch with a choice of petrol, diesel or electric powertrains.
Peugeot has announced details of the Peugeot Drivetime event and its 192-offers, which it says are available for a limited time only this summer.


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Skilancer Solar has expanded its automated, water-free robot cleaning line-up witha system for small scale residential PV rooftops.
With its latest robotic cleaner offering, the cleantech start-up aims to capture a 4.4 GW residential market which is expected to reach 8.5 GW this year.
Skilancer will market the residential cleaning product in the states of Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat initially. It plans to expand its supply chain within three months.
For the full story, please visit our pv magazine India site.
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Honest Ed’s is up for sale and could close its iconic Toronto store. The store’s owner could sell the building and adjacent properties for redevelopment, which could include a substantial residential component.
Honest Ed’s is probably best known for its exterior signage, including one with about 23,000 light bulbs. The 160,000 square foot store has discounted items and its interiors could be considered garish. At the same time, the retailer has become a true fixture at the corner of Bloor Street West and Bathurst Street.
Honest Ed’s opened in 1948 and expanded numerous times over the years. Founder Ed Mirvish died in 2007. It became well known for promotions including free Christmas turkeys.
If the store is sold for redevelopment, the store’s exterior signage could be at least partially preserved or incorporated into a new project not unlike what could be done with the former location of iconic music retailer Sam The Record Man on Yonge Street.
Our tip for this article was from this National Post article.


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The BMW Group’s new Additive Manufacturing Campus in Munich, Germany, is finally open.
In 2019, the company produced approximately 300,000 parts through additive manufacturing. Besides being a facility for prototype and series parts production, the new center will be the home to the BMW Group’s 3D printing technology research and associate training grounds for global toolless production. Present at the opening ceremony were Milan Nedeljković, BMW AG board member for Production; Daniel Schäfer, senior vice president for Production Integration and Pilot Plant; and Jens Ertel, who was assigned director of the Additive Manufacturing Campus.
The campus currently has 80 associates working the 50 industrial systems in the facility. A campus pre-development unit will be in charge of optimizing new technologies and materials for use around production sites. The BMW Group has made significant investments and partnerships with other manufacturers and universities over the past couple of years. Most notably were its 2016 investment into Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis technology and 2017 collaborations with Desktop Metal on innovating additive manufacturing for metal components and Xometry for on-demand manufacturing solutions.
It has recently invested in ELISE, a German start-up specializing in producing component DNA in order to generate optimum parts.
The campus is currently setting up its production line, which will replicate process chains in series production environments while integrating additive manufacturing technology. This will be part of its Industrialization and Digitization of Additive Manufacturing for Automotive Series Production (IDAM) project. To achieve this, the BMW Group will be working with 12 project partners, including the German Ministry of Education and Research. According to the company, the IDAM team is already preparing the requirements for series, individual and spare-part production.
The expected output is at least 50,000 series components annually, plus 10,000 individual and spare parts.
On the other hand, its POLYLINE project will be working instead with plastic. Fifteen partners will be working with the campus to develop and test automated production lines for plastic parts. The project will be centered on “digitally linking process steps, and the development of a consistent quality assurance methodology for the entire process chain.” The research is expected to figure out how to reduce manufacturing costs by as much as 50 percent while increasing the stability and sustainability of different technologies.
Read more at ENGINEERING.com


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Are LeBron James and fiancée Savannah Brinson, the mother of his two children, on a relationship break?
Brinson, 26, James’ high school sweetheart, has not been seen by the big man’s side in weeks, including at two important milestones in a basketball star’s life. She wasn’t with him at last weekend’s All-Star game in Houston, and at the world champion Heat’s congratulatory visit to the White House in January. What’s more, I’m told by a source that the couple briefly planned to get hitched sometime last summer, seven or eight months after the New Year’s eve party when James asked Brinson to marry him! Brinson, the mother of James’ sons LeBron Jr., 8, and Bryce, 5, even went to a New York fashion show to shop for a wedding gown, according to photos of her at an Ines di Santo fashion show in April.
“Ms. Brinson visited a bridal market in New York,” said a manager at Ever After Miami, a bridal store in Coconut Grove that carries the fancy bridal line. The woman declined to give her name. “But any other information about Ms. Brinson would be confidential.” James proposed at his 27th birthday party at Vesper at the Shelborne South Beach.


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That's the last we'll see of him
Knack 2 flopped so hard in Japan that no one even noticed. As always, the Japanese sales charts released yesterday spotlighting the Top 20 software releases in the Eastern region. Japan Studio’s sequel didn’t make the grade, and very few were even aware that it had launched during the tracking period (28th...
The Knackening is upon us
The glorious return of our PlayStation Lord and Saviour Knack is almost upon us. If you have not yet welcomed the greatest hero of our age into your life, then worry not, as you still have time to atone for your ignorance. How, you ask? Well for starters, you can follow the instructions that we've laid bare below. Complete...
The right to exist
The week that was is no more. We're bringing back the Push Rewind name after nearly a year of dormancy, but with a brand new meaning. Instead of a round-up of the previous week's news, we'll be taking a deep dive into games that are about to receive a sequel. This will exclude reboots, spiritual successors, side stories,...
Knack's back, baby
Knack 2 has secured a sneaky PlayStation 4 demo ahead of its 5th September release. Already available on the European PlayStation Store – and presumably set to follow on American storefronts when they update later today – the taster takes you through the title’s Monastery level, which is a bit of a tutorial as we understand...
Got the Knack
This is not a joke: Knack 2 looks really fun. It’s no surprise, of course, as we said a similar thing at E3 2017 – but given the meme status of the original, it’s worth reminding everyone that the sequel looks like a monumental improvement. Don’t get us wrong, it’s not going to win any Game of the Year awards – but the...
The team at Japan Studio are so passionate about Knack that they started working on the sequel before Sony had even given the project approval. “We were already evaluating prototypes before ,” one team member told IGN as part of a behind-the-scenes interview on the game. “It was fun work.” In the video, the staff talk about...
Knack is the butt of all PlayStation jokes, but its sequel looks surprisingly excellent. The game’s director – and PlayStation 4 architect – Mark Cerny has talked at length about how his team at Japan Studio took feedback from the original on board, and while we don’t expect Knack 2 to be winning any awards, it looks like a...
Knack in the saddle
Knack's back, baby! The quirky PlayStation 4 hero returns in Knack 2, and the sequel now has a release date. Announced during Sony's E3 2017 press conference pre-show, Knack 2 launches on the 5th September. Yep, it's not too far away. You can check out the title's latest trailer above, too. Is Knack 2 on your radar, then?...
I'll be Knack
Industry veteran – and PlayStation 4 architect – Mark Cerny appeared on Geoff Keighley’s PlayStation Live stream earlier today to show off Knack 2, and to the surprise of everyone… It actually looks really very good. While the original release was a very simplistic platforming affair, the sequel appears to be upping the variety...
Knack from the dead
In a world where we’re still waiting for a sequel to Puppeteer, it’s awkward to think that Knack 2 exists at all. Japan Studio’s launch title became a critical punch bag when it launched back on the PlayStation 4 in 2013, drawing ire from critics expecting something a little more exciting alongside a new piece of hardware...
Knack on wood
Knack was a fine 3D platformer. It stumbled with its story, struggled with repetition, and lacked challenge with its level design, but we think it had a lot of potential to improve. So, it was hard to believe that Mark Cerny's, err, most important legacy would ever receive a sequel, but against all odds, Knack 2 will be building its...
Sony's support for the PlayStation 4 Pro can be described as "scattershot" at best. It's one of the system's biggest shortcomings right now; while games undoubtedly look and run better on the brand new box, not enough titles take advantage of it yet. This will change as we lurch into 2017 and support becomes mandatory, but right now,...
But what about Bloodborne?
Knack may not be a bad game, but it's certainly become a laughing stock over the years. That's not stopping Sony from pouring even more effort into the outing, however, as Mark Cerny has quietly announced that the Japan Studio developed platformer will be upgraded to take advantage of the manufacturer's new PlayStation 4...
Knack, the much maligned PlayStation 4 launch title, appears to be on the verge of a comeback. A Taiwanese animator listed the title on her resume earlier in the year, and now "renowned" industry "insider" Shinobi602 has been teasing the title on NeoGAF. It's not the strongest source that we've ever based a story upon, but the
Well, then – this is a story that we never, ever expected to write: Knack may be getting a sequel. An eagle-eyed member at NeoGAF spotted reference to the unexpected follow-up on the resume of a Taiwanese animator named Mindy Liang. Apparently, she worked on cut-scenes for the unannounced PlayStation 4 title back in May 2015. The company...
Someone had to
Mark Cerny is a busy man, but it seems that he still finds time to play the odd game. The new follow feature on the PlayStation 4 has proven a godsend for those who like to stalk their favourite gaming executives and have a nosy at their Trophies. And our very own Ben Potter noticed one pleasing tidbit while perusing the...
Cerny you want one
Incredibly, it’s been a year since Knack first attacked the PlayStation 4 as a launch title – and in order to commemorate the occasion, Japan Studio has prepared ten ultra-rare statues, which will be given away at Sony’s forthcoming PlayStation Experience event. The trophy itself shows the titular hero standing alongside...
It’s been ten years since this fresh faced editor first read about PlayStation 2’s supposed ‘Halo killer’ Killzone in one of the many gaming magazines around at the time. The series hasn’t gone on to become quite the commercial juggernaut that many predicted, but it’s still carved out a sizeable fanbase for itself, with each...
Indie-esque project next on the agenda
PlayStation 4 exclusive Knack was easily the worst received of the next-gen console’s launch titles, securing a string of low scores around the web. However, it also attained a lot of press in the build up to release, primarily due to its ties to hardware architect – and industry legend – Mark Cerny...
Don't Knack it till you try it
When he's not busy reminding us that he gets to play Metal Gear Solid 5 and we don't, it seems that Hideo Kojima, the director of the acclaimed stealth series, spends his precious spare moments testing out the competition. The professional provocateur recently took critical
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Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 23 May 2018
Stronger and more inclusive growth hinge on the fate of market openness and integration in the region.
Hong Kong, China, 18 May 2018
The region’s energy officials are empowering millennials to take newly revealed efficiency improvements to the next level.
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 15 May 2018
Trade Ministers will meet on 25-26 May in an effort to secure the region’s resurgent growth.
Brisbane, Australia, 02 May 2018
“We are looking for leadership to keep APEC moving forward, and for fresh thinking on some exciting new approaches.”
Singapore, 27 April 2018
Officials are working to ease technical bottlenecks to the introduction of new, potentially life-saving treatments.
Tokyo, Japan, 23 April 2018
Narrowing digital divides is the focus ahead of a crucial meeting of the region’s Trade Ministers.
Tokyo, Japan, 19 April 2018
The APEC Business Advisory Council urges the region to continue towards open markets and inclusive growth.
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 08 March 2018
They are working together to advance digitally-driven trade and development across the APEC region.
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 07 March 2018
The move is a further boost for e-commerce growth and the protection of consumers.
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 04 March 2018
Papua New Guinea’s strongest earthquake has given further impetus for action.
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 28 February 2018
Nominations are open for the 2018 APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education.
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 27 February 2018
Officials are fast tracking economic safeguards for the changing technological landscape.


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Most recently, Mr. Levy acted as vice president, head of marketing Americas at Novartis Consumer Health. Earlier, he held several managerial and executive positions at Procter & Gamble, having being responsible for several consumer product portfolios in the U.S. and Mexico.
Levy, a native of Colombia, is a US citizen and will report to Ms Nina Kopola, President & CEO of Suominen Corporation.
“I am very delighted to have Ernesto Levy joining our team as the leader of the Convenience business area. Ernesto Levy has a wide-ranging experience and proven track record in growing businesses and building winning consumer brand portfolios. Moreover, he has demonstrated great ability and talent to lead multinational teams. His capabilities will bring complementary competencies to our leadership team, which will be valuable as we execute our growth strategy and move on towards our vision to be a market driven product leader,” says Nina Kopola, President & CEO of Suominen.
“It is an honor to join Suominen Corporation and the Suominen Team. Suominen is in the midst of an impressive transformation to become the undisputed leader in nonwovens—not only for wiping but also in medical and hygiene applications,” Ernesto Levy. “I am excited to join a global team, intent in listening to input from consumers and customers to develop innovative products that will make nonwovens better for people.”
Suominen’s Convenience business area supplies value-adding nonwovens for a variety of wiping applications as well as for the travel and catering market. The business area generated some 90% of Suominen’s net sales in 2014.


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There seem to be fresh reasons for people traveling using Turkmenistan Airlines as the air regulators have grounded flights on the basis of safety reasons which has perpetually left 1000s of passengers stranded as they had already booked tickets with the airlines.
According to the reports of UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, flights from the London Heathrow Airport and Birmingham to New Delhi and Amritsar that goes via Ashgabat in Turkmenistan are the ones that have been given the cut. This decision was primarily taken by CAA after being intimidated by European Aviation Safety Agency who have not given any confirmation yet that it binds to all the safety protocols and international standards that has been set. The implication of this decision is that flights that connect UK and Delhi and Amritsar and fly towards or away from the airports are temporarily suspended.
This news may not be welcoming for the 1000s of the Punjabi British population who have been using the Turkish Airlines regularly to get to India at a budget price. Turkish Airlines was set up way back in 1992 under the Soviet Union and has been functioning seamlessly until now. People will have to look for alternative routes through Paris or Frankfurt now.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have reported that people looking to fly in these particular routes need to find other options like Air India, Jet Airways, and British Airways which conform to the regulations adequately. Someone who has already booked the tickets under Turkish Airlines can ask for refunds from their card service providers. In case the booking is beyond £100 and has been paid using a credit card, they are entitled to refunds according to the Consumer Credit Act formulated in 1974.
If the payment is done using a debit card, the card company has to rely on getting the money back from the airlines before redirecting it to the customer. If an agent was used for the booking, then the money will be refunded through that forum itself. However, there has been no intimidation about refunds by Turkish Airlines yet. On the other hand, provisions for bookings are still available for them.


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inners' subsidiary VegasWINNERS announced Tuesday it has received approval from the West Virginia Lottery for a Sports Wagering Interim Supplier License and is now able to refer customers in West Virginia to licensed sportsbooks in return for commission payments.
West Virginia's sports wagering handle increased from over $226 million in 2019 to over $419 million in 2020, a year-over-year growth rate of over 84% even amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since its March 2018 launch date, West Virginia's total handle is over $878 million.
"West Virginians are known as rabid basketball and football fans. Now that they can place legal wagers on sports, I'm certain West Virginia will become among the leading states for sports gaming. VegasWINNERS is excited and motivated to offer our sports advice and information services to the sports fans and bettors of West Virginia," stated Wayne Allyn Root, CEO of VegasWINNERS.
According to a Research & Markets report, the online gambling industry should reach $92.9 billion by 2023, growing at an annual compound rate of 11.6%. Projections say that rising technologies such as IoT, Blockchain, and VR will drive the industry forward and that North America will keep pace with the rest of the world, as its market should grow at a rate of 14.78% until 2025.
VegasWINNERS is a licensed sports gaming affiliate that intends to drive traffic to gaming operators for commission. It is currently registered in several states and has made application in additional states, as the company plans to get licensed in all states that allow online sports gambling. To date, online sports gambling has been legalized in Virginia, Nevada, New Jersey, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Iowa, Oregon, Indiana, New Hampshire, Michigan, Colorado, Ilinois, Tennessee, Mississippi, Montana and Washington DC.


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California’s Michelin Guide isn’t handing out formal awards this year, but that didn’t stop the French tire company from doing a version of awards to recognize local chefs and restaurants — with a focus on a time before the pandemic, as its inspectors did not dine at restaurants after March.
In a virtual event on Tuesday that Michelin dubbed the Virtual Family Meal, seven California chefs were given the guide’s “Green Star” distinction, which goes to chefs who “have taken responsibility by preserving resources and embracing biodiversity, reducing food waste and reducing the consumption of non-renewable energy.” Tuesday’s announcement also marked the first time Green Stars have been given to chefs in the U.S.
For any restaurant currently in the Michelin guide with a Plate, Bib Gourmand or stars, the Green Star goes alongside those awards. Though the recognition was new to the U.S., the recipients were familiar faces in the local fine dining world, celebrated chefs who aren’t unfamiliar to such recognition — such as Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley; Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco; and Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Yountville. See the full list below.
Michelin also revealed a category called inspector “discoveries,” which were said to represent a “snapshot of new and inspiring culinary talent across California.” Of the 25 restaurants, a cadre of Bay Area destinations were included in the roundup, including affordable restaurants such as Oakland restaurant Tacos Oscar and Hayward’s Los Carnalitos. The more upscale Selby’s, the Silicon Valley restaurant that stole headlines last year in for its $50 burger topped with shaved truffles, was recognized by inspectors for its “elegant American classic fare” as well. See the rest of the Bay Area restaurants recognized by Michelin below.
Michelin officials in California have not specified when future star announcements will be made. Earlier this month, Michelin said “feedback from restaurants severely impacted by COVID-19 and tragic wildfires across the state” are what spurred the 2020 announcment delay.
“Green Stars” in the Bay Area
Kyle and Katina Connaughton of Single Thread in Healdsburg
Michael Tusk of Quince in San Francisco
Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley
Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco
Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Yountville
Michelin “discoveries” in the Bay Area
Tony’s Seafood in Marin
Aziza, a Moroccan restaurant in San Francisco
Tacos Oscar, the taco restaurant in shipping containers in Oakland
Los Carnalitos, a family-owned restaurant known for Mexico City flavors in Hayward
Brotzeit Lokal, a Bavarian restaurant in Oakland
Selby’s, an upscale American restaurant in Silicon valley.
Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: email@example.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips


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Altium (ASX: ALU) has reported that its financial year 2020 (FY20) sales have gone up by 10% compared to FY19 despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What is Altium?
Altium Limited is an Australian multinational software business that was founded in 1985. It now has offices globally in places like San Diego, New York, Boston, Munich, Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney. Its software focuses on electronics design systems for 3D PCB design and embedded system development. Its services include Altium Designer, Altium Vault, CircuitStudio, CircuitMaker, TASKING and Octopart.
Altium’s FY20 revenue update
Last month the company gave a business update about how things were going during COVID-19.
Today, the software business announced that it has achieved revenue growth of 10% to US$189 million. That includes record growth in new Altium Designer seats and subscriptions to exceed its 50,000 subscriber target.
The number of Altium Designer seats sold increased by 14% and there was record growth of 17% of the subscription base to more than 50,000 subscribers. Worldwide sales also increased by 10% to US$194 million.
The ASX share now has a cash balance of over US$90 million.
In previous business updates Altium has revealed that it made a strategic move to provide attractive pricing and extended payment terms to support customers and drive volume to achieve long term market dominance.
I think that was the right call by management. Whilst this year’s subscription may have been cheaper for customers, next year’s can be full price again and Altium will benefit. It has made the right long term decision.
Altium CEO Aram Mirkazemi revealed that there are now 2,500 companies and almost 5,000 active users now utilising the Altium 365 platform. That’s Altium’s cloud version of its software. He also said:
“Altium has not been immune to the uncertainty and the evolving impact of COVID-19, however as a global high-tech company, geared to work remotely and with a robust and highly adaptable business model, we were able to deliver a strong performance through COVID-19 conditions – maintaining our unbeaten record of eight consecutive years of double digit revenue growth and extending it to nine straight years.”
Altium’s CFO Joe Bedewi announced that there were 3,000 upgrades of Altium Designer (up 47%), which shows the attractiveness of Altium 365 to existing customers.
Considering everything that has happened over the past six months, 10% revenue growth isn’t bad at all as it meant good growth of subscriber numbers. I think it bodes well for the FY22 result (and perhaps the FY21 result) when the effects of the price cuts wear off.
I’m not sure if today is the best day to buy Altium shares, there could be another market dip later this year – so I’d be happy to wait for a share price of around $30 (or under).


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Des Moines brothers launch 1717 Brewing across from Peace Tree
Three brothers from a large Des Moines family are turning their love for drinking and brewing craft beer into a business.
Matt, Phil and Jerry Glenn are launching 1717 Brewing Company this fall in the Market District east of downtown Des Moines.
“This has been a longtime dream to share our beer,” said Matt Glenn, the youngest of 11 Glenn kids. Matt, 45, and Phil, 48, have been brewing beer at home for more than a decade.
The men, all self-proclaimed goofballs with just the right amount of "passion and talent" for brewing beer, visited breweries, brewed beer in Colorado and worked at the now defunct Number 7 Brewing Co. in Ankeny in anticipation of launching their own business.
Brother Jerry Glenn, 55, jumped in to handle the “administrative stuff,” Matt Glenn said.
The brothers landed on a spot at 322 E. Court Ave. to open their business, which they hope to launch in mid-October. 1717 Brewing will take the empty half of a building that formerly housed Kryger Auto Glass, which moved to Clive. Curate event center occupies the other half.
1717 will create five or six varieties of IPAs along with stouts, wheat and sour beers, Matt Glenn said.
“We do all sorts of styles,” he said. “Our friends describe it as really good beer without any gimmicks. With us you get good classic styles of beer done really well.”
Matt Glenn’s favorite style is the IPA. “You never make the same exact beer twice. The flavor changes a little each time,” he said.
The taproom won’t serve food but patrons are welcome to bring in snacks or dinner, or order out meals, he said.
The taproom will pay homage to the Glenns’ childhood home in the River Bend neighborhood. The walk-in cooler will be decorated like a scaled down version of the home, which was a place that always welcomed visitors, Matt Glenn said.
“My dad (Maurice Glenn) taught at Tech (Des Moines Technical High School). Community was always important to us,” he said. “My parents never turned anyone away.”
The Glenns' venture is part of a growing craft beer community in the metro and in Iowa. They will open their brewery across the street from another craft beermaker, Peace Tree Brewing.
“We don’t look at it as competition,” Matt Glenn said. “They will come see us and then visit Peace Tree and then the Iowa Taproom. The more small breweries there are, the more exposure you all have,” he said.
- From the archives: Father and son bond over beer at all 73 Iowa craft breweries
- Cheers! Iowa beer wins big at worldwide brewery competition
- A website ranked Iowa in the bottom half of America's best craft beer states. Seriously?
Peace Tree taproom manager Taylor Evans said he welcomes another brewery to the neighborhood. “A rising tide lifts all ships and I want to see all of us succeed,” he said.
Having a couple of craft beer options nearby will bring more people to the area, he said.
“I am hoping this neighborhood will turn into a beer hub,” he said.
Iowa’s craft beer boon continues
At last count there were about 90 breweries operating in Iowa, 17 of which are in the Des Moines metro area, said J. Wilson, the minister of Iowa beer for the Iowa Brewers Guild. Iowa breweries produced about 2.4 million gallons of craft beer in 2017, Wilson said.
“Iowa brewed beer is 1 percent of the beer market,” he said. That means there’s plenty of room for growth in the expanding industry.
Ingredients for a successful craft brewing business are good beer, good branding and good packaging, he said. “Everybody’s creative but you have to have a high-quality beer and a good story to tell, otherwise you can get lost in the shuffle,” he said.
1717 Brewing Company will start brewing beer in September to make sure there’s a good supply of beer for the October opening, Matt Glenn said. The brothers are planning a beer club and will invite guest and home brewers to “share their beer with us,” he said.
“We’ve never met a stranger," Matt Glenn said. "We love to joke around and we’re going to be ever present there. We’ll engage the people like no other brewers ever have.”


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For Tesla Motors, the timing couldn’t have been better.
Consumer Reports on Thursday issued its annual car owner satisfaction survey, and Tesla’s Model S took top honors.
The electric luxury sedan beat all other cars, winning a near-perfect customer satisfaction ranking. As Consumer Reports put it:
Lots of people love their cars. But as we’ve consistently seen in our yearly owner-satisfaction ratings, the vehicles that inspire the strongest loyalty are ones that are fun to drive, deliver great fuel economy, are fashionably green, or envelop you in a high-tech, luxurious driving environment. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Tesla Model S all-electric luxury sports sedan, which provides all of those attributes in one car, topped our latest ratings with the highest satisfaction score we’ve seen in years: 99 out of 100.
Tesla and its investors have endured seven difficult weeks. Since the start of October, three Model S sedans have caught fire following accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation last Friday. (Although the investigation formally began on Friday, the agency only revealed it on Tuesday of this week.) Three workers were injured in an accident at the company’s factory in Fremont on Nov. 13. And Tesla stock, which neared $200 in late September, has tumbled back to $122 per share.
But Tesla doesn’t just have customers. It has believers, Model S buyers who advocate for the car with the fervor of evangelists. And roughly 600 of them ended up in Consumer Reports’ survey.
Which car fared worst in the survey? The Nissan Versa. Only 45 percent of Versa drivers said they would definitely buy the car again.
More Tesla News: George Blankenship, the former Apple executive who developed Tesla’s retail stores, has left the company.
Although he’s still listed on the company website as Tesla’s vice president of sales, Blankenship’s LinkedIn page says he left that position sometime this month. He lists his current job as “Director of Smiles” for the Blankenship family, saying he is “focused on finding as many ways as possible to make as many people smile as often as possible.”
Blankenship told the San Jose Mercury News that he was retiring to spend more time with his family.
Blankenship was instrumental in creating Tesla’s retail stores, which look and operate more like Apple stores than traditional car dealerships. An enthusiastic presence, Blankenship also MC’d the ceremony celebrating the start of Model S production at Tesla’s Fremont factory last year, leading the crowd of employees and visiting dignitaries in cheers.
— David R. Baker


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Laguna Hills, CA – Ken Kindt of Signworld today announced that it has formed a formal partnership between its organization of 260 commercial sign companies and Advantage Sign Supply.
This partnership will allow each Signworld Owner the ability to take advantage of preferred pricing and service most of the products and materials they use on a daily basis.
Signworld Owner Ken Kindt was ecstatic on the materialization of this partnership. “Advantage Sign Supply has been providing materials and supplies to the sign industry for over 20 years. Their experience, expertise and commitment to help sign company owners build their business is something you can truly rely on.” said Ken Kindt.
Also present on the occasion was Jack Werner representing the top management of Signworld. “Advantage Sign Supply will prove to be a great addition to the already solid Signworld Preferred Vendor list.” said a visibly pleased Jack Werner addressing the gathering.


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‘…A supporter of the fraternity system might argue that merely eliminating fraternities will not end the problem of rape in and around college campuses. This is true. But because we cannot snap our fingers and erase rape does not mean that we shouldn’t try and start that process by snapping our fingers and erasing fraternities. When it comes to combating sexual assaults on campus, we must start somewhere. Ending fraternities, it is clear, would be the most effective place to start.
‘If we eliminate fraternities, won’t young men on college campuses just find somewhere other than fraternities to commit rape? Some will, and if you ever were looking for a reason to get behind the “ban men” meme, this would be it. But fraternities produce rapists at a rate much higher than the rest of the college population. It is not a coincidence. There are statistics, backed by common sense…’
How artificial insemination has led to Thanksgiving turkeys nearly DOUBLING in weight since 1960
Is turkey white meat healthier than red meat?
‘American Thanksgiving turkeys are getting bigger and bigger and have broken a new record this year with an average weight of over 30 pounds for the first time ever, almost double of what it weighed in 1960.
‘According to numbers taken from January to October this year, the average weight of a commercially bred turkey is 30.47 pounds.
‘In 1960, the average weight of a turkey was just 16.83 pounds, and in 1985, it was only 20 pounds. Turkeys hit the 25-pound mark in 1999…’
Surprising New FDA Calorie Rules
‘The Food and Drug Administration announced sweeping rules on Tuesday that will require chain restaurants, movie theaters and pizza parlors across the country to post calorie counts on their menus. Health experts said the new requirements would help combat the country’s obesity epidemic by showing Americans just how many calories lurk in their favorite foods.
‘The rules are far broader than consumer health advocates had expected, covering food in vending machines and amusement parks, as well as certain prepared foods in supermarkets. They apply to food establishments with 20 or more outlets, including fast-food chains like KFC and Subway and sit-down restaurants like Applebee’s and The Cheesecake Factory…’


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As I wrote last month, in 2020 Tesla jumped from #8 to #2 position in my portfolio. This week as I set about writing a blog post dedicated to my Tesla holding, I came across Charlie Munger’s Q&A from the Daily Journal’s annual shareholder meeting. Mr. Munger does not own any Tesla shares as far as we know. He also thinks Tesla shares are very overpriced. But he does own one other company that has also gotten swept up in the EV (Electric Vehicle) frenzy of late.
Let’s first start with Charlie Munger’s background. He is the well-known vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway—and the right-hand man of Warren Buffett. He’s also the long-time chairman of Daily Journal Corporation (DJCO), a publishing and holding company. In 2008, he invested DJCO’s excess cash in five public companies. Initial investment was just $20M but in nine short years, those holdings grew nearly 11 times. You can see more details of his investments in a 2018 post I wrote here.
Mr. Munger’s investment of DJCO cash was just in five stocks. Four of them trade on a US stock exchange, and therefore are subject to regular public disclosures (SEC form 13-F). Its only other holding is in a Chinese company named BYD. Since DJCO apparently bought those shares in an offshore stock exchange (likely Hong Kong), it is not subject to SEC disclosures. Nevertheless, Mr. Munger has talked frequently and openly about his BYD investment, and how happy he’s with the company.
BYD is an automobile manufacturer among other things. It makes both gasoline powered and battery electric cars, bicycles, buses, trucks, etc. It also makes rechargeable batteries and solar panels. Munger believes that BYD is well positioned for China’s gradual transition from gas powered to electric vehicles. As investors became excited about the prospect of EVs last year, BYD stock was also swept up in the ensuing speculation frenzy.
As Charlie Munger sat down for hours-long Q&A session with DJCO shareholders in February this year, this is what he had to say about BYD:
BYD stock did nothing for the first five years we held it. Last year it quintupled. What happened is that BYD is very well positioned for the transfer of Chinese automobile production from gasoline-driven cars to electricity-driven cars. You can imagine it’s in a wonderful position and that excited the people in China which has its share of crazy speculators. And so, the stock went way up.
I don’t own any BYD shares but unlike Mr. Munger, I am a Tesla shareholder.
See how both Tesla and BYD stocks have marched together in the last twelve months—and with nearly identical gains:
Tesla has been much more volatile (and also higher performing) between the two when we look at their five-year history:
Clearly there is a lot of crazy speculations with both stocks. But is Mr. Munger selling his BYD shares, given how far they’ve come? This is how he answered this question:
We admire the company and like its position. And we pay huge taxes to a combination of the federal government and the state of California when we sell something. On balance, we hold in certain of these position when, normally, we wouldn’t buy a new position. Practically everybody does that.
He’s not selling. If he does, he’ll pay significant capital gains taxes. I am in a similar position with my Tesla position. If I sell, I will also end up with large tax liability.
Munger went on to say this about BYD:
I think you can count on the fact that if we really like the company and we like the management—and that is the way we feel about BYD—we’re likely to be a little too loyal. I don’t think we’ll change on that.
He likes BYD management, so he is willing to stay loyal to them even when he clearly thinks that crazy speculators have bid up its share price too much. He obviously knows that BYD shares could go down significantly once the EV fervor dies down—and he won’t buy any new shares at today’s prices—and yet he plans to hold on to what he already got.
I am the same way with my Tesla shares. I like Tesla as a business. It not only has the first-mover advantage in the EV market, but it also has proven last year that its business can survive an economic recession. It has a visionary founder CEO who at times can be unpredictable but still managed to grow the company very well. It has loyal customers who at times remind me of Apple’s highly engaged customers. And above all, I consider Tesla’s Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) business model to have crossed the chasm (to borrow an old term from Geoffrey Moore). The chasm in this sense is the vast difference in expectations when a revolutionary product goes from early adopters to mainstream users (see below chart). Today’s consumers no longer consider electric vehicles to be novelty products. You can read more of my thoughts on Tesla from this blog post that was written well before Tesla’s meteoric rise last year.
I first bought Tesla shares in 2013. Like Mr. Munger’s BYD position, I am sitting on huge capital gains today—about 12x my cost basis. I fully expect Tesla share price to drop from last year’s huge gains. It would cut down my position. But still, like Mr. Munger with BYD, I am also going to stay a little too loyal to Tesla. I haven’t bought any new shares of Tesla in last two years, but I am not willing to sell my existing shares either. I am optimistic of Tesla’s long-term future, even though there will be large drop offs in future.
Postscript: As I began to put together my thoughts on Tesla last month, its share price also began a steep downhill ride. And that continues even today. Since the beginning of February when Tesla was around $900, it has fallen precipitously. Today its trades at less than $600 per share. Unsurprisingly, my Tesla position has dropped too. I wrote in my lost blog post that Tesla had jumped from #8 spot to #2 spot in 2020. Well, today—barely a month later— it has given up some of those gains and now sit at #3 spot in my portfolio—behind Amazon and Apple.


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Echoing the federal government's move to electrify its fleet, the city of Los Angeles has approved its Electric Vehicle Master Plan, which aims to replace its fleet of more than 10,000 city-owned vehicles with electric models and infrastructure.
In California, a law passed in 2020 will require all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emissions by 2035 with additional measures to eliminate harmful emissions from the transportation sector.
Los Angeles is taking the initiative to get started early with the mandate by replacing its current fleet with electrified models via a unanimous vote passed by the City Council.
“Historically, this city has the worst air quality in the nation thanks to freeways, sprawl, gas-powered vehicles,” said Mitch O’Farrell, City Council president. “The automotive age of the last century turbo-charged our descent into that dubious distinction that we all live with today, especially disadvantaged communities that bear the brunt of this degradation because of their proximity adjacent to major transportation infrastructure, thoroughfares, arterioles, freeways, underpasses.”
Last year, President Joe Biden pledged to electrify the government vehicle fleet transitioning from internal combustion engine vehicles in the next decade. Additionally, Biden wants to build 550,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and spend more in clean energy research.
According to the General Services Administration, in 2019 the U.S. government owned 645,000 vehicles, just 3,215 of these being electric. These government vehicles drove about 4.5 billion miles and consumed 375 million gallons of gasoline or diesel fuel.
Currently, the Los Angeles municipal fleet currently only consists of 24 electric sedans, 46 plug-in hybrid vehicles and two hybrid street sweepers. Over the last five years, the city has installed 350 EV chargers, 140 for the city fleet and 210 for the public, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Under the Electric Vehicle Master Plan, EV charging stations will be installed at the Department of General Services 600 properties and will need about 97,000 charging stations by 2030.
The automotive market is undergoing its largest transition in its history as all automakers are moving quickly to adopt EV technology and infrastructure.
The move to electrification is due to a growing consumer interest in the models due to the popularity of Tesla Motors and the growing need to decrease the carbon footprint to help with climate change that is being driven by regional government mandates.
General Motors said it will phase out gas and diesel vehicles by 2035 and only produce EVs moving forward. Ford followed suit saying it would invest $22 billion in electrification through 2025 and would make EVs its primary models beginning in 2035. Other auto makers followed suit including Volvo, Volkswagen, Jaguar, Honda, Toyota and more.
Globally, EV charging stations are cropping up everywhere to meet the upcoming demand for the new EVs that are coming. Some regions are even set to impose new penalties on those that do not support the transition.
In Vancouver, Canada, the city government is proposing a new policy that would charge gas stations and parking lots up to $10,000 per year for failing to provide charging stations for EVs at these facilities.
The goal is aimed to speed up the rollout of EV charging stations in the city and to encourage further adoption of EVs.
Starting in 2025, businesses would have to make charging stations available or risk having to pay the fee.


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Bank of America teams up with the Tory Burch Foundation to offer $100 million in loans to women entrepreneurs
Bank of America is pledging $100 million to the Tory Burch Foundation Capital Program to help female entrepreneurs get access to much needed capital.
"Women entrepreneurs face many obstacles, access to capital being the biggest and the most common," Tory Burch, founder of the Tory Burch Foundation, told CNBC Make It via email. "I was incredibly fortunate — we were able to launch after a personal investment and one round of fundraising. This, of course, is not the case for most women."
In 2018, 40 percent of privately held firms in the U.S. were women-owned, according to the American Express 2018 State of Women-Owned Business Report. Still, just 2 percent of venture capital dollars went to female founders last year, according to Pitchbook.
"This has to change," said Burch. "It takes more than a great idea and determination to start a business; it takes resources."
More than 2,500 women business owners have received $46 million in loans through the program over the past five years. Over 90 percent of the businesses receiving capital through the program are still in business and current on their loan repayment.
"We want to continue to scale this support by committing another $50 million in capital," Andrew Plepler, global head of environmental, social and governance at Bank of America, told CNBC Make It via email. "By empowering more women to start and scale a business, we are contributing to the economic progress in communities across the country."
"I am so proud of what these women have been able to achieve, and watching their success manifest in concrete, tangible ways — hiring more employees, leasing bigger office spaces, expanding their product lines — is incredibly gratifying," said Burch.
Borrowers can take loans between $500 and $100,000 through the program, which offers a 2 percent interest rate reduction. To qualify, applicants must already be running a business for a least two years, and have positive revenue and a satisfactory credit rating.
"This model is more scalable than providing grant funding alone and helps these women and their businesses to build credit at the same time," said Plepler.
The Tory Burch Foundation says the loans have gone to women-owned businesses across all sectors and industries — from bakeries to manufacturing plants, doctors to chefs — some with annual revenues of $10,000, and a few with annual revenues of as much as $500,000.
"It is rewarding to see the impact these loans are having in womens' lives," said Burch. "I could not be more proud, watching these women scale their businesses and become leaders in their communities."
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Don't miss: Venture capital has a gender problem. Here's what needs to change to fix it


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Open Nigerian Borders, LCC Boss Urges FG
By Clementine Okonye
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Federal Government to once again reconsider its decision to close the nation's land borders. Director General of the Chamber, Muda Yusuf, made the call on Monday in Lagos, asking government to reappraise the situation.
Nigeria's land borders were permanently closed to all goods in October after a period of temporary closure that was announced in August. The temporary closure was supposed to last for 28 days.
The Director General of LCCI said legitimate businesses are suffering due to the closure. The LCCI boss was also critical of the border closure being primarily based on the illegal importation of foreign rice from neighbouring countries.
"It's not just about rice," he said. "The (Nigerian) economy is bigger than rice."
He added that "We need to look at the wider implication of some of these policies. That is why I think government needs to rethink this policy."
Yusuf also called for the strengthening of institutions at the border and the use of technology to combat smuggling and other illegal activities.
"Many of these border points don't have scanners and those who have scanners have not functioned for two years! So, how do you police the borders or check goods coming in if you don't have scanners that are working?"
Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Hameed Alli, while announcing the closure of Nigeria's land borders in Abuja, saying "All goods, for now, are banned from being exported or imported through our land borders and that is to ensure that we have total control over what comes in." The Customs boss gave no timeline to reopen the border.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Customs has assured that it has the capacity to check illegal trading on the nation's borders and prevent smuggled goods from entering the country.
NCS Public Relations Officer, Joseph Attah, blamed neighbouring countries such as Benin, Togo and Benin for the decision to permanently close the border. "Their non-compliance with the ECOWAS transit protocol is having a negative consequence on our nation. The ECOWAS transit protocol was signed by all members of the sub-region but some countries have chosen or somehow found it convenient not to implement it."
Attah added that Nigeria cannot fold its arms and continue to allow situations that will impact negatively on the nation's economy.
All goods being imported into the country are now expected to come through the ports where they can be monitored and be captured as revenue.
Additional reports by Bimbola Awoyele