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Media Outlets Continue Coverage Of WHA Breastfeeding Resolution, Mention Upcoming Meeting On Infant Formula Regulations
The Atlantic: The Epic Battle Between Breast Milk and Infant-Formula Companies
“…This latest tussle in Geneva follows a decades-long battle by infant-formula makers to promote themselves as essentially on par with breast milk. And while health experts instead say ‘breast is best,’ as this incident shows, policymakers aren’t always willing to put legislation behind that message…” (Khazan, 7/10).
Vox: The next frontier of Trump’s defense of baby formula
“…[I]t turns out that global health resolution was just one of a few battlefronts in Trump’s fight against policies that support breastfeeding, as the administration increasingly aligns itself with the U.S. infant formula industry. A key policy the industry hopes to influence next is a forthcoming United Nations guideline for ‘follow-up’ formulas or ‘growing‐up milks,’ baby formula marketed for children over six months of age. … But formula companies want to head off regulation through global food guidelines of these follow-up formulas, which are virtually indistinguishable from their infant counterparts when it comes to their packaging and labeling. These products represent the fastest-growing category in the … baby formula market…” (Belluz, 7/10).
The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.


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Using Windows these days means accepting many, many arguments for using and purchasing other Microsoft products. Some are subtle, like the built-in Edge browser suggesting you use its “recommended settings” after every major update. Some aren’t so subtle, like testing a “quiz” that required some users to explain why they were trying to leave the OneDrive app.
Those living in the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes the EU and adds Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, will soon see the volume drop on their Windows 11 systems. To meet the requirements of the Windows 11 law Digital Markets Commission, which is expected to come into force in March 2024, Microsoft must make its apps easier to uninstall, its default settings easier to change and its attempts to steer people to its services easier to avoid.
Microsoft writes in a blog post that many of these changes will be available in a preview update to Windows 11 (version 23H2) this month. Windows 10 will benefit from similar changes “at a later date.” A few changes affect all Windows 10 and 11 users:
- Windows-essential apps will be labeled with a “System” tag in Settings, Start Menu, and search results.
- Camera, Cortana and Photos can now be uninstalled
In the EEA, much more is on the way:
- Bing web search from Start menu and Edge browser can be uninstalled
- Third parties can add items to Windows Widgets Board feeds
- Third parties, like Google or DuckDuckGo, can provide the integrated web search results that Bing once had exclusively.
- Windows users who choose to sync their Microsoft accounts will see their pinned apps and preferences synced, apparently retaining their EEA-compliant choices.
- Windows will now “always use customer-configured application defaults for link and file types”
Microsoft’s message states that Windows uses the region chosen during Windows installation to provide EEA-exclusive options. Only a PC reset can override the options. EEA Windows devices will also not benefit from the Microsoft Copilot preview that is rolling out to other markets.
The impending arrival of the Digital Markets Act will impact other large tech companies seen as “gatekeepers” providing “core platform services” that are “most prone to unfair trading practices.” Google recently presented to the European Union the idea of forcing Apple to make iMessage interoperable under the law. Apple is reportedly working on changes to iOS that would allow apps to be “loaded” outside of Apple’s App Store, while another provision of the Digital Markets Act would require developers to be able to use their systems. preferred payment.
Complementary legislation focused on online platforms, the Digital Services Act, will impact 19 platforms, including five services from Meta-owned Google, Facebook and Instagram, and Microsoft’s Bing search engine. On Wednesday, Meta became the first platform to appeal its gatekeeper status for its Messenger and Marketplace services, followed shortly after by TikTok.
Gn En tech

domain: news


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- A new report published this month by Rent.com identifies the 10 most expensive cities and counties to buy groceries in the US.
- The analysis uses data from the Council for Community and Economic Research's Cost of Living Index to compare price and spend on common grocery items like milk, eggs, coffee, and sugar.
- The most expensive areas to buy groceries are in coastal cities in states like New York and California.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
When it comes to maintaining a monthly budget, food spending can quickly add up, but even more so depending on where you live.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the average American spends 9.9% of their disposable personal income on food — 5.2% of which consists of grocery spend and 4.7% on restaurants and meals away from home. However, the cost of groceries varies widely across the US and skews significantly higher in coastal cities, according to a new report by Rent.com.
Specifically, the report examines data from the Council for Community and Economic Research's Cost of Living Index and compares costs on common grocery list items like milk, eggs, coffee, and sugar. It then ranks all 257 cities and counties in the report based on grocery affordability.
Here are the top 10 most costly locations for groceries, ranked from least to most expensive by total percentage above the national average:


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Using technology to add value to traditional industries promises huge benefits for society
The engine of every industrial revolution is technology, and digital technology is becoming an important component of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Digitalization can help lower production costs for every industry.
This has been my second trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the theme for which is “Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. In the era of Globalization 4.0, data is becoming a key production factor. How to use data more efficiently and rationally, and how to use digital technology to drive economic development, have been hot topics at this year’s forum.
On Jan 22, I had a discussion with guests in Davos from the European Union, the United States, India and China about how to use digitalization to bring more benefits to society and to assist with the revolution, while at the same time enhancing data security and protecting privacy.
Perhaps a simple example best explains how digital technology can help traditional industries improve efficiency and lower costs. China is the world’s largest consumer of pork, and every year the country raises 700 million pigs for slaughter. The sector generates about 1.1 trillion yuan (US$162 billion). But the industry still faces many problems, including low breeding rates, high costs, and being unable to trace the food-consumer flow.
To solve these problems, a “smart breeding” system using real-time robotic sensors has been developed to monitor the temperature and humidity on pig farms as well as growth statistics for each pig. This includes monitoring each pig’s daily feed consumption, weight and growth, temperature and health statistics. The big data center can then react with a smart response based on the specific circumstances. For example, if the farm’s temperature is too low, the system will automatically turn on heaters. If it finds that some of the pigs are behaving differently than normal, then the system can check and provide a solution based on the findings.
The smart system can reduce breeding-labor costs by 30 to 50 percent, cut the amount of feed required by 8 to 10 percent, and shorten the breeding time by five to eight days. If the system could be broadly applied across the agricultural industry in China, it could effectively lower industry costs by more than 50 billion yuan. This is an example of how digital technology can be used to add value to a traditional industry and achieve greater benefits for the general public.
Of course, digital technology can be applied in many other areas. It can be used in urban designing and management, relieving problems closely related to the lives of everyday people, including air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution and other problems found in urban environments. For example, technology can predict the air quality of a designated place in a city, predict the quality of a water supply system and diagnose noise pollution.
In China’s banking system, services previously provided by traditional financial institutions were more focused on high profits and large client numbers. By adopting big data from the e-commerce industry and applying AI technology, risk management models can be compiled to help financial institutions reduce transaction costs and improve the efficiency of risk identification. Using digital technology, we can thus help individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises with reasonable demands to get access to the fair and reasonably priced financial services they need.
While we want to use digital technology to benefit society, we also need to rigorously protect data privacy and security. We need to provide plenty of education for consumers about data safety and raise consumers’ awareness. Companies should also adhere to the related regulations when obtaining, using, storing and transferring data.
Data has already become a key production factor. With everyone working hard together, we will absolutely find a way to protect data to the fullest, while still using data technology to benefit society.
The author is CEO of JD Digits. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
HONG KONG NEWS


text: Grocery price increases continued to moderate in September, with prices ticking up just 0.1% last month, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Thursday. In August, groceries had grown 0.2% pricier. In the year through September, not adjusted for seasonal swings, grocery prices rose 2.4% — less than inflation overall, which was 3.7%. Food price increases have been easing this year, offering some much-needed relief at the supermarket. In March, grocery prices dipped for the first time since September 2020. Food prices had been particularly volatile for a number of reasons, including extreme weather, the war in Ukraine, higher feed and fertilizer costs and challenges across the supply chain. Some food companies used the moment of rapid changes to pad their own profits. Some items, like eggs, notched massive increases before starting to fall. But now, many items have remained steady, month to month. In September, fruit and vegetable prices were unchanged. Uncooked beef steaks and nonalcoholic beverages stayed flat. Chicken and dairy overall rose just 0.1%. Some individual items got cheaper last month: Potato prices dropped 2%, ham fell 1.8% and rice went down 1.3%. Fish and seafood together dropped 1.2%. Cheese got 0.4% cheaper. And some still notched increases, especially in the meat aisle. Hot dogs spiked 6.8%, bacon jumped 4.8% and uncooked ground beef rose 0.6%. Butter jumped 2.4%, milk rose 1.4% and citrus fruits went up 1.3%. Eggs increased by 0.9%, after falling for a few months. What got more expensive this year In the year through September, some items still notched high price increases. Frozen fruits and vegetables spiked 8.1% in that period, and sugar went up 7.7%. Beef and veal together jumped 7%, and bread rose 6.1%. Ice cream rose 4.5%. Flour and apples each rose 3.9%. Coffee rose 1.6%. Many items also got cheaper: Eggs dropped 14.5%, butter slumped 4%, and cheese and lettuce each fell 2.8%. Citrus fruits declined 2.4%. Chicken and milk each slumped 2.1% and pork declined by 1.7%. Fish and seafood together fell 1.5%. While grocery prices are moderating, restaurant prices have remained high, rising 6% for the year and 0.4% in September. Prices for limited service restaurants, where customers order at a counter, were up 6.4% for the year. Chipotle said this week that it is raising prices, and Domino’s said Thursday that in the third quarter, its prices were up 3.2% on average.


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Against the backdrop of global recession fears, South Africa’s battered economy can hardly escape unscathed.
Indeed, recession and stagflation loom on the horizon in the face of intensifying load shedding, cooling commodity prices, a rand in the ropes and continued state failure.
Even before Stage 6 load shedding was imposed for the first time since 2019, South Africa’s economy was likely tipping into recession – the latest wave of blackouts was just the latest push.
A recession means that an economy has contracted for two consecutive quarters or two consecutive three-month periods.
Public discourse lingo often refers to a “technical recession,” but a recession is a recession, plain and simple. And many commentators still insist on using the nonsensical phrase ‘negative growth’, which puts a ‘positive’ spin on things because it includes the word ‘growth’ when there is none.
And at the moment there is almost certainly no growth in the South African economy and it may be shrinking.
“We forecast the real gross domestic product [GDP] contracted on a quarterly basis in the second quarter and expects sluggish growth in the coming quarters. The possibility of more intense offloading in the third quarter could see the economy slide into recession,” said Jee-A van der Linde, economist at Oxford Economics Africa.
Other forecasts are just a little more optimistic and partly depend on the magnitude of the load shedding.
“Our GDP growth forecast for Q2 is zero – no growth, no contraction. And for Q3 we have a forecast of 0.5% (quarterly non-annualized), but there are now clearly more winds contrary for the third quarter than when we published this figure, so there is a possibility that we will get a recession if the intense shedding persists for a good part of the quarter, ”said Peter Worthington, principal economist at Absa. DM168. “But we believe that Eskom [probably] to be able to de-escalate the stage 4, 5 and 6 load shedding to a much less damaging stage 2, now that an agreement on the pay deal has ended the…strike.
Razia Khan, chief economist for Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank in London, noted that high base effects will also be in play after South Africa’s economy surprised on the upside in the first quarter, when it grew much faster than expected by 1.9% on a non-annualized quarterly basis.
“Given the better than expected momentum in the first quarter, which contributes to a strong basis, and the severity of the load shedding in June, it is possible that we will see a [quarter-on-quarter] contraction in the second quarter,” she said.
Growth in the first quarter brought GDP back to pre-pandemic levels. So while it has since contracted, economic output has fallen back below pre-pandemic levels. It’s a back to the future thing. And a slew of red lights suggests the economy is back to the future.
In April, mining output fell nearly 15% year-on-year, while manufacturing output fell 7.8%. The KwaZulu-Natal floods that month played a starring role in this scene, their impact magnified by years of ANC rot in the region.
Collapse of trust
Unsurprisingly, confidence – which is necessary if consumers are going to consume and businesses are going to invest – has been undermined. The FNB/BER consumer confidence index fell to -25 in Q2 from -13 index points in Q1. To put that into context, the only time it’s been below that in the last three decades plus change was in the second quarter of 2020 when it hit -33 against the wrecking ball that was locked down at level 5 in response to the Covid outbreak.
Consumer confidence has fallen across all income groups, from the growing ranks of the poor, who remain the majority in this deeply unequal society, to the wealthy, who have disposable income and savings.
The BankservAfrica Take-home Pay Index recorded one of its largest annual declines in May, down 6.7%.
“With ever-increasing demands on household disposable income, consumers are likely to feel the pressure in the coming months,” BankservAfrica said.
At the same time, the Absa purchasing managers’ index fell slightly in June to 52.2. But the business activity sub-index was hijacked, averaging just 45 in Q2 from nearly 59 in Q1. This is a strong signal that manufacturing output declined in the second quarter.
In fact, these surveys were all carried out before the Stage 6 load shedding bared its fangs, mainly thanks to the strike of some Eskom employees, who managed to obtain a 7% salary increase from the bankrupt public company.
Rising interest rates
Interest rates are expected to rise further when the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) meets later this month. Since November last year, the MPC has raised its main repo rate from a record high of 3.5% to 4.75%, taking the prime rate to 8.25%, and another hike of at minus 50 basis points is clearly foreseen.
The rapid rise in rates to contain inflation after years of ultra-loose monetary policy in advanced economies is seen as one of the main reasons why so many countries are on the brink of recession.
Consumer inflation in South Africa currently stands at 6.5%, mainly due to soaring food and fuel prices, and is a clear breach of the 3%-6% target range. of the SARB.
A global slowdown will also dampen South African economic activity and has put downward pressure on the prices of key commodity exports such as palladium and iron ore.
But the SARB’s hand is also being forced by the rand, which last week hit its lowest levels against the dollar in nearly two years, falling in tandem with the fragile euro.
The bottom line is that the cost of borrowing for businesses and households is rising at an inopportune time, as South African inflation is hardly the product of demand pressures.
Indeed, with the economy possibly slipping into recession, inflation accelerating and an unemployment rate of over 34%, the South African economy is also falling into a spiral of stagflation. This term is even prevalent in developed economies like Canada, where unemployment rates are at record highs.
It is also depressing that the current levels of load shedding are occurring in an economy that may be shrinking or, at best, barely growing. Let it sink in.
The strike was clearly a contributing factor, but there is no way for Eskom to keep the lights on in a booming economy, let alone one with vigorous economic growth rates. It is a cycle that is simply brutal. The only way to grow the South African economy faster and attract the investment needed to do so is to have a reliable power supply, which is only a given in this second quintile – or ” stage 2″ – of the 21st century.
But a rapidly growing economy with the kind of investment needed to build and operate things like smelters, mines, and factories would completely overwhelm the network and collapse it.
This economy, it seems, simply cannot win. DM168
This story first appeared in our weekly newspaper Daily Maverick 168, which is available nationwide for R25.


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So What’S The Difference Between Cbd And Thc?
CBD Oil Joy Organics CBD oil promises to help with a long list of common and notsocommon ailments. In February 2020, the UK FSA advised vulnerable people, such as pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and those already taking medication for other medical concerns not to take CBD. The FSA further recommended that healthy adults should not consume more than 70 mg CBD per day. CBD derived from hemp (with 0.3% THC or lower) is legal to sell as a cosmetics ingredient, but cannot be sold under federal law as an ingredient in food, dietary supplement, or animal food. It is a common misconception that the legal ability to sell hemp makes CBD legal.
The Colorado Industrial Hemp Program registers growers of industrial hemp and samples crops to verify that the dry-weight THC concentration does not exceed 0.3%. The FDA is investigating reports of CBD containing such dangerous contaminants as unhealthy levels of heavy metals , pesticides, bacteria and fungi.
Get Free Cbd, Cannabis Medicine, Brain Wellness & Evidence Based Natural Medicine Resources Straight To Your Inbox
Epidiolex documentation lists sleepiness, insomnia and poor quality sleep, decreased appetite, diarrhea, and fatigue. Various strains of "medical marijuana" are found to have a significant variation in the ratios of CBD-to-THC and are known to contain other non-psychotropic cannabinoids. Any psychoactive marijuana, regardless of its CBD content, is derived from the flower of the genus Cannabis. Certain standards are required for legal growing, cultivating, and producing the hemp plant.
] yet to be approved by the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods . A major shift happened in September 2019, when Australian Capital Territory legalized the recreational possession and cultivation of cannabis – eventually becoming the first jurisdiction in the country to do so. Research indicates that cannabidiol may reduce adverse effects of THC, particularly those causing intoxication and sedation, but only at high doses. Safety studies of cannabidiol showed it is well tolerated, but may cause tiredness, diarrhea, or changes in appetite as common adverse effects.
- According to Marcel Bonn-Miller, adjunct assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 43% of CBD oil products contain too little CBD, while about 26% contain too much.
- Behavioral symptoms of anxiety and physiological symptoms of anxiety, like rapid heartbeat, were reduced in some studies.
- While CBD oil for anxiety and depression holds promise, there are significant disadvantages to its use.
- It’s also been shown to be effective against anxiety-related insomnia.
- It has very few side effects, and results can be felt in just two weeks.
Cannabis products containing less than 1% THC can be sold and purchased legally. However, in July 2019, Supreme Court of Sweden ruled that CBD oil with any concentration of THC falls under the narcotic control laws.
The deadline for companies to register a CBD product as an authorised novel food with the FSA is 31 March 2021; failure to register will exclude companies from selling CBD. While THC remains illegal, cannabidiol is not subject to the Swiss Narcotic Acts because this substance does not produce a comparable psychoactive effect.
While there are prescription medications to relieve arthritis pain, often, they come along with dozens of unpleasant side effects. For that reason, many are seeking a more natural approach, including CBD as a health supplement. CBDbased products are popping up in many sexual health products and skin care products too, as they become a more natural solution to maintaining healthy, younglooking skin. According to Karnes, the cannabidiol market will hit the 3billion mark by 2021, while the Brightfield Group says hempCBD market alone with reach 22 billion by 2022 Who uses CBD oil?
If approved, manufacturers of CBD products would be required to conduct safety tests and prove safe consumption, indicating that CBD products would not be eligible for legal commerce until at least 2021. As of August 2020, it is still illegal to carry cannabis and cannabis-derived CBD oil products across the Canadian border. If one carries any amount of cannabis for any purpose , it need to be declared to the Canada Border Services Agency. Following a change in legislation in 2017, CBD was changed from a Schedule 9 drug to a Schedule 4 drug, meaning that it is legally available in Australia.
These studies show promising results of using CBD oil to manage arthritis pain. However, more human studies are needed to back up these findings. Several animal studies suggest that oil could be useful in relieving arthritis pain due to its claimed anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.


text: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Liz Claiborne Inc. liz on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $82.7 million, or 75 cents per share, up from $73.1 million, or 66 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue for the quarter was $1.98 billion, compared with $1.03 billion in 2004. Liz Claiborne said that same-store sales increased 5.3 percent in the fourth quarter. The New York-based clothing company forecast first-quarter earnings of 63 cents to 66 cents per share, with sales expected to rise 7 percent to 9 percent. For 2005, the company expects earnings of $2.96 to $3.02 per share, with sales up 6 percent to 8 percent.


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A total of 68,113 new businesses were registered with the Swedish Companies Registration Office (Bolagsverket) in 2017, down by 680 new businesses (or one percent) on the previous year.
The most popular type of registration was limited companies (aktiebolag), with more than 48,500 such businesses set up last year. However, that was a decrease by -2.4 percent on 2016.
Sole traders on the other hand rose by 4.7 percent to 15,666 new registrations in 2017. The figure does not include sole traders who are only registered with Sweden's tax agency Skatteverket.
Dalarna and Norrbotten counties saw the biggest increase in new businesses (up 11.1 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively), while capital city Stockholm had the most new businesses altogether with 24,355 new registrations (down -1.8 percent on 2016).
The statistics include limited companies, sole traders registered with the Companies Registration Office and various kinds of trading partnerships.
Despite the slight drop, the figures released on Tuesday indicate that Sweden's startup scene is still going strong, with the average number of new businesses after 2010 higher than previous years. 2011 still holds the record, with an impressive 69,299 new businesses started that year.


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It seems Binance is rarely out of the news these days, and the past week has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the exchange in European territories. On the plus side, this does at least mean that it hasn't been all bad news.
EUR deposits and withdrawals back on
Euro payments, deposits and withdrawals were restored for European users one month after the termination of services by PaySafe, one of Binance's key payment solutions providers. At the time, users were urged to convert their fiat deposits to USDT. However, on October 19, Binance announced that it had signed agreements with new fiat partners in Europe. The names of the new partners were not disclosed, but according to Blockworks, the list includes FinTech firm TrueLayer, global payment tech company Nuvei, and several card acquirers. To migrate the accounts to the new partners, users first have to convert their EUR deposits to crypto or withdraw them.
U.K. troubles continue as top executive steps down
Unfortunately, no new partners have been found for GBP transactions, which only goes to increase user discontent. Paysafe stopped supporting pound sterling transactions in May following a warning from the FCA, the U.K. financial regulator. Later, the exchange stopped accepting new British users after the introduction of a new crypto marketing regime in the country and is currently searching for a new FCA-authorised partner to legitimise its promotions. Amid these troubles, it was announced that Jonathan Farnell, the head of Binance UK and CEO of Bifinity, who used to play a central role in Binance’s efforts to get regulated in the U.K., left the company in late September.
Farnell joins a growing list of top Binance executives who have left the company amid an ongoing regulatory crackdown. Last week, his European colleague, Stéphanie Cabossioras, stepped down from her role as the executive director of Binance France. Among other executives who have resigned is Saulius Galatiltis, the CEO of Lithuania-based Bifinity UAB, which, according to Binance, plays a key role for people interacting with fiat services, particularly for those in Europe. Also, in September, Gleb Kostarev, regional head of Eastern Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, and Vladimir Smerkis, Binance General Manager for Russia and CIS, announced their departures.
End of Binance partnered Visa cards
The news that Mastercard and Visa were paring back their co-branded card projects with Binance first emerged in August. Mastercard terminated its partnership with the exchange in Latin America and Bahrain this September. Now, Visa’s time has come. According to a recent blog post, Binance Visa Card services will no longer be offered in the European Economic Area. Users can use existing physical or virtual cards until December 20. To replace crypto cards, which were first launched in 2020, the exchange suggests using Binance Pay.
Allegedly, all of these issues are largely the result of the regulatory pressure being put on the exchange in different jurisdictions, especially in the U.S.
Companies and personalities appear to be afraid of spoiling their relationships with the authorities and tarnishing their reputations. Is this a bad sign for the world’s biggest exchange marking a good time to step away, or will the challenges make it stronger and true believers be rewarded? We will continue to Observe.


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Arken Zoo acquires Djurkompaniet
Arken Zoo acquires Djurkompaniet – further strengthening its position as market leader in specialized pet trade.
Arken Zoo acquires Djurkompaniet, with 12 physical stores and e-com solutions.
“The acquisition of Djurkompaniet feels great. The chain has done a great job over the years, and we´re looking forward to drive continuous store development and lifting the customer experience to the next level. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to reach out to even more Swedish pets and their owners”, says Johan Henriksson, Country manager at Arken Zoo.
“It´s with great pride that we now leave Djurkompaniet to Arken Zoo. We´ve owned the chain for almost 10 years, and have over the past few years doubled the revenue. When the chain is now facing the next step of development, we believe that Arken Zoo, in a better way than us, will be able to secure the stores development, thus the future for our staff”, says Peo Persson in Kalmar, majority owner of Djurkompaniet.
Closing will take place October 2nd, and the 12 acquired stores will continue with business as usual under their existing brand, for the time being. Further on, the stores will undergo gradual harmonization of assortment, store environment and re-profiling to Arken Zoo.
About Arken Zoo
Arken Zoo / Zoo Support is the largest specialized pet trade chain in Sweden, with approximately 115 stores around the country.
Arken Zoo / Zoo Support is part of Musti Group with a total of almost 250 pet stores in the Nordic region.
A wide and pricewise selection of products and services are offered to pets and their owners through a network of physical stores, veterinary clinics, dog grooming salons and web stores.
More important than our size is our vision; to make the life of pets and pet parents easier, safer and more fun. Welcome to Arken Zoo.
About Musti Group
Musti Group is the biggest specialized pet trade company in the Nordics, with a total of almost 250 stores in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Reported revenue of 145 MEUR past fiscal year, and employment number of approximately 1400 colleagues.
More information available through www.arkenzoo.se and www.mustijamirri.fi


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In the third Convenience Conversation of 2019, Scottish Grocer invited a group of retailers, brand representatives and EPOS firms to Ayrshire to discuss the need for innovation to survive
CONVENIENCE retailers know that it’s tough out there.
With rising overheads, tight margins and weak consumer confidence, it is getting increasingly difficult to make a living from c-store retailing.
But challenge can also bring opportunities. In a bid to find out how c-stores tackle the obstacles facing them, Scottish Grocer brought together brands and retailers at The Park Hotel in Kilmarnock for the third in our 2019 Convenience Conversation series.
Brand representatives at the round-table discussion included Martyn Parkinson, brand director for Premier at Booker, James Loker and David Hills from The Retail Data Partnership, Christina Grant and Wendy Craig from Camelot, and Dev Mukherji from the Post Office.
Scottish Grocer editor Matthew Lynas started proceedings by asking the question that has been troubling convenience retailers across the country: how can margins be improved?
• Martyn Parkinson said that retailers simply “can’t survive” on margins of 15% to 20%, which only “just about cover costs.”
“Within Premier we are working towards a convenience model that delivers 30% margins,” he said.
“We’ve opened a store where the margin has gone up by nearly 10% and that retailer is now operating at 29%. We are very close to getting a model, should a retailer want to adopt the ideas, that offers 30%.
“But what we have to do first of all is address the footfall. And if we are going to attract some of the younger audiences, we need to look at what they are going into convenience stores for: things like dessert bars, Tango Ice Blast.”
According to The Retail Data Partnership’s James Loker, continued innovation was the key to increasing margins.
“The tobacco side of things, there is no margin there. News is declining very quickly, outside of the niche publications.
“So the little newsagents on the corner, they are making money but there is not a lot of margin there and they can’t really survive much longer unless they change what they are doing.
“A lot of stores are just doing the same old thing and their margins are in the 15-20% range. But there are stores that are working actively to increase those, to do better.”
One such store is Ian Mitchell’s Premier Girvan, which has recently had a full refit carried out so that it can better appeal to modern convenience shoppers.
“We do food to go, rolls, pizzas, Tango Ice Blast, we have an ice cream bar, milkshakes,” Ian explained: “We put a big vape display in. The refit has made a big difference and it is definitely working well already. The amount of Ice Blast we sold in one weekend was crazy.”
But if the effort and expense of a full refit seems intimidating, Martyn stressed that there were easier solutions.
“I know some retailers are very concerned when they look at a full dessert bar and they say ‘that’s not for me’, but you just have to pick elements, really easy things, that makes your convenience store relevant for 16,17, 18 year-olds.
“The silver greys are unfortunately disappearing, and they are the ones who traditionally use a convenience store. But it is an exciting time, we are seeing younger and younger customers coming back into convenience stores.
“The big starting point for us would be food to go, and if you boil it down even further it’s coffee. Retailers are starting to understand just how important coffee is and just how much money it can bring in.”
In addition to food to go and coffee, another crucial high-margin area is that of chilled food.
Martyn said that chilled was now the single best performing category in Premier stores, offering retailers margins of 30-35% and a “fresh meal solution” for consumers.
• This was echoed by Dev Mukherji of the Post Office, who said his previous experience working in FMCG had shown him just how important the chilled category can be to a modern c-store’s success.
“There’s things you can do to improve the perception of certain categories in store.
“If you have an ambient carton soup product that you put in the chilled area, it improves the perception of that soup for things like freshness, and drives the shopper mission towards ‘meal for tonight’.
“And it allows you margin opportunities,” he said.
You have to pick elements that makes your convenience store relevant for 16, 17, 18 year olds. And if we are going to attract younger audiences we need to look at what they are going into convenience stores for: things like dessert bars, Tango Ice Blast.
–Martyn Parkinson, Brand Director of Premier at Booker
Yet while lucrative, there is no ‘one size fits all’ model for retailers hoping to make the most of the chilled category.
“Chilled tends to be very localised,” explained James Loker, “the good stores are getting local butchers to do their own ready meals.
“The problem with chilled as a category is that it is high reward but high risk. Wastage is an issue. But the margin does justify it.”
James also stressed that the chilled category varied depending on the local catchment. “If you have a bus stop nearby, stock a sausage roll. If you are on a high street, focus on the lunch occasion,” he said.
Girvan retailer Ian Mitchell agreed that the category involved a fair bit of trial and error before settling on the right range.
“We have been putting things in, seeing if they sell and then after a few weeks we check it again and change it about.
“You will always get wastage to start out. Chill has always been the hardest category in the store to get right.
“I use a local butchers, it works for us. We originally had 5m of chill, now we are at 20m. The cost of refrigeration is high but it is still a good thing to do,” he said.
• Wilson Rea, of Keystore Lanark, said that he has a 20m range of chilled produce. Although that brings the potential for wastage, Wilson said that he used his food-to-go equipment to cook and sell any chilled products that were on the verge of going out of date.
When it comes to keeping waste to a minimum – but providing convenient solutions to customers – Sukhi Sangha of Coylton Convenience Store said that frozen food was ideal.
“Cooking isn’t the main priority, if you can get frozen burgers or a pie and chips that you can stick in the oven then why not?”
• The group agreed that it was a good idea to look at a store through the lens of the ‘shopper mission’, focusing on what is convenient to consumers.
And Dev Mukherji gave a presentation on the Post Office’s long-term strategy, which revealed that the firm was looking to take more of a shopper mission-driven approach.
“We need to get out of our Post Office brains and start looking at a more holistic picture, the shopper, and how the Post Office fits within the shopper’s life.
“You have to differentiate your service offering, because shoppers want different things from their local store. If you have a younger population there will be a lot of returns and collections, because they are buying things from fashion outlets, so that might be the main focus from that store.
“If you are in a student area then it might be about offering travel money, travel services. Start thinking about travel guides, sun lotions. We’re thinking about the shopper, it’s very different to what we have done before,” he said.
Events have been big for us. We started using a new Asian food supplier so we had a tasting night. It’s all about in-store activity, keeping it buzzing.
–Sukhi Sangha Coylton Convenience Store
Yet despite winning the Scottish Grocer Award for Post Office Retailer of the Year in 2018, Sukhi shared her frustrations with being a postmaster.
“Half of my customers who come in for the Post Office solely use the Post Office and then walk straight back out. They are in a hurry, they are demanding, they are moody, they want everything right there.
“Business banking, my footfall has increased, but these customers are in a hurry, they aren’t even looking to see what I have in my shop.
“I am spending three hours in the back office to return cash for my business banking. The wage we get doesn’t even cover the minimum wage. The staff are stressed out, Christmas is around the corner.
“To me the Post Office is just a headache – there’s no support there and it is very stressful.”
“We need to get our act together,” said Dev. “But I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t a genuine desire to do things differently.
“It is not in our interests to be irrelevant in five or ten years time. Even if we take baby steps, we are taking them in the right direction. The tactics will be about fixing the basics, then moving to the next level.”
• Like the Post Office, the National Lottery is a staple of the traditional convenience retail model. Representatives from lottery operator Camelot were quizzed on whether lottery games still had a place in a modern, innovation-led store.
Wendy Craig, retail business manager at Camelot, said the lottery brand requires a small footprint in store but offers a high rate of sale.
“We are a 5% margin brand but given the footprint it takes up, lottery is four or five times more profitable than snacks or confectionery,” she said.
Despite that, Wilson Rea said he “disagreed with the lottery coming in and taking the main space on the selling counter for a 4-5% margin.”
“I’ve now put my scratchcards at head height,” he said, “and my terminal behind the counter, and replaced where the terminal was with a chilled sandwich area. And it hasn’t affected sales at all.”
Margins aside, Wendy suggested that one of the key selling points of the lottery was its funding for good causes.
“Community is massive for us, but we could do more. That is our unique selling point, that is what we do differently.
“We are handing out posters which will highlight the good that retailers are doing in the community. I think we could do more to connect that with retail, but we are looking at what is being done locally.”
Her colleague Christina Grant said that if retailers wanted to let customers know what local causes had benefitted from National Lottery funding, their Camelot rep could provide that information.
Helping out the local community could even prove the difference between a store’s success and failure. The retailers present were in agreement that maintaining a close relationship with the community was often what helped a store stay afloat in a difficult market.
“If we look after the customer they look after us as well,” said Sukhi.
Ian Mitchell added: “At Christmas we organise an old folks’ party, because the council cancelled the funding. We know most of the customers by first name, we even know what time they come in during the day.
“That’s why they are happy to come back to the store, because of the service they get when they are there.”
It is not in our interests to be irrelevant in five or ten years. Even if we take baby steps, we will be taking them in the right direction.
– Dev Mukherji, Post Office
• Social media is a key tool for stores to stay in touch with the community – and boost footfall. Sukhi said she also used it as a tool to promote in-store events:
“Most of us do social media. Events have been big for us too. We started to do CBD products, and we had two open days with the company.
“Some people aren’t sure if they can trust it. But having the company give advice in store has definitely helped sales and improve customers’ confidence.
“We also started using a new Asian food supplier so we had a tasting night. It’s about in-store activity, keeping it buzzing. Letting people try something for free always helps sales.”
“The Buckfast BBQ sauce came out and it caused a bit of a storm, it was great for Facebook. With new products, if you get them in quickly then it helps.”
• But while many stores have found success on social media, some have gone even further and installed home delivery apps.
Martyn Parkinson said that Booker was currently trialling a home delivery app with two Premier retailers, with one promising 30-minute delivery within a three-mile radius.
“The average basket spend in his store is just under £8, but with home delivery it is £21. In 12 months that retailer will be making £18-£20k just on delivery charges. It is food to go, waffles, Tango Ice Blast and also groceries.
“What that is giving him is just a whole different audience. One that retailers might think ‘I’ve got this area covered’, but you haven’t.”
“Instead of picking up a pizza, you just order it, which is more convenient, arguably, than a convenience store, because you don’t need to leave the house. I don’t think it is a trend that is going away. If anything, it is going to get bigger.”
And there’s definitely something to adopting a mentality of ‘if you can’t beat them join them’, according to James.
He described an English c-store retailer who had done “really well” after placing his pizzas and food to go offer on Just Eat.
“If you do food to go and you are thinking about delivery, you could try something like Just Eat.
“It is a good starting point because you don’t need to market it, it’s established and people know it,” he said.


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New startups show that millennials want their babies' food to be as healthy as theirs—if not more so.
When it comes to motherhood, millennials are turning convention on its head, as previously reported by JWT Intelligence. Now, millennial parents are passing their affinity for healthy, adventurous food on to their offspring, and brands are targeting the high end of this market with innovative offerings.
The team behind West Village café Nourish Kitchen + Table launched Nourish Baby NYC in New York at the end of April. Meals are made with fresh organic and seasonal ingredients sourced from local farmers, with options including Korean black rice congee designed to broaden taste palates. Subscriptions run up to $475 per month, with weekly pickups at designated Nourish outputs.
“It’s hitting the right generation,” Marissa Lippert, a registered dietician and the founder of Nourish, told JWT Intelligence. “If you’re a new parent at the age of 25 or the age of 40, that age range is hyper-conscious of where they’re buying their food, or where they’re ordering from. Health and wellness is everything now. It’s the right time and place to have these conversations.”
Yumi is a baby food delivery service modeled after its grown-up counterparts that also launched in April. Based in Los Angeles, Yumi was founded to counter the amount of preservatives found even in high-end organic options. Yumi’s meals include locally sourced ingredients, and are recommended by a team of pediatricians and nutritionists. Prices start at $50/week.
“As millennial women age and have children, we are going to apply all the things that we want for our lives to our children’s,” Angela Sutherland, former investment executive and founder of Yumi, told Vogue. Yumi is aiming squarely at the cohort of working millennial mothers who are hyper-focused on wellness, by simultaneously providing nutrition for babies and mental relief for parents.
In the UK, the Young Gums community aims to provide “a breath of fresh air” for new parents seeking an at-home alternative to processed baby foods. Launched last year by Beth Bentley, head of strategy at Wieden + Kennedy, Young Gums quickly gained more than 8,000 followers on Instagram. Bentley creates simple, healthy, make-at-home meals—many of which can be done with one hand.
“I set out to fill the void with an honest and trustworthy healthy baby food inspiration platform that’s built for real, connected, creative modern parents,” says Bentley. “That extends from the freshness and modernity of the recipes themselves, through to the visual look, tone of voice, sense of humor, and even through to the time of day I share content, on which platform.”
Bentley’s recipes provide not just an alternative to not just the baby food aisle (which she calls “the land that time forgot”), but to the tone and feel of many parenting blogs. Billed as “Baby Food with Attitude,” Young Gums delivers with sassy recipes and an acknowledgement that moms aren’t superheroes. “WTF Do I Do?” reads the recipe copy, which offers time-saving tips and cost-saving hacks. Compared to other sites, where Bentley says, “Sometimes the general vibe of the writing is just a little bit lacking in realness, or feels a bit patronizing.”
Nourish Baby also shows the value of design in a brand that, while designed for children, is also very much a part of an adult’s life. “The vibrant colors are meant to attract a child’s eye, and the shapes,” says Lippert. “But it also attracts the parent, because it is so simplistic in the design. It hearkens back to Matisse, or the 1930s Bauhaus design. It’s a sophisticated, new, fresh way of thinking.”
Millennial moms are bringing different values to parenthood than previous generations. And as of today, they make up the bulk of new parents: In 2015, 82% of births were to millennial moms, according to Pew research. Baby brands should take note of the fresh attitudes, fresh looks, and fresh ingredients driving the clean baby food trend, and shaping millennial motherhood today.
Main image: Yumi.


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The cryptocurrency startup Zwoop, that was backed by the billionaire investor Robert Friedland, has gone into administration. The knowledge was launched in a latest report by The Telegraph on January 11.
Apparently, the corporate has filed for administration on the finish of November 2018 and staff and suppliers from everywhere in the world have been left with unpaid wages. As The Subsequent Internet explains, the corporate owes a London-based advertising and marketing company £42,000 and a public relations agency £30,000.
Alessandro Gadotti is the founding father of Zwoop that aimed toward utilizing synthetic intelligence and different applied sciences to assemble data from e-commerce websites and discover the absolute best costs for merchandise. Zwoop obtained $13 million from Robert Friedland, the founding father of Ivanhoe Capital Company and Ivanhoe Mines.
In keeping with The Subsequent Internet, the corporate needed to lift $30 million via a token sale. The report says that once they’ve delayed the ICO, Gadotti give up the corporate and an worker discovered $2 million value of funds that weren’t capable of be accounted for. The corporate was additionally using 56 individuals in London, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Gadotti mentioned that they didn’t misuse the funds that the corporate obtained and that the $2 million may have been used to assist the corporate develop.
The Preliminary Coin Providing was introduced again in August to happen in Septemeber. Nevertheless, the ICO was suspended just a few days earlier than the official sale.
Essential Pre-Sale Replace: Zwoop’s ICO is presently suspended till additional discover as a result of up to date authorized opinion. Discover out extra right here: https://t.co/lpIFlRHdhf or ask any questions on our Telegram channel: https://t.co/0YmS3Iyd8k #ICO #announcement #presale pic.twitter.com/sNMF79XcLJ
— Zwoop (@ZwoopGlobal) September 18, 2018
As per The Subsequent Internet, staff and freelancers engaged on the compan
y have been involved concerning the sluggish tempo of improvement of Zwoop and its software. Nevertheless, Gadotti was satisfied that the app was going to be launched quickly.
Zwoop staff and Ivanhoe Capital confronted Gadotti shortly after this example. As talked about earlier than, Gadotti defined that the corporate was making authentic funds.
Throughout 2017 and 2018, a number of ICOs have been launched. Nevertheless, a few of them have been merely scams or fraudulent firms that needed to steal buyers’ funds. For this reason regulatory businesses around the globe began to play a extra lively position in regulating the crypto and blockchain market.
Clearly, this isn’t the primary time that an ICO fails and closes its doorways as Zwoop did.


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Bungie has told Joystiq that while Halo: Reach is its last game in the series for the foreseeable future, it may consider doing another one “down the line”.
“As far as right now, currently, yes. This is our last Halo Bungie game,”lead multiplayer designer Lars Bakken told the site.
“Now in the future, who knows? You can never say never, because things change. maybe ten years down the line we decide to make another Halo game, but for right now, yes. This is it for us.”
Previously, Bungie had said it was too “premature” to say if Reach was its final ever game in the series, with community boss Brian Jarrard saying if it were its last attempt at the series, it’d “better damn well make sure that our last game is the best one ever”.
Halo: Reach releases this fall for Xbox 360. Multiplayer beta kicks off in ten days on May 3.


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After NFTs and the metaverse, some luxury brands are turning to blockchain technology to improve the lifecycle of their wares.
Block "misled investors on key metrics, and embraced predatory offerings" to fuel its growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the report alleges.
Commerce and engagement tool Dispatch is making Web3 interactions as simple and streamlined as clicking on a web ad.
South Korean authorities had previously issued Terra's co-founder and CEO Do Kwon an arrest warrant last September.
Circle stablecoins USDC and the newly-listed EUROC can now be bought and sold on Bittrex Global for no extra cost.
The highly-anticipated Arbitrum airdrop has finally gone live. Amid the hype, though, the project's homepage has crashed.
Alongside transaction activity, DeFi liquidity has soared since Arbitrum announced the launch of its native ARB token.
One of the most dreaded letters a crypto firm can get, a Wells notice signals that the SEC has it in its sights.
Crypto Twitter finds a common enemy in the SEC, but some see just desserts after Coinbase delisted XRP.
Neon's thoughtful extraction-based first-person shooter has elements of Halo, Apex Legends, and Escape From Tarkov—and NFTs, too.
The SEC's crackdown on crypto staking has hit Coinbase, one month after it fined Kraken $30 million over staking.
Users can now send Tether's TRC20 to Telegram contacts.
The SEC also cited celebrities like Jake Paul, Lindsay Lohan, and Soulja Boy for pitching TRX and BTT.
“I think it's really easy to forget about the benefits of decentralization until you need them," Friederike Ernst said. "And then it's too late.”
Tron founder Justin Sun and his companies have been charged with securities violations, while celebs face charges for pumping Tron's tokens.
The U.S. central bank is balancing its fight against rising inflation with the recent turmoil in the banking sector.
With Core wallet, Ava Labs is bringing self-custody wallets up to par with the most fully featured centralized exchanges.
The proposed national legislation comes just days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis offered up a similar law in his state.
Can a “dead game” gain a second life in Web3? Immutable and Bazooka believe fresh funding and NFT elements can bring players back.
Senators Warren and Wyden argue that more has to be done to hold PCAOB-registered audit firms accountable for their work with crypto clients.
Crypto wallets are criticized for their clunky UX, but that may soon change thanks to a few crypto projects—and the world’s largest payment network.
The drop consists of 130 limited edition Unicorn sneakers that come with identical NFT kicks designed by Space Runners.
A recent Coinbase experiment that used ChatGPT for a token audit has shed light on how close the bots are to joining the security stack.
Innovation in digital assets is "mostly about creating artificial scarcity," the White House says. "Many of them have no fundamental value."
Cute and on-chain: the massive MapleStory franchise will enter Web3 with its own dedicated Supernet on Ethereum scaling network Polygon.
PleasrHouse will auction off SOCKS token #69—and may set Uniswap creator Hayden Adams’ own crypto socks ablaze, too.
The leading U.S. exchange announced that Brazilian customers would be able to buy and sell crypto using reais.
The PlayStation 5 maker is stacking NFT-related patent applications, pointing to a more open future for the gaming giant.
Sushi’s “head chef” has received a subpoena from the financial watchdog.
The top Solana NFT marketplace continues its multi-chain expansion with the addition of support for Ordinals assets.


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Mall scenes from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, downtown Macy Plaza
At some point in the last two decades, the traditional mall--defined as an enclosed cement fortress where pimple-faced teens sucked down Orange Juliuses and bought Jelly Bellys at candy stores--grew unpopular, replaced by "lifestyle centers," open air shopping centers like The Grove, or mixed-use housing and retail projects like Americana. The demise of the mall even prompted web sites like Deadmalls.com. But now that developers and shoppers alike are broke, good-old fashioned malls are back in vogue, reports Retail Traffic magazine. In the first quarter of 2010, malls posted an average vacancy rate of 6.0 percent, lower than the average for retail space overall, and now the industry is "looking at regional malls with renewed respect," according to a Cleveland-based architect quoted in the magazine. Developers now tout the benefits of creating enclosed air conditioned spaces (err, thanks, global warming?), or talk about how you can add components to traditional malls: "Moreover, developers learned that by employing a few modernizing techniques—the addition of offices and apartments; the incorporation of public spaces—it’s possible to bring regional malls into the 21st century. “A regional mall, if it has the right tenant mix and offers value to the consumer, will be successful,” says Greg Lyon, design principal with Nadel Inc., a Los Angeles–based architecture firm."
· Developers Rethink the Mall for the 21st Century [Retail Magazine]


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ABOUT 76% of Filipinos have considered traveling internationally this year, with Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Thailand in mind, according to a consumer trends study led by travel platform Klook.
“Domestic tourism maintains interest for Filipinos and people who are traveling. More people are not choosing between domestic or international, they’re going for both if they can,” Klook Philippines General Manager Michelle Ho said in a media briefing on Tuesday.
Klook said Filipinos planning to travel domestically this year reached 92% in 2024.
Tagaytay, Baguio, Boracay, and Palawan are the preferred domestic travel spots and Gen Z especially prefers to travel in big groups of three to six people.
It said local trips usually span four to six days, which can be related to the data that 73% of the respondents take advantage of long weekends.
Filipinos traveling abroad prioritize sightseeing, shopping, and outdoor activities.
“Thailand is gaining a lot of popularity amongst the younger generation… social has a lot to do with that, being able to share different types of content to see what to do in [there],” Ms. Ho said.
ALREADY BOOKEDKlook’s survey found that 63% of Filipinos who have plans to travel have already booked tickets, accommodations, or activities for their trip this year.
“I think when it comes to long weekends, when it comes to our quick getaways, a lot of Filipinos still choose to go on vacations and have more experiential space when they travel with the family and friends,” Ms. Ho said.
She said its bookings have tripled in 2023 with the average basket size increased by 21% attributed to the following international destinations: Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Universal Studios Japan, and Universal Studios Singapore.
The local attraction is Manila Ocean Park.
The travel company’s revenue grew by four times in 2023 from 2022 attributed to promoting local and outbound tourism, she said.
Ms. Ho said 66% of Millennials and Gen Zs in the Philippines were willing to spend up to 50% more now.
The survey started in mid-February last year and covered respondents who were Klook and non-Klook users in Metro Manila.
Among Klook’s partnerships in the previous year were the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) in the last quarter and the Klook Intramuros Pass.
TAYLOR SWIFT“Music and sports tourism is going to be big in Asia,” she said.
In 2023, Klook was appointed as an official ticketing partner for The Eras Tour of the singer Taylor Swift and it saw queues go up to two million and sold out its tickets in six hours.
Ms. Swift is currently partway through the six sold-out shows in Singapore.
“In Singapore and what that meant for us is that for anyone who wanted to watch Taylor Swift, they put the concert tickets and the overnight stay as a bundle package,” Ms. Ho said.
She said Filipinos were the top bookers, accounting for a 10% share of the bookings.
SOCIAL MEDIA DRIVERSIn recognition of social media platforms as the main drivers for motivation for travelers, Klook introduced the Klook Kreator Program. With it, influencers post travel content on their pages supported by an affiliate program to get a commission.
Associate Manager, Partnerships, and Affiliates Head Gianna Maxine M. Santos said the survey found that creators with less than 5,000 followers were more successful as it came across as organic compared to those influencers at a celebrity level.
Jax Reyes, Kriz Uy, and David Hizon are among the influencers in the program. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante


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The real brilliance of Apple’s product development process is that it doesn’t just produce new gadgets; it produces entirely new markets from which it can earn money.
Take the iPod for example. Cool product, but the real brilliance was the accompanying iTunes store, which helped Apple become one of the biggest music retailers in the world. They get cash for selling iPods and revenue from selling songs through iTunes.
Then take the iPhone. Another cool product, but the real revenue source was the App Store. Apple gets a sale each time an iPhone walks off the shelf, and then takes 30% of the revenue generated when an application is sold through the App Store.
With today’s release of the new operating system for the iPhone, OS 4.0, Apple chief Steve Jobs might just have done it again.
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While iPhone users will love the multitasking function and the addition of universal mail, the real news is the launch of iAds, a new function that will allow application developers to put ads in their apps. Generous old Apple will let you take 60% of the revenue generated by the ad and will keep 40% for themselves in return for selling, hosting and delivering the ads.
Apple is trying to sell this as a way for developers to make money from free apps, and a way to make the crappy ads currently seen in iPhone apps look better.
But commentators have quickly pointed out this is a great way for Apple to create another revenue stream from the iPod and iPhone.
It’s also a way for Apple to take a bit of a swipe at Google, which is currently trying to strengthen its own mobile ad presence through the acquisition of AdMob.
There are still lots of questions about how iAds will actually work, how Apple will actually sell the ads (this is not something they’ve traditionally done) and even whether or not Apple will be able to convince big advertisers that the iPhone and iPod will provide good enough reach to make advertising worthwhile.
But the growth in smartphone use and popularity of Apple’s products means that it is well placed to try and make this a success.
And besides, products with “i” in front of them always work, don’t they?


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STILLWATER, Okla. - Football fans are busy gearing up for this weekend’s bitter Bedlam battle.
With temperatures expected to be below freezing, one thing both Cowboy and Sooner fans can agree on is that it's going to be cold.
Fan merchandise stores are already selling out of their cold weather gear that dons the Sooners' and Cowboy's logos as early as five days before the big game.
Mike Thompson's family is a house divided.
He's a Cowboy who married a Sooner.
Now, it's expected to be a special game for the couple since it will be their baby Ellison's first Bedlam game.
Thompson said, "We're trying to decide how many layers of clothes to get for her to see if she can make it through the game."
They're going the whole nine yards, bundling up for a game they have been planning for since before they saw the frigid forecast.
"We have an outdoor tailgate so she won't be able to hang out too long,” says Thompson. “She'll be there as long as we think she can handle it."
As it stands now, our 4Warn Storm Team predicts a bitter 15 degrees and a five below wind chill in the morning for tailgaters.
They also say it will be only 27 degrees by the end of the game.
David Smith, owner of Big Red Shop, says fans from both sides are already clearing his cold weather gear shelves, so he's had to rush more in.
“They’re getting ready for a cold game,” says Smith. "Tent panels to block their tailgate tents, to block the wind; ski caps, blankets, heavy jackets, sweatshirts."
That’s only to name a few but he’s told each of his customers this weekend’s weather is nothing to be afraid of and reminds them that being in the stands is worth it.
He says he'll keep stocking up so his customers can stay warm, while sporting their favorite team's gear.
"She's going with orange, for sure,” says Thompson. “She's going with orange."
Smith says, "A good game kind of helps warm you up."
Temperatures are not set in stone so stay tuned as the forecast may change before you hit the road to Stillwater.


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What are your thoughts on hotel chains creating new brands? As you do your research on hotels, you will find that Hilton and Marriott are creating new hotel brands to boost revenue and make a different experience.
As reported in Wall Street Journal on May 28, 2019 by Aisha Al-Muslim:
Major hotel companies are introducing new brands at a rapid pace, a strategy that can boost revenue but one that risks confusing guests and alienating hotel owners.
Five of the world’s biggest publicly traded hotel operators have launched a combined 16 new brands since 2013, including five over the past 18 months. This contrasts with past periods, when hotel companies could go years without adding a new brand.
The rise of new brands reflects a push by the big lodging companies to boost their top line with new products they can market to hotel owners and collect fees from them.
Some of the new brands feature sleeker designs or lower room rates in an effort to attract millennial travelers. Others are aimed at groups of friends and families. Hotel companies hope the new offerings boost the number of loyalty-program members and, in some cases, compete with home-rental companies such as Airbnb Inc., which has entered the hotel-room booking business.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has been developing new brands to close “a number of gaps in the brand portfolio that were holding us back” and forcing customers to go to our competitors, said Chief Executive Christopher Nassetta.
But new brands can spark conflict with hotel owners. Most of the big chains manage hotels or franchise but aren’t themselves big property owners. New brands can cannibalize existing brands and lead to battles over territory and loyalty points, causing tension with property owners, industry analysts, travel experts and hotel owners said.
“When a new hotel opens down the street, you are going to lose 15% to 17% of business,” said Mike Marshall, president and CEO of Marshall Hotels & Resorts Inc., which manages 65 hotels under various brands and who personally owns about half a dozen of those properties.
Mr. Marshall said he has protested when another hotel opens close to one of their locations. It has been a source of frustration, he added, because hotel companies rarely back down.
With hotel analytics firm STR estimating that there were nearly 1,100 hotel brands world-wide as of March, guests can have a hard time keeping track of all of them. STR gives brand status when a chain hits a certain minimum number of open properties.
“I’ve been involved with the hotel industry coming on four decades and I can’t keep up with all the new brands being introduced,” SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst C. Patrick Scholes said. “I can only imagine what the average traveler thinks.”
Marriott International Inc. ’s flagship brand, along with Sheraton and Westin—which the company inherited when it acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.—strike some hotel analysts as quite similar.
The three full-service brands are primarily big-box designed conference hotels, and they offer similar value, quality, services and facilities, according to Sanford C. Bernstein analysts who said they stayed at nearly all of Marriott’s hotel brands.
An activist investor recently criticized Marriott for having too many brands. The firm, Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC, privately urged the hotel company to consider culling its 30 brands to focus on those that are fastest-growing and better align itself with competitors, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Land & Buildings asked for a seat for its founder, Jonathan Litt, on the Marriott’s board, but later withdrew its nomination after the company said it would accelerate plans to return capital to shareholders, the Journal reported.
Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson “has repeatedly stated that we don’t have too many brands,” a Marriott spokeswoman said. “We want to offer our customers a breadth of choice under our loyalty umbrella and the broader the choice, the more likelihood that they will stay with us.”
Despite putting brands to potentially vie against each other for guests, don’t expect the proliferation of new brands to slow any time soon. Introducing new brands, particularly midscale and high-end brands, can help get hotel developers excited, thereby boosting room counts, said Bernstein analyst Richard J. Clarke.
Hilton, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this week, has launched the most new brands of the major companies, with seven since 2014. Those include smaller-room brand Tru by Hilton, hostel-inspired Motto by Hilton and meetings and events-focused Signia Hilton. The first Signia and Motto hotels, which took up to two years to create, are expected to debut in 2020.
For the most part, franchisees take on the chance on a new hotel brand by investing capital to build the properties.
“There is some risk in being the first owner to try a brand, but brand companies do significant amounts of market research, and being part of a giant system like Hilton isn’t really that risky,” Bernstein analyst David J. Beckel said.
Hotel chains are adding new brands to target millennials and also families. Is this a good or bad idea?
Interested in learning more about branding? Check out these branding blogs:


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Door-to-door diesel delivery could spiral into a major market in India soon as oil marketing companies (OMC) in India are planning to engage start-ups for doorstep delivery of the fuel through mobile petrol pumps.
According to a report published in Business Standard, OMCs like Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation have sought expressions of interest (EoIs) from start-ups who want to carry out doorstep delivery of high-speed diesel.
Firms already in the sector as partners of OMCs will become official resellers after becoming FuelEnts or fuel entrepreneurs, added the report.
It is worth noting that there are many major players running home delivery of diesel at present. Some of them are FuelBuddy, Repos Energy, Pepfuels, MyPetrolPump and Humsafar.
For start-ups who sign up as FuelEnts, at least Rs 2,000 crore revenue is up for grabs in the next 12-18 months, said the report quoting a source familiar with the plan.
The Indian Oil Corporation has sought EoIs from potential start-ups on July 15.
Speaking to the publication, Chetan Walunj, CEO and co-founder of Repos Energy, said he expects at least 30,000 entrepreneurs to get registered as FuelEnts and added that the proposition could lead to a Rs 9,000 crore investment. It may be noted that Repos Energy is backed by Ratan Tata.
Experts also said that the move could lead to fuel delivery becoming a major market in India. It will also increase demand for diesel in future, they added.


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Tucker will drive the company’s content and consumer products marketing strategy, lead brand positioning, manage all public relations and corporate communications, and oversee the consumer experience for the quickly growing startup. She will also spearhead the launch and promotion of Pocket.watch franchises, including Ryan’s World, Ryan’s Mystery Playdate and the company’s latest property
Hobby Kids Adventures.
“Kerry has a proven track record as a dynamic, strategic, and innovative leader at both Fortune 500 companies and startups,” says Chris M. Williams, founder and chief executive officer, Pocket.watch “Her experience working with some of the most iconic brands in the world, including Martha Stewart, Victoria’s Secret, and CBS Corporation, will be invaluable during our next stage of growth.”
Before Pocket.watch, Tucker served as the chief executive officer of Hello
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Pont-de-Claix, France — Vencorex has announced that it has completed expansion of its HDI and IPDI isocyanates capacity in France, a new derivatives unit for Tolonate at Rayong, Thailand, and waterborne derivatives Easaqua production chain in the US.
Xavier Fournier, Vencorex CEO, said "the sales and marketing teams are now focusing on serving the markets with the new capacity."
The company says that this product expansion will enable "it to become a truly global firm with strong monomer integration."
The value chain will be "further enhanced in months to come when the company further modifies its chlorine production in France," the company said. In addition to this, the company promises that it will be increasing its marketing and sales research and development infrastructure too.
Vencorex announced that it was expanding its aliphatic isocyanate production in 2014 as we reported at the time. Just under a year ago in January 2016, the firm announced it had expanded its capacity for Esaqua production in the US.


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Global consumer technology company Dyson unveiled a prototype robot on Wednesday that will do your chores, signaling that it goes beyond floor-standing robotic vacuum cleaners.
At the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Philadelphia, USA, the company said it aims to develop “a self-contained device capable of performing household chores and other tasks” .
In a video, the company showcased robotic hands grabbing objects.
Dyson and robotics
“Secret R&D” work at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire, a new London lab close to Imperial College’s Dyson Robotics Lab, is being led by chief engineer Jake Dyson, the company said in a statement.
The new hires will be based at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire, a new London lab close to Imperial College’s Dyson Robotics Lab, and in Singapore at Dyson’s global headquarters.
“Dyson employed its first roboticist 20 years ago and this year alone we are looking for 250 more experts for our team. It’s a ‘big bet’ on future robotics technology that will drive research across Dyson, in areas such as mechanical engineering, vision systems, machine learning and energy storage,” Dyson said.
Over the past six months, the company has secretly refitted one of Hullavington Airfield’s main aircraft hangars to prepare 250 roboticists to move into their new home.
Its latest robotic makeover is the next step in Dyson’s £2.75billion plan to invest in new technology, products and facilities, of which £600million is to be spent this year.
Nearly 2,000 people joined the technology company this year, 50% of whom are engineers, scientists and coders.
Until now, Dyson’s robots have been floor-standing vacuum cleaners, the first of which, the DC06, was designed 20 years ago.
(With contributions from IANS)


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(AP) — Microsoft’s profits soared during the first three months of 2021, thanks to ongoing demand for its software and cloud computing services during the pandemic.
The company on Tuesday reported fiscal third-quarter profit of $14.8 billion, up 38% from the same period last year.
“Over a year into the pandemic, digital adoption curves aren’t slowing down. They’re accelerating, and it’s just the beginning,” CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement.
Net income of $1.95 per share beat Wall Street expectations. Analysts were expecting Microsoft to earn $1.78 per share on revenue of $41 billion for the fiscal quarter ending in March, according to FactSet.
The software maker based in Redmond, Washington, posted revenue of $41.7 billion in the January-March period, up 19% from last year.
Revenue from Microsoft’s productivity segment, which includes its Office suite of workplace products such as email, grew by 15% over the same time last year, to $13.6 billion. Its cloud computing business segment grew 23% to $15.1 billion.
Microsoft’s personal computing business segment grew by 19% to $13 billion, buoyed by last year’s release of a new Xbox gaming console and an unusually strong season for PC sales across the industry. Microsoft gets licensing revenue for computers made by other manufacturers running its Windows operating system.
The first quarter of 2021 was a gold mine for the sale of personal computers in part due to unfulfilled demand because of a components backlog, according to separate reports from Gartner and IDC. The sharp rise across the industry was also due to an unusually weak first quarter of 2020, when the coronavirus outbreak began disrupting supply chains in Asia.
Pent-up demand for supply-constrained consoles during the holiday season also contributed to the 34% rise in sales of Xbox content and services in early 2021 from the same time last year.
But it’s the cloud growth that has been Microsoft’s focus as the company tries to tap into a pandemic-caused shift in big businesses, governments and other organizations doing more of their essential work online.
“Microsoft came through the pandemic with relatively little damage,” said Forrester research analyst Andrew Bartels.
Nadella has steered the company through a series of ambitious acquisitions while rivals like Amazon and Google have faced more antitrust uncertainty as regulators scrutinize their market power.
In the latest, Microsoft announced earlier in April it is buying Massachusetts speech-recognition company Nuance in a deal worth about $16 billion. The acquisition will get Microsoft deeper into hospitals and the health care industry through Nuance’s widely used medical dictation and transcription tools.
Microsoft’s stock, which is up about 18% so far this year, slipped about 3% in after-market trading following the release of the quarterly earnings report.
“There’s been a pattern here of investors expecting the sun, moon and stars from tech vendors, and when they just get the sun and the moon, they get disappointed,” Bartels said. “This is a large company. For that revenue to grow by the magnitude of growth it did, that’s impressive.”


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At a workshop in Uganda’s capital, Kampala Noordin Kasoma inspects handmade bicycles produced by his company.
The entrepreneur found a way to recycle damaged steel bikes, replacing frames with bamboo ones and selling them on the market.
Kasoma learnt to make bikes after training with American bike frame designer and manufacturer, Craig Calfee, and watching tutorials on the internet.
When it comes to the Bamboo bicycle in riding especially on the off-road, it’s really comfortable
He says he wanted to make bikes that are cheaper and tougher than conventional brands available locally.
“When it comes to the Bamboo bicycle in riding especially on the off-road, it’s really comfortable. One, bamboo is flexible; due to that flexibility it gives that kind of shock absorbing property when you’re riding especially off-road. The bamboo itself tries to absorb the shocks that you are passing through other than steel or aluminium,” he said.
It takes Kasoma about seven days to assemble a bicycle. The bamboo must be dried for several months first and treated with insecticide before being used.
The bicycles cost between 350 to 450 dollars each, depending on the size and design.
He mostly sells his bikes in Uganda, parts of East Africa, Europe and America.
His business employs about 20 workers. Kasoma also has several young apprentices that he’s teaching the unique production specifications of his bicycles.
“We get geometrical diagrams of different types of bikes and different sizes. We normally make mountain bikes, city bikes, travel bikes and then we have the road bikes, the racing bikes. So every type of bicycle has different geometry and different sizes,” he said.
Kasoma says he chose to work with bamboo because it can be easily found in the country, grows fast and can be sustainably harvested.
The bikes are growing in popularity and have featured in various tournaments.
“I think it’s even a cheaper option because if you went through importing a carbon frame, the taxes and the like, you certainly may buy two of these in the frame,” said Amos Nuwagaba, a cyclist.
Kasoma is working on plans to expand his factory and promote bicycle tourism in the country, which is already a popular African tourist destination that boasts game parks and other attractions.


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The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced a 25 percent charge on $16 billion worth of U.S. goods. The 333 goods being targeted by China include vehicles such as large passenger cars and motorcycles. Various fuels are on the list, as well as fiber optical cables.
China is also going after coal, grease, Vaseline, asphalt and plastic products, and recyclables.
China’s announcement comes after the U.S. Trade Representative’s office released a finalized list of $16 billion worth in Chinese goods that will be hit with tariffs. The U.S. charges will take effect on Aug. 23. The latest U.S. list brings the total worth of Chinese goods facing a 25 percent tariff to $50 billion.
“This is tit-for-tat exactly,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR. “Our $16 billion comes at a scheduled time, which comes up on the 23rd. China said we see your $16 billion and we’ll match your $16 billion.”
Trump and his protectionist morons surrounding him are fools if they believe China will buckle under pressure from adding more tariffs. Look for more job losses as a result of this.


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Tour de Fresh, the four-day cycling event presented by the California Giant Foundation, celebrates six years of success with a record breaking donation of more than $180,000 to the United Fresh Start Foundation to provide salad bars to schools.
From October 12-16, nearly 50 cyclists came together to embark on 300+ mile ride throughout California in an effort to make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible to children across the nation. This year, through a collaborative effort from riders, friends, family members and the fresh produce industry leaders, the ride surpassed its 2018 total of $149,588 to deliver 51 salad bars to schools in California, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.
“The Tour de Fresh has truly become a special event in the industry, and it’s incredible to see so many friends come together for an important cause,” said Tom Stenzel, president and CEO, United Fresh Produce Association. “The idea of rallying-around school salad bars, getting kids access to fresh produce, and helping create excitement in schools and communities for our products, it makes sense on so many levels, and the United Fresh Start Foundation is honored to play our part in moving these efforts forward.”
To date, Tour de Fresh has raised more than $930,000 to fund and place more than 265 salad bars into schools. By providing salad bars to schools, children are learning to incorporate a greater variety of fruits and vegetables into their diet, creating a healthy eating lifestyle at a young age.
“We’re thrilled about our record-breaking donation to the United Fresh Start Foundation,” said Cindy Jewell, vice president of marketing for the California Giant Berry Farms. “By providing more students with access to fresh fruits and vegetables during school, we’re shaping healthy eating behavior far beyond school hours and for years to come.”
Tour de Fresh would not be possible without the support of its generous sponsors: Americold, And Now U Know, Arctic Apples, Atlas Produce, Basil Seasonal Dining, C&S Wholesale Grocers, California Giant Berry Farms, CHEP, Church Brothers, Coosemans, DMA Solutions, Earthbound Farms, EBX Logistics, Emerson, Evolution Fresh, Famous Software, Fight Like Britt Foundation, FreshPlaza, Gold Coast Packing, Good Foods, Gusto Handcrafted Pasta & Pizza, Interfresh, iTrade Network, JAZZ Apples, Jerue Trucking, Lipman Produce, Markon, Misionero, Mission Produce, Ocean Mist Farms, Paramount Export, PRO*Act, Procurant, Produce Marketing Association, Regal Marketing, Renaissance Food Group, Sakata, Specialty Produce, SunFed Produce, Sunkist, Tat-On Inc., Taylor Farms, Total Quality Logistics (TQL), United Fresh Start Foundation, and Western Precooling.


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A Cantonese opera performance is staged during the storytelling event. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]
Greece and China, two ancient countries enjoying a longstanding history, carried out a storytelling event in Athens, Greece on Sept 6, aiming to promote cooperation and communication between the two countries.
The event was organized by the Information Office of the People's Government of Guangdong province and the Radio and Television Administration of Guangdong province, and was undertaken by the Guangzhou information office.
Zhang Xi, an overseas Chinese youth, has been devoted in promoting economic and trade communication between Greece and China. "Before I was born, my mother has participated in the China Import and Export Fair over 10 times as an exports saleswoman," said Zhang.
Currently Zhang takes Greek businessmen to the fair every year and he sometimes travel to Guangdong province to help joint ventures by China and Greece in the province deal with problems. Zhang added that he never forgets his Chinese roots.
Early in the 2nd centuries BC, Guangzhou became a trade ports between China and foreign countries and regions like India, Greece, and Rome.
The number of Chinese working, doing business or studying in Greece has amounted to 30,000 since 1990s. In 2018, the trade volume of light industrial products such as shoes, boots, and umbrellas that Greece imported from China reached $189 million.
Huang Xudong, chairman of the Greek Chinese Trading Business Association, said that the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative has benefited Chinese businessmen greatly, boosting the rapid economic and trade development among the two countries.
"I've been managing footwear trade for 15 years and the fine quality, along with the reasonable prices of Chinese footwear has impresses the Greeks a lot. Products from China have been well-received by the Greeks,” added Huang.


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The number 420 holds a special significance in pot culture, and Blaine’s Evergreen Cannabis is marking the occasion with a sales event on April 20.
The term “420” first arose in southern California in 1971. A group of high school students who were avid pot smokers would meet at 4:20 p.m. after school to get high and search for a mythical hidden cannabis crop in the fields near their school. After reporter Steve Hager published their story in “High Times” magazine in the mid-1990s, the term went viral, and the corresponding date has become a sort of stoner holiday when cannabis enthusiasts show their love of weed.
Evergreen Cannabis is marking the occasion with a three-day celebration on April 18–20. The store will offer discounts throughout the weekend, but the main celebration will take place on 4/20.
Jacob Lamont, owner of Evergreen Cannabis, is working on securing a live band for the event, and has reached out to Bordertown Grill, a new food truck opening in Blaine, to park at the store for the event. The Evergreen Bud Girls, models and dancers, will make an appearance and provide signed photos.
“We’re really excited about it,” he said. “We’re trying to go all out. My hope is that people will drive by and see we’re having an event, and then they’ll check out some of the other businesses in the area.”
Lamont said he will be offering some of the lowest prices in the state on 4/20. The first 100 customers to stop by on Monday can get an infused Rocket Man joint from Northwest Cannabis Nursery, which normally sell for $25 each, for $1.50. Evergreen will also have sales on the shop’s stock of joints, edibles and other products.
Evergreen Cannabis, 922 Peace Portal Drive, will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m.–10 p.m. Monday.


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Want a better exhibit space for 2019? Or a 33% discount for next year? Get both, with the Early Bird Discount for next year's International Travel Goods Show. Act now, book booth space at the low rate of just $10/square foot, and have your pick for booth location – this is a first deposit, first reserve situation, so get in early while the getting is good. If you were a first-timer this year, you should know Show exhibitors consistently report stronger response the second year, before really breaking through the third year – travel goods retailers like to see that kind of consistency and industry commitment. So it pays to come back, and you'll save by acting now. Contact Cathy Hays now for details, email@example.com, 877-842-1938, x-707.
The 2018 International Travel Goods Show just ended, but planning the 2019 edition has already begun. We want it to be a better experience for everyone, and you can help. Please take five minutes to fill out the Post-Show Survey, which helps guide us as we proceed with The 2019 Show. And please, feel free to contact any TGA staffer directly with suggestions or criticism, or get in touch with Member Services Director Cathy Trecartin, firstname.lastname@example.org, 877-842-1938, x-702. With your help, we'll build an even stronger 2019 Show – which will be good for us all. Thank you for your help.
2018 marks the Travel Goods Association’s 80th birthday – and we’re celebrating in style. To commemorate the milestone anniversary, we raffled off a 2018 Honda Metropolitan Scooter (valued at $2500) to buyers attending The International Travel Goods Show. The lucky winner of the scooter is Tiffany Williams of Luggage Shop of Lubbock (Lubbock, TX). Susan Taylor and Barbara Tolliver, owners of The Traveler Inc. in Bainbridge Island, WA, are the winners of The 2018 International Travel Goods Show Travel Photo contest. The prize? Roundtrip tickets to The 2018 Show in Las Vegas with a value up to $500. Congratulations, Tiffany, Susan and Barbara!
On March 9, TGA joined more than 200 other associations and companies in urging Congress to quickly approve the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB). The MTB would temporarily reduce or eliminate duties on U.S. imports of hundreds of inputs and products, including over a dozen travel goods items.
President Donald Trump is getting ready to crack down on China. Trump told Cabinet secretaries and top advisers during a meeting at the White House last week that he wanted to soon hit China with steep tariffs and investment restrictions in response to allegations of intellectual property theft, according to three people familiar with the internal discussions. READ MORE
Labor negotiations are back on between employers and unionized dockworkers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, which face a September deadline to reach a new contract agreement. The talks are being rekindled after pressure from shippers and businesses whose supply chains face disruption if port operations should slow or shut down during the fall peak shipping season. READ MORE
Consumer travel preferences are changing, with travelers seeking out better experiences that are more exciting, dynamic and personalized for them. In fact, enabled by a more connected lifestyle, consumers don’t just want what they want when they want it – they expect it. So, as a brand, how can you deliver on this? READ MORE
Who needs a clunky, time-consuming survey where some employees only tell you what you want to hear, and others don’t bother to respond at all? You do. Our internal research at Facebook suggests that for three reasons, it would be a big mistake to abandon them today. READ MORE
In 2017, airlines set a passenger record, and this year looks set to break the record again. That's good news for passengers looking for a deal, as the growth has been fueled by increased competition. As more passengers head up into the skies, airfares have continued to come down: Domestic airfares were more than 40% less in 2017 compared to 1980, according to Airlines for America. READ MORE
Many CEOs turn their noses up at the thought of using their personal social media accounts to help their companies’ brands. However, there is a much smaller group of CEOs using their social media pages to become thought leaders in their industries. READ MORE
Alysia Kezerian, founder of the Instagram account Wheelies Around the World, and Traveler contributor Julia Buckley, whose memoir Heal Me: In Search of a Cure comes out in the U.S. later this year, discuss the challenges of traveling the world with two different disabilities – one visible to a bystander, the other not. Over the course of 50 minutes, the pair share their personal stories and explain what it means for them to get from A to B. READ MORE
Whether you’re booking a flight, shopping for hotel rooms, or combing aggregator sites for a pop-up deal on a family vacation or adventure trip, chances are good that your query or transaction was processed by Amadeus, a provider of information technology that keeps the global travel industry moving. READ MORE
Globally, the lack of women in top hospitality management roles has lagged not only that of the rest of the travel industry but much of the business world, save for maybe Wall Street and Silicon Valley. It's an issue that many hospitality companies still don't like to talk about, but it's clearly on their minds. READ MORE
Missed last week's issue? See which articles your colleagues read most.
- New, Cool Stuff from The International Travel Goods Show to Ease You Down the Road (LA TIMES)
- Best U.S. Airlines for 2018, According to The Points Guy (CNN TRAVEL)
- Facebook Unveils Trip Consideration for Travel Advertisers (MARKETINGLAND)
- Bikes, Bourbon and T-Shirts on EU Tax List (BBC NEWS)
- 'Design and Leadership Are Inextricably Bound Together.' How Design Means Business to the Modern CEO (FORTUNE)
Don't be left behind. Click here to see what else you missed.


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Canon is rumored to launch a new cinema camera and two lenses at the National Association of Broadcasters 2013 event.
Canon is going to be very busy at the NAB Show 2013, claims an inside source. The company will announce a new cinema camera alongside new cinema lenses at the event, which takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada this April.
Canon’s new cinema camera situated between C100 and C300
The new Canon cinema camera will be an upgrade of the C100. However, it will not replace the C100. Instead it will be a part of a new series, positioned just below the C300. According to the rumor mill, the shooter will support both PL and EF mounts. Other details have not been mentioned, but all the information will be revealed during the NAB 2013 show.
New lenses are also being planned for the NAB event. At least two new lenses will be announced by Canon. The first will be a zoom lens and the second will be a prime lens. It is rumored that both of them will have a lower quality than existing cinema lenses. The reason behind this decision is the company’s attempt to provide cheaper versions of the current expensive, high-end lenses.
For the time being, their focal lengths are unknown, but everything will be announced this April.
The NAB Show will open its doors for visitors as of April 6 and will close them five days later. It provides a great opportunity for Canon to show off its next cinema equipment, as more than 100,000 people are expected to visit the exhibition during the six days of presentations.
Canon has a very busy schedule in 2013
Canon is already rumored to launch a new EOS M body and three new lenses this year. However, they are said to be announced by the end of March and the NAB Show does not fall into this time frame. By then, the company would have most likely released a firmware update for the existing EOS M mirrorless camera.


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Sainsbury’s has sold 5% of Sainsbury’s Bank to HBOS for £21m.The bank will now be a 50-50 joint venture between HBOS and Sainsbury’s with each having equal control of the business and input at board level.
HBOS retail chief executive Benny Higgins will be chairman of the bank for two years before Darren Shapland, Sainsbury’s chief financial officer, takes over.
Shapland says: “We are committed to growing the bank’s business and are increasing our presence in the financial services sector. The bank’s chief executive, Rob Walker, is streamlining the operational structure and developing a broader business plan. The sale demonstrates the value of the bank and a 50-50 structure reflects the continued commitment of both shareholders.”
HBOS previously owned 45% of Sainsbury’s Bank, which launched in 1997.