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You’re probably wondering why the Apple Store nearest you is still closed despite news of some Apple stores re-opening have surfaced. If that’s the case, there’s a high chance that that Apple store is among those that have been closed again due to the COVID resurgence in your state. Understandably, Apple has decided to re-close […]
If you’re an avid fan of Apple like us, you’re always waiting for their new releases every single year. In 2019, Apple launched a series of products such as the new iPod touch and the AirPods, which got fans running to Apple stores to secure one. This year, Apple began with the launch of the […]
While many techies consider iOS 9 to be more of an under-the-hood-improvements kind of software update, the new mobile operating system did add a few really cool features that make your overall iOS experience much more enjoyable. With your update, the native Notes app became much more useful, especially for people who are familiar with […]
When news about Cecil the Lion’s death in Hwange Game Reserve broke in July, thanks to unscrupulous big game hunters, American dentist Dr. Walter James Palmer (allegedly the killer) found himself the object of worldwide ire. Months later, the Cecil is not forgotten. Mobile game developers have taken things into their own hands by doing […]
If you’re in the UK, and you use iTunes to rip music off your CDs, then you’re doing something illegal. In a recent ruling, the UK High Court declared that making private copies of copyrighted content is not permitted. This is an overruling of a previous legislation which had provisions allowing UK citizens to copy […]
Remember the winner of the Stupidest iPhone Case Award? Well, the government has gotten wind of the iPhone 6 gun case, and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is calling for a ban – and rightly so. His team published a press release on his website stating that the iPhone 6 case probably violates federal law. “Any […]
WTF? Yup. That’s exactly how the BGR reacted as well, calling this prediction “WTF of the week“. I suppose we should establish what obsolete really means – just covering our bases, you know. Merriam-Webster says: a : no longer in use or no longer useful b : of a kind or style no longer current […]
Most people live on their Macs and iOS devices, paying bills, checking email, and logging in to various sites that help run our lives. Last week it was discovered that all this private communication could be viewed by a malicious party using a Man In The Middle (MITM) attack thanks to a string of faulty […]
When news happens, your iPhone and iPad news apps can be counted on to send out notifications so you know immediately what’s going on. But some news apps are faster and more thorough than others.
I don’t know about you, but I am getting tired of seeing all the headlines and links about how Apple’s earnings have not met expectations. I am not the staunchest Apple defender – I even take digs at the brand now and then – but all the pundits chiming in like a flock of seagulls […]
Apple has opened iCloud to developers, and devs are taking note of a whole new suite of web apps that are included with the software, along with iCloud’s pricing plan. 5GB accounts will be free, of course, but additional storage will cost you.
Apple’s iPad 2 — in white and black — will be on sale tomorrow. The next generation tablet will be available from Apple’s online and brick & mortar retail stores. According to an email sent by Apple, each of its 236 retails stores will sell the iPad 2 at 5 PM local time. This falls […]
While Apple is prepping upgraded Mac Book Pros, the MacBook Air and MacBook have been neglected by the news. Will the MacBook Air make the jump to Sandybridge and receive a new Core i3 processor from Intel or stay with the aging Core 2 Duo? Apple could go either way. CNET reports the MacBook Air […]
Rumors about the expected iPad 2 have been abundant and for weeks now we have been discussing the speculation here at AppleGazette. Today I present the overview of all the rumors, in a simple graphic: Everything you need to know about the iPad 2.
Rumors have been swirling about what will and won’t be included in the iPad 2. One of the earliest rumors was SD support which was supported by cases leaked from third party manufacturers in China. The addition of an SD slot would have obsoleted the camera connection kit as iPad users could have transferred data […]


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Johnston Press unveils £360m refinancing plan
Newspaper and online publisher Johnston Press has unveiled a £360m refinancing plan in a bid to pay off debt and fund future growth.
The Edinburgh-based company aims to raise £140m through share issues and placings and issue £220m worth of bonds.
In December Johnston's lenders agreed to give the company more time to repay its £300m debt.
The move allowed it to pursue a refinancing of its debt facilities.
Following the refinancing announcement, shares in the company fell 25% to 17.53 pence in early trading,
Johnston runs more than 200 regional papers across the country, including titles such as The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post.
Chief executive Ashley Highfield described the refinancing package as "another key milestone" for the company.
He said: "Johnston Press has already achieved much in turning around our business performance, with 2013 marking a return to underlying operating profit growth for the first time in seven years.
"The capital refinancing plan will also facilitate, and allow the group to continue to focus its efforts on the ongoing implementation of the future strategy."
Mr Highfield added that the refinancing plan would help provide a platform from which the group could "return to overall revenue growth and generate increased surplus cash flow with a view to further deleveraging the group and re-investing some of that surplus cash to grow its digital presence further".
The announcement came as Johnston reported a "mid-single digit" percentage decline in group revenues in the 17 weeks to 26 April.
Revenues were hit by lower circulation and print advertising revenue.
However, digital revenue rose during the same period.
In a separate development, the publisher announced a regional advertising partnership with British Sky Broadcasting Group.
Under the agreement, the broadcaster will make its new Sky AdSmart product available to parts of the Johnston Press sales network.
Sky AdSmart tailors what is shown in TV advertising breaks, according to a household's location and profile.
Mr Highfield said: "Johnston Press has been focused on its vision to become a truly multimedia business over the last two years.
"This agreement with Sky is testament to the platform we have put in place.
"That Sky has further demonstrated its conviction in our strategy by investing in our business is particularly encouraging."

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Mar 12, 2017· Arrested development: why Indonesia lifted its mining export ban Share The Indonesian Government is hoping to kickstart its economy by lifting a partial ban on exports of metal ore and mineral concentrates, a policy originally aimed at boosting domestic processing and reducing the South East Asian nation's exposure to volatile commodity prices.
Sep 25, 2019· Indonesian Coal Price Data and Indexes. IHS Indonesian (3,800 kc gAr) FOB Marker Assesses the export price of subbituminous coals shipped out of East and South Kalimantan in geared vessels and adjusted to 3,800 kc GAR. IHS Indonesian (6,000 kc nAr) FOB Marker Assesses coals exported out of East and South Kalimantan in gearless vessels,...
Dec 05, 2018· According to the latest ministerial decree 2025 K/30/MEM/2018 dated 3 December 2018, the government has reduced Indonesian Coal Price Reference (HBA) per cent month on month to US per ton for 6322 GAR power plant coal for December 2018 delivery for exports as well domestic endusers except for Indonesian power producers.
Nov 27, 2018· Last year export volume is 371MT, compared to Taiwan's import It is barely 5% of total export and I think it wouldn't affect much to Indonesia's coal trade.
FOB Kalimantan The ICI Weekly Report is the dominant price reference of Indonesian coal, in markets domestically, as well as internationally under the brand Call Center: +62 21
Oct 11, 2018· INTERNATIONAL Indonesia wants to export more coal in order to earn dollars to shore up its faltering currency, but the problem is buyers don't seem to be hearing the message.
Oct 11, 2018· Indonesia wants to export more coal in order to earn dollars to shore up its faltering currency, but the problem is buyers don't seem to be hearing the message.
The export figure was up 57% from April and increased more than one fold compared with a year ago. An earlier than usual summer restocking and active Chinese tenders for Indonesian lowmid calorific value thermal coal cargoes offered support for seaborne demand and prices.
May 16, 2019· Indonesian coal exports hit 98 million tonnes in March 2019 BPSStatistics Indonesia data showed that coalrich Indonesia exported million tonnes of coal in March, hitting a record high ...
New Cabotage Rules Could Hurt Indonesia's Coal Ports. Indonesia's coal producers are concerned that the nation's new cabotage rules will cut down on export volumes at its coal terminals. The Indonesian Ministry of Trade has issued a regulation requiring certain goods including coal and crude palm oil to be exported aboard Indonesian vessels...
Overall Exports and Imports for Indonesia 2016. The total value of exports (FOB) is US 144,490 million. The total value of imports (CIF) is US 135,653 million. At the HS6 digit level, 3,889 products are exported to 220 countries and 4,403 products are imported from 213 countries.
Indonesia's Total Exports dropped % YoY in Aug 2019, compared with a decrease of % YoY in the previous month. Indonesia's Total Exports Growth data is updated monthly, available from Oct 1984 to Aug 2019, with an averaged rate of %. The data reached an alltime high of % in Aug 1987 and a record low of % in Nov 1986.
sectors to invest in coal mining industry especially in introducing new clean coal technology such as : coal liquefaction and coal gasification. • The government of Indonesian is committed to promote the application upgrading brown coal technology by coal industry in order to utilize abundant low rank coal in Indonesia.
Jan 31, 2019· Indonesian insurance rules that come into effect on Feb. 1 are causing huge coal supply backlogs, with dozens of ships held up outside ports unable to .
Source: BPS, Processed by Trade Data and Information Center, Ministry of Trade
Indonesia has only been exporting coal for a couple of decades, but is today rivaling Australia for the position as the world's biggest exporter. In 2013, Indonesian coal exports reached 413 ...


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Getting the jump on this week’s London Toy Fair, Hasbro has tapped the New York Times to exclusively publish news announcing their new “Smash and Change” style figures.
Releasing to coincide with both the 30th anniversary of the brand as well as this summer’s Transformers: Age of Extinction film, the figures take a drastic departure in how the figures have always transformed from robot to vehicle/animal/gun (wtf, Megatron?) and are taking a more simplistic route.
Check out below what the article had to say and be sure to leave a comment letting us know how you feel about the change.
When Hasbro conceived its Transformers toy line 30 years ago, the concept was simple: robots that turned into vehicles faster than you could say “more than meets the eye.”
But as the brand evolved over the years, the toys became more complex, some involving dozens of steps to complete a single transformation. In the eyes of Brian D. Goldner, Hasbro’s chief executive, they had lost their magic.
“We’ve made incredibly sophisticated robots,” he said, “but it can be like a 1,000-piece puzzle.”
Enthralled by the special effects in three big-budget “Transformers” movies that enabled the robots to convert in a matter of seconds, Mr. Goldner decided the toys needed to return to their roots. So he challenged his design team to reconceive them. Now, on the 30th anniversary of the brand, Hasbro is revealing a new look for the toys, including simple maneuvers that will complete a transformation with the push of a button or flick of the wrist.
The remake of the line, which includes new branding and packaging, is meant to coincide with Paramount Pictures’ release of the fourth movie in the franchise, “Transformers: Age of Extinction.” Retailers will get their first look at the line in London this week at Toy Fair, an annual industry trade show.
“Our retail partners, they are getting very excited,” said Joshua Lamb, the senior design director for the toy line. “This rethinking of the brand is setting the stage long-term.”
The toys are expected to land on retail shelves in May, a few weeks before the release of the movie. Hasbro says it will build on the promotion for the movie with a marketing campaign of its own that will include ads on television and in theaters as well as on digital platforms, like mobile and social media.
Mr. Goldner has long been a champion of the Transformers. Certain their story could be made into a movie, he started knocking on Hollywood’s door in 2003, drawing the attention of several producers, including Steven Spielberg. The first movie, released in 2007, made more than $700 million worldwide and was credited for moving Hasbro from a traditional toy-maker to a multimedia company.
It is a crucial time for the property, which has evolved into a top seller for Hasbro. In 2006, the year before the first movie was released, the Transformers brand generated $100 million in revenue, nearly all of it from toys. By 2012, sales from the property had nearly doubled, but merchandise accounted for only 79 percent of revenue; the rest came from new areas like digital media, movies and television and licensing.
The movies, which together made $3 billion at the box office, lift merchandise sales; Hasbro’s revenue for sales and licensing totaled more than $1.6 billion in the three years in which movies were released. But sales are lower in nonmovie years. In 2011, the last year a Transformers movie came out, revenue in the boys’ category at Hasbro was $1.82 billion, an increase of 35 percent over the year before. But the following year, revenue in the same category fell 13 percent, to $1.58 billion.
The new look should help bolster retail sales, said Jaime M. Katz, an analyst at Morningstar, adding that redesigns are expected these days. “Toys were much simpler 30 years ago,” she said. “Everything has to keep evolving.”
The toys’ streamlined transformations also address the need for instant gratification sought by children today, she said. “A toy like this gets them where they are going faster.”
Mr. Lamb conceded that the brand had gotten a little off track over the years. “As new designers and engineers continued to work on this brand, it got more complicated,” he said. Hasbro will continue to make complex Transformers for adult fans who have collected the toys since their inception 30 years ago. But the new design is intended to re-engage parents and children, who found the transformations too challenging.
The move to reduce the complexity of the toys extends to the branding, too. The property often has multiple toy lines on sale, reflecting various TV, movie and classic versions of the characters, leading to confusion in the toy aisle. Now, all Transformers toys will come under a single, bold logo.
The design of the packaging has been reduced to emphasize the toy and its action feature, leaving “as much space as possible to celebrate the characters,” said Jonathan Newkirk, the creative brand manager for Transformers.
“These are not necessarily the cheap tricks of marketing,” Mr. Newkirk said. “This is something that goes deeper than just the branding. We are trying to give the identity a voice in a very uncluttered way.”


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Yelp Upgrades Bring New Ways to Highlight, Display Business Locations
In March of 2019, Yelp introduced the Verified License upgrade to help consumers find companies that are licensed in specific categories and limited states on the platform. In June, Yelp introduced two new paid profile upgrades to help owners customize promotional tools. Here is a look at the latest upgrades provided by Yelp for business owners.
The first new product is Business Highlights, which allows business owners to self-select icons that appear in Yelp search results. Yelp lets owners choose from a wide range of icons to help promote their businesses, such as “free,” “workmanship” and “years in business.” The attributes are used to help businesses stand out and become more attractive to consumers searching on Yelp. The cost of this upgrade is $2 a day for business owners.
The second new product is Portfolio, which allows subscribers to display project progress photos in an unlimited capacity. This upgrade is often beneficial for companies involved in remodeling, landscaping and construction. Business owners are allowed to display custom descriptions for images, and Yelp provides quote and chat functions through these pages. The Portfolio product also costs $2 per day.
The ability for owners to customize business pages is adding competition to the paid profile landscape. In June, Google announced new promotional and branding tools for the Google My Business (GMB) platform. Business owners looking to find new ways to create engagement with users searching on Yelp and Google will have several options in the future to help promote their company and stand out from the crowd.
Need help building a Yelp strategy for your business locations? Contact Mindstream Media Group to find out how our Local Listings Management solutions can amplify your brand’s presence.
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CVS/pharmacy is rolling out a new service soon that will make it easier for people to pay their health insurance premiums.
The “Bill Pay at CVS/pharmacy” program will let CVS/pharmacy shoppers pay their premium in any of the retail pharmacy’s 7,600 stores across the country at no additional cost. Submitting payments on time, every month is very important, so we hope other stakeholders will follow suit to make it as convenient as possible for individuals to maintain their coverage!
Here’s how it will work:
People whose insurance plans participate in the Bill Pay at CVS/pharmacy program will receive a barcode from their health plan when they get their monthly bill. They can then choose to pay their premium at any CVS/pharmacy location by having their personalized barcode scanned at the pharmacy counter or at the front checkout. People will be able to make a payment using cash, credit, or debit.
In addition, CVS/pharmacy has partnered with MoneyGram to facilitate cash-only payments from members of health plans enrolled in this service. MoneyGram is also partnering with stores such as Walmart, Albertsons, and ACE Cash Express.
Why it’s a big deal:
We’re excited about this initiative because it will make it easier for individuals to pay their premiums, and may actually increase the number of people who keep their coverage. Individuals who are low-income and/or without bank accounts are at greatest risk of losing their coverage, and it’s not necessarily because they can’t afford their monthly premium. According to a national survey released by Enroll America and PerryUndem, 74 percent of new enrollees were very or somewhat confident they would be able to pay their premiums moving forward. But not surprisingly, complicated rules about how to submit premium payments contribute to loss of coverage.
To make it easier to pay premiums and increase access to ongoing coverage, relatively new federal regulations require insurance companies to accept premium payments via paper checks, cashier’s checks, money orders, EFT, and all general-purpose pre-paid debit cards. And various stakeholders are going above and beyond to make it as easy as possible to pay premiums. CVS/pharmacy’s program is one such initiative that tops the list!
The in-store option makes it more convenient for the consumer: it streamlines everyday activities that can include running errands, shopping for food, picking up prescription drugs, and paying bills. Having the option to pay bills while shopping isn’t an entirely new concept. Other stores, such as Walmart, offer bill-pay solutions for things such as utilities, cell phone, and mortgage payments.
According to some of the largest health insurance issuers, the vast majority — 80 to 90 percent —of people who signed up for marketplace coverage have paid their first month’s premium, which is the final step they need to take to activate their plan. This is very encouraging, but it’s equally important for consumers to continue making those payments — each month and on time — in order to keep their coverage.
Be sure to check back with us to learn about other innovative coverage retention programs being implemented around the country!


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OnePlus and Oppo made a big announcement last week by integrating parts of their research and development within OPLUS to "maximise resources". This move will see the two smartphone makers more closely in future. The development should also include the R&D teams of both these companies in India as well. However, OnePlus has clarified that it will continue to operate independently.
"To better maximise resources and further position OnePlus for growth, we are in the process of further integrating some R&D capabilities within OPLUS, our long-term investor. OnePlus will continue operating independently and working to deliver the best possible user experience for existing and future OnePlus users," OnePlus said in a statement.
For those unaware, OPLUS is the investor group that oversees Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme, all part of the tech conglomerate BBK Electronics. All these companies share the common parentage but for long have refused to talk much about it and maintained different identities. Especially, OnePlus is one of the few brands that has successfully managed to make a mark in the premium category, largely dominated by Apple and Samsung over the past decade.
In Fact, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau, who is also happens the SVP at OPLUS and oversees brand synergy and product planning at Oppo and OnePlus, claims it has nothing to do with BBK.
And while there are whispers that the recent merger can change the smartphones from these makers, users shouldn’t be expecting big changes. This isn’t because of OnePlus’ decision to maintain distance from BBK but their tendency of sharing resources over the years even before officially announcing it.
This reflected in a number of products from both the companies in the last year. It’s no surprise that they entered the TWS segment in the same year, with products that had more or less similar design and features. Even the color-changing electrochromic glass which was first used on the OnePlus Concept One phone, recently made its way to the Oppo Reno 5 Pro Plus.
The only big change we could possibly see is that these technologies and features will be more aggressively used on both brands. For example, Oppo is in the process of filing 80 patents and will enhance focus on the development of 5G device ecosystem this year. As the 5G rolls out in India, the work done by Oppo will also benefit OnePlus.
Similarly, OnePlus inaugurated an R&D centre in India in 2019. The team has worked on product innovation and software development for the OnePlus 8 Series and OnePlus Nord devices in the past. These include efforts towards camera software development, OxygenOS optimisations and others. It will continue to work on user experience, camera and other which help OnePlus and Oppo build a better ecosystem.
The decision also makes sense because OnePlus has shifted its focus from the premium segment with the launch of OnePlus Nord last year and is expected to target the mid-range segment more aggressively going forward. Since, Oppo has strong presence in the segment, it should help OnePlus.
But given their past borrowings and sharing of resources, there won’t be a drastic change in design, features or even the pricing of their devices.


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Apple Inc. proved Tuesday there is still demand for its venerable iPhone in the face of stiff competition, though it is running into trouble convincing consumers to buy its other gadgets.
Apple and its rivals have faced increasing concern that the consumer electronics industry's boom over the past few years has started to slow. That phenomenon was evident in Apple's latest quarter, when it sold 20% more iPhones than a year earlier, but more customers opted for cheaper models.
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Pat Keane refers to Keith O’Meara as a “super wonderful dude” whose business has a great reputation. Keith says Pat is a “legend,” and he respects his hard work and passion.
These aren’t the words one expects to hear traded between rival business owners. But these two do business a little differently. The common assumption is that to get ahead in business, one must be ruthless, cutthroat, and that “greed is good.” But for local ski makers like Praxis Skis and PM Gear, they have taken a decidedly different route. By lending a helping hand to their competitors, they have gained a loyal following and the support of the community.
A Rare Partnership
Praxis Skis started in 2005 in Keith O’Meara’s garage on Donner Summit. In the days before fat skis were ubiquitous, O’Meara said major ski brands were neglecting the freeride and powder ski culture, which was on a rapid rise.
“I learned to make skis and started the company because I was really passionate about what we needed for our discipline of skiing, and frustrated that these obvious innovations were not available from the main ski brands,” O’Meara said.
PM Gear was also born of the same quest to create something that didn’t yet exist. Founder Pat Keane describes his former business as the first “internet crowdsourced ski campaign.” It was born from the primitive online ski message boards of the early 2000s, where die-hards would gather to discuss gear and their ideas for improvements.
With PM Gear eventually settling into a warehouse in Reno, and Praxis later relocating to Incline Village, the two boutique ski companies were only a few tens of miles apart. But while many would assume that two businesses in the same area competing for the same slice of a very niche market would become rivals, the two had nothing but respect and admiration for one another’s craft and would go on to form a strong friendship.
“If one of us ran out of a material and that was holding the other up, we didn’t hesitate to reach out, and we’ve horse traded a lot over the years,” O’Meara said. “I had respect for the skis Pat was making and how he was doing it.”
Keane said that at one point he got a call from O’Meara asking if he wanted to buy his ski press. He explained that without $10,000, he was going to have to shutter his business.
“I said ‘I’ll have $10,000 for you in 72 hours Keith, I don’t want you to go under. You can do this,’” Keane said. He called him three days later with the promised money. O’Meara was shocked that it wasn’t just talk. Even though O’Meara had found the resources he needed elsewhere, Keane said it created a bond between them.
“Whereas a lot of people would have viewed us as competitors, when it came time where I could’ve said ‘haha, my competitor will fall apart,’ I was like no, dude, we can’t let that happen. I care,” said Keane.
Eventually, Keane’s increasing sensitivity to fiberglass meant that he had to shut down his ski press in 2015. But the two Sierra ski-making legends joined forces this season to bring back one of PM Gear’s most popular models, the Lhasa Pow (pictured right).
“I was bummed when Pat called it a few years back and stopped making skis,” O’Meara said. “So I was happy to bring some of his designs back and see how they go under our manufacturing ability.”
They produced 30 pairs and sold out before they even started to manufacture them, an indication of the reputations that these two powerhouses have in the ski industry.
“Keith knocked it out of the park, I’m really stoked about his build quality,” Keane said. “I wanted to go into it with the best intentions and end it with the best feelings. And that’s exactly how it happened. We’re just two Tahoe OGs making skis. And everybody’s digging them.”
With Praxis’ sales skewing more toward a local customer base over the past five years, O’Meara says it’s fun for him to see his skis all over when he heads out to the mountain. He enjoys that local customers can swing by the shop to check out skis or have them serviced. “My head is always down scanning people’s feet in the lift line for skis we’ve made,” O’Meara said.
As for the future, both Keane and O’Meara said they would love to keep the collaboration going, and for Praxis to continue to produce the quality skis for which it’s known.
“In the end it’s a labor of love,” O’Meara said. “I’m not expecting or trying to be purchased by a conglomerate, but I’m happy so long as I have orders to fill and the time and health to ski.”
“Keith is a good vibe guy, and I’m a good vibe guy, and together we do great things,” said Keane.


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Samsung has announced the Galaxy Xcover, yet another Galaxy phone, and this one comes IP67 certified to take some real abuse. This one is clearly aimed at folks who are less than gentle with their electronics, but still want or need an Android smartphone. Like we first saw with the Motorola Defy, the IP67 certification means the Xcover is dust and dirt resistant, and can be submerged in water a meter deep for up to a half hour.
No specs have been announced for the insides, but Samsung tells us that it will be packing a scratch-resistant display, a 3.2MP camera with LED flash, 7.2Mbps HSDPA radios, and Gingerbread skinned with Touchwiz. Set to be released in October, no word on whether or not we'll see this on stateside.
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In any type of offered day, more than 40 million Americans will eat pizza. It is considered the most preferred dish on the planet, and most definitely among the favourites in the United States.
The love for this food is such that the Department of Farming lately launched a report on the levels of usage. It described the meal as “a contributor of nutrients of public significance in the American diet regimen, consisting of total fat, calcium and also sodium.”
Nonetheless, even if it’s prominent, does that indicate it misbehaves for you?
Experts would suggest that pizza because of this is not bad for your wellness – the trouble is when as well as just how you consume it.
According to the record, 13% of the United States population consume pizza on any provided day boosting to 22% when kids as well as teenagers are consisted of.
This would not be of such problem if it was primarily a homemade meal.
The pizza was introduced in the US at the beginning of the 20th Century, due to the influence of Italian immigration.
The very first restaurant opened up in New york city in 1905. As well as since then, the love for this food has expanded to approximated sales of three billion pizzas each year.
According to the report, pizza adds to 6% of the overall power intake for youngsters (2 to 19 years old) and also 4% for grownups.
On the day eaten, pizza represents 27% of overall energy among all consumers.
“The mean energy consumption gotten from pizza was 538 kilocalories for kids and 744 kilocalories for grownups,” states the report.
“The trouble is not the pizza, it’s pizza misuse. It is a highly calorific food,” states Ruben Bravo.
Pizza is an excellent resource of nutrients in the American diet. It supplies high percents of the total everyday intake of healthy protein, fat, hydrogenated fat, fibre, calcium and also lycopene.
According to the record, this food stands for a 3rd of the overall day-to-day intake of calcium and also more than half of lycopene, a trace element and also really efficient anti-oxidant.
Also, this meal provides salt for both kids and also grownups.
despite the fact that you can make healthy pizza at home, a lot of the time we are talking about a pizza manufacturing facility product, high in carbohydrates and also hydrogenated fat.
It has refined flour, no wholemeal, as well as we currently understand that an extra of this active ingredient adds to weight problems, enhances cholesterol and, with time, has a tendency to elevate the sugar levels in the blood.”
Nevertheless, Bravo acknowledges that, as a cereal, pizza provides nutrients and also micronutrients that are additionally legitimate. If we are discussing homemade pizza, after that it could be consisted of in our diet regimen once a week
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Scottish food scientists invent 'healthy' pizza
Scottish food scientists claim to have created the world's first nutritionally balanced pizza, which provides 30% of an adult's recommended daily amount (RDA) of vitamins and minerals.
The pizza has been developed by University of Glasgow scientist Mike Lean and entrepreneur Donnie Maclean and contains the proper proportions of calories, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, salts, sugar, fibre, vitamins and minerals that humans require for a balanced meal.
To create the healthy pizza, the scientists have added locally grown seaweed to the dough to cut down the sodium levels and provide vitamin B12 and iodine.
They also fortified the pizza with magnesium, potassium, folates and vitamin A, and added mixed red peppers to the sauce for extra vitamin C.
Maclean said that a long time was spent in refining the recipes to get the proper nutritional and taste balance.
"I'm confident that once they try our pizzas and realise that a balanced meal doesn't have to taste bland or like cardboard, people will happily choose them so that we can make a difference to the nations' health," Maclean added.
The pizza comes in flavours such as Cheese and Tomato, Ham and Pineapple, and Spicy Chicken, and will be commercially launched by Eat Balanced, a firm established by Maclean.
The pizza was given the Best New Idea award at 2012 Food and Drink Expo in Birmingham, the largest food trade show in the UK.
Currently, Eat Balanced is in talks with a major British supermarket retailer for distribution. Lean and Maclean are already trialling a recipe for nutritionally balanced curry, and plan to develop healthy fish and chips in the future.


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Heart-warming footage captures YouTube star handing out $150 worth of burgers to homeless people on the streets of California
- Lance Stewart stunned McDonald's employees when ordering 100 burgers
- He transferred food into bags and handed out burgers to homeless people
- Video showed people gratefully accepting food with smiles on their faces
- YouTube star later purchased more food to continue the social experiment
A social experiment showed how something as simple as food can have a huge impact on a person and ultimately make their day.
The video begins by showing Lance leaving employees at a McDonald's restaurant lost for words when ordering 100 burgers to take-away.
Lance left employees at a McDonald's restaurant lost for words when ordering 100 burgers to take-away
Lance was given a huge cardboard box full of burgers and headed to the streets in order to hand them out
He is required to tell the man at the till that he is being 'deadly serious' before trading $151 (£97) for a huge cardboard box full of burgers and heading to the streets with them.
After transferring the food into two manageable bags, the YouTube star began locating homeless people and handing out the burgers.
Lance approached a number of people sleeping rough as well as ones sitting in the doorways of shops holding signs.
The video showed the people gratefully accepting the food with huge smiles on their faces and thanking Lance for the gesture.
Lance approached people sleeping rough as well as ones sitting in the doorways of shops holding signs
The homeless people gratefully accepted the food from Lance with huge smiles on their faces
In addition to targeting those people awake, Lance also placed food for some people sleeping to find when they woke up.
In one rather heart-warming moment in the clip, the YouTube personality hands a woman sitting under a shelter two burgers.
After receiving them she immediately goes to hand them on to her friend sitting alongside her, but he refuses to take them from her.
Lance placed food for some people lying down and others sleeping, which they would find when they woke up
The YouTube personality handed a woman sitting under a shelter two burgers and she immediately went to pass them on to her friend
Lance then hands the man his own burger so that the pair have an equal amount of food to enjoy together.
Later in the video Lance runs out of burgers and heads to a supermarket in order to buy some more food supplies and continue with the experiment.
The clip concludes with the YouTube star handing out snacks and bottles of water to people - the final man shakes his hand gratefully.
Lance ran out of burgers and headed to a supermarket in order to buy more food to continue the experiment
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Tutus and tiaras have arrived in Woodbury in full force. Angie Bottemiller recently debuted Pout in Pink (9891 Hudson Place) boutique and party room off Woodbury Drive across from City Walk.
Bottemiller was running the online business tutulicious.com out of her home and decided to branch out.
“The business was taking over the house,” she says. “We had tutus, fluffs and feathers all over the place. It was time.”
Along with her online operation, Bottemiller decided to join forces with the Arizona-based Pout in Pink to open the franchise’s first Minnesota location. In addition to ballet slippers, ruffled dresses and apparel fit for a princess, the spot also hosts pop star, diva, royal tea and other themed parties.


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It’s Official: Maria Grazia Chiuri Is In At Dior; First Female Artistic Director In The Brand’s 70-Year History
After weeks of hints, clues and rumors, donbleek.com could officially confirm that Christian Dior has appointed Maria Grazia Chiuri as its new artistic director, the first women to hold the position in the French house’s 70-year history.
“I had it in mind that a woman designer might be interesting for a while now,” said Sidney Toledano, chief executive of Christian Dior. She replaces Raf Simons, who left Dior in October (see it here).
Yesterday Thursday (July 7), Chiuri made headlines when Valentino officially confirmed that she had exited her role as co–creative director at the Italian house (see it here).
The 52-year-old industry veteran is the seventh designer to take on Dior, and she will start her new position sometime this month and will have a lot of work to do. According to the NY Times, “And besides the two couture collections, two ready-to-wear collections, one cruise, one pre-collection, shoes, bags, costume jewelry and eyewear, she is going to be involved in image, ad campaigns and store design.” Kris Van Assche designs Men’s wear and Victoire de Castellane designs fine jewelry.
Chiuri will be devoting herself to Dior. Raf Simons and John Galliano both maintained namesake labels while at Dior. Simons‘s line is still in exist while Galliano‘s discontinued. Chiuri asked to be artistic director of Dior a long time ago. “She said to me: ‘I’m not going to come for just bags. I want the global job,’” Mr. Toledano said.
“Dior reported more than 5 billion euros ($5.53 billion) in sales last year and has 195 stores worldwide, three-fifths of its revenue came from perfumes and cosmetics. Christian Dior Couture, which includes all the clothing lines, contributed 1.8 billion euros to sales in 2015,” says the NY Times.
Before spending 17 years at Valentino, Chiuri worked at Fendi for 10 years. Her first Dior collection will be unveiled at the end of September during the women’s ready-to-wear season — one that will include an unprecedented number of new faces atop old houses. Aside from Chiuri, Bouchra Jarrar will be making her debut at Lanvin, and Anthony Vaccarello at Yves Saint Laurent.
Photos Credit: Maripol/Courtesy of Dior & Chris Warde-Jones for The New York Times


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“The approval of using insect protein for poultry feed can be expected in the not so distant future.”
This is according to Tarique Arsiwalla, chief commercial officer at insect producer Protix in the Netherlands and board member of the International Platform of Insectsfor Food and Feed (IPIFF).
The feeding of insect meal to farm animals is currently not allowed in the European Union. It is allowed for farmed fish and pet food. Live insects and insect oil are allowed to be fed to farm animals. For example, insect oil is already processed in piglet feed.
Ready for next step
“The insect sector is moving fast, fuelled by the approval to use insect protein in aquafeed in 2017, and now we are ready for the next step: approval of insect mealfor poultry diets”, says Arsiwalla. Considering the global scale of the poultry sector, the opportunities for companies like Protix are enormous. “The first drafts are being prepared right now, and with voting and actual implementation period taken into account, I expect that approval can be expected soon”, says Arsiwalla. He also addresses that the change in legislation will most likely be linked with the approval of meat and bone meal (pigs) for poultry diets.
Support from the European Commission
The Protix director addresses the support that the insect sector has from European policy makers. Arsiwalla: “And this is of utmost importance to move the insect sector to the next level. The European Commission embraces the use of insects but also demands that feed and food safety is not compromised, the sector has economic potential and doesn’t harm the environment. So this is the route we take: step by step expanding our markets while adhering to the highest safety standards. Between the first discussions on using insect meal in aquafeed until the actual approval it’s 4 years. This is quite quick for legislation change.”
Launching consumer products
Protix tries to turn insects into products for consumers to improve the visibility and acceptance of using insects in the feed and food chain. In the Netherlands, this has led to the introduction of Oerei (ancient egg) from layer hens fed on live insect larvae. These eggs are sold in the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, who will step up the number of sales outlets as of week 40, thanks to high demand for these types of eggs. On a European level, Protix has introduced the Friendly Salmon, farmed salmon fed on insect meal. Soon, the Dutch company will also introduce the Friendly Trout.
Stepping up production capacity
Last Friday, Protix celebrated the highest point reached in the construction of its new insect production facility in Bergen op Zoom, in the south of the Netherlands. A large part of the last funding has been used to finance this production facility. This multi-million dollar facility is the second facility for Protix and marks the change that is seen in the global insect sector. “This is a true demand-driven investment”. The volumes that we will produce here are largely pre-sold already in term contracts for the coming years for our existing and some new customers. Luckily, we can expand on the same location, so we can serve more clients in new markets in the near future. This will then also entail new clients that will use the insect meal for poultry diets, as soon as this is approved by Brussels,” Arsiwalla concludes.
Companies in Europe have developed new kinds of feed for salmon farms that could help the environment—if they can scale up quickly.
Researchers in the Netherlands have come up with a new, more sustainable way to feed salmon that are grown in aquaculture environments: insects. Most of the salmon that consumers eat is raised in pens, where they are fed a specific diet that helps them grow. In the past, much of that diet has been based on fish meal, a protein and nutrient-rich mixture made from fish that were caught expressly for the purpose of feeding them to other fish.
That practice has drawn criticism from conservationists, however, who point out that it’s an inefficient process that contributes to overfishing and the bycatch of sensitive marine organisms like whales and sea turtles.
Seeking an alternative, the Netherlands-based company Protix developed a fish meal that’s based on insects. Researchers came up with the idea for the insect-based feed when they noticed animals like chickens, when they’re young, eating insect larvae to gain protein.
“Salmon are one of the more demanding fish species to grow,” says Tarique Arsiwalla, chief commercial officer of Protix. Right now, in order to create fish meal for salmon to eat, much of the aquaculture industry is “catching fish we don’t like to eat to create the salmon that we want,” he notes.
Starting in 2014, teams at Protix researched different types of insects. Eventually, they discovered that the black soldier fly has a large amount of protein stored during its larvae stage because the fly doesn’t eat once it is hatched.
Salmon, which are notoriously picky, liked the food made from the black soldier flies better than the other alternatives.
Because salmon can take up to two and a half years to mature, and because most new types of feed are only tested for a couple of months, there is often reluctance in the aquaculture industry to try new kinds of feed, says Aarts. In an attempt to attract interest, Protix tested the new insect-based food for four years.
“We come from an age where we thought the big blue ocean was infinite,” says Kees Aarts, Chief Executive Officer of Protix. “But with increasing demand for production of salmon, we need that alternative.”
Getting Rid of Fish Meal
As recently as a few years ago, it took the equivalent of three fish ground up into meal to make enough food to sustain one farm-raised salmon. That’s not an efficient use of the world’s resources, environmentalists like Oceana and WWF said. At the same time, demand for salmon around the world has been soaring. In response, the industry worked hard and eventually got the ratio down to one and a half fish for every salmon produced (largely by adding plant-based foods like corn and soy to the mix). But that ratio still requires fishing.
The fish used to make the fish-based meal can contain traces of chemical runoff from soil, plastics that the animals may have encountered in the ocean, and other toxins (like mercury from power plant emissions). Those compounds can get ingested by salmon and eventually land on the dinner plate of the people who buy them.
Black soldier flies are being used for insect-based feed as an alternative to the controversial fish meal that was the aquaculture industry standard for decades. Tim Cashion, a University of British Columbia Ph.D. student in the Fisheries Economics Research Unit of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, says the industry has already reduced the amount of fish meal used in the process substantially, from 100 percent in the 1960s and ‘70s down to about 30 percent when he last published a study on it in Norway in 2012. However, those sources don’t necessarily replace all of the amino acids that salmon need, and they don’t replace the fish oils that make salmon so healthy to eat.
“The oil might be the part that’s harder to replace,” Cashion says. “It’s about getting the kinds of fats that people want in their salmon. That’s why you can’t do a complete replacement of fish oil with other kinds of oils.”
While the insect-based feed only replaces the proteins that salmon eat, Aarts says alternatives for the fish oils, which are currently still sourced from ocean life, are also in development by companies like DSM and Evonik.
A major concern that companies like Protix are facing is the scale that’s needed for insect-based feed to be successful in the aquaculture industry.
“The current demand for fish meal is approximately 6 million tons per year,” Cashion says. “[If] the idea is to replace that 100 percent with insect feed or insect meal of various kinds, we need a lot of it. The current production as I understand it is not there, but this is obviously a fairly new kind of industry.”
He wonders if it is feasible to meet that kind of demand in a timely fashion, and says its success also depends on the price of the insect-based feed.
“If they can buy insect meal for cheaper than fish meal and they can get the same results, they will likely do it, if it can work at the scale they’re producing at,” he says.
Because it is still a new product, Aarts says the insect-based meal is still slightly more expensive than fish meal, but fish meal prices are expected to rise as the amount of fish in the ocean decreases and demand for salmon continues to increase. As Protix expands to address the amount of feed that is needed, Aarts expects scale factors to drive the cost of the feed down as well.
Different Feed, Same Great Taste
The flavor of the salmon that ends up on consumers’ plates isn’t impacted by insect-based feed, either, says Arsiwalla. “The best result we could get was that it tastes like a salmon should taste, even though we made a significant change in the feed,” he says. “A salmon should taste like a salmon.”
To prove it, the company had their salmon taste-tested in blind judging. No one could tell the difference between their salmon and the salmon raised on conventional feed.
Protix is now working on scaling up their production, which is based in the Netherlands but has new projects across Europe, Asia, and Mexico. They are working on using food waste from vegetables produced by other food companies to feed the fly larvae, which they grow in their own facility. They will be opening a second facility soon, and together with other companies that make insect-based feed, they successfully lobbied the European Union for approval to sell their products in countries that are a part of the union as of July 2017.
“We believe the industry is set to grow fast,” Aarts says. “Our aim is to show safety, economic, and environmental potential of this new category of ingredients, from which new releases can be developed, like the inclusion in chicken feed.”
After the EU’s approval, Aarts says there was a fast increase in demand for insect-based feed. Protix is interested in working on feed for other aquaculture species as well, like trout and shrimp.
“We have to take care of our planet, and we believe that all people need to have access to proper nutrition in all phases of life,” says Aarts. “That also means [proper nutrition] for the animals we grow to feed ourselves.”
Protix, producer of insect protein production, and Hendrix Genetics, global multi-species animal genetics company, will team up to develop an insect breeding programme.
The programme aims to further improve the potential of insects as an efficient protein converter from feedstock to ingredient.
Founded on the achievements made in the production of black soldier flies, the new collaboration will further deepen the potential of insects as a source of high-quality nutrition. This applies to both the potential insects have as protein extractors from food leftovers, and their ability to be a quality source of nutrition for animal feed and human food.
Sharing knowledge speeds up innovation
“At Protix we have dedicated ourselves to the development of the necessary technologies to produce insects at scale in a safe and hygienic way. It is time for the next step and partner in breeding to realise our full potential,” according to Bas Jurgens, COO of Protix. Johan van Arendonk, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Hendrix Genetics acknowledges the great potential of the collaboration and stated: “Partnering with Protix offers a unique opportunity to jointly create world leading programme in insect breeding. Hendrix Genetics is truly multi-species focused and we experience every day that sharing knowledge across species speeds up innovation. Working on insects adds a new dimension and opportunity to create added value.”
The insect industry is growing quickly, especially after the EU allowed insect protein to be used as an aquaculture feed ingredient. Photo: Shutterstock
Benefit to all parties
Collaboration is well underway and Protix and Hendrix Genetics together expect results that can offer a strong benefit to all parties in the insect protein business. Both parties believe that it adds to the professional capacity of Protix, to further grow and to accelerate the industry at large. The insect industry is growing quickly, especially after the EU allowed insect protein to be used as an aquaculture feed ingredient. Over the last decade this novel industry of insect based ingredients for feed and food has developed greatly and experienced an increased level of professionalisation.
Dongen, The Netherlands (June 13, 2017) – Today, the insect supply industry reached a significant milestone with Netherlands-based Protix, the leading insect company, closing 45M€ in funding – delivered by Aqua-Spark, the first investment company focused on sustainable aquaculture, Rabobank, BOM and various private investors.
Enterra Feed Corporation has received approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to sell its Whole Dried Black Soldier Fly Larvae as a feed ingredient for salmonids, including farmed salmon, trout and arctic char.
With this approval, the company is now the first to market and sell this sustainable, natural product to aquaculture feed manufacturers in Canada. This is the first Canadian approval of an insect-based aquaculture feed ingredient, and follows the CFIA’s approval using this same product in feed for chicken broilers last year. Enterra received a similar US approval for use in salmonid feeds in 2016.
Canada is the fourth-largest producer of farmed salmon in the world, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In 2015 the farm gate value (the net value when it leaves the farm) of salmon and trout in Canada was $850 million1.
Digestible and renewable source of protein
“Aquaculture feed producers have been keenly awaiting this approval and we look forward to supplying their needs immediately,” said Andrew Vickerson, Chief Technology Officer, Enterra. “Fish eat insects in their natural environment and our product is a healthy, digestible and renewable source of protein and fat that can replace less sustainable ingredients, including fish meal and soybean meal.”
Production of fish meal, which is a standard aquaculture feed ingredient, can deplete wild ocean fish stocks and is subject to substantial price fluctuations. Soybean meal requires significant agricultural inputs that could otherwise be used more efficiently to grow food for people.
“Insects are a natural source of digestible protein and fat for fish, including salmon and trout,” said Dr Brad Hicks, a veterinarian and partner in Taplow Feeds, an aquaculture feed manufacturer. “This product will contribute to healthy, active fish and is a great alternative feed ingredient.”
Black soldier fly is a beneficial insect
Enterra uses the larvae of the black soldier fly, a beneficial insect species that is highly efficient at upcycling complex nutrients in pre-consumer waste food into an excellent source of protein and fat, perfect for inclusion in feed for fish, poultry, pets and zoo animals. These innovative products offer a sustainable alternative to resource-intensive feed ingredients like fish meal, fish oil, soybean meal, palm kernel oil and coconut oil.
Insect producer AgriProtein has signed a deal with Saudi technology hub Sajt to build a commercial-scale production of insect-based animal feed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Sajt will use AgriProtein’s factory blueprint to build the first of three fly farms in Saudi Arabia, boosting food security and supporting Vision 2030.
Announcing the agreement the vice-president of Sajt explained: “The Kingdom is currently entirely reliant on imported feed for the burgeoning aquaculture and poultry industries. AgriProtein’s world-leading technology will help us to deliver on several Vision 2030 goals, as well as support the Ministry of Agriculture’s food security objectives. With AgriProtein, we can now produce sustainable, natural protein locally, and in time completely do away with reliance on imported feed.”
The world’s biggest fly-farmer, AgriProtein has developed a blueprint for mass-production of sustainable animal feeds as an alternative to fishmeal widely used in aquaculture and agriculture.
Said AgriProtein co-founder and CEO Jason Drew: “We’re delighted that Sajt shares our vision. Fishmeal production is destroying the marine environment. Replacing it with insect meal leaves more fish in the sea for human consumption, allows the oceans to heal and reduces greenhouse gases at every stage of the supply chain from point-of-catch to point-of-sale. We estimate an environmental cost saving of $US2,000 per tonne in reduced CO2.”
The partners believe this is the ideal time to launch the initiative. The Kingdom’s agricultural sector is predicted to rise to $US1.7 billion within the next four years. Farmed fish volumes are expected to reach one million tonnes per year and Saudi poultry production is set to increase 52% by 2018, driven by government plans to achieve self-sufficiency.
And with water conservation a key priority in the region, insect protein production is much more water-efficient than other protein production processes.
AgriProtein has set up camp in North America with the aim of building 20 fly farms in the US and Canada in pursuit of its global targets of 100 fly farms by 2024 and 200 by 2027.
The world’s biggest fly-farmer and first commercial-scale insect meal producer, AgriProtein is building a global network of insect protein factories mass-producing sustainable animal feeds to replace fishmeal used in aquaculture, agriculture and petfood.
On the supply side of the business, AgriProtein’s technology helps tackle the world’s growing waste crisis by rearing fly larvae on a massive scale on organic waste, which would otherwise go to landfill. Co-founder and CEO Jason Drew explains: “With supplies of fishmeal dwindling we’re moving as quickly as we can to bring insect protein into the mainstream of animal feed. As well as ensuring continued supply of protein in the years ahead, replacing fishmeal with insect meal allows our oceans to heal, reduces greenhouse gases at every stage of the supply chain from point-of-catch to point-of-sale and leaves more fish in the sea for humans.”
A dedicated North American team
Now AgriProtein has set up a dedicated North American team to develop its business locally and build an R&D capability. Headed by Jon Duschinsky, it will identify suitable locations and licensing partners for fly-farm operations in the US and Canada. The company announced the North America initiative at the World AgriTech Innovation Summit 2017 in San Francisco. Duschinsky: “The US is the world’s biggest consumer of protein and the world’s biggest producer of organic waste, a very important market for us. And as AgriProtein is disrupting 3 industries – agriculture, aquaculture and animal feed – it’s natural we chose the world centre of disruptive technologies to launch our North American campaign.”
AgriProtein has allocated several international licenses to use its technology in Asia, Australasia and the Middle East. Last week the company signed an agreement to build 3 fly farms in Saudi Arabia.
A new study looked at possibilities to attract the Black Soldier Fly to the Bondo area of Western Kenya, and to develop appropriate methods for larvae farming for utilisation as poultry feed and fish feed in smallholder farming systems in Kenya.
Small scale poultry and fish farmers in Africa are suffering from the increasing cost of feed (such as fishmeal), which now accounts for nearly 70 to 80% of the total production costs. This leads to increased prices and shortages of milk, meat and eggs. Finding cheaper feed ingredients such as insect protein from the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) is therefore applauded. In the wild, many kinds of livestock including poultry and fish naturally feed on BSF larvae whose nutritional composition is as good as fishmeal and comparably better than soybean.
Stimulating natural conditions
The BSF has been reported in almost 80% of the world including Africa. In Africa, BSF has only been sighted in Ghana and South Africa where the larval stage is used for compositing organic matter. There is no documented evidence of them being sighted in Kenya. The current study set out to simulate the natural conditions that attract the adult females to oviposit in such areas, establish the insect’s nativity in the Bondo area of western Kenya, and identify suitable organic substrates that can be utilised for its production at a small scale level. The study consequently reports on a simple method for farming BSF larvae on various organic waste substrates as an alternative source of protein, which can be adopted by smallholder farming systems.
4 different type of attractant substrates were used in the study:
BSF attracted to vegetable waste and maize
On day 2 to day 4, different insect types were observed frequenting the different attractant wastes. These included the common housefly, green bottle fly, blowflies and sandflies among others. However, no BSF was observed during this period. The first BSF was observed on day 5 on the plastic pipes of the feeding structure with vegetable wastes and the mashed maize grain that had started producing putrescent.
Nutritional value compared to soy and fishmeal
To ascertain the potential of wild BSF larvae as a protein source in poultry and fish feeds, proximate, mineral and vitamin composition were analysed and compared with reported values for fishmeal and soybean reported in literature.
Developing a cheap open system
To facilitate production of BSF larvae from various household wastes, an open system consisting of larvae feeding structure was used. Such a system is not only cheap to construct, but is also not labour intensive as mature larvae (prepupa) voluntarily migrate out of the rotting feedstock into a nearby provided container, if the feeding structure is designed correctly. Only occasional removal of the rotten compost and replenishment of the feeding substrate is necessary. In addition, most of the substrates used are either by-products or waste products of the agricultural industry, and are locally available. This ensures the sustainability of production system.
BSF has been spotted in the Bondo area in Kenya, and its female adults can be attracted to oviposit on locally available organic substrate waste in amounts that can support small-scale fish and or poultry farming. The total yield of the harvested BSF highly dependent on the substrate used as both an attractant and feedstock. The method used in this study is not labour intensive and therefore adoptable by local farmers keen on supplementing the protein needs of their livestock. We therefore recommend this open system of farming BSF larvae for adoption by smallholder farmers under the local existing environmental conditions.
The results of this study have been published in the latest edition of the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed.
Insect meal is expected to be allowed in livestock feed by 2020. This is the prediction of Dutch bank ABN Amro in its recent publication about the opportunities and limitations of insects for food, feed and pet food.
The report (in Dutch) gives a clear outline of the current situation of insect production and the application of insect protein and insect oil in various segments. It states that the insect business is growing fast. Since 2000, companies have been founded in the US, Canada, China, South Africa and Europe. The growth of the insect rearing sector is best reflected in the growth of the Black Soldier Fly (BSF). Global production of BSF is growing rapidly; from 7,000-8,000 tonnes wet weight in 2014-2015 to 14,000 tonnes in 2016.
According to the bank’s publication, within the current legislation a lot is already possible for the human food and pet food sectors, but the EU legislation doesn’t allow the use of insect protein yet. ABN Amro states that there are promising prospects related to possible changes of the EU legislation. Once the legislation will change and feeding insect protein becomes allowed, the market perspective will become even brighter.
Aquafeed: Q3 2017
Since the BSE crisis, Europe enforces the TSE legislation. In short, this means that no processed animal protein are allowed to use in food producing animals. Over the last years, several insect producing companies, together with major stakeholders,. Have lobbied to make an exception for insect meal. This has had an effect. At the moment, the DG Health and Food Safety of the European Commission is preparing a voting in the EC for the introduction of insect meal in aquaculture diets through the regulation 56/2013. Earlier assessments among EU member states made clear that most member states are willing to change the current legislation to make introduction of insect meal in fish diets possible. It is expected that new legislation will come into force in the third quarter of 2017. The International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF) expects that on the long term (after 2023) insect meal can also compete with the price of fish meal. This will open up further growth of use if insect meal in the aquaculture industry.
Poultry and pig feed: 2020
The European TSE legislation prohibits the use of dead insects or processed insects in feed for chickens and pigs. However, it is allowed to feed live insects, insect oil or hydrolysed protein. Dutch firm Coppens for example already mixes insect oil in their commercial pig feed. More research is being carried out the further confirm the health promoting benefits of chitin and lauric acid (found in insects) for animals. Wageningen UR in the Netherlands for example is an active player in this type of research. IPIFF says that the allowance of insect meal for pigs and poultry will be the main focus after approval of its use in aquafeed. Given the effort required, IPIFF expects that amendments for pig and poultry feed take place in 2020. This will create more market opportunities for insect meal to enter the huge poultry feed market as of 2023. A prerequisite for success is that production volumes will rise and the cost price of insect meal drops. In the figure below a rough calculation on the expected demand of insect meal when certain ingredients in aquafeed, pig and poultry feed are partly replaced.
Price comparison of insect meal
It should be noted The production volumes of fish meal, high quality soybean meal extract, and soybean meal is hundreds of times larger then protein products from insects. ABN Amro published a price comparison in the report in which trading prices of protein, derived from various sources are compared. It is clear that the BSF and small mealworm are the most competitive ones, compared to the existing, high-quality protein sources like fishmeal and high-quality soy meal. As soon as the insect meal sector matures, it can become more efficient, hence bringing the cost down.
16 januari 2017 Source: De Molenaar
Bühler and Protix have founded the joint venture Bühler Insect Technology Solutions. This joint venture will develop scalable, industrial solutions for the rearing, and processing of insects to provide protein primarily for animal feed and food.
Bühler Insect Technology Solutions is located in China and has already begun operations. “By combining the knowledge and experience of our two companies, we can provide industrial insect processing solutions to address the alternative protein market,” explains Ian Roberts, CTO of Bühler. “Together, we can develop both sustainable and cost effective solutions for large scale insect producers and processors that cover the whole value chain,” adds Kees Aarts, CEO of Protix.
One of the most promising sources to generate protein sustainably and with a low footprint is insect. Fly larvae or mealworms, for instance, are easy to breed and can be fed with organic waste. They are remarkably efficient at converting feed into protein and require little space to cultivate.
Because of these advantages, insects have attracted considerable attention from start-ups and established players in the food industry in recent years. Protix was founded in 2009 in the Netherlands. In just a few years, thanks to its dedicated team of highly skilled professionals, the company developed proprietary equipment and solutions gaining extensive operational expertise not only in the breeding and rearing cycle, but also in separating and extracting proteins and lipids from insects. With a pilot plant, it processes 1,600 tonnes of insect larvae per year and produces high quality, insect-based ingredients. The company was recognized as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum in 2015.
“Protix is the most advanced insect company that has demonstrated industrial-scale production in a way that is scalable and multipliable. They have proven how to create a market in insect protein,” explains Roberts. Now they are ready to take the company to the next level and need a partner who understands the requirements of large, industrial processors. This is where Bühler steps in. “Bühler has a strong, established business providing technologies for animal feed, and protein from the insects can be used in pellets, or directly as animal feed. With our global market access, technology base, and engineering capabilities, combined with the deep knowledge, experience and entrepreneurial flair of Protix, we have the ingredients for a successful commercial partnership,” Roberts says.
Bühler Insect Technologies is located in Liyang, China. The goal of the joint venture is to develop industrial scale solutions for feedstock processing, larvae rearing and larvae processing, and to produce high-quality insect ingredients – covering the whole value chain from rearing to separation and extraction of proteins and lipids. Initially, the focus will be on larvae of the Black Soldier Fly. Subsequently there will be a diversification to other insects, such as mealworms. The insect proteins will be used primarily for the production of sustainable animal feed, for example in aquaculture, which is the fastest growing agricultural segment in the world.
Intrexon will acquire the business of EnviroFlight, 29 February 2016. Source: WATTAgNet.com.
Intrexon Corp., a leader in synthetic biology, has agreed to acquire the business of EnviroFlight L.L.C. and form a joint venture with Darling Ingredients Inc., the world’s largest publicly traded developer and producer of sustainable natural ingredients from bio-nutrients.
EnviroFlight has developed proprietary technologies which enable the rearing of non-pathogenic black soldier fly (BSF) larvae in an industrially scalable manner. This innovative and responsible approach has considerable potential within the $60 billion global animal feed industry as it will provide an environmentally friendly, toxin-free, sustainable source of high-value nutrients.
“Current trends in human population growth drive increased demand for protein supply in food production, and we believe that BSF larvae provide the potential to revolutionize the animal feed industries,” said Corey Huck, senior vice president and head of Intrexon’s food sector. “Through our partnership with Darling, the world’s largest producer of sustainable natural ingredients, we look forward to employing EnviroFlight’s platform to create high-nutrition, low environmental impact animal and fish feed as well as fertilizer products.”
EnviroFlight’s scalable approach utilizing BSF larvae opens the door to a plentiful source of high-quality nutrients for the aquaculture and livestock industries. Notably within the fish and poultry markets, BSF larvae may be more representative of the typical diet of these natural insectivores than soymeal and other plant-based meal regimens. Additionally, fishmeal and fish oil are multi-billion-dollar products critical to aquaculture’s continued growth, yet demand is outpacing the fairly inflexible supply for these valuable feeds whose manufacture are heavily dependent on wild-caught fish.
“Black Soldier Fly larvae meal may represent a very useful ingredient in aquaculture and importantly it has no impact on the marine ecosystem,” said Rick Barrows, Ph.D., research physiologist for Agricultural Research Service in the United States Department of Agriculture. Barrows added, “Starter diets for rainbow trout incorporating BSF larvae meal resulted in an increase in feed consumption and growth, showing high palatability suggesting it could be useful with some of the more finicky species such as salmon and yellowtail. Furthermore we have also found the essential nutrients in BSF larvae meal to have high digestibility.”
In addition to reducing the depletion of marine ecosystems and decreasing dependence on non-sustainable protein sources, EnviroFlight’s insect-based approach offers significant potential to recover the abundant food surpluses given its proficiency converting organic materials into valuable proteins and oils. While working with regulatory agencies to gain approvals for the use of BSF larvae for food animals, EnviroFlight will continue to supply select markets with high-quality animal feed and all-natural fertilizers.
“We are excited to enter this new collaboration with Intrexon, a leader in bio-based solutions to global problems, and to further enhance our broad bio-nutrient product portfolio continuing our goal of providing nutritional, functional, and ecological ingredients for animals,” said Randall Stuewe, chairman and CEO of Darling Ingredients.
“EnviroFlight has focused on driving necessary change in the global food supply chain, and we look forward to working with Intrexon and Darling Ingredients to realize the considerable promise of insect bioconversion to offer solutions that meet this goal,” said Glen Courtright, president of EnviroFlight.
Paris and London, 15th December 2016 – Ynsect – the global leader in the mass-scale breeding of insects for the animal feed markets – today announces that it has closed a $15.2m Series B round led by Future Positive Capital, Quadia SA and Bpifrance Ecotechnologies, with participation from existing investors Emertec, Demeter, Vis Vires New Protein Capital and Business Angels. This latest round brings the cumulative amount Ynsect has raised, from private and public sources, to $37m over the last three years – the largest-ever investment in the sector.
The announcement comes as EU member states this week endorsed a European Commission proposal to allow the wider use of insect proteins in animal feed. A vote taken on Tuesday, during a session of the EU Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF), clears the way for insect proteins to be used in fish feed in Europe from July 2017. An industry game-changer, the decision was brought about in large part thanks to the advocacy work of the International Platform for Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF), of which Ynsect’s CEO Antoine Hubert is President.
Ynsect farms and transforms insects into a high-quality natural diet for livestock and pet nutrition. With cutting-edge R&D, patented technologies and a world-leading multidisciplinary team, whose skills range from physiological entomology to biochemistry through robotics and IT, Ynsect was founded on a single visionary idea: placing insect-derived protein at the heart of the agri-food system to sustainably address the growing global demand for meat and fish.
“Few people today are aware of how the animals they eat have been fed,” explains Ynsect CEO Antoine Hubert, who cofounded the company in September 2011 alongside Alexis Angot, Jean-Gabriel Levon and Fabrice Berro. “In fact, farmed animals mostly consume GM soya, grains, and sometimes poultry feather meal, as well as fish meal. It was fish meal, in particular, which caught our attention.
“Fish meal is derived from catches of small fish, the global supply of which is under duress due to overfishing. In turn, that’s causing severe depletion of ocean biodiversity, and leading to food safety concerns due to the high content of heavy metals which bio-accumulate within dwindling fish stocks.”
While insects account for a significant share of the diets of fish, birds and mammals in the wild, the same isn’t true of their farmed equivalents, Antoine Hubert continues. “At Ynsect, we produce insect proteins that can change this unnatural and unsustainable situation. We can now feed animals with a higher quality and more nutritious diet, while reducing the amount of fish meal they consume. Crucially, we can also combine this with far greater sustainability.”
Ynsect’s main product today is known as ‘TMP’ – Tenebrio molitor protein – a de-fatted protein meal made of farmed mealworm larvae. To date, TMP is the only insect protein that shows considerable benefits to animal growth and health, when fish meal is substituted with TMP in their diets.
The company has designed proprietary technology to farm mealworm larvae, as well as other insects. Automation and machine-learning software are connected to sensors embedded in the farm, to ensure the highest-possible welfare standards for the insects, while promoting animal growth and safeguarding operators’ health. As well as owning the leading patent portfolio in the sector globally, Ynstitute — as Ynsect’s headquarters and R&D centre is known — is the largest private research facility in this field worldwide.
Antoine Hubert and the team will use the investment to increase capacity at Ynsite, Ynsect’s pilot centre in Jura, France, and to begin preparatory engineering work on the world’s largest insect unit that will have the capacity to produce at least 20,000 metric tons of insect protein a year.
The company’s initial focus has been on early-adopter fish feed and pet food companies, for whom the superior quality and 72% protein content of Ynsect’s TMP – which is the same protein level as that of the highest-grade fish meal – is a major selling point. Once Ynsect’s new unit begins production, the team expects several large animal feed players to become customers.
“The four of us started the company because we wanted to improve a global food system that is unsustainable and leading to a host of undesired impacts, including growing greenhouse gas emissions, the collapse in oceanic biodiversity and anxieties over food safety and security,” says Antoine Hubert. “That’s why we’re so delighted that some of the most renowned and innovative investors in the food tech and clean tech sectors, Future Positive Capital and Bpifrance Ecotechnologies, are joining us to help make our vision – of insects playing the same leading role in the global food system as they occupy in the wild – a reality.”
Sofia Hmich, founder of Future Positive Capital, says: “This investment shows our long-term commitment to finding and supporting companies who are tackling intractable global challenges head on, with world-beating IP and flawless execution. We’re so excited for Antoine and his team, and looking forward to seeing Ynsect grow into a major global agro-food player.” (Sofia Hmich has published a post that highlights her investment thesis about Ynsect.)
Gilles Schang, Deputy Managing Director Ecotechnology Investments at Bpifrance Investment, adds: “Ynsect is a true pioneer in breeding insects for animal feed and has established itself as the frontrunner in the rapid development of this market. We are delighted to be positioning ourselves alongside the company’s founders and management in order to make Ynsect the global leader of disruptive agro-food technologies and to deploy worldwide the expertise they have developed in France.”


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College tuition is expensive enough on its own, but college textbooks make the financial burden even more unbearable. Pearson Education — the British publishing company responsible for a huge portion of textbook sales around the world — is finally relieving some of that weight by introducing a subscription textbook service.
For just $14.99 per month, students currently enrolled in a degree program can access unlimited textbooks through the Pearson Plus app. There’s also a $9.99 per month option that allows access to just one textbook at a time. The subscription will at first be available only for colleges and universities based in the United States, though Pearson has plans to conduct a more global rollout at some point in the future, The Verge reports.
Textbooks can be a few hundred bucks each, so $15 each month is a very attractive option for the many broke college kids across the country. It would be surprising if this didn’t catch on fast.
Probably worth it — How much worth you’ll find from Pearson Plus is very much up to how many textbooks you need at any given time, and how many of them are published by Pearson. For the vast majority of college students, four months of Pearson Plus — a total of $60 — will likely be equivalent to (or less than) the cost of just one textbook.
Of course, a subscription service isn’t for everyone. If you’re the kind of student who prefers keeping their textbooks for the long haul, Pearson Plus definitely won’t be as attractive, since you won’t actually own any of the materials you read. And not every textbook will be available on the app — only Pearson’s own textbooks, of course.
The Spotify-ification of it all — Subscription models have proven very, very successful for the entertainment industry. Spotify is a prime example of this phenomenon; consumers jumped at the opportunity to pay one monthly fee for a huge catalog of music rather than purchasing each track, EP, or album individually. Netflix (and every other streaming television service) prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this model absolutely works.
While immensely successful for those running them, these services are often criticized for their minimal payouts for those actually creating the streaming material. Artists on Spotify only make 0.35 cents per stream, for example. Pearson says it’s worked out royalties and compensation in advance — but the company hasn’t made it clear exactly how compensation will compare to traditional textbook sales.


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OVERLAND PARK, Kan., March 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- StinkBOSS, an ARY company, is pleased to announce that it has been chosen as one of the finalists for the New Product Showcase/IHA Global Innovation Awards at the International Home & Housewares Show in the Cleaning category, for its shoe and sports gear deodorizer, dryer and sanitizer.
StinkBOSS was one of 500 entries and 65 finalists for product design; and one of 5 finalists in the Cleaning category. Entries were received and judged by a panel of industry experts and news media. Winners in 13 categories will be announced during the invitation-only GIA dinner Saturday, March 18. The finalists and winners will be on display in the Hall of Global Innovation in the Lakeside Center Lobby throughout the IH&H Show.
The Global Innovation Awards finalist is not the only recognition StinkBOSS is receiving. The hi-tech home gadget was featured on the TODAY Show's Hot Fall Tech Gadgets segment.
StinkBOSS creator, Hilary Philgreen, came up with the idea while getting a whiff of sweaty soccer gear and basketball shoes when carpooling after a day of kid's sports. She just couldn't take it anymore! "My kids stink," she said with a laugh. "We were in the car a lot, and it smelled so bad that we had to roll the windows down, and I thought, 'I have got to come up with a solution.'" Philgreen worked with engineers and developers to come up with the StinkBOSS concept.
StinkBOSS doesn't just mask odors, but rather utilizes ozone to kill the bacteria that cause stink. StinkBOSS dries, disinfects and deodorizes shoes, cleats, gym bags, hockey gloves and more. People often ask if they can put their pet, brother, sister, children or husband in the StinkBOSS. The answer is "no". Do not put any living things in the StinkBOSS, it's time for a shower!
StinkBOSS is available at Bed Bath & Beyond, Wayfair, Sharper Image, Title Boxing, Costco.ca and more.
To learn more about StinkBOSS visit us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
About ARY Inc.
ARY Inc. brings a unique collection of innovative brands and products to market, each with its own identity and purpose.
For more information about the 2017 IHA Global Innovation Awards program, visit www.housewares.org/gia.
SOURCE ARY Inc.


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The innovations that will change your business in five years have already started. Did you see them?
It's tough to tell a trend from a fad. Even industry pundits and media analysts get it wrong all the time. And it might sometimes seem like this world of online marketing and social media is the ultimate environment for chasing the latest fleeting fad.
Blogging will change everything!
Facebook will change everything!
Twitter will change everything!
Pinterest will change everything!
Square will change everything!
Vine will change everything!
Do you feel the change? If you can predict one thing about online marketing, it's that this list of world changing innovation will continue to expand further and further. That's the thing about innovations—we love them because they're new and exciting. The problem is, they can often mask the big picture.
Twitter, for example, got all the credit for changing how people communicated. Yet short-form blogging platforms like Tumblr and the rise of text messaging deserve just as much of the kudos (or blame, depending on how you look at it) for the rise of brevity in how we communicate. The macro trend is that people are sharing their observations with fewer words at a faster pace in more public forums.
The implication for any small business is that the more simply (and sometimes quickly) you are able to communicate, the more easily you will be able to reach an increasingly distracted consumer. Twitter isn't a trend. The trend is something bigger. See the difference?
Trendspotting: Do You Need a Crystal Ball?
Truly seeing what will be a trend that matters is a hard skill to have. Only a few people do it well. This is why Silicon Valley analyst Mary Meeker's annual Internet Trend report generates so much enthusiasm in the news media and among investors and startups alike.
When it came out last week, it was viewed nearly 1 million times online in just a matter of days. The media are hungry for this kind of analysis that looks around the corner. Unfortunately, it's usually only available in charts and graphs and projections of what people might do years from now.
In other words, trends research is usually pretty useless to the average small-business owner. There are, however, a few interesting developments that have quietly happened over the past few months signal what's to come. They are the early warning signs of change—and they are easy to miss.
Let's take a look at three of them and why they will matter for your business:
1. The SuperWeb
After a highly competitive search process, on March 30, 2011, Google announced that Kansas City was the winner of a contest to be the first regional market where its ambitious new super high speed Internet infrastructure called Google Fiber would be built. Then after the announcement, the project essentially went dark.
For the next two years, apart from the occasional regional story about the project, everyone except the tech media nearly forgot about it. Then earlier this year, Google announced plans to expand this project to several more cities, including Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah.
Some believe it's Google's way to shame the cable and Internet companies into investing in their own super high speed network. Others think it's part of a plan for world domination. Either way, there are a few reasons this is going to make a difference to your business no matter where you are.
First, since Google Fiber promises to offer Internet speeds up to 100 times faster than what is currently available today, it may enable new competitors to your business that were previously impossible. With speeds this fast, any data from the cloud will be instantly accessible.
That means any information about your brand or products that has been published anywhere at any time will be instantly available from any device. As a result, your reputation online will mean everything.
The SuperWeb is coming soon—and it is a symbol of the realtime trend that will change your business.
2. Top Level Domains
You might have heard some of the buzz about the recent release of Top Level Domains (TLDs). Essentially, instead of having your web address at a .com or a .org, you could have it at a more descriptive ".anything" depending on the domains that get created and funded.
Some possibilities include .corp, .travel and .museum—but there are lots more under negotiation. As these domains roll out, it will be an opportunity to get your business name registered and categorized so presumably it will be easier to search for. But there's a bigger trend here.
As content continues to explode online, it will be more important to find better ways to organize information. Relying just on Google and its magic algorithm still misses pages of content, and people are already looking for other solutions.
Content curation is a trend that will continue to rise, and new TLDs are one sign of this transformation. In the future, your website may continue to be your home base online, but your ability to take advantage of multiple forms of curation—whether they happen to be manual or technical—will have a big effect on how findable your company is by the people looking for it (or what you sell) online.
Top Level Domains are here—and they are a symbol of the curation trend that will change your business.
3. Paid Niche Channels
Earlier this year, YouTube announced that it would be creating a series of paid channels for content that users could subscribe to. Several high-profile celebrities and content creators are already moving to build their own platforms and networks there—all for the promise of getting hundreds of thousands of people to pay $1.99 to access their content.
Think of it as a thousand micro television channels all popping up at once. And all of them need a revenue model to support themselves. For years, TV advertising has been too expensive and inefficient for small businesses. But what if there was a network of 10,000 people who love cooking, all subscribed to the same channel on YouTube?
Imagine the possibility for reaching them directly with your message for a fraction of the cost of TV advertising. And you could drive them directly to sell them something online. Now imagine this opportunity multiplied across the Web. Forget about inefficient banners or interruption based ads. The future of advertising is reaching people via their passions and bringing your small business directly to them.
Paid niche channels will transform advertising online—and they are a symbol of the marketing opportunity that will change your business.
Together, these three online innovations are symbols of the big trends that will inevitably change your business. And as a small-business owner, you have an advantage: If you can adapt to these quickly, you will be among those that survive five years from now.
Photos from top: iStockphoto, Thinkstock, iStockphoto