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Most supermarket apples 'contain pesticides'
The majority of apples sold in Austrian supermarkets contain pesticides, according to a study commissioned by environmental organisation Greenpeace.
An independent laboratory tested 126 apples from supermarkets in 11 European countries.
Among the conventionally-grown apples, 83 percent had a pesticide residue, and 60 percent showed traces of two or more pesticides. All of the organic apples tested were pesticide-free.
On average, the conventional apples had 1.8 different pesticides on them. In Austria, ten native grown apple samples were tested and eight of them had pesticide residue. One sample even tested positive for five different pesticides. The apples were bought at supermarkets including Billa, Hofer, Penny and Spar.
The chemical quantities did not exceed Austrian legal limits, and are therefore unlikely to pose an immediate health risk. However, Greenpeace has said the results are worrying because of the apples’ contribution to the toxic burden - the accumulation of various chemicals in people’s bodies which can have a negative effect on overall health.
Greenpeace is calling on supermarkets to support farmers to switch to organic farming methods.
"Pesticides are found everywhere, in the fields and on our plates. This is very worrying," warned Herwig Schuster, Greenpeace Austria’s chemical expert.
Greenpeace argues that the EU’s evaluation, authorization and monitoring of pesticides is “flawed”, and that it doesn’t react quickly enough to limit certain pesticides in response to new scientific research.
“Current EU regulations mean that the recommended daily dose of the insecticide chlorpyrifos is already exceeded with one apple - despite new advice from the European food safety authority,” Schuster said. He says that there is evidence that chlorpyrifos could contribute to reproductive disorders and lung disease.


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Health Canada warned consumers Wednesday to stop using the KUFA 3 tent sold by the Army and Navy Department Stores discount chain because it fails to meet flammability standards, the Vancouver Sun reported.
Health Canada said the tent uses material in its sides, top and netting that could easily catch fire if exposed to flame or a campfire spark and cause severe burns to users.
Consumers are advised to immediately stop using the tents and return them to the retailer for a full refund.
Army and Nave Department Stores sold more than 2,000 of the tents in Canada between February 2008 and June. The tent also lack accurate warnings required for flammable products.

domain: news


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If you’re over 40 and grew up anywhere near a television, you probably recall a certain chewing gum commercial from the mid-1980s showing a bunch of very happy, very white college-age kids hitting the slopes for what looks to be a totally excellent weekend. These kids are athletic and carefree but, sensibly, they had the presence of mind to bring along enough gum. The ensuing 30 seconds features one of the last of the great jingles—one so bright, so catchy and (for many) so enduringly ridiculous that it stuck in the heads of an entire generation of Americans.
We speak, of course, of Juicy Fruit’s inimitable “The taste is gonna move you” spot. First aired in 1986, the guitar-strumming ditty remains, as the Chicago Tribune put it, “branded in the neurons of anyone who watched TV during the 1980s.”
Now, the chewy anthem appears poised to take over the neurons of a new generation. Until the end of May, Wrigley, with some creative help from DDB, is giving consumers the chance not only to hear five all-new versions of this classic earworm, they can also vote on the one that the company will ultimately use. (You can hear all five and vote here.)
The catch here is that the vote is open only to our neighbors to the north. By visiting a dedicated website, Canadians can listen to remixes of the tune, including country, R&B and hip-hop versions. (The Juicy OG Remix is closest to the original.) So far, the hip-hop take has the lead, according to the real-time tally chart on the site.
But why rework the tune now? A spokesperson for Mars Wrigley Confectionery Canada explained that “consumers have a special connection to the jingle and we’re going to tap into a new generation of fans with the Canadian relaunch.” (As to why the voting isn’t open to Americans and whether the new jingle will be used in the U.S., Adweek was told only that “we do not have additional information to share.”)
There’s nothing wrong with continuing a legacy, of course, but for Juicy Fruit, the stakes appear to be higher. Juicy Fruit parent Mars is privately held, so sales for the gum are not publicly disclosed. But it’s no secret the chewing gum category has seen better days. Chewing gum sales in Canada fell by 9.9% from 2013 to 2018, per Euromonitor.
According to Toronto-based retail expert Bruce Winder, legacy packaged goods like Juicy Fruit are clearly “looking to remarket themselves to the newer generation of millennials and Generation Z to fuel growth.”
“They have lost relevance with these groups based on their lack of innovation in product and message,” he said.
What’s more, Winder added, “One of the best ways to relaunch is to engage customers and let them have a say on the new campaign. These newly targeted customer groups value customization and want to be heard. Thus, the choice of jingle. It instantly makes the brand look modern and collaborative as the range of songs spans from the original version to pop to hip hop, etc. It shows that the brand is aware of today’s trends and wants to become more relevant.”
The new jingle will be used via programmatic radio and on Spotify in Canada. Juicy Fruit will announce the winner on May 27.
A curious wrinkle to these modern remixes is that regardless of the version, all contain a line from the original spot that’s led to more than a little head scratching on the part of consumers—those, at least, who heard it in the old days as a bit sexually suggestive.
The line: “Take a sniff/ Pull it out/ The taste is gonna move you when you pop it in your mouth.”
Decades after that blared from the TV set and into the heads of American youth, some are still wondering if it meant … well, what they thought it meant.
The site In The 80s, for example, has suggested the line was simply “sexual innuendo.” Agreed a visitor to Retro Junk, “Seems a bit sexually suggestive.” A commenter on this gamer bulletin board concluded, “Who says sex doesn’t sell most everything?”
And on it goes. The line “sounded weird even to a kid,” offered another commenter via Stereogum. And one blogger in Alaska wrote, “I was on the cusp of puberty in 1989 when this commercial for Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum came out, and all I can say is that this 30-second ad for chewing gum has LEGIT the most suggestive jingle … EVER WRITTEN!”
For whatever reason, later versions of the jingle appear to have sanitized the line, changing “Take a sniff/ Pull it out” to “Move you up Move you out.”
Questioned whether this line prompted any consideration regarding how it might be perceived by the public in 2019, a company spokesperson said that the jingle is already “part of the pop culture”—a presumptive reason not to change it. “The jingle is best known for its catchy and playful tune and lyrics,” the spokesperson continued. “We maintain that playfulness through any iteration of the song we create.”
Call it playful or call it suggestive, loaded language is certainly nothing new in advertising. In 1998, for example, the Carl’s Jr. burger chain rattled a few cages when, talking about its moist and drippy burgers, it introduced the tagline: “If it doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t belong in your face.”
In any case, Winder believes that while keeping a line about pulling things out and putting them in your mouth has some risk to it, there’s a good reason for taking that risk.
“In today’s society, millennials and Generation Z are much more comfortable with and have been exposed to more sexually explicit lyrics,” he said. “These lyrics have become the norm. Sexuality has become more mainstream, and marketers need not hide it as much as with previous generations. It also creates a huge conversation piece with these groups as they perhaps discover the double meaning of the lyrics themselves for the first time and laugh up the moment.”


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Flipkart Looking for New Group CEO & Paytm Plans Facial Recognition for Payments: 4 Things to Know Today Stay tuned to get every day updates in 60 seconds.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
1. Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has got something to worry about. The management is reportedly planning to replace him with Kalyan Krishnamurthy as company's group CEO.
2. Paytm follows the Apple route. The company is planning to introduce facial recognition tool for digital payments on its platform.
3. Ola plans to raise new funds. Indian ride-hailing giant is reportedly in talks with Naspers and Temasek for a fresh investment which will take its valuation to $8 billion.
4. Google is in trouble again! A cryptography expert revealed that the tech giant is logging in users into Chrome without permission.
Here's the "news that entrepreneurs can use". Know what's trending in the Indian business world in 60 seconds.


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THE final chapter of the Harry Potter story might have been penned nearly a
decade ago, but post-book earnings for the hit franchise have already
And they are predicted to top £17BILLION in the years ahead.
This is despite author JK Rowling saying she planned to “fade back into
blissful obscurity” after the release of the last book, Harry Potter And The
Deathly Hallows, in 2007.
Instead, since 2008 the writer has seen her creation become a global
superbrand, raking in billions through films, computer games and theme park
And with three new films, two plays and a selection of new writings on her
website Pottermore on the horizon, it is predicted that over the coming
years a further £10billion could be added to that sum — for a total of
Rowling, whose first name is Joanne, takes a cut of all the spin-off profits,
including £1 for every one of the millions of books sold worldwide.
The exact percentage of the cut remains a closely guarded commercial secret,
but the 50-year-old’s personal fortune is already believed to be in excess
Despite the book series wrapping up in 2007, since 2008 Rowling has sold
£141million of print books in the UK and US alone as a new generation of
youngsters become hooked on her magical wizarding tales.
Millions more novels have been sold worldwide after being translated into
dozens of different languages.
Sales of eBooks through JK’s official website Pottermore have raised at least
£70million over the past three years.
Further cash has come from the final three films, with the box-office smashes
starring Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson bagging a total of £2.3billion at
the box office worldwide.
Those films are then estimated to have shifted around £2.5billion in
merchandise around the globe, as well as £1.46billion in global DVD and
Blu-ray sales and downloads.
Video games based on the films have raised £537million since 2008, while TV
screenings of the final three films have bagged an estimated £383million.
From the time it opened in 2012 to the end of 2014, the Harry Potter studio
tour in Leavesden, Herts, has pulled in £161million, while bigger Potter
theme parks in the US and Japan are thought to be even more lucrative.
In total, the post-book earnings to date are estimated at £7.5billion.
But even that huge sum could be dwarfed by the amount raked in if a new wave
of Potter projects prove as irresistible as a Hogwarts love potion.
In 2013 Rowling signed a huge licensing deal with corporate giants Warner
Brothers allowing them to create the upcoming films, as well as theme park
attractions — and even giving them the rights to work on a possible TV
While Rowling maintains a degree of creative control over all Potter projects,
these days she is free to sit back while the corporation pumps billions into
the various enterprises, and simply wait to receive her share of the
While the terms of the Warner Bros deal remain shrouded in secrecy, Rowling is
believed to take a much larger proportion of the profits than is offered in
standard industry deals for creators.
Upcoming movie Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them — a prequel set in the
Harry Potter universe and starring British Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne — is
due for release in November this year, with Rowling making her screen-
It’s the first part of a film trilogy, and marketing expert Mark Borkowski
estimates each part will take £600million, making a total of £1.8billon,
while associated merchandising is likely to earn a further £2billion.
Console games linked to the films are expected to bring in £420million, while
screenings on TV will bring in £300million.
Later DVD and Blu-ray sales and rentals could bring in £1.14billion.
Stage play Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, a new story being told in two
separate parts and premiering in London in July, has already sold
£127million of advance tickets.
And of course fans will have to fork out for two tickets — one for each half
of the play — to enjoy the full story.
There has even been a rush on the script, with a hardback edition leaping to
the top of bestseller lists in February, ahead of its July 31 release.
It is thought the global appeal of the brand is such that productions could
run for years around the globe — with the potential even to threaten the
£4billion theatre record currently held by The Lion King.
Borkowski explained: “If the play is good, there’s already a huge fan base who
can make it extremely successful. Strong productions can run for decades so
the returns are limitless.
“You just have to look at something like The Lion King or Les Miserables to
see how successful this could be.”
A new Harry Potter theme park is set to open in Los Angeles next month with
the potential for more around the globe if it is a success.
And future book sales are likely to remain strong as the film and play keep
the Potter story in fashion, with around £424million predicted to arrive in
print and eBook takings over the next ten years.
Last week, the first book in the series, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s
Stone, had its biggest sales week since 2007 due to the resurgence in
interest around the films and play.
All in all, the coming years could see the franchise take in a further
£10.08billion for a post-book earnings total of £17.63billion.
Marketing expert Stefan Drew explained: “With all these new releases on the
horizon, the franchise has the potential to become even bigger than during
the books’ heyday.
“The beauty of the Potter series is that the success of every new part brings
back attention — and therefore sales — to older parts of the franchise.
“Every successful film will also sell more books, every performance of
the play will encourage more people to go to the theme parks, and so on.”
While it is not known how much of that Rowling will personally collect, the
terms of her contracts are thought to be extremely lucrative compared to
other authors and scriptwriters.
Yet the author is famously generous with her wealth. In 2012 she was estimated
to have given more than £100million to charity, though that figure is now
thought to be much higher.
Her Lumos foundation helps disadvantaged youngsters around the world, and she
has also given money to Comic Relief and cancer charities.
And that money is likely to keep rolling in for good causes while the boy
wizard still works his magic.
Borkowski added: “The audience who first fell in love with Harry Potter are
fairly young — so not only are they hungry for more material, but also in
time they will have their own children who will get hooked on the stories.
“JK Rowling has kept tight control of the franchise, so she can ensure
everything released is of high quality, which is vitally important. And as
long as products keep selling, she could bring out even more films, books,
TV shows — the list is endless.
“Harry Potter could be making billions for generations to come.”


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Instagram has added support for Arabic, Hebrew, and Farsi languages in a bid to massively tap people based in the Middle East. The Facebook-owned company has revealed the news via its official press blog. To work with the newly introduced languages, you just need to navigate to the settings tab on your profile and select Language option.
You will be able to select the new language. After selection of the appropriate language, you will be able to read content from right to left. However, the update has not been introduced in India. We updated the Instagram app but could not find the language. Normally, it will take nearly 15 days for the change to get reflected in countries outside the US.
The addition of Arabic, Hebrew, and Farsi will help users based in the middle east to get most from the app. Instagram is a photo sharing app using which you can expose photography among the world.
Along with the photo, you can embed hashtags to enable other Instagram users to view your image. For instance, if you mark your photo with #instadaily, all users who search for the keyword “instadaily” will be able to view, like and comment on your timeline.
Instagram is currently used by students, professionals, and photographers. Moreover, the mobile-based photo sharing platform is also used by business establishments to scale up their sales and revenues.
To work with Instagram, you need to install the app available for Android and iOS platforms. You will be able to access from the desktop but sharing of photos is possible only via smartphones.
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A new type of criminal preys on the hopeless romantic out there, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned.
According to the watchdog, some $139m in cryptocurrency was tied up in romance scams in 2021.
Romance scammers often prey on lonely individuals who are inclined to take risks for the chance of finding happiness on the internet.
The “catfishers”, which is another term for the scammers, create fake profiles on social media and use pictures from the internet to convince people into sending them money.
Not all exploit this romantic sentiment. Some of the social profiles also claim to be “financial experts” who promise to take the money and invest it cleverly in cryptocurrency or the stock market.
Scammers also asked for gift cards, owing to their hard-to-trace nature, with victims losing $36m on gift cards alone. An additional $121m was paid through bank transfers or other forms of payments, the FTC warned.
The FTC has cautioned consumers not to send funds to strangers. In 2021, the FBI reiterated that requesting payments in crypto was one of the tell-tale signs of scammers as those currencies are naturally much harder to trace than a bank transfer and have a higher likelihood of being connected to fraud.
The FTC recommends using a reverse image search on a profile’s picture to see if it appears under different names.


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GCFW 2017, all set to surprise
Goa Couture Fashion Week is an annual event organized by Hema Nagvenkar. The fourth edition of the fashion week is to be held this year in October. Over 15 years of experience in the fashion industry has led Hema to curate and organize an event that has helped immensely to put Goa on the fashion map of India and the world.
Through GCFW and initiatives of similar kind, Hema wants to promote and foster the Goan fashion industry on a bigger platform. With no dearth of talent in the State, Hema works hard to support and encourage young designers and upcoming models achieve their dreams of success, too.
Presently working under her own event company, Hema Art and Fashion Co. caters to several brands such as being the fashion consultant for Tito’s London brand and producer for fashion events at Tito’s resorts and hospitalities Pvt. Ltd. Formerly, she managed two boutiques in Baga and Panjim and also retailed in Mumbai.
Hema has a diploma from the JD Institute of Fashion Technology, Mumbai. She appreciates her academics immensely for the strong foundation that it has laid for a potentially successful future.
In 2014, the first year of GCFW was held at the Tito’s Courtyard. The first edition witnessed few of the country’s most talented, versatile and unique designers who celebrate fashion and contemporary design with their very own stamp of creativity.
The third edition of GCFW, last year, was filled with positive vibes and was held at the grand opening of ‘Fiesta’, the boutique resort owned by Yellow Mehra. One of the major highlights of last year was to have Vaishali Shadangule, one of the most celebrated designers in India who has also showcased her work at the New York Fashion Week and also showcased for Elle in London.
Goa Couture Fashion Night 2017 is coming up in October, once again with top designers along with twenty four models walking the ramp, all set to dazzle Goa


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Sporting fans got a peak of the full list today courtesy of EA Sports with over 100 songs from 34 countries—of which Koffee’s Pull Up and Shenseea’s Run Run made the cut.
This comes ahead of a new edition of the FIFA series set for release on September 30 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Stadia, PS4 and Xbox One.
Produced JAE5, Pull Up was originally released on February 3 this year, and subsequently appeared on Koffee’s debut album—Gifted released via Promised Land/RCA.
The official visuals have garnered over 9.5 million views on YouTube.
Gifted debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, and has so far spent 24 weeks on the listing.
Shenseea’s Run Run made its debut on July 16, 2021. Produced by Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor, Run Run bears a close resemblance to Steelie and Cleevie’s digital innovative drum patterns that formed the foundation of some of Jamaica’s biggest hits from the 90s.
Her video, directed by Christian Breslauer (Roddy Rich, Doja Cat, Lil Baby), has amassed over 7.8 million YouTube views.
In addition to the two Jamaican acts, FIFA 23 players can expect to hear songs from Bad Bunny, Gorillaz, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix, Jack Harlow, Rosalía, Central Cee, M.I.A., Loyle Carner, Nas, Denzel Curry, Remi Wolf, and more.
The Sound of The World’s Game. 🔊🌍
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) September 22, 2022
Raphaella Lima, Global Music Marketing Director at EA, said: “this year’s soundtrack demonstrates the breadth of the world’s love for the game, capturing sounds from all sides of the globe.”
“We wanted to emphasise the importance of our global football community through music and we’re excited to partner with this incredible group of artists to provide the songs and anthems for the most expansive FIFA ever.”
Steve Schnur, President of EA is equally pleased with the compilation, particularly because of the traction that it has been getting from fans.
“A friend of mine who lives in London says that all of his friends continually argue over the best football songs in the pub, and they’d be by bands from 2003, 2006 and so on,” he is reported to have said.
“[FIFA] has become the ownership of what football means to them, musically-speaking. We used to say that we’re following culture. [Now] we’re creating culture and, dare I say, we are culture.”


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HOW do you prepare pasta?
A big bowl of carb-laden pasta is a comfort dish to plenty of people, but it turns out many of us have been making one big mistake when it comes to prepping the meal.
Chef Fabio Viviani told Business Insider that being “lazy” led to pasta lovers being wasteful when it came to cooking it.
And it seems that adding olive oil to stop your pasta sticking to the pan is a big “no no” – with continuously stirring our pasta being the better option.
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Fabio said: “I think the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard about making pasta is people who waste olive oil in the water so the pasta doesn’t stick.
“That’s a lie, it’s wasteful… you should be there stirring your pasta – which doesn’t make it stick anyway.”


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Tuesday’s session are Supervalu Inc., Alcoa Inc. and Intel Corp.
Supervalu SVU is projected to report third-quarter earnings of 32 cents a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet Research.
Lennar Corp. LEN, -0.16% is forecast to post fourth-quarter earnings of 6 cents a share.
After Monday’s closing bell, Alcoa AA, -0.51% reported a fourth-quarter profit of $258 million, or 24 cents a share. Sales rose 4% to $5.6 billion from last year’s same period. The results beat Wall Street’s targets and marked Alcoa’s highest quarterly sales and profit since the 2008 economic downturn.Read more about Alcoa’s report.
Apollo Group Inc. APOL, +0.00% said its first-quarter net income attributable to Apollo slid to $235.4 million from $240.1 million in the year-earlier period. On a per-share basis, earnings rose to $1.61 from $1.54. Revenue increased to $1.33 billion from $1.26 billion in the same quarter last year.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, +2.33% said Dirk Meyer has resigned from his position as president and CEO. Chief financial officer Thomas Seifert will serve as interim CEO while a search committee seeks a replacement. It also reported a preliminary revenue of $1.65 billion in the fourth quarter.
Broadcom Corp. BRCM and CSR PLC have agreed to settle all litigation between the companies and their affiliates. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Intel INTC, -0.10% and Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +0.14% have signed a cross-licensing agreement and resolved outstanding pending disputes between the two chip giants. As part of the deal, Intel will pay Nvidia $1.5 billion over the next five years. Read about Intel and Nvidia’s agreement.
J.C. Penney Co. JCP, +0.84% named Michael Dastugue as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Dastugue succeeds Robert Cavanaugh, who will serve as an adviser to Chairman and Chief Executive Myron Ullman until his retirement in early 2012.


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Airtel launches special 'Kabali' products and services
July 13, 2016 13:19 IST
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"We are happy to announce our association with 'Kabali', the most anticipated movie of the year. With our new 'Kabali' exclusive products and services, we look forward to delivering an exciting and up close experience for all the Rajini fans across Tamil Nadu," George Mathen, Hub CEO - Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Bharti Airtel, said in a statement. The 'Wish Rajini' campaign will be widely promoted through large format "Kabali" hoardings across the state and radio spots.


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Stablecoins are rising in popularity, leaving many wondering what the future holds for this type of cryptocurrency. The growing number of brands developing or looking into branded stablecoins is also on the rise. But why? The utility of using stablecoins to process payments certainly makes sense for brands.
“For traders and investors, however, stablecoins address a problem that plagues many popular crypto exchanges around the world—the exchanges don’t have relationships with banks, meaning investors can’t use dollars, euros or other government-backed currency to buy the cryptocurrencies they want to trade,” Tomio Geron explained in a Wall Street Journal article.
However, there is certainly more to the enticing nature of a less volatile form of digital currency. Payment flexibility, price stability, and blockchain technology is supported by today’s stablecoins. But let’s not count out the cost cutting profits, YOY financial growth, marketing opportunities, and customer loyalty at stake for early adopting brands. And brands are certainly seeing the value.
Facebook is developing Libra, a stablecoin that could completely disrupt the financial space, opening up global payment pathways to its 2.41 billion worldwide user base.
This of course comes with a few security concerns, but Facebook isn’t the only brand on the blockchain. Walmart is also looking into its own branded stablecoin, hoping to follow in the development steps of Facebook’s Libra.
Branded stablecoins could ease cryptocurrency and blockchain technology adoption across multiple industries. “Today, with over 120 projects on the market, it seems that stablecoins may lead the mass adoption of cryptocurrency payments for which the industry ‘veterans’ have been waiting,” Tatiana Koffman said in a Forbes article.
In fact, the stablecoin industry could be valued at a trillion dollars within ten short years. So what’s the future of stablecoins? Branded stablecoins. Let’s take a closer look.
Facebook Libra and Walmart Branded Stablecoins
Stablecoins have been relatively “under the radar” when it comes to cryptocurrency. The recent stablecoin popularity has come on the heels of Facebook’s stablecoin Libra, and now Walmart’s application for a cryptocurrency patent.
P.H. Madore explained in a CCN article, “Is Walmart trying to compete with Facebook Libra? Will CEO Doug McMillon be hauled in before legislators to defend his company’s right to innovate? Will the token ever actually launch at all?”
It would appear that Walmart is interested in cryptocurrency, whether or not they intend to develop and launch a stablecoin is difficult to tell. They did state that the cryptocurrency may be supported by USD. As difficult to tell as it is, it would, however, make sense.
For instance, Walmart could become a payment system in itself, since they stated in the patent application that the crypto could serve up no to small fees. Walmart could also:
- Become the Bank of Walmart. Walmart believes that its low income customers could find a branded stablecoin easier and less expensive when compared to traditional banking alternatives. Walmart could essentially cover financial needs, and product needs under one roof for their customers.
- Eliminate the use of credit cards. With a Walmart branded stablecoin, the biggest enterprise retailer in the world could effectively make credit cards obsolete. The alternative would be fingerprint and retina scanning to make transactions.
Here’s a breakdown of those fees . . .
It does sound a bit futuristic, but stablecoins could be the future of payments. Facebook and Walmart could very well corner the stablecoin market with their forward-thinking approach to making cryptocurrency mainstream.
What are the Branded Stablecoin Benefits?
The payoff could be huge for brands that become early stablecoin adopters. From quarterly profits to marketing, there are a number of business areas where stablecoins can make a positive impact. These areas include:
- Large cryptocurrency reserves. A brand, like Facebook or Walmart, that releases its own stablecoin can easily convert coin for cash. This allows the brand to keep a large reserve of cryptocurrency, which in turn generates larger yearly profits.
- No more card processing fees. Brands typically pay two percent to five percent when a customer uses a card. When dealing with digital transactions that are peer-to-peer on a generally decentralized blockchain, the fees are zero to very low.
- Boost customer loyalty programs. By incentivizing customers with stablecoin, they can take customer loyalty programs to the next level. Using rewards and discount offers via branded stablecoins makes this very easy.
- New sustainable marketing opportunities. Just look at all the press Facebook and Walmart have received due to stablecoins. These brands don’t even have an actual digital coin available and the marketing opportunities have increased exponentially. Stablecoins and cryptocurrency also speak to the next generation of consumers and users.
The Next Generation Stablecoin is Around the Corner
Today’s stablecoin is Tether, USDS, PAX, and others, simply pushing the less volatile angle with the 1:1 ratio between digital coin and a fiat currency or commodity. However, this generation of stablecoin is almost over. The next generation will maintain the non-volatile benefit, but also be heavily branded and come with a lot of new utilities like rewards, exclusive features, and potentially meta-stablecoins.
So the future of branded stablecoins is “branded” stablecoins themselves. Brands are beginning to see that the less volatile cryptocurrency could lay the foundation for many of the original crypto utilities we’ve all been waiting for. It will certainly be exciting to see how stablecoins disrupt nearly every industry in the decade to come.


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Perhaps retail can collect some ideas for improvements from London Fashion Week, which begins right now in a wholly digital form. In addition to runway shows being shown online, the programme is being supplemented on display screen by presentations, interviews with designers and discussions about fashion. Virtual changing rooms to show if these trousers really will fit and remove Fashion Update the guesswork of online shopping might sound far-fetched – or a cringeworthy tech nightmare ready to happen. Couriers who wait when you try on a jacket and resolve to keep or return it? Previously online-only, Mirror Palais has created its first pop-up shop on the Lower East Side. Their sold-out Collection 2, swimwear, and classic pieces might be out there to browse and shop from the coveted womenswear model.
- You may need to examine on some products while at work, or whereas having lunch on the restaurant or cafes, and you aren’t yet conscious of the damage it can do to your private information.
- The label’s owner Inditex, the world’s greatest clothes retailer by sales, has launched Zara online in Britain, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Germany.
- Review our privateness statement Opens new window for full particulars.
- Germany-based Hugo Boss has turn out to be the most recent model to open a regional online store serving Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
- The loss of Topshop was a results of the Arcadia fashion empire collapsing.
Dolce Vee Love, a well-liked thrift page on Instagram with 117,000 followers, is understood for its superstar pop-up charity closet and mass market gross sales. Komal Hiranandani, who earlier worked with IDFC Institute, began Dolce Vee Love to promote sustainability and the circular fashion movement. “I was at all times looking to do one thing Women Fahion that might transfer the needle on things. Pre-loved is one such space the place even a small behavioural change can have a huge constructive social impression,” she says. A growing concern for the setting has additionally pushed shoppers to seek sustainable alternate options to fast fashion.
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“A lot of purchasers have come to us looking for this technology. The market is really heating up for it.” That’s why the business is pouring tens of millions of dollars into growing and trying technological options. Augmented actuality, avatars and algorithms that approximate your measurement based mostly on measurements you provide are already within the marketplace. But Sarah Willersdorf, world head of luxurious Women Fahion with Boston Consulting Group, said the pandemic has changed how luxurious retailers are excited about their survival. Last 12 months, luxurious brands Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, and Dior launched their online promoting platforms in the region, on the height of COVID-19-induced lockdowns and curfews. Germany-based Hugo Boss has turn out to be the latest model to open a regional online retailer serving Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
Fashion Retailer Primark Is Refusing To Promote Online
On prime of that, 69 % of shoppers say it’s important or very important to see new merchandise each time they visit a retailer or shopping site. It’s not one firm answerable for the unfold of inauthentic brands. The trade is held up by a tangled community of tech corporations and companies, with search engines like google and yahoo, ad brokers, social media companies and e-commerce platforms all enjoying a part whereas making large quantities of cash. The burden falls on consumers to inform the great from the bad — whether or not you’re shopping for get together attire, handheld steel detectors or collapsible roasting sticks for marshmallows.
One, a information on the ecommerce enterprise methods derived from the equation. Data by way of Pew Research CenterShopping habits mirror these divides; notably retail behemoths aimed at cost-conscious consumers as nicely as their fast-fashion equivalents. With projections to benchmark your personal growth, one ultimate piece of foundational information must be attended to before taking a look at examples of these ecommerce tendencies in motion. Threading the needle calls for a clear understanding of the 10 developments shaping ecommerce fashion. State-by-state take a glance at coronavirus-related laws, government orders, regulations and steerage governing store operations for retailers as we head toward a post-pandemic local weather.
The 2021 GQ Fashion AwardsFrom Louis Vuitton to Adidas, we’re honoring the individuals, the moments, and the outfits that made this some of the fun and freaky years ever for fashion. To continue, upgrade to a supported browser or, for the best experience, download the cell app. We know it is a problem to change browsers but we want Women Fahion your expertise with CNA to be quick, secure and one of the best it might possibly possibly be. Business models of vintage, recycled clothes are shortly dropping their stigma within the West. Arcadia is arguably the biggest British retailing casualty of the pandemic.


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Chicago, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/28/2013 -- INXPO, a company that offers the next-generation webcasting, online event and virtual community solutions, has just announced that they were ranked in the “Top 100 Digital Companies in Chicago” list. The Top 100 list was compiled by Built In Chicago, an organization that brings the local startup community together.
Clients who have worked with INXPO over the years understand the company’s inclusion on the list of top digital companies; INXPO has developed a well-deserved reputation for its innovative webcasting and award-winning online events solutions that solve communication challenges.
“Companies of all sizes are using our next-generation webcasting solution to improve their internal and external communications, strengthening their relationships with their employees, customers, prospects and other key shareholders,” said Malcolm Lotzof, CEO at INXPO.
“With both full and self-service options, INXPO's webcasting solution is perfect for new or experienced webcast users.”
As an innovator in the digital space, INXPO continues to pave the way by introducing Social Business TV, a self-service platform designed to help companies produce and deploy unlimited webcasts within their own private and secure “Corporate YouTube” environment.
Built on INXPO’s world-class digital communications platform, Social Business TV enables you to deliver live and interactive communications programs that incorporate social elements like polls, moderated Q&A, live chat and social activity walls, to make sure your audience is engaged and you’re receiving actionable feedback.
INXPO's next generation webcasting platform can be deployed as a link on a website or in an email, in an online virtual event on the company's award-winning event platform, or as part of an ongoing 365 community inside its Social Business TV product. In addition to delivering audio and video webcasts, the company complements these broadcasts with social tools that turn lackluster presentations into memorable experiences. INXPO has more than 3,000 successful online communications programs for global customers, including Autodesk, Cisco, Freeman, George P. Johnson, Hilton, HIMSS, P&G, PCMA, TechTarget, UBM and the U.S. Department of State. To learn more about how INXPO can fit into an organization's existing communications strategy, please visit www.inxpo.com, email at email@example.com, or call (312) 962-0563.


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Putting power in the hands of the consumers to choose the ads they want to see is an area of focus for most technology-led media owners. After an announcement from Facebook, and the numerous initiatives that the likes of Google have undertaken towards ad blocking, Google has now devised a new way that not only blocks Google ads on participating websites but also generates monies for these publishers. The new offer, Google Contributor, is designed to allow people to pay a monthly fee for the sites they visit, and in return see no Google ads when they visit those sites.
Google has rolled this for the publishers in the United States only in the launch phase. The tech giant will extend this to other markets after some learnings from the initial experience and observing whether people use such a service.
Google says that this is one more of its attempts to help web publishers and content companies monetise their readership more easily. The new feature is launching with 10 publishing partners. When users goes to the Google Contributor website, which at present is by invitation only, they see a list of publishers that are participating in the beta version and they can choose whether they want to contribute USD 1, USD 2 or USD 3 a month.
The contribution doesn’t go to all of the participating websites, but is triggered only when the user visits a specific site. That way onliners will support only the publishers whose sites they visit frequently.
The search giant will take a cut of the proceeds but essentially Google Contributor is an alternative to Google AdSense.


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Star Wars Celebration Anaheim wrapped up its four-day event at the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend. The globe-trotting fan event (next year it is in London).
Fans got a sneak peak at “Rogue One” prequel
“Obi-Wan Kenobi” starring Ewan MacGregor began streaming on May 27, and it set on Tatooine 10 years after the event of Episode III.
Also on offer was insight into season 3 of, a glimpse of the set in the Star Wars Universe period prior to Return of the Jedi – plus a trailer for .
No Star Wars Celebration would be complete without an abundance of fans dressing up as their favorite characters from the Stars Wars Universe.
The show also marked another in a series of major events returning to the Anaheim Convention Center this year: the Natural Products Expo West show returned in March, WonderCon in April, Star Wars Celebration this month, NAMM and VidCon in June, D23 in September and DesignCon in November.
“We were thrilled to welcome Star Wars Celebration to the Anaheim Convention Center, where fans enjoyed all that Anaheim has to offer, including Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which opened since the event was last here,” said Jay Burress, President & CEO, Visit Anaheim. “Star Wars Celebration is such an important event for our community: this convention alone brought an estimated $100 million in economic impact to Anaheim and Orange County.”


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September 25th, 2007
Algeria and Vietnam might not come to mind immediately as the fastest-growing Top 50 U.S. trade partners over the last five years, but they are, according to WorldCity analysis of the most recent Census statistics.
On a percentage basis, Algeria’s trade with the United States is up 458 percent when comparing January through July of 2007 to the same period in 2002, while Vietnam’s has increased 398 percent. Nigeria is third, with 385 percent growth over the same five-year period.
The United States has large trade deficits with all three, with Algeria and Nigeria leading oil-producing nations and Vietnam a developing manufacturing powerhouse that is often cited as a less expensive alternative to China. The U.S. deficit with Algeria has grown 1,186 percent since 2002, while Vietnam’s has increased 542 percent and Nigeria’s 526 percent.
|Rank||Total Trade||July 2007 YTD||July 2002 YTD||5 Year Dollar Change||5 Year Percent Change|
|41||Trinidad and Tobago||$6,283,337,384||$1,722,830,971||$4,560,506,413||264.71%|
|39||United Arab Emirates||$6,545,765,562||$2,508,135,485||$4,037,630,077||160.98%|
Although China gets most of the attention, and while its deficit is the United States’ largest, its total trade has grown a less substantial 176 percent during the same year-to-date periods. In fact, six nations have grown faster than China, including not only Algeria, Vietnam and Nigeria but also Angola (298 percent), Trinidad and Tobago (265 percent), and Russia (201 percent).
Four of the six are oil-rich nations benefiting from sharply higher oil prices, the exceptions being Trinidad and Tobago, which is a natural gas supplier to the United States, and Vietnam.
Nevertheless, China will continue to capture most of the headlines, whether the issue is lead-tainted toys, the trade deficit or poisonous dog food.
Through the first seven months of 2007, China’s trade with the United States increased $28.9 billion over the same period in 2006, almost three times the next largest increase, for Canada, the No. 1 U.S. trade partner.
The next highest dollar increase belonged to Germany, which saw its overall U.S. trade increase $7.4 billion. Overall, Germany ranks as the No. 5 U.S. trade partner.
In fact, when viewed in dollar terms, the largest gain over the five-year period does, in fact, belong to China, which saw its trade increase $135.3 billion, followed closely by Canada, with an increase of $107 billion. Mexico is third, with an increase of $63.4 billion and Germany, fourth, at $32 billion. Japan, the No. 4 ranked U.S. trade partner, has seen its trade grow $22 billion over the five-year period.
When viewed by Customs district, the five-year trends have obviously benefited those that handle energy Houston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Great Falls, Mont. or Asian manufactured goods Savannah, in particular. Four of the five saw their trade more than double in the five-year period, the exception being New Orleans, which narrowly missed its trade increased 96.3 percent over that time period.
|July 2007 YTD||July 2007 YTD||July 2002 YTD||5 Year Dollar change||5 Yr Percent change|
|22||Great Falls, Mont.||$25,142,238,798||$10,981,233,778||$14,161,005,020||128.96%|
Houston’s trade grew the fastest in percentage terms, at 164 percent, followed by Great Falls, Mont, which imports natural gas and oil from Canada, at 129 percent; Savannah, with five Asian nations among its top 10 trade partners, at 114 percent; and Philadelphia, a leading oil importer from Nigeria, among others, at 102 percent.
Los Angles, which handled the lion’s share of China imports, saw its two-way trade increase by 62 percent over the five-year January through July period. In dollar terms, however, it was No. 1, with an increase of $75.3 billion, putting strain on the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach as well as Los Angeles International Airport.
Through the first seven months of the year, it remains the nation’s No. 1 Customs district, though its lead over No. 2 New York narrowed slightly. New York’s trade increased $16.6 compared to $12 billion for Los Angeles.
Among the Top 10, the only four registering double-digit growth were Houston, New Orleans, Seattle and Savannah. Seattle’s trade is growing rapidly not because of Asian imports or energy but because of exports Boeing’s jets leave from the Seattle Customs district, and Boeing’s jets are selling well on the global stage.
Overall, the U.S. trade growth through the first seven month was below 10 percent for the first time in five years, since 2002. In July of 2006, the growth was 13.7 percent; the year before it had been 12.3 percent.


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South African Economy
Car sales are always a good indicator of how an economy is doing and currently there are an incredible 43,500 cars being sold per month, which amazingly even out strips the monthly population growth rate of 41,000. This rapid buying of cars has lead some experts to predict that if this continues, then South Africa could face petrol shortage within 18 months, unless refineries step up production. It is not unheard of for South Africa to have petrol shortages, with the last Cape Town shortage lasting 4 days in mid 2006. Panic buying at the pumps also didn’t help matters either.
In mid December 2006, there was a shortage of canned soft drinks in South Africa, as there was a shortage of carbon dioxide (CO2) from suppliers. So Coke Cola and other producers had trouble keeping supplies of soft drinks available in the shops for the Christmas party season.
Food has been another area, with vegetables like Celery and Coriander being rare and in very short supply. Weird, but true.
When the Cape Town area had electricity power-cuts in the winter of 2006, generators, candles, gas canisters and other cooking, lighting and heating equipment sold out in record breaking times. There was even a week of shortages of gas for gas canisters as refineries could not keep up with demand.
The Rand has suffered over the last quarter of 2006, with exchange rates with the US dollar hitting highs of R7 to the $, R14 to the UK£ and R10 to the Euro. This has been marvelous for the tourism sector, as many more tourist have arrived in South Africa to holiday and spend, but South African exports have sadly taken a slight nose dive in some sectors.
Please click our Articles Main Menu Page to view our extensive library of South Africa tourism related Articles and Things to See and Do.


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Tourist arrivals up
22 July, 2015, 12:00 am
THE provisional visitor arrival from January to May this year is 262,992, a 7.4 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2014, which were 244,890.
According to Tourism Fiji, the increase is a good sign for the tourism industry and a positive indication for the year ahead.
“The increase in visitor arrivals illustrates that the tourism industry is growing and that Tourism Fiji’s strategic marketing campaigns throughout its six regional offices and two market representative offices have been effective in getting more visitors to Fiji,” said Tourism Fiji global public relations manager Patricia Mallam.
The increases in chartered flights and new routes, she said, had also been a contributing factor to the increasing visitor arrivals. The top three countries for visitor arrivals based on the Fiji Bureau of Statistics provisional statistics from January to May this year are — Australia, New Zealand, and the US — which are Tourism Fiji’s key source markets.
However, there were increases in the number of visitors from China, the rest of Asia, Pacific Islands and Canada.
Fiji’s earnings from tourism for the March quarter (first quarter) of 2015 is provisionally estimated at $310.7million.
This, Ms Mallam said, represented a $24.8m or 8.7 per cent increase over the March quarter of 2014 earnings of $285.9m.
“Australian visitors contributed $168.8 million or 54.3 per cent of the earnings from tourism with $32.6m or 10.5 per cent attributed to New Zealand visitors,” she said.


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Company director who duped wine investors sentenced
This news article was published more than a year ago. Some of the information may no longer be accurate.
A director of a company that defrauded fine wine investors out of their wine collections was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday 14 July.
Craig O’Driscoll, 32, of Oakbrook Close, Bromley near London pleaded guilty to the offences earlier this year at a hearing on April 11. He was given 16 months suspended sentence for two years, 200 hours unpaid work and a three month curfew.
He was the director of a London based company called Ethical Elegance Ltd which traded fraudulently by telephoning people they knew had fine wine collections and largely offering them cash in return for those collections. No payments were received in return and most victims eventually received low value diamonds through the post from the company.
O’Driscoll has already pleaded guilty to a single charge of Fraudulent Trading covering the activities of the company during 2013, when it was alleged to have defrauded 14 known clients.
The case was investigated by South Gloucestershire Council’s Trading Standards team after a local resident from Filton made a complaint in September 2013. At the time Ethical Elegance Ltd was still trading, but later went into liquidation.
Further clients of Ethical Elegance Ltd were traced from around the country by Trading Standards officers. It emerged that the 14 clients were offered a total of £330,000 for their fine wine collections, which they had transferred to the company on the understanding that they would receive the stated money in due course. In one case a victim was offered over £85,000 for his fine wines.
Some victims were told by representatives of Ethical Elegance Ltd that they would be paid their money from the proceeds of sale of a diamond that the company had and they agreed to an “Asset Exchange Agreement” with O’Driscoll’s business, which clearly stated the figure they expected in return. However, soon after transferring their wine collections, the clients were informed of problems with the transaction. They all subsequently received a diamond or diamonds through standard post with no explanation from the company.
A diamond expert valued 13 diamonds on behalf of Trading Standards that were still in existence, which were calculated to be worth just short of £16,000.
The fine wines transferred to Ethical Elegance by its clients were quickly sold on by the company to two wine wholesalers, who bought the alcohol in good faith. Ethical Elegance generated around £175,000 from these sales in just four months of trading.
The case involved clients transferring high value wines like Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1996 and Petrus 2000 to the company which claimed to operate out of central London offices, but which turned out to be a virtual office.
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Revenue for the global infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) has blown past US$100 billion for the first time, reaching US$120.3 billion in 2022.
This is according to research firm Gartner, which said this was an increase of 29.7 per cent year-on-year from 2021.
The top five IaaS providers made up over 80 per cent of the market during the year, the firm said, with Amazon holding onto its number one ranking with 40 per cent market share and US$48 billion in revenue.
Next was Microsoft with 21.5 per cent market share and US$25.9 billion in revenue, with Gartner claiming that its software-first strategy supported its IaaS growth through customers opting for more cloud capacity to support automation, advanced analytics and digital workplace capabilities.
Alibaba was next with 7.7 per cent market share and US$9.3 billion in revenue. Although it holds dominance in China, expansion elsewhere has slowed, the firm claimed, with this being the driving factor to spin off Alibaba Cloud into a separate entity.
The top five were rounded out by Google, with 7.5 per cent market share and US$9.1 billion revenue – a 41 per cent increase compared to a year ago – and Huawei with 4.4 per cent market share and US$5.2 billion in revenue.
Google’s growth boon follows an increased investment in sovereign cloud and expanded sales and marketing partner programs, widening its customer base. Meanwhile, Huawei’s growth was labelled by Gartner as steady in China and emerging markets.
Sid Nag, VP analyst at Gartner, claimed IaaS is driving growth in both the software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) markets.
“IaaS growth in 2022 was stronger than expected, despite a slight softening in the fourth quarter as customers focused on using their previously committed capacity to its fullest potential,” he said. “This is expected to continue until mid-2023 and is a natural outcome of the market’s maturity. We expect an acceleration in 2024, as there is still room for plenty of additional future growth.”
Looking to the calendar year ahead, Nag said generative artificial intelligence (AI) is predicted to push the market forward, especially when hyperscalers offer products past the “existing, democratised generative AI solutions.”
“As enterprises integrate generative AI into their technology portfolio, new markets and opportunities for cloud hyperscalers will emerge related to sovereignty, ethics, privacy and sustainability,” Nag added.
Gartner's analysis on IaaS comes as competing research firm IDC claimed earlier this month that global revenue generated by public cloud services topped the US$500 billion mark in 2022.
For IaaS revenue generated during last year, IDC came to a similar figure as Gartner, with US$115.5 billion.


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The Human Bean is close to opening in Minden.
MINDEN, Nev. — It may be a week or two before Nevada's newest Human Bean coffee shop opens to the public, but its owner is excited to get the ball rolling.
“We're still training employees,” Chrissy Conatser said Monday, Sept. 23.
She estimated that it will be late next week or soon after before the coffee kiosk opens next door to the Sonic Drive-In at 1652 U.S. Highway 395 North.
“Corporate comes down and they do a soft opening to make sure you're ready,” Conatser said, referencing the company's corporate team in Oregon.
She said she felt there was plenty of traffic to keep all of Carson Valley's coffee places open.
“There's enough traffic in this place for everyone to be busy,” she said. “I truly believe everyone can make a great cup of coffee. Our difference is customer service. We want every customer to walk away saying, they just brightened my day. We want our customers to have a great experience.”
Conatser is a lifelong Nevadan who was born, raised and lives in Reno.
She and her fiancée, Kevin Gustafson, have been working on the Minden project for 18 months. She knew the owners of Sonic, so that helped smooth out leasing the property.
Conatser said she has about 16 full- and part-time employees to cover shifts from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.
“We're planning on being super busy,” she said. “We're happy to be in the area. I'm excited for our opening. Everyone who has come up to our drive-through window has been lovely and beautiful. I'm blown away at how positive and wonderful people have been. We feel very welcomed.”
Once it opens, the Minden location will be the third Human Bean shop in Northern Nevada, in addition to the two already operating in Reno.
And, a fourth coffee shop is on the way — the couple is working on a second location near Firehouse Subs along Highway 50 in Carson City, which Conatser expects to open in a couple of months.


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U.S. Soccer unveiled its first fan-focused mobile app alongside a new website today, launching the new digital platforms that will work in concert to better serve and engage fans.
The unveiling is the first in a series of enhancements that will be made to U.S. Soccer’s digital presence as the Federation continues its commitment to making soccer the preeminent sport in the United States, using innovation, data and technology to provide the best possible engagement with fans. The new website and app were designed to launch in preparation for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France and the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup as well as the MNT’s first foray into the Concacaf Nation’s League this Fall.
To better connect fans to their favorite U.S. National Teams, U.S. Soccer worked with AKQA to develop the Federation’s new website and mobile app with a focus on providing a seamless physical and digital experience and deliver unique content that only U.S. Soccer can offer.
“Our aim is to continually elevate the fan experience, to deepen and create more consistent connections to the National Teams,” Ross Moses, U.S. Soccer Director of Analytics said. “With our partners at AKQA, we saw an opportunity to create cohesive, mobile-first experiences that expand our reach and simplify the essentials for attending and following our teams and events. At the same time, we wanted to cultivate that fandom with enhanced content and a personalized experience for our fans.”
THE OFFICIAL APP
The new U.S. Soccer app gives fans an immersive matchday experience for both the USWNT and USMNT, providing the opportunity to explore exclusive content, follow match play via live stats and in an innovative event-tracking display. It also enhances the on-site experience by connecting U.S. Soccer Insiders to activity in and around the stadium and elsewhere.
One such example is the WNT Everywhere campaign, which is designed to increase the WNT players visibility by bringing artistic and digital experiences to cities throughout the country. “Recognizing that our teams play a limited number of matches in any given year, we wanted to expand the ability to experience our teams across the country providing unique content to our fans,” Kay Bradley, U.S. Soccer Brand Director said. Using object recognition technology in the app, fans will be able to align their mobile phone with one of the eye-catching murals and posters to unlock exclusive content about WNT players that will not be available anywhere else.
THE NEXT GENERATION USSOCCER.COM
The new website offers a fresh appearance and responsive design that will deliver the entirety of the site’s content on mobile devices and desktops, while bringing the most relevant news and updates to the forefront.
Significant changes include a streamlined navigation, stats integration, robust content displays and enhanced search capabilities. There is a more in-depth focus on player profiles and the content provided to fans around National Team matches, with pre-, during and post-match information.
U.S. SOCCER INSIDERS
U.S. Soccer Insiders is the enhanced loyalty program for USWNT and USMNT fans. As an Insider, fans will unlock exclusive perks like presale ticket access, full access to the mobile app, first look at starting XIs, and early invites to fan events. U.S. Soccer Insiders is free and fans can upgrade to enjoy even more benefits.
When fans sign up as an Insider, they’ll have control of their own profile via a dashboard on the official app and ussoccer.com that will facilitate personalized content and communications so that Insiders are getting the most relevant experience across digital and physical touchpoints with U.S. Soccer. The dashboard is also where Insiders can track all their CAPS from matches they attend – just like the players.


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Losses cut as HMV fights back
'It's definitely going to be a compilation Christmas,' HMV chief executive Simon Fox declared today. 'But that's no bad thing because that's what sells at this time of the year. It's also probably the best Christmas for DVD releases I have ever seen.
Kylie Minogue will help HMV.
'There are box-office smashes like The Simpsons Movie and The Bourne Ultimatum, then good family stuff like Harry Potter 5 and Shrek 3 along with some good TV series box sets.'
Forced to report his first-half figures bang in the middle of the group's most important selling period, Fox was being fairly cagey about current trading.
He said: 'The big days are still ahead of us. November and December account for 40% of our annual sales, and each week within those months sees a 25% rise on the previous one. We're well-prepared, and all I can say is that we are exactly where we expected to be in terms of current trading.'
If that's the case, Fox - brought in from Comet just over a year ago - is starting to counter the ever-growing competition from supermarkets and downloads in its traditional markets. He is also shaking up sister bookshops chain Waterstone's.
Today's results, for the half-year to 26 October, show HMV reducing losses, cutting costs and shifting into higher-growth sales areas such as video games and MP3 and MP4 players.
Pre-tax losses fell from £29.2m to £28.1m. Total sales, excluding the sold-off Japan operation, are up 9.5% at £729m. Group like-for-like sales, which dropped 6.1% a year ago, rose 5% this time.
The biggest improvement came at the HMV chain itself, where like-for-like sales are up 9.2%. That reflects the shift into technology, which accounted for 6% of sales, and gaming, with 15%. HMV has had to accept lower margins on sales of games consoles such as the Wii and PlayStation 3 in the hope the next three years will produce good sales of higher-margin gaming software. New-format stores have been tested at Merry Hill in the West Midlands and Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
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They are lighter and brighter than HMV's traditional grey-and-purple look, and include a central hub of iMacs where customers can play games and download music.
Fox said: 'It's early days yet, but the first indications are good with better footfall and more spending. We plan to open another five early next year, including two at Heathrow Terminal 5.'
Waterstone's sales were virtually unchanged if one excludes the launch of the final Harry Potter novel, which added 2% to the chain's revenues. Fox is halfway through closing 10% of Waterstone's outlets following its takeover of rival Ottakar's last year.
His launch of a Waterstone's loyalty card has gone well with 700,000 customers signed up since September.
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FERRARI VELAS NETWORK NFT - In recent years, the rise of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology has been inevitable. October 2021 was an exciting month for all cryptocurrency investors, as the price of bitcoin skyrocketed to $67,000, and Ethereum quickly followed suit. However, it is not only these blockchain technologies that attract interest. Among the best known are the NFT, which from art to sport are gaining more and more importance.
Mission Winnow has left Ferrari but Cavallino certainly does not lack the possibilities of new sponsors. After Banco Santander, a new Premium Partner was announced. This is Velas Network AG, a world leader in the blockchain and NFT sector, which has already proven to be able to create and integrate technological products and services.
To announce the same Scuderia Ferrari with the words of team principal Mattia Binotto.
"We are pleased to start this collaboration with Velas Network AG, a company that makes innovation and performance the hallmark of technologically advanced products and services: are all values that we share and that led us to choose Velas as one of our Premium Partners".
The agreement was also discussed by Farhad Shagulyamov, CEO of Velas Network AG:
"After building the blockchain of the next generation, which devotes particular attention to performance and sustainability, it was natural to collaborate with another icon of excellence like Ferrari. Velas has introduced a series of innovative technologies in the world of blockchain and its derivatives that will now be showcased thanks to the presence at the top of motorsport".
Non-fungible tokens (NFT - "Non Fungible Tokens") are digital goods. They represent a wide range of unique, tangible and intangible objects. It ranges from collectible sports cards to virtual real estate and even digital sneakers, but also and above all art! The key features of NFT are non-interoperability, indivisibilityâ, indestructibility and verifiability.
One of the main advantages of owning a digital collector’s item over a physical object is that each NFT contains distinctive information. Such information makes it different from any other NFT and easily verifiable. This makes the creation and circulation of false collector’s items unnecessary because each object can be traced back to the original issuer.
Read also -> Discovering meme tokens with Oliver Camponovo


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Set to open in June, the store will feature 500 different wines.
Bridgewater Wines is set to open in late June in Leland's Ocean Gate Plaza.
The 1,500-square-foot space will host a tasting bar with 24 wines by the glass, eight beers on tap, a small-plates menu with cheese boards, cured meats, bread and olive oil and more.
Wine tastings and events will be held on a weekly basis and the store will regularly feature more than 500 wines for sale from around the world, according to a news release.
The wines will be set at different price points and will be ones, "not typically found in supermarkets," the release states.
Owners Doug and Susan Zucker will bring 30 years of experience in food and wine to the North Brunswick County shop. The couple recently moved from New York where Doug worked for decades at the wine and food store, Stew Leonard's Wines. Susan was a culinary professor.
The grand opening will be celebrated with a series of wine tastings and a large event with multiple distributors showcasing 50 or more wines. The store will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, visit www.bridgewaterwines.com.
Reporter Ashley Morris can be reached at 910-343-2096 or Ashley.Morris@StarNewsOnline.com.


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Published 30 September 2020
Interest in veganism has hit an all-time high in 2020, according to a report compiled by food-centric media outlet Chef’s Pencil. Using Google Trends data, the report analyzed the popularity of vegan search terms around the world in a variety of languages. “Data from Google Trends show that the popularity of veganism is at an all-time high, surpassing the prior all-time high registered in 2019,” the report states. “To put things into perspective, veganism is now twice as popular as it was just five years ago, and it doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. Veganism is stronger than ever, as you can see by the number of countries whose cuisine traditionally is greatly meat- and dairy-based seeing a big rise in veganism.”
Chef’s Pencil also used Google data to determine the top 15 countries and top 15 cities where veganism is most popular in 2020. The United Kingdom, Australia, and Israel hold the top three spots with the United States coming in near the bottom at 12th place. As for cities, UK’s Bristol overtook Portland, OR as the top city, with Edinburgh coming in third place just above London.
Other data supports Chef’s Pencil report that interest in veganism is growing worldwide in 2020, particularly in light of COVID-19. In May, a report—compiled by trade group Plant Based Foods Association and market research company SPINS—found sales of plant-based foods in the US increased by 90 percent during the height of pandemic-buying in mid-March when compared to last year’s sales during that time period, with sales of plant-based meat spiking by 148 percent. Similarly, in a July report, online resource HappyCow found that more vegan restaurants opened than closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Original Article > by Anna Starostinetskaya – VegNews
The farm now uses biocyclic vegan agriculture and no longer relies on the use of animal manure or other animal products.
Actor Paul Wesley—best known for his work in ‘The Vampire Diaries’—just signed the Plant Based Treaty to bring awareness to the environmental damage caused by animal agriculture and is calling upon his fans to go vegan to do their part.
Streets has launched a new plant-based version of its iconic Golden Gaytime to meet the demands of this growing consumer segment.
We've selected 11 of the best vegan documentaries that have the power to lift the blindfold of ignorance when it comes to the cruelty inflicted on animals, our health and the environment.
Put an end to dead animals in your art, and learn more about vegan art supplies.
The Environmental Media Association will honor mother-daughter duo Maggie Baird and Billie Eilish for their vegan advocacy as it applies to mitigating the climate crisis.


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No matter how fancy mobile gadgets get, they're useless when their batteries run out. With the push toward cloud computing and the always-on wireless culture gaining momentum every day, laptop, tablet and smart phone batteries are being asked to do more despite no real breakthroughs in battery technology hitting the market.
Consider: Twitter users send 200 million tweets daily, up from 65 million just a year ago. Meanwhile, Google is banking on the success of several new mobile apps to help its Google+ social network effort dethrone Facebook.
All of these services are draining enough to make any mobile device want to take a nap, which isn't such a bad idea, according to one Duke University researcher. Justin Manweiler, a computer science graduate student at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, has developed software he calls SleepWell, which is designed to double the battery life of Internet-connected devices increasingly called on to upload and download music, images and video via WiFi.
Mobile devices today waste a lot of energy searching for a WiFi signal and then staying connected while overtaxed wireless networks ferry data to and from them. SleepWell allows a mobile device to slip into power-saving mode while it is waiting its turn to connect. This is no small matter, particularly when scores of caffeine-craving technophiles gather at the local Starbucks to take advantage of the free wireless access. Manweiler likens the competition for WiFi to big-city traffic. When workers leave their offices en masse at the end of the day, they clog up the roads and rail lines. If these workers staggered the times they left, the transit systems would be less crowded, and it would take less time to get home. Similarly, if mobile devices took their turn accessing WiFi access points, data would move faster and these devices would use less energy.
SleepWell is installed on the devices that create a WiFi network infrastructure, including WiFi routers and access points. As such, it is designed so that any mobile device—whether it uses Apple OS X, Google Android, Windows or some other platform—can take advantage of it.
The SleepWell software differs from the "sleep" mode already available in many devices. An operating system's version of sleep is designed to work over long time scales—minutes, hours or days. "SleepWell is enabling short 'sleep' periods multiple times per second," says Manweiler, who works under the direction of Romit Roy Choudhury, a Pratt School assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. "These sleep periods are so short, the user remains unaware and unaffected."
During testing, Manweiler found that SleepWell could double the battery life of mobile phones. "We ran lots of live experiments using real off-the-shelf smart phones, mostly Google Android phones," he says. "We tested with a variety of use cases, including the user watching a movie trailer on YouTube, playing music on Pandora and Last.FM Internet radio, and downloading a large file from the Web."
The extent to which battery life would be prolonged of course varies depending on the situation. Still, Manweiler hopes the brief naps that SleepWell affords mobile devices will add up to significant energy conservation when WiFi networks are in high demand.
Image courtesy of Martin McCarthy, via iStockPhoto.com


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Kartik Aaryan becomes the brand ambassador for Manforce Condoms
The company has also launched a campaign ‘Apne Partner Se Puchho’ on the importance of consent with Aaryan
Kartik Aaryan has become associated with Manforce condoms, primarily because the ad that he has shot is about the importance of consent in sexual intercourse.
According to a source close to Kartin, “Even in today’s day and age, our Bollywood A-listers are shy of endorsing condoms. Ironically not the ladies, Bipasha Basu, Sunny Leone, Pooja Bedi and Sobhita Dhulipala have endorsed condoms. The only male A-lister in a condom ad before Kartik is Ranveer Singh.”
Kartik Aryan explained why doing a condom ad seemed the right thing to do. "I am glad to associate with Manforce Condoms, a brand that shares my vision of promoting consent and safe sexual practices. It is crucial to create awareness and initiate conversations about the importance of consent in today's society. I am excited to lend my voice to this cause and contribute towards a positive change. Together with Manforce Condoms, we aim to empower individuals to make informed choices and embrace safer sex practices for a healthier future."


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OnePlus One India Launch Nears, New Job Listing SuggestsBy cheatmaster 06:14 Wed, 21 Jul 2021 Comments
Last month we found out that OnePlus had plans to enter the increasingly crowded Indian smartphone market - though not much more than that transpired back then. The Chinese company assumed it received a lot of interest from India, and that it was working towards having the ability to release the One over there.
And now OnePlus has a recent job listing on its official website: General Manager, India. They're looking for someone to basically set up and run things there, which means that they may already have a timeline for launching in India.
At the moment though it's unclear which of the company's two different sales models will be employed in the subcontinent. In its home country of China, the OnePlus One is available a lot more readily than anywhere else, where you need an invite to buy one.
Recently, Xiaomi entered India with its flash sale model, though becautilize it failed to grasp the demand it would face it managed to frustrate a lot of would-be customers. So it might be better for OnePlus to apply its Chinese sales model in India, and acquire rid of the invites.
Source | Via
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Edinburgh Woollen Mill files 18 month report
Edinburgh Woollen Mill has posted a pre-tax profit of £81.2 million for the 18 months to August 25th 2018. Revenues had reached £935.8 million as compared with the £592.1 million recorded for 12 months, in its previous filing.
During the 18 month period the business had acquired Austin Reed, Berwin, and the Calvetron brands comprising Dash, Eastex, Jacques Vert and Windsmoor. It had also invested in the turnaround of Jaeger, another of its acquisitions.
"In the face of a challenging retail environment, our commitment to the physical high street and relentless focus on our customers' wants and needs has enabled us to, again, stand out from the crowd," commented WM commercial officer Steve Simpson."We have also continued to focus on product and build quality, as consumers' buying decisions are increasingly made on the basis of long-term value rather than impulse."


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In business, legitimacy is of great importance. However, some companies always participate in fraudulent activities. All in all, the world of investment is quite dynamic, and multiple investors around Wall Street have decided to come together and address the various dynamics that have befallen the short selling industry. Well, the investors came together during a conference, and they were addressed by various renowned investors among them being Sahm Adrangi, the founder of Kerrisdale Capital.
Of all things, isn’t it weird that matcha has its own emoji? 🍵
— Sahm Adrangi (@SahmAdrangi) November 9, 2017
Adrangi is a renowned investor since he was able to turn Kerrisdale Capital from a $1 million business start-up to a company that is handling more than $150 million in terms of assets. Far from being an investor, Sahm Adrangi is well known for exposing companies that engage in fraudulent activities. For the record, he has been able to expose various Chinese companies among many more. As a man who always champions for legitimate practices when it comes to business, Adrangi aimed at shedding the limelight on Ad fraud opportunities.
Well, Ad fraud opportunities are quite enticing to investors. Nevertheless, Sahm Adrangi decided to engage the investors by explaining more about fraud and various short-lived investment opportunities. Although Ad fraud is a practice that companies should work hard to defeat, this type of fraud has its various advantages since investors can work their way into making the company’s stock has a significant value that will favor them. Nevertheless, such tactics are only suitable for short-term investments. That is why Adrangi insisted on the importance of fighting fraud in every way possible since the bigger picture is what matters most when it comes to the world of investment.
Sahm Adrangi was able to address the crowd that was present. Additionally, he was also obliged to listen to what David Einhorn had to say during the short selling conference. David Einhorn currently serves as the president of Greenlight Capital, a company that he founded in 1996. As a man who has significant expertise and experience when it comes to the world of investment, his speech would be of a great significance.
Sahm Adrangi’s speech shed light on the importance of fighting fraud through all means possible. For instance, Ad fraud leads to the stock of various companies being over-valued. Such malpractices are not suitable for business, but by fighting fraud, legitimacy will always have its way.


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We will never know exactly what tomorrow will hold. But we can guess!
And one way to understand what types of wearable technology will present itself in the future is to reach out to as many trailblazers in the industry as possible and get them to speak about what they do. Which is what the Wearable Tech LA event in Pasadena, just off the outskirts of the Los Angeles, did on July 17, 2014.
It was organized by several influential members in the local tech scene, and this conference gathered up-and-coming pioneers in the wearable tech space to discuss what they’ve learned along the way, as well as to predict what the future might be.
For some, it was all about gadgets like glasses, watches, shoes, and wristbands that interested them the most; like this technology called Ring that attracted a lot of attention as Takuro Yoshida demoed it in-between panel talks going on inside. Optometry-related glassware showed up too. For example, Erick Miller – Founder & CEO of Epiphany Eyewear presented a video of their aesthetically pleasing smart glasses being used by Macklemore as he performed the big-hit single Thrift Shop in front of thousands of adoring fans.
Augmented reality was present at this event as well. Kayvan Mirza, CEO of Optinvent, stated in a personal interview with us that “now we have devices that have the computing power and the transparent see-through screen that can allow us to do true augmented reality.” The hardware is here, which means that products like these interconnected smart glasses can and will be made.
While smart accessories were being tried on, other people hovered around the peripherals looking for emerging trends. This included exploring the realms of wearable entertainment. Companies like this biometric platform that blends together healthcare and fun by using a smartphone app to detect heart-rate and play music based on the internal rhythms of the user. David Plans, Co-Founder and VP Products Science Biobeats, demoed their product out on stage which was quite an amusing experience watching as the music transitioned depending on how fast and fluid he was dancing.
Ed Tang, Head of Global Marketing at Avegant, showed off his company’s patented headphone technology that can be flipped down to cover the face of the user. This in turn allows their integrated optics system that is embedded inside to transmit light directly into the wearer’s eyes which allows the brain to see the visual images being displayed.
Even further, an EEG sensing headband called Muse showed that the future contains devices that sits atop the user’s head to detect brain activity, and possibly emotions. Ariel Garten, co-founder of InteraXon, creators of Muse, had participants try on the amazing devices and meditate to the sound of a quiet beach. If the user began to think too much, the sound would erupt into a stormy wind, reminding the person to relax and drift back to the peaceful waters of a calm and tranquil mind. They even have an open SDK that will allow for developers to use the sensors to create projects that can be controlled with the brain.
The entire schedule was jam packed with exciting panels ranging from sports and wearables to the future of footwear to everything ingestible. Health platforms like this smartphone Breathalyzer were talked about throughout the day.
And some, discussed implantable sensors that could be used to detect heartbeat rhythms, hormone imbalances, or even devices capable of translating visible color spectrums into sounds vibrations sending them directly to the brain. Neil Harbisson, Co-Founder of the Cyborg Foundation seen in the picture below, for example, has an antenna attached to his head that senses color. He says that it makes him feel closer to nature, like insects who also have external sensing features, or dolphins that use sounds to locate nearby objects.
But that’s not all. Topics of wearable tech for animals appeared within the panels of discussion. For instance, one guy by the name of Oliver Starr walked up on stage to give a presentation about one of his projects that involved strapping GoPro cameras to wolves in order to gain a better perspective of these wildly fascinating creatures.
He even brought with him two of his close friends. One was named Bixby who was a confidently, large black and white husky looking animal. His other companion was a quietly beautiful wolf who Oliver called Aqutaq. Bixby led the way allowing the shy wolf to creep onto the scene, cautiously making its way in front of more people than she has ever seen.
Defense mechanisms like this wearable protection armband also made its way into the event. The inventor of ArmStar, David Brown, demoed his latest iteration of their hands-free, less than lethal bodyguard device that can be used for self-defense. It contains a HD video camera, a green laser pointer, and a stunner that sets off an electricity arc with a pressure sensor on the hand. This all potentially could be utilized by police to communicate with backup and collect evidence at an emerging crime scene.
On the consumer side though, David told us that people of the future “will have a civilian model of something like this.” Which is good news to people who are scared of dark areas. When they put this device on, they become essentially a warrior of self-defense capable of fending off wild animals or mugging attackers. A simple flick of a finger, and a taser gun will frighten away any oncoming threat or possible disturbance.
Developers were at the conference as well. Winners from a recent design hackathon, presented their brand new wearables. Created at the Extreme Wearables Designathon a few weeks before, a project called Alia aims to help people unplug from their devices by keeping them subtle connected to their most trusted friend via touch.
CompassH20, another designathon winner, showcased their ephemeral wayfinding device. Glenn Zucman, one of the members involved, says that it “is an invitation to wander, to meander, to loiter, to be a 21st century flâneur.”
And a third team, presented a wearble wristband called Emoti that can be used to help parents and care-takers see how an Autistic kid is reacting to a certain situation. It lights up different colors depending on the mood of the child allowing the other people in the room to see how the person truly feels.
Amazingly, each of the three teams had at least one member of a local hackerspace called Crashspace showing that there is extreme potential coming out these co-working environments.
With so much innovation floating through this one conference on one day, it is clear that the future is full of wonderous wearable devices that will hopefully better our lives as a whole. And as Oliver Starr said during his panel presentation, “the world is waking up to wearable tech. And it is going to make some of [the people here] fantastically wealthy.” But as he states later on, it is important to “pay that forward by helping evolve tech that helps us better understand the natural world, that respects the creatures whose lives we interfere with to assuage our big brain curiosity.”
And to us here at HackerTrips, we feel that this is what the future of wearable tech is all about. These devices shown during events like this have so much possibility to change the world. But it is imperative to check out what others are doing in this emerging space. Otherwise, a dangerous idea might slip by causing the future to descend into a horrible scene of madness and wasted potential.
But so far, it doesn’t look like that will happen. Instead, the future of our wearable tech existence is filled with multitudes of useful sensors intertwingling the entire world, and even universe, together in such a way that will benefit everything from simple creatures within nature to astronaut explorers in space.
[Thanks to Wearable Tech LA for helping to spark the movement toward this beautifully interconnected future]
For more information about Wearable Tech LA, be sure to visit their website posted at the top.
Article written by @industrychanger


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The first business incubation centre dedicated to British companies seeking to establish a physical presence in Malaysia last Friday on the 6th January 2017.
UK Minister of State for Trade & Investment, The Rt Hon Greg Hands MP was here to officiate the inauguration of the British Business Centre in Malaysia (BBCiM), where a ceremony and reception was held to welcome government officials, invited guests and members of the press.
Also present at the launch were H.E. Victoria Treadell, British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Tony Collingridge OBE, Head of The Department for International Trade (DIT) and Andrew Sill, Head of Commercial Banking HSBC Malaysia and Chairman of the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC).
The BBCiM is a newly developed facility managed by the BMCC which offers incubation services and 24 hours secure access to co-working space for British companies seeking to launch physical operations in Malaysia. The business centre has fully furnished private offices, open desk units rented out on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis. Virtual office services are also available for UK companies who require a registered address in Malaysia.
The BBCiM is located on the same floor as the BMCC Executive Office at Wisma Selangor Dredging along Jalan Ampang, strategically across from the world famous Petronas Twin Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
Speaking at the launch, The Rt Hon Greg Hands MP commended the BMCC’s initiative in setting up the BBCiM to support the UK’s growing business footprint in Malaysia. He said, “The UK has always seen Malaysia as an important partner. The top 24 British companies in Malaysia alone have already invested around RM90 billion in Malaysia to date and created around 80,000 jobs here. British companies continue to show interest in doing business with Malaysia. The BMCC alone has assisted over 600 British companies in 2016, a 20 percent increase from the corresponding period in 2015.”
The BBCiM is now open for business and tenants of the business centre will be granted membership privileges of the BMCC business community with unique access to Chamber business support services, preferential introductions and networking opportunities.


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Scientists to develop renewable chemicals for products of the future
Average read time: 3 minutes
Unilever has announced the launch of a research project with the University of Liverpool to develop the next generation of renewable chemicals from biomass to use in the manufacture of its home and beauty & personal care ranges.
Fossil fuel sources currently provide the basis for the majority of chemicals used by industry yet decreasing supplies and environmental considerations mean there is a growing requirement for renewable and sustainable sources for raw materials.
The three-year project will involve developing renewable chemicals from the surplus sugars, fats, oils and carbohydrates produced via commodity by-products and forestry wastes, creating a centre of excellence in the identification of sustainably sourced ingredients that it is hoped will end up in the production of some of the world’s most familiar brands.
The search for the high-performance sustainable materials will be located at the University of Liverpool. Rapid high-throughput research methods will be used to advance the development of the renewable chemicals.
Speaking at the launch of the partnership agreement which is part-funded by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Paul Jenkins, Unilever Research Director said developing sustainably sourced and future-proof materials was in-line with targets under the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.
“This study has the potential to revolutionise the way we manufacture household products and further reduce the environmental impact of our products. The research could eventually result in a range of new alternatives for core ingredients like surfactants and polymers which go into many of our home and beauty & personal care products.
“It is the latest example of Unilever partnering with a leading academic institution to develop expertise to come up with practical solutions to long-term challenges. It also has potential to enable us to continue to enhance our products while also making them kinder on the environment,” said Paul Jenkins.
Unilever and the University of Liverpool will jointly operate the new unit, which allied to the existing strategic partnership between the two organisations, will help provide a platform to create a world-class scientific network within the North West.
Dr Jose A. Lopez-Sanchez, a lecturer in Sustainable Chemistry and Catalysis at the University of Liverpool who is leading the project, said: “This innovative project brings together academia and industry experts from the fields of materials chemistry, bio refineries, catalysis and chemical synthesis to address some of the challenges of converting biomass materials into new high-value chemical products.
The research will incorporate non-food grade feedstocks including materials such as sugar beet residue. AB Sugar, one of the world’s leading sugar businesses is a key project partner and will provide sugar beet residue from its refining process - a material with strong potential to yield new compounds.
Notes for the editor
About AB Sugar
AB Sugar is an advanced and sustainable manufacturer and is one of the world’s leading sugar businesses, supplying an ever increasing range of both sugar and non-sugar products, employing more than 42,000 employees, operating in 10 countries and producing around 5 million tonnes of sugar annually.
AB Sugar has moved far beyond sugar by expanding the range of co-products we produce, including animal feed, soil conditioning and landscaping products, electricity and even tomatoes. The Group is also involved in the developing bioethanol industry and in seed coating and enhancement technology. AB Sugar is a wholly owned subsidiary of international food ingredients and retail group, Associated British Foods plc (ABF).