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A federal judge has thrown out Indiana’s ban on smokable hemp, calling it unconstitutional for states to ban one type of hemp because they can’t easily distinguish it from marijuana.
The judge sided with the Midwest Hemp Council and seven Indiana hemp wholesalers that sued over Indiana’s July law banning smokable hemp products.
The hemp manufacturers argued that because the 2018 Farm Bill authorized all forms of hemp, states can’t keep one form of hemp illegal.
Smokable hemp flower is one of the most in-demand hemp products in the industry. But law enforcement officials in several states have complained that smokable hemp looks and smells too much like marijuana to adequately enforce.
Law enforcement’s confusion over hemp versus marijuana doesn’t mean states can consider some forms of hemp a controlled substance, wrote U.S. District Judge Sarah Evan Barker.
“The fact that local law enforcement may need to adjust tactics and training in response to changes in federal law is not a sufficient basis for enacting unconstitutional legislation,” she wrote.
She granted an immediate injunction blocking the law, saying the companies shouldn’t have to wait to find out how much a smokable-hemp ban would cost them and then sue later.
“The likely unconstitutional portions of the statute cannot be easily measured or reliably calculated, given the novelty of the hemp industry in Indiana and the dearth of historical sales data to use as a baseline for calculating lost revenues,” Barker wrote.
Banned in other states
In addition to Indiana, Louisiana and Texas also passed laws this year banning smokable hemp or its production. Tennessee has prohibited smokable hemp sales to minors.
In North Carolina, a hotbed of smokable hemp production, lawmakers are considering a similar ban starting in 2020.
The Indiana decision does not affect smokable hemp bans in other states.
The hemp companies’ lawyer, Paul Vink, wrote in his challenge that states go too far when they try to limit the very definition of the hemp plant.
“Congress intended to preclude a state from adopting a more restrictive definition of hemp,” Vink said.
Barker agreed with the hemp companies’ argument that banning smokable hemp usurps Congress’ intent to allow interstate commerce for hemp. That’s because any smokable hemp passing through Indiana would also be illegal.
“A driver traveling along I-74 from Ohio to Illinois who passes through Indiana with smokable hemp in the vehicle, including hemp bud or hemp flower, would be in ‘possession’ of smokable hemp and thus subject to arrest and criminal penalties,” she wrote.
Finally, the judge noted that Indiana has already started adapting to the new definition of marijuana by “earmarking additional funding … to purchase the proper THC testing equipment.”
The hemp wholesale companies that sued Indiana were: The CBD Store of Fort Wayne; El Anar; Indiana CBD Wellness; C.Y. Wholesale; Indy E-Cigs; 5 Star Medicinal Products; and DREEM Nutrition.
Kristen Nichols can be reached at email@example.com


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At one of the largest trade shows in the world, the Consumer Electronics Show or CES 2017, attendees have the opportunity to experience a multi-function contactless smart card solution that evokes the popular ‘Smart City’ concept. With more than 170,000 attendees crisscrossing Las Vegas venues, it is a project larger than many actual smart city prototypes.
NXP Semiconductors is working with the show’s host, the Consumer Technology Association, to deploy the contactless attendee badges featuring MIFARE DESFire EV2 contactless chips. The cards enable traditional show access and tracking, but they also open up a city full of additional services.
Using the NXP AppXplorer mobile app, attendees can download monorail tickets to their conference badge to take advantage of discounted ticketless travel. They can also reserve bicycles from the bikeshare network operated by NextBike.
In the NXP booth, a series of other applications are showcased letting attendees from “80% of the world’s countries” a glimpse at the power of ID technology.
“The badge demonstrates some of the many ways people conduct daily activities in smart cities around the world,” says Rafael Sotomayor, SVP and GM of security and connectivity at NXP. “Furthermore, NXP gives an outlook on future services being made available on event tickets – for example access to hotel rooms.”

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- Security experts at Swiss cybersecurity firm Modzero discovered a keylogger in an audio driver package on HP business and enterprise laptops, according to a security advisory. The keylogger was discovered by researchers on April 28 and publicly disclosed Thursday.
- A keylogger records all of a computer user's keystrokes, including things like passwords, and saves the information to a local file. Malicious software installed on the computer, or a person with physical access to the computer, can then copy the log file and gain access to historical keystroke data, according to a Modzero blog.
- HP offered a patch for the impacted models last week, ZDNet reports. Mike Nash, a vice president of the consumer PC and solutions, printing and personal systems group at Hewlett-Packard Company, said the company mistakenly included the keylogger feature in the driver’s production code. HP never intended to include the feature in end-user devices.
Even though the keylogger was accidently included, it still presents a significant risk to users. It’s another example of how tech companies can make some really bad moves when they aren’t dedicating enough resources to security and quality control.
Earlier this month, IBM sent out a flash alert to customers after the company identified a "malicious file" distributed on USB flash drives it sent customers as part of an initialization tool for IBM Storwize V3500, V3700 and V5000 Gen 1 systems. It’s unclear how the malicious file made its way onto the USBs.
In an era of heightened security, the last thing companies need is to discover vendors inadvertently included potentially-damaging software. With most companies turning to third-parties for services and products, vendors will have to remain diligent about security. Customers, on the other hand, will have to ensure they can trust their technology providers.


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Mobile commerce made global Cyber Weekend 'breakthrough' - report
In the excitement about the fact that Black Friday weekend didn’t turn out to be ‘Bleak Friday’ as some had predicted, it's easy to overlook exactly how consumers shopped, rather than just how much they spent. But a new report says that the four-day period was all about the strength of mobile commerce.
Nosto’s Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) analysis indicates that 2022 saw a “breakthrough” in m-commerce for shoppers with nearly-two thirds of sales (63%) now on mobile devices, up 10% from 2021. “Consumers are now not just using smartphones to research but are actively purchasing through them,” it said.
And they're clearly doing that in big numbers, as the combination of better phone technology, larger screen sizes and retailers making their mobile sites and apps as user-friendly as possible, all help the growth of m-tail.
The analysis is based on over 107 million visits across 1,269 e-stores over the BFCM 2022 weekend in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.
Nosto said that overall conversion was down a few percent, but that’s perhaps unsurprising given the shift to mobile. Some 73% of traffic, 63% of sales volumes, and 68% of orders were taken on mobile. However, shoppers are still more likely to convert on desktop than mobile (4.5% v 3.6%) and spend more, with a desktop order value of $126 versus $100 on mobile.
That issue aside, Nosto also said that average order values (AOV) in the fashion sector increased by 9.8% from 2021, with sales growing by 8.2% and traffic by 9.3%.
Shoppers retained their keen eye for a bargain and on average, consumers bought products at a 40% discount, with 20% the minimum accepted discount level for most shoppers. Some 83% of all online sales during BFCM involved discounts.
The report added that strongest vertical over BFCM was health & beauty which saw large year-on-year increases in traffic (13.5%), and sales (22.6%), while AOV was up 1.2%. Fashion saw the biggest increase in AOV at almost 10%, as mentioned above, “demonstrating that people are still buying clothing, despite current economic conditions”.
In terms of sales volumes, Black Friday itself “still reigns supreme”. It saw year-on-year increases in traffic (6.3%) ,sales (8.4%), and AOV (4.9%), and made up 33% of total sales over the four-day period. Meanwhile, Cyber Monday saw the biggest increases in traffic and sales, but it still doesn't manage to top Black Friday in terms of overall sales volumes. However, traffic increased by 7.5%, sales by 11.7%, and AOV by 7.6% on that day.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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A Kickstarter for a board game adaptation of Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog had looked to be going very well earlier this week, going 4x past its stretch goal in just a matter of days. Slight problem though: the game never had the Dr. Horrible license.
In a bizarre update on the game’s Kickstarter page the CEO of Lucky Troll Games, Nicholas Engel, says “it was never my intent to hurt or deceive anyone”, before admitting that “I now know we should have explicitly and clearly stated that this product is currently unlicensed, and more importantly not gone into the Kickstarter in the current stages of licensing. As a new and overly enthusiastic board game creator I ask for your understanding and forgiveness.”
This is wild. It’s one thing to use a license when designing a board game in private—people do it all the time, just for fun—but to take it to Kickstarter as a commercial product without official blessing is nuts.
“Attempts have been made and are being made to contact both the company who currently holds the rights to the IP, and Joss himself”, Engel writes. “They have a copy of the prototype and they have been informed of everything we have done.”
In addition to his inexperience, Engel also admits that “rushing to meet the [show’s] 10 year anniversary should not have been as important as securing the IP.”
The project has now been cancelled, and all 868 backers have been refunded their money. Amazingly, Engel is still upbeat about the whole thing, and is optimistic that the project can bounce back:
For those of you that have played the game, or are still willing and eager to play the game. I’m very sorry that you will have to wait a bit longer. We will go back to the drawing board and do this right. I can’t say how sorry I am for the miscommunication and more importantly for the distrust this brings, but please know that this is sincere and I’ve learned a lot from this.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, a project born out of the big Hollywood writer’s guild strike, premiered in 2008. The show starred Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. As of July 2018, it does not have a licensed board game adaptation.


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As Nintendo has its Wii, Kinect is there for Xbox360 and the Move for the PS3. Only the Personal Computer was left without the latest in gaming interfaces. Now your PC can also boast a motion controlled interface, called Wavi Xtion, to be launched next year.
PrimeSense, an Israel-based company which licensed core Kinect technology to Microsoft, announced that it is teaming up with PC and peripheral maker Asus to create a motion interface device for the PC. The gear will be rolled out at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The interface will not only be used for gaming but for browsing and accessing content on the PC as well. There will also be APIs for third-party developers and a Wavi Xtion store where developers can sell motion-controlled apps
PrimeSense's motion controller gets the Xtion part of its name from its own 3D capture technology called the Xtion, which is mated to a transmitter/receiver dubbed as WAVI (Wireless Audio & Video Interaction system ).
The system will launch in the second quarter, but the companies haven't released prices yet. It will have to compete with the $150 for Microsoft's Kinect.
Already, some enterprising hackers have adapted the Kinect for use on a PC, and created a number of variations on the interface. But none of that technology is officially licensed by or endorsed by Microsoft.


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Shares of Ducon Infratechnologieswere locked at 20 percent upper circuit at Rs 22.80 on Wednesday following new orders for its US subsidiary.
There were pending buy orders of 61,853 shares, with no sellers available on the BSE at 11:47 hours IST.
The company said its US subsidiary, Ducon Combustion Equipment Inc has received new orders of Rs 52 crore for two 50 MW packaged cogeneration plants from a major South Korean EPC company during the month of June 2018.
These orders will be delivered in the next two months, it added.
The US Subsidiary of the company was set up in the last December to supply packaged boilers, cogeneration plants and heat recovery systems to clients worldwide.
In the previous trading session, the share closed down 3.31 percent or Rs 0.65 at Rs 19.00.
The share touched its 52-week high Rs 58.00 and 52-week low Rs 18.55 on 15 January, 2018 and 03 July, 2018, respectively.
Currently, it is trading 60.69 percent below its 52-week high and 22.91 percent above its 52-week low.
At 11:38 hrs the stock was quoting at Rs 22.80, up Rs 3.80, or 20.00 percent.
First Published on Jul 4, 2018 11:54 am


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Cleaning and Maintenance Franchise Industry News & Announcements
Franchising.com brings you the latest in Cleaning and Maintenance franchising news from around the web. As one of the most trusted news sources for the Cleaning and Maintenance franchise industry, Franchising.com streams hundreds of the latest news directly to your desktop.
The North Central P-16 Council honored Servpro Industries, Inc., as the Sumner County BEST (Businesses Empowering Students and Teachers) Award winner at its council meeting held October 14, 2016.
PuroClean, a leading North American property restoration company with more than 230 franchisees throughout the United States and Canada, will host events on Nov. 1 in Seattle.
National Property Inspections, Inc., parent company of National Property Inspections in the United States and Global Property Inspections in Canada, is pleased to congratulate NPI franchise owner Joe Rudolph (Marblehead, OH.)
Dryer Vent Wizard (DVW) has launched its fifth annual fundraising drive to benefit the Children's Burn Foundation (CBF) during National Fire Prevention Month held each October.
Thousands of homeowners are feeling the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, while insurance companies and local contractors are overwhelmed with claims. T
The disaster restoration experts at ServiceMaster Restore share important resources and tips for home and business owners to keep in mind immediately following the storm.
College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving - which has been featured on Blue Collar Millionaire, Shark Tank and other primetime shows - has expanded its presence to North Denver.
College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving has expanded its presence to San Francisco. The company provides local moving, junk removal, donation pickups and more.
MaidPro has been named a 2016 Top Low-Cost Franchise by Franchise Business Review.
s Hurricane Matthew continues to gain momentum moving northwest through the Caribbean, SERVPRO® urges residents in the storm’s path to remember the importance of disaster preparedness.
A wave of momentum is propelling Office Pride’s growth.
SPONSORED Open a Marco's Pizza® Franchise
Marco's is one of the top take out and delivery pizza franchises. We're highly rated and rapidly growing and we are looking for passionate entrepreneurs who want to make pizza they'd be proud to serve their own families.
Dental Fix RX, a national mobile dental equipment repair company, has officially signed a second franchise agreement with Fai Leung, a Dayton, Ohio-based entrepreneur.
Junk King, the nation’s leading junk removal franchise, announced today that the brand has opened its 75th location.
Now, the company’s distinctions are being magnified with today’s announcement that Office Pride has opened a new office serving Northern Virginia – Office Pride of Dale City.
Dental practices throughout the United States are gaining more certainty when it comes to the health of their dental equipment thanks to Dental Fix Rx.
PuroClean will host events on Oct. 18 in Philadelphia, where executives and a franchise owner will discuss the need for restoration services with ambitious entrepreneurs in the region.
ServiceMaster NCR (National Capital Restoration) has long been a trusted provider of disaster restoration and cleaning services for homes and businesses in the Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC area.
Lapels Dry Cleaning, an innovative, environmentally friendly dry cleaning company headquartered in Hanover, Massachusetts, will open a full-service, environmentally friendly dry cleaning plant at 3010 Old Taylor Road on October 8.
Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, one of the nation’s fastest growing carpet cleaning franchises with over 300 locations in the U.S. and Canada, has recently opened another green cleaning location in the greater Houston Metro Area.
Merry Maids, the largest home cleaning franchise network in the United States, announced its top-performing franchisees at its international convention held this month in New Orleans.
Dental Fix RX, a national mobile dental equipment repair company, has officially signed Trevor Obier, an Ocala, Florida-based entrepreneur, as its 261st franchise owner.
SPONSORED Open a FIT36 Franchise
Start a fitness business with one of the best, manager-run franchise models in the industry. FIT36® delivers a proven business model backed by a management team with nearly a century of franchising expertise. HIIT fitness is a booming segment in...
ServiceMaster Clean and ServiceMaster Restore announced their top-performing franchises at the joint international convention held earlier this month in New Orleans.
About one in 15 insured homes in Omaha has a property damage claim each year resulting from water or fire damage to the tune of $84.5 million in direct losses incurred within the Omaha metro market.
Dental Fix RX, a national mobile dental equipment repair company, has officially signed Marco Sollai, a Miami, Florida-based entrepreneur, as its 260th franchise owner.
Dental Fix Rx has launched its “Level Two” training program for existing franchisees interested in building their knowledge base and enhancing their skillset in various areas of business operations.
Lapels Dry Cleaning will open a full-service, environmentally friendly dry cleaning store at 201 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington, Mass., on October 1.
Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, the World’s Greenest Carpet Cleaner®, recently opened its fourth South Carolina location with plans to open more locations by the end of the year.
Window Genie announces the grand opening of its newest location in Charleston, SC on September 26th. Local Army Veteran David Brigman is the owner.
With the start of fall season, summer and its stormy tendencies may be winding down, but the experts at ServiceMaster Restoreare urging home and business owners not to let their guard down.
ZIPS Dry Cleaners, an aggressively expanding dry cleaning franchise known for its same-day, one-price business model, has officially signed leases for its next four stores.


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Summary: Buoyed by the increased importance placed on water quality following outbreaks of waterborne diseases, the Indian bottled water market is in the midst of a critical transition. With an influx of outside companies attempting to capitalize on the market, regulations will become more imperative. The role of government may dictate who survives the impending battle.
The Indian consumer never had so much choice. In a country where 20 percent of the population has no access to safe drinking water, the bottled water industry is booming like never before. The contrast couldn’t be more ironic and everyone seems to want a part of the action.
In 1990, a person drinking bottled water in India was an oddity. Only foreign tourists and recuperating patients could be seen drinking from a bottle. The thought that people would pay money for drinking water was questioned. Yet things have undergone a significant change in 10 years and the bottled water industry has become one of the fastest growing segments, attracting a host of big multinational corporations.
Increased cases of cholera and other waterborne diseases caused urban India to become seriously aware of water quality issues. Urbanization left water quality and availability declining, heightening need for clean water. Also, in the early ’90s, economic liberalization in India prompted a wave of consumerism and more foreign brands. These two factors created the basis for astounding market growth, jumping at a rate of over 100 percent per year initially. Today, the bottled water market has grown to around US$250 million.
While reliable figures are difficult to come by, the branded bottled water market is believed to be about US$160 million. The rest is taken up by a number of unorganized players spread all over the country. Bisleri is the undisputed market leader with a market share of about 45 percent. It has won the bottled water battle on the strength of its distribution muscle, so much that the Bisleri name is almost synonymous with bottled water in India. Bailey is second with a market share of about 15 percent. There are over 200 other regional and local players crowding this market. Still growing at over 80 percent per year, it’s full of opportunities.
Bisleri is owned by the Parle Group, and has developed and enhanced the market by educating people about water quality. The company is headed by Ramesh Chauhan, the previous owner of leading soft drink brands Thums Up and Limca. When Coca-Cola was sent packing in 1977 by the Indian government, which had ordered it to dilute its stake in an Indian unit and turn over its secret formula, Chauhan consolidated his business and made it the undisputed leader in the soft drink market. When Coke came back to India in the early ’90s, Chauhan sold his brands to them at a very attractive rate. His focus has then gradually shifted to the bottled water market, which he wants to rule similarly.
The promise of a big market has attracted all major multinationals in the business. Three have jumped into the fray in the last four months. The first to challenge Bisleri’s leadership was Pepsi’s Aquafina. It adopted the advertising positioning of “Purest part of Body,” and directly targeted the youth and fitness-conscious consumer. Next came Coke with the launch of its Kinley brand. Promoting its endorsement by the Federation of Family Physicians Association of India (FFPAI), the launch raised a few eyebrows about the ethics and legalities of the move. But Coke stuck to its guns and continued with the same advertising.
The world’s No. 1 water bottler, Nestle also entered with a series of brands. After launching its premium Perrier earlier in the year, it has now introduced San Pellegrino, which is primarily targeted to the institutional market (see below for definition). Nestle also has plans to bring its Pure Life brand to India soon. Danone is also in the market with its Evian brand that goes to the premium segments of the market. The Nestle and Danone brands are currently being imported and have no manufacturing base in India.
Segments of water
The market is divided into the retail and institutional segments. While multinationals like Nestle are focusing on the institutional segment including hotels, restaurants, clubs and premium eateries, others like Pepsi want to ride on the distribution network of their soft drink business. They’re targeting the retail trade for pushing their products to tourists and roadside drinking.
Product packaging and sizing has also been played upon. Pepsi tried to build a premium positioning by coming out with a 750 milliliter (ml) bottle at the rate of 10 rupees (Rs.)—US$1 = Rs. 45—to compete against Bisleri’s one liter bottle at the same rate. Bisleri tried to counteract with a 1.2 liter bottle at Rs. 12 to target the regular mineral water consumer who’s accompanied by a friend. To create newer consumer segments, they’ve also scaled down sizes to come up with a 300 ml cup (roughly the size of a 12-ounce beer can). This is targeted for large public gatherings like seminars and marriages.
All players also would like to get into the bulk market of 5- and 20-liter packs. Targeted at homes and offices, this is the fastest growing sub-segment. As consumers get more used to drinking bottled water on special occasions, they’re expected to increase their regular consumption. So the bulk packaging is expected to become 80 percent of the total market as compared to the current 20 percent.
A natural outcome of this boom was the entry of unscrupulous fly-by-night players in the market. A number of local players began selling plain tap water or filtered water as “mineral water.” With a number of consumers falling sick after drinking this “mineral water,” the credibility of the whole industry was at stake. In this backdrop, the Indian government stepped in to regulate the market.
The Health Ministry came out with new mineral water quality standards in line with international norms. Minimum standards for color, odor, taste, turbidity, total dissolved solids and microbial content have been established in line with international standards. All packaged water bottles need to carry an ISI certification from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), effective March 2001. The new notification also seeks to differentiate between “natural mineral water” and “packaged drinking water.”
The new standards ensure manufacturers that “natural mineral water” must maintain the purity of the source, surroundings of the plant and packaging material—to the highest standards of hygiene—so that the quality of the end product is assured. The standards are in alignment with the Codex standard on natural mineral water. However, certain additional parameters like magnesium, calcium, sodium, sulphide and some microbiological aspects are included, which are either not covered or only partially covered in the Codex standard.
The notification also regulates the labeling of these products and sets guidelines for health claims. This has created doubts on the viability of continuing Kinley’s current advertising and packaging. The government is clearly hoping the bottled water industry plays a more responsible role in ensuring the quality of its products. It wants to safeguard consumer interests and the industry. The move has been largely welcomed by all players in the industry, though they’re privately apprehensive of the repercussions.
This involvement of the government is the result of the failure of the industry to regulate itself and provide some kind of voluntary guidelines. This may be due to the unorganized nature of the industry, but the big players also need to take some responsibility for their lack of leadership. The question everyone’s asking is how will this impact this burgeoning market.
When the standards come into effect, there should be a shakeout in the industry. While the quality of implementation is clearly a question, it’s expected most small-time, unscrupulous players will be driven out of the market. There should be some consolidation and all the majors are hoping to take advantage of this.
Many smaller players are expected to sell off their operations and leave the market as things get hot. Markets were abuzz with rumors that Bisleri was holding talks with Nestle and Coke to sell its business. But nothing has come out of it so far. Also hoped is the new standards will make consumers more aware and conscious of what they’re drinking. But industry leaders might need to step in with more awareness campaigns.
The new standards should also lead to a lot of business for the water treatment systems industry. With bottled water companies getting more conscious of the quality of their product, a number of quality mineral water plants will be built and many existing plants will need servicing or updating. So it should be a boom time for a number of water treatment system manufacturers in India. Naturally, component suppliers aren’t complaining either. The reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and pump suppliers are particularly happy as most of the new bottled water plants are based on RO.
With all this interest in the bottled water industry and all the multinationals coming in, the water industry has suddenly become an attractive industry for new competition. Different companies are trying to occupy varied market positions from general retail, institutional and residential as they try to differentiate themselves and build brand loyalty.
Even as top marketing professionals rush in to understand and capture the bottled water industry, a new breed of chemists, engineers and systems designers is sure to be attracted to water purification technology. And that surely has to be good news for the industry.
This is one growing bubble that shows no sign of getting bottled!
About the author
H. Subramaniam is head of content at www.EverythingAboutWater.com, a leading comprehensive portal on water. It provides a wide range of information, products and services to both businesses and home users. He is also editor of a newly launched water magazine, EverythingAboutWater. Previously, he had marketing experience with a leading water treatment and pump company in India. He can be reached at +91 11 6800622, +91 11 6800923 (fax) or email: [email protected]


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Hall 9, NEC, Birmingham
With less than three months to go until the second ACR Show (which this year is sponsored by Daikin UK) bookings from exhibitors are flowing in. In addition to the exciting presence of Daikin UK, confirmed exhibitors include well-known companies such as Aspen, Du Pont, Bitzer, Climalife, AFR Refrigeration, A-Gas, Broughton, Charles Austen Pumps, Comptec, CPS Products, GEA Searle, Dean & Wood, Dupont, Harp International / Mexichem, Honeywell, Gram, JAVAC, Jumo, Lordan, Mastercool, Maxkold, National Refrigerants, Primalec, Teknic Refrigeration, UR Refrigeration Wholesale, Andrew Sykes Hire, Coldkit and more.
Seminars on the latest ground-breaking cooling technologies, and vital changes in the law affecting the industry, are among the hot topics to be covered in the ACR Show 2014 seminar programme.
Meet decision makers from a wide range of sectors who are keen to source suppliers, products and advice at the 2014 ACR Show. Don't miss out on the opportunity of exhibiting at this key event for the industry contact Karena Cooper on 01622 699150.
Register and attend the ACR Show sponsored by Daikin UK for a chance to win an iPAD 4! The winner will be selected at random and contacted by a member of the team by the end of February 2014.


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Internet giant and world dominator seeks lowly mortal automaker to further plans for supremacy in all spheres of existence.
Read This Article
On a bright note for the economy, auto loans have risen, while delinquencies have not.
The 2014 Ford Fiesta earns best-in-class fuel economy.
Thanks to a study by Bridgestone Americas, we have evidence to back up what everyone already knows; teens are distracted even while driving.


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Picture a startup founder.
Chances are you went straight for a Mark Zuckerberg-type: male, white, nerdy and, above all, young. Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004, three years after the collapse of the dotcom bubble, at the age of 20.
Twelve years later, the company he founded is worth $270bn, and the tech world is in the middle of a new boom. Valuations are going through the roof, and big money is flowing into every stage of the system: in 2015, almost $60bn of venture capital was invested in startups in the US alone.
As a result, it is easy to see the second dotcom boom as a rare volley in favour of intergenerational equality: huge sums of money flowing from older, richer, people into the pockets of hungry young entrepreneurs with ideas, talent and motivation but no access to capital.
In other words, the stronger the tech sector becomes, the more Mark Zuckerbergs there are, and the less millennials – 18- to 34-year-olds, also known as Generation Y – have to worry about their systematic economic disadvantage. Don’t worry about a financial system tilted against your interests: just invent Facebook.
If that does not sound too reassuring, it is with good reason. Technology will not save us. For every way in which the sector stands alone from the wider economy, there are two more in which it reinforces the same constraints.
Go back and think about that stereotypical founder again: chances are you noted the other attributes that come alongside youth. White, male and nerdy is not the best recipe for a broad spread of wealth among a generation, and yet it remains sadly accurate for a large proportion of the industry.
Y Combinator, a prestigious startup accelerator that provides seed money, advice and connections in exchange for 7% equity, revealed last year that 22% of the companies in its latest intake had a female co-founder. That’s the highest ever. The proportion of companies with a male co-founder, meanwhile, fluctuates between 98% and 100%. And for black and Hispanic co-founders, the situation was even worse: 8% and 5% respectively.
“There are definitely less girls in tech, and in science too,” says Vivian Chan, 31, the co-founder of scientific search engine Sparrho. “There’s only a few names that we can think of, globally, at the co-founder level. And being a female PhD science entrepreneur is a rarity.”
While the British startup scene, particularly in Cambridge and in London, where Chan lives, is quite international, she fears this may change as it becomes more difficult for people to get UK visas.
“Nerdy” does not sound like quite such a barrier. But in practice, it can very quickly become a signifier of other demographic hurdles – principally wealth. Bill Gates, for example, came from an upper-middle-class family and attended a private school where he was able to access a computer terminal on a time-share basis in 1968. Twenty-five years later, Mark Zuckerberg’s nascent interest in computing was boosted by his father, who taught him how to code on an Atari, and then a private tutor, hired when his dad hit the limits of his ability.
It is not that one cannot be nerdy and poor, but it is a lot easier to channel that nerdiness into the sort of avenues that will please investors a decade later if you have access to the right resources from an early age.
And often, of course, wealth has a more direct effect. When asked how they could afford shiny new offices in King’s Cross, central London, for their startup, given their app had not launched, two affable posh graduates replied it was thanks to funding from “private individuals”. It is not a stretch to suggest that that opportunity is not offered to everyone.
Tushar Agarwal, whose company Hubble offers a marketplace where startups can rent office space, says the biggest problem for poorer would-be entrepreneurs is simply staying solvent in their business’s early days. “In order to become a founder, you have to be comfortable with living life with zero pay for the first 12 to 18 months, then receiving below market wage for the next couple of years … so if you can’t afford to live that way, that’s a huge barrier.”
Worse still, without a pool of wealth to fall back on, Agarwal says, founders can be forced to take the first funding they’re offered, selling huge chunks of their company at a bad price just to stay fed and housed.
Accelerators such as Entrepreneur First, which supported Agarwal, can provide bursaries to technical founders to let them scrape by until seed investment comes in, but spaces are limited and even that funding runs out eventually.
But even for those founders who are lucky – and connected – enough to get funded, they are not quite striking a blow for their generation just by getting on the capital train. The reality of venture capital-backed entrepreneurship is long hours, low pay and no job security for a one in a million chance at striking it big. There is a reason why that world is dominated by young people, and it is not because they are naturally better at it: it is because that equation only sounds appealing when you have nothing to lose.
But while millennials, also known as Generation Y, may be up for the startup game, they are not the ones winning it. The majority of European startups with a valuation above $1bn were founded by someone over 35, according to research from tech investment bank GP Bullhound. Less than a quarter were founded by people below 30, and almost as many were founded by over-40s.
But is it blinkered to focus on funding and founders, on profit and loss? Entrepreneurism could do more for this generation than help a few become rich, after all. Seizing control of the means of production is a time-honoured step to changing the world, so could not a few young entrepreneurs in the right place at the right time have a beneficial effect – for generational squabbles, if not class ones?
Joe Mambwe, the founder of Terrestrial, which provides a toolkit for startups to expand internationally, argues that setting up a company very young allows a different set of problems to be tackled. “In the past, the barrier to starting a company would have been experience: you get a job, work that job for a long time, then start a new company, based on what you did in that job.
“Now, you have students coming out of university and building companies straightaway, and so in general you get companies that are solving the problems of that age.”
In theory, maybe. In practice, probably not. For every young entrepreneur tackling the problems of our age, be that anthropogenic climate change, geopolitical strife, or intergenerational conflict, there are plenty more focused on fluff.
There are young people working on solving the great problems of the generation, but they are not the ones getting funded. Instead, they get financed to produce Uber for barbers, Facebook for dogs and endless Bitcoin startups.
Modern tech entrepreneurship is less about restoring generational equilibrium and more about “solving all the problems of being 20 years old, with cash on hand” as George Parker put it in the New Yorker, or, as overheard by Aziz Shamin, an engineer at GitHub: “Tech culture is focused on solving one problem: What is my mother no longer doing for me?”


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Futures File: Beef bounces back
A look at futures prices on commodities that impact the Des Moines metro area and greater Iowa.
Cattle prices exploded this week, rebounding from a six-year low. Prices rose by more than 5.5 cents per pound, “locking limit up” at one point on Thursday, as the market moved the daily maximum of 3 cents per pound.
The market was especially active Friday after the market resumed trading as ranchers, meatpackers, and traders positioned themselves ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly Cattle on Feed Report, which was released after the market closed.
Cheap boneless beef is catching consumers’ eyes, and retailers are reporting that they are moving inventory at an increasing pace. This boosted demand gives credence to the adage that “low prices cure low prices.”
Despite this week’s jump, cattle prices are still abysmally low for producers, and wondrously cheap for shoppers, with live cattle trading Friday near $1.02 per pound.
Demand boosts prices for corn
Corn prices rose this week, despite the ongoing record-large harvest and large carry-over from last year's crop. The market gained as strong domestic demand and big buying from foreign countries have helped cut into supplies, giving hope that farmers can avoid the disastrously low prices seen back in August.
Since then, prices have risen, from $3.15 to Friday’s level of $3.53 per bushel.
As farmers near the end of the corn harvest, they now can rest a little easier, knowing that this year’s hard work is worth a bit more money.
Dollar strong, euro weak
The euro currency fell to its lowest level since February after the European Central Bank President stated that the bank would likely continue its massive monetary stimulus.
Similar to the tactics employed by our own Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank is trying to stimulate the European economy by driving interest rates lower, making borrowing less expensive. While this may help their economy, low interest rates also make the low-yielding euro less attractive to investors.
Meanwhile, the Fed is increasingly expected to raise interest rates again this year, which is boosting the value of the U.S. dollar. The greenback’s rise could eventually restrict our exports, as a higher dollar makes US products more expensive to foreign buyers, a trend that could hurt U.S. farmers looking to sell their grains and meat on the international market.
Opinions are solely the writers’. Walt and Alex Breitinger are commodity futures brokers with Paragon Investments in Silver Lake, Kan. They can be reached at 800-411-3888 or paragoninvestments.com. This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell any market.


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On the 1st February, the Molokini Marketing team set up a live Twitter board at the Worthing Assembly Hall on behalf of Worthing and Adur Chamber of Commerce to showcase the buzzing businesses at the Better Business Event 2018.
Attendees were invited to fill in Twitter cards at the Molokini stand (which was named ‘Stand of the Show’) and create their very own tweets to share from the Better Business Twitter page. What’s more, Molokini’s bright green sofa and quirky chalkboards provided the perfect selfie opportunity for guests to come along and promote their company. Not only did this prove to be a great way to spread the word for local businesses, but the event hashtag, #BetterBiz2018, ranked 2nd in the Worthing area.
Throughout the day, the Molokini team were lucky to meet an array of talented and enthusiastic entrepreneurs and business executives, not to mention Worthing’s very own town mayor, Cllr Alex Harman! Here’s a selection of visitors who made an appearance on the Molokini #SelfieSofa:
To end what had already been a magical day (literally, thanks to the magician Tony Charles) Molokini’s Digital Marketing Manager, Tiya, won a weekend hotel break in Brighton courtesy of Whitehead Ross! Molokini have thoroughly enjoyed this year’s vibrant event and look forward to returning in 2019.


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San Francisco Giants in-game reporter and Petaluma native Amy Gutierrez will be at Lucchesi's Deli in the Washington Square Shopping Center from noon to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10 to help raise funds for the Petaluma Educational Foundation and debut a special sandwich she has created — the "Amer the Gamer."
Some of the proceeds from the purchase of the Amer the Gamer sandwich will benefit PEF.
Coldstone Creamery is joining the effort by donating 15 percent of every ice cream purchase on Saturday to PEF.
Lucchesi's Deli is located at 301 South McDowell Blvd. For information, call 778-0116.


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To kick off National Breast Cancer Awareness Month last Sunday, the White House became the Pink House for a night, continuing a tradition begun in President George W. Bush’s second term. But where POTUS sleeps isn’t the only “home away from home” to underscore this important annual reminder of the importance of early detection of breast cancer.
Hotels throughout the United States—and elsewhere—are also thinking pink—and raising money for the cure. Here’s a partial list.
Raffaello Chicago on the city’s Magnificent Mile will donate $1 to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation for every photo tagged #roseforthecure by its guests.
All 10 Peninsula hotels around the globe, including The Peninsula Beverly Hills, are on board for the Peninsula en Rose afternoon tea, featuring French-inspired pastries created by each hotel’s pastry chef, paired with specialty cocktails.
San Francisco’s Hotel Vitale is earmarking 10 percent of proceeds for every Charmed Melon cocktail purchased in its Americano Restaurant & Bar to Young Survival Coalition, an international organization focused on young women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Provenance Hotels in the Pacific Northwest, which includes Portland properties Hotel Lucia and Hotel DeLuxe, offers We Heart Boobies room rates, as well as I Heart Boobies bracelets and pink cocktails in its bars. Ten percent of the proceeds from these rooms and items will go to Keep a Breast Foundation, a group that uses creative expression to highlight prevention, early detection, coping and support.
Fontainebleau Miami Beach is repeating its annual Bleau Goes Pink. Like the White House, its exterior goes pink at night, thanks to 100 tinted spotlights. Partnering with the Susan G. Komen Miami/Fort Lauderdale office, it’s also promoting special dining, spa and retail offers that rebate a percentage to cancer research. Among these are a Pink Swarovski Crystal Pedicure and a prix fixe dinner at AAA Four Diamond Hakkasan Miami.
Admirable as these efforts are, they have a long way to go to top Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay in the Persian Gulf. It has opened a Pink Boutique offering house-made pink macaroons, candies and pink chocolate cookies. The property also is offering a Pink Brunch showcasing pink dishes at five cooking stations; a Pink Afternoon Tea; pink cocktails as well as the Four Seasons Pink Mocktail in its lounges; a stylish Pink Party; pink spa specials; and a series, “Pink Talks: Frankly Speaking About Cancer,” hosted by Julie Sprakel, founder of Think Pink Bahrain.


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Apple posted a fourth-quarter gain Nov. 2, and only like scarcely each other entertain in new memory, it was a ensign occasion.
Perhaps many striking: Apple, currently ranked third in a Fortune 500, has dual business segments that in and of themselves arrange within a tip 100 companies on Fortune’s list. And a iPhone business generated some-more income in mercantile 2017 than a entirety of Amazon.
Apple’s iPhone business posted $141.3 billion in income for mercantile 2017 (the company’s mercantile year ends in September), that would place it twelfth on Fortune’s list, between curative organisation AmerisourceBergen and Amazon, that respectively generated $146.9 billion and $135.9 billion this year.
Apple’s Services business, that includes sales of apps, music, games, and AppleCare, as good as subscription services like iCloud and Apple Music, generated $29.9 billion over 2017. That puts a business shred between sciences association 3M ($30.1 billion) and media organisation Time Warner ($29.3 billion), according to Fortune’s list.
Additionally, each singular one of Apple’s businesses, including a smallest “Other Products”miscellany bucket, that generated $12.86 billion this year, would be within a tip 220 on Fortune’s list. Put another way, we could contend that Apple is obnoxiously successful.


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Zen Studios today announced that Pinball FX2 has released as part of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, and is now available as a free download for all users.
Zen Studios plans to bring its librar... Read More
Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox Live will be integrated in Windows 8. There was a rumour for a long time, and it has finally been revealed now. Major Nelson had this to say in his blog.
We are ... Read More
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has confirmed that the new version of Windows will launch next year.
Windows 8 will apparently be optimised for tablet devices, PCs and "a variety of different form ... Read More


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Looks like Samsung is all set to launch the GALAXY S5 Zoom camera. A device named SM-C115 has popped up in GFXBenchs database . Since the GALAXY S4... ...http://techtree.com.feedsportal.com/c/33242/f/556751/s/38353e42/sc/15/l/0L0Stechtree0N0Ccontent0Cnews0C57260Csamsung0Egalaxy0Es50Ezoom0Esport0E190Emegapixel0Ecamera0Bhtml/story01.htm
We are out, exploring the night life in Havelock in the Andamans. It is different. In complete darkness, the powerful shaft of silver from our... ...http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/jazvHZACcrAtBUBYmSdQIN/Havelock-Andaman-Islands--Into-the-blue.html
Announced last month, HPs VoiceTab 7 has finally hit the stores in India. The tablet supports voice calling and it comes with dual-SIM support.... ...http://techtree.com.feedsportal.com/c/33242/f/556752/s/382dfe53/sc/28/l/0L0Stechtree0N0Ccontent0Cnews0C57230Chp0Eslate0E70Evoicetab0Ehits0Estores0E170A0A0A0Eprice0Etag0Bhtml/story01.htm
0 Flares 0 Flares × Just a week ago, Verizon started selling the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 tablet and now, the carrier has also managed to... ...http://www.techshout.com/tablet/2014/14/verizon-also-offering-samsung-galaxy-note-10-1-2014-edition/
Sanger, United States, February 11,2014/Free-Press-Release.com/ -- For many people, fishing is the best sport that they can think of. The beginning... ...http://www.free-press-release.com/news-hire-an-experienced-guide-on-your-next-trip-for-an-amazing-fishing-experience-1392103643.html
Fishing has all the time been an...


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Orci Marketing Group is making a splash.
The company’s main business right now is providing sign spinners for companies.
“It’s a combination of street performance and brand promotion,” said owner Eddie Fernandes. “It’s been really effective.”
Orci specializes in marketing and promotion. Fernandes said “Orci” is Latin for “gorilla.” It’s a play on the term guerilla marketing.
With signs, Orci hopes to cut through traditional marketing. Fernandes said, in this day and age, some people pay ad blockers to cut out online advertising.
The sign spinners are trained by Orci and sent out to promote businesses such as real estate companies.
“It’s been picking up for the last couple months, especially since the weather’s getting better,” Fernandes said.
Fernandes is a Peninsula High School graduate, Class of 2005. After finishing school and starting a family in Florida, he moved back to his hometown. His children, a boy and a girl, are 4 and 2 years old.
“To raise a family here and to start a business here ... has always been a dream,” Fernandes said.
He got into sign spinning when he was working for a marketing company that was helping market urgent care centers. He wanted sign spinners, but couldn’t find a company that trained and provided them. So he did the work himself.
Orci isn’t just about sign spinning. The company also provides digital marketing services such as web development and social media. Some sign packages come with a social media tie-in to promote the business on Twitter and Facebook.
Orci can provide signs for any business or industry. For example, a trucking company that is looking to hire drivers wants sign spinners at the Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle, Fernandes said. It’s about finding customers where customers are likely to be found.
Fernandes said the business is moving to an office off Wollochet Drive soon.
Orci Marketing Group can be found at orcimg.com.Karen Miller: 253-358-4155 karen.miller @gateline.com Twitter: @gateway_karen.


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Happy Labor Day Weekend! If you’re still searching for the best way to spend your long weekend, we have some great news. We’ve scoured the web for the latest events and activities happening right here in the Gem City, as well as the top stories in marketing, advertising, tech, or design. It’s all a part of what we call the OG Weekender:
See Gary Hinsche’s latest work at The Front Street Experience Gallery
You may know Gary Hinsche as the Ohlmann Group’s Executive Design Director, but outside of the office, he is an exceptional local artist with his own studio downtown. If you want to see his latest work featuring geometrical designs, come to the Front Street Experience Gallery for his reception on Friday night between 5:00-9:00 p.m.
Take a step back in time at the Ohio Renaissance Festival
It’s opening weekend at the Ohio Renaissance Festival and this year’s event is bigger than ever. Step back in time to 16th Century England and enjoy the sights and sounds of over 150 costumed characters (including Queen Elizabeth). The festival includes nearly 100 shows each day, unique arts and crafts shops and traditional food and drink. This weekend, adult tickets are two for the price of one, and children under 12 get in free.
Check out Google’s new emojis
If you’ve used emojis before, you may have realized that emojis look different on various platforms. For instance, an emoji sent via an Apple device can look completely different when viewed on an Android phone or Google device. Google’s emojis premiered in 2013 and were less like Apple’s perfectly symmetrical circular emojis and more like gumdrop shaped “blobs.” Now, Google designers have created a variation of the blob that’s more like a squishy circle for the new Android O. You can check out Google’s emoji evolution below:
Social Media News: Instagram Stories now available on the mobile browsers
While Instagram Stories still are not accessible on a desktop computer, users can view Stories on their mobile browser, not just with the app. The Stories feature has over 250 million users each day, which is more than Snapchat’s story feature (although Snapchat originated the concept). Instagram’s newly expanded mobile website will allow users with slower networks to access the app’s features, especially in countries like India and parts of Africa.


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SiriusXM Revenue Rises 11%. Plans Price Increase
SiriusXM reported third-quarter record results of $962 million, up 11 percent from Q3 of 2012. The company also announced it will be raising its price by six dollars per year for basic packages starting in January. This is the second price increase since a government ban was lifted following the merger of Sirius and XM in 2008. CEO Jim Meyer said, “While changing prices is a hard decision, especially in the competitive audio entertainment market, we are assured that our subscribers see substantial value in our service and that this modest change will not considerably impact retention next year.” In 2011 SiriusXM increased the cost of its basic package by 1.50 dollars.
Meyer said the company "had a great quarter," adding more than half a million subscribers. We also saw double-digit growth in revenue for the seventh consecutive quarter, a new quarterly record for adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin, and significant growth in free cash flow."
Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 was up 21 percent, to $296 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin at nearly 31 percent. Free cash flow was $245 million, up 26 percent from $195 million in Q3 of 2012.
(12/13/2013 12:55:50 PM) |
Radio Ink Magazine
Add a Comment | View All Comments


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updated 07:37 pm EDT, Fri June 22, 2012
Nintendo hopes to build gaming-centric network
Nintendo is stepping into the social networking pool with the Wii U, but the company will not be diving in headlong. In an interview with GamesIndustry International, Nintendo revealed that the Miiverse social network on its forthcoming console will not be able to connect to other established social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Representatives for the company say the decision is actually in keeping with Nintendo's existing policies.
The Miiverse feature is integrated into the Wii U's system menu and games. A previously released video shows a user breaking in the middle of a game to consult fellow gamers in the Miiverse for advice, as well as chatting with another gamer by video before returning to the game. Additionally, the video shows the gamer communicating from his Wii U console with another user, who reads his messages on a mobile phone.
The social features Nintendo showed off led some observers to believe that the Wii U could feature integration with established social networks, much in the same way that Xbox Live users can find each other through Facebook. However, Nintendo today said the company has no interest in implementing such integration. Instead, the company hopes the Miiverse will allow users to build their own communities based around gaming.
In explaining the decision, company representatives said that Nintendo has no interest in adopting a "me too" attitude toward social networking, and thus the Wii U would not duplicate features commonly found on users smartphones, tablets, and computers. Instead of tying into existing networks, Nintendo hopes users will tie their existing devices into the Miiverse, as the company plans to roll out applications and services for users to interact with the Miiverse from their mobile devices some time after the system launches.


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Srinagar- KC Hyundai, Srinagar launched its sporty entry SUV, Hyundai EXTER today, aiming to redefine the benchmark in its segment.
The unveiling ceremony took place at KC Hyundai, the first and leading Hyundai dealership of J&K, by Akshay Jamwal TSM-Hyundai Motor India Ltd, alongwith Raju Chowdhary-Chairman-KC Group, and Sohail Khan-CEO KC Hyundai, in presence of Ali Mohammad Dar, Sheikh Ruhail, Shabeer Ahmad Barati, Asif Shah, Asif Rashid and a huge gathering of respectable delegates from media fraternity, Bankers, dignitaries, esteemed customers and all staff members.
Commenting on the occasion, Akshay Jamwal, TSM-Hyundai Motor India Ltd., congratulated KC Hyundai on the launch of its new car and said that this SUV reflects Hyundai’s commitment to innovative design, intelligent technology and exceptional performance.
With its modern exterior, cutting-edge technology and unparalleled safety features, Hyundai EXTER is set to make a mark in the fast-growing SUV segment.
Speaking on the occasion Sohail Khan, CEO KC Hyundai expressed pride in introducing an SUV that embodies Hyundai’s commitment to innovation and performance. He stated that Hyundai EXTER’s design, technology and safety features would exceed customer expectations and reinforce Hyundai’s position as India’s leading smart mobility solutions provider.
Hyundai EXTER draws inspiration from the outdoors and travel, reflected in the key communication of “Think outside, Think EXTER”. The SUV’s design showcases Hyundai’s “Sensuous Sportiness” identity with a striking exterior, including a modern front, dynamic sides and a sporty rear.
It emphasizes advanced technology, Hyundai’s SUV DNA and robust driving capability. The spacious interiors provide a luxurious mobility experience, thanks to segment’s best wheelbase.
The brand ambassador for Hyundai EXTER is cricketing youth icon Hardik Pandya, known for his energetic and vibrant lifestyle. He perfectly aligns with SUV’s target audience of GEN MZ, who seek outdoor expeditions and leisure. Hardik Pandya’s energy, engagement and imagery make him an ideal fit for championing the brand campaign of Hyundai EXTER.
Hyundai EXTER has been engineered to deliver smart mobility experiences, offering extravagant interiors, superior comfort and exceptional performance. It prioritizes safety and convenience, ensuring the highest level of protection for customers.
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The death of print media has been greatly exaggerated. Again. A surge in new print magazines reaffirms that being a media prognosticator can be a pretty dicey business these days. In total, 325 new print magazines debuted with a frequency of quarterly or more within the last two years, according to the MPA. New titles run the cultural gamut. The titles encompass multiple markets, ranging from automotive to travel to science/technology.
The MPA’s Magazine Media Sales Guarantee program, which is offered by several of the MPA’s member companies/publishers, is illustrative. Take Meredith, one of the country’s top magazine publishers. For every $1 that Meredith invested in magazines the publisher generated a return of $3.94 (source: Nielsen Catalina Solutions, 2016).
Marketers are taking action: 45 percent of advertising decision-makers are moving their ad spending to well-regarded premium publishers, according to a survey of 304 U.S. advertising decision marketers conducted by Oath, a subsidiary of Verizon. Fifty-percent of the respondents said they are putting pressure on their partners to screen for brand safety. In contrast to the web, print ad buys don’t suffer the same risks as online ad buying.
More and more it seems like when people surf the web they are being followed at every turn, lending more validity to the creep factor online. In contrast, consumers carry around magazines by choice. A 2017 MarketingSherpa study of 1,200 consumers, for example, found that print publications are the most trusted advertising channel when people want to buy something (82 percent).
“As the media system grows exponentially it’s hard to figure out what you can trust,” said Linda Thomas Brooks, president and CEO of the MPA. “For magazines, it’s become a shortcut to quality — where consumers know they’re getting professional content.”
Source: Schwartz, M. (2019, May 24). Paging Print Magazines. ANA blog.
Editor’s Note: Commentary (with research) on the print magazine industry.


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BrandSource members gathered at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas Aug. 28-31 for the Tustin, California-based buying group’s annual convention.
A “thank you” to membership, the show also updated attendees on the latest developments in retailing.
According to a news release, participants attended an array of educational seminars, workshops and motivational speeches by prominent figures in retailing. In addition, there were more than 200 exhibits spanning 200,000 square feet that showcased the latest appliances, bedding, electronics and home furnishings. BrandSource members also had the opportunity to mingle and network at social events.
Popular seminars included a Mattress University session conducted titled “How to Run a High Impact Promotion” by consultant Philip Gutsell. Marketer and author Nick Westergaard hosted another segment titled “Get Scrappy with Digital Marketing.”
Doug Stephens, a futurist and self-described “retail prophet,” delivered the keynote. He has 20 years of experience in retail and is author the best-selling book “The Retail Revival: Reimagining Business for the New Age of Consumerism.”


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Sanford’s KMart store will apparently be one of several closing by early April, according to a report from Triad-based MyFox8.com.
Five Kmart locations in North Carolina will be closed by early April, including stores in Shelby, Sanford, Franklin, Midway Park and Salisbury. Click here for a full list.
Sears Holdings, which owns both Sears and Kmart, made the announcement Thursday, building on months of similar closings aimed at getting the company on solid financial footing.
Closeout sales at the affected locations will begin next week, the company said in a press release, and all 103 locations will be shuttered by May.
The closings, according to MyFox8, are part of a broader strategy by Sears Holdings, which expects to close 39 Sears stores and 64 KMart locations nationwide this year. Sanford’s KMart store, located at the intersection of Horner Boulevard and Main Street, has been open since at least the early 1980s.
While Sanford has experienced strong retail growth in recent years, the closing is a blow to a city which needs an empty big box location like a hole in the head. Here’s hoping the location can be repurposed to good use in the coming months.


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GCC – Large transformations in health care
Friday, 08 26 2016, Category: Health, Country: Gulf Cooperation Council
A recent report says that the transformation witnessed in health care in the Gulf Cooperation Countries results from the consumer pressures. This new report shows that the consumption intensification is the main driver of the reengineering of the health care sector. This transformation does not emanate from the innovations in health care but instead on the launching of new models for business, which transcend the constraints imposed on the health sector today in order to provide health care services, which meet the demands of consumers.
The report also clarified that new business model will be based on the requirements of consumers instead of the regulations and laws imposed in health insurance. This new model will help achieve the health care market 2.0 (the new general of health care), where a large number of industries meet in order to launch a new market, which provide health care and better lives for consumers.
Source: Al Jazirah


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In late July, a Federal Reserve task force asked to make faster payment solutions available for all consumers and businesses from the U.S. Financial System. Check out some of the latest updates from this request, below.
The Federal Reserve Faster Payments Task Force issued a final report that recommended a framework for rules, standards and systems, and a streamlined, all-encompassing payment system that keeps pace with technological development.
The report recommends that the Fed work with regulators to evaluate how laws will apply to emerging payment technologies, implement a faster payment settlement service and play an operational role in supporting the process in its entirety.
Additionally, it recommends increased awareness and security for end users and service providers, as well as ongoing research on functionality and emerging technologies in order to establish faster payments framework, rules and standards throughout the U.S. financial system.
Following the final report, an interim working group will facilitate collaboration and implementation of the task force’s recommendations.
Steve Kenneally, a task force member and vice president of the American Banking Association, was enthusiastic that the task force’s recommendations will lead to a more robust and efficient payment system.


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NEW BERLIN, Penn. — The Virtual Outdoor Hospitality Expo has been filling its exhibit hall with several businesses that are easily recognizable to people familiar with the outdoor hospitality industry.
Dozens of marketing calls are now being made every day by Campground Expositions, the expo’s producer, due to the efforts of two new marketing representatives.
Producers Art Lieberman and Deanne Bower recruited two energetic people to solicit sponsors and exhibitors, and their efforts have begun to pay off, Lieberman said.
Jenelle Park, a 28-year old experienced salesperson, has been successful in acquiring several new exhibitors for the expo. Due to her efforts, well-known supplier of weatherproof electrical equipment and services, Midwest Electrical Products, has joined the expo as a Silver sponsor. Park was also instrumental to enlisting Best Holiday Trav-L Park Association as an exhibitor.
Also joining the staff of Campground Expositions is Artem (Art) Shevchenko. “Although he’s new with us, he ‘gets it,’” said Lieberman.
Both Lieberman and Bower said they were extremely happy this week when long-time friends and respected businessmen Chuck Gerber and Brian Legler announced that Gerber Manufacturing would be exhibiting at the expo.
“We meet Brian at several live trade shows every year and couldn’t imagine producing this Expo without his exhibit being there,” said Bower. “This time he won’t have to ship his picnic table to the show.”
The producers are excited about the prospects of having some of the other displays which appear to be expo-bound. Huge water-rides, giant motion picture screens and projection units and several other unique exhibits have announced their intention to participate in the expo.
In setting up the expo, Lieberman and Bower learned that they could import an Excel file into the registration portion of the expo’s software and mass-register thousands of outdoor hospitality businesses at one time. Then the software itself would send out an e-mail to those businesses that are registered giving them an ID number and a password, which they could change when they logged in to the show.
The expo’s website is already prepared and is being customized. Tom Chiarello, from AGS, and Tracie Fisher, with Campground Manager Today, have both volunteered to assist exhibitors in booth setup. “Having actually viewed the software now, there is a minimal amount of computer skills necessary to set up a successful and informative booth,” said Lieberman.
The expo is approaching the half-way mark for booth sales. “We only want 80 of them,” says Bower, “and then we’ll turn all of our attention to attendees.”
In the meantime, Deb Kohls, with Leisure Interactive, is building the roster of speakers, webinars and open forums for the expo. Advertisements that will emphasize the ease in attending the Expo are also being readied.
Evanne Schmarder, the owner of Roadabode Productions and the producer of the RV Cooking Show, will not only be exhibiting at the show, she may host a webinar. In fact, Lieberman said they are trying to work out an opportunity for Schmarder to put on a live cooking demonstration one day from the expo.
SOURCE: Virtual Outdoor Hospitality Expo press release


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Here's how the games of November stacked up in sales.
Update 1.3 is now available to download for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition on PC.
Despite the PS4 Pro's increased power, some games aren't running as well as they did on the original PS4.
PC users can grab the latest update for the Skyrim remaster to fix recent technical issues.
Players have been complaining about crashes since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition was updated.
Bethesda is aware of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition's audio quality issues and is working on a fix.
Though the Skyrim Special Edition supports mods, picking up an old save file still might break your game.


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EVENTS, ADVANCES, AND NEWS
■ BY JEFF ECKERT
DARK ENERGY SURVEY UNDERWAY
■ Image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC
1365 — about 60 million light years away.
Courtesy of Dark Energy Survey Collaboration.
This fall, scientists collaborating on the Dark Energy Survey down at Chile's Cerro Tololo Inter-American
Observatory switched on the 570 megapixel dark energy
camera for the first time and captured rays of light that
have been traveling from distant galaxies for some eight
billion years. The camera — said to be the most powerful
instrument of its kind — is designed to probe the mystery of
dark energy which is thought to be the force causing the
universe to expand at an ever-increasing rate. The camera
— which is about the size of a telephone booth — employs
a 13 ft diameter light-gathering mirror and 62 CCDs with
extreme sensitivity to red light.
The survey — beginning this month and continuing
over the next five years — will create detailed color images
of one-eighth of the sky (or 5,000 square degrees) to
discover and measure 300 million galaxies, 100,000 galaxy
clusters, and 4,000 supernovae. According to Argonne Labs physicist Steve Kuhlmann, "With all of our amazing scientific
progress in the last century, we still only understand the four percent of the universe that is made of normal matter. The
Dark Energy Survey will help us understand the other 96 percent, which we believe is made of dark matter and dark
energy." (Many of the camera's critical systems are controlled with Argonne-designed technology.) You can follow the
survey's progress at www.darkenergysurvey.org. ▲
10 December 2012
TRANSIENTS CAN BE GOOD
Electronic transients are usually undesirable things, but transient electronics are a different story, according to a team led by biomedical engineers at Tufts
University ( www.tufts.edu) and researchers at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign ( illinois.edu). These folks have developed a new class of
silk-silicon devices that should prove useful in medical implants, environmental
sensors, and a range of consumer electronics. For example, a medical implant
within a human body could function for its intended life span and then dissolve
away harmlessly, or consumer electronics such as cell phones could be built to
decompose quickly when dropped into a landfill instead of slowly deteriorating
for years. The time frame can range from minutes to years, depending on the mix
of fabrication materials.
The circuits use traditional IC materials such as silicon and magnesium, but
they are constructed in an ultra-thin form and are encapsulated in silk protein.
"These devices are the polar opposite of conventional electronics whose integrated
circuits are designed for long-term physical and electronic stability," noted Prof.
Fiorenzo Omenetto of the Tufts School of Engineering. "While silicon may appear
to be impermeable, eventually it dissolves in water." The trick is to fine-tune the
silk properties so the circuits dissolve at the right time.
In the future, the researchers are looking toward devices whose properties
can be adjusted in real time or that can respond to environmental factors such as
chemistry, light, or pressure. A paper detailing the concept published in the
September 28, 2012 issue of Science is available at firstname.lastname@example.org. ▲
■ Silk-silicon electrical circuit is
dissolved by a drop of water.


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The Enterprise Blockchain market has been fueled by infrastructure and service players to date. But 2019 seems to be the pivot year for business application players to get in the game. As our new Market Forecast report details, this shift to applications has been rapid. Many startups and established technology vendors now recognize the value that Blockchain can bring to the enterprise software business.
It is a challenge, though, as just like AI, Blockchain can upend traditional ways of working and create new business opportunities. In theory, that is a good thing, but long-established vendors don’t necessarily want their traditional businesses upended. Even so, growing customer demand is fueling growth.
Though under-reported at the time, Salesforce (one of the largest enterprise software firms) made a set of announcements this year regarding Blockchain. On the surface, the announcement of a low code development tool on the Salesforce Lightning platform called unsurprisingly ‘Salesforce Blockchain’ is insignificant. However, that Salesforce is jumping into the Blockchain arena, sets the bar for others. The reason being that despite all the market excitement Salesforce tends to generate, it is a surprisingly conservative company when it comes to embracing new technology. Salesforce tends to be driven (like Dropbox) more by what its customers tell them than the press, pundits, and analysts. The bottom line is that Salesforce customers are telling them to embrace Blockchain, some of whom have already started down the Blockchain path alone.
When you think of Salesforce, you think of CRM. When you think of CRM, you wouldn’t typically think of Blockchain. In researching the Enterprise Blockchain market for the past two years, we have seen an interesting but consistent pattern emerge. Technology vendors still have an outdated and limited view of Blockchain many remain stuck in the BitCoin discussion. Buyers, on the other hand, recognized early on the potential disruptive value of immutability, shared trust, and smart contracts. Take that a step further and consider the importance of shared trust in trading networks. Be that a handful of suppliers and partners or a complex supply chain, then the opportunities for change are enormous. Add the ability to leverage smart contracts to automate and dramatically reduce the time to close transactions the excitement grows.
Work with us today to ensure you are a disruptor not one of the disrupted!
Get trusted advice and technology insights for your business from the experts at Deep Analysis. [email protected]


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Custom Truck One Source has entered into a strategic partnership with Hi-Vac Corporation. This partnership positions Custom Truck as an authorized dealer of Hi-Vac products in the United States, according to an announcement.
“We’re excited to add Hydro-Vac products to our portfolio,” says Paul Brouwers, Custom Truck’s hydro-excavation/vacuum product manager. “The addition of these products is another step in becoming the single-source provider for the hydro-excavation and vacuum industry.”
Through the Hi-Vac/Custom Truck relationship, customers will have access to the Aquatech line of sewer cleaners and the X-Vac line of hydro excavators.
“The Hi-Vac Corporation is excited to begin working with Custom Truck One Source. The combination of the ‘Power Payload and Performance’ of the Aquatech and X-Vac products and the customer service and support that Custom Truck One Source is known for is something that the underground utility markets are desperately needing,” says Daniel J. Coley, president at Hi-Vac Corporation. “Custom Truck’s success in the above ground utility markets is a result of the team of people and dedication that Custom Truck One Source has put together. In my 35 years in the underground utility markets I have never found a company so poised to serve this industry.”
Customers can further capitalize on this partnership with flexible, customized leasing and financing solutions, through Custom Truck Capital.


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Inward Investor: Dell delisting has been a long time coming
Investors taken by surprise by last week's news that Dell is in advanced talks to go private had every chance to see the development coming, writes Tina-Marie O'Neill.
Investors taken by surprise by last week's news that Dell is in advanced talks to go private had every chance to see the development coming.
The struggling PC maker's founder and chief executive, Michael Dell, expressed an interest in taking his company private more than two years ago. Predictably, wealthy private equity investors looking for cheap assets have taken the bait.
Silver Lake Partners, which specialises in technology and technology-enabled industry investments, is reported to...
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text: April 22 is Earth Day, and Trista and Ryan Sutter are marking the occasion with an online party at parentsconnect.com - but the couple also practice what they preach every day, from buying organic diapers to unplugging unused electronics. "It's not like we are living in a bubble. It takes a little stuff from everyone. We recycle. We use as many green products as we can," the former Bachelorette tells In Touch. And this environmentally friendly lifestyle starts at their front door. "We make everyone take their shoes off before entering our house," she says. "We want everyone to realize how easy it is to make a difference and Nickelodeon's ParentsConnect is the ultimate online parenting hub which makes it easy to reach a large audience with this virtual party." It's also going to be a "green" summer for the family, which includes son Max, 2, and Blakesley, 1, as Ryan trains outdoors for competitions to raise money for young adults with cancer for firstdescents.org. "We'll be cheering him on at every race," says Trista.


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JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Consumer groups push the importance of ensuring people can always access cash on high street
Wednesday is the deadline for submissions to be made to the Treasury on how access to cash on our high streets can be maintained.
Yes, I know, we are all rightly distracted by other key issues of the moment – lockdown, vaccines and fretting over Christmas.
But I trust the country's army of consumer groups does not miss this golden opportunity to impress upon the Government the importance of ensuring that people can always get access to cash on their local high street – as well as continuing to be allowed to use it as a payment option at most retailers.
Cash in hand: The pandemic has played into the hands of those who want a cashless society
Although the pandemic has played into the hands of those who crave for a cashless society – namely the banks and global electronic payment giants such as Visa and Mastercard – there is no doubt that most people are not yet ready (and probably never will be) to discard physical cash. Payment choice should be a given.
It's why The Mail on Sunday launched the 'Save Our Cash' campaign last summer, calling for the Government to act decisively to protect cash.
Our campaign continues to demand that every town has at least one bank (standalone or shared by all the big banks); one free-to-use cash machine; a post office; and a free cashback facility offered by a retailer.
Judging by our mailbag, we've struck a chord with very many readers.
Following an article earlier this month on the need for the Government to introduce legislation that preserves access to cash – something Ministers have promised once they have absorbed all the ideas contained in the submissions to the Treasury – we were inundated with letters of support.
The overriding sentiment was that while cash may no longer be king, it still has a lot going for it (a line taken from retired councillor Bob Dutton – thank you) and is crucial for key sectors of our society such as the elderly who tend to be more cash dependent.
It's backed by new research by financial consultant Enryo. Its analysis indicates that more than three quarters of consumers believe the Government should be doing more to ensure access to cash, especially in communities where banks have shut their branches – and taken out their cash machines.
Enryo's findings also suggest growing support (37 per cent of those polled) for legislation that would require shops and businesses to allow customers to pay cash for day-to-day goods and essential services.
Consumers believe the Government should be doing more to ensure access to cash
Since the pandemic, many retailers have turned their stores into cashless zones, some on the spurious ground that notes and coins transmit Covid-19.
Despite consumer opposition, it appears that shop managers are not for turning and will stay cashless once the economy returns to some form of normality.
All the mood music suggests the Government will refuse to legislate to ensure payment choice, preferring to concentrate on ways of making cash more accessible – for example, by allowing people to get cashback from retailers without having to make a purchase.
A shame if that's the case, but the important thing is the Government comes up with proposals that preserve in law everyone's right to access and use physical cash.
Financial inclusion is the way forward, not financial exclusion.
Six hundred and 63 cheers to Nationwide for extending its pledge to keep a branch in every town and city that it currently operates in.
The extension means the country's largest building society will not abandon any communities until the start of 2023 at the earliest.
Although some of its 663 branches may shut in towns and cities where it believes it is over-branched, the pledge represents a shot in the arm for the high street. And boy, does it need one.
Nationwide has done its best to keep branches open during the pandemic, even on a Saturday.
Unlike many of its rivals that are banking on a digital future, Nationwide lays great store on face-to-face customer service – and has gone out of its way to continue offering it (social distancing restrictions notwithstanding).
All it now needs to do is improve the wretched rates available on some of its savings accounts.
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According to the recent publication of the Financial conduct authority, the sale of derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) referencing certain types of cryptoassets to retail consumers is banned.
The FCA believes that these products pose harm to retail consumers and, therefore, are not considered suitable. There are multiple reasons why consumers cannot reliably value such products:
- By their nature, underlying assets do not have a reliable basis for valuation
- The secondary market is known for financial crime and cases of market abuse
- The prices of cryptoassets are extremely volatile
- Retail consumers tend to understand cryptoassets inadequately
- Retail consumers do not have a legitimate investment need to invest in cryptoassets.
Generally, these characteristics of cryptoassets mean that if retail consumers invest in these products, they can supposedly suffer from loss without even expecting it.
In terms of a definition of unregulated transferable cryptoassets, they are tokens that are not deemed e-money or ‘specified investments’ and are possible to trade. Well-known examples for these would be Ripple, Ether, or Bitcoin. Investments that are specified in legislation are called specified investments. Companies that operate with these investments within certain kinds of regulated activity have to obtain authorization of the FCA.
In order to protect retail customers from the harms mentioned earlier, the FCA decided to ban the sale, marketing, and distribution of all derivatives (CFDs, options, and futures) and ETNs (the ones that reference unregulated transferable cryptoassets by the UK-based firms).
By the FCA’s estimations, the ban on these products will help retail consumers save up to £53m.
Sheldon Mills, who is the FCA’s interim Executive Director of Strategy and Competition stated that the level of the measures taken shows how unsafe the sale of crypto-derivatives to retail consumers is regarded by the FCA. He also pointed out that trading crypto-derivatives puts retail consumers at high risk due to the considerable price volatility of these products and their characteristic difficulties of reliable valuing. According to Mills, the FCA has evidence of a large number of retail consumers suffering from losses. Therefore, he finds that this ban brings an appropriate level of customer protection.
The 6th of January 2021 is the day when the ban comes into effect. Consumers from the UK should still be conscious of the presence of numerous scams happening in crypto-derivative investments. Regarding the fact that from now derivatives or ETNs that reference certain types of cryptoassets to retail consumers are banned to sell, it is very probable that any company that proposes such services to retail consumers is a cheat.
To receive more information on different types of scams or to access the original source for this report, use the link https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-bans-sale-crypto-derivatives-retail-consumers.


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Ford Motor Company is recalling more than 12,500 vehicles in North America — about 500 of them in Canada — to fix airbags and instrument clusters.
The automaker is recalling 10,610 Ford Escape utility vehicles from the 2018 model year for side air curtain diffuser that may become detached during deployment. Ford say 453 of the affected vehicles are in Canada.
In the affected vehicles, the top hat diffuser on the side air curtain inflator may detach from the inflator during deployment and create a tear that could cause the side air curtain to not fully inflate and the diffuser to potentially become a projectile in the passenger compartment, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
Ford is also recalling 2,167 Ford Mustang cars — 67 in Canada — from the 2018 model year that are equipped with an automatic transmission premium, 12.4-inch instrument cluster for an illumination issue.
In the affected vehicles, if a driver turns off the vehicle with the transmission in a position other than park, the instrument cluster may not illuminate the PRNDL display and the driver may not receive the key-in-the-ignition warning chime when the driver’s door is opened, increasing the likelihood of a vehicle rollaway.
Ford said on its website that it is not aware of any accidents or injuries associated with either issue.


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It's the biggest Bengali bash outside Bangladesh and it's taking over Brick Lane, London's Banglatown, this Sunday. The Baishaki Mela is the Bangla New Year Festival and while there was a differently spelt celebration in Trafalgar Square just recently, you've really got to go East to truly feel the festivities.
On Sunday, festivities start at 11.00am with a procession of "Musicians, Dancers, Peacock boat, a Bridal Ride with Palki (Palanquin) and Rickshaws." The Bridal Ride sounds like a lot offun, but then again: "Other spectacular attractions in the procession will be a massive colorful Tiger." THe procession ends at 12noon and Ken Livingstone will be there to inaugurate the mela with the High Commissioner of Bangladesh and Members of Parliament.
For the rest of day, the main stage will host everything from traditional folk, Baul and Bollywood to Bengali rock, bhangra and contemporary east/west fusion and Brick Lane will be pedestrianised for the whole day and is going to be transformed into a market place with over 45 curry houses spilling out on to the pavement offering curry alfresco. Other stalls will sell Bangladeshi fashion goods and traditional handicrafts.
In London, every weekend is a happy new year.
Shubho Nobo Borsho!
For more information on the programme of events, go to the Baishaki Mela website here.


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On Monday afternoon, the Dodgers announced that they will be sporting special limited edition jerseys and hats for their 2021 Home Opening series against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium this weekend, April 9-11, 2021.
The defending World Series champions will wear jerseys with the script inside of gold borders and hats with the iconic white LA logo also encompassed in gold and the World Series Champions logo on the side
Per a tweet by MLB Dodgers beat writer Juan Toribio, the World Series banner raising and ring ceremony will take place before the Home Opener on Friday, April 9, a special tribute to Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda before Saturday’s game on April 10, and a tribute to the 40th anniversary of Fernandomania before Sunday’s series finale on April 11.
The Dodgers also announced that the special edition jerseys and hats will be available for purchase at the Dodger Stadium Team Stores and Clubhouse stores throughout Los Angeles and online at Dodgers.com beginning on April 9, 2021, at 12:00 p.m. PT.
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HealthTech Startup HealthifyMe Raised US$12Mn Series B Funding Led By Sistema Asia
HealthTech startup, HealthifyMe, on Friday announced that it has secured US$12 million series B round of funding led by Russian conglomerate Sistema Asia Fund including other investors Samsung NEXT, Atlas Asset Management, Japan’s Dream Incubator, IDG Ventures India, Inventus Capital, Blume Ventures and NB Ventures also participated in the round.
The HealthifyMe mobile platforms help users manage their diet and workout schedule, and track progress. It also connects them with fitness trainers and nutritionists to create exercise and diet plans.
The healthtech startup Healthifyme was founded in 2012 by Tushar Vashisht.
Apart from functioning as a platform for connecting users with trainers, HealthifyMe also has an AI-powered health assistant named ‘Ria’ which was unveiled in October 2017. Till date, HealthifyMe users have tracked 200 million food options and workouts, and exchanged 10 million messages with their nutritionists and trainers.
“Our vision is to build the world’s largest online health and fitness service. We want to help millions of consumers achieve their goals by engaging with nutritionists and other health experts empowered with artificial intelligence. ‘Ria’ our AI nutritionist introduced last quarter will have a game-changing effect on fitness/nutrition access to Indians,” Tushar Vashisht, chief executive officer at HealthifyMe said in a statement reported in Mint.
“We are already India’s go-to health app. This funding will help us to launch in other emerging markets where obesity and lifestyle diseases are growing exponentially. It will also help us expand our offerings portfolio to affiliated products and services that our customers need,” Vashisht added.


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It’s often said that the only constant in life is change, and this holds especially true for the food industry. In fact, sources predict more industry changes over the next 10 years than seen over the last 50. With a growing global population facing diet-related health problems and increased investments in new technologies to deliver products that deliver both great taste and nutritional benefits, this forecast is no surprise.
The Growing Influence of Nutrition Science
Nutrition science is continuously evolving. New developments in research allow experts to study dietary interventions and evaluate outcomes with more conciseness and accuracy than ever before. As researchers can attest, the first vitamin was isolated and chemically defined in 1926 – less than 100 years ago!
Evaluation of nutrition’s role in complex diseases such as diabetes and obesity did not accelerate considerably until after 2000. This is why the World Health Organization (WHO) has only recently published guidelines on sugar intake for adults and children, recommending reducing added sugar intake to be less than 10% of total intake. These recommendations are based on evidence showing that such a reduction could help lower the risk of overweight conditions, obesity, and tooth decay.
As WHO and other global scientific and regulatory bodies consider new guidelines based on emerging nutrition science, the food industry is quickly mobilizing to leverage advancements in food science and develop products that align with modern dietary guidelines while simultaneously meeting consumer demands. Today’s businesses are also equipped with clear labeling requirement guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which the industry predicts will generate a massive surge of interest amongst formulators looking to reduce or replace sugar in a variety of products.
A Newer Entrant in the Alternative Sweetener Category
A current example of an industry innovation designed to align with new nutrition science is the discovery and application of allulose. Chemically classified as a carbohydrate, allulose is considered a “rare sugar” – a sugar that occurs in very small quantities in nature. Allulose delivers approximately 70% of the sweetness and almost identical taste and the technical attributes of sucrose (sugar) in baked goods, frozen desserts, beverages, and other products.
The difference is that allulose does not impact blood glucose levels, only contributing a mere 0.4 calories per gram. The FDA corroborated this in its recent guidance on allulose labeling, stating: “Due to advances in food technology, novel sugars are now available that are not metabolized and that do not contribute 4 kcal/g to the diet like other traditional sugars. Consequently, we need to consider how information about sugars, like allulose, should be captured on the label.”
Allulose is Exempt from U.S. FDA Sugar Labeling Requirements
The FDA also addressed the importance of considering additional factors beyond chemical composition, stating: “We should consider not only the chemical structure of sugars, but also other evidence including their association with dental caries, their effect on blood glucose and insulin levels, as well as their caloric contribution…” As a reflection of the FDA’s flexible and science-based approach to labeling for enhanced consumer understanding, allulose is exempt from the Total or Added Sugar listing on the Nutrition Facts label. A value of 0.4 kcal/g may be used to calculate its caloric contribution.
In 2012 and 2014, in response to two Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) notifications, the FDA stated that they had no questions regarding the conclusion that allulose is generally recognized as safe for use as a general purpose sweetener in foods and beverages where sugar or fructose would typically be used. (GRAS notifications: 400 and 498.) As allulose has an established history of safe use major companies have been formulating with the sweetener while asking the FDA for clarification on how it should be labeled.
Using Allulose in Formulations
In addition to allulose’s ability to lower the calories, sugar content, and glycemic impact of products, a key benefit is its versatility. Allulose works well in everything from baked goods and confectioneries to yogurt and ice cream. It’s additionally considered a great blending sweetener, and can be combined with other sweeteners such as stevia to achieve the manufacturer’s intended effect.