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Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus (SCG) is known for making over-the-top supercars. The man behind SCG, James Glickenhaus, wants to expand the company’s lineup with a modern variant of the Baja Boot. So, he took to Facebook to announce that work has started on the SCG Boot.
Eight years ago, Glickenhaus purchased Steve McQueen’s 1967 Baja Boot. The off-roader was built by Vic Hickey, who used his connections at General Motors to obtain some high-performance parts, like a 450-hp V8 engine, a thick tube steel frame, heavy-duty suspension and a Hydra-matic automatic gearbox.
Owning the vehicle isn’t enough for Glickenhaus, who wants to come out with a modern variant of the Baja Boot that can tackle some serious off-roading. As he said in a comment on Facebook, the SCG Boot will be used to set a new record for altitude reached by a car. To do that, the off-roader will need to best the ’86 Suzuki Samurai, which traveled 21,942 feet up the Ojos del Salado volcano in the Andes Mountains.
Besides that lofty goal, SCG also wants to drive from New York to Paris through the Bering Strait, which makes for yet another bold expedition.
Specifications on the reborn Boot are limited at the moment. The vehicle is expected to come in both two-and four-door variants (two-door models are called the Steve), feature a central driving position, and be powered by a 5.0-liter V8. Two-and four-wheel drive will be available, while it will boast 20-inches of suspension travel. To ensure it’s still functioning at frigid temperatures, the four-door Expedition version will feature military-grade sensors and seals.
The Boot will reportedly only be offered with an automatic transmission, as SCG believes no one will want a manual gearbox. The off-roader is expected to go on sale in 2019 or 2020 with a price tag of around $100,000.


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Midlothian Latest News (Virginia, United States) + Feed Topics Locations Industries Dates
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189 views, By Operation Paws for Homes
This week Operation Paws for Homes (OPH) will sponsor its tenth Community Spay Day in 2020, providing low cost spay and neuter surgeries to help control dog and cat overpopulation.
34 views, By TravelAble
Sarah Marshall, CTA®, of TravelAble in Naperville, recently earned the distinguished Certified Travel Associate, or CTA, designation from The Travel Institute
126 views, By Marriott International
The 111-suite Residence Inn by Marriott Richmond West hotel in Midlothian, Virginia recently opened with upscale, stylish décor that offers flexibility and a unique environment.
459 views, By Productiv, Inc.
Productiv—the Richmond-based supply chain service company specializing in kitting, contract packaging and fulfillment—today released a set of principles and business philosophies that guide its successful production operations.
295 views, By ERNI Electronics Inc.
Company will invest $25 million and create approximately 105 new jobs

domain: news


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Farmscape for October 27, 2020
Agri-Food Economic Systems warms Canadian agriculture is at risk from shifting global agri-food trade policy.
An agri-food policy note released by Agri-Food Economic Systems looks at the effects of shifting global agri-food trade policy on Canada's agri-food sector and what needs to be done to minimise any negative impacts while capturing opportunities.
The policy note examines the situation that confronts Canada in relation to the agri-food trade interests of the U.S., of China, and of other countries.
Research Lead Dr. Al Mussell notes Canada is vulnerable to sudden stoppages in trade by China and one of the issues of concern will be the trade between the U.S. and China.
Clip-Dr. Al Mussell-Agri-Food Economic Systems:
One of the matters of timing that is coming up of course is the U.S. China Agreement.
It runs for 2020 and 2021, it was only a two year agreement.
I expect that the U.S. believes that it is in their interest to have that agreement renewed.
It provides preferential access to the Chinese ag and food market for the United States.
One of the things that's interesting is the trade promotion authority that President Trump is operating under and the next President will operate under as well ends in July of 2021.
So there is some pressure to try and get that trade promotion authority renewed so that agreement can be renewed.
As Canadians, we have to worry about, what if it doesn't get renewed?
Again, thinking about pork, the U.S. pork industry has expanded at such a rate that, if they didn't have an export market in China, we would be probably very concerned about U.S. pork exports to Canada and also U.S. exports of pork to third countries and the price depressing effect.
We have to watch out for that very carefully.
Dr. Mussell warns we could also see further increases in U.S. domestic price supports to deal with pricing issues which would make things far worse for Canada.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
*Farmscape is a presentation of Wonderworks Canada Inc.


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A Perthshire distillery has announced it will begin to produce hand sanitiser for the Scottish Ambulance Association amid a shortfall during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dewar’s in Aberfeldy will make the much needed product for the emergency service as well as other local groups.
The distillery is part of the Bacardi group which has promised to supply the alcohol which is essential for the increased production of the sanitiser.
Bacardi is donating these products to local organisations and emergency responders, as well as its employees and contractors.
In addition, the company is providing alcohol at cost to select partner companies looking to ramp up their production of hand sanitisers for commercial sale.
Jean-Marc Lambert, SVP Global Operations for Bacardi, said: “Over our 158-year history, we have risen to many challenges and we are doing the same again in response to COVID-19.
“All our brands and partners involved in this initiative will help people most in need benefit from the supply of these hand sanitisers.
“Our goal is to make a very real difference in the fight against COVID-19.”


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The Crown Sovereign (CSOV) is a cryptocurrency resistant to encryption vulnerabilities presented by quantum computing, ensuring future-proof protection of user data and token value. CSOV will be the first listing on FMFW Exchange, which is the rebranded name of Bitcoin.com Exchange, on Oct. 5.
Read the full press release on CoinTelegraph here:
About Crown Sterling Limited LLC
As a leader in Data Sovereignty and quantum-resistant encryption, Crown Sterling’s mission is to transform an era of unregulated data consolidation, monopolization, and monetization by Big Tech and empower individuals to claim, protect, and control their data.
Crown Sovereign (CSOV) utility token enables users to access the novel product suite, including quantum-resistant cryptography and NFTs, end-to-end encrypted messaging, and other future data compression technologies. With the CSOV token and ecosystem, users can also encrypt personal data, including geolocation and browsing history, and convert that data into NFTs with the option to monetize it on exchanges. Crown Sterling Chain is the world’s first Layer-1 blockchain to implement One-Time Pad’s quantum-resistant cryptography and empowers a self-sovereign ecosystem. The team will also launch a chain agnostic Layer-2 Security Oracle, providing post-quantum technology for web 3.0.As data has surpassed oil as the most valuable asset in the modern world, Crown Sterling looks forward to ushering in a new paradigm of Personal Data Sovereignty.


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Press Release (firstname.lastname@example.org)
Korea-headquartered pizza brand Gopizza recently opened its 15th outlet in HSR Layout, Bengaluru and has announced massive expansion plans in the Indian market. Gopizza is known for its one-person, oval shape, fire-baked pizza with quick serving speed and affordable price. The brand which opened its first outlet in India in Bengaluru in 2019 aims to expand to 500 outlets by the end of 2025.
“We have pioneered the fastest and most convenient pizza operations in the world which ensures standard quality,” says Jae Won Lim, Founder and CEO of Gopizza. The brand which started pre-pandemic India is buoyed by the promise the country has shown. “India is a market where we have seen immense potential for growth. Our entry into India as the first overseas market outside Korea has ensured that we are poised to be a truly global brand. From here we aim to become a unicorn company with more than 10,000 stores worldwide.”
“A young country and the biggest consumer market in the world, India has tremendous possibilities for a brand like Gopizza that takes pride in offering one-person pizzas of superior quality at competitive prices. Our strategy in India has been localized to the tastes of our consumers with a differentiated menu from Korea and Singapore. In the next few years, we aim to consolidate our presence across India with stores in Pune, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and some key Tier 2 cities including Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Kochi and Kozhikode,” says Mahesh Reddy, CEO, Gopizza India.
At a Gopizza outlet, every step of ‘pizza making’ is redesigned to enable a one-manned operation in a small kitchen. The Goven is a patented oven that bakes six single-serving pizzas to perfection in three minutes. This oven improves efficiency and allows employees to spend time on less tedious work. The ‘Gobot’ is a cooperative robot that cuts pizza, sprinkles the proper sauce, and even manages it so that it doesn’t cool down, and ‘AI Smart Topping Table’ tracks and monitors the toppings on a pizza real-time through AI technology developed in-house. This ensures the same quality and service to customers around the world.
The Korean brand, with its unique take on pizza, now aims to make people consider it a single-serving dish, with a goal to expand to more than 300 locations in the next 2 years. “Our success in South Korea, India and Singapore has given us the confidence to establish ourselves across Asia and then ultimately make Gopizza a global pizza chain,” signs off Jae Won Lim.
In 2016, 27-year-old Jae Won (Jay) Lim started serving tasty, one-person sized pizzas from a food truck on the premise that pizzas could be inexpensive when eaten by an individual alone. Spurred by the immense popularity of these oval-shaped pizzas, he established his first outlet in South Korea in 2017 and from then Gopizza has seen explosive growth to 5 countries with over 140 stores. To make the offering even more efficient and consistent, the brand uses patented technology to produce pizzas in its ‘Goven’ – an automatic pizza oven and infusion of robotic and AI technologies, called Gobot in its smart kitchens to produce single-serving pizzas to perfection in three minutes.


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Local pig farmers are concerned that the Ministry for Primary Industries' decision to allow uncooked pork to be imported from countries where the pig disease Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) is present will lead to an outbreak of the disease that can be lethal to the pigs.
Last Wednesday these concerns saw New Zealand Pork appeal a decision by the High Court to allow the importation of raw pork from countries affected by PRRS. The result of this decision is expected in February.
Jeff Cooley, of NZ Purebred Pig Genetics in Midhirst, says that the import of uncooked pork from these countries "must be stopped, or our pig industry will be ruined".
Jeff says that those making the decisions are "not looking at it as a disease thing, but as a money making thing" and that if the decision goes ahead, then pig farmers will suffer greatly on top of already hard times.
He says that he feels that the pig industry is already "getting hit by regional councils" saying that "neighbours smell with their eyes not their noses", elaborating that his perception is that when people see a pig farm nearby they assume it will smell and complain accordingly, putting pressure on the farmers.
Another problem pig farmers face, says Jeff, is that pig schedule prices have been down, with little increase, while the price of barley is high, making it an expensive industry.
Saying that over 25 per cent of pig farmers in New Zealand have quit the business, Jeff believes that there is a risk of a "global shortage of pig meat from next year" due to the national herds in Canada and the United States having dropped dramatically.
Jeff wants New Zealand to ban the import of uncooked pork from affected countries as he believes the risk is too high that some of that uncooked meat will end up in backyard piggeries and potentially being fed to pigs.
"What if I wanted to bring in some minced up beef from somewhere like the UK?" he asks, "a country where they have had foot and mouth disease, what would happen then?"
Jeff would like to see more support for pig farmers, saying "Federated Farmers, Fonterra, the meat and wool people, none of them have really supported us and we need to stand up for the industry".


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Positive figures reveal refocus onto downstream business slipped back for Chinese solar company. But Canadian Solar releases a positive outlook for 2014, including for its 'total solutions' business.
The U.S. solar industry fears plans to end the ITC could decimate the industry. Rhone Resch has called upon president Obama to rethink his solar tax credit plans.
Decreases in revenue, margin and shipments between Q3 and Q4 fail to deflate a strong 12 months for the solar giant.
The portfolio will comprise four new PV plants commissioned by British clean energy company Lightsource Renewable Energy.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir pen MoU with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India.
Local company will team with U.K. consortium to develop the PV plant, with work due to commence in September.
Having missed bond repayments last year, the solar wafer company will pursue liquidation proceedings on all offshore debt.
Some of the largest solar companies in the U.S. post positive perfomances on the markets as 2014 cranks into gear.
The solar company shipped 1.9 GW of solar products last year, enjoying a strong final quarter that generated a gross margin of 24.7%.
The corporation will develop its new 1 GW solar park on a 5,000 acre site in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Proceeds from the sale of the 10.1 MW solar park will be used to repay the bridging loan from Deutsche Bank.
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Due to pandemic-related shutdowns across the globe, U.S. exports and imports both suffered record monthly decreases, according to the Wall Street Journal. From March to April, imports posted losses of 13.7 percent while exports fell 20.5 percent. Now, the trade deficit stands at a seasonally adjusted $49.41 billion after growing 16.7 percent.
Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said, “Beyond the fact that we’re seeing a significant widening of the trade deficit, what really strikes me is the pace at which trade flows are declining.”
Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, stated, “We’re reopening fast enough that import demand will pick up faster than export demand. We’ll have more total activity as we go forward but the trade deficit is likely to widen.”
Angeliki Frangou, chief executive of container ship operator Navios Maritime Containers LP, said, “Much of the disruption may have already occurred. As countries emerge from quarantine and return to work, we expect volumes to pick up, particularly in the second half of 2020.”
Canada also reported similar losses, as the country’s goods trade deficit expanded in April with exports reaching their lowest-ranking level since late 2010.
The U.S. deficit in goods with China grew from $16.99 billion to $25.96 billion over the last month. With the U.S. and China clashing politically, many Chinese state-controlled companies canceled certain shipments from U.S. farm exporters.
The U.S.’s largest exporter, Boeing Co., reported in late March that it planned on suspending airliner production in the Seattle area. General Electric Co. also laid off employees working on jet engine production.


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This week, Automotive News released a series of articles describing its vision for the five-year product pipelines of Japan’s three smaller automakers — Mitsubishi, Subaru, and Mazda. The articles are a compilation of rumors, facts, and info from inside sources that attempt to paint a picture of what we can expect from these three through the end of the decade or thereabouts. No matter which segment you love, there will be something good for you coming out of the woodwork.
Most of the cars on this list come from Mazda; Subaru refreshed almost all of its new-car lineup just last year, and Mitsubishi is in a bit of a “what-are-we-doing”, soul-searching phase as it figures out how to compete in the U.S. Either way, there’s something for everybody in this parade of upcoming new cars:
5. 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport
Whether or not we like them, there’s no denying that American buyers are going cuckoo for crossovers, especially small ones. Mitsubishi’s Outlander Sport is but one crossover in that group, and the brand behind the moniker is looking for new ways to keep itself viable. According to AN, the Outlander Sport should receive a new look for the 2016 model year. Considering that Mitsubishi’s success in the U.S. is very limited, we think some fresh styling could go a long way with the market.
(Current Outlander Sport shown.)
4. 2015 Mazda2
Mazda builds some great driving cars, and we have high hopes for the next iteration of the automaker’s subcompact hatchback. We’ve already seen the styling — which rocks — but the car doesn’t enter production until about Thanksgiving. Power will come from a 1.5-liter four-banger, which should be much more fun to operate than any three-cylinder out there (we’re looking at you, Mitsubishi Mirage). Ford Fiesta aside, the subcompact segment could use a dose of fun, and the Mazda2 looks to be the one delivering.
3. 2017 Mazdaspeed3
Enthusiasts love the Mazdaspeed3; it’s a turbocharged, front-wheel drive wagon with a manual transmission and a chassis that loves to get tossed around. The current-generation Mazda3 has yet to produce a Speed3 variant, and AN believes that won’t change until the 2017 model year, when the Mazda3 lineup as a whole is set to receive an aesthetic refresh. This segment is currently on fire, with the Mini Hardtop Cooper S and the Volkswagen GTI both receiving updates this past year. It’s going to be a good decade for thrifty speed.
(Standard Mazda3 hatchback shown.)
2. 201? Subaru Legacy GT
AN didn’t report on this one, but your author did attend the media drive for the all-new 2015 Subaru Legacy. As it stands, every Legacy comes with a CVT, and neither of its engine options (H-4 or H-6) are really up to the task of delivering a proper sporty ride. That’s why we think Subaru should come out with a Legacy GT using a little bit of parts-bin engineering. Borrow the six-speed manual and the turbocharged flat-six from the STI, drop it in the Legacy, adjust the suspension for a stiffer ride, and you’ve got a guaranteed winner in the mid-size segment. There is no Mazdaspeed6, and the Accord Sport is only moderately sporty, so we think the Legacy GT could take the segment by storm.
(Current Legacy shown.)
1. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Mazda has been hyping its all-new upcoming MX-5 for the last few months, and we won’t see it in the flesh until next month. In the meantime, though, we can say with confidence that this is the number one car to look forward to from these brands. The MX-5 has always been about driving, first and foremost — it’s small, it’s rear-wheel drive, and it’s beloved by track rats the world over. We expect the new Miata to sport the same front end as the rest of Mazda’s lineup, but the rear end is anybody’s guess. Either way, we absolutely cannot wait to see it.
Tag : Permotoran


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Now, this appears to have started because Ryan Gosling made a big show about them on Ellen recently, giving one to every member of the audience and donning the jammerz himself. But the volume is just ridiculously high, and the weird thing is this happens every year around this time.
The video from the Ellen show has only hit the internet in the past couple hours -- after the search hit number one. When we first noticed the trend earlier this morning, there were exactly zero Google "news" posts written in the past twelve hours about the pajamas. Right now there are nine. There have been 238 blog posts written in the past hour on the subject. Two hundred thirty-eight!
Most the news stories and many of the blog posts are written as though the writer just got off the phone with Anna Wintour and she gave them the exclusive scoop on the hot new trend for the season. Because the Ellen video didn't get online until after the search trend had peaked (thanks, Twitter), most of the early posts don't mention that part at all. You see things like "very popular this winter season." No one seems to have noticed that: a) this is based on a tongue-in-cheek endorsement from Ryan Gosling and b) again, this happens every year, which means it can hardly be considered a new trend. If anyone knows why this company gets this bump every year, let us know in the comments. Do they get themselves a high profile celebrity endorsement every January or something?
The best part of this: Jumpin Jammerz actually appears to be a terrible company! The web site Pissed Consumer is full of reports of wrong orders, bad products being shipped and falsely advertised promotions. Amazon consumers are only slightly less indignant. So: If you're thinking about buying a pair because its suddenly plastered all over the internet, don't. Jumpin Jammerz are a bunch of bullshit.


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Paris, France – Roubaix, France-based data storage and Internet services provider OVH, which used its recent OVH Summit to announce an expanded push into the North American market, will be relying on a selective mix of partners both large and small to ensure its success, the company’s Montreal-based Canadian channel leader told Computer Dealer News on Tuesday.
“As of today, the goal of OVH is to develop key partners – not thousands, but a couple of key partners with whom we are doing large business together, in addition to being in touch with a greater number of small partners,” OVH’s VP of product and marketing for Canada, Cédric Combey, said. “Our goal is to find partners who are able to bring customers to the cloud.”
“We also want to develop partners outside of Quebec, because we are landed there four years ago and will be officially opening an office in Toronto at the end of October,” he continued. “So we’re also looking for partners in Toronto.”
If OVH Summit was any indication, Combey won’t have trouble finding them: vendors both large and small were happy to explain how they would support OVH’s expansion into Canada.
One of the more well-known companies setting up shop on the convention floor was virtualization software and services vendor and Dell Inc. subsidiary VMWare Inc., whose representative Hervé Basso said his company had been working with OVH on its North American expansion from the beginning, and looked forward to helping both the company and its customers identify cloud services such as software-defined datacentres that could support them both immediately and in the long run.
“Our partnership started six or seven years ago, when OVH was simply looking for good technology that would instituting a cloud and virtual hosting business,” Basso said. “Since then I have discovered that they are usually the first ones willing to adopt new technology, which sets them a bit apart from other companies in what we call our cloud network.”
Basso said that OVH has become the sort of partner that VMWare involves in its own partnership planning, noting that the latter has already invited the former to several of its virtual cloud network planning sessions this year regarding more than one product offering, and that OVH is always quick to offer valuable feedback.
“I believe our relationship is entering a chapter three,” Basso said. “Chapter one was a kind of mutual discovery… They were a different kind of company and a different type of partner… Chapter two we reinforced the partnership, and OVH made the decision to adopt most of our latest software… and now we are entering chapter three.”
“Both companies are quite mature now, as is the relationship, and based on that maturity we’re expecting to scale the relationship further, starting with OVH’s international expansion,” he said.
Another well-known brand at the conference was Toshiba, which according to representative Rainer Kaise supplies storage components – a mix of hard disk and SSD – for OVH’s servers.
“They integrating these into their servers and run them in their datacentres,” Kaise said, showing off a sample server in which the company had installed the type of 3.5-inch capacity hard disks that companies such as Dropbox use for archiving, 2.5-inch hard disks, SSDs, alongside a screen that displayed their speeds.
Unsurprisingly, while the hard disks were only able to process between 200 and 500 operations per second, the SSD was processing 80,000, and an SAS installed in the neighbouring slot 180,000.
Kaise didn’t yet know whether Toshiba would be supplying the hard drives in OVH’s newest datacentres when he spoke with Computer Dealer News.
“OVH purchases from several sources,” he said. “Of course we hope that we will be recognized and have a significant share, but it depends on OVH’s internal decision.”
One of the lesser-known vendors, meanwhile, was among the more trusted by OVH itself: LinkByNet’s Marthieu Demoor said his company had been hired to deploy its express migration services not only in France and Canada, France, but China as well.
“I think in the few months that I have been able to have a single face to the customer, we’ve been a one-stop shop,” he said, “delivering end-to-end service while simplifying access and usage of new cloud technologies.”
Equinix Inc., meanwhile, has supplied infrastructure for many of OVH’s existing datacentres, but is likely to collaborate only on network nodes for OVH’s latest venture.
“We supply a datacentre in Toronto, but OVH has their own,” the company’s business development and marketing director for France, Fabien Gautier, told Computer Dealer News. “Sometimes they need to connect to networks through our datacentres, but for the hosting of their own customers they’ve decided, basically, to build their own datacentres, because of the size of their current requirements.”
For his part, OVH’s Combey mentions VMWare as a key partner, and thinks LinkByNet will be especially useful as well, especially as his company expands further into western Canada.
“We’re already doing large business,” he said. “When we started in Canada back in 2013 I don’t think we had more than six people, and as we speak we currently employ more than 130.”
“Our next step will be Alberta and Vancouver, probably next year,” he said. “This is only the first step of the expansion.”


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SHIB, like Dogecoin, had a modest profile for a lengthy period of time before becoming popular among mainstream investors. Over the course of the last month, Shiba Inu has momentarily entered the top ten cryptocurrencies list and has also passed its domestic opponent DOGE for the first time in terms of market capitalization.
People became aware of the existence of cryptocurrencies as the value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies skyrocketed. Over time, individuals have traded and invested in virtual currencies in such large quantities that they have grown to become a $2.2 trillion business as of April 2021, according to CoinMarketCap.
Every successful entrepreneur has a set of 10 essential characteristics, which I’ve seen in my years of working with thousands of company owners and executives. This list of critical components should be in the forefront of your thoughts when starting a company because they are directly related to success.


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The Geneva Motor Show sets itself apart from the other international auto shows with a gathering of Europe's smaller boutique manufacturers and tuners. One of those is Gumpert, the German builder of supercars that have impressive performance and a polarizing appearance. Gumpert has had a strong showing at Geneva the last couple years, debuting the 750-horsepower Apollo S in 2010 and the coachbuilt Tornante last year.
Gumpert has big plans for this year's Geneva Motor Show, and back in November released a shadowy teaser showing a new supercar that would be revealed in March. Now that the show is just days away, Gumpert has released another teaser (seen above), and a few more details, including the fact that two Apollo models will be making their debut. First is the Apollo R, which Gumpert says is a "a true racecar with the brute power of up to 860 horsepower." Second is the Apollo Enraged, an exclusive model limited to just three examples that will be the "strongest Apollo that Gumpert has ever set on the road."
Gumpert also hinted at a time of 7:11.75 – no doubt a Nürburgring lap set by one of the aforementioned cars. Could the German supercar maker have nicked the production car lap record set by the Dodge Viper ACR back in September? We'll have to wait to find out. Check back on March 6th and 7th for official details and photos for both cars, as well as the rest of our Geneva Motor Show coverage.


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Ardent Mills to showcase alternative grains at IFT
June 3, 2019
By Bakers Journal
Denver-based Ardent Mills, the flour-milling and ingredient company, will exhibit at the annual Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Meeting & Food Expo from June 3-5 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, where the Ardent Mills Mobile Innovation Center (MIC) will showcase a growing portfolio of grain innovations.
Ardent Mills has a deep history of cultivating lasting relationships with farmers, university research teams, customers and partners to identify, source, grow and pioneer leading-edge ingredients. This year’s IFT event provides an opportunity for Ardent Mills to showcase what’s next in a new era of grain, including:
- A sustainable local crop: The Annex by Ardent Mills has announced a new relationship with Colorado farmers to grow Colorado Quinoa™, a crop that supports biodiversity, sustainable growing practices and water conservation.
- Access to intact grains: Ardent Mills is investing in The Annex and its Denver Community Mill to add the capability to clean and pearl intact grain berries to support growth of cleaned whole wheat, farro, barley, rye and heirloom grains.
- Chickpea flour: Ardent Mills and The Annex are bringing its capabilities and expertise in R&D, operations, food safety and insights to chickpea flour, feeding demand for this versatile, protein-rich alternative flour.
Ardent Mills’ culinary team will pay homage to the rich culinary legacy of New Orleans by giving a taste of how grains can complement Cajun cuisine, as well as on-trend applications featuring ancient grains, crisps, flakes and Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) grains. The Cajun tastes on the menu will include Shrimp & Colorado Quinoa Grits, IQF Mixed Grain Jambalaya, Whole Wheat Crawfish Pies, Ancient Grain Boudin, Ancient Grain Gumbo and much more.
The team’s three-day sampling menu will also inspire industry professionals to consider how other grain innovations can meet the demand for simple, delicious, and wholesome plant-based foods. The menu will include delicious applications of chickpea crackers, Pure-Purple™ Barley smoothies and food-safe edible cookie dough made with SafeGuard® RTE Application flour.
Since last year’s IFT gathering, The Annex—a business unit created to cultivate the future of specialty grains and plant-based ingredients—has marked its first full year of operation. “We’ve been focused on driving innovation, expanding production capabilities and building out our product portfolio since launching in March 2018,” said Shrene White, General Manager, The Annex by Ardent Mills in a press release. “The Annex team has worked closely with our farmers, and we’re building new relationships with chefs, bakers and developers to connect the entire supply chain. We are enthusiastic about how these connections will develop and guide our work in crops like quinoa, chickpeas, heirloom wheats and identity-preserved grains,” said Don Trouba, Sr. director, Go-To-Market.
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- WithMe Health, a startup that took on pharmacy benefits managers in addition to providing personalized medication counseling, raised $20 million in Series B funding on Tuesday.
- The startup initially wanted to unseat pharmacy benefits managers, one of the healthcare industry's most powerful and entrenched middlemen that negotiate prescription discounts on behalf of employers and health plans.
- CEO Joe Murad said WithMe signed its first large customer in late October, and has expanded its services to include medication guidance, which maintains a relationship with patients before, during, and after they've filled a prescription at a pharmacy.
- Murad and OMERS Ventures' Michael Yang, who led the Series B and is joining WithMe's board, said that by adding a patient-focused service can help WithMe be competitive in the $335 billion industry that is currently dominated by just a handful of major companies.
- For more stories like this, sign up here for Business Insider's daily healthcare newsletter.
To beat out some of the most entrenched and powerful companies in the healthcare industries, WithMe Health had to get creative.
The startup is just the latest in a long line of companies hoping to unseat pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs. These companies negotiate discounts to prescription drugs at pharmacies like Walgreens on behalf of health insurers and employers and operate largely behind-the-scenes in the eyes of the average patient.
But for startups hoping to drive down drug prices, PBMs are almost always the 800-pound gorilla in the room. Three PBMs — CVS Health's Caremark, UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx, and Cigna's Express Scripts — control nearly 75% of the $335 billion market, according to Becker's Hospital Review.
WithMe started out by focusing on disrupting the classic PBM business model. Instead of making money off of rebates or dispensing fees, WithMe had planned to get paid a fixed fee for each of its members each month and allow employers to keep tabs on the transactions that get processed to make sure they're not taking any additional money.
But the company hit a wall after its $20 million Series A funding round in early 2019.
In March 2019, WithMe brought on healthcare industry veteran Joe Murad as CEO and started looking to add other services to its own PBM model to become more attractive to potential customers and expand its appeal to the average patient.
It worked. On Tuesday, the startup announced $20 million in Series B funding led by the Canadian powerhouse investor OMERS Ventures with participation from existing investor Oak HC/FT. OMERS Ventures managing partner Michael Yang will join the startup's board.
"WithMe wanted to come to market with a new PBM approach in the back-end and front-end," Yang told Business Insider. "Everyone thought about the front-end as costs, but what WithMe wanted to do was treat both ends with the core PBM contracting capabilities but also member services."
WithMe wants to help patients navigate their prescriptions
These days, WithMe is offering a full concierge service that helps patients make sense of a prescription and decide which medication best suits them and their budgets. The service also checks in throughout the treatment's course to ensure they are taking it as prescribed and reporting side effects as they arise.
Murad said no other PBM was offering what essentially amounted to beefed-up medication management, so that's where WithMe stepped in. So far, the company has gotten started with one self-insured employer in late October, with plans to sign on more now that they have the funds to support that kind of growth at scale.
"It's still early, we just launched our first customer 20 days ago and it's working well, but it's still being proven out," Murad said. "We know it's a challenging marketplace to tackle."
Prescription costs are rising as a percentage of total dollars spent on healthcare, both Yang and Murad said. That could further cement the big three PBMs in power, or it could open up avenues for new competitors like WithMe to gain a foothold.
Murad explained that PBMs are already under pressure from self-insured employers to expand customer-centric services to help reign in costs without materially impacting the PBMs' bottom lines. If the other PBMs don't give in, WithMe stands to benefit by signing lucrative contracts with those employers and capturing even a small sample of that growing expense.
"The entire pharmacy chain is the plans and members, but sponsors have little to no control," Murad said of the employers WithMe is working with. "We want to empower those sponsors with information they've never had for things like priceand access to medications that are effective and actually working. It's almost criminal. I think it's long overdue for some disruption."
Breaking into the PBM market isn't easy
Starting a company with the intent of disrupting the three major PBMs, is "not for the faint of heart," Yang said. Many startups have tried and ultimately failed to do so successfully.
"The name of the game in PBM is cost or price, depending on what side you're on, which is why everyone is talking about discounts and rebates," Yang said, referring to companies like GoodRx that offer patients price comparison tools and rebates for prescription medications.
One of the ways PBMs negotiate lower drug prices with manufacturers is by using their size to get a better deal. That automatically puts new companies like WithMe at a disadvantage.
A startup like WithMe, with limited resources and finite amounts of funding, could only compete for so long on price with the three incumbents Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx, Yang explained. And with new pharmacy competitors like Amazon entering the fray, pricing pressure will only continue to increase.
"It's a freaking nightmare," Yang said, adding that there is more complexity than ever for patients trying to decide where and how to fill prescriptions. "There is nobody here in the industry that is saying, we want to own those questions."
He was intrigued with what he saw as a fundamentally different approach from WithMe: put patients and patient education at the center and sell that customer-centric approach to employers instead of working directly with insurance companies and pharmacies. It's an indirect way into the market, he said, but that could help WithMe succeed where others have failed.
"Several of us felt there was an abdication of that capability from incumbents in the market because it was something you didn't want to do if you didn't have to," Yang said of the customer service element within PBMs. "Fundamentally, we wanted to turn that on its head."
Although WithMe is still trying to woo more self-insured employers over to its service, Yang explained that there were already several use cases where he could see WithMe helping, not just from a cost perspective but also from a public health perspective.
He gave the example of a patient that is prescribed a narcotic painkiller following a routine procedure or surgery, explaining that the current method doesn't require anyone to check in on that patient once that prescription has been filled. A WithMe provider would be able to check in on the patient regularly to monitor side effects, mood changes, or other self-reported data, and then help wean the patient off painkillers prior to the prescription running out.
"These are the gaps out there that leads to suboptimal health and waste," Yang said.


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With the announcements of Valve's HTC Vive, and Sony's Project Morpheus, one might wonder if the Oculus Rift team is starting to sweat just a little bit. 2015 will have a couple of VR-Headsets on the market throughout the year, and the Oculus Rift is supposedly slated (from previous statements) for a limited release around Summer this year, with a few consumer ready versions to gauge interest from retailers and the public.
"Everything is going horribly right" With The Oculus Rift So Far
During the annual Oculus 'Ask Us Anything' panel a few days ago at South By Southwest (SXSW), Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey got asked a few questions that had been asked via the Oculus sub-reddit forum. The first question Luckey got asked was about any new kind of info on a date for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift. Which Luckey responded to by saying:
"We don't have anything to announce, Now is not the time nor the place, but everything is going well."
The follow-up question to that, was if Luckey still thought that the Rift is the best VR headset at any price and noted that "he also said that something would have to go terribly wrong for the consumer Rift not to come out by the end of 2015. Does [Luckey] still stand by those statements?"
"I still do believe that," Luckey said, responding to the first part of the question in regards to the quality of the headset.
"I still stand by that. I'm pretty confident. But that could change. I'd love for it to change because it means there is something even better out there. But I think that's unlikely right now."
Luckey was far more elusive with his answer in regards to the 2015 release date of the Consumer version.
"I did say [the comment about the 2015 release date] before we made a lot of changes to our roadmap, We've expended a lot of the ambition we had around the product and what we wanted to do."
"Us partnering with Facebook has allowed us to do a lot of things we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise, like hiring 300 people to work on getting the Rift out as quickly as possible to the quality level we wanted to. I can't comment on the date one way or another, in either direction, but I can say that nothing is going horribly wrong. Everything is going horribly right."
When Luckey was asked about the HoloLens, he said that eventually all of the best VR-headsets would include a fully immersive experience as well as augmented reality overlays.
His answer to the release date question might mean that they're still on track for the small-scale consumer roll-out this Summer, or they might be planning to go all out this Holiday, and the third option would be that they are not releasing it at all this year. If this is the case they might miss out on some potential customers, even previous Rift users that might want to try the new VR-Headsets that are coming out.
I myself have been patiently waiting for the consumer version on the Rift, and I'll most likely be getting myself one, whenever it is released. If you wish to watch the entire "Ask Us Anything" panel, you can do so over here.


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For our February 2023 Investment Summary, we take a closer look at the latest news and market trends we are seeing take place this month.
The ebullient conditions of financial markets in January collided with higher-than-expected inflation and activity figures in February, bringing a quick halt to the promising equity market rally that began the year.
Headline CPI in the US fell to 6.4% but core PCE, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure, rose to 5.4 %, after steadily declining since peaking in June last year. The US labour market continues to be strong with the unemployment rate falling to 3.4%. Indeed, January saw a huge monthly gain of 517,000 new jobholders. The weekly filings for unemployment insurance claims continue to sit at record low levels despite steady news about worker layoffs in the tech sector.
Good economic news was not limited to the US as the PMI services indices bounced back above 50 in the Eurozone and the UK signalling ongoing expansions in the service sectors of these economies. China has also had a sharp rebound in activity as their economy is exiting the lockdowns and restrictions of their zero-Covid policy. Financial markets which had been pricing (and hoping) for a soft landing abruptly switched to expecting more rate hikes and a longer period of high interest rates perhaps even a significant recession (the proverbial hard landing).
The result of all these gyrations was very mixed equity market performance for February (sharp declines from early month highs) and negative returns in fixed income for the month.
We expect periods of negative market performance to occur frequently over the next year as global central banks continue to struggle with reducing inflation. Markets will oscillate between the soft landing and hard landing scenarios depending on the most recent economic data. This time last year, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) was expecting core PCE inflation to end 2022 at 4.1%, whilst forecasting that the Fed funds rate would end the year at 1.9%. By the end of the year, inflation was at 5.3% and we had a Fed funds rate of 4.25%! Terrible forecasts, and this is with (or maybe because of?) a huge staff of PhD economists and very sophisticated econometric models of the US and World economies.
There is a notion that fighting inflation is simple. A central bank need only raise interest rates to slow activity which will then lower inflation, almost like adjusting the volume knob on an audio device or taking one’s foot off the accelerator in a car and applying the brake.
In January, capital markets had concluded that the central banks had hiked enough, inflation was falling from its highs, economic growth was slowing but not dramatically, a comfortable “soft landing” with equity prices rising and bond yields falling.
Unfortunately, it is not that simple, and it is certainly not painless. Economies are extraordinarily complex systems and the reasons that inflation rises, and falls, are not fully understood. Economists still argue over whether money supply growth is a factor or not.
The gap between the current levels of inflation in the developed world and official interest rates suggest to us that more rate hikes will be required to bring inflation down to the popular 2% target most central banks are pursuing. We do not recall a period when inflation was brought down with policy rates below the inflation rate.
While inflation has come off its peak levels of last summer, much of the decline is due to energy prices falling back from their Russia-Ukraine war peaks. In addition, we have experienced falling goods prices as businesses misjudged how sharply goods demand would fall once economies became free of Covid concerns and people could travel and enjoy services again. Businesses cut prices to offload excess goods inventories. The chart below shows the stubbornness of core inflation, it is staying far too high.
We are just beginning to see corporate profit margins being affected by higher financing costs and by higher input prices and higher wage bills. Some companies can partially offset this by raising their output prices, but not all have this option. This has produced mixed earnings results and many downgrades of future earnings forecasts. This is not good for equity prices. The danger is that this kind of scenario becomes the norm and people, and businesses expect higher prices and alter their behaviour, workers seeking larger pay increases and businesses raising prices. This is why the central banks sound so determined to bring inflation down.
As they continue to raise rates economic activity will slow and the unemployment rate will start to rise. Households and businesses will respond, reducing their spending, and activity will slow further. Politicians do not like this scenario as their voters complain and they in turn will put pressure on the central banks to lower interest rates (or at least stop raising them). Depending on where inflation is, this may or may not be a good thing.
The difficulty is we do not know (nor do the central banks) how long rates will have to stay high in an attempt to reduce inflation back to targeted levels of 2-3%. Given this, we expect the investment environment will continue to be frustrating and central banks will attempt to cause economic growth to slow more.
We continue to favour markets with cheaper valuations (e.g. FTSE 100) and firms and industries (energy and mining) with pricing power that can help mitigate rising costs. We also find shorter duration fixed income attractive as the yields are high enough to contribute to your returns.
There is an old forecasting joke that goes something like this “forecasting is difficult, especially about the future.” But it does seem clear to us we have moved from the quantitative easing, zero-interest rate world, where money and credit was almost free, and certainly abundant, to a world of interest rates well above zero (likely to go higher), central banks no longer buying bonds, and businesses and consumers scrambling to react to the highest inflation they have seen in decades. A disciplined, value focused portfolio approach, with modest expectations will be the best course of action.
Read more from our Chief Investment Officer Jeff Brummette in our Investment Summary for January 2023. Stay tuned for more insights from Oakglen on the hot topics and latest trends in the financial markets. You can also sign up to our mailing list for more regular communications using the section below.


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Bitcoin costs have fallen beneath $45,000. This drastic change of 8 % might be attributed to Chinese language developer Evergrande’s debt of $300 billion, in line with analysts. Though there is no direct hyperlink between the property developer and cryptocurrency, many analysts are suggesting that the troubles in China’s property market might set off a crypto crash as it could drive risk-aversion in buyers. Nonetheless, others see this as a possibility—the President of El Salvador tweeted to his followers that the nation had bought 150 extra Bitcoin, and added that “purchase the dip” is presidential recommendation.
“This [El Salvador’s purchase] reveals that though the market will undoubtedly fluctuate, crypto will all the time be a sought-after asset. When the market falls, the one means is up,” mentioned the CoinDCX analysis crew, reacting to the markets right this moment.
Nonetheless, as anxious buyers of Chinese language property shares expressed considerations, they moved and traded their belongings in different varieties – leading to market instability. On Tuesday, world’s largest valued crypto Bitcoin crashed by 6.39 % and began buying and selling at Rs. 34,03,511 ($46,219.68). Bitcoin had closed at Rs. 36,35,907 ($49,375.62) earlier. In latest days, the trade charges of Bitcoin seem to have dropped to the bottom for the reason that starting of August 2021.
As well as, Ethereum that was buying and selling at Rs. 2,56,011 ($3,476.63) on September 20, additionally slumped by 6.20 %. The present worth of Ethereum is presently Rs. 2,39,564 ($3,253.28).
As for meme-based Dogecoin, that had witnessed a slight rise in worth final week, a marginal low has been recorded. The cryptocurrency has fallen in price by 6.57 %, bringing its trade price to Rs. 16.64 ($0.23)
Then again, stablecoins Tether and USD Coin registered marginal growths of over one % every.
As per digital asset supervisor CoinShare, the influx in cryptocurrencies amounted to $41.6 million (over Rs. 306 crores approx.) for the week ended on September 17.
Whereas Bitcoin transactions made up for capital price $15.3 million, Ethereum merchandise garnered $6.6 million in buying and selling final week.


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The Young Entrepreneurs Association of Brunei, YEAB, with the support of Progressive Cellular Sendirian Berhad, hosted the fourth edition of the "INSIGHT: Business Networking and Dinner". INSIGHT aims to provide entrepreneurs a platform to gain insight on current developments of the economy and business opportunities, as well as open up opportunities for entrepreneurs to exchange views with entrepreneurs from various businesses and industries.
Present was Yang Berhormat Retired Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan Bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. Also present were His Excellency Motohiko Kato, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Brunei Darussalam and Yang Berhormat Nik Hafimi Abdul Haadi, Member of the Legislative Council. Dayang Fatin Arifin from the Youth Entrepreneurs Association in her welcoming remarks said through INSIGHT, the association will continue to hold important discussions that affect businesses and simultaneously provide a platform for quality networking among entrepreneurs. The event was attended by more than 65 entrepreneurs from various fields and industries.
Source: Radio Television Brunei


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The tipping point for electrified vehicles is in sight, and a combination of hybrid and fully electric powertrains is expected to cut the global market share of pure internal combustion engines (ICEs) by about 50% by 2030.
ICEs will continue to play a major but changing role in the industry, as most electrified vehicles over time will be hybrids, according to new research by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Three factors—technology, regulatory mandates, and consumer cost of ownership—will shape the changeover, which BCG expects to play out over three phases and about a dozen years. ICEs will continue to be the dominant powertrain for the next several years, at least through 2020, as the prices of electrified vehicles will remain high, even with incentives, and the payback period based on total cost of ownership (TCO) for consumers will be too long to be attractive. In addition, manufacturers will readily meet current emissions regulations with advances in ICE technology.
Three types of technological advances will shape the powertrain future. Through 2020, technological improvements in ICEs should be sufficient to enable the industry to meet regulatory emissions requirements in major markets. The biggest change will be in Europe where diesel engines, which held 48% of the market in 2016, will begin a relatively rapid decline in share toward 36% in 2020, owing to the rising costs of meeting nitrous oxide and nitrous dioxide emissions standards and to “clean” consumer trends that will encourage buyers to explore less expensive forms of electrified vehicles.
At the same time, battery costs, which are the single largest driver of TCO for BEVs and PHEVs, are declining further and faster than projected just a few years ago. BCG estimates, confirmed by several sources, have batteries’ per-kilowatt-hour cost falling to between $80 and $105 by 2025 and to between $70 and $90 by 2030.
Regional Market Variations
The adoption curve for electrified vehicles varies to some extent by market, depending on TCO, which reflects such factors as the price of the vehicle, the number of miles driven, and gas and electricity costs. In China, for example, the leading market for electrified vehicles so far, high mileage, low electricity costs, and high gas prices combine to give these vehicles a favorable TCO relative to ICE-powered cars and trucks. Government incentives for BEVs have reduced the consumer’s TCO to the point where BEVs actually reached a five-year payback, compared with the TCO for ICEs, in 2015.
“OEMs and their suppliers should keep their eye on two broad trajectories,” Mosquet said, “the rise in market share of electrified vehicles from about 3% today to 50% around 2030, and the increase in share for battery-powered vehicles from almost nothing to about 14% of the global market in 2030. There will be variations in the pace of change, depending on regulatory actions, consumer adoption of autonomous vehicles and car sharing, and the economics of different fuel sources. Companies will need to develop a suite of strategic and product options to manage a transition that is both inevitable in its destination and uncertain as to its route.”


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Co-working space aggregator CoFynd has begun operations in Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida, also known as National Capital Region (NCR).
The launch comes shortly after the Gurugram headquartered company secured Rs 1.25 crore ($171, 710 at current exchange rates ) in seed funding in January 2020.
V Kishan, senior vice president, technical, Coca Cola; Terence Rodricks, senior vice president, customer service, at Dubai-headquartered Mashreq Bank and Ankur Jain, a real estate investor had participated in the funding round.
Founded in 2019 by Atul Gupta, CoFynd aggregates coworking spaces. It offers shared office spaces, meeting rooms and other such facilities to startups, entrepreneurs, freelancers and small to medium businesses.
“The funds raised by the company will further accelerate the growth of our network and will allow us to broaden our reach and expand our services,” Gupta, founder and CEO, CoFynd said.
Gupta has over 15 years of experience in the real estate industry. Prior to CoFynd, he served as a director of Gupta Promoters. He holds a BCA in computer science from Indira Gandhi National Open University.
The company also plans to expand its operations to other metro cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, and Mumbai by the third quarter of 2020. It has partnered with WeWork, Innov8, 91Springboard, AltF, and Instaoffice, among others.
According to CoFynd, the coworking space industry has been growing at 23% since 2010 and it claims that the number of such spaces is expected to double by 2022.
“Coworking spaces have become the lifeline of millennials and startups today. The growing demand from freelancers, consultants, and corporates has led to a growth in the co-working sector like never before. The workspaces to be future-ready should be networked, flexible, integrated and innovative, and CoFynd helps you to find one,” Gupta added.
Last year in July, SoftBank-backed hospitality unicorn OYO entered co-working business with the acquisition of Delhi-based co-working space provider Innov8.
OYO will follow a multi-brand model with three co-working brands - Innov8, Powerstation, and Workflo – to cater to upper midscale, midscale and economy co-working markets, respectively. OYO Workspaces currently has 21 centres offering over 15,000 seats across 10 cities in India.


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UNCERTAINTY reigned today over the future of one of the UK’s lighting industry’s most recognisable brands, Fitzgerald Lighting Cornwall Limited.
Sources close to the company say it is set to enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which allows it breathing space from its financial commitments while it organises a restructuring, which could include job losses and a partial or full sale.
Local news website Cornwall Live says it has spoken to an employee who has said that workers based at the Bodmin factory were told earlier this week that they were ‘losing their jobs’.
Fitzgerald Lighting Cornwall is known simply as Fitzgerald Lighting and manufactures LED panels, battens, high bays, emergency lighting units, downlights and exterior luminaires at the facility, which includes a powder-coating line, full test facilities and laser cutting facilities.
Its key markets include the educational, healthcare, industrial and commercial sectors. The workforce comprises around 90 operatives.
The company has promoted itself on its British manufacturing capacity and its flexible capability to respond quickly to UK customers.
However, like all European lighting firms, it has faced stiff competition from low-cost Chinese imports which have put enormous pressure on margins.
The original company, Fitzgerald Lighting Limited, was founded by Peter Fitzgerald, a prominent name in the industry and a former president of the Lighting Industry Federation, the precursor of the Lighting Industry Association.
That firm went into administration in December 2008. A new company, Fitzgerald Lighting Cornwall Limited, was established and went on to employ many of the original employees. Its managing director was Peter’s son Tim.
Both Peter and Tim are directors, as is Kuwait-based Ahsan Waris. The company was not available for comment today.


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This article was originally published on September 27, 2018, and has been updated since.
You can subscribe to the BBC NewsFeed feed to receive the latest news alerts from the BBC.
Dog food is the key to the successful canine life.
For decades it has been the source of pride and confidence for dog owners.
But with so many different brands of dog food on the market, the most popular dog food brands are no longer what they once were.
The popularity of the new breed of dog-food has meant that pet owners are increasingly concerned about their dogs’ health.
But a review of the most widely used dog foods in 2018 found that they have been found to contain far too much sugar and fatty foods that can lead to health problems.
“The major problems with dog food are high levels of added sugars, high levels (of trans fat) and very high amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol,” said Dr Sarah McLeod from the University of Liverpool in the UK.
“These are the types of problems that have led to the rise of dog obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer, which is now the leading cause of death in the US.”
Dr McLeod has previously described dog food as the ‘food of the century’.
But a review by the UK’s leading food watchdog, the Food Standards Agency, in 2018 confirmed that “no-one can deny that the popularity of dog foods is changing the way we think about dog food”.
Dr McLEOD said that the results of the review, published in the British Veterinary Medical Journal, showed that the dog food industry had a responsibility to improve on the results it had provided to the public.
“We know that there are many people who have had negative experiences with the use of dog diets, but there are also people who genuinely love their dogs and genuinely want to know how to eat a good quality diet,” she said.
“A good quality dog diet is a healthy diet, and should be considered when choosing a dog food.
It should be thought of as a companion, a partner, a companion in your life, a family pet.”
The study analysed the nutritional quality of a range of dog and cat food brands, including the ones most commonly used in the United Kingdom.
The results showed that a number of popular brands, particularly those from the same brand family, were in the same range of sugars, fats and trans fats as some of the “best dog foods” available in the market.
“It is no surprise that the average dog diet contains more than twice the recommended daily allowance of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as more than double the amount of trans fats and saturated fats,” Dr McLeod said.”[But] it is not surprising that the best dog foods contain significantly more sugar than a good dog food should contain.”
Dr Sarah McLEONNE said the new data showed that “a lot of people were very worried” about the health of their dogs after eating dog food that was so high in added sugars and saturated fat.
“In some cases, they were getting more sugar from a dog diet than they would from their usual diet,” Dr MacLEONNEY said.
“This was particularly concerning for older dogs, because older dogs are more likely to have metabolic disease.”
Dr MacLEOONNE also said the higher amounts of trans fat and saturated fatty acids in some of these dog foods could be linked to health risks, such as high cholesterol levels.
“Trans fats, in particular, are a major contributor to the increased risk of heart disease,” Dr MACLEONRE said.
It is not clear what the levels of trans fatty acids or saturated fats are in all the dog foods that have been analysed, but they do appear to be high.
Dr McCLONNE explained that some of those high levels were linked to the fact that the types and amounts of proteins in the food were not regulated.
“There are proteins in many foods, including many of the processed foods that are in the dog diet, so the amount in the proteins can have a big effect on the composition of the protein in the diet,” said Ms McCLONE.
“One thing that is important to understand is that a lot of the proteins in dog foods are actually in the meat that they eat.”
Dr McGONNE and Dr McLEOOMAN also said that dog food manufacturers had a duty to ensure that the amount and types of trans and saturated protein in their products were not a risk factor for developing heart disease.
“If you want to eat more protein in your diet, that’s a good idea.
That’s what you’re going to be eating in a few weeks, so you should be eating a protein-rich diet,” Ms McLEOMAN said.
The new research also highlighted that a small number of dog products had been shown to contain large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), but these were not shown to be a risk.
Dr MacCLONE said that it was important that people understood the scientific evidence about the risks


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US: Oil strength lifts Dow; tech shares lag
[NEW YORK] A big surge in oil prices pushed petroleum stocks higher on Monday, while the Nasdaq dropped on weakness in Facebook and some other major tech names.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 67.18 points (0.40 per cent) to 17,073.95.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 1.77 (0.09 per cent) at 2,001.76, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 8.77 (0.19 per cent) to 4,708.25.
Dow members ExxonMobil and Chevron jumped 2.6 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively, following a 5.5 per cent jump in oil prices, as the petroleum market continued to strengthen on hopes of a deal by producers to limit output.
Other commodity-linked companies also gained, including Dow member Caterpillar, up 2.7 per cent, United States Steel, up 4.6 per cent, and aluminum producer Alcoa, up 4.9 per cent.
But Facebook dropped 2.5 per cent, Netflix 6.0 per cent and Google parent Alphabet and Amazon both 2.2 per cent, as investors rotated into commodity investments from stocks that have outperformed, said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.
"We continue to be in a market of rotation," Mr James said. "Things that have performed well that are overowned are being sold, or trimmed."
Apple lost 1.1 per cent after the US Supreme Court upheld lower-court rulings that it was part of a price-fixing conspiracy for electronic books. The court's decision clears the way for a US$450 million settlement to be paid by Apple.
Dow member DuPont rose 2.4 per cent following a report that German chemical company BASF is considering a counterbid for the US company, potentially overtaking DuPont's planned merger with Dow Chemical. Dow lost 1.1 per cent.
Furniture and home-furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports jumped 29.2 per cent after announcing that it expects fourth-quarter comparable sells dipped 0.7 per cent, better than the prior projection of a decline of between two and four per cent.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals rose 7.1 per cent after announcing it will release fourth-quarter earnings on March 15. Valeant previously withdrew its financial forecast amid an internal review of its accounting practices and said it was under investigation by US regulators.


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High-End Sports Car Buyers Not Big Into Green
Small, specialized sports car makers like Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, Aston Martin and Bentley, have been concerned with the European Union’s threat to introduce a mandatory limit on fuel consumption, The Detroit News reports.
This would require an average fleet output of about 43 miles per U.S. gallon, although the details of how this would be implemented have yet to be disclosed. But experts say the new CO2 rules would be designed to allow specialist manufacturers like Porsche to demonstrate an annual improvement in CO2 emissions, but not forced down to levels which would threaten its existence.
“Any tax burden or fines (for exceeding CO2 rules) will ultimately be passed down to the customer and with these high end products they won’t be too worried,” said CSM Worldwide’s British-based Europe Sales Forecast Manager, Walt Madeira. “People buying these vehicles don’t have green on their agenda; for every Leonardo DiCaprio, hundreds of others want to buy these cars.”
Stay Up-to-Date On Environmental Management, Energy & Sustainability News with EL's Free Daily Newsletter
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- Verismic Does Remote PC Power Management


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PARIS — Fast-fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz said Tuesday it would launch a collection in collaboration with Marni, marking its second high-profile partnership with an Italian designer brand in less than a year, following the recent launch of Versace for H&M.The collection of women’s and men’s clothing and accessories, designed by Marni founder and creative director Consuelo Castiglioni, is to go on sale March 8 in about 260 H&M stores worldwide and online.“I created a small repertoire of all that represents the Marni style, for men and for women, with great attention to quality and details,” Castiglioni said. “It’s beautiful to be able to speak to a larger public, and in particular to the new generations: As a designer, it gives me new energy.”The collection will feature Marni’s trademark bold prints and streamlined cuts.The women’s collection will include African-inspired patterns as well as color blocking on pleated skirts, dresses, cropped trousers and jacquard knits, in fabrics ranging from silk to cotton poplin. Accessories will span jewelry and bags to shoes and scarves.The men’s collection will focus on relaxed ensembles, with print used more subtly, for instance as a contrasting detail on shirts or in a jacket lining.Margareta van den Bosch, creative adviser at H&M, said the collection made an upbeat statement for spring. “Marni has such a modern touch with everything they do, mixing prints and accessories in a playful but chic way. It’s fantastic to see how Consuelo Castiglioni coordinates her designs, matching new combinations of print and color, with such incredible craftsmanship behind every piece,” she said.H&M routinely unleashes pandemonium among shoppers with its designer collaborations, which have included collections designed by Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Roberto Cavalli, Comme des Garçons, Matthew Williamson, Jimmy Choo, Sonia Rykiel and Lanvin.The announcement arrives at a time when the Swedish high street retailer is seeking to reinforce its fashion credentials in the face of sliding sales, as consumers in Europe — its main market — tighten their purse strings amid fears of a new recession.Simon Irwin, retail analyst at Liberum Capital in London, noted that the Marni collection will come on the heels of the Versace for H&M pre-spring collection, launching online only in January, and the David Beckham Bodywear line for men, scheduled to bow in February. “There is a bit of an acceleration going on in terms of these designer-led initiatives,” he said. Irwin added that it was not the first time that H&M had programmed several high-profile designer or celebrity launches in rapid succession, pointing to the launch of the M by Madonna and H&M Loves Kylie collections in spring-summer 2007.“H&M, with things like Marni, is clearly working extremely hard on self-help measures, because the market isn’t going to come to your help,” he said. “I wouldn’t be optimistic about next year. The overall economic environment in Euroland, I would have thought, is probably going to get worse before it gets better.”The analyst said that the financial impact of the Marni collection would likely be limited, as it will go on sale in only a fraction of the retailer’s stores, which totaled 2,410 as of Oct. 31.H&M reported that net profit fell 15 percent in the third quarter as economic uncertainty and bad weather kept customers out of stores in key markets, triggering intense price competition between fast-fashion retailers.Though its gross margin has been steadily declining, due to factors including rising raw materials costs and currency fluctuations, the decrease was smaller in the third quarter than in the second quarter, Société Générale analysts Anne Critchlow and John Baillie said in a research note published last week.
"In order for Shudu to wear garments, she needs to be able to put them on, just like you would in the real world. You have to digitize the outfits," said Cameron-James Wilson on dressing 3-D model @shudu.gram for her WWD photoshoot. #wwdfashion ( 📸: @cjw.photo )
“Shudu is a digital supermodel, a very glamour and amazing woman. But she’s 3-D,” says Cameron-James Wilson, a fashion photographer and the creature of @shudu.gram. Here, Shudu wears @cushnieetochs for her debut fashion editorial. #wwdfashion (📷: @cjw.photo)
“It is the fierce female performances that came before me that made be able to clearly identify for myself what it was that I wanted to do, what kind of artist I wanted to be, what kind of films I wanted to make,” said @brielarson at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. See more pictures from the event on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: Matt Baron)
“On a personal level, it’s my vision to create a really different idea with their look to be at the epitome of women’s fashion in South Korea – to create a new milestone,” said stylist @chochowon on dressing K-pop’s most fashionable girl group, @blackpinkofficial. WWD’s @mistywhitesidell sat down with Won ahead of the group’s new album release, “Square Up,” which is out today. Read the full interview on WWD.com. #wwdfashion #blackpink_squareup #blackpink
For @ralphlauren, 2018 is a reason to celebrate: It marks the brand’s 50th year in business. Last year’s chauffeured show in Bedford, NY featuring his vintage car collection may have seemed like the big celebration to show-goers, but they were wrong. The official celebration will be held on September 7 during #NYFW. Get all the details on WWD.com. #wwdfashion (📷: @giovanni_giannoni_photo)


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ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio -- Riesbeck's Food Markets, a family-owned independent here, has pushed its paczki business to record heights, with sales expected to exceed a quarter-million dollars in the next couple of weeks.
Strategic promotion has played a key part in the paczki (pronounced "poonch-key") success story. The 13-store chain has taken out TV and drive-time radio ads, packaged the pastries in eye-catching red-and-white boxes stacked high in store displays and courted the local consumer media.
As a result, Riesbeck's in-store bakeries have become destinations, lifting store traffic in each of the 11 stores that offer the doughnut-like Polish pastries, said John Chickery, the company's bakery director.
Store directors and managers in each store pitch in to help bakery staffers dust the big, rich treats with sugar and tuck them into their boxes. They help build displays, too, each weekend during Lent.
"We fry paczki 16 hours a day on weekends, but we haven't had to hire anyone extra because everybody in the store helps," Chickery said. "I've even seen store directors do some of the frying."
Selling paczki throughout Lent is unusual. Most bakery directors who promote paczki to boost winter sales stop the hoopla on the evening of Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins.
Chickery's decision a few years ago to continue selling the pastries on Fridays and Saturdays right up to Easter was risky because, according to tradition, paczki is the last treat loyal observers indulge in before the Lenten fast begins.
When Carl Richardson -- now a bakery executive at Price Chopper Supermarkets, Schenectady, N.Y. -- in conjunction with the Retailer's Bakery Association, formed the National Paczki Promotion Board, his idea was to limit paczki's availability to the week before Lent, creating a bakery event at the dreariest time of year.
Indeed, at first, Riesbeck's made a big thing of paczki's limited availability. But Chickery said he figured he could still keep the excitement going if he continued to offer them, but only on weekends leading up to Easter. Turned out he was right.
This year's total paczki sales goal, $259,395.29 for just 11 stores, may sound ambitious. However, on Feb. 21, the company's sales had already achieved 53.6% of that target, with several more Friday-Saturday sales still to come.
"We have opened a new store since last year and raised the price, but even if you took those two things out of the equation, we were already up 16% over last year's sales by the evening of Fat Tuesday, and that was just the start," Chickery said.
"We've found that this [continuing to sell paczki on weekends during Lent] works for us," he said. "Nobody else around here is doing it. They're still considered a special, once-a-year treat. After the Saturday before Easter we won't have them again until next year."
By Feb. 21, one of Riesbeck's stores had already exceeded its goal. In fact, with sales exceeding $3,800, that store -- one of the smaller units -- was at 136% of its target. The newest store had rung up just over $32,000 in paczki sales by Feb. 21, hitting 75% of its goal already, Chickery said.
"We've been selling 900 boxes of eight-count each Friday and Saturday there," he continued. "People just went paczki crazy. We had customers asking us last summer if we were going to have them, and on that first day, there were people lined up to buy them at 6 o'clock in the morning."


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Going for the Casual Gamerby
Speaking of games, I wonder if we're sometimes spending too much time obsessing on the console market and overlooking the growing sophistication of casual games?
Big Fish games just launched a new one called Travelogue: Paris that is already doing quite well. It incorporates real photos of the city in a kind of Where's Waldo aspect that looks like loads of fun. At 75 megabytes, it's about seven times the size of the games we traditionally think of as casual. That seems to highlight the fact that companies are willing to spend more money (though a fraction of that than console makers) to attract an audience where the margins are gi-normous.
Meantime, competitor Wild Tangent is gearing up for the launch of a "virtual console" that it hopes will grab a lot of attention from spend-thrifts over the holiday season.
Yeah, these won't replace the rollicking good fun of becoming Master Chief in Halo, but it may be more the future of gaming than we think.


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Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and the associated economic turbulence in 2020, CEED Morocco had a very successful year, with the Fintech Catalyst project being recognized by the Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) as one of their top performing programs. CEED Morocco is excited to announce that thanks to support from MEPI, CEED Morocco will be opening a new chapter in the city of Tangier.
CEED Morocco began expansion into Tangier in September 2020 with the identification of key local partners, mentors and coaches followed by the recruitment of prospective participants and startups in October 2020. CEED hosted pitch sessions in December and selected the entrepreneurs for its first cohort based on the team’s ability to 1)execute their proposed strategy, 2) the business model’s ability to scale and 3) the team’s ability to articulate mastery of the product market fit. The cohort is a combination of young entrepreneurs that are using technology to tackle issues across different sectors including food service, textile manufacturing and construction. The Chapter had its kick-off event January 7th and CEED is excited about the path forward and the opportunity to work with more entrepreneurs in a new region of Morocco.


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Charles F Goldie painting, unseen for 100 years, Tue, 16 Nov 2021
A Charles F Goldie painting will go under the hammer in Auckland after being unseen by the public for more than 100 years. Hori Pokai - A Sturdy Stubborn Chief was painted by Goldie in 1919 and purchased for $56 as a wedding present by a war nurse. The painting was considered by art experts to be "among the finest he has ever done", Thomson said. "The Goldie has never been seen in public and the sale will be the first time it has been on the market in more than 100 years." The painting could fetch up to $750,000 but that was a conservative estimate because "it had such an interesting provenance" and could easily bring much more, he said.
Goldie died in 1947 and his works regularly sell for record prices, with a painting in 2018 selling for $456,800, nearly double its predicted price of $260,000.
"It is not a large painting but it is an exceptionally fine work by Goldie and some believe it ranks among his very best."
Hori Pokai was described as a "colourful character" from the Thames district. He was thought to have been 90 when he died about 1921.
The Goldie painting will sell alongside another significant artwork, a print of Girl with Balloon by British street and graffiti artist Banksy.
Thomson said it could sell for up to $350,000 but because of the "provenance and global popularity" of Banksy, it was also difficult to predict.
"It is one of the unidentified British street artist's most important and sought-after works.
"It is a print of the work which created art history in 2018 when it sold for $1.9 million at Sotheby's in London moments before it was partially destroyed in a shredder built into the frame, as it hung on the auction room wall," he said. Last month the shredded version, which Banksy renamed Love is in the Bin, sold for $35 million, also at Sotheby's, he said. There had already been "very strong interest and anticipate very robust bidding" for both the Goldie and the Banksy works, which would go to auction at the art centre in Parnell at 6pm on Tuesday, Thomson said.
The centre was open for viewing under alert level 3, step 2, and bids would be taken via phone, tablet, desktop or laptop.
"The digital bidding platform has shown in recent sales under Covid restrictions to be particularly effective and buyers are very comfortable bidding from the comfort of their homes or offices," Thomson said.


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16 Jul Facebook Launches Nearby Friends
WHAT IT IS
Putting an end to lengthy media speculation, Facebook launched its entirely new opt-in feature”Nearby Friends” last month. Designed specifically for the social media giant, Nearby Friends allows Facebook users to connect with friends who are close by and even share their exact location via an iOS or Android device. Facebook users will now have the option to notify friends who also use the feature if they are in the same neighborhood, park, or shopping center.
HOW IT WORKS
Nearby Friends has made its appearance within the apps list on Facebook’s navigation menu. Users can opt in to the program and even set who they wish their location to be shared with. Once a user opts in, Nearby Friends displays a list of friends who are in the area along with their distance away in fractions of a mile. Other information provided includes last time and location of check-in.
In addition to receiving your friends locale, Nearby Friends also allows users to send a friend your precise location with the press of a finger. Forget the frustrating prospect of tracking down your buds in a busy stadium, or colleagues for drinks in a crowded bar. Nearby Friends allows you to meet with ease.
The innovative aspect of Nearby Friends which separates it from so many other location sharing apps is its focus on friends within your specific area. It presents location based on proximity, as opposed to a specific location. instead of seeing all your friends, you’re focusing on those who are actually close to you. clearly, this innovative feature results in incredible opportunities for location-based marketing.
WHY IT MATTERS
Target marketing just got a brand new bullseye. We’ve already been carving out specific audiences for Facebook advertisements, but now the door is open for adding location to our list of specifications.
The opportunity to place the right content in front of the right people at the right time has never been more real. Imagine a nightclub with the capability to present advertising solely to Facebook users listed within their entertainment district. Better yet, a lunch spot with the marketing leverage to specifically target those who work in their neighborhood. Nearby Friends has potential to give any business that leverage.
While Facebook has not yet opened Nearby Friends to social media advertising, any logical analyst would place the app on such a path. If and when Facebook does allow advertisers to create location-based content, the opportunities for reducing wasted posts, increasing core audience reach, and maximizing marketing value are seemingly endless.


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- Sears said Monday that it will close 142 more stores, part of its plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- Massive liquidation sales will start at the stores soon, the company said.
- Sears has closed hundreds of stores already in an effort to stay afloat, including 46 which are due to close next month.
- The company said that all stores will keep operating in the short-term, and that the company will continue trading into the crucial holiday period.
Sears confirmed plans to shut down 142 more stores as it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, and says massive liquidation sales will start at the stores soon.
Read the full article at: https://www.businessinsider.com/sears-close-142-more-stores-massive-liquidation-sales-2018-10


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India is soon expected to become South Asia’s first cruelty-free cosmetics country with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare proposing to ban the import of cosmetics tested on animals.
Humane Society International, India’s Be Cruelty-Free campaign manager, Alokparna Sengupta, applauded the Ministry for introducing a draft notification in this regard and said many months of campaigning to ban import of animal-tested cosmetics paid off, according to a press release here.
A legislative rule prohibiting animal testing for cosmetics within India has completed its 45-day public consultation period in March and was expected to be implemented soon. The ban on animal testing for cosmetics in the country would come into force once a notification was issued.
Regarding the move to ban import of animal-tested cosmetics, she said the authorities have decided to have a mandatory registration of imported cosmetics. Those importing them would have to declare that the products were cruelty-free.
Currently, India was importing cosmetics from 61 countries, including Thailand, China, USA, France, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland. Lip make-up, eye make-up, powders, shampoos, creams are some of the products.
Ms. Alokparna said the move to ban imported cosmetics tested on animals would mostly impact those brought in from China, Thailand and Korea as there was no ban on animal testing in those countries.


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Ecobank has urged Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large businesses in the country to embrace its recently launched cutting-edge digital platform, the Ecobank Single Market Trade Hub.
This platform serves as an exchange and information repository tailored to cater to the dynamic trading requirements of SMEs and corporates within Africa’s single market.
Now operational, the hub connects traders across the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), encompassing a vast market of 1.4 billion people.
The Ecobank Single Market Trade Hub introduces a unique online match-making feature, facilitating seamless connections between importers and exporters who have established their company profiles and are ready to showcase their goods and services.
This fosters easy networking for traders to engage with buyers and suppliers all across Africa.
Moreover, the hub provides access to a valuable repository of essential information and knowledge related to AfCFTA, thereby equipping SMEs with critical resources to expand their trade into new markets within Africa and develop into sustainable and scalable enterprises.
Kola Adeleke, the Executive Director of Commercial Banking, highlights the significant benefits of this digital trade platform for Nigerian businesses.
It will not only promote intra-African trade but also empower businesses to explore and capitalize on the numerous opportunities within the AfCFTA framework.
Morealso, it will facilitate smooth connections between importers and exporters within Africa’s single market, simplifying access to trading partners on the continent. Embracing this innovative platform can enhance the growth and success of businesses in the region.
According to him, “This hub is in line with our vision of powering one African market. As such, It has been designed to offer a whole lot of benefits to businesses in Nigeria and beyond.
Both customers and non-customers of the bank are eligible to sign up on the platform as it is also a gateway into Ecobank’s full range of products and digital solutions, including trade finance and services, cash management solutions (including RapidCollect), domestic and cross-border payments, investment banking, Capex financing and more”.
He asserted that Ecobank remains the preferred choice for pan-African trade and payments while noting that “our medium-term objective is to become the leading gateway for pan-African trade facilitation in the emergent AFCFTA era, leveraging our position as a major payment bank in Nigeria.”
As per projections from the World Bank, the implementation of the AfCFTA is expected to have a remarkable impact on Africa’s economic landscape. By the year 2035, this ambitious single market trade agreement, which commenced its operations in early 2021, is anticipated to bolster the continent’s income by an impressive $450 billion. Additionally, intra-African exports are predicted to surge by over 81%, contributing significantly to regional economic growth.
The core objectives of the AfCFTA involve substantial tariff reductions on goods and services among member countries, fostering an environment that encourages the free movement of traders and investments within the region. Such measures are poised to play a pivotal role in elevating Africa’s GDP by an estimated 7% by 2035.
The optimistic outlook doesn’t stop there; it is envisioned that the AfCFTA will act as a driving force propelling the African economy toward reaching the remarkable milestone of $29 trillion by 2050.
This projection comes from the United Nations Commission for Africa and indicates the tremendous potential that this trade agreement holds for transforming the economic landscape of the continent, boosting prosperity and fostering greater collaboration among African nations.


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Kochi, Jul 24:
TVS Motor Company, manufacturer of Two and three-wheelers globally, on Saturday announced the launch of their TVS iQube Electric scooter in Kochi.
Kerala Transport Minister Antony Raju and Joint Managing Director of TVS Motor Company, Sudarshan Venu, jointly launched the scooter.
“TVS iQube Electric is a green and connected, urban scooter powered by an advanced electric drivetrain and next- gen TVS SmartXonnect platform,” the company said in a release.
Venu said the TVS Motor company was transforming into a digital age company offering world class Green and Connected products.
He said the TVS iQube Electric ecosystem is built around digital platforms that enable complete digital retail experience to customers.
“As India moves ahead, its mobility solutions would increasingly be experience-led, and nowhere is this felt sharper than among the youth of India.
Our focus on India’s youth is embodied in the first of the TVS electric portfolio. TVS iQube Electric is a blend of an advanced electric drivetrain and the next-gen TVS SmartXonnect platform,” Venu said.
TVS iQube Electric is equipped with a 4.4 kW electric motor to deliver high power and efficiency with no transmission loss.
The scooter travels at a maximum speed of 78 kmph and traverses 75 kms with a full charge.
The scooter comes with an impressive acceleration of 0 to 40 kmph in 4.2 seconds, the company said.
The scooter can be booked through the website with a booking amount of Rs 5,000 and this will be followed by an end-to-end transparent digital purchase experience and dedicated customer relationship assistance for purchase and support.
The company isalso providing customers with comprehensive charging support, ranging across multiple charging options including SmartXHome, which offers a dedicated home charging solution with BlueTooth connectivity, live charging status and RFID enabled security.
“At present, charging units for the scooter will be installed at Cochin TVS in Kochi.
Further, the company is developing an expansive public charging ecosystem by expanding network strength across the city,” it said.
The scooter will be available in select dealerships across Kochi from today, at an on-road price of Rs 1,23,917.
Kochi, Jul 24: