$55 Billion in Sales Could Shift to Store Brands, McKinsey Study Predicts At Private Label Trade Show in Chicago
Written on 13 November 2007 by admin$55 billion in annual supermarket
sales could shift from national brands to store brands if the aggressive
private label strategies of several large, high-performance retailers are
emulated by other major chains.
The projected shift was outlined by McKinsey & Co. in a breakfast
presentation today at this year’s private label industry trade show in
Chicago. It is based on a study completed by the consulting firm entitled
“New World of Brands: The Next Wave of Private Label.”
Kari Alldredge, a Principal at McKinsey, and Matt Spanjers, an
Associate Principal, delivered the findings.
Brian Sharoff, President of the Private Label Manufacturers Association
(PLMA), which has organized the trade show for nearly 30 years, called the
McKinsey report “astounding” and said that it is one of the few studies
that correctly analyzes the impact that cutting-edge retailers are having
on the supermarket industry.
“What we are seeing today is the transformation of food retailing from
regional and local grocery chains to national supermarkets, supercenters,
warehouse clubs, and specialty gourmet chains that are committed to making
their own brands into nationally-known brands. And they are succeeding
beyond anyone’s estimation,” said Sharoff.
“The launch this week of Tesco’s new Fresh & Easy stores in California
is one more indication of this trend,” Sharoff said.
In the McKinsey study, the private label capabilities of more than 70
retailers were analyzed and several trading partners — national brands as
well as private label — were interviewed. The report identifies retailers
who “have successfully used private label as a key differentiator and to
build consumer loyalty.”
According to the research, “the bulk of retailers” are lagging behind.
If, says McKinsey, these lagging chains begin to emulate the private
label share leaders and pump up their store brands to drive growth and
build consumer loyalty, it could result in $55 billion in annual sales
migrating from national brands to private label in categories across the
store.
A shift of this magnitude is consistent with the experience of store
brands in Europe, according to McKinsey. “In the 1990s, as many European
retailers began to understand the impact that private label could have on
their business, private label share more than doubled in several major
markets.” The report singles out Tesco, the U.K. retailer, which increased
its private label share by three percentage points annually from 21% to 34%
over four years.
The success of private label in Europe has definitely made an
impression on U.S. retailers. “In our interviews-and in public
statements-current share leaders and private label ‘up and comers’ share
the aspiration to reach dollar share levels and growth consistent with the
European leaders,” the McKinsey report concludes.
The McKinsey study is also buttressed by recent consumer research
commissioned by PLMA and carried out by Ipsos-MORI, a well-known
international market research firm. Their report showed that 41% of
shoppers in the U.S. now identify themselves as frequent store brand
shoppers, up sharply in recent years. The research also found that
consumers are now more aware of store brands and more likely to buy store
brand products than ever before.
Reflecting the growth in private label, this year’s PLMA trade show
presented more than 2,000 exhibit booths exhibiting the latest private
label products, packaging and promotional ideas in categories ranging from
fresh, frozen and refrigerated foods, snacks and shelf-stable groceries, to
health and beauty, household and kitchen products, paper and plastics,
general merchandise, consumer electronics, home/office and DIY.
Founded in 1979, the Private Label Manufacturers Association has more
than 3,000 member companies worldwide. Trade shows and conferences include
PLMA’s “World of Private Label” International Trade Show which is presented
in Amsterdam each Spring.
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=62552
Swap the Cookies for Cocktails
Written on 13 November 2007 by adminImpress Your Guests This Holiday Season with Drinkable Desserts.
Dessert at the end of a holiday party
is the icing on the cake to a wonderful celebration with family and
friends. But how can you impress your guests if you are less-than skilled
with a mixing bowl and spatula? Instead of serving the standard cookies and
coffee, end the night with a spectacular drinkable dessert that will leave
a lasting — and delicious — impression.
Drinkable desserts are one of the hottest trends in the culinary world
thanks to the increasing popularity of dessert bars opening across the
country. David Lebovitz, renowned pastry chef and author of The Perfect
Scoop among other cookbooks, has transformed some favorites like Tiramisu
and Banana Split into four sip-able sensations that are easy for anyone to
make at home.
“I really enjoyed deconstructing some of my favorite recipes and using
the ingredients to create something fresh and contemporary,” says David
Lebovitz. “Baileys(R) Irish Cream served as the perfect base in these
cocktails since its luxurious flavors of vanilla, chocolate, fresh cream
and Irish whiskey easily complement so many of the flavors already found in
traditional desserts.”
Add a touch of Irish flavor to a classic Italian treat by blending
Irish cream with creamy mascarpone cheese and espresso to create a
drinkable T’Irish-misu. Two ladyfingers, sealed with a touch of chocolate
hazelnut spread, create the perfect dip-able cookie for this stunning
martini glass delight.
As an alternative to the typical cup of coffee or espresso, create your
own coffee granita by freezing espresso mixed with sugar, which will then
turn into refreshing coffee crystals. Pour Irish cream over the frozen
coffee mixture to create The Affogato, which means “drowned” in Italian.
Serve with a curled lemon zest as the finishing touch on this creative
Irish coffee ‘drowned’ Italian-style.
Shake things up at the end of the meal by serving the Baileys(R)
Shakerino. This delectable drink unites two favorite flavors — mint
chocolate and coffee — by mixing mint chocolate flavored Irish cream,
coffee ice cream and espresso in a cocktail shaker. Sprinkle cocoa powder
on top and enjoy this simple, yet chic and sophisticated drink.
Head down South with a contemporary spin on a New Orleans’ favorite:
Banana Foster. The Banana Baileys(R) Split skips the flaming frying pan
used in the traditional Banana Foster recipe and simply blends bananas,
dark rum, caramel-flavored Irish cream, vanilla ice cream and nutmeg to
create this luscious libation. Instead of putting a cherry on top, the
cherry is placed on the bottom of a chocolate rimmed-martini glass to add a
burst of color to this whipped cream topped sensation.
If you are short on time or ingredients, you can always simply serve
Baileys(R) on the rocks or blended with ice along with a creative garnish.
Whether served at a traditional holiday feast or at a casual celebration
any time of year, these drinkable desserts are sure to impress your guests
with their contemporary flair. And to make sure your party is a complete
success, don’t forget to arrange for a safe ride home for all your guests.
For additional recipe ideas, visit http://www.baileys.com.
Apple, China Mobile Discuss China IPhone
Written on 13 November 2007 by adminChina Mobile Ltd. is in talks with Apple Inc. about bringing the iPhone to China, but no agreement has been reached yet, the telecom’s chief executive said Tuesday.
The companies still need to iron out their differences over revenue sharing, Wang Jianzhou told reporters on the sidelines of the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress in the Chinese territory of Macau.
Apple launched its iPhone in the U.S. earlier this year. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has plans to launch the device in Asia in 2008 and is in talks with various operators in the region.
China Mobile is China’s largest cell-phone carrier.
Mobile Users Choosing Social Networking Over Games as GetJar Breaks the 100 Million Download Barrier
Written on 13 November 2007 by adminMobile users in the UK and around
the world are increasingly choosing mobile applications such as social
networking, chat, messaging and video ahead of games, according to GetJar
(http://www.getjar.com/ wap.getjar.com), the world’s most popular mobile
application distribution and developer community.
GetJar, which has just broken the 100 million download barrier in just
two years, has seen more than three times the demand for mobile
applications than for games in 2007. The site has seen a significant
increase in the range of social and communication applications available to
consumers, which is also reflected in the level of downloads taking place.
GPS and location-based applications have been also growing in popularity
this year.
UK users opt to download a greater proportion of games than any other
country in GetJar’s top 20, with just over 25% of downloads in the form of
games. In the UK and USA, messaging applications are among the most
popular, together with browsers and mobile utilities.
There has also been rapid growth in the number of mobile developers
around the world, who co-operate with GetJar’s community of mobile users to
aid product development.
Mei Lin Ng, co-founder/VP at mobile community site mig33 commented,
“Getjar has been important to our success in the mobile application space.
They make it easy to deploy new applications from developers like
ourselves, and even easier for mobile consumers out there to download the
applications. Getjar is a great platform for anyone developing in the
mobile space.”
“To supply 100 million downloads to our users is not only a great
achievement, but demonstrates how the use of mobile technology has
developed far beyond phone calls and SMS messaging to richer communication,
information and business applications,” commented Ilja Laurs, founder and
CEO of GetJar.
About GetJar
Founded in 2004, GetJar (http://www.getjar.com/ wap.getjar.com) is the
world’s most popular mobile application distribution and developer
community, with over 200,000 registered developer and beta-tester accounts.
GetJar operates a groundbreaking business model in which all industry
groups from consumers and developers to publishers and advertisers are
connected in an interactive environment, which also gives users an active
role in product development.
With over 100 million downloads from the site in just two years, and
currently averaging over 8 million downloads per month, GetJar sits at the
heart of the mobile development world, with visitors to the site coming
from 135 countries worldwide.
GetJar is based in the UK and Lithuania.
Japanese Yen Concerns
Written on 13 November 2007 by adminJapanese Finance Ministry officials will want to prevent near-term yen gains through the 109.0 level against the dollar.
As risk aversion remained at elevated levels, the US currency fell to lows near 109.0 against the yen on Monday before a tentative recovery as importer dollar demand increased and the yen reacted to over-bought technical conditions.
Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda voiced his opposition to excessive currency volatility which indicates that the Japanese government is taking the yen issue seriously, especially as it is unusual for the Prime Minister to comment on exchange rates. The Japanese authorities are likely to watch closely key support levels below 109.0 and will look to discourage further short-term yen gains. The yen retreated to beyond 110.0 on Tuesday even though Asian stock markets remained under pressure with choppy trading continuing.
Domestically, the GDP data was slightly stronger than expected with a 0.6% third-quarter increase as exports performed strongly, although housing investment weakened. The Bank of Japan again voted by a 8-1 margin to hold interest rates steady at 0.50% with Mizuno again voting for an increase. The central bank adjusted its monthly report slightly with a higher assessment of wholesale price inflation, but the yen surge this week will increase resistance to an interest rate increase.
Titanic’s sister ship Britannic
Written on 15 October 2007 by adminWhat of the other sister ship to the Titanic? Britannic was the last out of the three ships to be constructed. After the Titanic disaster in 1912, the Britannic was considered to be even more ‘unsinkable’ than the Titanic, and was even more luxurious! She carried 48 lifeboats, she had a double side and bottom which was constructed out of steel. Her watertight bulkheads extended all the way up to boat-deck.
She was launched on the 26th of February, 1914. These are the following statistics of the Britannic… gross tonnage 48,158, 882 ft, and 9 in, 94 ft wide, 34 ft of ship was under water. 4 funnels, 2 masts, 3 engines, 3 propellers.
The Britannic was going to serve in route between Southampton, and New York. At the break of WW1 she never saw commercial use. The British Navy paid for the use of commercial ships, but did not compensate for the loss of them. The maiden voyage began on December 23d, 1915, as a hospital ship.
After disastrous results from the Gallipoli campaign, the military needed hospital ships, and the Britannic was called for! She was painted white with red crosses and had a green strip running across about midway. She was placed under command of Captain Charles A. Bartlett!
She successfully completed five missions between the Mediterranean and the United Kingdom carrying the sick and wounded. She began her sixth voyage on the 12th of November 1916, and reached the first leg of her mission, she stopped to take on coal and water, as normal.
At 8:12, on Tuesday November 21st 1916, a terrible explosion shook the ship from bow to stern. In the dining room the reaction was the same, doctors and nurses rushed to their posts. The captain was on the bridge at the time of impact, and the first reports of news were very disturbing! The explosion had taken place on the starboard side of the ship, and damaged two holds, and the force of the explosion damaged a watertight bulkhead.
Boiler room six had been severely damaged, as water poured in at an uncontrollable rate.
Captain Bartlett ordered the watertight doors shut, and sent out a distress signal, and ordered the crew to ready the lifeboats. For some unknown reason several of the watertight doors did not shut, and as a result the Britannic was brought to her maximum flooding level. She could stay afloat at this rate if she remained motionless. But there was one bad mistake that sealed the fate of the Britannic, in the lower areas of the ship the nurses had opened the portholes to vent the ship, as the Britannic began to settle in the water the water poured into the open portholes, thus filling the Britannic’s seventh watertight compartment. Her fate as well as the Titanic was sealed, nothing could be done.
On the bridge the Captain was trying to save his ship, the Britannic was sinking fast, too fast! In just ten minutes the Britannic had developed a bad list to starboard. To his right the Captain could see the shores of Kea, three miles away. He was going to make a last effort to beach the ship, but this would not be an easy task, because of the bad list to starboard, and to make things worse the 100 ton rudder was not responding, somewhere the steering gear had broken. But giving more power to the left propeller would serve the purpose. Britannic slowly started to turn right, she was sinking!!!
At the same time sailors were standing next to the lifeboats waiting for orders, not knowing what to do since the Captain was trying to beach the Britannic. Stewards came up from below decks running to the lifeboats in panic, the officer by the boat kept his nerve, and refused them to get in, but then changed his mind thinking that he did not want them around when the evacuation began! This officer in particular was not aware of any orders not to lower the lifeboats, but when he saw that the engines were running he order the lifeboats to stop six feet above the water until further orders, stopping six feet above the water was not received very well by the occupants of the lifeboat, as they began to curse the officer.
Assistant Commander Harry W. Dyke was organizing two lifeboats to be launched to rescue men that had already jumped into the water. The two lifeboats that were hanging six feet above the water were dropped into the water and hit violently. They were launched without the permission of the officer who had declined earlier. Then something happened that was not expected, and could not be helped. The two lifeboats were headed straight to the giant propellers that were now well out of the water, as the lifeboats reached them they were instantly ripped apart along with the people in them. When news of the massacre reached the bridge, the Captain ordered the engines stopped. There was no need of killing everybody that got into a lifeboat. The propellers stopped just as a third lifeboat came upon them!
With that Captain Bartlett gave the order to put the boats away, and abandon ship!
At 09:00 Bartlett sounded one last blast on the whistle and then just walked into the water, which had already reached the bridge. He swam to a collapsible boat and began to co-ordinate the rescue operations. The whistle blow was the final signal for the ship’s engineers {commanded by Cheif Engineer Robert Fleming} who, like their heroic colleagues on the Titanic, had remained at their posts until the last possible moment. They escaped via the staircase into funnel #4 which ventilated the engine room.
The Britannic rolled over onto her starboard side and the funnels began collapsing. Violet Jessop saw the last seconds: “She dipped her head a little, then a little lower and still lower. All the deck machinery fell into the sea like a child’s toys. Then she took a fearful plunge, her stern rearing hundreds of feet into the air until with a final roar, she disappeared into the depths, the noise of her going resounding though the water with undreamt-of violence…”. It was 09:07, only fifty five minutes after the explosion. The Britannic then became a time capsule on the bottom of the Aegean. She is the largest liner at he bottom of the ocean!
There we have the whole story of the Olympic class of liners. Two of them led short and sad lives, and the other was sold for scrap. What was to become the last word in luxury never served as a commercial liner, the other sank on its maiden voyage, and the other led a hard life. It was a doomed idea!
Pamela Anderson plans to squeeze wedding to Salomon in between performances in Las Vegas
Written on 7 October 2007 by adminIn a true quickie wedding, Pamela Anderson and Rick Salomon planned to marry Saturday evening between the former “Baywatch” star’s performances on the Las Vegas Strip, a casino representative said.
Anderson planned to squeeze in the nuptials between the 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. shows of “Hans Klok’s The Beauty of Magic” at Planet Hollywood resort, casino spokeswoman Amy Sadowsky said. Anderson, 40, is starring as a magician’s assistant.
Salomon, 38, is best-known for making a sex videotape with Paris Hilton, his girlfriend at the time, and was previously married to actress Shannen Doherty. Anderson was previously married to singer Kid Rock and Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee.
Rumors of the couple’s wedding plans have circulated since they applied for a marriage license last week. Sadowsky could not confirm where the ceremony would be held.
Anderson planned to announce the news during the late show and invite the audience for a champagne toast at a casino bar, Sadowsky said.
The casino, formerly known as the Aladdin hotel-casino, planned to treat the newlyweds to a four-tier, pink and white wedding cake.
13-year human-powered world trip
Written on 6 October 2007 by adminBritish adventurer Jason Lewis today arrived in Greenwich, south-east London, ending a 13-year round-the-world trip using only the power of the human body.The 40-year-old completed the final leg of his 74,000-kilometre odyssey by pedalling his 7.9-metre boat Moksha up the River Thames. Ending a journey that included capsizing in the Atlantic, breaking both legs, being chased by a crocodile and being arrested on suspicion of spying, Lewis then disembarked and carried Moksha across the Greenwich Meridian line at the Royal Observatory with the help of supporters.
Lewis set off from the same spot — zero degrees longitude — bound for Portugal in July 1994. The 16-leg journey included hiking, kayaking, mountain biking and hiking. “I’m overwhelmed. It’s pretty amazing,” an emotional Lewis told reporters as he crossed the meridian.
“Thirteen years coming to an end. It’s been a big, long journey. It’s good to be back.” Lewis has twice crossed the English Channel in Moksha as well as the north Atlantic, the Pacific and parts of the Indian Ocean.
The boat capsized in the Atlantic. In the United States, he suffered two broken legs when he was run over by a car while crossing the country on rollerblades. He was chased by a crocodile in Australia and was arrested in Egypt on suspicion of being a spy after illegally crossing the border from Sudan.
AP Poll method, questions and results
Written on 6 October 2007 by adminThe Associated Press-Ipsos poll on the 2008 Republican presidential nominees was conducted Oct. 1-3 and is based on telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,005 adults from all states except Alaska and Hawaii.
Digits in the phone numbers dialed were generated randomly to reach households with unlisted and listed landline numbers. As is done routinely in surveys, results were weighted, or adjusted, to ensure that responses accurately reflect the population’s makeup by factors such as age, sex, region and race.
No more than one time in 20 should chance variations in the sample cause the results to vary by more than plus or minus 3.1 percentage points from the answers that would be obtained if all people in the U.S. were polled.
The margin of sampling error for the 366 Republicans interviewed was plus or minus 5.1 percentage points. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish.
There are other sources of potential error in polls, including the wording and order of questions.
Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan sign agreement moving closer to customs union
Written on 6 October 2007 by adminRussia, Belarus and Kazakhstan moved a step closer to a long-delayed customs and trade union on Saturday.
Vladimir Putin of Russia, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus and Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan signed agreements that will speed up the creation of a three-nation union as part of an effort called the Eurasian Economic Community.
The agreements were signed during days of meetings among leaders of 12 ex-Soviet republics that were dominated largely by Russian priorities. Putin said the customs union ought to be operational in three years.
The grouping, which includes other former Soviet states, aims to restore economic ties lost after the 1991 Soviet collapse. Its long-held integration plans, however, have stalled, in part because of the differences in the size of the countries’ economies and their levels of development.
«The results are almost revolutionary,» Putin told reporters in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. «We have agreed on forming a customs union and creating a national agency, a commission that will deal with customs regulation.
The economic community would give Moscow another regional organization to use to try to preserve its influence in its former Soviet backyard and to resist what it perceives as U.S. efforts to expand its role in the region. The expansion of NATO and the European Union into former Soviet bloc nations in Europe is also an underlying motivation.
A day earlier, the leaders sought to breathe new life into another organization _ the Commonwealth of Independent States _ which has struggled to be effective despite internal divisions and bureaucratic barriers.
The CIS presidents adopted a plan calling for a «qualitatively new level of interaction» among member nations. But not all members signed the document, reflecting rifts.
Georgia’s president refused to sign, suggesting that CIS membership had done nothing to help it survive punitive trade and travel restrictions imposed by Russia. Turkmenistan, a natural-gas rich Central Asian nation, also declined to sign, while oil-rich Azerbaijan registered reservations.
Also Saturday, another Moscow-driven group comprising six other ex-Soviet republics, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, signed two agreements, including one expressing concern about the situation surrounding Iran and its nuclear program and the situation in Afghanistan.
More notable was an agreement that allows members of the CSTO to buy Russian military equipment at Russian domestic prices, instead of international prices. That would give a boost to Russian arms manufacturers, which are trying to increase exports, as well as to the cash-strapped militaries of some of the ex-Soviet nations.
