Business
How Ferrero Makes Millions Of Chocolates In America. Americans’ desire for sweet, the sheer size of the market and the relaxed regulations on processed food and chemicals create a perfect $55 billion opportunity for Ferrero, the maker of many popular sweets such as Nutella, Baby Ruth or Tic Tac.
How a Sony Veteran Is Overhauling the Company He Grew Up In. I have known Sony as THE most reliable electronics brand out there on the market. As long as a gadget has the famous logo on it, I can always assume that it is of quality. I never thought one day I would come to know Sony as a brand of entertainment. That’s exactly what the new CEO of Sony is shaping the company up to be. There is a line in there that I really like: “A CEO’s most important task is simply making sure the business survives”
Flight attendants freaked out that Google is buying tons of Spirit employee data. Google’s only fault in this is that it has a history of shady practices when it comes to data privacy and security. I don’t think the company does anything wrong in this case. It will only receive the data AFTER all PII data is scrubbed and already signed legally binding documents that would prohibit it from ever trying to identify individuals in the Spirit Airlines data scoop. The problem is that some stakeholders do not trust Google, not that its promises in this case are flawed.
Walmart touts low prices, meal offerings as key grocery levers. One of Walmart’s unique strengths is that it has stores across the country and is within 10 miles of 90% of the US population. The management team highlighted the importance of the network of stores in growing e-Commerce to 23% of total sales. Walmart is the only retailer that can compete with Amazon in terms of last-mile delivery, but it reigns supreme in groceries. If Walmart can moe a bit more towards Whole Foods’ positioning, they’ll be even more difficult to compete with with the existing infrastructure and enormous scale.
Inside the Billion-Dollar Industry That’s Keeping Your Beer Cold—and Saving Lives. ““I’ve learned that certain groups of people are much more social than other people,” Warner says. He had been passively aware of this, but, he says, “we’ve had some events recently that have impacted those groups. And you’re like, ‘Holy smokes.’ ” “We did feel it last year with the immigration policy,” he says, referring to President Trump’s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration. “There was less consumption because the Hispanic community, in general, did not congregate in groups at the same rate as in the past.” Many members of Latino communities felt anxious about making themselves targets through large gatherings. Back in Warner’s office, I ask him why a company like Amazon doesn’t revolutionize the ice industry. He explains that the natural limitations of ice ensure that it is likely to remain as local a business as it always has been. “It’s not like paper and other commodities,” he says. “You can only transport ice so far. It becomes cost prohibitive to transport ice all the way across the country.” And upon arrival at its destination, ice must be kept cold, which requires special storage facilities. It would take a long time and a major investment for a company to build a network of plants and distribution centers to rival Reddy’s, which, after decades of growth and acquisitions, now has 192 facilities across North America. Some small outfits continue to make ice in their own plants, but Reddy is aggressive about buying these mom-and-pop operations—one former ice maker referred to Reddy as an “exit strategy” for indie producers—and, lately, other large companies. This year Reddy bought one of its two closest peers, Arctic Glacier, solidifying its dominance.”
Other Stuff I Find Interesting & So May You
Renting at Age 39? It’s a Perfectly Rational Financial Choice. The stock market offers everybody an excellent way to build wealth, in addition to the traditional way which is home ownership. Next time you think of taking a plunge into buying a home, remember that there is an alternative out there. Just be open-minded.
Daycare pseudoscience. There is no definitive evidence on whether daycare benefits children’s development or, if there were, whether the benefit would last beyond certain years. Which makes sense. There are a lot of factors at play: parents’ education, household economics, local environment, teachers’ skills and education, method of teaching etc…Similar to countless other complex issues, be careful not to take up an extreme position.
The kelp producer who wants to get Americans eating seaweed. “The US imports more than 90% of its seaweed, mostly from Asia, where cultivation has centuries of history. North America produces only a small fraction of global supply, and while the number of farms has grown steadily, infrastructure has not kept pace. The challenge is no longer simply growing kelp, but processing it, distributing it, and building enough demand to sustain farmers at scale. On the water, the risks are more immediate. This winter brought repeated storms with 70mph winds and deep freezes that locked surface gear in ice, while currents below kept moving, tearing lines apart. Flores estimates she lost 40–50% of her crop – on top of the roughly 30% loss farmers are now advised to expect.“
Stats
Median pay for an S&P500 CEO is $17.3 million, making the ratio between CEO and worker pay 312-to-1
Minh Quang Duong 
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