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15 Tips For Raising A Young Mogul

2010-09-21T10:49:00.001-04:00

The secrets (and perils) of nurturing a future Master of the Universe.

In Pictures: 15 Tips For Raising A Young Mogul

Sixth-grader Gabrielle McBay discovered she liked making sugar cookies from scratch at summer camp in Desoto, Texas. The following school year she filled Valentine's Day orders for her classmates.

"At first I just charged $1 or something, because my mom stopped buying the groceries for me," recalls McBay, now a freshman at Texas Christian University and a seasoned entrepreneur. Crumbs by Gabrielle now churns out eight varieties of cookies, including chocolate-chip and oatmeal-raisin. Renting space at a nearby cake bakery, McBay has pulled in a modest $8,000 in sales thus far, including a chunk from her school's foodservice provider. But she has far bigger plans: a chain of "cookie lounges" that are a combination of a bakery and a coffee house.

McBay is a late bloomer next to Paris Morris. Three years ago, at age 9, Paris Morris told her parents that she wanted to write a book for kids like her who were welcoming new twins into the household. Her father, David Morris, founder of New Year Publishing in Danville, Calif., was happy to oblige. He helped her publish three books, under the My Friend Paris rubric, all aimed at siblings of twins. Today young Paris hawks licensed apparel (made by Queensboro Shirt Co. in Wilmington, N.C.) through a handful of stores and, soon, at her own website--all while trying to fit middle school into her life, too.

Top Tips: 15 Ways To Raise A Young Mogul

Every parent wants to believe her child is gifted. For sprouts with truly serious potential, the pangs to blaze a trail (and maybe make a few bucks) can come on early and strong. For moms and dads, the blessing can be a tricky challenge.

"You can help with the books, and you can drive them to meet with clients," says Donna Fenn, author of Upstarts! How GenY Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit From Their Success. "But the minute it stops being fun [for them], forget it."

Lindsay Phillips was fortunate to have supportive parents when she made ceramic flip-flops as an art project at age 16--and then began dreaming about making a business out of funky footwear. "They always told me that quitters never win and winners never quit, and they really believed in my idea," said Phillips, now 23 and an owner of Lindsay Phillips, maker of SwitchFlops, sandals with easily reconfigurable straps. The Cedar Knolls, N.J.-based company employs 35 people and is on track to pull in $30 million in revenues this year.

Rule No. 1 when mentoring a young mogul: Don't get overly involved. "It's really their project," says Larry Johnson, head of Johnson Training Group, a management consultancy. His daughter, Meagan, raised and sold rabbits as a young girl; now she's his business partner. "Your role is that of an advisor or mentor or coach, but it's not your role to do [the job]," adds Johnson. "And that's a big temptation."

Trigger their imaginations. "Expose them to possibilities through travel, talking about the environment, talking about the news and things that impact the world, and opportunities that may exist for business from all of that," says Bruce Bachenheimer, director of entrepreneurship at Pace University. Drawing their attention to a few magazine profiles of interesting entrepreneurs wouldn't hurt, either.

Run with it. This advice comes courtesy of Phyllis Cheung, founder of MyWeddingConcierge.com. Cheung's 5-year-old daughter, Olivia, recently asked her mother "if 'they make Frostingcicles'"--that is, Popsicle-shaped frozen treats made with frosting instead of flavored ice. "She said we could call it 'Frosting on a Stick.' The next day we made prototypes." When Olivia asked her dad, Philip, who creates mobile applications for his wife's company, if there might be an app that makes images that kids color, then erase and re-color, he wrote one. "So she understands if you ask about something, it really might be possible," says Mom.

Send them to boot camp. Kids go to summer camp for everything from music to athletics. Why not for entrepreneurship? A growing number of colleges, business-development groups and other organizations sponsor immersion camps for teenagers. Presentation skills, team building and innovation are common subject areas. Often there are simulations. Many camps culminate in business-plan contests or other competitions with prizes such as scholarships. At the summer Teen Entrepreneur Boot Camp in New York City, teens have learned to open temporary retail businesses that they create, design, market and operate, including a real espresso bar open to the public.

Charge interest. Say your daughter wants to start a candy bar retailer out of her school locker and she needs a down stroke of a few hundred dollars to buy inventory. Make sure she understands that capital comes at a cost, and that she has to pay back the benefactor who put her in business. "You're doing your child entrepreneur a disservice if you don't teach them the difference between revenue and profit," says Fenn. The same goes for any labor you contribute.

Stress savings. One caveat to the previous slide: When and if the profits start rolling in, don't be afraid to put the brakes on. Alex Rampel's parents were CPAs, so this was Lesson No. 1 for him. "I never had an allowance," says Alex Rampel, chief executive of TrialPay, who started selling his own software at age 10. Mom and Dad suggested that he invest most of his proceeds in certificates of deposit. "That incorporated a strong notion of fiscal responsibility in me," said the 29-year-old Rampel. "That's something most startups could use a lot more of."

Identify a mentor. Hockey prodigies have Sidney Crosby; budding vocalists have Beyoncé. Young moguls need mentors too. There are numerous mentoring and networking groups to choose from including Junior Achievement, Future Business Leaders Of America and the National Mentoring Partnership. For more resources, check out the U.S. Small Business Administration's teen business site.

Put it all in context. It's never too early to teach children the importance of entrepreneurship to the world at large. "Show them that they can make a buck but also make the world a better place," says Brad Hancock, director of the Neely Entrepreneurship Center at Texas Christian University. Steer them, for instance, toward Kiva.org, where they can lend some of their profits to other striving entrepreneurs in developing countries.

by Dale Buss and Melanie Lindner-forbes

Coke vs. Pepsi: Beverage giants offer water footprint insights

2010-09-21T10:11:00.000-04:00

In conjunction with last week’s worldwide push to champion sustainable water consumption practices, PepsiCo and the Coca-Cola Company have published extensive reports that detail their specific business practices around championing clean water.

The PepsiCo one, entitled “Water Stewardship: Good for Business. Good for Society,” amplifies the water stewardship goals that the company outlined in April 2010 when it released its broader update on its corporate sustainability efforts. At that time, it set out a goal to improve water efficiency for each unit of production by 20 percent by 2015. So far, it has managed a 15 percent efficiency gain against its 2006 baseline. Last year, that efficiency improvement amount to a savings of more than 12 billion liters of water.

Another big theme for PepsiCo is “water balance,” that is, the idea that it can use technology and new business practices to give back more water to the earth and particular regions than is actually used in its operations. This year PepsiCo (and Coca-Cola, too, as you’ll read in a minute) started working with the Nature Conservancy on initiatives focused on water balance.

So, for example, the water filtration and purification system that the company is using in Casa Grande, Ariz., is recycling and reusing approximately 80 percent of the process water used in production. In the United Kingdom, the company is working in way to capture the water in the potatoes that go into making its “crisps” (American translation = potato chips). Turns out there is a lot of water in raw spuds. This practice has helped the facility reduce water usage by 42 percent so far. There are a number of other examples in the report, notably ones that are related to agricultural practices.

The report published by Coca-Cola and the Nature Conservancy, “Product Water Footprint Assessments: Practical Application in Corporate Water Stewardship,” drills down more deeply into three specific examples of how Coca-Cola is working on this problem. The company defines a product water footprint as “the total volume of freshwater consumed, directly and indirectly, to produce a product.”

To put a finer point on it, Coca-Cola notes that there is a big difference between water footprinting and carbon footprinting. Here’s what it says in the report:

“With carbon footprints, one can compare similar products (if the same boundaries and methodology are used) knowing that lower carbon (or zero carbon) is better. On the other hand, water footprints help identify where water is used in the production of a production and what type of water is used. Water is local and thus water footprint numbers must be considered in the context of the local watershed.”

The focus of the Coca-Cola report is on water footprint assessments of the following:

Coca-Cola sold in a 0.5 liter PET bottle, specifically one produced by Coca-Cola Enterprises in the Netherlands
Beet sugar supplied to Coca-Cola in Europe
Minute Maid and Simply Orange products sold into the North American market

Those assessments are provided for three different types of water uses:

Green water uses, which pertains to the use of rainwater trapped in the soil
Blue water uses, referring to surface and ground water
Grey water, which is defined as the volume of water that is needed to
- assimilate pollutants
The assessments break down all three of the scenarios described above for these different types of uses. The footprints differ depending on where products are sourced. So, for example, the Coca-Cola Simply Orange product, when sourced in Florida, has the following footprint per liter: 386 liters for green water, 154 liters for blue water, 100 liters in grey water. If you source the oranges from both Florida and Brazil, those numbers change: the greenwater footprint is 407 liters per liter of product, the blue water footprint is 127 liters, and the grey water footprint is 117 liters.
Here’s the common theme in both these reports: The biggest piece of water footprints is related to the way different ingredients are grown in the field rather than the impact of factory processes. Here’s a comment from Denise Knight, the director of water and sustainable agriculture for Coca-Cola:
“We see significant opportunity to engage more directly with our agricultural suppliers to advance sustainable water use for the cultivation of ingredients in our supply chain. Our initial efforts will focus on the sustainable sourcing of sugarcane, oranges and corn.”
More evidence that water conservation technology in the field is a smart corporate sustainability investment.
By Heather Clancy

Benefits of Coconut Water Prove Better than Soda and Sports Drink

2010-09-21T10:10:00.001-04:00

A recent study claims that coconut water contains antioxidant benefits that prove better than soda and sports drink with added vitamins and sugar.

Coconut water, the clear liquid found inside the coconut, has five key electrolytes including potassium at levels 15 times higher than sports drinks. This has been used for years in tropical regions like Central America, Asia, Trinidad and Tobago as a perfect replacement for sports drinks that are on the market today. It has also reported that celebrities like Demi Moore and Madonna were spotted drinking it for its health benefits.

In addition, it is high in antioxidants which help body scavenge dangerous free radicals that can degenerate cells. Antioxidants are also known to help prevent cancer, ward off neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and degenerative diseases such as premature aging, sagging skin, wrinkling, and bone problems, just to name a few.

This liquid has been dubbed by UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization officer as “fluid of life” some ten years ago. Now, popularity of coconut water is growing fast as people learn about the health and beauty benefits of this island fruit.

Wine in Britain: Scots drink red, Cornish drink white

2010-09-21T10:10:00.000-04:00

A love of good wine may be universal, but it would appear different parts of Britain have dramatically different tastes when it comes to choosing their favourite bottle.

By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor
Published: 7:00AM BST 13 Sep 2010

Comment

Malbec and other high-alcohol reds sell particularly well in Scotland, the sales figures from Morrisons suggest Photo: PEARTREE

A study of the tens of thousands of bottles that Morrisons supermarkets sells every day has revealed that Britain's taste for wine has as many regional differences as their accents.

While the bestselling wines in Scotland are heavy reds such as Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chateauneuf du Pape, its stores in the South West sell more Pinot Grigio, a light Italian white, than anything else.

Londoners and those in the South East favour slightly lighter reds, including Merlot and the Pinot Noir grape used in red Burgundies. Up in the North West, the distinctive white grape Chardonnay – used in everything from unsubtle new world wines to elegant white Burgundies – along with Malbec are the best selling varieties.

Allan Cheesman, a wine consultant who used to head up Sainsbury's wine department, said: "There always used to be huge differences in the stores. Scotland like high alcohol drinks, along with Ireland and the Scandinavian countries. They also have a sweeter tooth. There used to be this very strong, sweet sherry called Walnut Brown, which would fly off the shelves in Scotland but sit gathering dust in the south.

"I've always thought it was to do with the weather. It's cold and dark up there for much of the year, so you need a strong red to keep you going."

Cabernet Sauvignon, especially from the new world, can sometimes have as much as 16 per cent alcohol in them.

Pinot Grigio, a grape which tends to make an acidic white wine, rarely contains more than 12.5 per cent alcohol.

Its success in the south west is also weather-related, experts believe, with much of the region's wine sold in the summer months to holidaymakers looking for a lighter style.

While the regional varieties continue to tax supermarket buyers who supply wine for national chains, Mr Cheesman pointed out a revolution had occurred since the early 1980s.

"Back then, we used to say you could draw a line from the Wash down to the River Axe and no wine would ever be sold north of that. At least now different parts of the country are enjoying a wide range of different wines."

By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor

Vietnam still searching for Miss Earth 2010 contestant

2010-09-21T10:09:00.002-04:00

VietNamNet Bridge – Though Miss Earth 2010 will be held in Vietnam for the first time this November, Vietnam has not yet selected its representative.

Top five of Miss Vietnam World 2010 pageant.

The organizing board of Miss Earth 2010 announced events and activities of Miss Earth in Vietnam at a press conference in HCM City on August 25. At the meeting, the local media paid special attention to the host country’s contestant. The organizing board said that the Vietnamese contestant will be selected from the top 15 beauties of Miss Vietnam World 2010 pageant.

“We are considering choosing a deserving representative for Miss Earth pageant. She may be Miss Vietnam World 2010, the first or second runner-up or one in the top 15 of this contest. She must be beautiful, talented, has good knowledge of environment and has a passion for environmental activities,” said organizer Nguyen Cong Khe.

Miss Earth 2010 will take place in one month, with activities covering HCM City, Phan Thiet, Hoi An and Nha Trang. Contestants from 90 countries will be in HCM City as of November 4. They will attend a press conference in the city and some environmental activities, compete in the Miss Party and Gala Dinner.

They will move to Phan Thiet to join environmental activities and a festival to advertise Vietnam’s sports from November 15-17. In Hoi An, they will compete in Miss Ao Dai, attend the Earth Hour and the Lantern Festival, to call for fuel saving and natural resource protection.

Contestants will go to Nha Trang to prepare for the finale night and will meet with residents to talk about environmental protection and join various environmental activities.

Miss Earth 2010 pageant will celebrate its 10^th anniversary in Vietnam. Vietnam will host several Miss Earth pageants over the next ten years. It is sponsored by the Philippines’ Carousel Productions group, which is closely connected with raising people’s awareness of environmental protection.

PV

Are large Vietnamese beer imports abnormal?

2010-09-20T16:51:00.000-04:00

VietNamNet Bridge – Brewery products from Belgium, Germany, the US, Mexico, and theNetherlands have been flowing to Vietnam. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has allowed Vietnam Brewery Company to import a large volume of Heineken products. According to customs agents, foreign products are flowing to Vietnam because of the sharp decrease in the luxury tax.

VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam’s beer market would continue to be one of Southeast Asia’s largest and fastest growing, according to global market research firm Euromonitor International.

Euromonitor International sees continued expansion of the market, at around 5.6 per cent growth over the next few years, slightly behind Laos and Cambodia.

Viet Nam’s integration into the World Trade Organisation opened up more opportunities for investment and imports from foreign companies, particularly with the Government’s commitment to slash tax on imported beer, said Spiros Malandrakis, an analyst with Euromonitor International.
The country’s total beer sales experienced an significant increase of 56 per cent last year, topping 1.6 billion litres, the second fastest growth rate in the region after Cambodia.
Some foreign beer brands like Budweiser, Sapporo, San Miguel and Fosters have also entered the local market.
Last week, the Viet Nam Breweries Company opened a factory with the capacity to produce 50,000 bottles of La Rue beer per hour near the central city of Da Nang.
The company is a joint venture, newly-established between Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) from Singapore and Viet Nam’s Sai Gon Trading Group (SATRA).
As one of the first beer producers in Viet Nam after the country opened its doors to outside enterprise 20 years ago, APB plans to invest US$100 million in Viet Nam’s beer industry over the next 18 months.
Japan’s Sapporo also plans to link up with Tobacco Viet Nam to produce beer from 2012. The company said it would be the first Japanese brewery to build a production and marketing base in the promising Vietnamese market which has been growing at an annual rate of more than 10 per cent.
The US’s Crown Holdings Inc has already announced that it would invest another $25 million in its production facility in Tam Phuoc Industrial Zone in the southern province of Dong Nai. It bought the production line last June from Malaysia’s Interfood Shareholding Co.
Crown Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd’s chairman Josef Salaerts said the line, with a capacity of 600 million 330ml cans annually, could begin operations in the fourth quarter of this year, and its capacity would grow to 1.2 billion cans in a years time.
A report by British Business Monitor International Ltd predicted that earnings in Viet Nam’s alcoholic beverage industry were increasing 16 per cent annually.
Beer, which accounts for 97.9 per cent of total alcohol beverage consumption, was expected to see a growth in consumption averaging over 50 per cent per year through to 2013.

Beer market to increase by 15% this year

14:29' 13/01/2010 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Domestic beer producers will chum out roughly 2.7 billion litres of the drink this year to meet the rising demands of local consumers, according to an estimate by the Sai Gon Alcohol, Beer and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco).

Sabeco, which currently accounts for roughly 35 per cent of domestic market share, also anticipated that the consumption of beer in the domestic market would have a growth rate of roughly 15 per cent in 2010 and in the next few years.
However, it also warned that the next three years would be hard for domestic beer producers as special consumption tax on beers, excluding draught beer, would reduce from 75 per cent to 45 per cent. The tax on draught beer, meanwhile, would increase to 45 per cent from the current 40 per cent.
"This will be a chance for high-quality beer products churned out by foreign beer producers to enlarge their market share," Sabeco said.
Currently, local beer producers mainly concentrate on the draught beer market.
Viet Nam has a lot of potential for beer producers as consumption in the country currently averages out at 14 litres per capita a year, much lower than around 40 litres in Indonesia and 160 litres in Germany, experts have said.
According to Japan's Sapporo beer producer, Viet Nam is Asia's third-largest beer market after China and Japan in a fast-growing market.
The domestic beer market has an annual growth rate of between 9 per cent and 11 per cent and is witnessing strong competition among many well-known brands, including Sai Gon, Ha Noi, Tiger and Heineken.
Viet Nam has more than 300 beer and alcohol production facilities, with key producers including Sabeco and Viet Nam Brewery Limited Co.
Sabeco alone this year has targeted to produce 1 billion litres of beer, compared with last year's 907 million litres of which 900,000 litres will be for export.
Some foreign beer brands like Budweiser, Kronenbourg, SABMiller and Bitburger have also entered the local market.
VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

As the World Drinks: AB InBev's Carlos Brito

2010-09-19T20:02:00.001-04:00

Almost two years ago global brewing powerhouse InBev bought U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch for a staggering $52 billion, creating AB InBev, which now controls about a quarter of the world's beer market.

Carlos Brito, the company's CEO tells Big Think that “One of the beauties of this merger was to really enable Budweiser to become our global flagship brand.” Brito has been at the helm of AB InBev since 2005 (then simply InBev), and has seen the company through a series of mergers and acquisitions.

AB InBev is a global company, in ever sense of the term. The purchase of Budweiser brought an iconic national brand under the management of a company anchored abroad in Leuven, Belgium, and in San Paulo, Brazil. AB InBev commands nearly a quarter of the market share and ownership of hundreds of beer brands. It produces upwards of 400 million hectoliters per year. Yet with all this global growth has come the concern about retaining national identity of the brands. Is Budweiser still an American beer? Is Stella Artois still Belgian?

Brito answered this concern, as well as the issue of maintaining a brand’s national identity as it’s brought brought abroad.

Speaking about Budweiser’s global growth, Brito says, “Look at what Budweiser represents today in China. It’s by far the number one premium beer in China. You look at what it represents now in the U.K. more and more; what it represents in Canada, the number one brand; what it represents in the U.S.” He adds that the brand recently has been brought to Russia, and plans are forming to bring it to Brazil.

“We’re going to take Budweiser to where it belongs, which is a global stage,” he says.

AB InBev has a portfolio over 200 brands, ranging from “local jewels” limited to one region or country to global brands, such as Budweiser, Stella Artois, and Beck’s, Brito says.

Speaking with Big Think ahead of a company-wide day to promote responsible drinking, Brito spoke about why a company built on beer sales, and one that has had flagging sales in some sectors, would advocate less consumption.

“Excess consumption and consumers and volumes that come from consumers using our products in the wrong way is not what we need for our business,” he says. “We don’t need that kind of volume, that kind of consumer, to have a great business.”

by Big Think Editors

A thousand year of hairstyles

2010-09-19T19:51:00.001-04:00

Hair design contest launched to celebrate Hanoi’s great anniversary

VietNamNet Bridge - A hair design contest entitled “A thousand year of hairstyles” featuring Hanoi’s hairstyles for the last 1000 years, has been launched in Hanoi.

The contest will give people a chance to have a clear view of the changes Vietnamese hairstyles have gone through during various historical periods in Hanoi.

The competition is for Vietnamese hair designers at home and abroad between 18 and 40 years of age.

The contest is divided into two categories including “Past” featuring different ways the hair was worn up, and “Present,” focusing on modern hairstyles.

Contestants must send photos of their designs and video clips, showing the process by which hairstyles are created, to the Tra Giang International Company, 55 De Quai Street, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, before August 10. Photos and video clips will be posted on website http://tgishow.net.

Miss Vietnam Mai Phuong Thuy in the ao dai and the hairstyle of Hanoian girls in the past.

Ten contestants will be selected for the final night on August 27 in Hanoi, which will be broadcast live on VTC1 channel.

The organizing board will present one first prize worth $4000, two second prizes worth 10 million dong each, two third prizes worth 5 million dong each and five consolation prizes worth 2 million dong each.

The competition is co-organised by Tra Giang International Company, the Embassy of Italy in Hanoi, Selective Professional hair care products and Chihtsai Hair Care.

From Spain, Big Reds That Are Well Balanced

2010-09-19T19:23:00.001-04:00

RIBERA DEL DUERO is a paradoxical region, ancient yet thoroughly modern. Its wines embrace the mainstream characteristics that seem so popular around the world. They are plush, opulent, flamboyantly fruity and powerfully oaky. Yet while some unavoidably stray into the homogenized international style, the best remain identifiably Spanish.

What makes Ribera del Duero so unusual? Throughout European wine regions over the last 50 years the essential story has been how traditional wisdom and methods, honed over generations of careful observation, have come to terms with modern technology and globalization.

This conflict, felt in Old World vineyards and cellars, resonates with consumers around the world. Efforts to appeal to perceptions of global tastes have produced rivers of standard-issue wines, as bland as computer-generated car names. At the same time, a rising appreciation and understanding of fine wine around the world has meant unprecedented access to a wide diversity of wonderfully distinctive wines, some from appellations virtually unknown until a few years ago.

Gaze at Bordeaux and Burgundy, Barolo and Sicily, Rioja and the Rhone, even at Napa Valley, and you can find innumerable examples of this conflict playing out. And yet, if you look at Ribera del Duero, in the geographical heart of Spain, you see a place seemingly set aside from this central clash of cultures.

This paradox may seem peculiar against the backdrop of other Old World countries. But then again Spain has always stood apart from European winemaking powers like France and Italy. Because of regional tastes, politics and civil war, the Spanish wine industry got a far later start on modernization than its neighbors. Despite having grown grapes and made wine for centuries, the wines of Ribera del Duero never achieved high status.

The region had one significant exception. Vega Sicilia was established in 1864, and it rightfully came to be recognized as one of the world’s great wines. Beyond Vega Sicilia, it wasn’t until the 1980s that the region came to be seen as a source for fine red wines. By that time the Franco era had ended, Spain had joined the European Community, and modernization was well under way.

Unlike Rioja, where many producers had already been established by the early 20th century, Ribera del Duero, on a harsh, high plain southwest of Rioja, was dominated by cooperatives up until the 1980s. After pioneering efforts of a few producers like Alejandro Fernández in the 1970s, new wineries began to pop up. Without longstanding traditions of excellence to clash with new and fashionable ideas, modernity was largely unchallenged.

Success and acclaim came swiftly to Ribera del Duero in the 1990s, and it was hard not to make comparisons to Rioja. Both make red wines largely from the same grape, called tempranillo in Rioja and tinto fino in Ribera del Duero. The wine critic Stephen Tanzer once said Rioja is Bordeaux to Ribera del Duero’s Napa cabernet, and I think the analogy remains apt.

To check in on the current state of Ribera del Duero, the wine panel recently tasted 20 bottles in vintages ranging from 2003 to 2008. We capped our spending at $60 a bottle, which eliminated celebrated labels like Vega Sicilia and Pingus, which sell for hundreds of dollars each.

For the tasting Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Ashley Santoro, the wine director at Casa Mono, a Spanish restaurant near Gramercy Park, and Sean Josephs, the owner of Char No. 4, a Southern restaurant in Brooklyn, who comes by his knowledge of Spanish wines both as a former sommelier and as the husband of Mani Dawes, an owner of Tía Pol, a tapas bar in Chelsea, and Tinto Fino, a Spanish wine shop in the East Village.

Let’s stipulate that almost all the wines we tasted were very well made. How you feel about them will depend largely on your stylistic preferences.

“I’m torn between the fact that there’s a lot of quality, but not finding wines that excite me personally,” Sean said. He added that when he worked at a steakhouse, he sold a lot of Ribera del Duero as an alternative to California cabernet.

I can see that. More than California, I thought of these big, modern wines as the malbecs of Spain, well tuned to a popular pitch.

“People are comfortable with them, and they’re easy to sell,” Ashley said. Still, she suggested that what is exported from Ribera del Duero doesn’t entirely reflect the range of styles available there.

Even if these wines are not particularly to my taste, what I looked for was balance, which characterized our top wines. The 2005 Montecastro, our No. 1 bottle, was dense and juicy, but rather than an overwhelming mouthful of sweet fruit, the plummy, berry flavors were tempered by a spiciness that added nuance, as well as vivacious acidity.

By contrast our No. 2 wine, the 2004 Tinto Figuero Reserva from García Figuero, which is aged in barrels for 15 months, was big, powerful and ultradark. It didn’t have the complexity of the Montecastro yet it, too, was well balanced. Tannins gave the wine shape and structure, and an earthiness blended well with the dense fruit flavors.

Our No. 5 wine, the 2006 Tinto Pesquera from Alejandro Fernández, who played a crucial role in the rise of Ribera del Duero, typified the well-balanced blend of fruit and oak flavors we found in so many of these wines. The 2006 Condado de Haza, which is also owned by Mr. Fernández, offered a fresher, less oaky approach, without the density that seemed to prevail.

Next to the other bottles, the 2008 Sastre Tinto stood out for its directness, simplicity and refreshing lack of polish. At $22, it was also our best value.

In the end, it pretty much comes down to taste. If you enjoy modern California cabernets, Argentine malbecs and new wave Riojas, these wines should be just right for you. If you prefer old-school Riojas, classic Rhones and wines that show an herbal touch now and then, these may not be for you. Better to wait and to hope for a benefactor to pour you a glass of Vega Sicilia someday.

Billionaire Mallya's UB Group-india to Buy Heineken Venture, Alcohol Maker Stake

2010-09-19T18:58:00.001-04:00

Billionaire Vijay Mallya’s UB Group will buy a stake in an Indian alcohol maker and merge its breweries, including a venture with Heineken NV, with United Breweries Ltd., the owner of the nation’s biggest beer brand.

United Breweries, the Bangalore-based maker of Kingfisher beer, rose as much as 2.9 percent to 448 rupees in Mumbai. The shares traded at 439.10 rupees as of 12:01 p.m. local time after the brewer said in a stock exchange filing it would absorb the group’s brewery units and acquire Millennium Alcobev Pvt., its venture with Amsterdam-based Heineken.

United Spirits Ltd., the group’s whiskey and rum making unit, separately announced that it would buy a 54.7 percent stake in Pioneer Distilleries Ltd. to boost capacity. United Spirits fell 1.3 percent to 1,602.30 rupees.

The Pioneer purchase will increase United Spirits’ alcohol manufacturing capacity by 160 kiloliters a day, according to the statement.

United Spirits will spend 740 million rupees ($16 million) to buy 7,322,280 shares of Pioneer at 101 rupees apiece, or a 44 percent premium to the stock’s closing price yesterday. Pioneer rose as much as 5.1 percent to 73.85 rupees. United Spirits will also make an open offer for a further 20 percent of Pioneer.

Pepsi has the advantage in Hindi

2010-09-19T18:48:00.001-04:00

NEW DELHI — Coca-Cola Co. offered to buy a refrigerator for Rajesh Yadav's store if he would sell only the company's drinks.

Yadav kept his part of the bargain: Lines of Coke and Diet Coke cans glisten behind the glass screens of the fridge. A red-and-white banner with a Bollywood film star chugging a bottle adorns his storefront.

Yet Yadav doesn't mention his partner when he describes his shop.

"I sell Pepsi and cigarettes," Yadav said in Hindi, India's most widely spoken language.

Still, he isn't reneging on his deal. Pepsi became a synonym for cola in Hindi after having the market to itself for three years until 1993 — a linguistic advantage that translates into higher sales. Its cola brand's market share is 73 percent greater than Coke's, according to Euromonitor, a consulting firm.

Coca-Cola had pulled out of India in 1977 after a change in government regulations would have forced it to partner with an Indian company and share the drink's secret formula. PepsiCo Inc. joined with two Indian companies and introduced Lehar Pepsi in 1990. Coke re-entered the market in 1993, after foreign brands were allowed to operate without Indian partnerships.

"Pepsi got here sooner, and got to India just as it was starting to engage with the West, and with Western products," said Lalita Desia, a linguist at Kolkata's Jadavpur University who studies how English words enter Indian languages. "And with no real international competition, 'Pepsi' became this catch-all for anything that was bottled, fizzy and from abroad."

In much of the Hindi-speaking belt of northern India, home to three of the five most populous states, children begging at street corners will point to bottled juices inside cars and plead for "Pepsi." Mahipal Singh, who drives a truck route between Delhi and Bihar, terms his rest stops "Pepsi-wepsi" breaks, regardless of what he is drinking.

"Saying 'Pepsi' connotes getting a soft drink," said Kiran Bhushi, an anthropologist at Indira Gandhi National Open University who researches middle-class consumption patterns and has consulted for both companies. "How exactly does someone like Coke dislodge this idea from a consumer's brain?"

Tea on top

Coca-Cola must also contend with consumer preferences for other drinks. About 90 percent of India's beverage market is composed of tea, milk and coffee-based drinks, with bottled soft drinks holding less than 5 percent, according to Harish Bijoor, who runs a brand consulting and strategy business in Bangalore. The company relies on drinks other than Coke to be the country's top beverage seller.

"Cola in India is still an evangelical task, because it's not a lifestyle habit yet," Bijoor said.

Coca-Cola needs growth in overseas markets to offset at least four years of declining U.S. sales volumes for its soft drinks.

India's economy expanded 8.8 percent in the three months through June. Growth in the United States, the biggest market by revenue for both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, slowed to 1.6 percent.

Sales by volume in India surged 31 percent in 2009, Coca-Cola Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent said in February without providing specific numbers. Indian sales of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero grew 25 percent, according to the company's annual report. Last year, Coca-Cola turned a profit in India for the first time since re-entering the country in 1993 after a 16-year absence, according to spokesman Kamlesh Sharma.

While Coca-Cola uses the cola brand to drive market share in other countries, its top three products in India by sales volume are Kinley bottled water, Thums Up cola, and Sprite, according to Euromonitor. Mirinda ranks fourth and the Coca-Cola brand is at No. 5. Thums Up, a lemon drink called Limca, and an orange drink called Gold Spot were acquired by Coca-Cola in 1993.

"Pepsi is bigger than Coke as a brand, but Coke as a company has very smartly introduced other brands that have done very well," said Bijoor, the consultant.

That's Coca-Cola's strategy, said Atul Singh, the Atlanta-based company's president for India and South West Asia.

"We want every part of our portfolio to grow, so that any consumer, on any occasion, anywhere in India, makes a choice to drink a Coca-Cola product," he said.

Going after new business

Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo, the world's largest snack-food maker, will invest "aggressively" in emerging markets, according to Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi. Last year's sales in Asia, the Middle East and Africa grew 12 percent. In India, retail sales of its products, including Frito-Lay potato chips, Quaker Oats and fruit juices such as Tropicana, are worth $1.5 billion. PepsiCo had $43.2 billion in sales last year.

"The Pepsi brand becoming the default name for the cola category is certainly a big positive," spokesman Sandeep Arora said in an e-mail. "It can also be a double-edged sword if the marketer is not able to differentiate the brand from the rest of the category."

Coca-Cola has run an advertising campaign called "Thanda Matlab Coke" ("Cold Means Coke"). North Indians use "thanda," the Hindi word for cold, as a noun when offering someone a drink.

"It was definitely a good idea," said Bhushi, the anthropologist. "If Pepsi means cola, then emphasizing that a 'thanda' means Coke is perhaps the best way to gain control of the vocabulary."

"Thanda Matlab Coke" runs across the red-and-white poster at Yadav's New Delhi store. His biggest seller, though, isn't Coke.

"People ask for Pepsi, and I give them a Thums Up or a Coke," he said. "Thums Up they don't mind, but Coke, sometimes they say no."

Bloomberg News

Coca Cola's largest China bottling plant to open in October

2010-09-19T18:33:00.001-04:00

Coca Cola, the world's largest beverage maker, will begin operations at its largest bottling plant in China, a 900-million-yuan (132-million-US dollar) investment in Luohe City of central China's Henan province, by the end of October this year.

"We are very positive and committed to our growth here in China," said Glenn Jordan, president of Coca Cola Pacific Region, during an exclusive interview with Xinhua while attending the fourth Summer Davos forum held in north China's port city of Tianjin, on Monday.

The soft-drink giant already operates 39 plants in China. It opened three new plants in Jiangxi Province, Hubei Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last year. Also, it now has two factories under construction, including the largest one in Henan and the other in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Statistics from the company showed its investment in the new plant in Hubei Province has reached 600 million yuan, while the cost of the two-phase project in Jiangxi Province added up to 250 million yuan.

Jordan said these are all parts of Coca Cola's three-year, 2-billion-US dollar investment plan in China announced last March, and the project is now "well on track" in terms of infrastructure, marketing and product development.

Jordan believes the expansion was good for both sides. "On average, we are hiring around 10 people per day in the Coca Cola system and putting almost 1,000 coolers per day in the market."

The investment package also includes a 90-million-US dollar innovation and research center in Shanghai. One new beverage created at the center last November was Minute Maid Pulpy Super Milky, which combines fruit juice, milk powder, whey protein and coconut bits to create a creamy fruit-flavored dairy drink.

"The Shanghai research center has been very productive and very rewarding," Jordan said, "We have already taken some of its innovations and technologies to other parts of Asia and to the world's markets."

As for the business environment in China, Jordan believes the country is moving in a better direction, as it has continuously improved its business operating rules and regulations.

"We have been here for more than 30 years, during which China has changed rapidly. China has to adapt and evolve its strategies,

and we can look back to our track record and find our way to the current changes," he said."We are very confident about the future of China and the future of our business here," he said, "In the case of the beverage sector, I don't think there is really something in China hurting us or that is not conducive to good business."

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

New Jersey's wine market is aging well

2010-09-19T18:25:00.001-04:00

Winemaker Larry Sharrott 3d looked through a kaleidoscopelike instrument called a refractometer, measuring the sugar content of a just-pressed batch of chardonnay grapes. He liked what he saw.

This summer's hot, dry weather has produced the best grape harvest in South Jersey in years, growers say - high in sugars and full in flavor. "Napalike," Sharrott said.

Sweet wines made with American grape varieties or other fruits - cranberries, peaches, blueberries - have long dominated New Jersey's wine industry. But with the number of wineries soaring in the last decade from 12 to at least 40, that's changing.

Sharrott and his father, Larry Jr., started growing mostly European varieties on a former apple orchard in Winslow seven years ago. They joined a group of new and long-established wineries set on making robust red and fine white wines they hope will someday hold their own against the heavy hitters in California - at least in the fight for space on wine lists in the Mid-Atlantic region. This year's vintage will help, they say.

"We wanted to produce a good wine that happens to be from New Jersey," said the younger Sharrott, 35. "Not something that makes people say this is a good wine - for Jersey."

Sharrott splits his time between a job in software at Lockheed Martin and the vineyard, where he manages much of the science of winemaking, researching grape varieties, measuring pH and sugars, and keeping the yeasts happy during fermentation. His father handles the business end and wine blending.

On a breezy morning, they manned the crush together. The younger Sharrott used a forklift to tip 1,000-pound bins of chardonnay grapes into a machine that removes stems. His father, 62, a retired hospital executive, monitored the process that followed, as crushed grapes were pumped into a press and then out as juice and into a fermentation tank.

"This is one of those jobs that's very glamorous until you actually do it," the father said.

The Sharrotts' winemaking venture began as an at-home hobby. They opened the winery to the public about 21/2 years ago. Last winter, they won one of their top honors when their 2008 Cabernet Franc won a gold medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest competition in the country.

Longtime winemaker Louis Caracciolo said he was glad to see craftsmen like the Sharrotts enter the market. He has been making wine at Amalthea Cellars in Atco since 1976.

He talked about the change in New Jersey winemaking with the giddiness of someone who can finally share a long-held secret: Good wine can come from the Garden State.

Just as Napa emerged as a competitor against the French after winning a blind taste test in Paris 34 years ago, Caracciolo said his state eventually would emerge as a competitor to California in quality, if not volume.

The Golden State produced more than 89 percent of all U.S. wine last year - 631.6 million gallons compared with 1.7 million in New Jersey, according to the Treasury Department. Pennsylvania winemakers turned out 747,054 gallons.

Because few New Jersey wines are distributed outside the state, they receive little or no notice from publications such as Wine Spectator.

As evidence that could change, Caracciolo pointed to national awards that his and other New Jersey wines had earned and the expansion of the region's wineries to handle increased demand.

And they have a new marketing tool. Though it lacks the renown of the Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley, New Jersey's wine region in 2006 earned a federally designated name: Outer Coastal Plain.

"The industry is evolving in New Jersey, and it's getting noticed," state Agriculture Secretary Douglas Fisher said.

Fisher regularly fields questions from people interested in growing grapes in New Jersey. The growth has brought a lot to the state, he said - agriculture-based tourism, an opportunity to preserve more farmland, and another source of income for long-term farmers.

It took some time for Ed Gaventa, a fourth-generation farmer in Logan Township, to convince his parents that grapes were a good addition to their fruit and vegetable farm. His father was raised Quaker and never drank wine, he said. His mother was unsure about the value of the investment.

But the family decided to put 87 acres into farmland preservation and use the money earned from selling the development rights to start a winery. The Gaventas planted grapes in 2004 and started making wine in 2007.

Their Cedarvale Winery sells primarily from a tasting room and at weekly vineyard events.

The state's winemakers are "all getting better and better," Gaventa said. "We're actually running short."

But are New Jersey wines catching on where it matters - with the wine drinker?

"Eighty percent of people looking for New Jersey wines are looking for sweeter wines," said Vladi Nikolich, manager of WineWorks in Marlton, which has a large section of local wines mostly filled with blueberry or cranberry and the popular Cape May Red, a sweet table wine made by Tomasello Winery in Hammonton.

Many of New Jersey's finer wines are priced between $20 and $28. Nikolich said wine buyers today are educated. They know they can get a better California or European bottle for the same price, he said.

Sweet wines from Tomasello Winery, one of the state's oldest, are among the best-selling. But at a media event to demonstrate the crushing process and this season's strong harvest, owner Charlie Tomasello talked mostly about the winery's Outer Coastal Plain varieties.

New Jersey winemakers are trying "to develop their regionality," Tomasello said. "It's a hard nut to crack."

By Chelsea Conaboy

Inquirer Staff Writer

Brewers Association Announces 2010 Great American Beer Festival Competition Winners Competition Continues to Grow; 2010 Entries up Nine Percent

2010-09-19T18:23:00.001-04:00

BOULDER, Colo., Sep 18, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

The 2010 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition drew an impressive field of competitors, with 2010 topping last year's entries by nine percent. GABF remains the largest commercial beer competition in the world, with 3,523 beers vying for medals (compared to 3,308 entries in 2009).

View the 2010 winners list or download a PDF list of the winners.

Highlights:

-- The most competitive category was again American-Style India Pale Ale with 142 entries and a broader geographic distribution of winners than in the past.

-- TAPS Fish House & Brewery was the first-ever winner of the new Brewpub

Group of the Year category, with Brewmaster Victor Novak taking home the honors.

-- The competition saw increased geographic diversity among medal winners, with an emerging trend of winners from the Midwest and the Southeast alongside the traditionally successful states like California and Colorado.

2010 Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year Sponsored

by Microstar Keg Management Mad River Brewing Company Brewing Team Mad River Brewing Company

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year Sponsored by Crosby & Baker Ltd. UBC Brewers Utah Brewers Cooperative

Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year Dr. David Ryder Blue Moon Brewing Company (owned by Miller Coors)

Brewpub Group and Brewpub Group Brewer of the Year Sponsored by Country Malt Group Victor Novak TAPS Fish House & Brewery

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. Noah Regnery Pizza Port San Clemente

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group Pizza Port Brew Guys Pizza Port Carlsbad

2010 Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co and HopUnion

Medals were also awarded in the GABF Pro-Am competition, which pairs amateur American Homebrewers Association (AHA) brewers with professional brewers, who scale up the award-winning homebrew recipes:

Gold Medal Red Velvet, Eagle Rock Brewery, Los Angeles, CA Brewmaster: Eagle Rock Brewery Brew Team AHA member: Donny Hummel

Silver Medal Ryed Hard & Put Away Wet, Rockyard Brewing Company, Castle Rock, CO Brewmaster: Jim Stinson AHA member: Adam Glaser

Bronze Medal Bronze: Robust Porter, Wormtown Brewing Company, Worcester, MA Brewmaster: Ben Roesch AHA member: Keith Antul

Great American Beer Festival 2010 Statistics

-- 455 breweries in the festival hall

-- 2,200+ beers served at the festival

Wine distribution options at stake Proposed law would eliminate dualing practice By Bill O'Brien

2010-09-19T18:09:00.001-04:00

TRAVERSE CITY — Northern Michigan winemakers worry that a bill in the state Legislature will slash their distribution options and stunt wine-industry expansion.

The deep-pocketed Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association backs the proposed law, which would eliminate a practice known as dualing that allows wineries to use more than one distributor.

It would establish exclusive wine-distribution territories requiring wineries to use a single wholesaler in a specified region, similar to the system that's regulated beer sales in Michigan for almost 30 years.

Winemakers said such a law would limit their distribution outlets, especially for newer, smaller wineries that don't have long-standing relationships with major alcohol wholesalers. Dualing is not a common practice among Michigan wineries, and several area wineries said they have good relationships with their distributors.

But dualing gives them leverage against poor distributors and the ability to pursue other wholesale outlets if they can't get their products to the market. A ban on dualing would diminish that freedom.

"It's limiting our marketing and our choice," said Bryan Ulbrich, owner of Left Foot Charley Winery in Traverse City. "Distributors constantly change hands ... I could suddenly be an also-ran and they could hold my brand hostage in a warehouse."

Supporters contend the measure would not limit wine-industry growth. Its aim is to offer protection for Michigan wholesalers who otherwise might lose business to larger distributors or wineries that could be located in other regions or states, they said.

Mark Ribel, a principal at H. Cox and Sons Inc. distributors in Traverse City, said a dualing ban would establish "territorial integrity" for alcohol distributors. Local distributors take on infrastructure costs, he said, for setting up distribution systems in their areas that include warehouses, shipping equipment and employees.

Doing away with dualing would secure those investments, he said.

"It helps protect jobs and the tax base of local communities by having these laws in place," Ribel said. "I don't see a downside to our local wineries."

Area winemakers disagree.

"This doesn't seem like something that should be legislated," said Liz Berger, operations manager at Chateau Chantal winery in Grand Traverse County's Peninsula Township. "To make that kind of a contractual arrangement legislated, it seems like bad will and almost greedy."

Chateau Chantal uses multiple distributors, but its distributors' regions don't overlap. Ulbrich's winery uses one distributor and also self-distributes its products, which wouldn't be impacted by the bill. But both winemakers said losing the dualing option could limit their ability to sell their wares.

"We're small guys," Ulbrich said. "We could easily get lost in a larger wholesaler."

Contributions, bipartisan support

A bill to eliminate wine dualing breezed through the state House on Sept. 8 by a 99 to 5 vote and moved to the Senate. But fast-track consideration slowed last week, when the Senate's Economic Development and Regulatory Reform Committee postponed a scheduled review. A new hearing date has not been set.

Several legislators who sponsored or support the House bill accepted campaign contributions from the Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association. Two co-sponsors, Republican Rep. Tory Rocca, of Sterling Heights, and Democratic Rep. Tim Melton, of Auburn Hills, received more than $2,400 in travel and lodging expenses from the Wholesalers Association to speak at its winter convention in the Cayman Islands, according to state campaign-finance records.

Rocca also received $5,000 from the Wholesalers for his state Senate campaign, while Melton received $2,500 for his re-election campaign.

Several other bill sponsors reported Wholesaler contributions for re-election campaigns or to support their efforts to run for other seats, state campaign-finance records show.

The Wholesalers group significantly contributes to candidates in both major political parties, said Rich Robinson of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

"They're agnostic as far as party goes, as far as I can tell," Robinson said. "It's almost anybody who's sucking air who's not a teetotaler."

The churn of politicians guaranteed by state term limits means political fundraising is "more aggressive than it's ever been," Robinson said, and special-interest groups want lawmakers to address their pet issues before they leave office.

"Any interest group that gives money to office holders is making an investment, and they're going to want some policy payback on their investment," Robinson said. "They don't hand this money out for selfless reasons. That's the system we have."

Democrat state Rep. Dan Scripps, of Leland, supported the House bill, despite opposition from wineries in his home base of Leelanau County, including Leelanau Cellars, the state's largest wine producer.

Scripps accepted nearly $2,500 in Wholesalers' contributions in the current election cycle, but he disputed the suggestion that campaign cash spurred the dualing bill.

"There are very good arguments for this legislation outside of campaign contributions," Scripps said. "If I believed this was bad for our local wineries, I would've voted against it."

Bill opposition

Two other northern Michigan representatives, Republicans Wayne Schmidt, of Traverse City, and Kevin Elsenheimer, of Kewadin, were among the five House members who opposed the bill.

"Some of the larger wineries in northern Michigan expressed their concern with the bill," Schmidt said. "I thought it was important to vote with them on this particular issue."

State Sen. Jason Allen, R-Alanson, hasn't taken a position on the bill and planned to meet with regional winemakers to discuss the proposal, said Norm Saari, Allen's chief of staff. Saari said the dualing bill is part of several pieces of pending legislation that could affect the state's licensed beverage industry, including proposals to raise close to $9 million in revenue through new fees on the industry.

A spokesperson for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office said she is reviewing the wine-dualing bill and hasn't taken a position.

Mike Lashbrook, state Wholesalers president, said the wine industry is divided on the bill, and some Michigan vintners favor it. A law would not change the status quo for most wineries that already use a lone distributor in a particular region or self-distribute their products, Lashbrook said.

If the state outlawed dualing, it would eliminate the potential for large, out-of-state wineries or distributors that might set up a "vertical monopoly" in certain areas that could crush smaller, local wineries' products, Lashbrook said.

"It really doesn't change anything in the marketplace today as far as who's handling what," Lashbrook said.

But Robert Elhenicky, a lobbyist hired by bill opponent Wine Michigan, countered "the dual is the only way to keep your wholesaler honest."

"To take away the only check-and-balance that exists for wineries is counter-productive to growing an industry," he said.

OLD IRONSIDES

2010-07-29T20:04:00.000-04:00

The Postal Service recently helped commemorate U.S. Navy heritage aboard the USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat. Boston, MA,

Postmaster Jim Holland and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Savage unveiled the Distinguished Sailors stamps aboard the ship, nicknamed “Old Ironsides.” The stamps commemorate four sailors. “On behalf of the Postal Service, I’m pleased to honor these four great men who proudly served our nation with courage and distinction,” said Holland.

from usps news link-editor-mr.robert anderson

PLAY BALL

2010-07-29T19:49:00.000-04:00

EVENTS HONOR NEGRO LEAGUES STAMPS AND FORMER PLAYERS

From left, San Diego District Manager Dallas Keck, San Diego Padres Executive Vice President Dave Winfield and, far right, San Diego Postmaster Tim Padden.

The Postal Service honored the Negro Leagues Baseball Stamps and former players recently during a number of events across the country.

At Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, USPS showcased the new stamps prior to the team’s game with the Baltimore Orioles.

Unveiling the new stamps were San Diego District Manager Dallas Keck, Postmaster Tim Padden, San Diego Padres Executive Vice President Dave Winfield and San Diego stamp artist Kadir Nelson.

“It was a dream come true to have been commissioned to do this stamp,” said Nelson. “These men are phenomenal human beings because they triumphed over adversity and turned a negative into something beautiful. They broke down boundaries with hard work, talent, sheer will and passion for what they really loved to do — play ball.”

In Northern California, the Postal Service and the San Francisco Giants also honored Negro Leagues baseball during a pregame ceremony. San Francisco District Manager Rosemarie Fernandez, Giants coach and former player Shawon Dunston, and San Francisco Letter Carrier Herman Rivers unveiled the stamps at home plate prior to a game against the New York Mets.

The two 44–cent First–Class Mail stamps depict a baseball player sliding into home plate as Rube Foster, founder of one of the Negro Leagues, looks on.

Click here for more photos of Negro Leagues stamp activities from around the nation

from usps news link-editor-mr.robert anderson

MEASURING A DECADE OF PROGRESS

2010-07-29T19:42:00.000-04:00

IS USPS A BUSINESS?

The Postal Service has achieved remarkable success over the past 10 years to improve its business model. It has applied sound business practices to deliver consistently high levels of service and to earn higher levels of customer satisfaction — all with far fewer resources.

Early in this period, Postal Service leaders decided to transform the organization to meet customers’ changing needs. They adopted a long-range plan designed to improve service, reduce costs and generate new revenue. This plan helped make USPS a more dynamic and efficient business. Most important, it helped prepare the organization for the challenges it now faces.

The Postal Service has emerged as a role model for government agencies and businesses everywhere that want to do more with less. USPS has responded to the challenges of declining mail volume — a product of migration of messages from hard-copy to electronic — and the historic downturn in the economy with aggressive cost reductions, continued improvement in service and a plan to restructure the Postal Service for the 21st century.

The response to the challenges USPS now faces is ongoing and will require support from Congress and other stakeholders. But much progress has been made. Over the next several days, Link will publish a series of articles describing the steps USPS has taken to improve its business practices.
from usps news link-editor-mr. robert anderson

SWEET PARTNERSHIP

2010-07-29T19:35:00.000-04:00

FROM CANDY TO NUTS, A SALES SUCCESS WITH PLENTY OF DRIVE

Fresh Beginnings, a Valdosta, GA, gourmet cookie company that focuses on automotive clients, visited a USPS sales team during a recent automobile dealers’ convention. One of Fresh Beginnings’ marketing strategies is a dealer program thanking customers making new car purchases with a designer canister of fresh-baked gourmet cookies, brownies, chocolates and nuts.

Fresh Beginnings Director of Operations Debbie Tubbs described to Business Solutions Specialist Mike Hill and Shipping Solutions Specialist Alan Pelesky the company’s business model and how carriers are selected for shipping.

Shipping Solutions Specialist Robin Dessau acted on the information. Her team included Operations Integration Specialist Mark Cobb and Transportation Manager Nelsie Jackson-Yates. They identified programs and estimated volumes that would qualify Fresh Beginnings for Commercial Plus Cubic Pricing. Valdosta OIC Forest Robinson and Supervisor Jackie Carter made sure the team had the information it needed to close the deal.

Fresh Beginnings soon became the South Georgia District’s first Cubic Pricing customer, increasing its shipping with USPS by more than 150 percent and reducing its commitments to the competition. The revenue is expected to climb an additional $800,000 this year.

Tubbs said, “This is wonderful for us and a really sweet partnership with the Postal Service.”

from usps news link-editor-mr. robert anderson

EMPLOYEE FOCUS--REGISTERING HOPE

2010-07-29T19:24:00.000-04:00

A LOOK AT THE USPS MARROW DONOR PROGRAM

Huntington Beach, CA, Letter Carrier Hung Chung.

Every year, more than 10,000 adults and children are diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle–cell or other life–threatening diseases for which a marrow transplant is their only hope for a cure.

The Postal Service’s Delivering the Gift of Life campaign offers help. Since 1997, the campaign has made it possible for postal employees, their spouses or dependent family members 18 years of age and older to help.

Donors registered in the Delivering the Gift of Life campaign are added to the national “Be The Match Registry” where, on any given day, more than 6,000 people search for potential donors.

The registry, containing more than 7 million names, has made possible thousands of transplants — yet fewer than 10 percent of those have helped African American or other minority patients because suitable donors were unavailable.

The Delivering the Gift of Life program is managed by the Postal Service’s Community Relations team. Coordinator Deborah Mobley says one of the reasons USPS is involved is because of its large, diverse workforce. “There is special need to increase diversity on the registry because patients are most likely to match donors of the same race and ethnicity,” said Mobley. “Ninety–four percent of minorities in need of a marrow transplant will not get one.”

More than 50,000 postal employees and their family members, including 25,000 racial and ethnic minority donors, are enrolled in Delivering the Gift of Life.

To date, 80 Delivering the Gift of Life recruits have gone on to donate, including Huntington Beach, CA, Letter Carrier Hung Chung.

Chung enrolled in 2002. Seven years later, he got notice he was a match for a 16–year–old in need of a transplant. “I felt like I won the Super Lotto,” said Chung. He said he hopes to someday meet the girl.

Testing is required to donate marrow. A grant from the Postal Service covers the cost of type–testing employees and eligible family members.

Be The Match Foundation in 2009 honored the Postal Service with its first “Rod Carew Award for Leadership” for having saved more lives through marrow donation than any other business organization in the nation.

Employees interested in becoming a donor or who would like more information about the program can send an e–mail to marrowcampaign@usps.gov. For more information about the Be The Match registry or foundation, go to bethematch.org

from usps news link-editor-mr.robert anderson

BOSTON NEGRO LEAGUES

2010-07-29T19:17:00.000-04:00

Northeastern University last week hosted an unveiling of the Negro Leagues Baseball Stamps at its John D. O’Bryant Center for African American Studies. The event paid tribute to early African–American baseball players and their contributions to the nation’s culture and history.

Featured speakers included Dr. Raymond Doswell, representing the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; Andrea Martinez of the Boston Foundation; Susan Goodenow, senior VP, Public Affairs and Marketing, Boston Red Sox; and James Holland, Postmaster of Boston and Northeastern University graduate.

The Boston Red Sox also was represented by former players Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd and Sam Horn.

from usps news link-editor mr.robert anderson

IS USPS A BUSINESS?

2010-07-29T19:12:00.000-04:00

MANAGING COSTS IN A PERFECT STORM

Throughout the past decade, the Postal Service has steadily cut costs from its budget. Now, recession–driven revenue declines, ongoing mail volume reductions caused by Internet diversion and a crippling requirement to pre–fund retiree health benefits have combined to cause a “perfect storm” and focus more attention on the priority to reduce spending.

Cost-cutting is not new to USPS. In the last 10 years, the Postal Service has stripped more than $20 billion in costs. Cumulative savings over that period total $50 billion, with $6 billion in cost savings in fiscal year 2009 alone.

Compared to 10 years ago, 200,000 fewer career employees deliver mail to more than 15 million additional addresses and PO Boxes. USPS has achieved this workforce reduction largely through attrition and without sacrificing service.

The Postal Service has invested in tools and technologies to make its operations more efficient — in mail preparation, processing, delivery and retail, and transportation. Advanced technologies have revolutionized the way mail is sorted. Ten years ago, mail carriers spent 4 hours sorting mail and 4 hours delivering. Now they spend less time in the office before starting their routes, because automation sorts letters in delivery order at processing plants.

USPS has negotiated agreements with unions, providing management flexibility to align the workforce with changing operational processes and workloads. And agreements with suppliers have been renegotiated to obtain more favorable terms. Non-essential programs and projects, as well as certain construction projects, are no longer budget items.

The Postal Service began the decade using internal benchmarking and standards to increase operational efficiency. Today, USPS also has adopted Lean Six Sigma tools to simplify and streamline processes, document best practices and spread success throughout the organization.

Finally, the Postal Service has adopted a performance-based compensation system. Pay increases for managers based on time in grade have been eliminated. The new system features a balanced scorecard to set and manage objectives and a national performance assessment to measure and recognize results.
MANAGING COSTS IN A PERFECT STORM

Throughout the past decade, the Postal Service has steadily cut costs from its budget. Now, recession–driven revenue declines, ongoing mail volume reductions caused by Internet diversion and a crippling requirement to pre–fund retiree health benefits have combined to cause a “perfect storm” and focus more attention on the priority to reduce spending.

Cost-cutting is not new to USPS. In the last 10 years, the Postal Service has stripped more than $20 billion in costs. Cumulative savings over that period total $50 billion, with $6 billion in cost savings in fiscal year 2009 alone.

Compared to 10 years ago, 200,000 fewer career employees deliver mail to more than 15 million additional addresses and PO Boxes. USPS has achieved this workforce reduction largely through attrition and without sacrificing service.

The Postal Service has invested in tools and technologies to make its operations more efficient — in mail preparation, processing, delivery and retail, and transportation. Advanced technologies have revolutionized the way mail is sorted. Ten years ago, mail carriers spent 4 hours sorting mail and 4 hours delivering. Now they spend less time in the office before starting their routes, because automation sorts letters in delivery order at processing plants.

USPS has negotiated agreements with unions, providing management flexibility to align the workforce with changing operational processes and workloads. And agreements with suppliers have been renegotiated to obtain more favorable terms. Non-essential programs and projects, as well as certain construction projects, are no longer budget items.

The Postal Service began the decade using internal benchmarking and standards to increase operational efficiency. Today, USPS also has adopted Lean Six Sigma tools to simplify and streamline processes, document best practices and spread success throughout the organization.

Finally, the Postal Service has adopted a performance-based compensation system. Pay increases for managers based on time in grade have been eliminated. The new system features a balanced scorecard to set and manage objectives and a national performance assessment to measure and recognize results.

from usps news link-editor-mr.robert anderson

TOP STORY--HAPPY CUSTOMERS PROMOTE USPS

2010-07-29T19:03:00.000-04:00

CUSTOMER CONTACT DRIVES ‘LIKELIHOOD TO RECOMMEND’

Early results from the new Customer Experience Measurement (CEM) tool reveal that contact experience — the quality of the relationship USPS develops with customers — offers the most significant opportunity for not only improving satisfaction, but also increasing the likelihood customers will recommend the Postal Service to others.

“During contact with a customer, no matter what the reason, make sure they feel valued,” advises Vice President and Consumer Advocate Delores Killette. She adds that reaching out to customers by creating a dialog helps create a positive contact experience that leads more customers to recommend USPS. “An engaged customer is more than satisfied and is more likely to recommend the Postal Service to others,” she says.

CEM data shows other, more subtle aspects of the contact experience also are important. For example, the perceived efficiency of retail associates has a more direct effect on customers’ likelihood to recommend than the actual length of the time they wait in line.

“The customer who has to wait in line but believes the clerks are working as efficiently as possible is more positive about USPS than a customer waiting a shorter length of time who believes the clerk is inefficient or wasting time,” said Killette.

Demonstrating value to the customer by exceeding expectations and creating opportunities for repeat business is another way to gain customer trust. “Once a bond based on service or a relationship with an employee has been established, a customer may think it’s simply not logical to go anywhere else,” says Killette.

Responsiveness to customer questions, comments and complaints also is important. If a complaint is quickly and efficiently resolved, the likelihood to recommend USPS is greater. “Listen to customer feedback,” says Killette. “Trust the customer to tell you what the problem is, and then take steps to fix it.”

from usps news link-editor-mr.robert anderson

TREASURER EXTRAORDINAIRE

2010-07-22T03:35:00.000-04:00

PEDERSEN NAMED ONE OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN FINANCE

Treasurer Robert Pedersen.

Treasurer Robert Pedersen, who last month was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance by Treasury & Risk magazine, now is featured on the magazine’s website.

Pedersen began his career at USPS as an investment officer in 1983 and was named treasurer in 2002.

His postal accomplishments include an award-winning cash consolidation project that was the first of its kind in the treasury profession, and saved USPS $3 million in cash management fees.

Through use of automation, Pedersen also drastically cut the number of people and amount of time needed to do research and reporting — taking work formerly done by 90 people over 90 days, as part of their overall function, and consolidating it into a group of three employees who could complete the work in 3 days.

He also has boosted USPS treasury efficiencies and cut costs by creating a centralized and standardized nationwide system of depository services. Pedersen’s system reduced the number of Postal Service depository banks to 15 banks, with the top five handling 73 percent of deposits. (As recently as the 1990s, the Postal Service used approximately 5,000 depository banks.) Pedersen also reduced the number of armored couriers from 13 to 8, with the top 4 covering 99 percent of USPS service needs.

The system, implemented in February 2009, also involved big changes for the organization — changes Pedersen says he knew would be tough to implement without the blessing of the rest of the organization.

Pedersen was undaunted by the challenge. In early 2007, his team gathered about 30 Postal Service executives from throughout USPS, presented the plan, and asked about any reservations or concerns.

“There was some really good healthy skepticism,” he said. “But from my standpoint, I welcomed that.”

Pedersen credits the meeting with helping him develop a system that “met everybody’s needs.”

DELIVERING THE COUNT

2010-07-22T03:31:00.000-04:00

DELIVERING THE COUNT

USPS EARNS PRAISE FOR EFFORTS SUPPORTING 2010 CENSUS

The Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) proved its worth during the 2010 Decennial Census, saving the Census Bureau millions of dollars and providing data the Postal Service could use to plan and schedule cost-effective handling and transportation of Census mailings.

For the Postal Service, its primary role in the 2010 Decennial Census consisted of delivering six mailings totaling some 420 million mailpieces to households and handling approximately 90 million return mailpieces.

The six mailings included a Selected Advance Notification (10 million), Advance Notification (119 million), Survey Questionnaires (119 million), Reminder Postcards (138 million), Blanket Survey Questionnaires (25 million) and Target Survey Questionnaires (9.9 million).

The IMb was used with the first four mailings, with performance data provided to the Census Bureau to help it effectively target and manage the last two mailings. This Full Service IMb data provided valuable information to Census and USPS, allowing both agencies to increase efficiencies and reduce costs. Although the Census effort is ongoing, the major thrust of the mailings and responses has concluded.

There was “simply no way” the Commerce Department could have completed the program on its own, said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, whose department oversees the Census Bureau.

“The mail response rate was much higher than anyone thought possible,” said Locke, who applauded the Postal Service for its support and help to bring the program in under budget.