KFC Food Waste Boycott

 

A top Chinese consumer group has called for a boycott of a KFC meal promotion, saying it encourages food waste. The China Consumers Association (CCA) says the promotion sent some customers into a buying frenzy. KFC launched the promotion last week with Pop Mart, a Chinese toy maker known for its mystery boxes. Customers are able to collect limited edition versions of large-eyed and round-faced Dimoo dolls when buying certain KFC set meals. KFC "used limited-edition blind box sales to induce and condone consumers' irrational and excessive purchase of meal sets, which goes against public order, good customs and the spirit of the law", the state-affiliated CCA said in a statement. That led one customer to spend 10,494 yuan (£1,202; $1,649) on more than 100 of the meals in one go to collect the toys, while people also paid others to purchase meals for them, or just threw them away, the statement added. KFC launched the hugely popular promotion last week to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the opening of its first outlet in mainland China. In 2020, the Chinese government launched a major campaign against food waste, which was spearheaded by President Xi Jinping. President Xi called the amount of food wasted as "shocking and distressing". The "Clean Plate Campaign" came against the backdrop of growing concerns about food security during the pandemic.

KFC Boycott

Chameleon Car

BMW has unveiled a chameleon car that changes colour, in the latest attempt by automotive firms to combine their vehicles with cutting-edge technology. The German car firm said it was “bringing the car body to life” with the specially developed body wrap for its all-electric iX SUV model, which uses the same technology as Amazon’s Kindle e-reader. At the touch of a button, a driver can change the shade of the car’s exterior, allowing the colour to shift between black and white or even light and dark stripes by activating electronic ink in the wraparound shell. The concept car, which is not available for public sale, was unveiled at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where automotive firms increasingly advertise their products alongside mobile phone, gadget and TV screen makers. The technology could be used to locate the car by making it flash when the driver is looking for it, or to display the vehicle’s battery capacity externally.

Colour Changing Car

Business on the Box

Get ready to see The Apprentice 2022 cast in action, as series 16 is here and the tasks have begun. After two years off-air, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the show is back with 16 buzzing business people competing for a  £250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar. Each week, they’ll face several challenges and at least one person will be fired before we get down to the final week where Lord Sugar will decide who will be his next business partner. Helping him to make that decision is Baroness Karren Brady, who returns to the series after joining in 2009. There’s also a new face in the boardroom in the form of the show’s first-ever winner, Tim Campbell. Dragons' Den is also returning to BBC One for series 19 with a brand new Dragon. Steven Bartlett will join Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, and Sara Davies after taking over from Tej Lalvani who quit the show last year to focus on his own business. At 29 years old Steven is the youngest investor to ever join the show. You can watch both on BBC1 on Thursday from 8pm.

Apprentice x Dragons Den

Milk Sniff Test

 

Supermarket Morrisons is to scrap 'use by' dates on most of its milk in a move it says will stop millions of pints being poured down the sink. The retailer will instead place 'best before' on 90% of its own-brand milk and encourage customers to use a sniff test to check quality. Recycling charity Wrap said Morrisons was the first supermarket to make the move, which starts later this month. Ian Goode, senior milk buyer at Morrisons, said it was a "bold step". Milk is the third most wasted food and drink product in the UK, after potatoes and bread, with around 490 million pints wasted every year, according to Wrap. It also estimates 85 million pints of milk waste may be due to customers following 'use by' labels, despite research showing it can be used days after the date. Morrisons believes the move could save seven million pints of its own-brand milk being poured away each year. Morrisons has already scrapped 'use by' dates across some of its own-brand yogurt and hard cheese ranges.

Milk Sniff Test

Apple $3tn Company

 

US technology giant Apple has become the first company to hit a stock market valuation of $3tn (£2.2tn). The firm's share price has risen by around 5,800% since co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007. Apple has been one of the big winners of the pandemic, as coronavirus lockdowns saw spending on gadgets jump. It took just over 16 months for Apple's stock market valuation to rise from $2tn to $3tn, as the world's biggest technology companies saw demand soar as people became more reliant on smartphones, tablets and laptops during lockdowns. The iPhone typically accounts for around half of the company's sales, while it is also well-known for its iPad tablets and Mac computers. Increasingly important parts of the business are software, sold through the Apple store, storage space via the iCloud and services such as its music, television and fitness subscription platforms. The company made its stock market debut in 1980 with a market valuation of $1.8bn.

Apple Trillions

Burger King Vegan Nuggets

 

Burger King will sell vegan nuggets across the UK as part of a pledge to make its menu 50% meat-free by 2030. The fast-food giant said the nuggets, made from soy and plant proteins, had been certified by the Vegan Society. It has introduced a Vegan Royale burger as demand for such products has risen. A vegan diet involves cutting out animal products such as meat, fish, dairy and eggs. Burger King said its 50% meat-free target would help it reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 41%. It said its vegan nuggets would taste the same as its chicken-based counterparts. Burger King UK chief executive Alasdair Murdoch said the introduction of vegan nuggets was an "a significant milestone for the company and an important next step in achieving our target of a 50% meat-free menu by 2030". According to the Vegan Society, there were about 600,000 vegans in Great Britain in 2019, four times more than there were in 2014. A total of 49% of those interested in cutting down on meat consumption said they would do so for health reasons, according to a survey of more than 1,000 adults in Great Britain by Mintel.

Vegan Nuggets

BlackBerry Decline

 

Many vintage BlackBerry phones will stop working on Tuesday as the company turns off support for its operating system. Launched in 2013, that particular model, and BlackBerry's phones since then, have faced an increasingly impossible battle as Apple and Samsung set about their battle for global smartphone domination. Announcing the termination, BlackBerry thanked "our many loyal customers and partners over the years". It means remaining die-hard owners of their devices won't be able to make or receive calls, send texts, use wi-fi or access mobile data. It is almost exactly 23 years since BlackBerry launched its 850 phone, and the company soon became the leader in providing emails when out and about on the move. But the models that followed the iconic BlackBerry Bold would face increasing competition from Apple and Android phones.

BBM Decline