Canada’s Kicking Horse Coffee appoints first agency of record, Lifelong Crush

The Toronto-based creative agency will support Kicking Horse Coffee develop an enhanced brand marketing strategy to drive greater brand affinity across Canada and the US

Kicking Horse Coffee’s first flagship café at its Invermere headquarters | Photo credit: Lavazza

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Lavazza-owned specialty coffee roaster Kicking Horse Coffee has appointed Lifelong Crush as its first ever Agency of Record (AOR) as it seeks to develop its brand identity across Canada and the US. 
 

Selected following a five-agency competitive pitch process, Lifelong Crush will support Kicking Horse Coffee shift from a focus on individual product sales to develop a broader brand marketing strategy which will drive greater brand affinity. 

The first creative work of the partnership is expected to launch in the third quarter of 2024. 

“Lifelong Crush really understood the essence of our brand and history and that showed up in a strong creative strategy and truly nailing the tone of voice. The way the agency was able to play with our brand and show us examples of how far we could go was awesome,” said Lori Hatcher, Chief Marketing Officer, Kicking Horse Coffee. 

“We’re an agency full of unconstrained thinkers that seek to break with convention, so to be able to collaborate with a similar team at Kicking Horse to shake up a sleepy coffee industry, ‘buck’ the trends and ignite what already exists in the Kicking Horse Coffee DNA really excites us,” said Christina Yu, Chief Creative Officer, Lifelong Crush. 

Kicking Horse Coffee named Cédric Malaga as its new CEO in June 2023, with Hatcher-Hillier joining as Chief Marketing Officer the following November. 
 

Founded in 1996, Kicking Horse Coffee is one of Canada’s leading coffee roasters, distributing to cafés across North American grocery stores and direct-to-consumers via its online store. The specialty coffee roaster, which was acquired by Italian coffee roaster Lavazza in May 2017, opened its first flagship café at its Invermere headquarters in October 2023. 

DAMN FINE CUP OF COFFEE, DRINKING ONE NOW

Canada’s Tim Hortons to launch in Panama in 2024

 IMPERIALISM THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CAPITALI$M

The Ontario-based coffee chain will make its Central American debut in Panama later this year and has outlined plans to open 30 stores by 2034

Ontario-based Tim Hortons currently operates more than 5,700 stores across 17 markets globally | Photo credit: Erik Mclean

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Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons will enter Panama this year and plans to open 30 stores in the central American country within the next 10 years. 
 

Parent company Restaurant Brands International (RBI) said the first store in partnership with Vortex Investment SA will open in the coming months, with outlet growth focused on Panama City. 

“We look forward to bringing Tim Hortons renowned quality coffee in Panama and to introduce our delicious food and our welcoming Tim Hortons experience to guests later this year,” said Renato Rossi, Regional President, Latin America and the Caribbean, RBI. 

The move will mark Tim Hortons’ debut in Central America and adds to its growing presence in the US and Mexico, where it currently operates 630 and 89 stores respectively. 

The Ontario-based coffee chain currently operates more than 5,700 stores across 17 markets globally, having entered Pakistan, Singapore and South Korea in 2023. 
 

Panama’s branded coffee shop market is led by 24-store Kotowa Coffee House. However, international brands Starbucks and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf also have a modest presence, opening 16 and 10 outlets since their respective debuts in 2015. 

Tim Hortons to expand South Korea presence with two new Seoul stores

The Canadian coffee chain made its South Korea debut in December 2023 and says two existing sites in Seoul are its strongest performing across east Asia

Tim Hortons sold over 100,000 cups of coffee at its first two Seoul sites in the last month | Photo credit: Tim Hortons

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Tim Hortons will add two new outlets in Seoul this month amid strong consumer demand for the brand across the South Korean capital. 
 

The Canadian coffee chain entered South Korea in December 2023 with two stores in Seoul’s Sinnonhyeon and Seolleung districts. Tim Hortons sold over 100,000 cups of coffee and 300,000 donuts at the sites over the last month – marking a stronger performance than comparable sites in China, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore, according to a spokesperson.  

Tim Hortons will open its third and fourth sites at Sungnyemun Grand Central and Seoul National University Station on 30 and 31 January respectively. The brand is seeking to open 150 outlets in South Korea within five years.    

With more than 31,100 stores, South Korea is the second largest branded coffee shop market by outlets in east Asia, behind China which has nearly 50,000. 

Alongside Tim Hortons, Germany’s The Barn, France’s Terres De Café and China’s Cotti Coffee also opened their first stores in South Korea last year.  

World Coffee Portal research forecasts the total South Korean branded coffee shop market will surpass 41,700 outlets by the end of 2028. 

 

Tesco transforms bog-standard cardboard into luxury toilet rolls

by Fiona Briggs

 February 8, 2024

in Retailer News

In a supermarket first, Tesco is rolling out a new range of toilet roll and kitchen towel made from recycled cardboard and recycled pulp. These new, 100% recycled paper products, far from being bog-standard, are soft and absorbent.

Tesco and its supplier, WEPA, have invested in innovative technology that makes it possible to turn thousands of tonnes of corrugated cardboard, in part from the rapid growth since the pandemic of home delivery services, into soft toilet roll and absorbent kitchen towel.

The recycled cardboard such as home delivery boxes and corrugated card from supermarkets is combined with other recycled paper sources, mixed with water to create a pulp and cleaned to create suitable fibres for use in paper production.

Household category director, Philip Banks, said: “The explosion of home deliveries since the pandemic has created an abundance of recyclable cardboard boxes right on our doorstep. The manufacturing process our supplier has developed, that turns them into incredibly soft toilet roll and kitchen towel, allows us to create a second, sustainable use for them that couldn’t be more different!”

The innovative pulp production process uses less water, chemicals and energy compared to using traditional tree fibre as the raw material. The paper is unbleached, giving the products their unusual beige colour.

The three new additions to Tesco’s own brand ranges of toilet roll and kitchen towel will hit shelves in 100 Tesco Extra stores across the country from the start of February with more to follow. They include:

• 100% Recycled Brown Kitchen Towel
• Luxury Soft 100% Recycled Brown Toilet Tissue 4 Roll
• Luxury Soft 100% Recycled Brown Toilet Tissue 6 Long Roll

Sainsbury’s invests in living wages for banana workers three years ahead of industry commitment

by Fiona Briggs
February 8, 2024
in Retailer News

From today, every single banana bought at Sainsbury’s will contribute towards paying thousands of workers a fairer wage and support the future of banana growers in Cameroon, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Ghana.

Last year, Sainsbury’s, along with nine other UK retailers brought together by IDH, committed to enabling banana workers – those employed on large banana plantations – to receive a living wage by 2027. Sainsbury’s has taken action to address living wages now, three years ahead of the industry commitment.

The price Sainsbury’s is paying for every box of bananas now covers the cost of the fruit, plus a premium which is invested into workers’ wages. This additional money helps the workers to cover food, housing, education and healthcare costs, improving their livelihoods and those of their families.

The remainder of the premium goes towards helping the environment, by supporting the banana growers to implement sustainable farm practices, such as capturing carbon, reducing water footprints and improving biodiversity and soil health.

Sainsbury’s has also moved to four year contracts to give its growers greater stability and financial security.

Sainsbury’s worked with longstanding partner Fairtrade and banana supplier Fyffes to make these changes possible. The retailer is now calling on others to also meet the industry commitment early, so that every banana worker across the whole industry can be paid a living wage.

Ruth Cranston, Sainsbury’s director of corporate responsibility & sustainability, said: “Bananas are our bestselling fruit and by improving wages on this product we can positively impact the lives of thousands of people in the countries we source from. But we want every banana worker across the entire industry to benefit and we can’t do this alone, that’s why we’re urging other retailers to act now so that all workers can be paid fairly.

“By choosing Sainsbury’s bananas, our customers are helping to both enrich workers’ livelihoods through fairer pay and tackle climate change, supporting a thriving and enduring banana industry for the long term.

“This has all been possible thanks to our longstanding relationships with Fairtrade and Fyffes. We look forward to many more years of working together as partnership is the key to creating resilient and responsible supply chains.”

Minel Bellamir, employee at Bananeros los Ríos Plantation, Dominican Republic, said: “We are glad that thanks to Fairtrade and the Fairtrade Premium we are able to improve our living conditions and wages. To me, living wages means more security, better housing, and giving an education to my children. When Fairtrade and companies like Sainsbury’s work together and commit to support banana workers in earning decent wages, our families and communities have a better chance to establish decent living conditions. Fairtrade and Sainsbury’s are also supporting the development of better growing practices, which is especially important as I feel the effects of climate change and the impact this has on the production of bananas.”

Michael Gidney, CEO of the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “We are thrilled to be working with our valued long term partner Sainsbury’s to work towards closing the living wage gap for the women and men who grow Fairtrade bananas.

“Fairtrade’s vision is a world where farmers and workers have the power to improve their livelihoods through better pay and working conditions. Paying a living wage is central to sustainability, and this ground-breaking new commitment from Sainsbury’s comes after detailed consultations with producers, who have helped shape the partnership – in particular by securing multi-year contracts which is a huge step forward.”

Diana Copper, UK country director at IDH, said: “Sainsbury’s is making commendable steps towards getting more pay into the pockets of banana workers. We only started the UK Retail Commitment last year and perhaps the most critical part is responsible procurement practices and paying suppliers fairly. By paying the Fairtrade Living Wage Reference Price and committing to longer-term contracts, Sainsbury’s is addressing these key elements and showing that they are listening to their banana suppliers and producers. We have faith that more retailers will follow suit as the more retailers that embed similar solutions, the greater the impact will be on the workers’ wages.”

Sainsbury’s is the world’s largest retailer of Fairtrade bananas. Since 2000, Sainsbury’s has invested over £75 million via Fairtrade in improving social infrastructure for banana producing communities. This investment has laid the foundations for Sainsbury’s and Fairtrade to focus on wages and climate resilience to secure banana production for future generations.

SAINSBURY LAY OFFS IN THE UK

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2024/02/uk-sainsburys-boss-refuses-to-rule-out.html

 

Corporate America Retreats from ESG Rhetoric

By ZeroHedge - Feb 08, 2024

• ESG funds in the US experienced net outflows of $13 billion in the last year, marking a significant downturn in investor interest.
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• Accusations of greenwashing and increased political scrutiny have contributed to a "chilling effect" on demand for ESG investments.
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• Corporate mentions of ESG and related terms have dramatically decreased in earnings calls, indicating a shift in focus away from ESG rhetoric amid the current economic and political climate.

Investors are pulling funds from sustainable investments as the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) bubble deflates, triggered by high interest rates, poor returns, plummeting stocks in renewable energy, stricter SEC regulations, political backlash, and Elon Musk's war on woke capitalism. At the same time, ESG mentions on earnings calls by corporate America have plunged. 

In 2021, during the pandemic boom, US ESG funds hit a record $358 billion in assets, up from $95 billion in 2017. But since then, investor interest has waned as higher borrowing costs impact capital-intensive clean tech stocks. 

Last week, Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld published a stunning graphic, citing Morningstar data. It shows investors dumped $5 billion from ESG exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the fourth quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of net outflows. For the full year, investors disposed of $13 billion in US ESG ETFs, more than offsetting positive flows in Europe and sending the entire global industry into turmoil. This was the worst calendar year for these funds since Morningstar began tracking a decade ago.

"We're at a bit of an inflection point within the sustainable investing landscape in the US, where it's really incumbent upon sustainable investing advocates to be very clear about what they're doing within their investment processes to regain investor confidence in the sector," Alyssa Stankiewicz, associate director of sustainability research at Morningstar, told Yahoo Finance while referring to the Morningstar report. 

Stankiewicz said that political scrutiny over ESG funds has surged primarily because of "greenwashing," which has had a "chilling effect" on demand. 

The underperformance of ESG investing comes as corporate America has dialed back the number of mentions of "ESG" or synonyms related to ESG on investor calls this earnings season.

For some context, peak ESG and related synonyms, such as "climate change" and "clean energy" and green energy" and net zero," among other terms, peaked at 28,000 mentions in the first quarter of 2022. Ever since, the number of mentions has rapidly plunged. Halfway through the first quarter earnings season, mentions are around 4,800. 

Andy Wiechmann, the Chief Financial Officer of MSCI, mentioned during his earnings call that "Clients are taking a more measured approach to how they integrate ESG."

On a Jan. 12 earnings call, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink explained how his firm plans to purchase private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners without mentioning ESG. This makes sense since BlackRock dropped the ESG term after blowback last summer. 

Woke capitalism is undergoing a rebranding, and the term ESG is being phased out by corporate America.

By Zerohedge.com 

 

UN Accuses North Korea of Stealing $3 Billion in Crypto

PRIMITIVE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL

By Harsh Notariya

8 February 2024, 

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In Brief

• North Korea is under UN investigation for cyberattacks aimed at stealing $3 billion in crypto, believed to fund its missile programs.
• The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) reportedly engaged in 58 cyberattacks on crypto firms from 2017 to 2023.
• Lazarus Group, a state-sponsored hacking collective, is at the forefront of these operations, with recent heists on crypto exchanges.

The United Nations (UN) has unveiled that North Korea is under rigorous investigation for a series of cyberattacks aimed at pilfering $3 billion in crypto.

International watchdogs believe that the cyber heists are part of a bigger plan to support the isolated nation’s nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea Conducted 58 Attacks on Crypto Firms

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has reportedly engaged in 58 cyberattacks targeting crypto firms from 2017 to 2023. Consequently, these illicit activities are believed to have funded the nation’s weapons of mass destruction development.

“The panel is investigating 58 suspected DPRK cyberattacks on cryptocurrency-related companies between 2017 and 2023, valued at approximately $3 billion, which reportedly help fund DPRK’s WMD development,” the UN wrote.

North Korea continues to defy international norms with ballistic missile tests, satellite launches, and a new tactical nuclear attack submarine. Its last nuclear test was in 2017. Yet, Pyongyang keeps advancing its nuclear and missile capabilities, which has led to increased attention on its cyber warfare tactics.