"business" news and stories

People dedicated to eating an organic lifestyle don't mind paying that dollar or two, or even ten, extra for organic foods.

But with the demand for organic foods increasing at near 20% year over year, not only are prices going to go even higher. Organics might be hard to get your hands on at all.

You'd think that with increased demand, you just have to increase supply. The increase in demand is one side of the problem. The other side is a very low and slow supply that is nowhere near keeping up with the demand, not only domestically, but in China as well.

Lots of companies are trying to manage this by simply switching their food products away from organic. It doesn't mean that their products are bad, it just means that they aren't certified.

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We've all had that dream. We're sitting on hour 14 of our work day, slumped down in our non-ergonomic chair, staring at the spreadsheets on our screen, ignoring the phone that's been ringing off the hook for the last 12 minutes, dreaming about leaving it all behind to...open a bakery.

The idea of waking up every morning and heading to the kitchen instead of a cubicle deep within the confines of a concrete and glass office building is warm and inviting, is it not? Sure, if you happen to not care about actually making money from your bakery. According to Forbes, the bakery business is in the Top 10 LEAST profitable businesses to start. In fact, the average pre-tax profit of a bakery is negative - you lose money.

So our advice to you when you stress out at work and want to march right out of your office to bake bread? Do it, but bake a loaf at home, then go back to work the next day.

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Get your passports updated, Slashfoodies.

Dunkin Donuts is opening its first store in Shanghai, China this Spring, with plans to open 100 stores over the next 10 years.

Yeah, so an American retail chain is expanding overseas. So, why would you need a passport?

Because the Dunkin Donuts in China, along with the regular menu items like, oh, coffee and doughnuts, will serve special fare that is tailored to the local Chinese tastes, which we won't get here. That means Chinese customers can get things like honeydew melon doughnuts and mochi rings.

And they probably won't have Rachael Ray as their spokesmodelperson.

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Beer is one of my favorite beverages. However, I have never really gotten into beer cocktails. Apparently that isn't true for all drinkers of beer, especially in the Latino community. They've been mixing beer and Clamato for generations, or so I have recently found out. Well, word must have gotten out to the beverage companies because Anheuser-Busch and Cadbury Schwepps have recently announced the introduction of Budweiser & Clamato Chelada and Bud Light & Clamato Chelada.

Test introductions in initial markets were tremendously successful. So, as of Monday, January 14, 2008, the Chelada cocktail was rolled out nationwide. The drink is to be sold as a 24 ounce single serve can or as 16 ounce -4 pack cans.

This team up from the major beverage makers is aimed at making it easier to get a perfect beer/clamato cocktail. They may also be hoping to bridge cultures, as this combination is mostly a favorite in the Latino community. Chelada is actually a shortening of a phrase that means "my cold beer". If Chelada becomes popular in most demographics, it could be a real unifier for our divided nation. Maybe someone could mention that to our presidential candidates. You never know.

[Via BeerAdvocate.com]

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I am a beer lover. Apparently, so are many more people out there. Anheuser-Busch has recently announced an increase in shipments to wholesalers of 2.1 million barrels, or 2% over last year. The total number was 104.4 million barrels. That's a lot of beer.

Company president August Busch IV attributes the increases to a couple of things. Primary is that the company has expanded its beer portfolio, including the addition of InBev European Brands. The increase is also due to better marketing and sales strategies, according to company spokesman.

I guess importing more beer and giving serious beer drinkers more choice was a good move for the company. I know I appreciate a better selection in my local liquor store. Cheers!

[Via BeerAdvocate]

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