India Orders Testing of All Spice Mixes

Posted by - May 3, 2024

India’s food safety regulator has said that it had ordered testing and inspections at all companies making spice mixes, widening an investigation into the sector as global regulators look into suspected contamination in two popular local brands. Hong Kong last month suspended sales of three spice blends made by India’s MDH and an Everest spice

KFC Temporarily Closes Several Stores in Malaysia

Posted by - May 1, 2024

KFC Malaysia has temporarily closed outlets in the country, citing challenging economic conditions, after local media reported that the closings were because of boycotts over the fast food chain’s perceived links to Israel. Malaysia, a majority-Muslim country, is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians, and some Western fast-food brands in the country, as in some

India Seeks Quality Check Details for Spices

Posted by - April 24, 2024

India’s spice exports regulator has asked leading spice brands MDH and Everest to provide details of quality checks after sales of some of their products were halted in Hong Kong for allegedly containing high levels of a cancer-causing pesticide. The companies’ products are hugely popular in India and are exported to countries in Europe, Asia

US Files Lawsuit to Stop Coach, Micheal Kors from Merging

Posted by - April 24, 2024

The US Federal Trade Commission has sued to block Coach parent Tapestry’s $8.5 billion deal to buy Michael Kors owner Capri, saying it would eliminate “direct head-to-head competition” between the flagship brands of the two leading global luxury handbag makers. The FTC said the tie-up, which would create a company with about 33,000 employees worldwide,

Retail Sales Climb Higher in the US

Posted by - April 19, 2024

Recent data by the US Department of Commerce showed retail sales rising 0.7% month over month, and 4% since last year. The 0.7% figure exceeded the 0.3% forecast by Wall Street economists. The largest area of growth during the month came from online sales, which were up 2.7% since February and 11.3% since March of

Singapore to Host Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific  

Posted by - April 3, 2024

The National Retail Federation (NRF) in the US and global event organiser Comexposium present NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific, in Singapore for the first time from June 11-13, 2024 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre. Retail’s Big Show is the signature global retail event held in New York City annually, and has

Chinese Brands Targeted by French Fast Fashion Bill

Posted by - March 18, 2024

France’s Parliament has voted to slow down low-cost “fast fashion”, aiming to make products, especially from Chinese mass producers, less attractive to buyers, as per reports. Analysts and industry practitioners pointed out that the act could target China’s garment and textile supply chain. The widely-supported bill, which still needs to be approved by the French

Online Shopping Witnesses Rapid Progress

Posted by - March 15, 2024

As retailers, brands and marketplaces alike are increasingly investing in easy, intuitive user experiences on their e-commerce channels, consumers are coming back to digital more and more. According to data from the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, sales at online retailers and other non-store merchants were up a whopping 18% year-over-year in February. This rise comes as

European Online Retailer Zalando Takes on More B2B E-commerce

Posted by - March 14, 2024

Zalando, one of Germany’s biggest online retailers, wants to jumpstart its flat business by branching out into B2B. The company recorded no change in its gross merchandise volume (GMV) and revenue from 2022 to 2023. Now, it is rolling out new strategies to grow over the next five years. “The company’s recently launched Zeos business

Meeting Demands in Africa’s E-commerce Boom

Posted by - March 8, 2024

With online sales in Africa on course to top the trillion-rand mark by 2026, the race is on for e-commerce businesses to claim their piece of the pie. Research by Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) indicates that in the next two years, the digital commerce market is expected to reach $72bn across South Africa,

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