Month: January 2020

Luckin Coffee Inc, which surpassed Starbucks as the country’s largest coffee chain operator in term of store numbers by the end of last year, said on Wednesday that it was entering the coffee and snack vending machine market to further expand its network, but this does not necessarily generate a quick boost to profits.

The Xiamen-based coffee chain operator will offer two kinds of machines including “Luckin Coffee Express”, a coffee vending machine, and “Luckin Pop”, a vending machine for snacks and beverages, to reach more consumers, particularly in office buildings.

Luckin Coffee said that it had 4,507 self-operated stores by the end of 2019 in China, making it the largest coffee chain in terms of stores. The company added 10 million new customers in the fourth quarter of last year and had 40 million customers as of Dec 31, 2019. Luckin attributed the growth in customers to hand-brewed tea drinks, snacks and new retail outlets.

Starbucks has more than 4,100 stores in China, with larger single store areas than Luckin’s.

Luckin said that its snack and beverage vending machine－Luckin Pop－offers lower prices than its competitors by working closely with global suppliers and receiving discounts through large volume procurement. The two types of vending machines are expected to cover various locations including office buildings, campuses, airports, bus terminals, gas stations, highway service stations and communities, complementing current Luckin’s retail store network.

Zhu Danpeng, a food and beverage analyst, said by creating a new consumption scenario, Luckin can further expand its retail presence and make its products available in expanding areas. But investment in vending machines is also slowing down the pace of generating profits quickly, he said.

Qian Zhiya, chief executive officer of Luckin Coffee, said the company’s new vending machine network, stores and e-commerce channels, have empowered it to build a closed-loop smart retail platform. She said the company’s efficiency is on the rise, with the number of monthly transaction customers far higher than the number of stores, meaning more loyalty and consumption frequency.

She said the new vending machines, which took about a year in research and development, have strengths in light investment and zero store decoration fees and less restrictions in terms of locations.

The company will continue to grow both its traffic and products. Its vending machines are expected to reach more customers in campuses, airports, gas stations and other leisure locations, Qian said.

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According to consultancy firm Mintel, China’s brewing coffee market has witnessed rapid growth, and reached 64.7 billion yuan in 2018, up 7.5 percent from the level in 2017. The growth rate is expected to continue till 2023, with annual growth rates of 6 percent.

Wang Hao, an analyst who tracks the food and beverage sector at Mintel, said the new e-commerce driven coffee shops have promoted market growth. However, the growth is expected to be slower thanks to the local consumers’ increasing preferences for hand-brewed tea drinks and tea-based beverages.

Jason Yu, general manager of Kantar Worldpanel China, said there is major potential for the development of coffee vending machines in China, particularly those that can produce quality coffee.

Nestle last year teamed up with coffee giant Starbucks to launch a new series of coffee products featuring coffee capsules that allow consumers to make coffee at home or in the office by themselves.

I couldn’t believe it when I asked their addresses.

Turns out, they lived just down the street from me in Mount Pleasant, Michigan in the United States.

But I’d just met them in Beijing.

I’d just arrived in China in 2005 to intern for China Daily.

I was assigned to cover an interpretive dance performance created to honor American missionary Minnie Vautrin (1886-1941), who risked her life to save 10,000 Chinese women during the Nanjing Massacre.

The show’s organizers had invited some of her living relatives to attend the rehearsal.

I ended my interview with them by confirming their cities of residence. They not only lived a few houses down from me in Mount Pleasant but also worked as administrators at the university I was attending.

We were astounded by the coincidence. We agreed to meet up in Michigan but never got around to it.

I’d never heard of Vautrin before arriving in China. But I immediately came to understand why she’s hailed as a hero in China.

The missionary and educator, who’s known in China as the “Goddess of Mercy”, first arrived in China in 1912 and later became dean of the Nanking Jinling Women’s College. She repelled Japanese invaders from the school in 1937, during the six-week siege in which 300,000 unarmed Chinese were killed and more than 20,000 women were raped.

Vautrin personally patrolled the school to fend off any attempts to attack the women inside.

She declared: “Whoever wants to go through this gate will have to do so over my dead body.” And she meant it.

However, largely because of the horror she experienced during that time, she committed suicide soon after returning to the US following a nervous breakdown.

It turns out that she was also buried in the same county in which I lived and attended university. I also planned to visit her grave but, again, never got around to it.

These incredible coincidences indeed seemed to point to the truth of the old adage, “It’s a small world after all”.

That said, I was again absolutely shocked by another unlikely encounter about two weeks after I returned to Beijing in 2006.

I was sitting outside a bar on the main street of the capital’s Sanlitun area when I heard a conspicuously surprised voice say, “Erik?”

I turned around and was astonished to see a fellow member of my high school newspaper’s editorial board.

I hadn’t seen Brady in about half a decade, since I’d moved away from Midland, Michigan, which borders Mount Pleasant.

And I had to study his face for some time to make sure I really was looking at who I thought I was looking at. I was.

It happened that Brady was doing a short study-abroad program at the university across from my workplace.

I didn’t have Facebook back then. But we’ve since connected on the platform.

Indeed, it’s not only a small world after all, but it’s also getting smaller, especially as such connecting technologies as social media advance.

Through Facebook, I came to learn I have distant relatives from Sweden who live in Shanghai. I’ve considered contacting them but haven’t yet.

We’ve all heard of the theory of “six degrees of separation”, also known as “six handshakes”, which suggests every human is linked by six or fewer social connections. That is, friends of friends of friends…

However, this concept, which began in academia and later leaked into popular culture, is largely regarded as an urban legend. Empirical studies supporting the idea have been conducted but also criticized for their methodologies.

Either way, as the world shrinks and China’s prominence continues to rise, I expect to encounter more unlikely encounters, especially in Beijing.

Contact the writer at [email protected]

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Pantone’s choice of Classic Blue as its 2020 Color of the Year is a calming vision of hope and optimism for the new decade.

The color blue is everywhere around us: in the sky we look up to each morning and in the seas we travel across. It’s also the current buzzword of the beauty, wellness automotive and tech industries.

Fitting, then, that to start the new decade, US trend-forecasting company Pantone has revealead its 2020 Color of the Year: Classic Blue, a hue it has described as being a “universal favorite”. (The 2019 selection was the “life-affirming” Living Coral, which was said to highlight the need for real-world experiences versus social media.)

Pantone noted Classic Blue’s ability to instil calm and confidence, and its way of offering a dependable and stable foundation on which to build “as we cross the threshold into a new era”.

“We are living in a time that requires trust and faith. It is this kind of constancy and confidence that is expressed by Pantone 19-4052 [Classic Blue],” remarks Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “A boundless blue, evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking – challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of our communication.”

Interestingly, blue is also not a color associated with its traditional traits of sadness, despite centuries of artistic and literary minds using the hue to represent melancholy, including jazz music (such as Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue) and the genre of blues itself. “People don’t associate blue with sadness anymore,” says Eiseman. “I think that’s kind of an older-generation reaction.”

For 20 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in numerous industries, including fashion, home furnishings, and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design. Interestingly, its first-ever color pick in 2000 was for Cerulean Blue.

The youngsters are to be given the opportunity to gain first-team experience during the second half of the 2019-20 season

Tyreece John-Jules is set to leave Arsenal on loan for the rest of the season.

The 18-year-old striker, who has been on the bench for Mikel Arteta’s side during the recent games against Chelsea and Leeds United, is on the verge of joining League One club Lincoln City.

John-Jules will remain with the Imps for the remainder of the campaign before returning to north London in the summer.

Arsenal have sanctioned the move as they believe the forward is ready to play regular senior football having enjoyed an impressive start to the season with the club’s youth teams.

John-Jules has scored six goals in 13 appearances during the 2019-20 campaign while also providing two assists, adding to the 16 goals he scored across youth levels last season.

The teenager signed a new long-term contract in the summer and has spoken of the influence that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have had on his development.

“I’ve been trying to learn from them on and off the pitch,” he said.

“They’ve just told me to be positive, to be confident when I’m on the ball, especially with the first team. I’ve got to show what I can do and keep going. I can learn so much from them.

“It’s always been a dream come true to play at this club. As always, I’ve been working hard, so I think I deserve this new contract. I’m just trying to push on now to impress the manager. I need to keep working hard, playing for the first team and when I get my chance, try to take it as well as possible.”

Arsenal, meanwhile, expect Eddie Nketiah to also leave on loan in the coming days.

The forward, who has returned to north London following a spell with Leeds during the first half of the season, is in talks with Championship clubs Bristol City, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday.

All three clubs have held negotiations with Arsenal during the past week in a bid to convince the Gunners that Nketiah would be best served spending the rest of the campaign with them.

A decision is anticipated imminently, with Emile Smith Rowe another Arsenal youngster who is expected to leave on a temporary basis in the coming days.

Several clubs, including some in the Premier League, are interested in Smith Rowe, who spent the second half of last season in Germany with RB Leipzig.

The attacking midfielder has made eight senior appearances this season.

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The Wales international forward continues to see an imminent transfer mooted, but his representative doubts any deal will be done

Gareth Bale has no interest in leaving Real Madrid for MLS during the winter transfer window, claims his agent Jonathan Barnett.

The Wales international forward continues to see an imminent move away from Santiago Bernabeu mooted.

Several landing spots have been speculated on for the 30-year-old, with interest said to be held by sides around the world.

Talk of a return to the Premier League for the former Tottenham star is never far away, with Manchester United considered to have held long-standing interest.

It has also been suggested that a second spell at Spurs could be taken in, with Jose Mourinho having kept those rumours ticking over by steering around questions on the subject.

The latest reports have linked Bale with a switch to America, with a completely fresh start potentially appealing to a man who continues to attract criticism in Spain.

David Beckham’s new Inter Miami franchise remain in the market for marquee additions, while the LA Galaxy are looking for another big name to fill the void created by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s departure.

Barnett has, however, told ESPN that his client will not be considering any advances from the States.

No departure from Madrid is expected to be made this summer either, with it considered to be “very unlikely” that the next window will deliver a change of scenery.

That is because Bale remains tied to a contract with Real through to 2022.

It has appeared at various stages as though that agreement would be broken, with the Blancos prepared to cash in on a saleable asset.

No deal has been done, though, and the Welshman remains part of Zinedine Zidane’s plans.

Injury and illness has kept Bale on the sidelines for long periods once again this season, with just 14 appearances made as a result.

He has come back into favour when fit, having previously been frozen out, but has contributed only two goals to the collective cause.

Those struggles, along with ongoing questions of his commitment and apparent reluctance to fully integrate into the Madrid squad, have kept the rumour mill ticking over.

It would, however, take a sizeable bid to prise Bale away from Real and Barnett’s latest comments can be considered another clear indication that nobody will be piecing together a suitable transfer package any time soon.

The former Red Devils striker is looking for the England striker to demand more of those around him and become an on-field leader

Marcus Rashford needs to be more demanding of his Manchester United team-mates, says Dimitar Berbatov, with the Red Devils forward advised to “shout f*cking give me the ball” at those lacking the match-winning ability that he possesses.

The 22-year-old England international has taken his game to career-best heights in the 2019-20 campaign.

He already has 17 goals to his name across all competitions, with the promise of more to come for club and country.

After early questions of his value to the cause, as he was forced to provide cover as a central striker, the highly-rated academy graduate has once again become a talismanic figure for the Red Devils as he closes in on 200 appearances for the club.

Rashford has shown that he can be the go-to man for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with another composed finish delivered in a 3-1 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday, and Berbatov wants to see the youngster become more of a leader.

The ex-United striker told Betfair: “It was another great goal from Rashford [against City] and a really fast counter attack. United have some very quick players and they didn’t take advantage of that.

“The only trouble sometimes is that the quick players want the ball at their feet and they are not using the space in front of them, but when they try to use the space and make a run the midfield players are not seeing them and not giving them the ball.

“If I am as quick as Rashford and make three runs and nobody sees me or gives me the ball, on the fourth one I wouldn’t waste my energy, it’s all psychological. 

“When I was playing, Sir Alex would say ‘Give Berba the ball, and when you give it to him, don’t stay, run, because he’s going to find you’.

“You need to know your team-mates, who is going to pass you the ball and who is going to make the run, these kinds of things are small details, but they are the most important.

“Rashford needs to be strong with his team-mates, if he needs to have an argument on the pitch or shout ‘f*cking give me the ball,’ do it, it doesn’t matter, you need to show character and have that will to win. Argue or fight, it doesn’t matter if everything is for the purpose of winning the game, you f*cking do it.”

Rashford’s effort against City has given United hope heading into a return date at the Etihad Stadium, with a forgettable first-half display having left them with a mountain to climb as they fell three goals down amid little resistance.

Berbatov added: “Honestly, after that first leg against City I feel like sh*t. The first half was way below standards, it was not good to watch, the team was all over the place and City were the better side for sure – everybody saw that.

“In the second half there was a bit of an improvement on all fronts, but it was not enough and when City score three goals against you to change the game is next to impossible, as we saw.

“The only thing good about it is that there is another game and hopefully they have time to take something from it and show a better account of themselves.

“I have seen a lot of people saying that the first half was the worst they’ve ever seen United play, I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but it wasn’t good. Honestly, City should have scored not three but five goals.

“[Raheem] Sterling not being in his best moment to finish a couple of chances in front of goal was a good thing for United. I think the outcome was more down to how poor United were in the first half and not necessarily how good City were.

“Hopefully, they will recover for the next leg, the real problem is that we are seeing too many of this kind of performances, of course it’s not every game but we are seeing it more than we want to, even if it’s just a poor spell in a match, the fans don’t want to see it.”

United will be back in Premier League action on Saturday when they host Norwich.

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The Blaugrana coach addressed growing speculation over the Chilean’s future ahead of their next match in the Middle East

Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde said he is not thinking about Arturo Vidal leaving the La Liga champions amid links to Inter and Manchester United.

Vidal has slipped down the pecking order since Frenkie de Jong’s arrival from Ajax, prompting speculation over his future at Camp Nou, where he has only started four La Liga matches this season.

The 32-year-old Vidal has been heavily linked to a reunion with former Juventus head coach Antonio Conte at Serie A side Inter, while struggling Premier League giants United are reportedly interested.

Valverde addressed the rumours ahead of Thursday’s Supercopa semi-final against Atletico Madrid in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“We’re not thinking about him going to another team,” Valverde told a news conference. “We’ll see tomorrow [Thursday]. In principle he’s with us. No clues.”

Pressed on reported interest from England and Italy, Valverde replied: “Arturo Vidal plays for us and tomorrow he’ll be on the pitch or on the bench.

“We don’t pay any attention to other clubs being interested in our players.”

Vidal swapped Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich for Barcelona in 2018 and the Chilean has since won La Liga and the Supercopa. 

He has scored six La Liga goals in 15 matches this season, while the veteran has amassed 20 appearances across all competitions.

The Chile international could add to his appearance tally when Barca square off against for a place in the final against Real Madrid on Sunday.

Valverde signalled his disappointment with the new Supercopa format in Saudi Arabia, accusing organisers of money-grabbing.

“The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income,” Valverde said. “That’s the reason we are all here.

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“It’s a completely different format to what we’re used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me that seemed fine.

“It’s been changed and let’s see, it will be judged once it has happened. It’s interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I’m not sure.

“We must bear in mind that the football we are involved in is an industry, sources of income are sought and in the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there are also in Morocco, where we played last year.”

The Spanish midfielder is back starting in the Los Blancos first team after finding himself on the fringes at the Bernabeu over the past few seasons

Real Madrid star Isco’s resilience has been praised by manager Zinedine Zidane after another quality performance in their 3-1 Supercopa victory over Valencia.

The Spanish midfielder was among the scorers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabai as Real sealed progression to the tournament’s final on January 12, where they will meet the winner of Thursday’s match between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Isco has regularly found himself being used as a squad player at Los Blancos, both during Zidane’s previous spell and the il-fated reign of Santiago Solari.

But the 27-year-old is enjoying a new lease of life during Zidane’s second stint – having started in three of Real’s last four league matches and their previous two Champions League games.

“I had no role in Isco’s recovery, I’m just glad about it,” Zidane told reporters post-match.

“He has personality and wants to play. He doesn’t shy away from responsibility.”

In addition to Isco’s first-half strike, Toni Kroos opened the scoring and Luka Modric added a third to secure victory for Real, with Dani Parejo’s penalty in second-half stoppage time offering Valencia scant consolation.

With Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale unavailable, along with longer-term absentees Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio, Zidane experimented with his line-up by playing without wingers and using Isco and Modric as the most advanced players in a five-man midfield.

The move paid dividends on Wednesday as both players produced excellent displays in support of Luka Jovic and in front of Kroos, Casemiro and Federico Valverde in deeper midfield roles.

Zidane suggested the tactic could be used again this season as it allows Madrid’s full-backs more space to attack against teams defending in deep blocks.

“We put in all the ingredients to win the game and it’s a deserved victory,” he said.

“We’re working well. Emotionally, we’re doing well. We have all the ingredients to play good games. That’s what we did against Valencia, against opponents who are very good.

“We pressed high very well. The second half was much more direct and I’m happy because it’s not easy against a very good team, who know how to play well. We can be pleased.

“Today, the option was to put Isco and Modric on the inside to have more runs from the full-backs.

“It was the option for today. We can play with wingers, but we did it the other way around, with more central players and using the wings with our full-backs. It worked for us.

“We prepare really well for games, we understand them very well. We’re all together. In the end, it’s the players that play, that give everything on the pitch.”

TORONTO ― Canadian sales of passenger cars and light trucks were down about 3.6 per cent last year compared with 2018, according to industry statistics compiled by Des Rosiers Automotive Reports.

It’s the industry’s first year-over-year decline in more than a decade, but Des Rosiers says 2019 was still the fourth best sales year on record.

Watch: Canada’s auto industry has an expiration date. Story continues below.

 

Des Rosiers says the total number of vehicles sold last year was 1,914,357, including 109,584 in December.

That’s down from 1,984,992 sales in 2018, including 114,289 in the month of December.

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Full-year sales of passenger cars fell 16.1 per cent to 484,687, while sales of light trucks including sport utility vehicles rose 1.6 per cent to 1,429,670.

Des Rosiers says 2019 was a good year for sport utility vehicles, with Canadian sales surpassing the 900,000 units for the first time on record.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2020.

LONDON (Reuters) ― Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said central banks might not be able to fight off a sharp economic downturn because their monetary policy arsenals are still depleted from the global financial crisis a decade ago, the Financial Times reported.

“It’s generally true that there’s much less ammunition for all the major central banks than they previously had and I’m of the opinion that this situation will persist for some time,” Carney told the newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

“If there were to be a deeper downturn, (that requires) more stimulus than a conventional recession, then it’s not clear that monetary policy would have sufficient space.”

Watch: Mark Carney on climate change. Story continues below.

 

 

The BoE has raised interest rates to just 0.75 per cent, a fraction above their emergency financial crisis levels. The U.S. Federal Reserve, which unlike most other central banks raised borrowing costs in recent years, cut them three times in 2019.

Carney, formerly the head of the Bank of Canada, has previously raised concerns about the risk of a global liquidity trap, in which central banks lose their ability to influence the economy because demand is too weak.

 

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The FT quoted Carney as saying the BoE was looking into the issue of its reduced monetary policy options.

However, U.S. and euro zone interest rate cuts last year were encouraging borrowing and spending and “we’re starting to see that stimulus flow to the global economy,” he told the newspaper.

Carney repeated his suggestion that governments could do more to boost growth via their spending and tax policies.

He also reiterated his view that Britain should not agree to accept European Union rules for the financial services sector after Brexit, given the scale of the country’s banking and finance industry.

(Writing by William Schomberg. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)

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