Business
Canadian students saved customers $450k in grocery bills with their ‘peculiar’ delivery service
- Canadian university students Sang Le and Arielle Lok created Peko Produce, a produce delivery service that reduces food waste and promotes the accessibility of affordable, healthy food.
- The Vancouver delivery service, which was launched in May 2021, saves produce from becoming part of surpluses throughout the supply chain. It also saves produce approaching the end of its shelf life from being thrown out for looking “peculiar.”
- Peko Produce offers a mystery box for 25 Canadian dollars that contains around 10 to 12 pounds of “peculiar” and surplus produce, both conventional and organic, as well as around nine to 10 varieties of “imperfect” local and exotic fruits and vegetables for up to 40% off grocery prices.
- In its first year of operation, Peko Produce generated over six figures in sales, divested over 150,000 pounds of produce and saved customers approximately $450,000 in grocery bills.
A “peculiar” produce delivery service launched by two university students in 2021 is tackling food waste in Vancouver.
Food waste is a complex problem. It significantly accelerates the climate crisis, contributing to approximately 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions every year.
Victoria’s Secret pays $8.3 million to 1,250 laid-off Thai workers in landmark settlement
- Victoria’s Secret paid $8.3 million to over 1,250 laid-off garment workers in Thailand in a landmark settlement.
- “We regret they were not ultimately in a position to conclude this matter on their own so to ensure the workers received their full severance amounts owed, Victoria’s Secret agreed to advance the severance funds to the factory owners,” the lingerie brand said in a statement.
- Brilliant Alliance Thai’s factory in Samut Prakan Province shut down in March 2021 after going bankrupt, laying off 1,250 workers.
- The workers protested for a year after not receiving their Thai law-mandated severance payouts after they were laid off, despite many of them having worked at the factory for over a decade.
- Jitnawatcharee Panad, who worked for a total of 25 years at the garment facility, said over a third of the workers were women aged 45 and above.
Over 1,000 Thai garment workers who lost their jobs at a factory supplying lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret received a landmark $8.3 million settlement from the global fashion brand.
Brilliant Alliance Thai’s factory in Samut Prakan Province was shut down in March 2021 after going bankrupt, laying off 1,250 workers.
Japanese discount store Daiso to open its first location in Manhattan
- Manhattan will be opening its first Daiso store sometime in July.
- The Japanese discount store currently has two other locations in New York City.
- The Manhattan location will have a large space of 4,800 square feet, selling a variety of items priced at an average of $1.99.
The popular Japanese discount chain Daiso will be opening its first Manhattan location in July.
New York City currently has two other Daiso locations in other boroughs, with one that recently opened in February in Brooklyn and the other in Queens.
California and Texas dominate list of 10 best cities in US for Asian professionals
- Online marketplace Apartment List celebrated May as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with the release of their year’s list of best U.S. cities for Asian professionals.
- Compiled by Apartment List and its Asian Pacific Islander employee resource group, [email protected], the ranking was based on four categories such as community and representation, economic opportunity, housing opportunity and business environment.
- Bay Area cities San Jose and San Francisco took spots at No. 1 and No. 6 respectively, while Riverside took ninth place.
Three cities in California have been named among the best places to be for Asian professionals in the U.S.
On Wednesday, the online marketplace Apartment List released the ranking to coincide with Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May.
Need a spider out of the house without killing it? Entrepreneur’s Cup-a-Bug invention offers easy solution
- Entrepreneur Justin Huang’s Cup-a-Bug tool allows users to catch everything from bed bugs to small lizards at a safe distance without killing them.
- Huang, 33, said his invention is based on the “cup and paper method,” which involves putting a cup over an insect and slipping a piece of paper under the cup to avoid harming the pest.
- Thanks to its long mechanical stick, the Cup-a-Bug gets rid of the fear factor by letting its users catch bugs from afar.
- As demonstrated on Huang’s social media, the mini container at the end of the stick is manually controlled by a handle, which opens and closes the container’s lid.
- The final version of the Cup-a-Bug will be available in August.
Entrepreneur Justin Huang’s Cup-a-Bug tool allows users to catch everything from bed bugs to small lizards at a safe distance without killing them.
Huang, 33, says the Cup-a-Bug is based on the “cup and paper method,” which involves putting a cup over an insect and slipping a piece of paper under the cup to avoid harming the pest.
Chinese woman sells goodnight texts for 15 cents a message after feeling lonely and isolated
- A Chinese woman has been selling goodnight texts for 15 cents a message over the past 10 years.
- Wong Biying, 35, started her business in 2012 and opened a shop on the Chinese online shopping platform Taobao called “A person selling a good night in a deserted land.” She has since made over 30,000 yuan ($4,452).
- Wong was inspired to start her business after suffering from loneliness and insomnia.
- Some of her messages are generally short and friendly. Others can be up to 200 characters long and may fulfill strange requests.
- Many of Wong’s customers include cancer patients, children with divorced parents and LGBTQ people with unsupportive families.
A Chinese woman suffering from loneliness and insomnia started a business selling goodnight texts for 15 cents a message to help others with similar problems.
While working part time in Shenzhen after graduating college in 2012, Wong Biying, now 35, suffered from insomnia due to isolation and loneliness. Born into a “typical Chaoshan family,” Wong said she never got any affection from her parents and went through a “lonely time” after college.
Ex-Coca-Cola chemist sentenced for stealing $120 million trade secret for Chinese government-supported company
- Xiaorong “Shannon” You, a 59-year-old chemical engineer, was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a federal judge on Monday in Greeneville, Tennessee, for stealing trade secrets on drink can coatings to establish a Chinese company backed by the Chinese government.
- You stole valuable information related to bisphenol-A-free (BPA-free) coatings found inside beverage cans.
- The trade secrets cost coating companies about $120 million to develop.
- She hoped to establish a BPA-free coating company in China and to benefit Shandong Province, the city of Weihai and the Chinese Communist Party.
- In addition to her sentencing, she is ordered to pay a $200,000 fine and serve three years of supervised release.
A Chinese chemical engineer was sentenced to 14 years in prison for stealing trade secrets on drink can coatings to establish a Chinese company backed by the Chinese government.
Xiaorong “Shannon” You, 59, was sentenced on Monday by a federal judge in Greeneville, Tennessee, on the charges of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, conspiracy to commit economic espionage, possession of stolen trade secrets, economic espionage and wire fraud. In addition, she is ordered to pay a $200,000 fine and serve three years of supervised release.
US chain Wow Bao threatens family-owned UK bao stall Bao Wow with legal action over name
- Bao Wow, a pan-Asian food stall in the U.K., is rebranding after the U.S. chain Wow Bao threatened the owners with legal action.
- Jonathan and Alicia Horsley, the owners of the Bao Wow stall at Darlington Market, were told to repurpose all their branding and social media by 4 p.m. on Friday.
- Wow Bao, which supplies 500 restaurants across the U.S., said: “The use of Bao Wow in this way will infringe the WOW BAO Trade Marks under section 10(2) of the Trade Marks Act.”
- Without resources to fight the case, the couple from Middleton St. George now seeks the public's help with finding a new name.
A couple is seeking the public’s help to rebrand their recently launched street food business in the U.K. after receiving threats of legal action over its name.
Husband and wife Jonathan and Alicia Horsley, owners of the pan-Asian food stall Bao Wow at Darlington Market, received a legal letter from U.S. supplier Wow Bao demanding that they change their stall’s name.
Baskin-Robbins adds Tiger Milk Bubble Tea to its summer menu
- Ice cream company Baskin-Robbins is including a popular Taiwanese drink on its menu for a limited time during spring and summer.
- The brand’s new Tiger Milk Bubble Tea is created with black tea, whole milk and a layer of brown sugar boba, with brown sugar syrup drizzled down the sides, giving the drink its signature “tiger stripes.”
- The specialty beverage is topped with a scoop of Baskin-Robbins vanilla ice cream.
- According to the company, the new beverage “pays homage to the beloved Taiwanese milk tea that has taken the world by storm, characterized by bubbly layers of flavor and eye-catching streaks of brown sugar syrup that resemble tiger stripes when paired against the kaleidoscope of cool black tea and milk.”
American ice cream company Baskin-Robbins has added bubble tea to its constantly expanding menu.
Taking its cue from the classic Taiwanese beverage, Tiger Milk Bubble Tea is created with black tea, whole milk and a layer of brown sugar boba, with brown sugar syrup drizzled down the sides, giving the drink its signature “tiger stripes.”
Meta employee launches company program in honor of grandparents incarcerated during WW2
Meta, Facebook’s parent organization, has launched a new program to support Asian Pacific Islander small businesses called Meta Prosper this APAHM.
Throughout the years in the pandemic, small businesses have suffered huge losses in sales and jobs, and have experienced higher shuttering rates and cash flow problems. Businesses owned by APIs are having an especially hard time, according to Meta’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.
Indian startup to implement daily 30-minute nap breaks for employees
- An Indian startup company is launching a policy to give its employees a daily half-hour nap as a way of upkeeping their health and well-being.
- As a business that sells sleep and home solution products, Wakefit Solution’s co-founder Chaitanya Ramalingegowda announced yesterday that 2-2:30 p.m. will be the “official nap time” for all employees.
- The company is planning to create “cozy nap pods” and “quiet rooms” where employees can go for a “perfect nap environment.”
- In 2019, Wakefit Solutions conducted a survey with 1,500 respondents, of which 70% stated that they do not have a “nap room” at work, and 86% felt that having a designated nap time could help increase productivity.
An Indian sleep and home solution startup company is implementing a well-being initiative by providing its employees with daily 30-minute nap times.
In 2019, Wakefit Solutions conducted a survey, titled Right to Work Naps, where 70% of 1,500 respondents stated that their workplace does not provide a “nap room,” while 86% expressed that having a designated nap time could increase productivity.
Florida man caught on video stealing local sushi restaurant’s Buddha statue
A man was caught on surveillance camera stealing a Buddha statue from a sushi restaurant in Florida.
The unidentified man can be seen placing an order at the Sushi Sake restaurant in Cutler Bay. When the server walks away, the customer is seen grabbing the Buddha statue on the counter and walking outside to place it in his car before returning inside the restaurant.
