Fruit Growers Financial Bite - business | Stuff.co.nz

Kiwis soon be forced to buy imported fruit and veges year round if growers continue to be screwed down on prices locally, an industry leader is warning.

Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers Association president Leon Stallard said his apples often retail in supermarkets for 800 per cent more than what he was paid. For example, shoppers paid $3.80 to $4 for a kilo of apples but he received just 50c to 60c a kilo from distributors - which meant little to no profit margin for the grower.

Growers deserved a greater share of the retail profits, he said. "Someone's profiteering off our hard work."

The country's two biggest supermarket operators reject claims of exorbitant margins at growers' expense, claiming they're paying fair prices which vary on seasonality. They weren't willing to say what their margins were.

Stallard maintains growers face ever-climbing costs - including for labour, fuel, electricity, meeting food safety standards such as minimum residue levels - yet the average retail price for many produce items and the prices paid to growers had not budged in years.

He feared local growers would abandon the New Zealand market and export their produce, as the returns were better. However exports are still relatively small and growth is hampered by the strength of the New Zealand dollar.

Smaller growers had been forced out of the market as scale and volume were the only way to make money, he said. "A significant number of our members and growers have exited the industry. Back in 1980 there might have been 1700 orchardists in New Zealand, now we're down to about 360. Before we realise it we'll be importing all our produce from overseas," Stallard said.

A fruit supplier, who did not wish to be named for fear of losing business, said growers typically received about 25 per cent of the retail price of produce, while supermarkets aimed to make a gross margin of about 30 to 40 per cent of the retail price. There was often little elasticity in retail prices so the retailers' margins fluctuated. "But sometimes the margins are embarrassingly high."

In contrast, the margins made by growers and distributors were "horrible", he said.

Not all growers believe they are getting a raw deal. Keith Vallabh, a Pukekohe silverbeet grower and Vegetables NZ chairman, said supply and demand, and competition were responsible for the prices they received, not the retailers. "Growers are good at blaming others. It's a free market, some days the pricing is high, sometimes low."

If growers wanted to make more money they needed to work smarter, including joining together to sell through co-operatives, he said.

Horticulture NZ chief executive Peter Silcock said the prices growers received varied a lot depending on supply and season, and at certain times could be below their cost of production. Many growers sold to retailers and food service operators through wholesalers, such as Turners and Growers, Freshmax and Market Gardeners, which typically took 10 to 20 per cent of the sell price as a cut.

It would be too broad a statement to say supermarkets weren't paying a fair price for produce, "but at times there's too much difference between what growers get and what supermarkets get", he said.

A Countdown spokesperson said it made a "small retail margin" on products, after it covered costs such as wages, transport, and store running costs. The spokesperson said its margins for fruit and vegetables hadn't changed in the past year. On average, for every dollar customers spent in its stores, Countdown made a 5 cent profit before tax but it wouldn't detail what the average margin was on fruit and vegetables alone.

Foodstuffs communications director Antoinette Shallue said claims fresh fruit and veges were marked up by as much as 800 per cent were "completely incorrect", and its gross sales margins varied.

Depending on weather, the cost could exceed the retail price and Foodstuffs made little to no margin, but when produce was in season it could make an improved margin.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/8256616/Financial-bite-goes-on-growers

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Will you want the new BlackBerry?

Rosa Golijan , NBC News ? ? ? 1 day

We've referred to BlackBerry 10, the latest operating system released by Research in Motion (now known as BlackBerry), as the company's last hope. It's do or die, make or break, claim a hefty serving of the smartphone market or settle for a few crumbs. But setting aside all that pressure and drama, let's focus on what's important now: Will you actually want to buy a smartphone running BlackBerry 10?

Yes, no ? and maybe so.

The first device to run BlackBerry 10 is the Z10, an all-touch smartphone. Yes, you did read that right: The physical keyboard, a defining BlackBerry feature, is gone. Sure, it'll reappear with the Q10 ? the more traditional-looking of the first two BlackBerry 10 devices ? but that isn't expected to be available until April or so. For now, we can merely judge BlackBerry based on one device ... one that's a dramatic departure from the company's modus operandi.

Physically speaking, the Z10 is a beautiful device. It doesn't have some sort of flashy or daring design. Instead it's simple and unadorned, like a classy little black dress that'll seldom look out of place or out of style. Whenever I'd hand the Z10 to someone for the first time, he or she would remark that it feels a great deal like an iPhone. Take that however you will, but I see it as a good thing.

As far as the device's guts go, there's nothing that'll grab your attention too much. It has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB or memory (expandable up to 64GB, thanks to a microSD slot), an 8MP camera on the back, and a 2MP camera in the front. Oh, and there's a removable battery. (As someone who has gone a long time without having to deal with annoying BlackBerry freeze-ups, I'd forgotten how important it is to have a battery that can be yanked out, if only to force a restart. And yes, the Z10 has frozen up a couple of times during my review period.)

Touchy
It's not the hardware that's the main attraction when it comes to the Z10 though. As I've said, this is the first BlackBerry 10 device. And the operating system is the deal-maker ? or deal-breaker.

Since the physical keyboard is absent, I found myself quite focused on its touch-screen replacement. It left me impressed. It definitely takes some adjustment to start using the keyboard's suggestions ? every tap brings up hovering words, and you flick a word up to select it ? yet it's amazingly easy to write entire sentences without ever actually tapping out a single full word.

Not every touch interface was as pleasant as the keyboard. The navigational gestures baked into BlackBerry 10 were a source of frustration. If you don't start them at the very edge of the screen, the Z10 simply ignores your attempts to jump back home.

The Hub
Since the BlackBerry is known for creating email monsters ? gadgets that can handle any amount of correspondences thrown at them ? I was fairly excited about the new BlackBerry Hub. This is intended to function as a unified inbox of sorts, where all email, BlackBerry messages, SMS messages, Twitter notifications, Facebook notifications, and the like can live.

Unfortunately, as you can see in the video up top, the Hub gets overwhelming as soon as the emails and notifications start flooding in and causes more headaches than it relieves. Additionally, there's an odd quirk that sends you back to the last viewed message instead of the Hub overview whenever you toggle between other apps and the Hub. This is incredibly annoying since you then have to hit the back button to get where you want to go.

The Z10's 8-megapixel camera delivers poor image quality compared to the leading Samsung and Apple contenders, while the camera app is gimmicky at best. While some might be excited about TimeShift mode, which rapidly captures several photos and allows you to choose a subject's best face, the novelty quickly wears off and leaves one craving for the more intuitive (and higher quality) camera systems of Android and iOS. Besides, that feature is far from unique, found increasingly on other phones and cameras.

While BlackBerry devices are typically workhorses, any competitive smartphone also has to be able to serve as a primary media player. So how is the music and video playback on the Z10? Short answer: Acceptable. Long answer: You can live with it, but if you're an iPod/iPhone/iTunes addict, you'll definitely flinch at the limited content management and access of the Music Player and Video Player apps.

The rest of the BlackBerry 10 experience is fairly smooth. The device is snappy and responsive ? pesky gestures aside ? and, unlike the BlackBerry operating systems of the distant past, doesn't feel bloated.

Of course, one could write the lack of bloat off as being related to the limited app selection. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins called attention to the fact that there are over 70,000 apps available for the operating system, and indeed we found Cut the Rope, Facebook, Twitter, and other favorites ? BlackBerry also secured Skype, Rovio, Amazon, and other popular app makers as partners ? however, we're still waiting for Netflix, Google Maps, Instagram, and Hulu, among other obvious absentees.

Overall, the BlackBerry Z10 is a solid device. If you're an existing BlackBerry user who happens to be willing to patiently adjust to an on-screen keyboard, that brand dedication may finally pay off. But if you, like me, have come to rely on iPhone or Android, chances are that you'll constantly find yourself looking for features (or apps) that are missing from BlackBerry 10.

BlackBerry certainly did re-design, re-invent and re-imagine itself ? as it takes pains to tell you on its website ? but the clich? of "too little, too late" definitely rings true at this point.

Want more tech news or interesting links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/will-you-want-new-blackberry-1B8211810

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Illegal immigration foes despair over GOP moves

DENVER (AP) -- Marty Lich is ready to bolt.

It's been a couple of years since the self-described conservative considered herself a Republican, but she still often votes for GOP candidates. That's partly because of their tough stands against illegal immigration, which the retired teacher's aide blames for ruining her Southern California hometown and fears could threaten the Colorado mountain community where she now lives.

But Lich and voters like her are watching with despair as more and more Republican politicians edge toward a bipartisan plan that includes a pathway to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. "If the GOP agrees on this amnesty, they're selling out their core values," Lich said. "They'd lose us. They'd lose the votes of people who support them, and they're not going to gain a lot of votes."

Demographics and election returns are pushing Republican leaders away from people like Lich. In 2007, a grass-roots rebellion led Republicans to reject then-President George W. Bush's immigration overhaul because it included a process in which otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants could eventually become U.S. citizens. Activists derided the provision as an "amnesty." After tea party groups toppled various Republicans in primaries over their dovish immigration stands, the party's rhetoric and proposals became increasingly tough.

That's changed since the drubbing the GOP took last November. Mitt Romney received underwhelming support from voters in the two fastest-growing minority groups: 27 percent of Hispanic voters and an even smaller share from Asians, according to exit polls. In contrast, George W. Bush won an estimated 44 percent of the Hispanic vote in his 2004 re-election.

Prominent Republicans, from television commentator Sean Hannity to former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, now support legalizing the status of some illegal immigrants. The outline of a bill to do just that was unveiled Monday by a group of eight senators, four from each party, and President Barack Obama reiterated his support for a similar overhaul Tuesday. Even in the Republican-controlled House, a half-dozen bipartisan members are nearing completion on wide-ranging legislation that would include a pathway to legalize the immigration status of those here without authorization.

It's unclear what, if any, immigration bill could pass Congress. Still, the shift in tone signals to some who favor tighter restrictions on immigration that parts of the Republican Party are ready to cave. That'd be a dangerous move, they warn, arguing that Hispanics strongly support Obama's health care law and other Democratic initiatives and are unlikely to ever back Republicans in significant numbers. They also warn that the party will squander a valuable resource by alienating its base.

"I don't know how you can even quantify the loss of enthusiasm," said former Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, a longtime thorn in party elders' sides for his aggressive stance on illegal immigration. "You're not going to knock on any doors, make any phone calls or give any money."

Other Republicans dismiss that worry. "Where else are they going to go?" asked Sig Rogich, a veteran Las Vegas-based Republican operative who has long pushed for a more immigrant-friendly GOP. "They'll get over it."

Immigration restriction activists - they don't like being called "anti-immigrant" or "hard-liners" - lack the organizational heft of labor unions, business organizations and religious groups, their primary opponents in this debate. Nonetheless, for years they were able to block an immigration overhaul that included some kind of legalized status.

But polls show public opinion may have turned against them. An AP-GfK poll last week found 62 percent of Americans - and 53 percent of Republicans - support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. That's up 10 points and 22 points respectively from 2010.

"The economy's terrible, people are struggling and hurting. It's hard to go out and do what we were doing, at the same level, before," said Michelle Dallacroce, an Arizona-based activist who had to take down the website for her group, Mothers Against Illegal Amnesty, because donations dried up. "We're losing. We don't have a voice anymore."

Others are less worried. Rosemary Jenks, director of governmental relations for the Numbers USA, a group that favors tightening immigration restrictions, said the same popular rebellion that deadlocked Congress over Bush's immigration proposal also will stop Obama's, regardless of demographic trends and the November's election results. She noted that some Democrats, too, oppose a big bill.

"It's going to be the same Republicans on the amnesty side and the same Democrats on our side," she said.

Still, the tea party chat rooms and message boards Virginia Gomez reads are full of foreboding that some Republicans are changing their stance on the issue. "They have moved away from securing the border and standing firm," said Gomez, 67, who recently retired from a banking job in Illinois and moved to rural Utah. "They are trying to cater more to the people who are here illegally, but they are alienating people like myself, Hispanics who are born here in this country."

Michael Long, a retired Air Force employee in Colorado Springs who actively monitors the immigration debate, is resigned to the GOP cutting a deal. His antipathy for the idea is balanced by his respect for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a point man on the bipartisan agreement, and his understanding of political realities.

"The last election scared the heck out of Republicans, and the numbers aren't going to go down for the Latino vote," said Long, 50.

Jan Taylor also expects her side to lose the political battle. She worked at an American consulate in Mexico during the last major immigration deal, in 1986, when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that allowed 3 million illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens. She remembers the stampede of people brandishing what she described as clearly forged papers showing they qualified for the amnesty. "It was kind of a game," she recalled.

Now, at 71, she's retired, living in Colorado Springs and dismayed the country may go down a similar road. For years, she's written to congressional and state representatives urging tougher enforcement of existing immigration laws and warning against another amnesty. She's not sure what else she can do.

"I'm only one person," Taylor said.

---

Follow Nicholas Riccardi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NickRiccardi .

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IMMIGRATION_DEAL_OPPONENTS?SITE=ORROS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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Public Speaking Masterclass ? Who's the Mummy?

So, this week I was invited down to London to present for Microsoft on the topic of ?being a Mum and running a business?.

They asked me to share my top tips for juggling home and business. Specifically, how can a working parent fit it all in to one day?

I?m not sure I?m an expert on the topic by any means but Microsoft had hired a specially decorated Routemaster bus for the occasion, decked out to celebrate the launch of a new cloud-based version of Office for home users. And they?d invited lots of speakers to make presentations about how they use technology in their everyday lives.

A presentation on a bus? How could I say no?

I should also mention the presentation was one of Microsoft?s ?Ignite? talks ? these are short, 5-minute presentations based on 20 slides, which each display for 15 seconds.

See, you hear something like that and think, ?Five minutes? Pfft. No problem.?? I do a lot of public speaking and 5 minutes is pretty short and sweet. No problemo, right??

Being a typical working parent, I obviously made my presentation at 11pm the night before. And then wrote some notes on the train down to London yesterday morning. I find I?m at my most creative when in a last-minute panic.

So I arrived at Leicester Square at 12pm, ready to get on the bus.

No bus.

Turns out the bus had broken down somewhere near Buckingham Palace and the Microsoft PR team was in full-on crisis mode. Everyone was herded into a hastily-secured pub, only to find the pub couldn?t allow filming, so we were moved to the rather swanky St Martins Hotel instead, which did allow filming.

Now, I don?t do brilliantly being filmed. So I squeaked: ?Filming? Pardon? Someone?s filming this???

?Not really,? the PR person reassured me. ?We?ll be streaming it live on the Internet and then we?ll edit it later and put it online.??

Oh. That?s better, then.

So, that was the moment I realised I probably should have rehearsed my presentation a bit more. Or at least rehearsed it once.

Still, there were other presenters and they were all nervous, and I was told I was second on the line-up, so at least I?d get to watch someone else suffer first.

We went into the presentation room and I quickly realised who was presenting immediately before me.

Tess Daly.

Tall, glamorous, professional TV presenter Tess Daly.

She was brilliant. All natural smiles in the direction of the camera and off-the-cuff insights into her celebrity life as she shook her perfect highlighted curls. Oh, and she was wearing leather trousers and killer heels.

And I was following that.

I?ve never hated anyone more. (Sorry, Tess)

I was called up to present, and the next five minutes went by in a blur of blind terror ? let me tell you, 15 seconds per slide is not enough time to read the stupid, pointless notes. You really do just have to wing it.

And that?s why my presentation kicked off with me calling Gwyneth Paltrow ?rubbish? and went on to include references to accidentally punching my child in the face, the importance of quality time with your kids ?so you can neglect them later and they won?t mind so much? and ? the pinnacle of my public speaking career ? urging the audience to go and Google ?monkey porn?.

Sigh.

But, there?s a silver lining.

Ahead of the presentation, I asked Flea what tips she thought I should pass on for other Mums who work. What did she think I was good at?

?You?re good at computers,? Flea said. ?But you?re awesome at love.?

If only I could have stretched that t0 20 slides and five minutes, I think that might have been the perfect presentation right there. But since I couldn?t, here are the tips I did share:

Source: http://www.whosthemummy.co.uk/2013/02/public-speaking-masterclass.html

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Obama Honors Astronauts Who Gave Their Lives for Space

President Barack Obama paid tribute to the seven astronauts who died in the space shuttle Columbia accident 10 years ago, along with all of those who lost their lives in the pursuit of space, in a statement released today (Feb. 1).

"Space exploration and the sacrifice these pioneers made benefits us all," Obama said in the statement. "Today, we honor their lives and recommit ourselves to living up to their shining example."

NASA held a ceremony today commemorating the loss of Columbia and its crew, as well as the deaths of seven astronauts when the shuttle Challenger was destroyed shortly after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986, and the tragic Apollo 1 capsule ground fire on Jan. 27, 1967, which took the lives of three astronauts.

"We will never forget these astronauts nor all those who have lost their lives carrying out our missions of exploration," NASA administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. "These explorers, and their families, have our deepest respect. We work every day to honor and build on their legacy and create the best space program in the world ? to infuse it with the life and vitality that they worked so hard to achieve." [Columbia Shuttle Disaster Explained (Infographic)]

Obama reiterated his support for NASA's past achievements, as well as for its future, which includes building a new spacecraft and heavy-lift rocket to take people to the moon, asteroids and Mars.

"As we undertake the next generation of discovery, today we pause to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice on the journey of exploration," Obama said. "Right now we are working to fulfill their highest aspirations by pursuing a path in space never seen before, one that will eventually put Americans on Mars."

The president acknowledged that space remains a difficult, risky business, but one worth pursuing.

"The exploration of space represents one of the most challenging endeavors we undertake as a nation," Obama said. "Whether it's landing a 1-ton rover on Mars, building a space telescope 100 times more powerful than the Hubble, or preparing to send humans beyond the Moon, it's imperative America continues to lead the world in reaching for the stars while giving us a better understanding of our home planet."

Many in NASA were working for the agency at the time of the Challenger shuttle accident, and even more were there for the Columbia disaster. For those who knew the crews personally, and worked alongside them, the anniversaries are especially poignant.

"Today, I laid wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery for these fallen heroes, and at the Kennedy Space Center, wreaths were laid at the Space Mirror Memorial. Across the country, all flags at NASA Headquarters and the NASA centers will be flown at half-mast in memory of our colleagues lost in the cause of exploration," Bolden said. "And while those gestures will signify to the nation and the world that we have not forgotten, as we look to the future, we will each remember in our own personal way our colleagues and friends, and what their work meant to us. Together we will carry them with us in our hearts as we propel ourselves to the next big horizon and make their dreams reality."

Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter?@ClaraMoskowitz?or SPACE.com?@Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook?&?Google+.?

Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-honors-astronauts-gave-lives-space-171640281.html

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Moody?s could downgrade debt rating for Energen Corp. and Alabama Gas Corp.

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Honda profit surges, trims forecast on China

FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2012 file photo, a man inspects Honda vehicles displayed in front of Honda Motor Co. headquarters in Tokyo. Honda's quarterly profit surged nearly 63 percent as production recovered after disruptions from natural disasters. The Japanese automaker reported a 77.4 billion yen (US$850 million) profit for the October-December period Thursday, as sales jumped nearly 25 percent to 2.4 trillion yen (US$26 billion). (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2012 file photo, a man inspects Honda vehicles displayed in front of Honda Motor Co. headquarters in Tokyo. Honda's quarterly profit surged nearly 63 percent as production recovered after disruptions from natural disasters. The Japanese automaker reported a 77.4 billion yen (US$850 million) profit for the October-December period Thursday, as sales jumped nearly 25 percent to 2.4 trillion yen (US$26 billion). (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

TOKYO (AP) ? Honda's quarterly profit surged nearly 63 percent as production recovered after disruptions from natural disasters, but the Japanese automaker slightly lowered its full-year profit forecast because of sales losses in China.

Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. reported a 77.4 billion yen ($850 million) profit for the October-December period Thursday. Quarterly sales jumped nearly 25 percent to 2.4 trillion yen ($26 billion).

All the Japanese automakers are seeing a dramatic recovery from the quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan in 2011, which destroyed key suppliers.

Honda was also hurt by flooding in Thailand in late 2011. On top of the sales recovery, they are getting a perk from a weakening yen, which helps lift the value of overseas earnings.

Japanese automakers are reporting solid sales increases in the key U.S. market and in Asian countries such as India and Indonesia. The exception is China where anti-Japanese sentiment flared up last year over a territorial dispute, and Honda expects to lose sales of 20,000 vehicles compared with its earlier plan.

Honda reported quarterly sales growth in all key global regions, including the U.S., Japan, the U.S., Europe and Asia. It also did a healthy business in motorcycles, for which has a long history and reputation, especially in Asia.

Honda kept its sales forecast for the fiscal year through March unchanged at 9.8 trillion yen ($108 billion), but lowered its net profit projection by 5 billion yen ($55 million) to 370 billion yen ($4 billion). The new projection would still represent a 75 percent improvement over its result during the disaster-hammered previous fiscal year.

The maker of the Odyssey minivan, Fit subcompact and Asimo walking robot said it now expects to sell slightly fewer vehicles for the fiscal year at 4.06 million vehicles, although that's up from 3.1 million vehicles for the previous year.

Honda had expected to sell 4.1 million vehicles, but that number was lowered because of the China problems, company spokesman Tsuyoshi Hojo said.

Honda has not had to lower its annual revenue forecast, partly because it is getting a lift from a favorable exchange rate, he said.

Weakening demand in Europe, where some countries are being hit by a slowdown, also contributed to the lowered vehicle sales forecast.

Honda said incentive spending in the U.S. squeezed its profit forecast but the main cause was the lowered vehicle sales in China.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's top automaker, and Nissan Motor Co., Japan's No. 2 automaker, report earnings next week. They are also expected to highlight a robust recovery in the Japanese auto industry.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-31-AS-Japan-Earns-Honda/id-9d7c1402a6c34f819280f9cfbb6b434a

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