Canada’s Finance Minister Joe Oliver says the country is still on track to balance its budget in 2015 – 2016 as reported, even after oil prices dropped recently.
“We are proud that the government is on track to achieve a balanced budget in 2015, with an expected surplus of $1.6 billion,” said Oliver, as reported by Reuters.
This projection was adjusted to include the drop in oil, which Oliver told reporters would positively and negatively affect the economy this year.
Linda Abbruscato has been promoted to Senior Merchandising Manager, Natural Foods at Fortinos.
Linda has been in the retail supermarket business for over 17 years. She started at Fortinos in 1997 as a Natural Foods clerk, and was later promoted to the Natural Foods Manager. In 2010, Linda joined the company’s head office team as its Natural Foods Specialist. Linda has also spent some time as a Senior Merchandising Manager, Natural Foods on a contract basis while covering maternity leaves.
In her new role, Linda will provide support to the Senior Director of Merchandising and Franchisees, where she will help develop, maintain and execute merchandising strategies and standards to increase sales, profit and market share.
Congratulations on your new role, Linda!
According to a recent report from market research company Packaged Facts, consumers are looking to frozen foods at a growing rate since new options have been introduced that are coined either natural or organic.
“Frozen foods of all kinds have been challenged in recent years as a result of the convergence of several trends, especially, but not exclusively, a growing demand for fresh products or at least fresher products in refrigerated rather than frozen form. Nevertheless, frozen food products still have much to offer,” says David Sprinkle, Packaged Facts research director, in a press release. “For instance, frozen products identified as natural or organic are having a more positive experience than frozen foods in general. These organic and natural frozen foods appeal to the consumer who is both cost conscious and health conscious.”
According to Packaged Facts, sales of the entire frozen food category will grow from $22 billion in 2014 to an estimated $23 billion in 2019. In addition, product variations will continue to grow, with more options added for flavour variety, health benefits and better pricing.
According to a recent study, the chemical called bisphenol S (BPS) that was used as a replacement for Bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles also causes various developmental issues in fish embryos.
Previously, Bisphenol A (BPA) was linked to serious health issues such as obesity, cancer, hyperactivity and childhood anxiety. Studies had found that the use of the chemical also had an effect on brain development in zebra fish. Subsequently, BPA was banned from baby bottles in 2012 by the U.S. Food and drug Administration. Recent studies found that both BPA and BPS chemicals have the same negative effect.
“I was actually very surprised at our results. This was a very, very, very low dose, so I didn’t think using a dose this low could have any effect,” Debra Kurrasch, the lead researcher, told Reuters.
Researchers from the University of Calgary said that further research is required to decide whether BPS affects human fetuses but recommended that pregnant women avoid using items with bisphenols.
In addition to a new year, January 1 brought new import tariffs to Canadians, which will affect thousands of imported products, which may lead to higher costs. This comes after 72 countries were removed from Canada’s “General Preferential Tariff” list.
While Canadians are likely to see increased prices, experts say consumers won’t even notice these additions. However, the government will, as it hopes to bring in an additional $300 million per year since cutting the tariff list down from its previous level of 176 countries.
Among those countries that lost preferential status are China, India and Brazil.
According to a spokesperson for Finance Minister Joe Oliver, cutting the list down was necessary to provide benefits to businesses, reports CTV. This was a move to create fairness for Canadian companies who were competing against products from other countries with privileged access to Canada’s market.
Timothy Allen has been in the natural health industry for over 25 years. In that time, he learned which areas see the most demand in order for his business to thrive. Allen did what not many are willing to do: he approached a whole new business model in order to cater to that demand.
Allen spent nearly 12 years at Jamieson Laboratories as its director of sales. From there, he moved to Sisu Vitamins where he became its vice president of sales for nearly four years. Most recently, he spent almost 11 years as the vice president of sales and general manager of Inno-Vite Health.
In that role, he held the responsibility of leading the sales team and running the business. He left the company in January 2013, instead choosing to work independently at the Glen Williams Group as its managing director. In this role, Allen offers consulting services such as sales and team management, trade marketing, business development and strategic planning to small businesses.
“I set out to work independently because there is so much work available with small businesses trying to be noticed and manage the sales process. They are getting caught dealing with an ever-demanding competitive environment,” says Allen. “Based on my background in the natural health products industry of over 25 years and based on my exposure to growing and shrinking businesses, my involvement with executive management teams has allowed me to adapt to the challenges of the current environment.”
Allen says he is adapting well to the new economy in his newest role since he is his own business. “The natural health products industry is dependent upon small, entrepreneurial businesses to innovate and create excitement. However, most of these small businesses are driven by passion and not structure,” he says. “I offer the ability to create a relative level of structure to assist the businesses in growing in a more orderly fashion.”
Allen deals with competition in the industry by staying ahead of competitors and offering different services. His advice to anyone who deals with this is to continually challenge yourself and your team to come up with new ideas that are different from what is out there. He uses his network to reach out to people who need help, rather than going about traditional marketing strategies, and it is a method that is working for him.
“At the end of the day, every business needs help whether they want to admit it or not, but most businesses are caught in the whirlwind,” says Allen. “If they can stop chasing their tail and start to lay out solid plans, they can get on with the execution of the strategy. It’s all about having a careful and consistent execution, otherwise the strategy means nothing.”
Popular shopping website Overstock.com, which sells reduced priced clothing, electronics and household items, is now selling produce fresh from the farm.
“We’re integrating small farms, community-supported agriculture and co-ops into our technology so as to allow consumers in their area to buy and arrange delivery through Overstock,” CEO Patrick M. Byrne said, as reported by NRF.
On Overstock.com, produce can be found in the Farmers Market section, which also features a biography of the farmer or supplier that provided each item. It also gives shoppers a glimpse of how each farmer produces each item. Shoppers can also use the website to download healthy recipes.
Suppliers are not charged up-front to join, according to Byrne, and instead follow a revenue-sharing model that allows them to keep most of their procedures the same.
Overstock’s Farmers Market is one of its many sustainable businesses that give back to the communities involved in production. Other sustainable businesses include Worldstock, where shoppers can find handmade fair trade products, Main Street Revolution, which has products from individuals and small businesses, and Pet Adoption, which allows animal shelters across the U.S. to connect with potential adopters.
Neptune Technologies & Bioresources Inc. has appointed Jim Hamilton its new president and CEO, effective Feb. 2, 2015. He will also become a member of its board at that time.
“As Neptune begins a new era, Jim is the right person to lead the corporation forward into its next phase of growth and success,” Pierre Fitzgibbon, Chairman of Neptune’s Board of Directors, told NutraIngredients-USA. “Jim is a proven executive with a deep understanding of the nutraceutical market, strong industry connections and over 25 years of experience, working in the United States, Europe and Canada. During his career, he played a leading role in the development, manufacturing, marketing and sales of dietary supplement, food, animal feed and personal care products.”
Hamilton graduated from Concordia University in Montreal and has attended business and leadership programs at the London Business School and INSEAD> Hamilton is currently the vice president human nutrition and health for North America and president of DSM Nutritional Products USA, based in New Jersey.
Until Hamilton ascends to the new role, Andre Godin will continue to act as interim president and CEO, after which Godin will remain on the company’s executive team.
Health Canada has recently seized several products from a chain of Calgary supplement stores due to the health risk they pose, and some of them have not been approved for sale in Canada.
The seized products contain yohimbine or a combination of ephedrine and caffeine, and are marketed for bodybuilding, weight loss and increased energy or sexual enhancement. The products in question are Nutrex Research Lipo6 Black, Black Hers, Unlimited and Black Ultra Concentrate; West Pharm Xtra Lean, ThermaLean, ThermoMAXXX and Yohimbe Extract; Twinlab Ripped Fuel; and NutraKey Yohimbine HCI.
Yohimbine is a prescription drug that should only be taken with the approval of a health care practitioner. Yohimbine may cause adverse reactions in people with high blood pressure, heart, kidney or liver disease. Yohimbine can cause increased blood pressure and heart rate, anxiety, dizziness, tremors, headache, nausea and sleep disorders.
Ephedrine and caffeine in combination may cause symptoms such as dizziness, tremors, headaches and irregularities in heart rate to such serious symptoms as seizures, psychosis, heart attack and stroke. People with heart conditions, high blood pressure and diabetes are at highest risk.
If these products are on your shelves, please contact Health Canada for more information.
Sexual enhancement supplement Herberex (NPN 80041180) is being recalled by Health Canada after it was determined it contained the undeclared drug tadalafil.
Herberex is distributed by Empire Health Distribution, which is recalling the product from retail stores across Canada. If this product is on your shelf, please contact the company immediately.
Tadalafil should only be taken with the approval of a health care practitioner. It should not be used by anyone also using a nitrate drug such as nitroglycerine as it can cause low blood pressure. It can also cause headaches, facial flushing, indigestion, dizziness, abnormal vision and hearing loss.
