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One city, five boroughs and unlimited options – this is New York City. It is one of the most energetic and aspirational places on earth, offering unmatched culture, history, diversity, dining and entertainment. From the world-renowned galleries and museums to the extensive dining and shopping options and the bright lights of Broadway, it is impossible to experience the whole of New York City on one trip – or even in one lifetime.

It is a destination in constant evolution, making it as exciting for returning travellers as for first-time visitors. Each visit to NYC combines familiar sights – the yellow taxi cabs, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, hot dog vendors on street corners – with the opportunity to enjoy new attractions, tours, activities and neighbourhoods. From ice skating on an outdoor rink in winter to relaxing in Central Park in summer, New York is a city for all seasons.

New York City is more than just Manhattan. Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island each hold their own appeal and offer unique attractions – surfing at Rockaway Beach in Queens, Brooklyn’s Coney Island funfair, Yankee Stadium in The Bronx and Staten Island’s iconic ferry are just some of the reasons to explore all five boroughs. With a wide variety of hotels and easy accessibility from right across the UK, New York City has something to appeal to every type of traveller.

Source: Visit USA

When the new year rolls around, people resolve to change their lives, to become better, to clear the clutter from their lives and focus on building a positive future.

Area cities are no different. Each has a plan for 2017, from un-sexy but important public works projects to exciting makeovers that city leaders hope will bring additional life and success to their towns.

Here is a look at what some area towns have on tap for 2017:

LEESBURG

Leesburg’s goal for 2017 is to enhance the quality of life in a way that will attract new businesses, visitors and residents.

City spokesman Derek Hudson said the upcoming projects encompass everything from enhancements to infrastructure, more recreational opportunities for families and improvements that will increase the quality of life in the area.

Projects underway include:

• The addition of a gateway that will lead people to Leesburg’s downtown district. Construction will begin construction in June or July. The $500,000 project, funded partially by an FDOT grant, includes landscaping, gateway signage and a fountain at the intersection of U.S. Highway 441 and U.S. Highway 27 and a lighted archway at downtown’s entrance on Main Street.

• The construction of the city’s first splash park is set to break ground at Venetian Gardens this month. The $426,000 splash park will tentatively open around mid-March or the beginning of April and will provide interactive water play for children in the area.

• A re-do of the Rogers Park pavilion is set to begin this year. The $200,000 project, in tandem with Splash Park and Kids Korner playground, will include new restroom facilities and some beautification efforts to the venue, which is rented out for parties, barbecues and other get-togethers. The city council was set to approve final plans for the pavilion this week.

In 2017, the city will continue efforts to curb economic blight in the Carver Heights area, to include the design for a new $1.5 million community resource center. When completed, the center will provide outreach and educational programs, training facilities, a computer lab and meeting space for residents.

TAVARES

City Manager John Drury said Tavares will continue efforts to improve the overall quality of life for its citizens as well as its brand as America’s Seaplane City.

“We will be focusing on fiscally conservative policies and maximizing grants wherever possible to achieve these goals,” Drury said.

Drury said will look at connecting the cities of Mount Dora and Eustis with Tavares via alternative modes of transportation like bicycle and walking trails.

Some of the other projects on the books for 2017 in Tavares include:

• Installation of a new 441 America’s Seaplane City gateway sign and landscaping. The cost of the project is $82,000. The city Planning Department has also formed a Horizon Team to begin the master planning for a west Main Street gateway.

• A $1.5 million project is under way for new boat ramps on the west side of Wooton Park. The project includes the boat ramps, boat trailer parking, green space stabilization, volleyball courts, Tavlee Trail, restrooms and railroad crossing signalization/arms.

• The city will continue in the design phases for projects like a new $10.4 million public safety facility that will be fully funded through infrastructure sales tax revenues, the $4.3 million Lake Francis utility line replacement project aimed at replacing failing water and sewer lines and repaving streets affected by the work and for a State Road 19 widening project. The project, currently undergoing the FDOT planning process, will see widening from Woodlea Road to the Howey Bridge. The multi-million dollar project is being funded by the state.

• In February or March, the Public Works staff will present plans to the City Council for $275,000 worth of repaving they feel is needed in town. A master plan identifying the condition of every street in Tavares has been completed and will be included in the presentation. Paving is set to begin later this year.

• In 2017, the state bridge between Tavares and Howey-In-The Hills is scheduled to be removed and replaced by two bridges. Construction for the first replacement bridge is scheduled for 2017.

UMATILLA

City Manager Scott Blankenship said 2017 is already shaping up to be a good year for Umatilla.

“We have a lot going on right now, and we’re all about infrastructure. It’s water, it’s sewer and it’s amenities,” Blankenship said.

Blankenship said one of the biggest projects on the books this year is a water plant upgrade that will include new pumps, storage tanks and water line replacements. He said work will begin soon to remove the old lines and replace them with new lines throughout the city. The $500,000 project to the water lift station is being fully funded by the St. John’s Water Management District.

Other projects slated for 2017 include:

• $150,000 worth of rehabilitation upgrades to Larkin Park, Cadwell Park and to the city’s community pool, funded by three $50,000 state grants awarded to Umatilla in December. Larkin Park upgrades and enhancements will include a makeover of the baseball field, expanding playground equipment and remodeling of the restroom facilities. Cadwell Park enhancements will include construction of a new roof on the pavilion and the installation of a covered stage to support events and rentals. Work to the community pool will include cleaning, upgrading electrical outlets and the placement of additional sidewalks.

• The construction of three additional hangars at Umatilla Municipal Airport are being funded by $500,000 worth of grant money from FAA and FDOT. Blankenship said hangar rentals will provide additional revenue to the city to support operation of the airport.

MOUNT DORA

City Manager Robin Hayes said Mount Dora will add infrastructure to support future growth anticipated as a result of the Wekiva Parkway interchange and the Wolf Branch Innovation District.

Hayes said a series of projects are being integrated to meet the goal and must be completed together to ensure utility lines are not compromised.

“A lot of this will be finished this year,” Hayes said.

The group of projects Hayes spoke of include:

• Britt Road Utility Extension: Plans are 60 percent complete and a land acquisition specialist has begun talking with property owners.

• State Road 46: Wekiva 3A & 3B utility plans are 90 percent complete. This week, staff will be requesting council approval to add a water line from the waste water treatment plant on Niles Road to SR 46 to improve redundancy. Staff plans to bid this project out by the end of this month with construction to begin in March or April, 2017.

• Wolf Branch Loop: This project goes from Round Lake north of SR 46 to one quarter mile east of Round Lake Road. The project will begin when the SR 46 projects are complete.

• Innovation Loop: This project is Round Lake south of SR 46 to the Orange County line. This project will not begin until the SR 46 Projects are complete, and the city has more information on the development plans for the Innovation District.

• U.S. Highway 441: This project consists of utility relocations from SR 44 to Lincoln Avenue. The City has authorized Mittauer to complete a preliminary study of the Wolf Branch / Limit Intersection to determine the most cost effective way to move utilities in this intersection. This work is approximately 50 percent complete. Once completed, the city will negotiate a new scope of services to complete the overall project design.

• County Road 44B: This project design is complete awaiting the FDOT schedule for the road improvements. The City of Mount Dora plans to complete the Britt Road Extension Project prior to initiating this project for construction.

Article Published in Daily Commercial on 17^th January 2017

This year, perhaps for the first time in history, the fortunes of the U.S. food and beverage industry may depend upon the president of the United States.

There is as much uncertainty as there is optimism in the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th chief executive. On the positive side, will he loosen various regulations, dial back the FDA and overall cultivate a pro-business climate? Or will his critical statements about free trade harm the export-heavy food industry? Will his stance on immigration drive up labor costs and create job shortages? Could he create a climate for unsafe foods?

Tangentially, will any company that criticizes his initiatives or supports liberal causes face a boycott from his very vocal supporters, Breitbart.com at the forefront?

When we surveyed our Editorial Advisory Board about their outlook for the new year, with no prompting from us most mentioned the new administration. “What effect will the Trump administration have on USDA/FDA? And thus the food industry?” asked one of our board members. “Although he may have bigger agencies to go after.”

“Certainly the incoming administration has to be potentially the biggest scary/disruptive thing on the horizon – such an unknown,” said a second.
Still another, with a degree in food science, offered this psychological analysis:

“After the election, the country isn’t merely polarized, it is affectively polarized: a social science term meaning people don’t merely disagree with each other (opposing views). They now actively dislike each other. This sentiment exceeds discrimination of race or religion. This self expression has given rise to more boycotting and protests and we see this in branded products, e.g.: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes [or all of PepsiCo]. Look at web sites and see products as being identified as liberal vs. conservative for no logical reason.”

Another of our industry advisors provided a laundry list of new-administration worries:

• Will some regulations be targeted for repeal or significant decrease in enforcement, such as menu labeling?
• Will upcoming compliance dates be further extended?
• Will FDA and state funding for certain regulatory programs be scaled back substantially, including inspections of food facilities? (It could be unpopular to scale back FSMA requirements, however, if that is perceived by the public as decreasing the safety of our food supply.)
• Will there be efforts to repeal right-to-know laws such as GMO labeling as burdensome to industry without a commensurate public health benefit?
• The pendulum may swing more in the direction of commercial free speech with respect to health-related claims for products, even if there is just preliminary evidence in support of a structure/function claim.

A lot will depend on which Donald Trump takes the oath of office on Jan. 20: the candidate who promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington and scale back the size and reach of government, or the post-election president-elect who made conciliatory and reassuring remarks that there would be at least some continuity.

One thing is certain, or at least obvious: Trump is a businessman, not a career politician, and his most consistent statements have been about improving the business climate in this country. That should bode well for all companies.

Three 2018 milestones

Big government and burdensome regulations are one thing (two things?), but food safety is quite another. Even a presidential change-agent must be wary of creating a situation that could kill people.

Assuming the new president doesn’t effect some of the changes discussed above, the food & beverage industry will spend 2017 preparing for regulatory changes that will take effect in 2018. Next year will see three very big ingredient and labeling-related related changes that need to be worked on this year.

GMO labeling is one of the most polarizing issues ever to affect the industry. Big Food hates the idea; Little Food loves it. The consuming public appears to be about evenly divided on the issue.

When Congress and federal agencies couldn’t come up with a labeling plan, a handful of states, with Vermont in the lead, took the initiative. The Vermont legislature passed a law in 2013 that required labeling by July 2016, with several adjoining states planning to join in. Congress used that as a deadline to create a compromise, mandatory (although with options), national law that would pre-empt Vermont’s and any other state laws.

Under the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, food and beverage companies can select from among three options: add “contains genetically modified organisms” to their labels, use a GMO label to be created by USDA or use the SmartLabel QR code, which the food industry itself created.

Those are the Congressional mandates, but USDA and its Agricultural Marketing Service — not FDA, somewhat surprisingly – is charged with fleshing-out the program. The Dept. of Agriculture has two years from the signing (presumably July 29, 2018) to enact the program. Perhaps we’ll see a prototype of that national GMO label this year.

Another July 2018 deadline is enforcement of a new Nutrition Facts panel. The FDA worked on the revisions for about a year before finalizing them this past summer. Highlights are a new “added sugars” line, larger serving sizes and the removal of “calories from fat” in recognition that some fats are healthy.

Having added sugars called out should be particularly embarrassing for some processors, so many will spend 2017 modifying taste in other ways with less sugar or experimenting with non-nutritive sweeteners, most likely natural ones such as stevia and monk fruit.

Vitamin D and potassium also will be required on the label. Calcium and iron will continue to be required. But vitamins A and C will no longer be required, although they can be included on a voluntary basis. Daily values for nutrients like sodium, dietary fiber and vitamin D are being updated.

While continuing to require “total fat,” “saturated fat,” and “trans fat” on the label, “calories from fat” is being removed because research shows the type of fat is more important than the amount.

Speaking of trans fat, it was in the summer of 2015 that FDA announced an expected phase-out of that ingredient and its precursor, partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs). [Technically, the agency revoked the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status of PHOs]. Food manufacturers were given three years (another summer 2018 deadline) to remove PHOs from products.

Hydrogenation helps to solidify or stabilize a liquid vegetable oil. Hydrogenated oils produce the crisp, dry texture of a good french fry, the glaze on laminated doughs, the crispness in cookies and the savored qualities in hundreds of other favorite foods. While they were created as an apparently healthier substitute for saturated fats, decades of scientific evidence showed PHOs were worse, both raising bad cholesterol levels and reducing good cholesterol.

Where is your growth?

While there’s no 2017 deadline for this one, it’s a huge issue the bigger companies in the food & beverage industry must deal with sooner or later (or else): Where is the sales growth?

At last February’s Consumer Analysts Group of New York (CAGNY) meetings, the CEOs and CFOs of Coca-Cola, General Mills, Hormel, Kellogg, Mondelez and PepsiCo announced or forecast lower sales but marginally higher profits – the latter the result of cost-cutting. And all of those firms made acquisitions in the previous year. How long can they manage to turn lower sales into higher profits?

Our February cover story, “Little Food Ascendant,” added Kraft and Heinz separately, Unilever, Maple Leaf and MolsonCoors to that list, while the likes of Enjoy Life Foods, Califia Farms, Renfro Foods, Stemmler Foods, Sonoma Foods and others grew at the expense of the big companies. That report looked at 2014 sales of our Top 100© companies and found aggregate sales had declined more than $1.7 billion, or 2.2 percent. Guess where they went.

Overseas markets are no longer the pot of gold. “The world has been and is a volatile place,” PepsiCo Chairman/CEO Indra Nooyi said at the CAGNY meeting. “We have encountered economic slowdowns, currency devaluations, geopolitical instability, increased regulatory pressure exacerbated by financial market volatility.” Net revenues and profits were down in all three of her company’s international segments in 2015. It was the same story at Coca-Cola. And at General Mills, which sold off businesses in Venezuela and Argentina.

Stagnation is behind such business-related changes as Conagra Brands (note the new name) starting life half the size of ConAgra Foods … and Hostess returning to the public stock market at half its former size … AB InBev swallowing up SABMiller … Kraft and Heinz, two venerable 100-year-old companies, tying the knot in 2015 … and Tyson Foods becoming the largest North American food processor (by our Top 100© math) by virtue of its acquisition of Hillshire Brands.

Who will be the big names acquired this year? But also, who are the small entrepreneurial firms that are capturing the hearts and wallets of millennials? And who may well be bought up by the big firms trying to stay relevant.

Other issues to look out for this year include governmental taxes on sugar (in Berkeley, Calif., Philadelphia and Chicago), with other entities looking at taxing salt and fat. The continuing rollout of the Food Safety Modernization Act. The continued growth of nontraditional sales channels, especially e-commerce.

And if you’re in the non-milk milk business (soy milk, etc.), the dairy industry and now several Congressmen have you in their sights this year.
2017 should be an interesting and challenging year for all. We hope you’re still around to read our 2018 outlook.

Article Published in Food Processing on 16th January 2017

SAN FRANCISCO — The specialty food and beverage industry has recorded double-digit growth in recent years, driven by changes in consumer behavior, said Denise Purcell, head of content for the Specialty Food Association.

 “The consumer now is so aware of what they’re eating and what they’re putting     in their bodies and they want healthful foods and they want a food experience,” Ms. Purcell said. “That’s the norm now. It’s not so much a niche    category of consumers who know what specialty is and it’s a thing on its own. It    really is just food.”

Speaking with Food Business News before the Winter Fancy Food Show, held Jan. 22-24 in San Francisco, Ms. Purcell discussed recent product innovation in specialty food and beverage as well as the consumer trends propelling the segment’s growth.

“(Consumers expect) cleaner ingredients, minimally processed but still very flavorful,” she said. “They want to indulge when they want, but they still want it to be high-quality. They want it to be a healthy indulgence.

“The younger millennial consumer and the consumer who is just coming of age now, Gen Z, are very much of that mindset as well. This is the future consumer for the market, so we can see the growth being sustained.”

Among the latest innovations from 1,400 exhibitors at the annual show, a number of trends emerge, reflecting increased demand for authenticity, transparency and premium quality.

Article Published in Food Business News on 23rd January 2017

The grocery business in the U.S. is about $675 billion. Virtually every household shops for groceries and over 90% of households shop for groceries once a week or more. Many products are now regularly bought online that were thought to be impossible to be converted to online shopping. Yet online grocery sales continue to be a small fraction of the industry. Depending on who you ask, online grocery sales this year will be 1-3% of industry sales. Compared to other product classes, it’s minuscule. So why aren’t more groceries sold online?

One Big Problem: Perishables

Consumers are understandably reluctant to have someone else pick out their fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and chicken. Anecdotally, you never hear a consumer talk about how an online grocery service picked out better products than they could do at the store. The best you’ll ever hear is that it was “pretty good.” You never hear better than that and you could hear worse.

The Other Big Problem: Price

The profit margins in the business of selling groceries in stores is as thin as it gets. And online shoppers don’t want to pay a premium. The problem is, when you go to the supermarket, you do the picking and then you bring it home yourself. When you order online, they do the picking and they bring it to your home and someone has to pay those workers so online grocers have built-in disadvantages. Cheerios or Russet potatoes are the same online as in store and if the delivered price of online groceries isn’t competitive, it’s not compelling to consumers. Consumers don’t like shipping and service costs, and they generally won’t pay for a shopper to pick their apples or tomatoes. So the online services are stuck doing their customers’ work of picking the products while being unable to charge for it. (There is an offset to the higher labor cost in the form of lower real estate costs but clearly the savings in real estate don’t offset the higher labor.) When you add in the cost of handling returns, it becomes impossible. That’s why you never heard of an online grocer making a profit — it’s much too hard to compete against the legacy retailers and their lower costs.

What Could Change All These problems? Technology

If online grocers could avoid the extra labor cost involved in picking, it would make a substantial dent in their costs. If they could simultaneously give consumers the confidence and trust that they will get produce and other perishables of the same quality they would pick for themselves and at prices that can compete with supermarkets, it will drive consumer adoption of online grocery shopping. The only way I can think of how to do that is to use technology to pick produce and other perishables. Theoretically, anyone could create that technology but when you think about who’s best suited to do that first, the answer is the technology leader in retail, Amazon.

Amazon has a big initiative for online groceries with Amazon Fresh. But when you look at what Amazon is doing in groceries, they are also building Amazon Go, a tech-enabled physical store. It is one of the few businesses that Amazon is developing in brick-and-mortar retail. That makes me think that even Amazon believes that big-time consumer adoption of online grocery sales is a long way off. According to Uwe Weiss, CEO Blue Yonder, a machine-learning software company that aims to help retailers optimize fresh food replenishment and pricing, Amazon will take the lead in innovating grocery business technology. “Once Amazon’s growing grocery business reaches critical mass, the shift will happen immediately,” Weiss says. “All other retailers will have no other choice but to make it work any way they can.”

One technology that will have a big impact is computer vision. There are already technologies that can look at a head of lettuce, see browning and manage stock rotation to avoid spoilage. The technology has not been widely implemented but it has important implications not just for groceries but for restaurants as well. It is coming.

Where Does Online Grocery Sales Work Best?

London has a combination of factors that make it the leader in online grocery. The population density is high, incomes are high, it has a lot of young consumers who work long hours, stores are not open late and deliveries are usually made in under two hours. Those factors make London an ideal market for online groceries and it is in fact the world leader in penetration.

The other factor that makes online grocery sales work so far is teaming up with an existing store. In London, Amazon delivers groceries from Morrison’s, a large chain with existing stores In Seattle, Amazon delivers health and beauty products from Bartell Drugs, a long-established, local family-owned business. That may be an important model because it doesn’t require a separate inventory cost for online sales.

What Won’t Increase Penetration: Apps

So many companies, both startups and established businesses, are developing technology to make it easier for consumers to order their groceries electronically. Oddly, that isn’t what’s preventing consumers from switching to online purchases of groceries; it’s the darn prices and the quality of perishables. Anyone who can get over those hurdles will see a massive shift in consumer habits to their site. Once that shift happens, apps will be important in determining winners and losers. But until consumers develop the trust to switch over, making it easier for them with apps won’t make the critical difference.

Where Does It Go From Here?

We have all heard over the years that certain products will never be sold online, but eventually consumers change because they like the convenience. I believe groceries will be no different and while it will take time before it will happen, it will happen; it’s inevitable and the need is there. If technology can solve the cost and quality issues, the business will explode. It has to happen over time.

My firm, Triangle Capital LLC, does mergers, acquisitions and capital-raising for companies in fashion, retail, apparel, accessories and consumer products.

Article Published in Forbes on 16^th January 2017