by Thom Forbes on Dec 21, 7:45 AM
In a week that saw two middle-aisle competitors snatch up "healthy" snack food companies, General Mills yesterday released an upbeat earnings report for its fiscal 2018 second quarter with its 1% year-over gain in the North American retail segment primarily driven by a 7% increase in cereal and 5% growth in its snacks unit in the U.S.
by Thom Forbes on Dec 20, 7:51 AM
Call it what you will -- online service provider, vanguard of the gig economy, leading-edge tech company, paragon of misguided leadership -- in the end, Uber is a fleet of taxi cabs and should be regulated as such, according to a final judgement by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg today.
by Thom Forbes on Dec 19, 7:50 AM
Campbell and Hershey both announced deals yesterday in the thriving healthy snacks sector. The Camden. N.J.-based soup company, which also has a presence in sugary and salty delectables with its Pepperidge Farm cookies and Goldfish crackers lines, is buying Snyder's-Lance Inc., which peddles brands such as Snyder's of Hanover pretzels and Kettle and Cape Cod brand chips, for $6.1 billion, including debt. Hershey will pay $1.6 billion for Amplify Snack Brands, the Skinny Pop popcorn maker that also purveys the Tyrrells, Oatmega and Paqui lines.
by Thom Forbes on Dec 18, 7:59 AM
The death Saturday of E. Hunter Harrison, the cost-cutting, streamlining, straight-talking railroad executive who had been leading turnaround efforts at CSX railroad as its president and CEO since March, has observers wondering if the company should have been more inquisitive about his health problems before it snatched him away from Canadian Pacific Railway five months before his scheduled retirement.
by Thom Forbes on Dec 15, 7:49 AM
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world's largest manufacturer of generic drugs, will jettison a quarter of its 53,000-person workforce over the next two years - a total of about 14,000 jobs, including a "significant" reduction of its 7,000 employees who are based in the U.S. Analysts point to several factors in Teva's reversal of fortunes, including increased competition in the generic market overall, the expiration of its patent for its multiple-sclerosis drug Copaxone and acquisitions that have left it with a heavy debt load.
by Thom Forbes on Dec 14, 7:41 AM
Target is speeding into the same-day delivery zone with its $550 million acquisition of Shipt, a service founded in 2014 that has 20,000 personal shoppers in 72 major markets across the U.S.
by Thom Forbes on Dec 13, 7:56 AM
Kellogg's expanded eatery for "reimagining a bowl of cereal" is set to open across from the north end of New York's Union Square Park tomorrow and its communications team can raise a latte to itself for the effusive - even enticing - advance coverage.
by Thom Forbes on Dec 12, 7:51 AM
Paris-based commercial landlord Unibail-Rodamco is acquiring Sydney, Australia-based Westfield Corp., which counts the World Trade Center mall in lower Manhattan among its U.S. properties, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $15.7 billion. The deal creates a combined platform of 104 assets worldwide that attract 1.2 billion visits annually.
by Thom Forbes on Dec 11, 7:56 AM
If the world premiere of The Last Jedi Saturday evening is any indication, the lure of big screen ain't dead yet and we'll all be facing weeks of Star Wars everywhere 40 years after its debut - online, in the malls and in holiday party chit-chat.
by Thom Forbes on Dec 8, 7:51 AM
Pantone has announced that the "complex and contemplative" Ultra Violet, a blue-based purple that "communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future" is its color of the year for 2018. If you're charting this at home, that's Pantone 18-3838 on the spectrum.