Are Those "Healthy" Snacks Actually Bad for You?

By YouBeauty.com

ThinkstockEvery so-called healthy snack has had its time in the spotlight-remember rice cakes? Even though they tasted like cardboard, they were the "it" healthy snack for a while. But are rice cakes and other similar munchies actually good for you-or are they more like treats?  

Strictly speaking, a snack should be a mini-meal that offers a nutritious pick-me-up, while a treat is often high in fat, sugar and/or calories and has little nutritional benefits to speak of. In some cases, "a snack may be no better for you than a cookie or candy bar," says Paula Meyer, R.D., a dietitian in Westport, C.T.

Read on as we rate eight popular snacks and whether you should stick with them or ditch them.

Snack #1: Rice cakes This once uber-popular "diet" snack has a mere 35 calories, but consists of high-glycemic, puffed-up white rice with a low nutritional profile. "They're mostly made of air," says Sharon Palmer, R.D., a dietician and author of "The Plant-Powered Diet: The Lifelong Eating Plan For Achieving Optimal Health, Beginning Today." "You're better off choosing a low-glycemic snack that keeps you feeling full longer."

Verdict: Ditch it. "You want to get as many nutrients as you can with your calories," Palmer says. "You can enjoy a cup of fresh strawberries for those same 35 calories and you'll get more flavor and nutrients."  

Snack #2: Kale chips The latest "it" snack is a mixed bag, nutritionally speaking. While kale itself is rich in vitamin A, C and K, your bag of kale chips may contain more additives than you'd think. "With oils, flavorings and salts, some kale chips contain as many calories as potato chips-160 calories per ounce-and loads of salt," Palmer says. "Also, some veggie chips contain nothing but dehydrated potatoes and tiny amounts of dehydrated vegetables."

Verdict: Ditch it and make your own. Roast kale with a small amount of olive oil and seasonings to get the maximum benefit. Or if you're going to buy kale chips, look at the label and make sure kale is listed as the number one ingredient.

Snack #3: Sweet potato chips If you think that swapping regular spuds for sweet potatoes would be a healthy upgrade-you'd be right. Sweet potatoes contain more fiber and vitamins A and C than regular potatoes. Just be sure to read the label of those sweet potato chips you're snacking on to make sure you're not getting some unwanted ingredients. "These chips should contain only sweet potatoes, vegetable oil, salt and maybe some seasoning," says Rachel Begun, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Verdict: Stick with it.   

Snack #4: Protein bars Just because protein bars are stocked in the health food aisle, doesn't mean they're any better for you than a Snickers bar. "Most protein bars on the market are glorified candy bars, with chocolate coatings and lots of added sugars and processed ingredients," says Begun. "Consider a protein bar something that should be eaten on occasion as a convenience food when other options aren't available."

Verdict: Ditch it-unless you're in a pinch.

Snack #5: Granola For years, granola has been portrayed as a health food, but it's actually loaded with calories and fat. "Most people don't realize that a quarter-cup of granola contains up to 149 calories," says Gina Keatley, a chef and nutritionist in New York City.

Verdict: Ditch it. Although granola has heart-healthy whole grains that can help lower cholesterol, it's not a low-calorie option.  

Snack #6: Baked chips and crackers Just because a chip is labeled "baked" doesn't make it better for you. For example, baked potato chips often contain cornstarch and added sugar. "These products are very processed and tend to be high in calories, fat and sodium," says Keatley.

Verdict: Ditch it.

Snack #7: Popchips When you 'pop' a snack, you skip the frying or baking process. Although Popchips are low in fiber, they have zero trans fats, 0 to 0.5 grams of saturated fat (depending on the flavor) and are lower in calories per ounce than traditional chips, notes Lauren Schmitt, a registered dietitian in Studio City, C.A.

Verdict: Stick with it-but watch your portion sizes. "Popchips are a better crunchy snack than a bag of Doritos," Schmitt says. "Still, I'd prefer to see people snacking on non-fat Greek yogurt or low-fat string cheese."  

Snack #8: Rice crackers For people with gluten allergies, rice crackers are a great option, according to Schmitt. "Rice crackers have little-to-no saturated fat, so they're healthier than other snack foods," she says. The downside: They're essentially all carbohydrate with very little fiber.
Verdict: Ditch it. If you don't have wheat allergies, opt for a multi-grain cracker and pair it with a hummus, bean or yogurt dip.

Homeless Man’s Honest Deed Rewarded with $16K Donation, and Counting

By William Browning

 

 

 

A homeless man in Kansas City, Mo., made national headlines more than a week ago when he returned a valuable platinum and diamond engagement ring accidentally dropped into his cup of change by a woman offering some extra cash. Now, hundreds of donors have contributed more than $16,000 to a page on GiveForward.com to help Billy Ray Harris get his life back on track. The man's rewards don't stop with financial help -- the media story helped him connect with a brother in Lubbock, Texas, he hasn't seen in nearly 30 years.

KCTV first did a story on the unintended donation Feb. 9. Sarah Darling had put her engagement ring in her change purse because it was bothering her finger. A chance encounter with Harris on the street led Darling to give the man her loose change. It was only a day later that she realized her engagement ring was missing. When she came back to Harris on the same street, he still had the ring and gave it back to her.

The New York Daily News reveals when the woman and her husband returned, they gave the homeless man all the cash she had on her -- around $40 to $60. Then Bill Krejci, who is a web designer, was inspired by some media outlets' websites where people asked how they could help. Enter GiveForward.com.

For the next 90 days, anyone can donate money for Harris. The homeless man cited his reverend grandfather, who raised him since he was 6 months old, as the reason for his character trait that returned the ring to the woman. Individual donations from as little as $5 up to $500 have poured into GiveForward.com for Harris.

One comment from the Young family, who donated $250, said, "This story was on CNN and it was touching that someone with so little was so thoughtful and understanding. ... This was a unique opportunity to celebrate a good news story and act of kindness." The CNN piece was on Soledad O'Brien's show Monday.

The goal was the raise $1,000 for Harris in three months. Instead, more than $16,000 has been given to the cause in just a few days.

Krejci posts updates on the donation website. The most recent one, dated Wednesday, called all of the donors "awesome... over the past few days." Further, the web designer states he'll be having lunch with Harris in the next few days. Also, the homeless man is staying with a guy who helps run sound for a band. Krejci calls the amount of donations "unreal."

So what will happen to Harris now? MyFoxLubbock.com reports Edwin Harris, Billy Ray's older brother, wants his sibling to come home to Lubbock, Texas. The brothers lost touch and have tried to find each other over the past 27 years. When the older brother saw Billy Ray's story on the Internet, he got in touch and the two talked for 45 minutes. Edwin Harris hopes to bring his brother back to Texas in mid-March.

KCTV reveals Robin Harris, the men's sister, lives in Wichita Falls, Texas. She also saw the national story and got in touch with her homeless brother thanks to Betsy Webster, the original television reporter who broke the story.

Billy Ray Harris hesitates to come home because he doesn't want to be a burden to his family. Perhaps more than $16,000 will help change his mind.

 

William Browning, a lifelong Missouri resident, writes about local and state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Born in St. Louis, Browning earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Missouri. He currently resides in Branson.

Haydn Shaughnessy, Contributor

The Innovation Lifestyle

 

2/21/2013 @ 11:45AM |87 views    

How McDonald's Toppled Starbucks From The Social Top Spot

comments, called-out

Comment Now

Follow Comments Following Comments Unfollow Comments

 

A McDonald's in a Toronto, Ontario, Canada Wal-Mart store. Note the maple leaf on the Golden Arches. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yesterday I mentioned that Starbucks has lost its place as the most social company in the restaurant business. Starbucks’ loss is McDonald’s gain But how did McDonald’s do it?
The answer seems to be pretty straightforward – transparency. During the second half of 2012 McDonald’s ran a well trailed campaign to open up to its public, including videos of behind the scenes at the restaurants and an open invitation to ask questions on any aspect of the McDonald’s food chain.
McDonald’s now leads Starbucks in the social league table, up from number 7 in Q3 2012.

Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

Starbucks Loses Reputation and McDonald's Gains, In Most Social Charts Haydn Shaughnessy Contributor

Which Are The Most Social Brands In Hospitality? Haydn Shaughnessy Contributor

McDonald’s social reputation and audience began to rise, according to Paul Barron at DigitalCoCo, because of its transparency campaign. And the rise was impressive.

McDonald’s rose almost 17 points over the past two quarters in consumer sentiment part of which has contributed to their approach to number one.  Additionally the brands growth on Twitter and Facebook, two of the 16 platforms we analyze, almost tripled the growth of Starbucks.  Additionally social consumer engagement also took a turn for the better for McD at a rise of 5 points in a single quarter.

So down in the detail of the DigitalCoCo rankings McDonald’s increased its online American audience substantially in the back half of 2012. But here is the complicating factor. The McDonald’s transparency campaign took place in Canada. Read The Globe and Mail account of the campaign here.
While impressing in Canada, however, McDonald’s transparency approach was picked up by a number of major outlets in the USA between August and December.
This is the Huffington Post from August:

….the fast food chain has launched a website called “Our Food. Your Questions.” A press release claims that the site “ promotes radical transparency using the same channels that perpetuated negative myths about McDonald’s food quality.” The site has received over 5,000 questions and has a dedicated 10-member “social media response team” to answer the questions through text, photos and video.

And by November Fast Co had taken up the story:

McDonald’s Canada was aware that people were asking these and other much tougher questions about its food online. Rather than ignore the elephant–or in this case, the giraffe in the room–last year, the company decided to confront the online speculation head-on with an interactive digital campaign designed to answer consumers’ questions and dispel myths. In an era when transparency and conversation have become the most aspirational hallmarks of marketing, McDonald’s Canada’s efforts have become one of the most interesting ongoing campaigns of the last while.

And in January Trendhunter was talking it up.
The Canadian social campaign was preceded by a more traditional ad campaign in the US that did a lot to highlight local suppliers.
So what to make of it?
Over the first part of that period the McDonald’s share price has varied between $84 and $94, first rising and then falling and now rising again.
There’s clearly no direct link between rising social engagement and the stock price, though as McDonald’s has consolidated its social position its share price has come back.
What we’ve also seen is that its social reputation across America improved significantly because of a campaign in Canada. And I think that too is a lesson – the news amplification you create, as much as the campaign itself, that matters.Without the campaign being taken up in American media I doubt its impact would have been so pronounced.
Even so, McDonald’s didn’t get extensive Tier 1 coverage, which leads you to think that in fact the social dimension is now becoming more self-contained, with less and less dependency on traditional media channels taking up the story. Social is standing on it own two feet.

Monster Drinks to Get Caffeine Labels

By SYDNEY LUPKIN | ABC News – Fri, Feb 15, 2013

 

 

ABC News - Monster Drinks to Get Caffeine Labels (ABC News)

Monster Beverage Corp. will include caffeine content on its energy drink labels because it no longer wants to be considered a dietary supplement, and instead will adhere to Food and Drug Administration guidelines for conventional foods.

The switch comes after a wrongful death lawsuit filed last fall against Monster Energy, which plagued the company – and the rest of the energy drink industry. It prompted the release of FDA reports that attributed five possible deaths to Monster Energy and another 13 possible deaths to 5-Hour Energy, a 2-ounce energy shot.

"The Company saw no reason to continue being subjected to erroneous and misguided criticism that its Monster Energy drinks are being marketed as dietary substances to avoid FDA regulation," reads a statement from Monster Beverage Corp. sent to ABCNews.com.

The energy drink maker added that remaining a dietary substance would give it a continued competitive disadvantage against Red Bull, the most popular energy drink on the market. As a conventional food, Red Bull can be purchased with food stamps and be exempt from sales taxes. As a dietary substance, Monster Energy cannot.

Monster Energy has also recently joined the American Beverage Association, which recommends labels that list ingredient amounts, the company said in a statement.

It's not clear when the change will take effect, but the company said it will happen "when new packaging is manufactured and new products are introduced."

Companies are free to choose whether they want to market their products as a dietary substance or a conventional food, said FDA spokeswoman Jalil Isa. Different laws apply to each, and the FDA can step in if the product is misrepresented to the public.

"So long as they can meet the rules applicable to each, the companies can position their products in the market how they deem appropriate," Isa said.

Since Monster Energy is currently classified as a dietary substance, it is not limited to the FDA's 200 parts per million caffeine limit on sodas. Coca Cola Classic has 30 to 35 mg of caffeine per 12-ounce can, but 12 ounces of the Monster drink in the wrongful death suit would have contained four times that.

Caffeine amounts do not have to be included in food labels because they are not nutrients, but if caffeine is added to a food, it should be included in the ingredients list.

Monster Energy ingredients will not change, according to the Monster Beverage Corp. statement. However, the statement does not specify whether the amounts of those ingredients will change.

Gas Prices Soar

Gas Prices Soar: ABCNEWS.COM - The cost of a gallon of gas is at a four-month high.

OfficeMax, Office Depot in Merger Talks

WSJ: OfficeMax, Office Depot in Merger Talks

NEW YORK February 18, 2013 (AP)

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that OfficeMax Inc. and Office Depot Inc. are talking about combining their companies.

The newspaper, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, said Monday that talks are at an advanced stage, and an announcement could come as early as this week.

OfficeMax reports its fourth-quarter results on Thursday, while Office Depot is expected to report results next week. Representatives of both companies declined to comment on merger talks.

The office supply business is very competitive. Staples is a big player, along with Amazon and big discount stores such as Costco and Wal-Mart.

Boca Raton, Fla.-based Office Depot has about 1,675 stores worldwide, mostly in the U.S. and Canada. OfficeMax, based in Naperville, Ill., has about 900 stores in the U.S. and Mexico. If the two companies merged, they could close stores that compete against each other, as well as reduce costs.

Best Buy Says It Has Killed 'Showrooming' For Good

By Kim Bhasin | Business Insider – 12 hours ago

Best Buy is confident that its latest policy change will kill "showrooming" in its stores for good.

Starting on March 3, the retailer will price match all local retail competitors, along with 19 "major online competitors" in all product categories, whenever a customer asks for it, the company announced .

“There is no doubt that this new policy ends showrooming for Best Buy customers,”  company spokesman Matt Furman told Bloomberg .

Back during the holiday rush, Best Buy announced a temporary price-matching initiative. This is its permanent version.

Showrooming, the practice of looking at items in a physical store then going online to make the actual purchase, has been a big worry for consumer electronics stores. Customers showroom electronics items more than any other category, according to data from comScore .

Chris Morran at the  Consumerist obtained an internal document from Best Buy  that announces the change and has more details. Here's what it says:

StartingMarch 3, 2013 Best Buy will price match the current pre-tax price for new, identical, immediately available products from local retail competitors and select designated major online retailers at the time of purchase only. (No subsequent price matching of competitors is allowed)

If Best Buy lowers a price on a product (online or in-store) we will allow price-matching up to 15 days following the original purchase. This applies to all customers including Reward Zone Premier Silver members. Please note: After a transition period for Reward Zone Premier Silver members through April 18, 2013, the 15 day period of the Price Match policy goes into effect (post-purchase – Best Buy only).

There has also been one major change to Best Buy's return policy.

The "Return and Exchange" period is being cut in half to 15 days from its previous length of 30 days.  All returns will still require a receipt and I.D., plus  Reward Zone Premier Silver members will retain their 60-day return eligibility.  

Here is the full list of big online competitors that are included in the price-matching guarantee:

• Amazon.com
• Apple.com
• Bhphotovideo.com
• Buy.com
• Crutchfield.com
• Dell.com
• Frys.com
• hhgregg.com
• HP.com
• HomeDepot.com
• Lowes.com
• Newegg.com
• OfficeDepot.com
• OfficeMax.com
• Sears.com
• Staples.com
• Target.com
• TigerDirect.com
• Walmart.com

January 11, 2013, 12:01 am

Anheuser-Busch Will Promote Two New Products in Super Bowl XLVII Ads

By STUART ELLIOTT

Correction Appended
11:33 a.m. | Updated The marketer that typically buys the most commercial time during the Super Bowl each year has ambitious plans for the game this year, which include pitches for two new products.
Anheuser-Busch, the division of Anheuser-Busch InBev that is usually the biggest advertiser on the Super Bowl, is buying four and a half minutes of commercial time from CBS, which will broadcast Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3.
Neither Anheuser-Busch nor CBS will discuss the purchase price. Estimates are that each 30-second spot in the game is going for an average of $3.7 million to $3.8 million, with some, according to CBS, costing more than $4 million apiece.
Anheuser-Busch also pays a fee to be the exclusive beer sponsor during each Super Bowl. That is why viewers do not see other beer brands during the game nationally; some brewers will try to circumvent that by buying spots during station breaks on local stations.
And Anheuser-Busch is also spending additional money with CBS to run commercials during the live streaming of the game, which the network plans to offer at cbssports.com.

All the commercials shown during the broadcast of the game, including those from Anheuser-Busch, will be available on demand in the player immediately after they appear on TV. There will also be some online-only ads that will not turn up on television.
The four and a half minutes that Anheuser-Busch is buying during the game is the same amount of time that it purchased last year, for Super Bowl XLVI. And like last year, the company intends to run six commercials in those four and a half minutes.
The lineup of products, however, will be different this year. Last year, Anheuser-Busch ran two commercials for a new beer, Bud Light Platinum; two commercials for Budweiser; and two commercials for Bud Light.
This time around, there will be one commercial for Budweiser, two for Bud Light and three for two new beers: Budweiser Black Crown, which is to be pitched in two commercials, and Beck’s Sapphire,  which will get one spot.
It can be risky to try to introduce products during the Super Bowl because of all the marketing clamor on Super Bowl Sunday. Partying viewers, for instance, may be distracted and not paying full attention to the spots. So some marketers prefer to run commercials for brands that are already familiar.
But the decision last year to introduce Bud Light Platinum during Super Bowl XLVI paid off “extraordinarily,” Paul D. Chibe, vice president for United States marketing at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, said in an interview on Thursday in Midtown Manhattan.
“We achieved our awareness objectives much more quickly than we anticipated,” Mr. Chibe said, through the Super Bowl spots and a social media campaign that complemented those commercials, which included the hashtag #MakeItPlatinum.
The fact that so many people tuning in the Super Bowl “are there to watch the commercials” makes it a unique place for introducing products, Mr. Chibe said, particularly beers, given that the game was “the largest beer occasion” last year.
As a result, “we have a special relevance in the game,” he added.
Mr. Chibe declined to discuss the six commercials in detail, describing them as still in production. He did, however, share some information about them.
The commercial for Budweiser, being created by a New York agency, Anomaly, that is part of MDC Partners, will run 60 seconds and feature the brand’s well-known Clydesdales.
The plot is centered on “a young Clydesdale horse and its relationships,” Mr. Chibe said, and is in the “heartwarming” vein.
The two commercials for Bud Light, each 60 seconds, are being created by another New York agency, Translation. They will serve as the culmination of a campaign, which has run during the 2012-13 football season, that is centered on the superstitious behavior of fans who will “do anything for their team to win,” Mr. Chibe said.
The two spots will be based in New Orleans, he added, where Super Bowl XLVII is to be played, and be “Super Bowl-centric.”
The two commercials for Budweiser Black Crown, each 30 seconds, are also being created by Anomaly. A hashtag, #TasteIs, is being disseminated as part of the social media campaign that will accompany the commercials, Mr. Chibe said.I
Finally, the commercial for Beck’s Sapphire, also 30 seconds long, is being created by a London agency, Mother. The approach will reflect how the brand is being “launched with the name of a rare jewel,” Mr. Chibe said, and treated “like a jeweler would launch a rare jewelry brand.”
The commercial will be “visually different,” Mr. Chibe promised, as viewers will “see that sapphire glow” and the black Beck’s Sapphire bottle.
“It’s going to be cool,” he added. “We expect it to break through.”
Anheuser-Busch has long been a Super Bowl mainstay along with movie studios like Disney, Paramount and Universal and marketers that include Coca-Cola, GoDaddy, Hyundai, Mars, PepsiCo, Toyota and Volkswagen.

---

Correction: January 11, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated the hashtag created to accompany two new commercials created for Budweiser Black Crown. It is #Tastels, not #TasteThis.

January 31, 2013, 2:00 pm

Why American Giant Re-Designed Its Web Site

By RICHARD DEMB

What’s wrong with this site?

Last week we kicked off this column with a behind-the-scenes look at American Giant’s Web site. Started by Bayard Winthrop in February 2012, the company sells high quality, American-made sweatshirts not through retail stores but rather online. This presents the challenge of marketing a sweatshirt based on quality that cannot be touched — relying instead on the power of photography and story telling.
The post focused on American Giant’s decision to invest $35,000 to replace its site photography only months after the site went live. Looking for feedback, we ended the column with a few questions about whether readers believe the company made the right call.
In this follow-up Mr.Winthrop shares the results of the upgrade to the photography and site content. He believes the changes had the following impact:
o The value of an average order increased by 34.5 percent. Before the photo refresh, the average visitor to the site spent $100. Post refresh, the average visitor spent  $134.50, a huge increase.
o Visitors who left the site after viewing the home page declined by 5.2 percent. Because e-commerce is the company’s sole channel to reach customers, American Giant values every person who comes to the site. Updated, the site has been able to engage more of those potential customers.
o The percentage of customers who actually buy something — the site’s conversion rate — grew by 13.9 percent.
As an interesting twist — businesses and great movies always have their twists — American Giant garnered some outstanding reviews for its sweatshirts in early December, resulting in the company selling out all of its inventory and starting a waiting list for March deliveries. The above results were achieved before those reviews were published.
Readers of my first post left comments that suggested a number of interesting questions that I posed to Mr.Winthrop:

Q.

You sold out of clothing. How did that happen?

A.

I was worried I had actually overbought — and we know that excess inventory can sink a company quickly. When the press hit, we sold out in a matter of days. Planning is an art, not a science when you first start. We are working diligently to replenish inventory as fast as possible. In fact, I am at our fabric-cutting facility right now.

Q.

What did you think of the reader’s suggestion that you are spending too much time on photography and not enough on other aspects of the site, such as search-engine optimization, zoom functionality and even the site’s speed?

A.

That is fair but it is a question of focus. The first 18 months is about building a great product. The best way to launch a brand is by building loyal customers, which is done by building great products, pricing them right and taking care of your customers. We will get to optimization and other marketing wins but right now it is about the product.

Q.

You also got some comments about whether your clothes are cut properly for Americans, including a mention of a term that was new to me: “The Banana Republic Syndrome.”

A.

I believe Banana Republic is an example of a company that got fit right. Look how successful they are, the customer base they have developed. We designed fit around our core customer. The obligation of the brand is to put a stake in the ground around who our customer is — and to stick to it. We can’t win them all but we can be consistent and communicate about it. We offer measuring instructions and an unconditional return policy and free shipping both ways. Try two sizes and two colors and return the ones that don’t fit.

Q.

Who are your core customers?

A.

They are 25 to 35, live in an urban setting, active but not an athlete, sporty, not couch potatoes, not into the European slim cut. We cut a little bit on the relaxed side. We are a flattering fit for a guy carrying five to 10 extra pounds.”
Would you like to have your business’s Web site or mobile app reviewed? This is an opportunity for companies looking for an honest (and free) appraisal of their online presence and marketing efforts.

To be considered, tell us about your experiences — why you started your site, what works, what doesn’t and why you would like to have the site reviewed — in an e-mail to youretheboss@abesmarket.com.

Richard Demb is co-founder of Abe’s Market, an online marketplace for natural products that is based in Chicago. You can follow him on Twitter.

January 23, 2013, 7:00 am

Can a Web Site Get Visitors to ‘Feel’ the Cotton?

By RICHARD DEMB

 

What’s wrong with this site?

My company, Abe’s Market, is an online marketplace for natural and organic goods that connects Americans who want to live a more healthful lifestyle with passionate business owners they may not otherwise find. We get hundreds of thousands of visitors every month, and our monthly sales growth has been in double digits. Based in part on that experience, the editors of You’re the Boss have asked me to be the host of regular conversations on the blog about what works and what doesn’t when selling online. We’re looking for small businesses that would like to have their sites evaluated by the blog’s readers. (If you are interested in volunteering your site, please see below.)
This first post is about American Giant, a start-up clothing manufacturer that makes all of its clothing in America and sells online only. The company was founded by Bayard Winthrop, who has a rich understanding of how clothing is made and sold. He believes the current clothing supply chain is broken, and he thinks his opportunity lies in bypassing retailers and distributors to sell directly to consumers through the Web. He introduced American Giant last February, and he considers the company an ode to the glory days of American-made, high-quality cotton clothing.
That sounds nice, of course, but here is the obstacle: Can Mr. Winthrop persuade people to buy sweatshirts they cannot touch or try on? Will people buy based on images and word of mouth alone?
American Giant is a new brand with none of the market recognition enjoyed by companies like Lands’ End, Polo or Gap. Mr. Winthrop, who aims to take on those billion-dollar clothing brands, thinks American Giant, which is based in San Francisco and manufactures all of its products in the United States, can not only survive but conquer. But clearly the Web site — especially its photography — will be very important to that effort.
When the site was introduced in February, it featured the photos below. While the photos were professional, the team at American Giant, which has raised $2 million in start-up financing from Donald Kendall, a former chairman of PepsiCo, had doubts about their impact. Some feared that the photos felt flat, were contrived and provided little sense of the brand’s story.

The Web team also questioned the decision to cut off the model’s head instead of showing his face and making a personal connection. This led to an interesting dynamic. Early on, the site’s conversion rate — the percentage of visitors who actually make a purchase — was lower than projected. But the company was extremely successful with its social media and word-of-mouth marketing. This led to increased traffic, to styles’ selling out much faster than expected and to better than anticipated revenue (in fact, the clothing is selling so well — thanks in part to some very positive reviews — that the company cannot fulfill orders before March). But American Giant recognized that it was missing an opportunity to convert a larger percentage of its visitors from browsers to buyers.
I am a big fan of management that is critical of its own decisions and willing to revisit them quickly. Even though American Giant had already spent considerable amounts of money on its photography, it decided to invest a significant sum, $35,000, to redo the shots.

Right and below are some shots it recently unveiled on the site. The new theme focuses on real world heroes, showing the American Giant line in action on everyday people. Mr. Winthrop explained that the new tagline — “Don’t Get Comfortable” — is intended to create “an intimate and provocative look at what hard work and dedication is: a pillar of the American Giant brand.”
The crucial choice was not to use professional models. Instead, the company tapped local people, including a pastry chef, a creative agency strategist, a sports bar owner, an amateur boxer and a music producer, in an attempt to make the campaign more realistic and attainable. The team feels that the background and texture add visual interest, the lighting is more natural and the close-up shots of the sweatshirts demonstrate the fit.

To help display the new photography, the American Giant Web team added a home page carousel and three capsule features below it. Take a look at the photos below and at the redesigned site and tell us what you think.
As you look at the site, here are some questions to consider:

• Do you think the photography and the stories behind it make a difference?
• Was the money spent on new photography worth the investment?
• Should the company have focused more attention on, say, social media marketing?
• What would the site have to do to convince you that its products really are superior?
• Do the photos convey the company’s story in a compelling way that makes you want to buy the clothes?

Please share your comments below. In a follow-up column next week, we will tell you how American Giant has been doing since the redesign and what Mr. Winthrop thinks of your suggestions.
Would you like to have your business’s Web site or mobile app reviewed? This is an opportunity for companies looking for an honest (and free) appraisal of their online presence and marketing efforts.

To be considered, tell us about your experiences — why you started your site, what works, what doesn’t and why you would like to have the site reviewed — in an e-mail to youretheboss@abesmarket.com.

Richard Demb is co-founder of Abe’s Market, an online marketplace for natural products that is based in Chicago.

 

Go Directly to Success: Monopoly's Lessons

 

In real life, as in the game: Stay diversified, acquire railroads and don't fall for pricey prestige properties

By Philip E. Orbanes | The Wall Street Journal – Mon, Feb 11, 2013 11:18 AM EST

 

 

Alex Wong/Getty Images -

LWASHINGTON - APRIL 15: A Monopoly game is seen during the Monopoly U.S. National Championship tournament at Union Station.

There must be something special about a near-octogenarian board game that still makes headlines. Last week's big Monopoly news: Facebook (FB) fans voted to replace the playing piece shaped like an old-fashioned iron with one in the form of a cat.

As a longtime judge of Monopoly championships, I've figured out a prime reason for the game's staying power. For most of us, it provides one of life's first opportunities to handle money and practice the art of negotiation. Monopoly puts you through a financial wringer without real-world loss. Once you get the hang of how to win it, you can apply the game's "secrets of success" to real life—sometimes quite literally, always in principle.

[More from WSJ.com: Hello, Kitty! Monopoly Gets a New Token; Hasbro Hopes For a Lift.]

(Matthew Hollister)Here are five of the most important:

1. Diversification: Monopoly makes a time-honored point about the importance of spreading your investments across several classes of property and not slavishly following the "smart money." The game's best investments are the orange properties (not the dark-blue ones, Park Place and Boardwalk, about which more in a moment). But the long-term value of the oranges isn't always clear: Entire games can be played in which they don't pay off, or at least not in time to stave off bankruptcy. To assure success, you need to have not only a powerful color group but also two or three railroads to generate income and a few key properties to block the formation of game-busting groups against you. This blend reduces risk and improves the odds of winning.

2. Cash Management: The game drills home this lesson: You can't win if you sit on cash, just as you can't hope to rapidly grow real-world assets if you settle for the rates of return that the banks offer. You need to take on risk. In the game, that means converting cash to deeds and buildings while retaining just enough of those colorful bills to pay for bad luck (penalties, taxes, small rents).

3. Return on Investment: Every property in Monopoly has a different likelihood of earning a return (based on how frequently players land on it, its initial cost and cost of development, and its return per level of development). The green properties, for example, are awful; the oranges and reds are superior.

[More from WSJ.com: Run Your Family Like a Business]

The railroads, because there are four of them, are the most visited set in the game, but they can't be developed, so they aren't enough alone for a win. They can provide you with cash, however, and that's what you need to develop a killer color group—just as high-earning investments like utility funds can give you money to augment your growth-oriented holdings.

(Matthew Hollister)One crucial point: There's a huge difference in rent between the two- and three-house level on any property. This is the game's investment "sweet spot"—something I look for in life as well.

4. Complacency: Beware of it. In the 2009 world championship, a young Norwegian player paved the way to victory at precisely the moment when defeat stared him in the face. His opponents had concluded a three-way trade that provided each with a powerful color group. While each contemplated how many houses to buy, Norway offered his lone red property to Russia in return for the third light blue.

The trade looked lopsided; Russia already had the greens and eagerly accepted. Complacent, he hadn't noticed Norway's pile of cash—or the fact that all the shiny metal tokens were approaching the light blues. Norway rapidly developed them, and all the other players landed on his group. Paying the rents denied his rivals the chance to invest in their own pricey properties. In a few rounds, all were vanquished.

Just as once-spurned asset classes can suddenly enter the limelight in real life, so too can every group of Monopoly properties. Norway was able to use the lowly light blues to win the 2009 title, and I saw the so-so purples prevail in 2004.

[More from WSJ.com: Everybody Loves Labradors, So Why Are They Underdogs?]

Even Park Place and Boardwalk have won, in the 1979 U.S. championship—but that's a rarity. There are only two of them, and they cost a lot to develop. The three-property orange group, by contrast, gets landed on more than any other color group (because players who go to jail must pass through or over them upon exiting), and it can be developed at a reasonable price.

5. Negotiations: Knowledge of the game's financial numbers is only half the story in Monopoly success; being a master of negotiations is the other part.

In the 2009 championship, the youthful player from Norway had one other advantage besides the inventiveness to turn his chances around. Respectful, pleasant and artfully assertive, he was the kind of player the others didn't mind losing to.

In real life, I've seen more people succeed with this sort of conduct than with noisy aggressiveness. Competence in human relations affects your career, your personal life, your options and thus your net worth—yet another great lesson taught by Monopoly.

Green Seal Releases New Standards for Sustainable Laundry Products for the Home and For Industrial and Institutional Use

PRWeb – Thu, Jan 31, 2013

 

Green Seal™, the nation’s oldest non-profit environmental certification organization, announces the publication of two new standards to address the life cycle impacts of laundry care products - GS-48, for household laundry care products, and GS-51, for laundry products used in institutional and industrial settings.

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) January 31, 2013

Green Seal™, the nation’s oldest non-profit environmental certification organization, announces the publication of two new standards to address the life cycle impacts of laundry care products - GS-48, for household laundry care products, and GS-51, for laundry products used in institutional and industrial settings.

Traditional laundry products are significant contributors to water pollution, and both manufacturers and users risk exposure to harmful chemicals through inhalation and skin contact.

To receive certification under GS-48 or GS-51, laundry products cannot contain any components that are carcinogens, reproductive toxins, mutagens, neurotoxins/systemic toxins, endocrine disruptors, asthmagens, and respiratory and skin sensitizers. Certified products must not cause skin corrosion or eye damage.

In addition to minimizing or eliminating the toxic ingredients often found in these products, GS-48 and GS-51 provide important benchmarks in terms of product concentration in order to reduce the overall environmental impact.

A 50-ounce bottle of a leading laundry detergent weighs less than four pounds and can wash 32 loads. The un-concentrated 100-ounce predecessor can wash the same 32 loads but weighs more than seven pounds.* Concentrated products are beneficial because they require less packaging, contain less water, require fewer pallets and fewer trucks for transport, and require less space for storage.

Specifically, GS-51, referring to Industrial and Institutional products, provides an important benchmark in terms of product concentration. The standard establishes minimum requirements for concentrated (2X) and ultra-concentrated (4X) detergents and fabric softeners.

Both of the new Green Seal standards also focus on product performance. Certified products must demonstrate that they perform as well as conventional laundry care products. GS-48, referring to products for household use, requires products to perform as well in cold water, thereby vastly reducing the energy needed for the wash process, and reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

About 80 percent of the environmental impact of these products occurs during usage, so the standard requires that labels recommend using the proper amount, washing at the lowest possible temperature, and washing a full load.

GS-48 covers more than 17 categories of laundry care products including detergents, stain removers, bleaches, fabric care products like fabric softeners, anti-static, as well as anti-wrinkle products and starch. The standard is designed to make it easier for consumers to identify household laundry care products that meet the highest levels of sustainability available in the market today.

GS-51 covers more than 20 categories of products for conventional laundry and dry cleaning, including detergents, prewash products, and spot removers; additives such as alkali boosters; and fabric care products such as anti-static treatment, starches, and fabric softeners, and is offered to manufacturers as a way to recognize leaders in the industry, and to give purchasers a way to identify safer, more environmentally preferable institutional laundry products.

More information about GS-48 and GS-51, including certification tools, application information, and the standards can be downloaded for free at http://www.GreenSeal.org.

About Green Seal

The original “Green Seal of Approval” was founded in 1989 to help safeguard the health of people and the planet. As an independent, science-based standards developer and certification body, Green Seal identifies products and services that are environmentally responsible, and provides public education for creating a more sustainable world. Call (202)872-6400 for more information, or visit http://www.GreenSeal.org for links to all Green Seal standards and certified products and services.

*Consumer Reports 2012 Laundry Detergent Buyers Guide

Bill Daddi
Green Seal
(646) 370-1341
Email Information

Monoply

Monopoly Fans Worldwide Decide Cat Token Will Make Purr-Fect Addition to Classic Game

Iron Gets Flattened After Fans Fail to Save the Classic Token

PAWTUCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The next MONOPOLY game token to ‘Pass GO!' and collect $200 will be…the cat! After a month of voting on Facebook, and an overwhelming response from fans and organizations from 185 countries around the world, the cat has been chosen and will become the newest addition to the classic game from Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS). The cat was able to scratch past the toy robot, guitar, helicopter, and diamond ring in the MONOPOLY "Save Your Token" campaign by receiving 31 percent of the fan vote.

Following a worldwide online fan vote, NBC's TODAY Show hosts, from left, Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie, Matt Lauer and Natalie Morales unveil the MONOPOLY game's newest addition - the cat token, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, in New York. The cat replaces the iron token in the classic game. (Photo by Jason DeCrow/Invision for Hasbro/AP Images)

In the vote to decide which classic tokens would be ‘saved' by fans, the Scottie dog was a clear early favorite, eventually securing 29 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, supporters of the iron, wheelbarrow and shoe campaigned vigorously to save their favorite token from a lifetime in jail and ensure it would remain in the game. After a very close race, fans weren't hot for the iron. With only 8 percent of the vote, the iconic token fell behind the wheelbarrow and the shoe and will be pressed out of service from the MONOPOLY game for good. Despite being an integral part of life when the token was added to the game in the 1930s, the iron has fallen out of favor with today's fans and will be retired from the game.
Hasbro will begin to replace the iron with the new cat token on the MONOPOLY production lines immediately, so those who want to continue to play with the iron and the seven other classic tokens have a limited time to pick up the existing version of the game. The new MONOPOLY game featuring the cat token will arrive on store shelves in mid to late 2013.
"We know that cat lovers around the world will be happy to welcome the new cat token into the MONOPOLY game," said Eric Nyman, senior vice president and global brand leader for Hasbro Gaming. "While we're a bit sad to see the iron go, the cat token is a fantastic choice by the fans and we have no doubt it will become just as iconic as the original tokens."
Hasbro held the MONOPOLY "Save Your Token" campaign on Facebook from January 9 through February 5, 2013. Fans can visit Facebook.com/Monopoly to bid farewell to the iron and view additional MONOPOLY "Save Your Token" campaign content.
About Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company dedicated to fulfilling the fundamental need for play for children and families through creative expression of the Company's world class brand portfolio, including TRANSFORMERS, MONOPOLY, PLAY-DOH, MY LITTLE PONY, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, NERF, LITTLEST PET SHOP and G.I. JOE. From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, digital gaming and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its global customers with innovative play and entertainment experiences, in a variety of forms and formats, anytime and anywhere. Learn more at www.hasbro.com.
HASGP

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130206005967/en/

Hunter PR
Laura Trani, 212-679-6600 ext. 254
ltrani@hunterpr.com
or
Hasbro, Inc.
Kristina Coppola, 401-727-5973
Kristina.Coppola@hasbro.com
Source: Hasbro, Inc.


News Provided by Acquire Media

Md. gov outlines measures to help boost jobs

..
Md. gov outlines measures to help boost jobs
Md. governor highlights proposals to help people find jobs including those in the military
Associated PressBy Brian Witte, Associated Press | Associated Press – Fri, Feb 8, 2013 10:28 AM EST...
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley on Thursday highlighted some initiatives he hopes will stimulate job growth by increasing training for positions in the highest demand and clearing some hurdles to employment for military families.
The Democrat has put $2.5 million in his budget proposal to create a competitive grant process to help get people the skills for jobs that are in high demand. The initiative, called the Employment Advancement Now Initiative, would encourage regional training collaborations among businesses, nonprofits, colleges and local governments. It would focus on industries such as traditional and advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity and health care.
"This is really an effort that is driven by employers who say they have jobs that are open, they need more employees with the skills to fill them and so this EARN bill will help more moms and dads get the skills they need to enter those better jobs," O'Malley said at a Senate hearing.
The governor also is backing a measure to speed up the professional licensing process for military families who move to Maryland from other states. O'Malley said more than 20 states already expedite the licensing process for veterans to move. The unemployment rate is 8.8 percent for veterans, and for post-9/11 veterans it is 9.7 percent, O'Malley said.
The measure would credit veterans for their military training and educational experience when they apply for occupational and professional licenses in the state. Veterans also would be able to get academic credit at state four-year colleges and community colleges for relevant military training and education.
"This will lower the cost of earning a degree, will allow veterans to get their degrees quicker, and the more degrees our people have the better that is for our state and our economy," O'Malley said.
Earlier in the day, the governor joined members of the Maryland Federal Facilities Advisory Board to release a plan with 25 actions Maryland could take to take encourage innovation and job creation and federal facilities. They include aligning state resources with federal priorities and promoting cybersecurity business.
Maryland is home to more than 70 federal agencies and major military installations, according to the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. More than 300,000 federal employees and service members live in Maryland and contribute $27.3 billion to the state's economy, according to the department. Maryland also receives more federal research funding per capita than any other state in the country, DBED said.

China Steps Up Buying In U.S.

By Sharon Terlep | The Wall Street Journal – Fri, Feb 8, 2013 10:57 PM EST

The made-in-China label isn't such a deal breaker anymore.

After being burned by a series of high-profile failures, Chinese companies are learning to navigate the delicate political and regulatory landscape for takeovers in the U.S.

Major U.S. companies remain essentially unattainable to Chinese buyers. So are many firms that can be tied to national security or critical technologies. Still, Chinese firms are stepping up their investments in the U.S. by targeting smaller companies, going after minority stakes and avoiding the most sensitive acquisition targets.

China hasn't given up on big deals. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., a government group that reviews foreign acquisitions, is expected to decide in coming weeks whether to approve two multibillion-dollar deals by Chinese firms. A Cfius spokeswoman declined to comment.

The deals getting the green light so far are smaller. Last week, U.S. regulators approved the Chinese acquisition of a U.S. battery maker despite political resistance and an initially icy reception. Wanxiang America Corp., a unit of China's Wanxiang Group, is paying $257 million to buy A123 Systems, a U.S. government-backed maker of lithium-ion batteries, after an early attempt at a purchase collapsed.

"You just need to understand the rules, follow the rules, be very transparent and let them make the decision," says Pin Ni, president of Wanxiang America, who started the U.S. offshoot out of a home office in Chicago.

Last year, Chinese buyers agreed to spend more than $10 billion in 46 deals to acquire U.S. companies or stakes in U.S. firms, according to Dealogic. The volume was higher than the Chinese total from 2009 through 2011 combined. The tally included the sale of Kansas City, Mo.-based movie-theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings to Wanda Group for $700 million.

The U.S. still trails Canada, where Chinese firms announced $23 billion worth of deals for Canadian companies or stakes last year. The total includes the pending $15.1 billion acquisition of Canadian oil-sands operator Nexen Inc. by Cnooc Ltd., the Chinese state energy giant.

The Nexen deal requires U.S. approval, since Nexen owns significant assets scattered across the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Last month, Nexen and Cnooc extended the deadline to complete the deal to March 2 from Jan. 31 to allow Cfius time to deliberate. Authorities in Canada, the U.K., European Union and China already have approved the takeover.

Most of last year's U.S.-China deals involved small companies or the purchase of minority stakes. Many bigger takeovers get ruled out by potential Chinese bidders because they don't think the transactions will be approved, say bankers and lawyers who advise the companies on deals.

In a 2005 deal that became a symbol of anti-Chinese sentiment, Cnooc abandoned its $18.5 billion attempt to buy U.S. oil producer Unocal Corp. amid what Cnooc called "unprecedented political opposition." Congress at the time inserted a provision into an energy bill that would have delayed the takeover for months. Unocal was later acquired by Chevron Corp.

Some big Chinese acquisitions still are being stymied.

Superior Aviation Beijing Co. abandoned in October its $1.79 billion bid to buy the corporate-jet and propeller-plane operations of Hawker Beechcraft Inc. because it was too complicated to separate those businesses from the Wichita, Kan., company's defense business, which would have been off limits, people familiar with the deal said at the time.

A congressional report published in October warned U.S. business against working with Chinese telecommunications firms Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp., saying their equipment could become a vehicle for Chinese spying in the U.S. Both companies have rejected the allegations, and Huawei called the findings politically motivated.

To avoid clashing with U.S. regulators, many Chinese companies are going after investments of less than $500 million, focusing mostly on closely held companies. Chinese firms sometimes aim for joint ventures or less-formal partnerships rather than all-out acquisitions.

But Chinese firms are getting more ambitious. Cfius signed off last month on the $118 million takeover of Complete Genomics Inc., a Mountain View, Calif., DNA sequencer by China's BGI-Shenzhen. That was the first acquisition of a publicly traded U.S. company by a Chinese firm.

A123 Systems was an especially sensitive deal because the Waltham, Mass., company got nearly $250 million in grants from the Department of Energy in 2009 to build a factory in Michigan. A123 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October, but Wanxiang America's first try at buying the battery maker flopped because of regulatory concerns.

On Wanxiang's second try, more than two dozen members of Congress wrote to Cfius to urge careful scrutiny of the deal. They argued that taxpayer-funded technology would land in the hands of a Chinese buyer.

To salvage the acquisition, Wanxiang agreed to sell off A123's business that sells batteries to the government while keeping the unit that sells commercial batteries. The Chinese company has said it intends to keep the Michigan factory in operation.

The Chinese company did extensive legwork to size up parts of the business that could be sensitive to U.S. officials and hired U.S.-based law firm Sidley Austin LLP to help manage the process, Mr. Pin says.

The biggest China-U.S. deal announced last year still needs approval from U.S. regulators. American International Group Inc. wants to sell up to 80.1% of its aircraft leasing business, International Lease Finance Corp., to a consortium of Chinese financial-services firms for $4.23 billion. Anticipating potential U.S. regulatory hurdles because of the deal's size, the consortium hired U.S.-based lawyers, a New York public relations firm and structured the deal in two parts. In addition to the initial stake, the group has the option to buy another 9.9% later.

Guatemala declares national coffee emergency

Guatemala declares national emergency to deal with spread of fungus devastating coffee crops

By Sonia Perez, Associated Press | Associated Press – Fri, Feb 8, 2013 8:58 PM EST

 

A coffee worker holds a handful of coffee beans just picked on a coffee plantation in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, Friday, Feb. 8, 2013.

 

Guatemala's President Otto Perez Molina has declared a national emergency over the spread coffee rust, a fungus that is affecting 70 percent of the country's crop. Molina said Friday that the pesticides will start being applied to coffee plants in April and that two more applications will be needed during the year. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) 

 

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) -- Guatemala's president declared a national emergency Friday over the spread of coffee rust, saying the fungus that has hit other Central American countries is affecting 70 percent of this nation's crop.                  

President Otto Molina Perez ordered the release of more than $14 million to aid coffee growers. He said the funds would help 60,000 small farmers buy pesticides and also finance instruction to teach them how to prevent the disease and stop it from spreading.

"If we don't take the needed measures, in 2013-2014 our production could drop by 40 percent," Molina said in making his country the third in the region to decree emergencies in recent weeks.

Coffee rust, which can kill plants by withering their leaves, also is affecting plantations in El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica. Mexico's agriculture authorities said the fungus has been detected there but so far has not damaged plants.

Molina said the pesticides will start being applied to coffee plants in April and two more applications will be needed during the year.

Nils Leporowsky, president of the National Coffee Association of Guatemala, or Anacafe, said coffee is grown in 206 of the country's 333 municipalities.

"We have planted 667,000 acres (270,000 hectares) of coffee and of that 477,000 acres (193,000 hectares) have rust, affecting 70 percent of the total," he added.

Leporowsky said coffee growing generates 500,000 direct jobs as well as 700,000 additional jobs in related businesses each year.

"We have lost 100,000 direct jobs already and that will affect millions of people," he said.

Experts say the fungus has been present in Central American since the 1970s but production hadn't previously been affected so severely as what is feared this year.

Otto Cabrera, an adviser with Anacafe, said coffee rust arrived in Guatemala in the 1980s.

"The fungus directly affects coffee leaves, initially with yellow spots that later turn orange and reaches around the foliage of coffee, then makes the leaves fall," he said. "The plant loses its foliage. It's not able to breathe, so it ceases producing and it eventually dies."

Cabrera said climate change has brought a rise in average temperatures of about 2 degrees Celsius in Central American areas where the fungus was present, encouraging its growth and increasing the threat of severe damage.

Honduras and Costa Rica declared national emergencies over coffee rust last month. In Panama, the sixth largest producer of coffee in the region, the fungus has affected about 60 percent of the crop this year, according to industry estimates.

Carlos Fuentes, spokesman for the association of coffee producers in Panama's Chiriqui province, which borders Costa Rica, said coffee yields per acre have fallen 45 percent. Chiriqui is the largest coffee producer in Panama.

"Of the 8,650 acres (3,500 hectares) we planted, more than half have been affected," Fuentes said, adding that he wants his country to also declare a state of emergency.

In El Salvador, the Salvadoran Coffee Council said the impact of coffee rust is the worst in 30 years. The council estimates the fungus has affected 100 percent of the country's coffee plants.

Honduras also declared a national emergency in January seeking to curb the fungus and save its coffee, which is its main export, with about $1.4 billion in sales in 2012.

"Until now, we estimate that about 10 percent of the crops in the country have been affected," said Victor Hugo Molina, director of the Honduran Coffee Institute.

In Mexico, which borders Guatemala, agriculture officials said the fungus is present but it has not hurt production.

Javier Trujillo Arriaga, director of vegetable health for Mexico's pest-control agency, said the government has a contingency plan to fight the fungus in case it starts killings plants like it is doing in Guatemala.

Coffee producers in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica plan a Feb. 27-28 meeting in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to discuss common strategies for combatting coffee rust.          

___

Associated Press writers Juan Zamorano in Panama, Alberto Arce in Honduras, Marco Aleman in El Salvador and Olga R. Rodriguez in Mexico contributed to this report.