THE branding guru behind the success of products including Cobra Beer and Kettle Chips is to share the secrets of his success – albeit virtually – with Scottish firms. Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, the only Afro-Caribbean farmer working in the UK, is to ta
lk to Scottish firms about the importance of brand awareness – via a videolink. The virtual conference will be broadcast on the Highland and Islands Enterprise's Learningworks website later this month. Laying claim to the booming success of a range of products from Loyd Grossman cooking sauces to chef legend Gordon Ramsay himself, Emmanuel-Jones says: "In whatever business arena you operate, good branding allows you to be different – to create your own place and personality."
Gazetteer is wondering what its brand would be and how it would go down with the general public.
FACT OF THE DAY
2,428haTHE amount of land Jamaica is setting aside to increase its rice production. Officials on the Caribbean island are worried that supplies from Guyana, in South America, are dwindling and has requested 36,200 tonnes of rice from the US.
Christopher Tufton, Jamaica's agriculture minister, said he expects the private sector to help farm rice on state-owned land. He added that increasing local rice production could deflect rising food prices and make up for lagging grain imports.
KILLER QUOTE"THE worst of the crisis on Wall Street is over. But in terms of people with individual mortgages, there's a lot of pain left to come"
Warren Buffet, one of the world's richest man and head of investment group Berkshire Hathaway
GOOD DAY
Coffee loversYIRGACHEFFE, Sidamo and Harar have become the first three African coffee varieties to receive trademark protection. The Ethiopian government has registered the varieties as trademarks and has worked with British firm Brandhouse to create an "Ethiopia Fine Coffees" brand, under which the beans can be licensed. Brandhouse said 70 licensing agreements have been signed with companies in eight countries. Ethiopia exports more than 177,000 tonnes of coffee per year, about 15 per cent of world production.
BAD DAY
Turkish whisky lovers THE Scotch Whisky Association has threatened to take the Turkish government to the World Trade Organisation if it doesn't "dismantle its discrimination" against Scotch. Gavin Hewitt, chief executive of the SWA, has called for the government in Ankara to remove its "illegal" tax barrier to Scotland's national drink. He said that raki, Turkey's indigenous spirit, which tastes of aniseed, is taxed at half the rate of Scotch. Hewitt also criticised what he called Turkey's "complex" system for obtaining import permits.
The full article contains 435 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
