Java drinkers of the world, unite! Today is International Coffee Day, an annual event dedicated to one of the world’s oldest beverages. In honour of the beloved brew’s big day, Global News brings you ten fascinating facts about coffee.
While it’s not certain where the slang phrase “cuppa Joe” came from, one popular theory suggests the phrase originated in the 1900s with Joesphus Daniels, who was appointed Secretary of the U.S. Navy in 1913. Daniels abolished wine from the officers’ mess, thereby elevating coffee as the strongest beverage available aboard Navy ships.
There are two types of coffee, Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is grown at high altitudes in Latin America and Africa. It accounts for about two-thirds of global output. Human cultivation of this type of coffee reportedly began after goats in Ethiopia were seen acting uncommonly energetic after eating the leaves and fruit of the coffee tree.
Mocha (a.k.a. Mokha or al-Mukha) is a town in Yemen famed for its coffee roots. Mocha was the main centre for Arabia’s coffee exports from the 15th to 17th century. Legend has it the coffee bean originated in Mocha and spread through Egypt, Africa and Europe by merchant travelers passing through the port city.
After oil, coffee is the most widely used product in the world.
In moderation, caffeine from coffee can be beneficial to your health. Coffee berries and seeds are rich in antioxidants. Men who drink four cups of caffeinate coffee a day are half as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, compared to those who skip their daily cup of Joe, according to a Harvard University study.
Coffee may help lower risk of depression in women. According to a new study by researchers at Harvard University, women who regularly indulge in a java jolt, four or more cups a day, reduce their risk of depression by 20 per cent.
Espresso coffee contains about one third the amount of caffeine as regular coffee. It takes about 40 coffee beans to make an espresso.
35 per cent of American coffee drinkers prefer their coffee black. Black coffee contains zero calories.
The word ‘cappuccino’ is derived from the Italian word ‘capuchin,’ which means small cap. It’s a reference to the beverage’s brown colour, which resembles the brown hoods of the Capuchin Friars, an order of friars in the Catholic Church dating back to the 16th century.
Starbuck’s Coffee is the world’s largest coffeehouse company, with more than 17,000 shops worldwide. The company’s name comes from Starbuck, a devoted coffee-drinker and Captain Ahab’s first mate in the 1851 Herman Melville classic novel, Moby Dick. The logo is based on a 16th century Norse woodcut of a mermaid, reflecting the maritime history of early coffee traders.
2011年9月29日 星期四
2011年6月8日 星期三
I thought Bling was a good product for merchants
Slow acceptance among merchants and consumers appears to be the underlying cause for Bling Nation’s decision to suspend operation of its PayConnect and FanConnect mobile services. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Bling said earlier this week that it is pausing operations to retool its services in response to feedback from merchants and users.
The suspension is likely to leave Bling far behind competitors in a market that is developing fast and attracting major players, including wireless carriers and the Web search giant Google Inc. , observers say. Officials from the company were not available for further comment.
Analysts contend that Bling’s inability to deliver new customers to merchants hindered the appeal of its payment and loyalty programs to merchants. “If a payments company can’t deliver a substantial base of new customers to merchants, there is not a strong enough value proposition for merchants to support it,” says Rick Oglesby, a senior analyst with Boston-based Aite Group. “Bling has previously stated that its payment offering was a commodity and it appears they could not deliver a large enough customer base outside of what PayPal offered. Access to large segments of new customers is a potent value proposition for merchants.”
Bling began testing funding of its accounts through PayPal in July 2010 and in October was included in PayPal Inc.'s iPhone app.
Since its founding in 2008, Bling’s business model was best described as a highly localized approach. Proprietary direct debit and loyalty programs were offered to merchants in communities where local banks hold both consumer and merchant accounts. The model allowed for on-us settlement.
Bling relied on contactless stickers affixed to phones to initiate payments at the point-of-sale. Tapping the handset on point-of-sale readers, called “Blingers,” debited the consumer’s account.
In late 2010, Bling added FanConnect, a social-media application that allowed consumers to “like” a business on Facebook and share information about merchants and special offers within their Facebook community, which provided merchants with an easy entrée into social networking. Bling planned to support the program with analytics and customer-relations management tools for merchants.
“I thought Bling was a good product for merchants and that it offered lots of opportunities for value,” says Brad Rose, vice president of Information Technology and Security for La Junta, Colo.-based , an early adopter of Bling that received a letter from the company saying it was ceasing operations.
“Unfortunately, our merchants did not see that value,” continues Rose. “Not only was there reluctance to accept Bling, but in some cases a little arm twisting was needed to get merchants to sign up.”
The greatest resistance within the merchant community came from the large local merchant and merchant chains, according to Rose. “The large merchants either did not want to talk about Bling, told us they weren’t interested, or needed corporate approval to go ahead,” he adds. “With no monthly fee and interchange rates 50% less than Visa and MasterCard there was certainly value to it, especially for smaller merchants that compete with large merchants.”
Although Bling’s immediate future is uncertain, the company said in an e-mail that the “Bling Nation leadership team remains intact and we feel that we have a winning combination that will dominate these areas in the long term.”
Just what Bling’s next step will be is anyone’s guess. George Peabody, director of emerging technology advisory services for Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator Advisory Group says he would not be surprised to see Bling rebrand in order to distance itself from past merchant perceptions.
The suspension is likely to leave Bling far behind competitors in a market that is developing fast and attracting major players, including wireless carriers and the Web search giant Google Inc. , observers say. Officials from the company were not available for further comment.
Analysts contend that Bling’s inability to deliver new customers to merchants hindered the appeal of its payment and loyalty programs to merchants. “If a payments company can’t deliver a substantial base of new customers to merchants, there is not a strong enough value proposition for merchants to support it,” says Rick Oglesby, a senior analyst with Boston-based Aite Group. “Bling has previously stated that its payment offering was a commodity and it appears they could not deliver a large enough customer base outside of what PayPal offered. Access to large segments of new customers is a potent value proposition for merchants.”
Bling began testing funding of its accounts through PayPal in July 2010 and in October was included in PayPal Inc.'s iPhone app.
Since its founding in 2008, Bling’s business model was best described as a highly localized approach. Proprietary direct debit and loyalty programs were offered to merchants in communities where local banks hold both consumer and merchant accounts. The model allowed for on-us settlement.
Bling relied on contactless stickers affixed to phones to initiate payments at the point-of-sale. Tapping the handset on point-of-sale readers, called “Blingers,” debited the consumer’s account.
In late 2010, Bling added FanConnect, a social-media application that allowed consumers to “like” a business on Facebook and share information about merchants and special offers within their Facebook community, which provided merchants with an easy entrée into social networking. Bling planned to support the program with analytics and customer-relations management tools for merchants.
“I thought Bling was a good product for merchants and that it offered lots of opportunities for value,” says Brad Rose, vice president of Information Technology and Security for La Junta, Colo.-based , an early adopter of Bling that received a letter from the company saying it was ceasing operations.
“Unfortunately, our merchants did not see that value,” continues Rose. “Not only was there reluctance to accept Bling, but in some cases a little arm twisting was needed to get merchants to sign up.”
The greatest resistance within the merchant community came from the large local merchant and merchant chains, according to Rose. “The large merchants either did not want to talk about Bling, told us they weren’t interested, or needed corporate approval to go ahead,” he adds. “With no monthly fee and interchange rates 50% less than Visa and MasterCard there was certainly value to it, especially for smaller merchants that compete with large merchants.”
Although Bling’s immediate future is uncertain, the company said in an e-mail that the “Bling Nation leadership team remains intact and we feel that we have a winning combination that will dominate these areas in the long term.”
Just what Bling’s next step will be is anyone’s guess. George Peabody, director of emerging technology advisory services for Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator Advisory Group says he would not be surprised to see Bling rebrand in order to distance itself from past merchant perceptions.
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