Kat K's Profile

Very interesting article! While I applaud Nestle for being proactive about climate change rather than reactive, I agree that they need to focus more on production in order to achieve their sustainability goals. Specifically, there is an opportunity to partner with large coffee farmers to find ways to increase the revenue on their harvests. Perhaps there is a way to do it without paying farmers more, but instead by partnering with and investing in their businesses to improve their efficiency and overall yields, thereby lowering the farmers’ costs and increasing their profits without requiring more land.

I am really surprised by Toyota’s increased investment, given the uncertainty during this period. Because of Toyota’s long-term presence in the market and number of people they employ, I suspect they believe that the government will look at the investment positively and work with them to find a suitable solution. That said, I am not sure I would have made the same bet and would look at future investments in the UK cautiously.

Very interesting article! I hadn’t appreciated the implications of Blockchain technology in this way, but clearly makes a lot of sense and ultimately benefits the consumer and retailer greatly.

One concern I have is that it is still early days for Blockchain technology and could be years until retailers actually see benefits from this technology. Another question that comes to mind is understanding how to incentive the entire supply chain to adopt the technology and how costly and difficult implementation would be. Would Walmart (or other retailers) be able to share some of the cost with suppliers rather than bearing the burden alone? That said, given the immense benefits to both the consumer and the entire supply chain, I am hopeful!

Really interesting article! I agree it is very important for Blue Apron to digitalize its supply chain in order to stay competitive with Amazon. I had not appreciated that they previously depended entirely on human labor! That said, I also agree with @abcde and greatly worry about the sustainability of their business model, regardless of digitalization of the supply chain. With the immense competition in the space, Blue Apron’s customer acquisition cost have surged from $94 to over $400 (1). Furthermore, to stay relevant and top of mind for consumers, Blue Apron will have to continue to spend aggressively on sales and marketing. Given these increasingly rising costs, I worry about Blue Apron’s ability to ever be profitable.

(1) https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/20/will-blue-apron-ever-turn-a-profit.aspx

Vert interesting article! I agree with Bumper the Cat and am excited by the ability to scale vertical farming technique. However, given the newness of the technology, I would be curious as to how the quality of food grown through vertical farming compares traditional methods. I think this is the first place they should focus since if the quality is not on par, I am not sure how they will be competitive, regardless of cost.