How LASCO Manufacturing Limited Drinks Future is Sugarless and Health-Conscious

“The positive out-turn for the quarter reflects growth in volumes, improved operational efficiencies, streamlining and cost controls …..”

Managing Director James Rawle, commenting on LASM (LASCO Manufacturing Limited) performance

LASM (LASCO Manufacturing Limited) is doing well this year as they are on a profitability roll.

This is especially true for their manufacturing of drink products as noted in the article “Lasco pushes for greater share of food drink market”, published Thursday, August 16, 2018, The Jamaica Observer.

LASM has two (2) sections to their plant:

1.      Liquid plant - making soy-based drinks, juice, drinks and water

2.      Dry Plant - - making soy-based powdered drinks

The strong sales from LASM are from the sale of the following four products on their three production lines in the Liquid Plant:

1.      LASCO iCool range of water and juice drinks

2.      LASCO iDrade, a hydration drink

3.      Lyrix,  a carbonated beverage

4.      Konka, energy drink similar to Boom

I've personally consumed Konka, as can be seen from the bottle in my hand below.

Based on its ingredients, it is not much different from Boom, having the same active ingredients including Taurine and Caffeine.

Shushana Levy, a Jamaican YouTuber, has tested out Lasco Lyrix, Konka and iCool and gives her expert opinion in this natural, unscripted video promo of their products.

Now on to their Dry Products Division, which I call the Dry Plant! Their Dry Plant makes many products that I personally like to consume:

1.      LASCO Lasoy

2.      LASCO Enriched Milk Powder

3.      LASCO Oats Porridge Mixes

4.      LASCO Nutrify, a high protein meal replacement.

So how are they doing profit wise?

LASCO Manufacturing Limited Profitability - Shushana Levy says the Drinks are Driving Profits

Managing Director James Rawle was apparently quite pleased with the numbers, quote: “Sales are as expected, even as volumes continue to grow in a competitive market......The margin improvement is attributable to volume growth, sales mix and improved operational efficiencies”.

LASM (LASCO Manufacturing Limited) recorded the following strong numbers in Q3 of 2018:

1.      JA$237 million Net Profit

2.      JA$134 million in Q3 of 2017

3.      77% growth in Net Profit

 

Revenue had also increased when compared to the same period last year:

1.      JA$1.7 billion for Q3 of 2018

2.      JA$1.5 billion for Q3 of 2017

3.      35% Gross Profit Margin in Q3 of 2018

4.      32% Gross Profit Margin in Q3 of 2017

Their administrative expenses remained stable.

1.      JA$308 million administrative expenses in Q3 of 2018

2.      18% expense to sale ratio in Q3 of 2018

3.      20% expense to sale ratio in Q3 of 2017

Their Total assets, Trade and other receivables and Trade payables have seen moderate gains:

1.      JA$8.3 billion in Total assets in Q3 of 2018

2.      12% increase in Total assets in Q3 of 2018 over Q3 of 2017

3.      JA$2.1 billion in Trade and other receivables in Q3 of 2018

4.      30% increase in Total assets in Q3 of 2018 over Q3 of 2017

5.      JA$937 million in trade payables in Q3 of 2018

6.      10% increase in Q3 of 2018 over Q3 of 2017

So it looks like Shushana Levy, our YouTube Reviewer, is on to something here.

Clearly, their new Drinks lines are as good as Sushana Levy, our YouTube Reviewer, has pointed out in her video. So what is the future for LASM?

LASCO Manufacturing Limited Profitability - The future is Sugarless and Health-Conscious

LASM now hopes to double net profit over the next two quarters.

LASM has just completed their 65,000-square foot warehousing facility. They're also launched new flavours from its flagship product LASCO Vanilla Food Drink in September 2017.

The recent trend towards reducing sugar content in foods and beverages also benefitted the company as it is also a way to avoid future taxation from Government over Sugar as noted in the article “Lasco Manufacturing Enters Carbonated, Energy Drink Markets With Two New Brands”, Published Friday February 16, 2018 by Avia Collinder, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Their reduced sugar variant of LASCO Vanilla Food Drink and iCool juice drink being a part of the run on profits. LASM's carbonated beverage Lyrix and energy drink Konka, have also had solid export sales from the export market since their launch earlier this year.

Nonetheless, LASM continued to invest heavily in marketing programmes such as this islandwide promotion drive for their products. Their brand building activities are being expanded in Q4 of 2018, with special attention to recently launched new products.

For LASM, the future is definately Sugarless and Health-Conscious.

Here’s the link:

Lasco Jamaica YouTube Channel

Audley Shaw's Plan for Agriculture at Denbigh 2018 needs Mechatronics, Vertical Farming Tech

“Over the past five years, the agriculture sector in the Caribbean has been affected by shifts in weather patterns. We have experienced significant episodes of prolonged droughts, frequent intense rainfall, flooding and hurricanes. Climate-related natural disasters, especially hurricane and drought, could result in losses estimated at US$22 billion annually by 2050 throughout the Caribbean”.

Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw speaking at the now concluded Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show on Saturday August 5^th 2018.

Climate change is now affecting us financially, through agriculture.

So says Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw who cites losses of $1 billion to the Agriculture Sector in the past two years as noted in the article “Climate change hits agriculture with $1b loss, says Shaw”, published Wednesday, August 08, 2018, The Jamaica Observer.

He made this statement at the recently concluded Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show on Saturday August 5th 2018, and pointed out that the effect was, quote: “beginning to have a sustained depreciating impact on agricultural production”.

I personally was at Denbigh and saw little improvement in the facilities and displays. Albeit technology was on display, very little of it was what small farmers could afford. A good example of this problem was this tractor which had an attach for ploughing up inside of a large chicken coop……who can afford this attachment, let alone a tractor for such a purpose?

Minister Audley Shaw is clearly aware of this as well as the financial constraints facing farmers, quote: “We recognise that there are several persistent challenges and constraints facing the agricultural sector, chief among these, of course, being the impact of climate change”.

So what has Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw done that will make a difference?

Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw - Crop Modelling a first vital step

In July 2018, the minster introduced crop modeling.

This is the use of computer simulation software to predict the effect of various factor on the growth of crops and thus better plan what to plant, when to plant it and the cost of inputs and potential yields.

Crop modeling software, like any simulation software, can help you plan and reduce losses and maximize on the yield of your field but with lower cost in terms of planning.

Crop Modeling software is used extensively in global agriculture with benefits such as:

1.      Increasing farmers' crop yields

2.      Improvement of research and extension capabilities

3.      Informing sustainable and effective planning

Now that we have this tool, which is really an advanced version of Farmville but for actual agriculture on real land, planning large scale farming should be a lot easier. Still, it does not address the losses by farmers, many of whom plant and raise livestock on their own land using traditional techniques that are effective but low yield.

Consequently many farmers do not make much money at the farm gate and even fewer invest in any newer farming technologies or techniques, especially if it involves loans or the possibility of the Government owning their land.

So ....how do you convince Farmers, who are steeped in traditional ways of farming that newer methods exist, to invest in any new technology?

Future of Agriculture - Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw Plans need financing

Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw does have some new strategies that I personally like.

He mentioned them at Denbigh and they are geared towards achieving sustainable production:

1.      Provision of more irrigation systems

2.      Implementing more drought-resistant measures such as water harvesting and storage

3.      Application of new technologies to include drones and alternative energy sources

4.      Coordinated value chain-driven partnerships and linkages between agriculture and industry

5.      Increased efforts to establish agricultural insurance schemes

We'll definately need some external funding for these overhauls of our ageing Agriculture sector as promised by Audley Shaw, quote: “It is worth repeating that grant funding from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund, administered through the Caribbean Development Bank, in an amount equivalent to £35,515 million will go towards the cost of the Essex Valley Agricultural Development Project. ....”

So is this enough to transform Agriculture and make it resistant to Climate Change.

Food Security in the Face of Global Warming - Free Farming Loans and Incentives to modernize

I especially like the mention of Water Harvesting and long term water storage initiatives and the planned use of Drones and Alternative Energy Resources; these are thing I've written about before.

This is especially true of Water Harvesting which I suspect will eventually lead to the liberalization of the Water Sector in Jamaica as predicted in my blog article entitled “How Diehl Metering Prepaid Water meters for NWC enables Prepaid Water and Rainwater Harvesting”. 

Drones and possibly blimps with cameras could help with praedial larceny, which is more like organized crime as posited in this article “Full Potential Of Agriculture Remains Untapped – JAMPRO”, published Tuesday July 31, 2018, The Jamaica Gleaner.

What I do not hear or see more of his plans for Vertical Farming i.e. basically multi-storey buildings designed to grow crops in a controlled Hydroponic and Aquaponics environment, possibly using tissue culture as explained in my blog article entitled “How IGES Canada Ltd Vertical Hydroponic Aquaponic Towers make low cost Organic foods”.

Or even the use of Solar Power and a centralized network with moisture sensors to control the usage of water as show in the images below I took at Denbigh 2018.

Or plans to use of Mechatronics to do labour intensive tasks in agriculture such as checking on plants, pruning, weed control and livestock farming as explained in my blog article entitled  “How Australia's University of Sydney Livestock Farmbot heralds Efficient Agricultural Towers”. 

Whatever plans they have, they need to be given to farmers for free, with no strings attached for 5 years. This would be done in exchange for members of the Government to come in and manage the farm, with the farmer keeping the profits but benefitting from increased use of the above-mentioned agricultural technological innovations.

The Government of Jamaica could also have hotels involved in the management of the farms by specifying what they want to have grown and having farmers meet that demand as Audley Shaw had argued back in June 2018 as noted in this article “Minister Shaw Wants Hotels to Purchase More Local Produce”, published July 13, 2018 by Chad Bryan, The Jamaica Information Service. 

This in order to make us ready for a future of food scarcity as the world population increases as explained in my blog article entitled  “United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says Insects is the Meat for the next 20 years”. 

Still, Jamaica has to take small steps......or decided to makes sum huge leaps of faith, as increasing Global Temperatures threaten to make Drought a yearlong phenomenon.

How New Fortress Energy LNG fuel for JUTC Buses is a step towards a Hydrogen-Electric Economy in 2030

“If the pilot is successful the intention is to add more buses, but at this time - before the start of the first phase - we are not in a position to say when the expansion will be and by how many buses”

JUTC spokesman Cecil Thoms on the New Fortress Energy planned upgrade

New Fortress Energy is helping the JUTC (Jamaica Urban Transit Company) to go LNG (Liquid Natural Gas).

This as they have developed a LNG gas station that has the capacity to fuel 25 buses daily as reported in the article “JUTC Hopes To Burn $3b Fuel Bill With LNG”, published Friday July 20, 2018 by Avia Collinder, The Jamaica Gleaner.

It is scheduled for early 2019 and will not have a real impact on the JUTC until 2025, making this a Government for the long haul. The LNG pilot programme being financed by New Fortress is an upgrade of the original pilot program as laid out in my blog article entitled “Why the JUTC is adopting LNG and CNG as PCJ need to emphasize Solar, Wind and Biofuel”. 

This upgrade will allow the bus refueling depot in two locations:

1.      Kingston Depot

2.      Spanish Town, St Catherine Depot

It's expected to cost some JA$400 million and will include some five (5) LNG ready buses, with planned retrofits of older buses to use LNG. This translates to some 720 gallons of fuel daily, enableing the refuelling station to fuel some 25 buses daily, or five times the number of buses designated for the pilot programme.

So how will impact the JUTC's fuel bill?

JUTC's fuel bill - LNG a push towards lower fares

JUTC has some interesting stats gleaned from the Jamaica Public Bodies report worth noting:

1.      608 buses in its fleet

2.      525 of which are operational

3.      JA$2 billion in the past two years

4.      JA$3.7 billion fuel bill in 2018

The JUTC is projected to earn $5.32 billion at year ending March 2019. Of that 69% of bus fares goes towards their fuel bill, outstripping the expected $3.33 billion of staff expenses. With their fuel bill expected to rise from $2.52 billion to $3.68 billion, a 46% rise.

Thus, a cheaper fuel alternative is needed.

This may mean lower fares, possibly as low as JA$10 on any route, once they eventually switch to Hybrid Electric Buses as predicted in my blog article entitled “Why JUTC going Hybrid indicates removal of 60% import duty on Electric Vehicles”, the use of LPG (Liquid Perroleum Gas) would be widespread.

So why is New Fortress Energy doing this?

New Fortress Energy and LNG - Step towards a Hydrogen-Electric Economy in 2030

This is more good work from New Fortress Energy, who are already collaborating with IGL Limited to introduce a new range of trucks that use LNG as noted in my blog article entitled “How IGL Limited and New Fortress Energy LNG partnership will jumpstart LNG Vehicle Conversion”. 

New Fortress Energy is anticipating a future where all Ships travelling to the USA will be going LNG. So they being quite diplomatic in sharing the benefits of the cheaper, more environmentally friendly fuel with the Jamaican Government.

The Government of Jamaica have allowed them to set up a refuelling Depot for Ships in Jamaica. With an overall price of JS$400 as noted in the article “LNG to power JUTC buses”, published Sunday, July 15, 2018, The Jamaica Observer,  US$1.7 million (JA$230,860,000) will be spent on the Spanish Town, St Catherine.

Hopefully by the time the JUTC eventually upgrades the buses to Hybrid i.e. running on Electric power stores in Li-Ion Batteries and using the LNG to generate reserve power as predicted in my blog article entitled “Why JUTC going Hybrid indicates removal of 60% import duty on Electric Vehicles”, the use of LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) would be widespread.

This as the JUTC would not only result in more Electric Vehicles being imported due to possible waivers being extended to regular Car Dealers on the 60% import duty imposed on them as posited in my blog article entitled “JPS, USAID and How removing 60% import duty on Electric Vehicle will reduce Jamaica's Oil Bill”, but it may spark many local mechanic to begin the modification of their vehicles to use what may be a cheaper and cleaner source of fuel for their engines.

Jamaica will hopefully use this as a stepping stone towards a Hydrogen-Electric Economy in 2030 as predicted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Jamaica House 15-kW Solar heralds Hydrogen-Electron Economy in 2030”.

How CheckPoint Security says Hackers can read and send Whatsapp messages

“We carefully reviewed this issue and it's the equivalent of altering an email to make it look like something a person never wrote.....This claim has nothing to do with the security of end-to-end encryption, which ensures only the sender and recipient can read messages sent on WhatsApp”

Whatsapp spokesperson commenting on research done by Israeli cybersecurity firm CheckPoint on Faking Whatsapp messages

Looks like Whatsapp may not be as secure as they claimed.

Researchers at Israeli cybersecurity firm CheckPoint Security have discovered …(or rediscovered?) a very serious vulnerability in Whatsapp as outlined in the article “Researchers find flaw in WhatsApp”, published August 8, 2018, Physorg.com.

Announced today Wednesday August 8^th 2018, they flaw apparently allows hackers to do the following:

1.      Intercept messages in Group or Private conversations

2.      Modify and send fake messages in Group or Private conversations

Founded in 2009 and purchased by Facebook in 2014, WhatsApp said that at the beginning of the year, Whatsapp had more than 1.5 billion users who exchanged 65 billion messages per day. Most of these messages, however, are not monitored and cannot be monitored due to Whatsapp's Secure E2EE (End To End Encryption).

 As such, anyone can spread spam and misinformation, often with unforeseen consequences that most smartphones uses may not notice, as computers are not held in the same regard as smartphones. 

Whatsapp is also a haven for transactional sex between teenage girls and older men as noted in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How WhatsApp is fuelling Transaction Sex among Jamaican Teenagers”.

Whatsapp, for its part, has made a few changes in order to tackle the challenge of misinformation:

1.      Placing a limit on forwarding content

2.      Adding a label to forwarded messages

3.      Making changes to group chats

 So how is this possible?

Whatsapp vulnerability - How Hackers can access your personal info

First thing first, this does not mean that Whatsapp's E2EE (End To End Encryption) is broken or hacked.

Still, it is possible that Whatsapp can share their encryption keys with spy agencies as outlined in my Geezam blog article entitled “WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger may be sharing E2EE Keys with the NSA”.

However, this is not the case….

Rather, what hackers have really taken advantage of is the propensity for people to click on a specially designed website link as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “How Check Point says Hackers can gain remote access to WhatsApp and Telegram”.  

Clearly this is not a new hack……CheckPoint Security has warned about this before and is now more relevant in the face of the recent Facebook-Cambridge Analytics Scandal as noted in my blog article entitled “How the Facebook Data Scandal involving Cambridge Analytica is a Storm in a Teacup”.

These website links are often send around propagating all kinds of false rumours and are use to gather data or may even be embedded in a funny video, such as a cute cat video.

Once it goes viral and people click on the link or video, it will instead allow hackers to install a Trojan as well as create backdoors in your smartphone by taking advantage of vulnerabilities in Android as explained by CheckPoint Security in my Geezam blog entitled “Check Point warns of Android malware Gooligan, a sign of AI’s approach in 2017”. 

Then the hacker can access your smartphone and download all information including you contact list and emails. They can even get access to stored credit cards and install a keylogger to record all of your keystrokes, capturing your password and login for various apps, all thanks to weaknesses inherent in the smartphone OS.

Even worse, they can login and use your phone to remotely send messages via the backdoor created using the specially designed website link using your own Whatsapp number. In essence, they hackers can potentially turn your phone into a member of a botnet.

Hackers can then forwarding the website link to other smartphone users, causing more people to click on the infected weblink or funny cat video. Then they can make money this way by harvesting your contact information and reselling resell this information to hackers or just use it to scam people.

Facebook and Whatsapp - Backup Whatsapp and Update with latest version

Facebook is currently under pressure about the lack of regulation on Whatsapp, especially as it relates to forwarding messages in groups. 

These groups can spread misinformation, often resulting in people taking action that may not be warranted, often with dangerous results, as this ad from BCJ (Broadcast Commission of Jamaica) warns.

It’ll be interesting to see how Jamaicans react to this latest bit of news.....and well as what changes Whatsapp will implement. For now the best remedy is to backup Whatsapp and install a fresh updated copy of this popular Mobile Social Media App.