British online grocer and technology group Ocado said it had signed a new deal to develop Alcampo's online business in Spain, as the pandemic continues to drive the shift to online grocery buying and helped boost revenues in its home market. For its first half, which covered the 26 weeks to 30 May, Ocado posted a 20% rise in retail revenue to £1.2 billion. Lockdowns in Britain during the period drew new customers to its joint venture with Marks & Spencer. Ocado says that the pandemic has resulted in a permanent shift to online grocery shopping, helping boost demand for its technology offering with retailers around the world. It signed a new contract on Tuesday with Auchan Retail for its Alcampo business in Spain which will use the Ocado Smart Platform to help expand its online business across the country.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said it was time to bust out the tequila. Standing by the seashore, the celebrity wrestler and film star put his arm around Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Inc's founder. Bezos, in sunglasses, smiled for a picture and then shared it on the 'gram. The men had just announced a movie deal for Amazon Studios. Bezos, 57, is stepping down as Amazon's CEO (today) Monday 5 July. He'll remain executive chairman and the company's biggest shareholder, but his Instagram account shows he has plenty of other interests to occupy his time. The science fiction fan is planning a joy ride to suborbital space with his best friend and brother, Mark, this month, one recent post said. In another, Bezos is behind the wheel of an electric pickup truck built by Rivian, a startup that Amazon funded, traversing the desert in a cowboy hat to see a rocket capsule land.
New measures to reduce plastic waste in the European Union have drawn fire from environmental campaigners who say they do not go far enough, while manufacturers worry the rules could lead to different standards being adopted across the bloc. In an effort to reduce pollution, the EU banned a range of single-use plastic products on Saturday, including straws, plates, cutlery and cotton bud sticks and said drinking bottles must contain more recycled plastic.The directive, which also requires member states to reduce consumption of certain single-use items, came into force in 2019 but member states had until 3 July to turn it into national law. "Single-use plastic is the symbol of today's throw-away society, and phasing them out constitutes an obvious first step to fight plastic pollution," said Frédérique Mongodin, from NGO Seas At Risk. "Yet we cannot rely on the sole political will of national governments."
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