fortune--2020-02-16--If we want to keep eating chocolate, we have to end deforestation

One of the world ’ s fastest men uses ‘ Shark Tank ’ as the starting block for business success

More than two-thirds of people across the globe say they can’t imagine a world without chocolate, according to Mondelez International’s internal research. Neither can we. But to guarantee the future of cocoa, and therefore chocolate, we need to tackle deforestation, as well as the poverty and practices that make it worse.
Given the various obstacles to confronting climate change, it might seem strange to focus on chocolate. But deforestation is a huge problem in cocoa farming. As demand for chocolate increases, cocoa growers are accelerating production. Without the right incentives, some farmers may clear forested land to plant more cocoa trees. Taking proactive steps on deforestation is the single biggest contribution companies like ours can make to helping our younger generations have a better world to grow old in.
We’ve tried to tackle deforestation before with certification schemes, where food companies pay a premium for ingredients grown under independently verified environmental and social criteria. But these schemes haven’t always trickled down to drive real change on the ground. They are hard to scale up to cover the volumes required, meaning the deforestation problem remains untouched in the majority of the supply chain. And the schemes often lack a holistic approach, incentivizing improvements in one area like farming, but doing little to tackle broader issues within a community.
If cocoa suppliers and chocolate manufacturers are going to live up to our commitment to the Paris Agreement, to cap global temperature increases at 2 degrees Celsius, or even better 1.5 degrees, we need to move fast and work together. If not, the climate crisis we face today will become devastating.
That’s why Mondelez International, together with other cocoa companies and in collaboration with governments, co-created the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI).
Earlier this year, companies representing around 85% of the global cocoa market published plans under the CFI that spell out how we’re going to change this trajectory. Each company will follow a common framework focused on prevention, farmer income, and community involvement.
First of all, we need to protect trees by preventing encroachment, where forests are cut down to plant cocoa-yielding trees. To do so, we need a clear picture of where cocoa farms are. The challenge is that cocoa farms are generally small and hard to map. An average cocoa farm in West Africa ranges in size from two to five hectares. But thanks to modern technology, there are solutions.
We have worked with Global Forest Watch to plot farms on satellite maps and analyze how they interact with forested and protected land. About 63%, or 93,000, of the farms supplying the Mondelez International Cocoa Life program in Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Indonesia have been mapped already and we know they are not in priority-protected areas. And we’ve put the map online so everyone can see it. If we do identify a problem, we ask our suppliers to flag this to the local farmers’ organization so it can take action. In time we will report cases to governments too.
A key driver of deforestation is poverty. Cocoa is grown almost entirely by smallholder farmers. We can help make farms more productive with yield-improving agricultural practices, such as planting shade trees around the cocoa-growing trees to create better growing conditions for cocoa. And we can encourage farmers to diversify their income by investing in other areas, either for sale or consumption, such as keeping livestock or farming fish.
We’ve seen an overall increase in income for cocoa farming households over three years, driven by cocoa and non-cocoa farming income. This progress makes farming more attractive and farmers less likely to cut down trees to plant crops elsewhere.
Finally, we know that deforestation can’t be addressed through cocoa farmers alone; the whole community needs to be involved. Families and neighbors can work together on community action plans, investments in infrastructure, and pooling resources to help create a more resilient community. Village Savings and Loans Associations have also been effective means of encouraging savings and protecting families from the volatilities of cocoa farming.
As an industry, we’re doing a lot. But there is a saying in Ghana: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. All stakeholders across the value chain must come together to make it work—chocolate manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, farmers, governments, and civil society.
In addition to the CFI, the Consumer Goods Forum is playing a leadership role in tackling deforestation by bringing together a coalition of companies—in the cocoa sector and others—to drive change at scale, working in partnership with suppliers and producer governments to optimize land usage. Further work is being driven by the Tropical Forest Alliance, whose mission is to use the power of collective action and responsibility to create a business culture that takes tangible actions to preserve forests. The alliance works to reduce and halt tropical deforestation driven by commodity supply chains. Mondelez International is a member of both of these organizations.
We encourage everyone who interacts with cocoa farming to work together to drive transparency and find solutions to address the environmental and social issues that cocoa faces. Our world, and the future of chocolate for cocoa farmers and chocolate lovers alike, depends on it.
Dirk Van de Put is chairman and CEO of Mondelez International.
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fortune--2020-02-16--Miami’s Balloo is a deeply personal tribute to the chef’s Chinese, Indian, and Trinidadian roots

The Ingraham Building has seen things. Back in the summer of 1926, a few months before Schultze and Weaver—architects of the social climbing hothouses like The Biltmore in Asheville in Coral Gardens and The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.—completed the downtown Miami tower, a ferocious storm swept in from the Caribbean. This was before the hurricanes had names, which is how this one came to be known simply, menacingly as the Big Blow. Rising 13 stories above the floodwaters, the Ingraham Building survived, but the storm shredded Miami like a piñata. It also fast-tracked the collapse of the rapacious real estate boom that created South Florida as we know it.
Over the following century, the Ingraham Building would observe downtown’s shifting fortunes, from after-dark ghost town to speculator darling and back again as South Florida reprised its role as the canary in the condominium coal mine. A decade-plus removed from the recession, downtown is up again. “Everything is happening away from the beach,” a Miami friend tells me as we’re served a peachy skin-contact Slovenian number at Balloo, a tiny Caribbean restaurant glowing like some Burtonian netherworld at the end of a desolate white hallway in Ingraham Building’s ground floor.
Chef Timon Balloo Michael Pissari Photography
Loops and splinters of turquoise neon spell out “Balloo” at the corridor’s terminus, beckoning diners forth. This is the name of the improbable, 21-seat restaurant as well at the name of its chef and owner, Timon Balloo, whom locals know from Sugarcane, the mojito-slinging Midtown Miami mint with offshoots in Las Vegas and Brooklyn. He’s still a partner there, but you can feel him putting distance when the chef says, “The corporate Sugarcane thing is what I’m supposed to do, the adult thing to do, and what I’m referencing like my nine-to-five. Then Balloo is my Sunday barbecue, and you’re coming to my house.”
Piled atop perfect pigeon peas and rice, the oxtails represent the Sundays of Balloo’s childhood growing up in San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale with his mother, who is of Chinese and Trinidadian descent. The dish is marinated in a classic Trini green sauce (cilantro, celery, Scotch Bonnets, onion, and ginger); seared in a scorched pool of caramel; then cooked under pressure until luscious, lacquered, and gelatinous in all the right places. A salad accompanies: pickled red onions, a hemisphere of creamy Caribbean avocado, and halved cherry tomatoes so sweet they should be sold in the candy aisle, tied together with tamarind dressing that makes your lips pucker and balances the richness of the beef.
This dish feels like home cooking, and the 800-square-foot dining room looks the part, with black-and-white family photos hanging in mismatched frames on the chartreuse and viridian walls. Plastic floral-print covers cloak the tabletops, and a homey red hutch functions as the service station. The only giveaway you haven’t stumbled into a family party at somebody’s island cabin is the ceiling. Between the woven basket lamps and ferns hanging upside-down like primordial green bats, crackled plaster and concrete beams bear the weight of the Ingraham’s upper floors.
Trini spiced oxtail with pigeon peas and rice, and a tomato avocado salad. Giovanny Gutierrez
While downtown is being touted as Miami’s next great neighborhood, rents are still reasonable. A mutual friend of Balloo and his partner—cocktail wizzes Gabe Orta and Elad Zvi (of Miami Beach cocktail bar Broken Shaker, now with outposts in Los Angeles and Manhattan)—found the quirky, out-of-the-way space with baked-in Caribbean energy. At various times, the Ingraham has been home to the Consulates of Jamaica, Antigua, and the Bahamas. Meanwhile, the low financial risk let Balloo create a deeply personal restaurant, as well as begin to make peace with his estranged father.
Balloo’s parents divorced when he was a baby. His relationship with his father was always off and on, mostly off. “I grew up most of my life pushing away my dad’s Trinidadian and Indian culture. I identified more with my mom’s side because it was a way for me to personally not acknowledge him,” he says. “That’s why it’s taken me over 25 years. I had to not only find my culinary voice, but I had to heal and learn and grow as a human to get to this place.”
Balloo’s father died at the end of 2018. The restaurant opened a year later. Father and son never reconciled, but putting his name on the proverbial door was a way for the 42-year-old chef to embrace his identity. “It wasn’t there to pay tribute or glorify him. It was more for me to just say, ‘This is who I am.’”
The dining room of Balloo, housed inside The Ingraham Building in downtown Miami. Giovanny Gutierrez
On the plate, who Balloo is comes across in dishes like spicy jerk beets as red-violet as fresh big-eye, arranged over creamy Madras curry aioli and speckled with fried garlic chips. If you’re wondering, Do I really need to eat another beet salad? Yes, you do, but only this one. Balloo turns something so tired into a fresh, exciting expression.
The Sichuan-inspired cucumber salad, meanwhile, is exactly the dish you’ve had many times before—and not a particularly memorable version. Crunchy shredded cabbage is like packing filler for the chunky cross-cut cukes, and the fermented chili oil is strangely modest on the umami and heat. Cabbage finds a more suitable home later in the meal—charred, peeled apart, and layered into a singed, smoky beehive like some great, cruciferous Baked Alaska. There’s pork belly, too, but instead of Lego-sized lardons, big Duplo blocks, and lots of refreshing cilantro, crushed peanuts, and spicy, citrusy namprik dressing. It’s a brawler. The Southeast Asian vibes nod to Balloo’s wife, Marissa, who is Thai and Colombian.
“We’re mixed, our kids are mixed, our pantry is mixed,” Balloo says. “Any given day of the week, we go from sancocho to dim sum. That’s how we eat.”
The Caribbean is a place of mixed cultures—indigenous Taínos, European colonizers, African slaves, indentured laborers from Asia—and that plays out in the islands’ cuisines and in the cooking at Balloo. Like the beet dish, the charred calabaza references the migration of sugar plantation workers from India with a wide crescent of common Caribbean pumpkin fried in garam masala oil, then braised with lime juice and curry leaves. Soft enough to eat with a spoon, the calabaza is plated up with a scroll of buttery, chewy roti and Persian shout-outs of bitter, sour grated black lime and thick, tangy labneh. “Mash it all up together and eat with the roti,” my chipper server advises. Balloo compares it to hummus and pita.
Roasted curry calabaza with labneh, black lime, and fried curry leaves. Giovanny Gutierrez
Another roti comes with the Jamaican-style curry goat (not complaining), which was not as tender as the oxtails (complaining). “At first I wanted to do it real soigné with proper cuts, but then [decided on] the true curried goat you’d get at the house,” which is stew meat mix. I think his original chef instincts were right here; going with a single cut, like the leg or shoulder, would create a more consistently tender texture. Whatever the case, the star of the dish is not the animal, but it is the aloo chana, a broth stew of soft potatoes and chickpeas brightened with cilantro and lime.
I feel similarly about the Florida snapper, whose floured-and-fried fillets go from crisp to gummy once sunk into steaming coconut curry jacuzzi. What a curry, though! A pounded paste of lemongrass, galangal, garlic, and chiles suffuses fish stock (made from the snapper skeleton) creamed out with coconut milk. Fish sauce adds a touch of marine funk. Cilantro and Thai basil check the fat. Meanwhile the bowl bursts with strapping bok choi, carrots, pumpkin, and fluffy, aromatic jasmine rice—snapper who?
There’s only one dessert: a vanilla-and-peanut butter pudding that sounds neither exciting nor in tune with the rest of the menu. But then you get into it and find hidden chunks of banana that rattle you with their surprise acidity (they’re marinated in lime juice) and crushed peanut butter cookies full of salt. Smooth and balanced, the pudding is perfect wave to ride out on, down the eerie Ingraham hallway, backlit by the blue neon, into the breezy Miami night, where a storm was already brewing.
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fortune--2020-02-15--Coronavirus may be the straw that breaks the back of oil fracking

If we want to keep eating chocolate , we have to end deforestation

Consumers have some good news at the service station. Prices at the pump for gasoline and diesel are down about 6% since the beginning of the year. For that they can thank the coronavirus (now called Covid-19) outbreak—although it comes at the heavy cost of almost 47,000 people ill and 1,369 dead so far according to the Feb. 14 statistics from the World Health Organization.
At $2.42 regular and $2.91 diesel, these aren’t the lowest prices ever, but they are a big change from the respective $2.90 and $3.17 in the first week of May 2019 and a respectable drop from the $2.58 and $3.08 of the first week in January.
The continuing drop from the 2010s is owed in large part to expanding oil supplies, largely through the controversial method known as hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, a talking point in the 2020 presidential campaign. High-pressure water and chemicals pumped deep underground crack shale rock open, releasing trapped oil for extraction.
“People don’t understand how important the oil shale business has been for the global oil markets,” said Adam Rozencwajg, managing partner of natural resources investment advisor G&R Associates. “In the last ten years, world oil consumption has gone up by about 13 million barrels a day. Close to 75% of that oil came from U.S. shale.”
But the most recent drop in gas prices is a result—at least in big part—of the reduced economic activity in China due to Covid-19. Economic activity and consumption of oil in China are down significantly. The International Energy Agency has cut its demand outlook by 30% in response. Prices are dropping like a stone and have already reached the point where new fracking is barely profitable, if at all.
Environmentalists might applaud, but the cheers could be muted in a few years. The fracking business has already been on shaky legs, and current conditions remind some of what eventually led to triple-digit barrel prices a decade back.
Oil and gas tumble
There’s been a sharp drop of oil prices since the year’s opening. “Brent crude and other oil indicators are down about 20% in the last 30 days, so it’s significant,” said Max Krangle, director of energy market research firm NRGExpert. “Unofficial Chinese government sources have said [national] demand is down about 20%, or 3 million barrels a day, which is a significant decline.”
Although getting reliable data out of China can at times be challenging, Krangle said “it’s not difficult to substantiate these numbers given the quarantine and the panic we’ve seen.”
The graph below shows how West Texas intermediate (WTI) and Brent per-barrel crude oil prices—the major benchmarks for the commodities—have changed since the beginning of 2010.
How much the steep drop at the end of the graph is due to China’s lower consumption because of Covid-19 is hard to say, according to Krangle. As Bill Ebanks, managing director in the energy practice of consulting firm AlixPartners notes, “an unseasonably warm winter” reducing the need for artificial heating is another factor.
According to the most recent figures from the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA), China is the second largest consumer of oil after the U.S.
Big reductions in China’s consumption noticeably affect world markets. “We’d say the oil market was pretty much balanced [before] the virus,” said Leigh Goehring, also a managing partner at G&R Associates. “But since the virus has started, you can definitely see the market has shifted into surplus.”
With surplus comes the falling prices that have been evident. U.S. fracking activity feels a major impact from the slide because the production process is inherently expensive.
The costly aspect of fracking is the capital investment needed in the initial drilling. Not only can wells extend downward thousands of feet, but also horizontally out at the bottom similar distances. Companies must cart in water and chemicals to pump into the ground so oil flows up. And there’s been constant new drilling: “These wells decline very quickly in their production,” Ebanks said.
Market prices put a cap on the profit any oil or gas well can make and govern whether exploration and production is economically viable. “After the U.S. attacked Iran, [oil] prices spiked up to about $65,” said Jace Jarboe, a futures and options broker with Daniels Trading. “We’re about $15 off those highs.”
For fracking, “the drop between $65 and $50 is the difference between being profitable and being unprofitable,” Ebanks said. “We’re seeing large write-offs by Shell, Exxon, and others, recognizing that the value of their reserves wasn’t what people thought they were.”
There’s an additional complication. Smaller companies, many of which had borrowed too much and were over leveraged, are getting hit even harder. “Access to capital has been shut off,” Ebanks said. “Banks aren’t lending, and there are no [monetary] infusions to be had.”
If the fracking market had been in good shape before, this might be only a painful interlude. Unfortunately, conditions were already deteriorating.
Goehring and Rozencwajg of G&R Associates said that the fracking oil rig count was down 25% year over year even before the outbreak and that shale growth between 2018 and 2019 had slowed by 55%. This year might see growth near zero.
“We believe that the great shale oil revolution in America is in the process of coming to a close,” said Goehring, who finds the current conditions echoing those of 20 years ago, when a massive shock reduced production and oil prices rose from $11 a barrell to $144 between January 1999 and June 2008.
“For oil investors, you’re probably being given another opportunity,” Goehring said. “The world will want to grow again, and the world will be looking for oil. It was coming from shale, and it won’t be coming from shale in the next upcoming decade.”
And for those whose involvement with oil is more on the consumption end, if oil prices do start racing up again in the next few years, maybe it’s time to start looking at electric vehicles and solar-powered heating.
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fortune--2020-02-15--Coronavirus wreaks havoc on Chinese food producers, sending inflation soaring

The coronavirus outbreak—now officially called COVID19, according to the World Health Organization—has driven many things in China down. With close to than 43,000 in the country infected and more than a thousand dead, factory output, consumer spending, tourism, and commodity prices have seen major drops.
One thing that is soaring? Inflation. China’s overall consumer price index (CPI), which had been at 1.5% in January 2017 and between 2% and 3% during most of 2019, leaped to 5.4% in January 2020.
Shuttered facilities and involuntarily idled workers have reduced production and tightened product supplies, driving up prices. Hardest hit is the food sector, which already faced massive shortages. The deadly African swine fever took out somewhere between a quarter to half of the nation’s pigs—a staple in Chinese diets—depending on whom you ask.
China’s overall inflation rate still isn’t huge. But the quick increase is a concern. If the pattern doesn’t moderate, the country might be forced to focus less on growth—a primary government goal for the population of 1.4 billion—and more on price stability. That could send tremors throughout the global economy.
Some inflation but not too much
Some inflation is benign—the byproduct of economic growth. More people, better productivity, and investment by the private and public sectors cause expansion. Prices typically rise in a smooth and slow fashion while wages keep pace.
But when inflation gets out of control, the danger is spiraling prices that make living too expensive for people (an extreme case is Venezuela, which saw a 2019 inflation rate of 19,906%).
In China, which has about 18% of the world’s population, a curb in consumer buying due to higher prices could ripple through the world.
A closer look at the various sectors of the Chinese economy show that inflation in the food and tobacco category, as measured by China’s government, was already racing ahead of other items. Then last month it hit 15.2%. Although that’s the outlier, consumers face multiple areas of increasing expenses, particularly in miscellaneous goods and services as well as health care and in education, culture, and recreation.
The table below shows the Jan. 2020 inflation rates for the major consumer categories, as defined by the Chinese government.
Outside of food, on the surface it might not seem so bad. A 5.4% CPI is something that at one point would have seemed low in China or the U.S. From Aug. 1988 through Jun. 1989, inflation was more than 20% with a high point of 28.4%. The pattern repeated throughout 1994 and up to May 1995, with CPI over 20% each month and a high of 27.7%.
“From time to time, [China has] inflationary spikes for all varieties of reasons,” said Linda Lim, professor emerita of corporate strategy and international business at the University of Michigan. Culprits include supply shortages due to natural disasters, a sudden change in commodity production elsewhere in the world, or a geopolitical dispute like a trade war with the United States.
Excess demand is another trigger, which can come from a run on purchases, like before a major storm. Or a big state-owned enterprise could buy up land in an area and drive overall price hikes. “People in China are used to these occasional bouts of inflation,” Lim said. “It’s more unusual now because the economy is not growing at great guns.” But spikes don’t happen constantly. The last time inflation topped 5% there was during the global financial crisis and the recovery.
Issues with imports
China for many years has imported a significant amount of agricultural products: at least $21.9 billion in food items in 2017, according to Chinese government data. That was before African swine fever, coronavirus, and trade wars. Reductions in domestic production because of the current virus outbreak, as well as the the previous drastic loss of pork herds, only add to the need to purchase more from other countries.
Imports face the twin issues of a weak currency (which helps China’s exports but makes products brought into the country more expensive) and tariffs on products from the U.S., which historically has been a major agricultural supplier.
“Tariffs … have a very mechanical impact [on prices]” and the tariffs aren’t likely to fall, said Frances Donald, chief economist and head of macro strategy at Manulife Investment Management. “In this environment of trade wars, the Chinese yuan is weakening.”
Then there is also the psychological reaction of hording in stressful times, something that anyone who has faced a major storm like a blizzard or hurricane has experienced. People worried about the ability to get what they will want stock up on items, including food.
Currently in China, CPI is not a measure that government officials pay much attention to, according to Donald. Tom Graff, head of fixed income at Brown Advisory agrees it’s unlikely Chinese officials will take action in the near term.
But, said Ying Wu, assistant professor of finance and economics at Stevens Institute of Technology, “we haven’t heard that much from the rural areas. Who are going to raise chickens, cows, and pigs to stabilize the market?” If production and distribution of basic items continue to stall, prices could go up even more. That could, in turn, would hurt small- and medium-sized businesses, with a knock-on effect spreading beyond just food and further pushing up prices.
“If inflation broadly becomes a concern to the average person in China, it’s something [the government is] not going to ignore,” Graff said. “This is not a great time to make the Chinese central bank think about controlling inflation when they need to be stimulating growth.”
To slow inflation, governments typically take actions like raising interest rates or taxes to cool the economy so prices can again come under control. China’s government has a heavy impact on the private sector and can do things like creating administrative restrictions to slow the economy, reducing demand and taking pressure off prices.
“I suspect given their recent history, they’d go for growth rather than inflation,” Graff said.
Correction, February 18, 2020: A previous version misstated Frances Donald’s title.
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Apple’s coronavirus problem

Coronavirus is an increasingly dark cloud over Apple.
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said this week that Apple may have iPhone production problems in China. Apple’s main iPhone 11 production facility in Zhengzhou was supposed to reopen this week, but it was delayed at least a week over continued coronavirus fears.
Meanwhile, Apple said this week that it would only reopen five of its stores in China. Around 35 other stores across the country are still closed, with no word on when they’ll reopen.
Also this week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it wants to review acquisitions that several tech giants, including Apple, have made in recent years. And in a worrisome report, security firm Malwarebytes said malware threats are increasingly targeting Mac users.
Coronavirus impact
Coronavirus, which has infected tens of thousands of people globally, is affecting iPhone production in a big way, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said this week. He told investors that Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn was planning to reopen a plant in Zhengzhou this month, but was forced to delay it because of coronavirus fears. Pegatron, another Apple manufacturing partner, was able to open its iPhone 11 production facility in Shanghai earlier this month, but has delayed the reopening of another iPhone manufacturing facility in Kushan. It’s still unclear when Apple’s China production will return to full capacity.
What about iPhone 12?
Apple has stopped sending engineers to China to work on the company’s next iPhone, supply chain site Digitimes reported this week. However, the site’s sources said that Apple’s next iPhone, which could be known as iPhone 12, will still be introduced on time later this year. The site noted that Apple will begin iPhone 12 production in the summer, and as long as coronavirus is under control by then, Apple should be able to produce enough devices.
Foxconn responds
Coronavirus has significantly affected Foxconn, which is expected to be operating at only 50% capacity by the end of February, and 80% capacity by the end of March, Reuters reported this week. In a statement, Foxconn called the Reuters claim “not factual,” but it didn’t say what its current and future production capacity would be. The company’s comment spawned more questions than answers about the broader impact that coronavirus is having on Foxconn’s business.
An eye on Apple Store
Apple shut down its China retail stores in response to Coronavirus earlier this month and said they would all reopen on February 10. However, Apple said this week that only five stores have reopened, and they would operate with reduced hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. Apple didn’t say when its other China stores would open.
HomePod still trails Echo, Home
Apple is still behind its top competitors in the smart speaker market, researcher Strategy Analytics said this week. Apple shipped 2.6 million HomePod speakers in the fourth quarter, earning the company just 4.7% market share. Amazon shipped 15.8 million Echo devices during the period, giving it the top spot with 28.3% market share. Google’s slate of Home devices had 13.9 million shipments and a 24.9% market share. Several Chinese companies, including Baidu, Alibaba, and Xiaomi, made up the rest of the field.
FTC looks at Apple acquisitions
The FTC is investigating acquisitions by major tech companies, including Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft, made from 2010 to 2019. In a statement, FTC chairman Joe Simons said the inquiry will allow the agency to “evaluate whether the federal agencies are getting adequate notice of transactions that might harm competition.” The FTC will only look at acquisitions the companies made that were too small to be reported to regulators.
Mac malware is growing
Apple’s Mac is becoming a bigger target for hackers, security firm Malwarebytes said this week in its 2020 State of Malware Report. Malwarebytes found 11 malware threats per Mac device, compared to 5.8 threats per Windows machine. Most of the threats facing Mac users are adware programs that bombard users with annoying ads. In its report, Malwarebytes said it’s time for Mac users to “finally get serious” about their security.
One more thing…
For the first time ever, Amazon has topped Apple in a study measuring how strong of a connection customers have with top brands. The study, which was released this week by branding agency MBLM, found that Amazon has the strongest “brand intimacy” of any major company, topping Disney and Apple, which landed in the second and third spots, respectively. Brand intimacy, a measure of consumers’ emotional connection to a company, matters because companies with stronger emotional bonds with customers generate more revenue and profits than those with less of a bond. You can read more about it here.
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fortune--2020-02-15--NCAA and allies spent big to lobby congress on payments to student athletes

As Congress considers whether to allow college athletes to receive endorsement money, the NCAA and its allies spent at least $750,000 last year lobbying lawmakers to shape any reforms to the organization’s liking.
The NCAA last fall said it would allow athletes to “benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness” and is crafting rules to put in place for its 1,100 member schools. But the organization has turned to Congress to step in as more and more states follow the lead of California, where a law set to take effect in 2023 clears the way for athletes to earn endorsement money.
Organizations representing athletes have no paid lobbyists, leading to concern among some reform advocates that the deep-pocketed NCAA is shaping the debate. The NCAA’s pressure campaign comes as the Senate prepares for a committee hearing Tuesday on player compensation.
“The NCAA is going to fight for the status quo,” said Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association.
Rep. Mark Walker, a North Carolina Republican who introduced a bill last spring that would guarantee players the right to earn money from their name, image, and likeness, told The Associated Press “there’s no question” the NCAA’s lobbying has been effective.
“The NCAA is already at a position of power,” Walker said. “Otherwise you would have seen progress. … There’s been little to nothing done in this arena, and had the student-athlete had proper representation on the federal level, we’d be much further down this path than we are.”
The NCAA spent $450,000 last year on lobbying, according to disclosure forms reviewed by the AP. Of that total, $240,000 went to an outside firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and $210,000 went to its in-house lobbyists. That’s the most the organization has spent on lobbying in any year since 2014. And it got some help from two of the Power Five conferences.
The Atlantic Coast Conference hired lobbyists last year for the first time, giving at least $210,000 to the law firm DLA Piper and another lobbyist, Tom Korologos, to influence Congress on “legislative and regulatory proposals affecting intercollegiate athletes,” disclosure forms show.
The Big 12 Conference has worked with lobbyist Kenny Hulshof, a former Republican congressman from Missouri, for several years, but it paid him less than $5,000 per quarter before ramping up its spending last year, records show. In the last six months of 2019, the Big 12 paid Hulshof $90,000—some of it specifically to address Walker’s bill.
In total, the NCAA and the two conferences spent at least $750,000 on lobbying last year.
The NCAA’s ability to spend big on lobbying is a symptom of the larger problem, according to advocates for player compensation: a college sports system that generates $14 billion a year from athletes who are compensated only in scholarships and other education-specific aid.
“The NCAA is a well-heeled organization and college athletes, not by accident, don’t have the kind of organizational power or influence that the NCAA does,” Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat who supports giving players more earning power, told the AP. “You have to be more assiduous in soliciting the opinion of athletes than you do the NCAA.”
The NCAA and its allies have a big reason to increase their spending: If Congress does nothing, athlete-friendly laws like the one in California will take effect around the country. Huma said 28 states are considering action to grant additional rights to college players.
Tom McMillen, president and CEO of the LEAD1 Association, a trade group for Division I athletic directors, shrugged off the influence of lobbying.
“You can have all the lobbyists in the world, but it doesn’t really make a difference,” he said. “This is a complicated process, getting something done through Congress in any kind of timely fashion.”
While he is not a registered lobbyist, McMillen, an 11-year NBA veteran and former Democratic congressman from Maryland who wrote a book in 1992 on the corrupting influence of money on college sports, is an eloquent advocate for the NCAA’s position. He said it’s essential to have “guardrails” on player compensation.
A panel discussion last month at Georgetown University’s law school was striking for the uniformity of participants’ views on the subject. McMillen appeared alongside Donald Remy, the NCAA’s chief legal counsel, and Amy Perko, CEO of the Knight Commission—a reform-minded nonprofit. All three agreed restrictions had to be placed on name, image, and likeness compensation to avoid wrecking college sports as we know it.
“We are all committed to preserving the system of college athletics that exists nowhere else in the world,” Remy said.
McMillen said if player compensation reform was not done properly, it could lead to the “full professionalization of our college campuses.” Among the restrictions he said were necessary was a safeguard against players being paid exorbitant sums of money for endorsements or personal appearances, turning the compensation into “an end-around to pay athletes corruptly.” Such deals could influence recruiting and destroy competitive balance, he said.
In a December meeting with Murphy and Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, NCAA President Mark Emmert said “everyone agrees” schools shouldn’t be able to use big endorsement deals to gain a recruiting advantage.
In fact, there’s plenty of dissent on that subject. Advocates for athletes say there is plenty of corruption in recruiting already and that concerns about excessive money flowing to players are a stall tactic by the NCAA and its allies.
“In no other industry, in no other context on a college campus do we tell someone that we are going to curb your value,” said Ricky Volante, CEO of the Professional Collegiate League, an upstart competitor to the NCAA that intends to pay salaries to college players.
Volante said he is concerned that no one is effectively countering the NCAA’s messaging in Washington. The work falls mostly to the NCPA, which is funded in part by the United Steelworkers—and the Drake Group, a nonprofit that advocates for academic integrity in college sports and a frequent critic of the NCAA.
Those groups have a combined lobbying budget of zero dollars.
“The NCAA has a permanent office in D.C. They have millions of dollars they can spend on lobbying and that’a very tough thing to fight. They’re a very powerful constituency,” said David Ridpath, interim president of the Drake Group. “I think we’re doing a pretty good job in Washington despite being the little engine that could.”
Huma said the public has become increasingly antagonistic to the NCAA. A recent poll by AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about two-thirds of Americans support college players being permitted to earn money for endorsements.
“It was the same David-and-Goliath scenario in California, and the votes came in and there was unanimous, bipartisan support in our favor,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of power on being on the right side of history, the right side of public opinion, and I think that’s what played out there.”
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fortune--2020-02-15--From apple juice to antibiotics: Coronavirus epidemic could cause U.S. shortages

The toll of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic in human life is already devastating enough. But as quarantines continue in China, it looks like the global economic impact of the virus could be incredibly destructive too.
China is a manufacturing superpower, supplying both critical equipment and items of convenience. With some of the country’s citizens unable to report to work and exports curtailed, there are already shortages that have some companies worried.
Amazon, for instance, is reportedly already stockpiling orders of Chinese-made products. And health care officials warn that protective medical equipment is already becoming scarce, as demand in China outweighs the amount the country can supply.
“Anything related to manufacturing is disrupted,” says Ruomeng Cui, assistant professor of information systems & operations management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. “That ranges from tech products to toys to auto parts.”
China exported $539.5 billion in goods and services to the U.S. in 2018, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. That’s more than 21% of all imports into the country. The biggest exports to the U.S. were electrical machinery ($152 billion), machinery ($117 billion), furniture and bedding ($35 billion), toys and sports equipment ($27 billion), and plastics ($19 billion). Agricultural products came in at $4.9 billion.
In more real world terms, some 60% of the apple juice consumed in the U.S. reportedly comes from China. And the country is a leading supplier of key ingredients in drugs many Americans rely on, including medicines for blood pressure, depression Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. According to the Department of Commerce, 97% of all antibiotics in the U.S. originate in China.
Some companies and industries are already reporting shortages of other products due to coronavirus-related issues.
Under Armour warned investors of a $50 million to $60 million potential Q1 financial shortfall because of the outbreak, saying it expected “industry wide” delays in deliveries. President and CEO Patrik Frisk also said the company was concerned about material shortages, from fabric to packaging.
“Given the ongoing uncertainty, it is possible that this situation could have a significant material impact both financially and operationally on our full-year including the potential for additional top-line contraction,” he said on an earnings call.
Nintendo, meanwhile, says to expect “inevitable” production and shipment delays for its Switch gaming console as well as the recently released “Ring Fit Adventure” fitness game.
“We will work hard to deliver the product as soon as possible, while keeping an eye on the effects of the new coronavirus infection, and we look forward to your understanding,” Nintendo said in a translated statement.
Foxconn, which manufactures Apple’s iPhone, has only recently resumed production. It’s slow going, though. Only about 10% of the workforce has returned, according to Reuters. The company expects about 50% capacity by the end of February. Samsung plants are only operating at partial capacity as well.
Some automakers, including Hyundai, have had to shut down factories, as they’ve run out of components from China. Even hockey sticks are becoming scarce.
Shortages could lead to price increases in products that are China-dependent, but Emory’s Cui says that will likely be a short term problem that will even out as companies shift their supply chains.
The medium- and long-term dangers, she says, lie in the impact of these work stoppages on Chinese manufacturing businesses. While some local governments in China are alleviating things like rental expenses, those protections won’t extend to all businesses. And some medium-sized companies, says Cui “are going to face huge risks of bankruptcy,” which could further disrupt the supply chain.
“If this virus lasts, then buying power is going to become a big issue,” she says. “[Chinese] businesses are already in debt and they’re going to have trouble paying those debts.”
That, in turn, could actually benefit manufacturers in the United States and other countries.
“Supply chains have already started to shift away from China and this is going to make that process occur faster,” says Cui. “Long term, it will probably be a good thing for the U.S. in the sense that manufacturers here could receive more orders . … Buyers across the world need reliable suppliers. If China can not be that, those companies will need to find new suppliers.”
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fortune--2020-02-15--This Greek island is the perfect alternative to Mykonos

The winds of Milos determine each day. Strong winds encourage a joyride along the island’s unmarked roads or add comedy to a meal when bottles of olive oil tip over after a boastful gust. Calm winds beckon sea adventure as sailboats poke in and out of remote coves that were once the stomping grounds of pirates, and divers jump from catamarans for a swim to secluded beaches.
Milos, located among the Cyclades islands of the Aegean Sea, is but a whisper to Mykonos and Santorini. With merely 5,000 residents, Milos is small. But with more than 70 beaches and a handful of villages to explore, it’s ideal for getting lost, cherishing lunch under bougainvillea, and savoring the zip of a Freddo Espresso.
It’s an island whose civilization dates back to the Mesolithic period and has wavered through millennia between wars. The volcanic landscape, rich with minerals, fostered a prosperous mining trade. Its craftsman, sculptors, and goldsmiths became synonymous with Milos art, with the most prized export being unearthed by a farmer in the 19th century, the Venus de Milo. Found near the catacombs in the village of Tripiti, it became one of the world’s most beloved sculptures, representing Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty. It now resides in the Louvre museum in Paris, but Milos is petitioning for its return.
Today, Milos is a bit unscathed from the tourist footprint. While throngs of island goers flock to its neighbors, Milos remains slow. Rush hour there is a result of too much coffee rather than traffic, and its mellow existence is its appeal.
Sarakiniko Beach is on the north shore of Milos and has lunar-like qualities. Danielle Bernabe
What to do
On Milos, renting a car or scooter gives freedom to explore its many beaches and villages with point and stop spontaneity. Phone service is not too reliable, and most roads are unmarked, so sharp map-reading skills are recommended.
While there many playas to discover, Sarakiniko Beach, which is often likened to a moonscape, flaunts white volcanic rocks shaped and formed by centuries of forceful tides. Make this a first to-do of the day to avoid large crowds, and if time permits, drape a blanket down for a picnic.
A side street in Plaka. Danielle Bernabe
Meandering the villages will provide of taste of history, blue and white architecture, and cuisine. Plaka, the main town, is an endless abyss of slim cobbled walkways that ascend and descend like a pleasurable hike. Lined with restaurants, artisan shops, and clotheslines displaying aprons and linens, it’s a snapshot of quintessential Greece. Visit the catacombs in Tripiti on your way to Klima, a fishing village where local grandmothers are seen trading ingredients for dinner and teens strut their best diving techniques off the pier. Pollonia, along the northeast coast, is shaded by tamarisk trees and packed with waterfront cafés. Take a stroll or sit for a Freddo Cappuccino (or espresso)—shaken over ice to achieve a cloud of chilled, frothed milk—while watching fishing boats bobble in the sea.
When winds are tempered, hire a skipper or join a day cruise to sail to witness Milos’s many bays and grottoes accessible only by boat. Polco Sailing and Horizon Yachts offer a variety of options, from small group to private trips, that offer lunch and friendly nudges to jump off towering rocks.
Where to stay
Resting on the shores of Paliochori Beach is Artemis Deluxe Rooms, where choosing between the pool and the ocean will be the most difficult decision of the day. Suites are toned with white decor, and some are equipped with rooftop lounges. Friendly and helpful staff will assist with restaurant bookings and navigating both wind forecasts and roads.
On the volcanic shores of Pollonia are the 15 ocean-view suites of Melian Boutique Hotel & Spa. Traditional handmade furniture and art decorate each room, where sprawling balconies, some equipped with a Jacuzzi, edge the water. Or choose Miland Suites, which sits atop a hill in Korfos. Townhouse structures make up the eight-room property, and rippling pool water and umbrellas dance in the breeze while the rest of the island bustles below.
Enjoying a seaside Freddo Cappuccino on a sunny day. Danielle Bernabe
Where to eat
There is no shortage of traditional Greek cuisine on Milos, but finding restaurants that serve up a twist can be magic. Near Paliochori, a conspicuous dirt road eventually leads to Psaravolada, a stone-built veranda overlooking the expanse of the Aegean waters. Fresh-caught crustaceans, dorado ceviche, and octopus carpaccio are served alongside a vast selection of Greek wines.
In Pollonia, restaurants pack the waterfront, but Armyra Seafood Restaurant stands out for its sleek setting, rooftop garden, and seafood dishes spun from fresh fish caught on the owner’s boat. O Hamos, a family-run tavern in Adamas, rests under the shade of bougainvillea. Menus are handwritten in multiple languages to guide diners through food sourced from the Psatha family’s farm: eggplant stuffed with minced goat and lamb, grandma’s hand pies oozing with Milos cheeses (made in-house), and piglet baked in parchment with molasses and mustard.
Don’t expect a fast lunch. Danielle Bernabe
How to get there
Visiting between April and June is best for enjoying the weather and outdoor activities. During the summer, there are regular flights from Athens via Olympic Air. You can also take a ferry from Athens, Mykonos, or Santorini with Seajets or SuperJet.
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fortune--2020-02-15--Facebook cancels conference while IBM pulls out of one  due to coronavirus fears

Facebook and IBM are cancelling their tech conferences plans due to fears about coronavirus.
IBM said Friday that it will not attend the annual RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco later this month, citing concerns about its employees potentially catching the virus that has killed over 1,000 people and infected over 44,000 people globally.
“The health of IBMers continues to be our primary concern as we monitor upcoming events and travel relative to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19),” an IBM spokesperson told Fortune in an email. “As a result, we are cancelling our participation in this year’s RSA conference taking place February 24 – 28 in San Francisco.”
Meanwhile, Facebook said it is cancelling its Global Marketing Summit that was scheduled to take place from March 9 to March 15 in San Francisco, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The newspaper said that the marketing summit would attract about 5,000 attendees and generate an estimated $11 million for San Francisco’s economy.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we canceled our Global Marketing Summit due to evolving public health risks related to coronavirus,” a Facebook spokesperson told the newspaper.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.
IBM and Facebook’s decision to cancel their upcoming conference plans comes after organizers of this year’s annual Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona cancelled the event due to concerns about coronavirus.
But the wireless industry trade group that puts on the conference told Fortune that it would return next year.
“We have had overwhelmingly positive support from exhibitors and attendees looking forward to next year,” the GSMA group spokesperson said. “We believe in the power of the event in person.”


fortune--2020-02-15--Boeing takes a friendlier approach with latest union contract for engineers

Boeing’s new leadership is moving quickly to embrace the company’s engineering roots and reinvigorate the white-collar workers who design and develop its sophisticated planes, satellites, and missiles.
Late Thursday, the company announced a proposed labor-friendly contract extension through 2026 with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the union representing about 18,000 of its engineers and technical employees. In a memo to workers Friday morning, Boeing’s chief engineer, Greg Hyslop, said the company is committed to strengthening its engineering chops.
During the past year, the aerospace giant has been publicly hammered by industry analysts and members of Congress for fostering a finances-first culture that laid the seeds for two crashes of the 737 Max five months apart that killed 346 people. Internal communications by Boeing workers indicate the company downplayed the significance of a new flight control system to avoid regulators requiring additional pilot training, which would have made it more expensive for customers to add the single-aisle airplane to their fleets.
Since the mid-2000s, Boeing leadership has taken a mostly antagonistic approach with labor. The company has moved thousands of jobs out of Washington to South Carolina, California and Oklahoma, among other states, depleting union ranks, and also forced contract concessions from unions while threatening additional job moves. During the same years, the company recorded record-high profits and returned billions of dollars to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends.
The company’s stumbling response to the 737 Max crisis and mounting evidence that its corporate culture played a significant role in the two crashes–in October 2018 and March 2019–prompted Boeing’s board to fire CEO Dennis Muilenburg and replace him with board member David Calhoun, who took the reins Jan. 13. Industry watchers questioned whether Calhoun could return Boeing to its engineering roots. He had risen through the executive ranks at General Electric, where he typified the hard-charging, shareholder-first approach for former GE CEO Jack Welch.
Calhoun was quiet Friday, letting Hyslop speak for corporate leadership. “Boeing is an engineering company,” the chief engineer assured employees in his memo.
Management came to recent talks, which were held in secret, to collaborate, not antagonize, Ray Goforth, executive director of SPEEA, told Fortune.
Paid family leave, not new contract terms, prompted the discussions between the union and management. Boeing had used a loophole to exempt union-represented workers from access to Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave act, a bill passed in 2017 that grants workers 12 weeks of paid time off to care for newborns or other family members.
Boeing used the exemption as leverage to squeeze further concessions from SPEEA, Goforth says. “They offered to stop withholding it if we would agree to significant cuts to our medical benefits.”
In 2017, the company posted a 9% profit margin and spent $9.2 billion repurchasing shares. The following year, it spent another $9 billion on buybacks and booked a 10.3% profit margin, according to company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The union rejected the concessions.
“For the last several years, there’s been a reflexive anti-union hostility that has colored all of our discussions,” Goforth said. In the most recent talks, “that was largely, if not completely absent, and we were focused more on solving the problems that we could both agree needed to be solved.”
The proposed contract makes the state family leave benefits available to SPEEA members, as well as paid paternity and maternity leave provided by the company. It also scraps the formula for calculating raises, which the union had objected to, for guaranteed minimum raises through 2026 (5.5% this year and next year, 5% in 2022 and 4.5% through the remaining four years).
Additionally, the contract would increase the annual bonus payout formula and provides a zero-premium health care option for union members who make less than $100,000. Various other benefits in the proposed agreement include student loan repayment and medical benefits for retirees.
Furthermore, medical costs for SPEEA members would not increase until 2023, and would still be among the lowest of all Boeing employees.
Despite the friendlier negotiations, SPEEA’s two bargaining unit councils-—one representing engineers and one for technical staff—voted against endorsing the offer. However, they did not oppose the terms. It’s unclear why they declined to do so. One council member told the Seattle Times that negotiating now—two years before the current contract expires—weakened the union’s negotiating position.
Ballots to approve or reject the offer will be sent to members later this month and must be submitted by early March.
Management’s about-face notwithstanding, it’s too soon to know if its attitude during contract talks is a long-term culture shift or a short-term play to placate engineers at a time when the company’s future hangs in the balance. The Max remains grounded, nearly a year since regulators declared it unsafe to carry passengers. American Airlines on Friday again delayed when it expects to return the 737 Max to service. It’s now slated to be put back in service in mid-August.
Beyond the Max crisis, Boeing faces critical competitive challenges from its European rival, Airbus. Aerospace analysts say Boeing must plug the holes in its product lineup or risk being relegated to a distant second place for the next 10 or even 20 years.
“The fact that (management) agreed quickly (to favorable contract terms) seems to me that they want to send a message out that ‘we value the engineers,’” says Leon Grunberg, a University of Puget Sound professor who has researched Boeing’s workplace culture.
Boeing management did not have to open contract negotiations. The current agreement was passed in 2016 and runs through 2022. Company leaders could easily have said getting the 737 Max back in the air is the priority, he says.
“They are clearing the decks, saying that they are taking engineers’ concerns seriously and putting them ahead of winning (737) customers back and other economic considerations,” Grunberg says.
Still, neither he nor Goforth would rule out that Boeing executives will stop making nice if and when the company recovers.
“The one thing you can say and always be correct is that Boeing will do what (leadership believes) is in Boeing’s interest,” Goforth says.
By that measure, it seems for now that Boeing executives believe repairing relations with engineers is in the company’s interest.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified the university where Prof. Leon Grunberg works. It is University of Puget Sound.
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fortune--2020-02-17--The drinks America’s best bartenders make for themselves

Take it from someone who muddled mojitos, poured pints, and dirtied martinis for a decade: Bartending is hard work. Sure, it looks glamorous and entertaining and lucrative from the customer’s side of the rail—and the job is all those things at times—but it also requires both the physical stamina of a stonemason and the mental bandwidth of a therapist. Which is why, after a long night, bartenders often make their last pour for themselves. Mine was always a hazy Hoegaarden wheat beer poured into a pint. I’d been chilling all night in the coldest part of the fridge. These Chicago, Park City, and Brooklyn bartenders go a little more elaborate for their shift drinks. They’ve earned it.
Steve Walton, High West Saloon, Park City, Utah
Sundance is controlled madness at our saloon on Park Avenue—300 people through the door in the first 15 minutes we’re open. We crank, crank, crank all day, and because we’re a whiskey brand, and handling it all day, our staff will move away from whiskey for their shift drink. Enter the mezcal-based Naked and Famous. Constellation [Brands, which owns High West] bought El Silencio mezcal, so we have it on our back bar, and it’s in a couple of our cocktails this winter. This one is an equal-parts cocktail: ¾ ounce mezcal, ¾ ounce yellow Chartreuse, ¾ ounce Aperol, and ¾ ounce lime juice, shaken with ice until well chilled and strained into a chilled coupe glass, no garnish or anything. It sits in that light and refreshing category, with that interesting element of earthy smoke from the mezcal and herbaceous flavors from the Chartreuse. One of the great things about the Naked and Famous is its versatility. You can do a small batch and put it in a shot glass, so when everyone’s together at the end of the night, you can do a quick “Cheers!” and head off home to your family. But it’s also a great cocktail when you sit down with the team at the end of a crazy night and reflect on how bad you got your ass whipped behind the bar.
Steve Walton of High West Saloon mixes a Naked and Famous in Park City, Utah. Photograph by Kim Raff for Fortune
Julius White, Gaijin, Chicago
My shift drink, the Hamani, is modeled on the Vesper, the original James Bond martini: two parts gin, one part vodka, half part Lillet. It’s light, aromatic, easy drinking, but stirred, unlike Bond’s forever-famous instructions. Going with the Japanese flavor profile of Gaijin, I combine 1 ounce Suntory Roku gin, whose botanicals include yuzu, sencha, sakura leaf and flower, and sansho pepper; ¾ ounce melon vodka; ¾ ounce delicate, super-floral cherry blossom vermouth; ½ ounce lychee liqueur; ½ ounce Baltamaro Szechuan Amaro; and 2 dashes orange bitters in a mixing glass with ice. I stir for 30 to 40 revolutions, pour it over a perfect 2-by-2-inch cube in a rocks glass, and garnish it with orange peel and these beautiful snapdragon flowers we get from Mike Werp, a farmer up in Buckley, Mich. I named it Hamani, which translates to “watching blossoms.”
The gin and vermouth are light and floral; the melon vodka and lychee liqueur provide a tropical component; and the orange bitters and amaro bring spice and depth and cut through any sweetness. The drink balanced out perfectly the first time I made it, which is why I’m so enthralled with it. At the end of the night, all I want to do is sit down at the bar and make this for myself.
White stirs his martini, unlike James Bond’s forever famous instructions. Photographs by Lucy Hewett for Fortune
Lola Hushin, Getaway, Brooklyn
We don’t serve alcohol at Getaway. We’re not trying to do a wellness thing or tell people they shouldn’t drink; our focus is on providing an alternative for people who don’t want to drink or be around alcohol but still want to enjoy the social aspect of drinking. I’m the head bartender and work four nights a week. A shift drink is a little different for us. Because there’s no alcohol involved, we can pretty much drink whenever we want, and there’s no danger of being drunk on the job.
A lot of my coworkers will start their shift with a latte, but I don’t drink coffee, so I started mixing myself the Second Date. I love tart flavors, and this is very refreshing. In a Collins glass filled with ice, I combine 1½ ounces Som turmeric shrub, an intensely sour, strong Thai drinking vinegar, with ¼ ounce lime juice and 5 dashes palo santo bitters, then fill with seltzer. People have very few expectations for nonalcoholic drinks, so I think it’s important to include interesting and different things and not just serve someone mixed juice. You’re trying to replace that slow sipping aspect of an alcoholic cocktail, so I’m always trying to think of the slow-down factor: What bitter, sour, spicy components can I add to make a cocktail people will want to sit with and chat for a while.
Lola Hushin of Getaway starts her shift with the Second Date. Photograph by Cole Wilson for Fortune
A version of this article appears in the January 2020 issue of Fortune with the headline “Shift Drinks.”
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