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Liu Ka Wun

American sake breweries turn to crowdfund for expansion plans

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Shinobu Kato. Courtesy of Shinobu Kato

 

What is the smartest thing to do with $100? Shinobu Kato tried asking his supporters and fellow Brooklynites to invest in his craft sake brewery, Kato Sake Works – to support brick-and-mortar businesses shaping the community and also earn financial return.

“Everybody is like, hey, we want to help you. But we didn’t have a way to ask for their help,” said Kato, who lives in Brooklyn. Customers – mainly from the Bushwick neighborhood – have been actively looking for ways to back Kato Sake Works, including free video advertisements production, before he launched his latest crowdfunding campaign in December. 

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Russian Oligarch puts Chelsea Football Club up for sale, amid Russia-Ukraine War

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Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich on Wednesday sought to sell Chelsea Football Club as the British government proposed sanctions targeting wealthy Russians following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“I believe this is in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club’s sponsors and partners,” Abramovich said in a statement.

“Please know that this has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, and it pains me to part with the Club in this manner,” the almost 20 years-owner of the football club said.

Abramovich’s decision is probably to dissociate the club from possible British sanctions. The UK has imposed sanctions, including an asset freeze and travel bans, on Russian billionaires to pressure President Vladimir Putin.

British prime minister Boris Johnson is also introducing new laws to ban Russian companies from raising funds in London’s financial market.

“Roman Abramovich, well, I think he’s terrified of being sanctioned which is why he is already going to sell his home tomorrow and sell another flat as well,” said Labour MP Chris Bryant in Parliament on Tuesday. Bryant has pushed for sanctions against Abramovich for his links to the Russian State. “My anxiety is that we’re taking too long about these things.”

Abramovich said all the net proceeds from the sale of the five-time premier league champions would be donated “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.”

He also announced that he would not ask for any loans he extended to the club to be repaid. According to the latest annual account of Fordstam Ltd., Chelsea’s parent company, the club has received £1.5 billion ($2 billion) in loans from its owner.

Forbes valued the club at $3.2 billion as of April 2021.

Chelsea Fans were sympathetic to Abramovich. They sang Abramovich’s name at the FA Cup on Wednesday, according to Sky Sports.

“Irrespective of whether you like the idea of Russian money coming into English football or not, Roman Abramovich has been a very good owner for Chelsea Football Club,” said English football pundit Gary Neville in an interview with Sky Sports.

Bars scramble to stock up and staff up

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File photo. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Parties have returned to Biny Karaoke Bar — but drinkers may not be able to find their favorite tequila and bartenders.

Even though bars in New York City are now allowed to reopen after shutting down for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain restraints mean business owners are struggling to stock up partygoers’ alcohol for cocktails, and staff have refused to return.

As one of the oldest Karaoke bars in the city opened in 1997, Biny has been through many challenges, but nothing like a pandemic that shut down the city to slow the spread of the virus, and forced the bar to close for 15 months.

Jack Ho, the owner of Biny, said the bar used to operate smoothly on its own before the pandemic, but now he has to go back three times a week to make important decisions like securing liquor and fish balls supply.

“They don’t have enough [tequila] for everybody,” said Ho, bartender-turned owner of Biny. Suppliers have been limiting the purchase of a specific brand called Casamigos tequila and some premium Japanese Whiskey. 

Shortages in supplies stemming from snarled supply chains have hit restaurateurs and retailers across the country.

Sometimes, Ho also has to act as a part-time bartender because out of his nine original employees – apart from the two managers and the two chefs- have refused to return.

He is not alone. A survey by the National Federation of Independent Business showed that 47% of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in January. 

“Small business owners are managing the reality that the number of job openings exceeds the number of unemployed workers, producing a tight labor market and adding pressure on wage levels,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. 

“Reports of owners raising compensation continues at record-high levels to attract applicants to their open positions.”

BINY’s nature as a bar makes it more difficult to hire the right people.

“It is not like an office job where you sit there for the whole day. You have to talk to people and remember all the drinks.” He said he has rejected some applicants despite the hot job market.

“For me this is more than just a business, it is a culture, it’s my memory over there.” He worked in a bar as a bartender for nine years before taking it over. He is also planning a mini-concert in the bar to nurture local singers, and maybe attract more customers.

Regardless, Ho is still very optimistic. “It survived the financial crisis, so many different difficulties, but we’re still here.”

Star chefs rush to join the NFT frenzy amid Covid-19 restaurant disruption

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 (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, file)

Celebrity chefs and restaurateurs are betting on issuing non-fungible tokens or NFTs as a new way to diversify their revenue stream as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the dining industry hard – and new variants have made recovery even harder.

The pandemic has forced many restaurants to shut globally as governments have imposed lockdowns to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease. In the US, 110,000 or 17 percent of restaurant locations were temporarily or permanently closed in 2020 according to the National Restaurant Association.

​​”I work with Chefs and Restaurateurs and when COVID hit the planet they were forced to shut down and scrambling for a way to keep making revenue,” said Ruth McCartney, a co-founder of McCartney Multimedia, a creative agency.

The culinary industry across the US and Asia have launched experiments on NFT with technology gurus, riding on the crypto-hype and trying to cut a new path through the brush of uncertainties in the archaic business of food services.

NFTs track the ownership of digital assets, including video game items, artworks, tickets, or even a plot of virtual land through blockchain technology.

McCartney started the Gourmet NFT platform, aiming to launch early next year, with David Skinner, the executive chef at eculent and David Lucatch, the CEO of Liquid Avatar Technologies, a CSE-listed blockchain company.

The platform will allow users to trade rare, archival, celebrity and hard-to-find recipes. It has already received over 600 recipes, including those from Michelin-Star and James Beard Award-nominated chefs. NFT owners may also have a chance to interact with celebrity chefs through exclusive culinary experiences and auctions.

NFT’s trade surged to a record $6 billion in the third quarter of 2021, up 656% from last quarter, according to a report by market tracker nonfungible.com. Gourmet NFT is not the only team that saw the opportunity to tap on the trend.

Food critic Agnes Yan-Wei Chee also collaborated with NOIZchain.com, a Hong Kong blockchain platform, to launch Food, Art and Technology Lab, positioning chefs as artists and creating customized NFT for their creation.

“I always believe that a talented chef is an artist. This concept is revolutionary in the global culinary industry,” said Chee. “I also hope that chefs receive copyright benefits by launching their creations or recipes as NFTs. Those who want to imitate must pay a fee.”

Fast-food chains like Burger King and Dave & Buster’s have also created NFT powered loyalty programs in September that collectibles could eventually turn into a Whopper or spending credits.

“Everyone is trying now, especially with the entertainment [industry], trying to allow people back to come and experience in house, because they haven’t done that for a while,” said Prof Merav Ozair, a blockchain expert and a FinTech Professor at Rutgers Business School.

Gathering collectibles as part of the gaming experience is a great way to drive people back into brick-and-mortar restaurants, she added.