Latest news with #T2
News.com.au
a day ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Popular drink craze causing global shortage
While Australia has built a reputation for quality coffee, another drink has been quietly growing in popularity down under. Matcha, a finely ground powder made from green tea leaves, has become a viral sensation, thanks to its taste, health benefits, and steadier caffeine boost. However, this worldwide 'matcha mania' has caused a global supply chain issue, with The Japan Times reporting that there may be a matcha shortage this year. Matcha production nearly tripled from 2010 to 2023, Japan's agricultural ministry reports. It also says that green tea exports, including matcha, increased by 25 per cent last year. Experts say that one of the main reasons for the potential shortage is that consumers are now seeking premium matcha. This sort of matcha is traditionally reserved for tea ceremonies, rather than the more affordable, culinary-grade matcha, and people are now using it for 'everyday' use. These higher-grade matchas requires extensive time and effort, which can lead to limited production. Farmers hand pick the tea leaves, dry them, and grind them in specialised stone mills that process less than 60 grams of leaves per hour. Behind the craze Christelle Young, Managing Director of T2, told that although the company has been selling matcha for over 20 years, recent years have seen a noticeable spike. The growing popularity comes down to a few main reasons. 'Matcha fits perfectly with Australia's increasing focus on health, wellness, and mindfulness,' Ms Young said. 'It's rich in antioxidants, L-theanine (which promotes calm and focus), and has less caffeine than coffee, making it an attractive alternative for health-conscious Aussies seeking a balanced energy boost'. She also pointed out that the increased post-pandemic tourism to Japan plays a role, with nearly one million Aussies visiting the country last year. 'As more Australians immerse themselves in Japanese culture, interest in products like matcha continues to grow at home,' she said. Many Aussies are also trying to cut back on coffee, for health or lifestyle reasons. 'Matcha provides a gentle, sustained energy release without the jitters or crash that often comes with coffee,' Ms Young explained. And of course, social media has also fuelled the craze, with thousands of videos showcasing the vibrant, green drink. Influencers and wellness bloggers regularly feature matcha recipes, lattes, and even desserts, inspiring many to try a drink they might not have otherwise known about. In response, T2 has launched trend-driven products like Strawberry Matcha and White Chocolate Matcha, while staying true to its ethos of selling ceremonial-grade, high-quality matcha and supporting growers. 'By working directly with these tea gardens, we've been able to prioritise allocation even in tight supply conditions,' Ms Young explained. Stock levels are closely monitored, and a 'tiered distribution system' ensures flagship stores and online outlets get priority on bestsellers. 'Where necessary, batch allocations help ensure every store can maintain core matcha products, even if some flavoured variants are temporarily out of stock,' she added. The issue has been brewing The first signs of demand stretching Japan's matcha industry emerged late last year when some brands began to limit purchases, raise prices, and temporarily suspend sales. In November, Sydney's Simply Native announced customers could buy only 'one item per brand per person'. Ippodo Tea, which has sold matcha for 300 years, also halted sales of some items, citing the 'recent surge in demand'. However, Anna Poain, director of the Global Japanese Tea Association, said this only caused 'panic buying'. She told The New York Times that demand has soared even higher since last year as buyers try to stockpile, making it increasingly difficult to source in Japan. The industry is ill-prepared for this sudden surge, she claimed, with many Japanese tea farms being small, family-run operations. The government has encouraged tea farmers to shift to growing matcha, but many are hesitant, unsure how long the craze will last. 'Many people say it's here to stay, but who knows,' Ms Poain said. 'Building factories, and other infrastructure, is risky. It's not that easy to do'.
CairoScene
2 days ago
- Business
- CairoScene
Saudi Startup Sawt Raises $1 Million to Expand AI Voice Support
With the fresh capital, Sawt plans to expand its team, scale its infrastructure, and refine its voice AI models to handle millions of interactions efficiently. Jul 28, 2025 Saudi-based startup Sawt has raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by STV and T2. The company is developing Arabic-native voice AI to automate customer service functions including sales, bookings, and support, offering a 24/7 alternative to traditional call centres. With the fresh capital, Sawt plans to expand its team, scale its infrastructure, and refine its voice AI models to handle millions of interactions efficiently. The platform is designed to reduce wait times, lower costs, and improve the customer service experience by automating responses to common queries and requests. Sawt's technology is developed entirely in Saudi Arabia, enabling it to meet enterprise-level standards for privacy and data security. The company is targeting the growing GCC market for AI call centre automation, estimated to be worth between $800 million and $1.2 billion.
Scotsman
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Men in Love by Irvine Welsh review: 'his paciest, funniest book in years'
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The early stages of drug dependency and romantic love have such similar rushing, all-consuming power that scientific studies of their comparative neurological effects have been made. That a book about one group of young men's devastating heroin habits should be followed by another about their often self-destructive pursuits of sex and relationship highs therefore makes plenty of sense. Thirty-two years have passed since Leith tearaways Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie first leapt off the pages of Irvine Welsh's darkly delirious million-selling masterpiece Trainspotting. Danny Boyle's 1996 film adaptation subsequently made icons of the characters and their creator. There have been numerous prequel, sequel and spin-off novels and short stories of varying merit, plus an iffy follow-up movie (2017's T2, set decades after the original). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Irvine Welsh At the outset of Men In Love, merely weeks have expired since Trainspotting's end, when Renton chose life by ripping off his mates in a drug deal before disappearing with their cash. The mixture of guilt, rage, betrayal and confusion each man feels is as fresh as the sweat on Renton's brow, as he goes cold turkey in Amsterdam trying to get clean. He, Sick Boy and Spud are estranged, yet largely united in their resolve not to fall back on the smack (Begbie's tangential compulsion for violent mayhem, meanwhile, rages unchecked). But what should fill the void? Foreshadowing 2002's Porno, the book that inspired T2, pseudo-sophisticate Scots Italian manipulator Sick Boy is in London building a career in adult entertainment, while using and abusing various women to different ends. Including Amanda, an upper-class dropout he encounters at drug counselling. She forces him to feel forbidden feelings no natural born shagger should feel. The thickest yet most morally sound of them all, Spud, is in a relationship with Sick Boy's ex Alison, whom he showers with a desperate, cloying love she can't requite. In Amsterdam, Renton becomes immersed in the burgeoning acid house club scene, and a world of fluid sexual and romantic relationships he may not be emotionally equipped for. Begbie's devotion remains only to Leith, the blade and the bottle. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The raw, gritty, trippy urgency and hyper-realism that drove Welsh's debut novel has long-since faded from his writing. Some of his graphic descriptions of oftentimes squalid sex may leave you needing a shower. But the simple ease and joy with which he reinhabits these vivid characters makes this his paciest, funniest, most page-turning book in years. If there is a love to be felt, it's Welsh's for his Leith young team, who for all their flaws and indeed evils, he never leaves without hope of redemption - be it Sick Boy in his battle of wits with Amanda's toff hypocrite father in the build up to their wedding, or Begbie, the world's worst best man, hanging over the climactic posh nuptials like a black cloud, threatening to rain either rough class justice or purely psychotic chaos.
The Herald Scotland
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
'Old habits die hard': Irvine Welsh's Porno comes home
Having begun its life on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2022 five years after Danny Boyle filmed Welsh's book as T2, Carswell's adaptation became a West End hit. Bringing it all back home for what probably won't be the last time is living testament to the ongoing power of Welsh's ever expanding back catalogue. The handy translations of Leith patois projected onto the back wall of the stage lest a passing west coaster stumble into the building acts as a cheeky curtain raiser to the uneasy reunion between Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie, the fab four at the heart of Welsh's original story. Fifteen years after ex junkie Renton did a runner to Amsterdam with the gang's money, he makes a prodigal's return home to tend to his sick mother. This surprise comeback also gives him the chance to hook up with his former drug buddies, and possibly make amends for his betrayal. With Sick Boy now in charge of a spit and sawdust old school Leith boozer, Spud attempting to write a history of his 'hood before gentrification wipes it out, and Begbie just out of prison, old alliances are rekindled as well as old tensions. The quartet may be older, but probably aren't wiser, as Sick Boy co-opts his pub function room to make amateur porn. Enter Lizzie, wannabe actress and local copper's daughter who joins the fun before history starts repeating itself as Renton gets itchy feet. This is presented largely through a series of bite-size monologues that get to the inner workings of each character. In performance this becomes a set of baroque routines that come on like a form of potty-mouthed spoken-word stand-up, with expletive laden punchlines aplenty. While Chris Gavin's Begbie is a study in hard man machismo, Kevin Murphy as Spud and Jenni Duffy as Lizzie both reveal a fragility hidden by either the effects of drugs in Spud's case or Lizzie's sassy bravado. When there is conversation, it explores the fragile ties that binds the group. The duologues between Liam Harkins as Renton and James McAnerney especially see the now middle-aged coulda-been contenders off-loading the baggage of shared history. Read more: If only we could bring Tommy Cooper, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Morecambe back to life True crime tale of Glasgow poisoning turned into city play 'Period parody run riot' The 39 Steps Pitlochry Festival Theatre If Harkins' Renton is an everyman figure who hasn't quite cleaned up his act, McAnerney's Sick Boy is a more mercurial figure, always looking for that ever-elusive money making scheme that will see him make it big. Lizzie's interplay with her dad Knox, played by Tom Carter, is a similar illustration of conflicting loyalties. Welsh's world is brought to life by Carswell and director Jonty Cameron with a heightened irreverence closer to restoration comedy than gritty realism. This is more than Carry on Trainspotting, mind. As old habits die hard, it becomes a story about working class aspiration and getting away with whatever you can in order to survive. The next chapter awaits.
Time of India
18-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
‘Charter flights from Mum to shift to NMIA next year'
Ahmedabad: General aviation (GA) flights will be shifted from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai next year. Once that happens, charters and business jets will continue to fly into CSMIA but will not be allowed to park as they will have to drop and fly off or at the most remit park for an hour or two. "CSMIA has about 27 parking stands for GA planes. NMIA is going to have 100 stands, along with 18 hangars for them. It will be India's biggest hub for general aviation flights," Adani Group director (airports) Jeet Adani told TOI on Friday. NMIA will initially house a temporary VVIP area. In 2029 when T2 gets ready there, the greenfield airport will have a dedicated VVIP terminal. "Our focus is also on cargo at NMIA, which will initially handle 8 lakh tons of cargo and will eventually go to 20-25 lakh tons in the coming years. We are in touch with DHL and Fedex to set up their Asia hubs here," he said. Even as the focus is on the upcoming NMIA and the new T1 at CSMIA, Adani said the two airports with a collective capacity of 15 crore passengers annually (CPA) will get exhausted by 2042-2045. "There is an immediate need for a third airport. We are very happy the govt is looking at Wadhwan as the site for the third airport for MMR," he said. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai —Saurabh Sinha
