Latest news with #governmentcontract
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Japanese customers brave the rain to line up for cheap, stockpiled rice
Iris Ohyama began sales of government stockpiled rice at two of its home center locations in Miyagi and Chiba prefectures on Saturday morning, marking the first time such rice — procured through a discretionary government contract amid sky-high prices for the grain — has been sold at a brick-and-mortar store. Despite steady rain, lines formed early outside the Unidy Matsudo Tokiwadaira store in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, where numbered tickets were distributed from 8 a.m., with a limit of one bag per person. The queue snaked from the store entrance around the building and into the parking lot, with around 100 people in line from 6 a.m. Some customers toward the front of the line began lining up as early as 8 p.m. the previous evening, according to Mao Takaoka, a company spokesperson. Sales began an hour later, with 5-kilogram bags priced at ¥2,000 ($14) before tax, less than half the average price in recent weeks. All of the 65 bags prepared for the day sold out quickly, with many leaving empty-handed. 'We came early because it's hard to pass up rice at this price,' said one woman in her 60s, who was waiting near the end of the line with a neighbor after arriving before 6 a.m. 'Of course we're a little worried about how it'll taste, but the cheapness matters more than anything. If it doesn't taste good, we'll just mix it with ice or cook it with lots of other things. There's always a way,' she added. Iris Ohyama signed a deal through its group company on Tuesday to purchase 10,000 tons of stockpiled rice, which it will receive over the next two months and sell in stages, both online and in-store. | Jessica Speed A man in his 70s cited rising costs of living as his reason for lining up early. 'Everything is so expensive these days,' he said. 'Sure, rice and gas prices are coming down a little, but everything else — vegetables, milk, daily essentials — just keep going up.' 'If the government doesn't step in and do more for the people, a lot of us are going to be in real trouble.' He also noted the strain of waiting in the cold morning hours. 'Honestly, I'd be happy if they started handing out tickets even earlier. Most of us in line are older folks. We're the ones who line up for things like this,' he chuckled, rubbing his hands to stay warm. Another man in his 70s, who began lining up at 5 a.m. after waking at 3:30 a.m., said the effort was worth it. 'It feels like I really pulled it off!' he said with a grin, clutching his bag. 'I haven't carried something this heavy in a long time.' He said he wasn't concerned about the rice being from the 2022 harvest. 'I won't know how it tastes until I try it,' he said. 'If I cook it a little longer and add some sake and mirin, it'll probably be fine.' 'I'm planning to eat some tonight,' he added. 'I'm really looking forward to it.' The in-store launch was originally scheduled for June 2, but was moved up after milling operations finished ahead of schedule. 'We wanted to be first to market and get the product out to our customers,' Nobuo Tanaka, head of Iris Ohyama's general affairs department, told reporters Saturday. 'We were also first to sign a discretionary contract and begin milling.' Tanaka said the ¥2,000 price point was based on levels from about two years ago. 'This price has had a big impact, and drawn a lot of attention.' People line up for the chance to buy rice released from a government stockpile on Saturday in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. | Jessica Speed The early rollout follows strong online demand. The company's entire online preorder allotment sold out in about 45 minutes after starting at 1 p.m. on Thursday, according to a report from NHK. The company began receiving deliveries that same day and immediately launched milling and packaging operations, with the first packages being shipped out on Friday, ahead of schedule. Iris Ohyama signed a deal through its group company on Tuesday to purchase 10,000 tons of stockpiled rice, which it will receive over the next two months and sell in stages, both online and in-store. The company also beat Ito Yokado by a narrow margin to be the first to provide rice to customers. Ito Yokado launched last-minute sales at its Omori branch in Tokyo's Ota Ward, with sales starting at 10 a.m. Separately, the agricultural ministry on Friday reopened applications for the discretionary sale of 80,000 tons of stockpiled rice from the 2021 harvest, targeting small-scale retailers such as independent grocers and supermarkets.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Spire Global Stock Was Spiraling Higher This Week
The company signed a contract with one of the most reliable clients in this country. This got investors excited enough to shrug off a lackluster quarterly earnings report. 10 stocks we like better than Spire Global › There's nothing like a nine-figure contract to give a company some powerful bullish momentum. That's been the case over the past few days with space technology solutions company Spire Global (NYSE: SPIR), following its announcement that it won a big-ticket project from the federal government. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Spire's share price was up just shy of 20% week to date as of early Friday morning as a result. After market close Wednesday, Spire announced that the U.S. Space Force had selected it, among a clutch of companies, for a 10-year contract to supply materials for satellites operated by the military branch. This is an indefinite quality/indefinite quantity contract, and it falls under the Force's Space Test Experiments Platform (STEP) 2.0 initiative. STEP 2.0 is a program that aims to speed the development of space technologies through a partnership of Space Force with private companies that specialize in such solutions. In the press release touting its inclusion in the contract, Spire quoted its director of program sales, Mark Carhart, as saying that his company's "vertically integrated approach to satellite manufacturing and mission operations offers government partners the speed, flexibility, and reliability they need to advance critical space technologies." That was exciting news for shareholders, to the point where they weren't all that bothered with an earnings report, published almost concurrently, that showed declining revenue and a bottom line still deep in the red. For its first quarter of 2025, Spire's top line fell by 31% year over year to just under $23.9 million. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net loss narrowed from $25.5 million to $20.7 million, meanwhile. Before you buy stock in Spire Global, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Spire Global wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $620,719!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $829,511!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 959% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 170% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2025 Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Spire Global Stock Was Spiraling Higher This Week was originally published by The Motley Fool
TechCrunch
12-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Congressman is investigating fintech Ramp's attempt to win $25M federal contract
Rep. Gerald Connolly, ranking member of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, has initiated an investigation into whether expense management startup Ramp is receiving preferential treatment in its bid for a $25 million government contract. Connolly sent a letter to the General Services Administration (GSA) Acting Administrator, Stephen Ehikian, demanding information and documents related to the GSA's reported plans to award a contract for a pilot program to Ramp. News of the probe was first reported by ProPublica. Among Connolly's biggest concerns are that Ramp allegedly has 'zero federal contracting experience' and its investors include a number of Trump allies and supporters. Those investors include Peter Thiel's Founders Fund; Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures; Thrive Capital, which was founded by Josh Kushner, brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared; vocal Trump supporter 8VC's Joe Lonsdale and Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida and brother of former Republican President George W. Bush. Rabois, according to Connolly's letter, raised more than $1 million for Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. Connolly is requesting several things from the GSA, including a detailed list of all meetings between any GSA official and any Ramp representative and all communications between any GSA official, contractor, or subcontractor and any Ramp representative. The government's internal expense card program, dubbed SmartPay, is a $700 billion program. Currently, Citibank and US Bank, two of the nation's largest suppliers of credit cards, are the official banks of the current SmartPay contract. In April, Ramp's head of communications, Lindsay McKinley, confirmed to TechCrunch that the startup was 'competing in a standard procurement process for a SmartPay pilot program based on the strength of our solution.' She claimed that the startup Ramp saw a public post on X shared by the Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE, on February 18 that said 'the US government currently has ~4.6M active credit cards/accounts, which processed ~90M unique transactions for ~$40B of spend in FY24.' Techcrunch event Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | BOOK NOW A former customer, Ramp claims, introduced Ramp to GSA a few days later. However, Connolly alleges that Ramp reportedly began contacting entities in the payment industry about special bank identification numbers required to process government payments before a request for information (RFI) related to the contract was publicly announced. He also claimed that a GSA employee recently stated that Ramp was the 'favorite' to win this business. Ramp did not have any comment on Connolly's investigation. In March, Ramp doubled its valuation to $13 billion after a $150 million secondary share sale. Since its inception in 2019, the startup has raised over $1 billion in equity financing and $700 million in committed debt funding.
