We Ran Out of Boba?
Fresh Tea made by Co-Owner Gabriel Chung
Mostly found as a topping in milk tea or fruit tea drinks, boba is a Taiwanese delicacy that has gained popularity across the world.
Why
Due to the pandemic, the U.S. and many other countries implemented import and export restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As safety was the main concern for this change, the effect on businesses that relied on the importation and exportation of goods was overlooked.
One main industry heavily affected by this restriction are food businesses, such as boba shops, that rely on overseas products to make their goods.
While the majority of boba is manufactured in Taiwan, the main ingredient of boba, the cassava root, is produced in Thailand.
This popular topping being manufactured overseas paired with the pandemic limiting imports created a boba shortage with adverse effects that businesses were not prepared for
David Yang, a LA tea shop barista, believes that the restrictions placed on imports negatively affected the business he works in.
“I think that this issue is much more than boba,” David comments, “There were other products that were on these ships that we can’t get due to the restrictions.”
“Before COVID it was much easier to get stuff from other countries due to the lack of background checks, especially with our products coming in.
David has also seen a lot more foot traffic in his store since the start of the pandemic.
“The supply isn’t matching the demand for boba which coupled with import restrictions it leads to a shortage.”
The Results
Before the import limitations, getting products on time was not a guarantee due to COVID-19 as surprises were around every corner.
Gabriel Chung, Co-Owner of Kung Fu Tea, preparing his ingredients
Gabriel Chung, the new co-owner of Kung Fu Tea in Harbor City, CA, experienced issues with the reopening of his store.
“What the restricted imports and exports have done is delay the shipping times of our products,” he says, “This forced us to go to a different warehouse to get our goods to ensure we open on time.”
Stores who caught wind of the shortage early tried to stock up on as much high-quality boba that was available.
However, that left other stores having to settle with lesser grade boba.
Chloe O’Connor, a co-worker of David’s, shares how their store tried to stay ahead of the curve when ordering boba during the shortage.
“As soon as our manager heard the news he started buying as much boba as he can,” she says,” Unfortunately, due to the problems with imports, we were unable to get the brand we usually get, and on top of that, our shipment got delayed by a month.”
“Since it takes one month from products to get from Asia to here,” Chloe states, “companies have to constantly plan ahead and keep a good eye on their inventory.”
To stay open during the pandemic, businesses must stock up on supplies.
“If businesses are not ready, those who are unprepared have to close their shops for weeks.”
The Solution
Some stores began to advertise other toppings to substitute boba while they were forced to wait until they received more products from overseas due to lack of inventory.
For others, the boba shortage was an eye-opener on how hard it is to operate stores when relying on imports from other countries.
Boba Guys, a business based in San Francisco, CA, had begun manufacturing their own boba in the U.S. before the pandemic began in order to skip the long wait and uncertainty that comes with imports.
Having boba manufactured in the U.S. allows American businesses to directly buy from a domestic source and remedies issues that come with buying supplies overseas.
However, this solution will not last a long time as the ingredients the Boba Guys need to make their tapioca boba balls are internationally grown.
“If boba was made in the U.S., the price of boba will decrease,” says Gabriel, who believes that since boba is originally Taiwanese culture, better quality products would come from Taiwanese imports.
“Even if boba was made in the U.S.,” David adds, “the cassava root is only grown in Asian countries so exporting it and then making the boba here will cost more in the end.”
Conclusion
Although the boba shortage is projected to end by summer, it has affected many businesses across the nation and persists in parts of the east coast.
”I don’t think anything like this happened in recent times,” says Chloe, “so having awareness of the boba shortage allows businesses to be able to get back on track and plan ahead more accordingly.”
“Because of this many stores will be more careful about it and prepare in advance if it happens again.”
YouTube The Premiere Platform for News
YouTube is a video platform that has been around since the early days of the internet. It originally was used to upload videos for people to share amongst friends and family but has now expanded to cater to all types of audiences from sports fans to make-up artists. Among all the types of content YouTube carries, the way YouTube releases news and important stories makes it easier for their audience to stay informed and digest the information than any other platform.
Why?
There are many ways YouTube news can compete against other sources of news, such as the Apple News app or Yahoo News, and it comes down to three big points: accessibility and ease of use, digestibility, and how quick it is.
YouTube can be accessed on most devices an average person carries. Whether it be your smartphone or gaming console, YouTube makes it easy for its consumers to quickly access news and other forms of content just with one press of a button.
Not only is YouTube extremely accessible, but it is also very easy to navigate and access all forms of content, especially news content. There is a whole section of YouTube dedicated to news and all things related where channels such as ABC or CNN post live updates to breaking news or upload videos of important conference meetings with the president. With one click or a simple search in the search bar, hundreds of thousands of hours of videos and content can be accessed on YouTube for you to view your heart’s content.
YouTube is also very digestible in the sense that videos are quick and easy to watch. You can either sit down and watching it traditionally or put it on in the background while doing some work. Features such as autoplay allow the audience to watch videos consecutively and hands-free. This benefits content like news as audiences can watch videos of similar topics consecutively, whether in the background or not.
YouTube is very quick. In 2019, TubeFilter, a website, revealed that 500 hours of footage is uploaded every minute of the day with 720,000 hours uploaded by its end. With this much content uploaded every minute, news on YouTube is always up-to-date and relevant.
These YouTube features make it one of the top platforms for people to consume news on the internet. With content always up-to-date and easy to digest, viewers can be informed about important topics and stay on top of the news.
Variety, Variety, Variety
On YouTube, you can get a wide variety of content. News, in particular, has many categories viewers can choose to watch.
There are specific channels for hard news such as ABC or CNN where viewers can stay informed about issues or topics that affect citizens on a local and national level, depending on which channel you watch. Hard news on YouTube is constantly being updated to stay the most relevant and accurate, making it one of the premier types of news you can watch on the platform.
YouTube also has channels that cover feature news. Channels such as the South China Morning Post make videos on individuals whose story has a greater meaning behind it. For example, on April 19, 2021, they released a video on a man who created a VR experience that simulates being pulled over as an African American in the U.S. While the video followed the creator, Bryant Young, and how he made the VR experience. The entire message of the video was to show people how African Americans are treated much differently than others in America.
Internet news is another type of news that is very popular on YouTube. Channels such as Phillip DeFranco or Omni, give mostly daily coverage of internet and social media news. However, some channels such as Phillip DeFranco also cover some hard news alongside internet news as his goal is to give you the most important news of that day.
Different Channels, Different Demographics
Different channels have different demographics.
For example, hard news channels on YouTube typically cater to an older audience whose age range is from 40-60. While internet news channels cater to a younger audience who range from 18-35.
Having these different demographics shows that anyone can watch YouTube get their news and it isn’t all limited to one channel. It also means that people are getting to choose who they want to watch and who they rely on to get their news.
The benefits of this are that the viewers get to have a channel they can consistently rely on for news and the type of coverage they are getting.
Conclusion
While there are plenty of other platforms for people to get their news from, YouTube is one of the better ones as it updates quickly and is extremely accessible. It also has a wide variety of channels that can cater to the audience with the type of news they cover and the different content they have on these channels. All in all, YouTube is one of the best platforms people can get their news from as it updates quickly and has a large variety of news to watch.
The Future of Small Businesses
The rapidly changing climate of COVID-19 has forced many businesses in 2020 to permanently close.
In a study done by the Fed, roughly 200,000 more businesses were forced to close their doors in 2020.
As businesses continue to struggle during the pandemic there are only so many things businesses can do to stay afloat, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
In an article by the New York Times, they reported that the Small Business Administration (S.B.A), a government agency, has come up with a $28.6 billion support program for restaurants, bars, and other similar businesses.
The S.B.A has also opened a program called the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, which is supposed to give live-event businesses such as concerts $16 billion dollars in aid.
Government agencies such as the F.B.A provide aid for small businesses and help them recover from the losses they faced during the pandemic.
Alongside previous programs put in place by the government like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which received an additional $284 billion in funding this January.
The PPP program comes to an end on May 31 and with $44 billion dollars remaining, according to an S.B.A spokesman in the New York Times article.
The future of small businesses is looking promising.
With states and local governments giving an additional $14 billion dollars in funding.
It means businesses have more opportunities to stay open and make it through to the end of the pandemic.
What are your thoughts on the new support program for businesses? Do you think it’ll change anything with the current state of the pandemic? Leave your comments below.
The Car Show Resurgence
Many industries have faced hardships because of the pandemic.
Some have been forced to temporarily close and others have had their operations reduced to a fraction of that what they used to be.
For the car industry, it is the same story.
Since March of last year, the car industry, the show side specifically, has seen fewer and fewer events because of the pandemic.
However, as of March 2021, car shows and meets have been starting to come back
Why?
One of the main reasons why car meets and shows are having a resurgence is due to the state of the pandemic.
The Biden administration is pushing for vaccinations to be available to all adults by April 19, As more people are vaccinated, they can gather at public events.
As more and more Americans are getting vaccines the number of people able to go out has risen considerably.
In an interview with Good Guys Rod & Customs Association by Autoweek, Andrew Ebel, chief operating officer, said the vaccination effort “only accelerates” the return of car shows.
“Being displaced by local vaccination efforts only accelerates the pace of our return to a healthy community without restrictions,” Andrew says.
Jerry Liu, a videographer and car enthusiast who documents a lot of cars meet in Southern California, shares similar sentiments about the vaccine being a driving force behind the resurgence of car shows.
“Since the beginning of March last year, there haven’t been a lot of car meets,” he says. “Because of herd immunity and the Covid vaccines we’ve been hosting a lot more car meets.
While vaccinations are one of the reasons people are more willing to go out to these events, there seem to be other reasons why people are going
James Wehr, the co-founder, and owner of South OC Cars and Coffee share different reasons why he thinks there is an influx of people and car shows.
“Funny enough the show is initially bigger now than pre-Covid,” he says. “I chalk that up to people wanting to get out of the house and do things.”
Additionally, James believes that having the car show hosted in San Clemente, CA, where it is majority republican; people are willing to go out to these events regardless of the vaccine or not.
“A lot of people thankfully have the vaccines,” James adds. “But since our car meet is hosted in San Clemente, California people go out regardless of whether my show is held or not.”
Issues with the Resurgence of Car Shows
While there has been an increase in car shows across the nation, police have been cracking down on illegal shows.
For example, in Lakeland, FL, police arrested 53 people in an illegal car meet of 300.
The article about this incident mentioned how this particular pop-up or takeover had “sport-coup drivers pushing down the gas and brake pedals simultaneously to do donuts.”
An event like this poses a risk to the public as not only does dangerous driving cause injuries it can also cause death in severe cases.
When asked to comment on illegal and unpermitted car shows, Jerry says illegal car shows are a bad reputation for the car industry.
“If a car meet gets shut down it’s sort of a bad reputation for us,” he says. “We always get permission and permits, and if they get shut down it’s kind of their fault.”
However, not all unpermitted meets are bad.
Private car meets are common in the car show industry and many of them aren’t as disruptive and dangerous as some pop-ups.
James says there private meets that are conscious about their actions and not breaking the law.
“If it’s not one of these takeover meets and it’s just people hanging out in an area,” he says. “I don’t necessarily think it’s bad.”
“If people are enforcing the mask mandate and social distancing guidelines; I think car shows are a good thing,” he adds.
“At the end of the day as long as they are not breaking any laws or doing any unlawful things, like revving your engine, it’s just like any other car meet.”
House Rentals are on the Rise
One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, many are looking to travel and have a change of scenery from their everyday lives.
With many schools entering spring break, lots of students and parents are taking this opportunity to travel.
As a result, hotels and the vacation rental industry have seen a considerable increase in their stocks and customers.
A story by ABC 7, mentions that travel and vacation companies, such as Airbnb and Expedia, have seen a 20% and 30% rise in their stocks.
An interview with Vrbo president, Jeff Hurst, says the rising stocks can be attributed to increased vaccinations and customers wanting to travel again.
“We could be looking at a real boom period for leisure travel,” says Hurst. “People are searching for core urban destinations that had a falling out during the pandemic.”
Hurst adds, “there is a certain degree of freedom that people who have gotten the coronavirus shots.”
The increased vaccinations and arrival of spring break alleviates some concerns people have about traveling during the pandemic.
Chapman Student, Martina Moussa, having traveled during spring break and being partially vaccinated shares her thoughts.
“When traveling thought the only way to travel was to stay somewhere secluded from others that were not in my covid pod,” she remarks, “An Airbnb seemed like an easy way to get away from home without risking me or my friends’ health.”
Martina and her friends are one of many who have utilized Airbnb and other similar services during spring break.
An article by inman.com, says that Airbnb listing has more listing now than before the pandemic.
The article mentions after Airbnb hit the market in December last year it has seen a record number of bookings in February.
A report in the article by AirDNA, reports that locations such as small towns and resort areas have seen the best supply of rental units and rentals; with mountains and coastal locations seeing the more available listing in general.
The rise in Airbnb listing and rentals can be correlated with the rise in people wanting to travel during this time.
Mountainous and coastal regions are much more popular with people due to the scenery and the limitless activities you can do there.
Regardless of where people travel during the pandemic people should be cautious and be aware of who is around them at all times.
Until most of the population is vaccinated, people should continue to social distance and reduce the amount of time spent traveling.
Pet Boom: Its Impact on the Pet Industry
Tristan Koga in front of Reptile Island, Yorba Linda, CA, holding monitor lizard
Tristan Koga is the co-manager of Reptile Island of Yorba Linda, CA, and throughout the pandemic, he has been noticing changes in traffic to the store and sales of both merchandise and pets.
He believes there are multiple reasons why there are these “waves of customers coming into the store.”
“At the start of the pandemic, it was sporadic and we had a boom in customers,” he said. “When the first stimulus check hit, a large number of customers and sales had also come in, but it changed constantly.”
This trend has been seen across many pet stores in the nation, but what is the cause of this “pet boom”?
WHY?
According to an article by Retail Dive, in early March of last year, retailers Petco and PetSmart saw an increase of 42% and 36% in sales, while Chewy, owned by PetSmart, saw an increase of 42.5%.
While in California pet products sales doubled in the Los Angeles County and went up as much as 153% in the Bay area, according to petproductnew.com.
Southern Californian pet store owner, Peter Kim, comments on the rise of customers and why he believes there is one.
Peter, behind the counter, is aiding customer at check out
“This last year I did see a rise in sales and a lot of people entering the aquarium hobby,” he remarks. “I believe it is because people are stuck at home and are trying to find new hobbies.”
Multiple factors contributed to the rise in sales, one of which was the transition to online sales.
As the pandemic worsens, retail stores and in-person shopping had to reduce hours or temporarily close to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Altered store hours resulted in a reduced foot of 45% in PetSmart and 55% in Petco, resulting in decreased sales.
However, online business Chewy saw an increase of 28.7% in online sales.
In the Retail Dive article, an interview with the CEO of Chewy mentions how net sales were “35% up from the year-ago period,” and active customers “increased 27.2% from the prior year to 13.5 million.”
The rise in online sales is correlated with the transition to online sales to minimize the impact of the virus on store customers and employees; with some pet stores giving incentives for shopping online (for example, free delivery for purchases or money off your orders).
As a result of panic buying, stores shelves are left empty.
Issues within the Industry
When the pandemic started, like toilet paper, pet food and goods were being panic bought from stores, resulting in shortages in stores across the nation.
However, as the pandemic progressed, the limitation of flights into the created massive shortages that rippled throughout the industry.
“The prices of animals and goods skyrocketed during the pandemic,” said Tristan. “It’s due to limited importation of goods into the country and how suppliers ran out of stock quickly.”
Fish store based in LA, Bob’s Tropical Fish, shares a similar sentiment with issues of getting inventory.
“Most of our products come from China, so most of the things coming into the U.S. are held at the ports,” comments Jackson, owner of Bob’s Tropical Fish. “As a result, it’s been a lot more difficult to get our goods back in stock.”
Conclusion
Most pet stores remain open as they count as an essential business and try their best to accommodate consumer needs.
With the rise of people buying pets and pet products, and issues trying to import goods into the country.
Many pet stores remain hopeful that the climate will get better and the industry will revert to the pre-covid days.
“It’s hard to predict what will happen in the future,” says Tristan. “ But, I’m hoping it’ll bounce back around Christmas of this year.”
Decreasing Covid Hospitalizations and Increased Vaccinations, What it Means for Businesses in SoCal?
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
With the decreasing number of hospitalizations from Covid-19, California has slowly begun to remove policies that prevented many businesses from functioning.
The removal of the stay-at-home order earlier this year allowed businesses to slowly increase their in-store occupancy numbers and once again allowed outdoor dining to resume.
However, what does this mean in the grand scheme of things?
For starters, it means California has returned to using the four color-coded tier list to determine the relevance of Covid-19 in counties across California.
Although all of SoCal is in the purple tier, as of Feb. 16, it does mean that businesses are allowed to reopen with restrictions. For example, grocery stores are able to return to 50% occupancy rates and retail at 25%; While restaurants are able to return to modified outdoor dining.
In a New York Times article, Gov. Newsom talked about his plan to “rush to lift restrictions as quickly as possible once the numbers indicated it would be safe to do so,” and how he is hopeful of the rolling out of vaccines in California.
The rollout of vaccines and declining numbers of hospitalizations indicates the steady reopening of California
With hopes of the virus declining, major amusement parks like Six Flags Magic Mountains are optimistic about reopening in the Spring of 2021, tweeting “We’ve missed you! Are you ready for thrills this year?”
In an article by ABC 13, an interview with Erin Guerrero, executive director at California Attractions and Parks Association, mentions how “there's some optimism [on opening Six Flags] given the numbers and vaccine rollout but nothing concrete."
In another interview in the article, Bonnie Weber, senior vice president of Park Operations, states how the “company is working with state and local officials to set firm reopening dates for its parks,” and how this applies to their parks in “California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mexico City, and Canada.”
The optimism of reopening theme parks isn’t only coming from theme parks, many other businesses are hopeful for the day California finally reopens.
It is only a matter of time before vaccinations are available to all and with the decline in Covid-19 related hospitalizations, that future doesn’t seem all too unreal.
Social Media Accounts and My Thoughts
Social media accounts are a way to bridge you and your audience. They allow you to connect with your audience via the posts you upload or stories you construct. However, there should be a clear separation between posts that are professional and personal.
Multiple accounts
Having multiple accounts on social media allows you to have different platforms on which you can post different types of content.
By having multiple accounts you can keep your personal and professional affairs separated, with little risk of content bleeding over from account to account.
This also allows you to have more control over what you post on your accounts, as with a single social media account you have to be more aware of the types of posts you make.
Issues with Company Owned Social Media Account
With multiple social media accounts there come many concerns on the type of content that is posted and what are the implications it can make, more so professional social media accounts.
However, these concerns do not warrant the need for executives or employers to have the right to manage the account and what is posted on it.
Having these accounts owned by employers could prevent the poster from posting certain messages which the employer doesn’t agree with, possibly gatekeeping other posts from being posted.
With these social media accounts, it should be the poster’s right to manage the post and ensure the contents do not affect any person in a negative way, not the employers.
Ways to Remedy This Issue
There are guidelines companies and employees can follow to ensure the proper use of social media. Companies and publications such as the Associated Press and New York Times have guidelines in place to ensure the safety of the reporter and their adherence to the proper use of social media. Here are some:
Treat others with respect on social media
Do not assume people have not carefully read your post/works
Be mindful of the links you post as they can affect your presentation of objectivity
Avoid conflict on social media and talk to superiors when there are
Be as objective as you can
Conclusion
Social media offers many ways to connect audiences with the writers. Achieving this requires a balance between expressing one’s voice and adhering to guidelines; when achieved can engage the audience in conversations and inform them about important events or conflicts.
Holiday Leftovers
Follow me as I discover what happens to seasonal goods after their season and where does all the excess go if it isn’t sold out by then.
What Causes Wildfires?
Follow me as I interview Dr. Fred Smoller of Chapman University and Dr. Zeke Hausfather about the wildfires that have taken placed, and what does it mean about our environment.
Hog Worldwide
Wilder Curtis talks to us about his passion for skating and his company. Where will he take Hog Worldwide in the future? You'll have to watch the video to find out.
Esports Documentary Part 1: The History of Video Games
Apache News in part 1 of a multi-part short documentary explores the history of video games and learned how the industry grew to what it is today.
Full Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN4Na6HemK4&list=PL07a5R_B4sI4F-RixRQzo6PhwZRGoKsYf&index=12
Edited: Collin Gaja
Written by: Ryan Kao & Collin Gaja