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Amazon also launches in the UK Amazon Now, the new ultra-rapid delivery service that promises to deliver thousands of groceries and household goods in around 30 minutes or less


The project kicks off in a test phase in some postcodes in Southwark, London, with an extension to other areas planned in the coming months. Amazon Now is available seven days a week via app and website and offers an assortment that covers around 35 categories, including fresh food, beverages, protein snacks, low and no-alcohol products, vitamins and supplements, as well as major personal, household and pet care items. From a strategic point of view, the initiative strengthens Amazon's positioning in the quick commerce segment, where speed of delivery is a key differentiating factor, particularly in high-density urban settings.

AmazonDeliveryE-Commerce
 

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US closes to foreign grapes. New law for 100% US-made wines


The rules for wines that want to be labelled as American are changing. Supported by the winegrowers' associations and Family winemakers California, the proposal could come into force in 2027 TheAmerica first principle touted by President Donald Trump could also change the national wine industry. Because a bill proposed by two members of the American Assembly, Damon Connolly (San Rafael) and Rhodesia Ransom (Tracy), requires that wines labelled 'American' be produced exclusively from grapes grown in the USA. Today, federal regulations allow these wines to have 25% of raw material from abroad. In fact, the new law, advocated by the California association of winegrape growers and the Family winemakers of California, would bring the rest of the country into line with what is already happening on the West coast (from where more than 85% of all wine produced in the United States comes) for the term 'California'. Transparency and clarity for consumers are the objectives of the bill (Ab 1585). As Connolly himself explained in a press note, when a bottle labelled 'American' contains wines of low value from abroad, the quality of American wine is affected. This is an issue that Italy is well acquainted with, with its efforts at European level to promote, not only in wine, the compulsory indication of the origin of raw materials on labels. "California," recalled Natalie Collins, president of Cawg, "already applies the 100 per cent cap for wines labelled 'California', so extending this transparency operation to the 'American' designation is a logical step."....

 

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The EU-Mercosur agreement is likely to enter into force provisionally from March, says an EU diplomat


The EU's free trade agreement with South American countries is likely to be provisionally implemented as early as March, an EU diplomat told Reuters on Thursday, despite an imminent challenge to the EU Supreme Court. On Wednesday, EU lawmakers dealt a blow to the controversial trade deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay by referring it to the European Court of Justice, threatening to delay its entry into force by two years. "The EU-Mercosur agreement will be provisionally applied once the first Mercosur country has ratified it," an EU diplomat told Reuters. "It will probably be Paraguay in March," the diplomat added.

Agriculture
 

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TikTok enters into an agreement for a new US entity, ending a long legal saga


The Chinese parent company of the popular video app claimed that a group of non-Chinese investors had created an American version of TikTok to avoid the federal ban. TikTok said on Thursday that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, had struck a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new US TikTok, ending a six-year legal saga that has seen the app banned by Congress and embroiled in political clashes between two global superpowers. The investors include software giant Oracle, MGX, an Emirati investment company, and Silver Lake, another investment company, which will hold more than 80 per cent of the new venture. The list also includes the personal investment entity of Michael Dell, the technology billionaire behind Dell Technologies, and other companies, TikTok said. Adam Presser, former chief operating officer of TikTok, will be the chief executive officer of TikTok in the US. The deal aims to loosen TikTok's ties with China and address national security concerns that Beijing could use the app to surveil or manipulate its more than 200 million users in the US... The New York Times

E-CommerceStreaming
 

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Mastrolia New Princes (GS- Carrefour and more): ‘High prices – of the branded industry – slow down consumption’


"The cost structure has changed profoundly. Most commodities, agricultural and non-agricultural, are now at significantly lower levels than the peaks of previous years. The exceptions are limited to a few sectors, such as meat and coffee. Energy costs, both electricity and gas, are also falling sharply,' he says. According to Mastrolia, the rigidity of price lists does not originate in distribution. "High prices squeeze volumes, slow down consumption and end up penalising the entire economic system. It is not in the interest of large retailers to maintain them. The problem lies in a part of the branded industry that continues to defend price structures built in an emergency phase, when costs were significantly higher. Today that phase is over, but the adjustment of price lists has not taken place, creating an obvious disconnect between industrial costs and final prices'. What are the risks in this situation? "The risk is that structural effects are created. If prices do not adjust to real costs, volumes are reduced, demand weakens and a vicious circle is triggered that also penalises the industry itself. The sustainability of margins cannot be separated from the sustainability of consumption'. CorrierEconomia of 19 January 2026 After the one about Confcommercio, another distortion I denounced some time ago, talking about industry margins doping inflation and making consumer spending expensive. Below: an article from December 2025 on GS. Drafted 19 January , updated 22 January 2026

CarrefourInflation
 

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Mercosur: MEPs vote in favour of referring the agreement to the EU Court of Justice


A treaty that, according to its critics, will disrupt European agriculture. It should allow the EU to export more cars, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America, while facilitating the entry of South American beef, sugar, rice, honey and soya into Europe. For its detractors, this will disrupt European agriculture with cheaper imported products that do not necessarily meet EU standards due to insufficient controls.

AgricultureMeat
 

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New ham scandal: what are the consortia doing?


Rats, carcasses and cannibalism on a pig farm Beyond the complaint, the issue concerns traceability and chain responsibilities. Faced with these episodes, the Parma Ham Consortium and the San Daniele Consortium wash their hands of them, since by statute they only oversee the curing of the legs and not the farms. Then there is the issue of health controls. Faced with the recent scandals (Bervini, La Pellegrina and now Cascone) one wonders what is the method followed in veterinary controls, what is the frequency and what are the results? And then what is the future of products that were never relaunched after prosciuttopoli? Below a recently published advertising page

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Mercosur: pesticides and hormones in food?


amicarbazone herbicide, chlorothalonil fungicide, novaluron insecticide and growth hormones in meat? It would seem so, although 1) the precautionary principle, i.e. any food may only be placed on the market if it does not present a health risk, and 2) the obligation to indicate the country of origin on the label should be respected Milena Gabbanelli, Corriere della Sera 19 January 2026 P.S.: Brazil's JBS is the third largest producer of food and the first of meat in the world.

MeatPesticides
 

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Major Brazilian grain traders abandon Amazon conservation pact


Abiove, which includes ADM (ADM.N), Bunge (BG.N), whose members include Cargill, Cofco and Louis Dreyfus, confirmed that it had 'initiated talks' to exit the pact, which is supported by the federal government and environmental groups. The WWF said in a note that the decision was a setback for the environment. The companies' exit from the pact 'weakens one of the most effective tools to combat deforestation in the country' and exposes farmers to increasing climate risks, WWF said. Reuters

AgricultureDeforestationWWF
 

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Amazon tries to limit the duty effect by demanding discounts of up to 30% from suppliers


Amazon sells goods directly and hosts third-party retailers, which account for more than 60 per cent of sales on its platform. Trade lawyers and diplomats have warned that Trump could introduce new tariffs using his powers under alternative legislation if the Supreme Court rules against his current taxes. Amazon has not joined any lawsuits filed by companies and interest groups against the tariff measures, including a lawsuit filed by more than 1,000 retailers, including Costco, seeking duty recovery. Financial Times

Amazon