Corporate Governance

The Hershey Company is working with its suppliers to achieve 100% traceable and sustainably sourced palm oil by the end of 2014.

The company has also achieved its commitment to source 100% mass balanced Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil-certified palm oil more than a year ahead of its original 2015 commitment.

By Tricia Downing, VP, FRCH Design Worldwide

The majority of American shoppers think that holiday discounts advertised by retailers are faked, according to a survey conducted by British marketing consultant David Rawlings.

Rawlings’ Google survey, "Before-Christmas sales — Do you believe the discounts are genuine?" queried 1,500 American Internet users, and found that more than 70% of those polled answered "no" to that question.

Cincinnati – Kroger has promoted Mark Tuffin to senior VP of retail divisions. He succeeds Michael Ellis, who will become Kroger's president and COO on Jan. 1, 2014.

Seattle – Starbucks anticipates record purchases and activations of Starbucks cards on Thursday, Dec. 19. Last year, more than 2 million Starbucks cards were purchased in the U.S. and Canada on the Thursday before Christmas, representing nearly 1,500 cards purchased per minute in the U.S. and Canada.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – Most Walgreens stores will be open until midnight through Christmas Eve, and most stores will be open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, including 1,600 24-hour locations. On Christmas Day, most non-24-hour stores will be open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.

NXT-ID, a biometrics company focused on the growing m-commerce market, has elected former MasterCard executives Lawrence Flanagan and Ken Moy to its newly formed board of directors. The appointments align with the company's roll-out and 2014 launch of the Wocket, a next generation biometrically secure wallet.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Prepaid payment network Blackhawk Network unveiled a partnership arrangement with Coinstar, offering customers of Coinstar’s 20,300 coin exchange kiosks a selection of Blackhawk eGifts for no fee when they cash in coins via the kiosks.

The eGift codes are redeemable at issuing retailers – either in-store, online or via mobile devices. Merchants include Gap, iTunes, Lowe's, Southwest Airlines, Toys "R" Us, Babies "R" Us and others.