HEADLINES IN THE SPOTLIGHT
HOMEOWNER’S STRESS RISING WITH INTEREST RATES Nearly one in four homeowners say they will have to sell their home if interest rates go up further, according to a new debt survey from Manulife Bank of Canada conducted between April 14 and April 20, also found that 18 percent of homeowners polled are already at a stage where they can’t afford their homes. Over one in five Canadians expect rising interest rates to have a “significant negative impact” on their overall mortgage, debt and financial situation, the survey found. The Bank of Canada remains on a rate-hike path as it tries to tame inflation, which is now at a 31-year high at 6.8 percent. On June 1, the central bank increased its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 1.5 percent The Canadian Press reports the survey also found that two-thirds of Canadians do not view home ownership as affordable in their local community.
SOME LIKE IT HOT Well, this is bad news for hot sauce fans, there is likely to be a shortage of Sriracha sauce. Huy Fong Foods, maker of the popular Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, said a shortage of chili peppers is limiting its ability to produce several of its in-demand sauces, includ- ing its Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek. The Califor- nia-based company cited climate conditions as part of the problem causing unexpected crop failure from the spring chili harvest. An April 19 letter from Huy Fong Foods posted on a food distribution website for wholesale buyers said: “Currently, due to weather conditions affecting the quality of chili peppers, we now face a more severe shortage of chili.” The company sources its chili peppers from Mexico, where a drought is affecting that country and parts of the western United States.
APPLE IS POSITIONED TO GAIN PC MARKET SHARE FROM MICROSOFT WINDOWS Apple announced that its new laptops will feature the company’s next-generation in-house chips, which might pose challenges for Microsoft’s lucrative Windows business. Since Apple started selling Macs powered by its home- grown M1 processors in late 2020, the company’s computer business has been picking up momentum. Apple introduced the M2, which will debut in the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The new M2 chip will include 25% more transistors and 50% more bandwidth than M1. Apple’s Mac business has been revived by new devices sporting the company’s own chips as a replacement for processors from Intel. The first was the MacBook Air released last year, followed by updated models of the iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro laptop, and a new model for power users called Mac Studio. Apple’s newer devices have longer battery lives than their older Intel-based counterparts and plenty of pro- cessing power.
CANADIAN BLOOD DONOR NUMBERS HIT DECADE LOW POINT Canadian Blood Services says it is struggling to replenish a critically low national supply caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in the smallest donor base in a decade. “The number of people across Canada who donate regularly has decreased by 31,000 donors since the start of the pandemic, which has put a strain on the existing donor community,” said Rick Prinzen, chief supply chain officer and vice-president of donor rela - tions for Canadian Blood Services, which oversees the inventory from which blood and blood products are regularly shifted around the country to meet hospital and patient needs. About 400,000 Canadians give blood on a regular basis, but inventory has a shelf life; a year for frozen plasma, 42 days for red blood cells and five days for platelets, so it takes some work to ensure supply con- tinues to meet demand. Canadian Blood Services is hoping that their National Blood Donor Week campaign will attract 100,000 new donors this year to help meet demand.
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MAY/JUNE 2022 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • MAY/JUNE 2022
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