San Diego Bans Polystyrene Containers | Small Biz Trends

May 9, 2024May 8, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A ban on polystyrene went into effect for small businesses in San Diego in April. Polystyrene is a synthetic polymer sometimes colloquially called Styrofoam, especially in the U.S.

The move means more costs for small businesses in that California community.

“Polystyrene plastic foam is one of the biggest sources of marine litter and costs the state and local governments millions of dollars each year to collect it from beaches, roadsides, and storm drains,” writes Mariel Garza for the Los Angeles Times.

Small businesses making less than $500,000 annually received a brief year-long exemption. But now the cost of eliminating the waste falls on the businesses that can afford it least.

Does Coca-Cola Have A Billion-Dollar Brand in Cold-Pressed Juice Favorite Suja Life? | Forbes

March 5, 2019March 4, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

At Suja Life’s 122,000 square-foot factory outside of San Diego, one and a half million bottles roll off conveyor belts every week, with colorful labels that tout cold-pressed juices and ingredients like kale and monkfruit.

Since moving in two years ago, the company has invested some $30 million in this plant. It now sells 95 drinks—from kombucha to drinking vinegars and plant-based protein milks—and moves quickly to get them to shelves from Target and Publix to Costco and Whole Foods. In fact, it can develop an entirely new product and get it to customers within eight weeks—a speed rare in the beverage industry. That agility has enabled Suja to develop more than 250 products in the six years since it was founded, and on any given day the factory is producing as many as 15 different styles. Last year Suja hit $100 million in revenue for the first time, a milestone in the perennially crowded industry, with gross margins of 40%. It’s nearly tripled in four years, when sales topped $40 million.

Why I moved my startup from San Francisco to San Diego | TechCrunch

March 29, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

San Francisco has long been hailed the home of the tech startup — the place to be for entrepreneurs looking to lay the foundation for the next big thing. As a mobile app platform with high aspirations, we joined the mix, sharing an area code for four years with the lauded engineers of Silicon Valley and inserting ourselves into the supposed center of the tech world. It seemed like the best possible move.

And for a while, it was.

A Lamborghini driving into floodwaters just taught us all an important lesson | Mashable

January 7, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When I found this video of someone driving their Lamborghini through floodwaters in San Diego, I assumed it would go poorly. Even as the video began to play, I was already saying aloud to myself, “You’re doing it wrong.”

Turns out, though, I was the one who was wrong. That’s because that Lamborghini Huracan drove through the water like a boss (or like a Jeep — you choose).