Tag: feature

Flower Power For The Win: The Interflora Story

Post author By Newsdesk
Post date 31 March 2023
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Exclusive feature by columnist Riccha Grrover for Asian Lite International

The world of Interflora with an unfeigned passion for flowers and a rich, 99-year-long legacy in luxury flower gifting, they are the World’s largest and most experienced award-winning floral gifting and decor brand.

With time, Interflora has revolutionized the floral landscape of luxury gifting, weddings and events through signature flower bouquets, unmatched quality, and sheer exquisiteness in show-stopping floral collections. With a network of over 58,000 florists across the globe, and a presence in 150+ countries, they have managed to build a clientele that trusts them when it comes to creating unforgettable floral experiences.

Of Legacy & Lasting Impressions

Originating in America in 1923, with its headquarters in the UK, the brand started off by taking flower delivery orders via telegram. Apart from being ahead of their times; they adhere to international global standards and keep up with fashion seasons to create an exquisite appeal.

For about a hundred years now, Interflora has been delighted to successfully navigate the intersection between fashion and florals, to combine top-end design and flower quality and leave a lasting impression on its recipients.

It’s only been 5 years since they have entered the Indian terrain(2017), and yet, they have gained prominence like no other!

Interflora brings together handcrafted experiences and state of the art technology. With a keen focus on design and quality, Interflora India in particular, has built an in-house team of over 180 internationally-trained designers across 100 dark stores, and a network of over 200 farmers along with a robust logistics team that ensures fresh, handcrafted flowers are delivered right on time across 25+ cities in the country.

Every day, thousands of people count on them to convey their heartfelt messages along with their flowers that are curated to perfection by their in-house team of internationally trained designers. They report a returning customer rate of 25% and 350 average orders daily.

With collaborations with the likes of celebrated floral designers like Preston Bailey, Jeff Letham, Tomas De Bruyne, Karen Tran, Neil Wittekar and more with us, they live up to the promise of turning their patron’s floral dreams and vision into reality!

Iconic Milestones

Known globally as ‘The Flower Experts’, Interflora has designed and executed iconic floral décor for some of the biggest weddings and high-end luxury events in India. These have included decor for the likes of Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, Kiara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra, Karan Johar and more. Interflora works closely with clients to create a vision that will leave a lasting impression in their memory as well as their guests.

While their hand-delivered artisan arrangements and handcrafted floral decor continues to be their pride, they are delighted to venture into enabling clientele with more. At Interflora, they believe flowers are a lifestyle – whether it’s because of their vivid colors or their charming fragrance, there’s too much beauty and goodness in their petals to limit their use. Thus, as an extension of their brand, Interflora now houses a beautiful range of floral perfumes, teas, diffusers, candles and chocolates too. In this way, they hope that their valued patrons can enjoy life’s beauty with a touch of floral luxury!

Meet Anuja Joshi, Founder at Interflora, India

Anuja Joshi, an educationist turned entrepreneur has always been a go-getter! From setting up and running an IB school in Pune, Maharashtra, to heading a large, successful gifting solutions company, she has successfully worn many hats.

As Anuja traveled across the globe for work, she came across Interflora, a luxurious floral gifting brand, which sowed the seed of a new business venture. Identifying a huge gap in the floral gifting and luxury décor landscape in India,

Spearheading the India chapter for the legacy brand since then, she has been at the forefront of changing the way India experiences premium floral gifting & has conceptualized and produced floral décor for some of the largest weddings and social events for the Jindals, Gucci, Dior, Sonam Babbani, House Of Misu, Anamika Khanna, Ali Fazal & Richa Chadha and many more; filling the gap in the market for luxury floral solutions.

Being a visionary, Anuja has ensured that the company is powered by a seamless backend set up that ensures international standards of design, quality, right on time deliveries, while minimizing wastage, which makes them a unique category player unlike any other.

Under her able leadership, the business has grown by volumes, and Anuja has truly revolutionized the way patrons look at making memorable, tasteful statements.

As a responsible, conscious business owner, she is also focused on growing the sustainable practices at Interflora India across waste management & reduction, repurposing of flowers and reducing dependency on imports via educating local growers as well as setting up cold chain solutions.

ALSO READ: Karigari- Ek Ahsaas: A Journey Of Taste

Tags feature, Floral Gifting and Decor, Interflora

FEATURE Health Woman

Diets that don’t work for women

Post author By Newsdesk
Post date 19 March 2022
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Whether we want to accept it or not, biologically men and women are very different. One of the important differences is in the way men and women use and store fat. Men on average have about 3 per cent essential fat as part of their composition – women have 12 per cent…reports Asian Lite News

Essential fat is a percentage of total body fat mass that is necessary for insulation, protection of our vital organs, vitamin storage and building key cell messengers like steroids that are necessary for effective cell communication. Without this fat, the body does not function properly and our immune and neurological systems get affected.

Women have four times as much essential fat. Stored fat in women is actually beneficial to overall health. A baseline of 12 per cent of essential fat protects women from type two diabetes and even heart disease. This is important to understand because:

It helps with expectations and goal setting when you choose weight loss programmes:

Striving for 20 per cent body fat is unhealthy

There are three popular diets in the world: Keto Diet, Intermittent Fasting, and GM Diet. Unfortunately, these diets are not helpful especially for women who are thinking of significant weight loss (more than 15-20 kgs) and maintaining it permanently.

Let’s look at these diet plans in detail:

Keto Diet: The ketogenic diet is a low carb, high-fat diet. Restricting carbs and increasing fat intake can lead to ketosis, a metabolic state in which your body relies primarily on fat for energy instead of carbs. “Women’s bodies always resist losing fat as it is essential for pregnancy and lactation, and it’s essential.”

Carb intake in the keto diet is typically limited to fewer than 50 grams per day, which can cause shock to women’s bodies. When the carb quotient depletes, it switches to ketones and fat for fuel at the start of this eating pattern, women’s brain and metabolism starts resisting fat loss. It results in a complete imbalance leading to hormonal and metabolic changes. Also, Keto-type diets usually work only for a short term and can have side effects such as headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and constipation.

Further, most of the initial weight loss is water weight. Once the body enters ketosis, we begin to lose muscle, become extremely fatigued, and eventually enter starvation mode which actually makes it even harder to lose weight.

ALSO READ: Prolonged sitting leads to health issues

A keto diet does more harm than good to the majority of women especially if they have any underlying medical conditions like PCOS, Irregular menses or Infertility.

Intermittent Fasting: Fasting is a practice that involves completely abstaining from eating or avoiding certain foods for a fixed period. In recent years, intermittent fasting has become increasingly popular with people looking to lose weight.

During studies, it was found that although intermittent fasting produced favourable results in people who were overweight or obese, women who tried it, had the following negative effects:

Severe mood swings

Extreme hunger

Low energy/fatigue

Obsessive thoughts about food

Overeating on days without restricted calories

Depression

Anger

Most women exhibit such behaviours in the first few weeks of intermittent fasting. It is also observed that by restricting calorie intake in this manner, it may interfere with their menstrual cycles.

GM Diet: The GM diet aims to help people lose weight by focusing on a specific food or food group each day for a week. The GM diet consists of a 7-day meal plan. Each day focuses on a specific food or food group.

Jaguar Land Rover gives second life to I-PACE batteries

Post author By Newsdesk
Post date 19 March 2022
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JLR_Pramac_SecondLifeBattery_I-PACE_I-TYPE5

Jaguar Land Rover partners with Pramac to create zero-emissions charging unit using second-life Jaguar I-PACE batteries…reports Asian Lite News

Jaguar Land Rover has partnered with Pramac, a global leader in the energy sector, to develop a portable zero-emission energy storage unit powered by second-life Jaguar I-PACE batteries.

Called the Off Grid Battery Energy Storage System (ESS), Pramac’s technology – which features lithium-ion cells from Jaguar I-PACE batteries taken from prototype and engineering test vehicles, supplies zero-emission power where access to the mains supply is limited or unavailable.

The partnership is the first in Jaguar Land Rover’s plans to create new circular economy business models for its vehicle batteries. As part of its commitment to net zero status by 2039, the company will be launching programmes that deliver second life and beyond uses for its electric vehicle batteries.

Post-vehicle applications exist because Jaguar Land Rover’s batteries are engineered to the highest standards and can therefore be safely deployed in multiple low-energy situations once battery health falls below the stringent requirements of an electric vehicle. Second-life battery supply for stationary applications, like renewable energy storage, could exceed 200 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030, creating a global value over $30 billion*.

The flagship system has a capacity of up to 125kWh – more than enough to fully charge Jaguar’s multi-award-winning all-electric I-PACE performance SUV, or to power a regular family home for a week**. Pramac directly reuses up to 85% of the vehicle battery supplied by Jaguar Land Rover within the storage unit, including modules and wiring. The remaining materials are recycled back into the supply chain.

Charged from solar panels, the unit is a self-contained solution that consists of a battery system linked to a bi-directional converter and the associated control management systems. Available for commercial hire, the units are fitted with Type 2 Electric Vehicle (EV) charge connections with dynamic control and rated at up to 22kW AC to allow electric vehicle charging.

To showcase its capability, the unit helped Jaguar TCS Racing prepare for the 2022 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship during testing in the UK and Spain, where it was used to run the team’s cutting-edge diagnostic equipment analysing the race cars’ track performance, and to supply auxiliary power to the Jaguar pit garage.

An Off Grid Battery ESS will also be deployed at Jaguar Land Rover Experience Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa – the world’s biggest – to help the site cope with inconsistent power delivery from the mains.

ALSO READ: Jaguar and Baracuta join for ‘The New Classic Guide’

Andrew Whitworth, Battery Manager, Circular Economy Team at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “This announcement is a great example of how we will collaborate with industry leaders to deliver our sustainable future and achieve a truly circular economy. We’re delighted to be working with Pramac to use Jaguar I-PACE second-life batteries to provide portable zero-emissions power and supporting Jaguar TCS Racing this season was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate what these units are capable of.”

JLR_Pramac_SecondLifeBattery_Unit_

François Dossa, Executive Director for Strategy & Sustainability, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “The transition to an electric future, with Jaguar becoming all-electric from 2025 and the first all-electric Land Rover model expected in 2024, is integral to our sustainability strategy through the development of a comprehensive EV ecosystem from batteries to charging. This includes our effort to enable technical and business innovations for battery reuse for second life applications. Our collaboration with Pramac is a proof point in such direction, showing how it’s possible to supply zero-emission power through the combination of renewables and second life batteries. Through their testing at Valencia, the Jaguar TCS Racing team have shown how we can inspire the whole ecosystem to continue to explore synergies and validate viable solutions for clean energy.”

Danny Jones, Director, Pramac, said: “We have been privileged to work so closely with Jaguar Land Rover who are a hugely supportive partner in our journey to successfully build a robust product and a commercially viable business case using second-life EV modules. This brings a new element to the sustainability story as a manufacturer of energy efficient and carbon reducing technology. We look forward to continuing the journey with Jaguar Land Rover and providing innovative charging infrastructure solutions to support the electrification of their class-leading vehicles.”

Tags feature, JAGUAR, MOTORING

FEATURE India News News

Christie’s collaborates with Good Earth India

Post author By Newsdesk
Post date 19 March 2022
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Christie’s announces a collaboration with Founder and Creative Director of Good Earth India, Anita Lal for the upcoming Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including the Oriental Rugs and Carpets auction, taking place on 31 March…reports Asian Lite News

Good Earth is India’s leading luxury design house that celebrates the heritage of the Indian subcontinent and lands that lay on the ancient Silk Road, through unique design stories with a focus on sustainability and craft traditions. Anita Lal has selected her personal highlights from the upcoming sale some of which will be incorporated into three vignettes alongside selected pieces from Good Earth, as part of the view in King Street, London, open from 26 to 31 March.

Lal commented: “I am delighted to work with Christie’s on the Art of Islamic and Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs and Carpets auction and to have the opportunity to see these remarkable works of art which showcase the skill and craftsmanship over the centuries. The lots that I have selected have enchanted me. The opulent and sumptuous carpets and rugs; the inspirational designs and techniques and the noble provenance across the sale are a reminder of our rich cultural past. For me, the value lies only in an object’s visual and emotional appeal, and I treasure things from the smallest handmade ceramic vase to a grand sculpture or an antique carpet and I mix them all together. Islamic design vocabulary and craftsmanship has been a source of inspiration for many collections at Good Earth and we honour it by creating products rooted in this incredible artisanal heritage in a contemporary context.”

“This Kurdish rug instantly appeals as it reminds of vintage Kashmiri Kani shawls that have been passed down in my family. It is fascinating to see how ancient patterns were transmitted and reinterpreted, from shawls to carpets and even inlaid in stone. This bowl conveys beauty and strength, enhanced with fine craftsmanship that balances the overall design with the form of the bowl in perfection’. ‘Van Vaibhav means ‘splendour of the forest’ and is a leitmotif at Good Earth. Blossoming trees with birds and animals is a recurring theme in our designs interpreted so exquisitely in this carpet. There is an uplifting feeling of being one with nature with this Tabriz carpet,” says Lal.

She added: “I love the departure from tradition in this unique Millefleurs rug with its bountiful florals in pastel shades of pink, aqua, blue and leaf green. It transports me to an enchanting blossoming garden. The stylised floral butahs woven into this Agra carpet mirror the butahs carved in marble and inlayed with precious stones on the Taj Mahal in Agra and this is what makes it so unique for me. It tells the tale of precious brocades, carpets, shawls and jewellery produced in the royal Mughal workshops known as Karkhanas.

“Known for their love of extravagant luxury, the Mughals had an intrinsic sense of aesthetics and a desire for perfection, tempered with extreme refinement. The Pomegranate is an integral motif in Eastern cultures symbolizing fertility and abundance. This painting brings to mind our latest dinner collection inspired by the Bosporus and lands around it. Featuring deep ruby pomegranates in playful arrangements across bowls and plates it evokes gardens and promenades in a dreamlike world of wonder like this Qajar oil painting.

“Radha and Krishna on a terrace Pahari Hills, India, early 19th century. Painting and folio ‘The Pahari miniatures are the most lyrical and romantic Indian paintings. I love the perfect shades of golden yellows balanced with ivory of the dhurrie and of the blossoms along with hints of pale green and pink. It is a scene of harmony and quiet delight with nature at its most beautiful.”

ALSO READ: London to Shanghai: Finest dynamic art movements of 20th & 21st centuries

Behnaz Atighi Moghaddam, Specialist Islamic and Indian Art, and Head of Sale comments: “I have been enthused by Good Earth’s contemporary collections and design ethos since discovering them several years ago. I immediately recognised the strong symbiosis in their creativity along with the markers of the Indian and Islamic worlds which keeps the legacy of Indian heritage alive and present today. It also recognises the vitally important contribution that Indian and Islamic works of art over the centuries, represented in the Christie’s sale, have made to today’s artists and craftsmanship as seen at Good Earth.”

The Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs and Carpets comprises 211 lots in total, with striking examples of works of art across manuscripts, paintings, ceramics, metalwork and carpets dating from the 9th to 19th century, and with estimates ranging from 2,000 pounds to 2,500,000 pounds, with the sale being held on 31 March. The exhibition and view will take place at Christie’s King Street, from 26 March – 31 March.

Tags ART, feature, India