BUSINESS BRIEFS
Whole Foods makes debut on Maui
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Whole Foods Market opened its doors in Kahului yesterday, the second of three stores it has planned for the Islands.
Morning festivities kicked off with Whole Foods' traditional bread-breaking ceremony, and food and product samples by local vendors as well as demonstrations.
The 26,366-square-foot store follows the opening of the first Hawai'i Whole Foods at Kahala Mall on O'ahu in September 2008. A 40,000-square-foot store in Kailua is expected to open in fall 2011.
'AIEA COMPANY PLANS TENN. REFINERY
ClearFuels Technology Inc., an 'Aiea firm developing biomass-to-energy facilities, has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a biorefinery with Hughes Hardwood of Tennessee.
The agreement calls for conversion of 1,000 tons of wood product per day into renewable diesel or jet fuel at a plant in Collinwood, Tenn., according to the Tennessee state government Web site.
The $200 million plant will be capable of producing 16 million gallons of diesel and 4 million gallons of gasoline feedstock naptha each year along with up to 8 megawatts of excess electricity.
ISLE FIRM SELLS AD TECHNOLOGY TO DISNEY
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is among the first companies to buy a new advertising technology from Sprout, a firm with headquarters in Honolulu and San Francisco.
Sprout said its new Engage platform will allow companies to run online display ads that allow people to interact with the advertising and share the results with friends. Disney, for example, has created an ad for its upcoming "Alice In Wonderland" release that allows people to take webcam snapshots and upload them into ads that then can be shared.
Another company, Jones Soda, allows people to personalize soda labels. It is using Sprout's new offering to allow people to personalize soda labels in online ads.