corporate bits | the venetian macao receives third iso certification

The Venetian Macao has received an ISO 22000:2005 certification for its food safety management system, a first for an integrated resort or hotel in Macau.

The certification covers storage, cooking, cooling and packaging of chilled food at the property’s central kitchen, which serves Sands China Ltd.’s food and beverage operations.

The gaming operator said in a press release that the certification is the property’s third ISO certification to date.

The Venetian Macao also holds an ISO 9001:2008 certification for the quality management system of its convention and exhibition services, and an ISO 20121 certification for its event sustainability management system.

As part of a family of standards overseen by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO 22000:2005 establishes the criteria for a company’s food safety management system. These include the organization’s ability to control safety hazards to ensure food is safe for human consumption.

The certification is awarded by the London-based British Standards Institution (BSI) Group.

Mobike wants its bicycles to cover 100 cities

China’s bike-sharing war will spread beyond the country this year with Mobike planning to more than triple its coverage to more than 100 cities globally before the end of 2017.

Mobike’s orange-hued bicycles have become a staple of Chinese sidewalks since it started formal operations last year. It’s attracted hundreds of millions of dollars from backers including Tencent Holdings Ltd., Warburg Pincus LLC, TPG Capital, Temasek Holdings Pte and Foxconn Technology Group. The startup will officially start services today in Singapore, its first non-Chinese location, where rival Ofo has also expanded.

Once the symbol of China’s working class, bicycles have become the latest battleground for global capitalists who are pouring money into apps that allow users to rent them in 30-minute increments. The advantage for clients is the ability to leave bikes wherever they’d like. Some of the largest providers in the nascent sector are already looking to expand overseas to gain scale, as the number of domestic players reaches saturation.

“This year our hope is to enter more than 100 cities,” said Hu Weiwei, a Mobike co-founder, adding they were currently in about 30 hubs around China. Much of that expansion will be domestic, but she said Mobike will also cover international cities beyond Singapore this year. It didn’t have a target for how many, Hu added.

Mobike has created a Singapore-specific model that obeys local safety regulations and will place the bikes at locations away from the city center to prevent congestion, she said.