Company briefs: ByteDance

TikTok, the video-sharing app owned by China's ByteDance, said it is stepping up tools to support users facing mental health issues, including redirecting potentially distressed users to suicide prevention or eating disorder resources. When users search the app for terms like "suicide", TikTok will point them to local support organisations such as the Crisis Text Line to find treatment, the company said on Tuesday in a blog post. TikTok also plans to promote videos of content creators talking about their mental health challenges and will offer advice on how to talk to loved ones about these issues.

BLOOMBERG

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Miniso Group

Chinese retailer Miniso Group will open a "flagship" New York store and nearly double the number of its US outlets this year, betting that post-pandemic shoppers on a budget will snap up cheap but fun goods for homes and work like US$10 (S$13.40) soft toy cats and US$4 staplers shaped like avocados.

Miniso, which has less than 60 outlets in the US, says it is moving quickly to take advantage of lower rents in the pandemic-hit US economy, and Mr Vincent Huang, a company vice-president responsible for overseas business, said he ultimately sees potential for "thousands" of US stores.

REUTERS

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Olam International

Olam International's unit Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) has confirmed plans to develop a new dairy processing facility in Tokoroa, New Zealand.

The first stage of this investment development is expected to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2023, which the company said is in time for "New Zealand's peak season". Olam said the Tokoroa plant will become part of a global network that spans 20 major milk consumption markets that include South-east Asia, China, the Middle East and Africa.

THE BUSINESS TIMES