Senior executives in the food and beverage industry are hopeful of improved revenue and profitability in 2010 but believe strong growth will not be seen until 2011 and beyond, according to a recent survey conducted by advisory firm KPMG.The survey, which focused on the food and beverage industry specifically, discovered 72 per cent of respondents expect business conditions to improve in 2010, with 72 per cent also anticipating stronger revenue and 65 per cent expecting improved profitability. However,... ...Read more »

A NSW company has been linked to the recent Listeria food poisoning outbreak on Virgin Blue airlines flights that led to two pregnant women giving birth prematurely. NSW Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, said the case had been linked to GMI Food Wholesalers Pty Ltd, which trades as Australian Poultry and Food Wholesalers . “Results of thorough testing conducted by the Food Authority and Queensland authorities show that the Listeria bacteria came from a cooked, diced chicken product... ...Read more »

The notion of going green, buying organic, and sourcing free trade products is gathering momentum in Australia and around the world, but research released in Australia suggests the added expense remains a significant deterrent. Business information analysts IBISWorld decided to test the theory that sustainable grocery shopping was too expensive, revealing that, while the ‘organic’ food shopping basket was 70% more expensive, there are a host of cost-effective ‘green’ options. A... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest and only ASX-listed pizza maker, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, has today confirmed a 29.7% rise in Net Profit After Tax as online ordering and their new menu were well received by customers. Same Store Sales for the full year grew 4.6% over the corresponding period last year, and the company added 35 stores to their network. They now operate 776 stores, including 439 in Australia, 77 in New Zealand, 166 in France and Belgium and 94 in The Netherlands. “The successful... ...Read more »

Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, has begun displaying a carbon footprint label on their full fat, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk ranges as part of the company’s groundbreaking work to include carbon labels on all their private label goods. The retailer hopes to have the carbon footprint label on 500 products by the end of the year. The move to carbon footprint comes on the back of new independent consumer research which found that 50 per cent of customers surveyed now understand the correct... ...Read more »

The food and beverage market is a central player in consumer perceptions of sustainability and new research has established the motivation behind sustainable purchases by shoppers. A report by market research firms Packaged Facts and The Hartman Group, Consumers and Sustainability: Food and Beverage, has discovered that, when the consumption of sustainable foods is motivated by personal benefits, adoption mirrors a health and wellness progression in which consumers first consider the impacts of things... ...Read more »

Global sugar prices have skyrocketed to 28-year highs in recent weeks on supply shortage concerns and speculative momentum, leading to pressure on costs for manufacturers. A supply deficit in India due largely to low monsoonal rainfall has resulted in a rapid run down in world inventory levels, sparking the strongest price action seen in the market in almost three decades. Meanwhile, wet weather in Brazil has raised concerns that the industry may mill less cane and produce less sugar than previously... ...Read more »

Gone are the days when shoppers selected retailers based on convenience, merchandising, promotions and affordability, new research from America suggests, as shopper loyalty becomes a much more complex subject. When mortgage and financial markets weakened, and energy and food prices spiked, shoppers around the world flocked to cheaper retail outlets across almost every retail category. In Australia, this saw some of the smaller competitors in upmarket grocery space face difficulty as well as a few... ...Read more »

The NSW Government yesterday hosted a major business roundtable to help develop the State’s sustainable retail market, with Marks & Spencer – one of the overseas leaders in corporate social responsibility – providing insights into the quest for more sustainable retailing. Minister for State Development, Ian Macdonald, reported that up to 30 people, including representatives of the UK’s Marks & Spencer and a number of prominent Australian companies, attended the event. “This... ...Read more »

Updated 2:55pm Woolworths has no plans to expand the Thomas Dux brand to Adelaide just yet, despite newspaper reports indicating a national rollout was not too far away. The upmarket grocery subsidiary of Australia’s largest supermarket chain was launched in Sydney last year. It expanded beyond Australia’s most populous city for the first time via the purchase of Macro Wholefoods earlier this year – which will see their Sydney network of three doubled and the introduction of five... ...Read more »