Spar has won the global Convenience Retailer of the Year 2009 competition, which was awarded on last week in London. The success of Spar with the recently opened Hongtu Store in Dongguan City, China is the first time that the prestigious international award has been won by a store in China. The admissions for the award consisted of entries from leading international and local retailers across 4 continents. Spar’s Hongtu store has the emphasis on food-to-go items with a food island offering... ...Read more »

Sales of beef products have surged by as much as 20 per cent at the Australian outlets of fast-food giant McDonald’s following the release of two premium burgers. The two Angus beef burgers have met with such strong interest that they have helped push overall burger sales to new heights, according to McDonald’s Australia Senior Vice President and Director of Supply Chain, Jackie McArthur. Accompanied by an estimated marketing spend of $10 million, the launch in late-August has been the... ...Read more »

National Foods has announced that CEO and Managing Director, Ashley Waugh, will resign in the wake of the confirmation of Kirin’s successful bid for Lion Nathan. Kirin, which owns National Foods, has reported that their Australian operations will be merged together under the name of Lion Nathan National Foods Pty Ltd with current Lion boss Rob Murray chosen to lead the combined entity. Mr Waugh has been with National Foods since January 2002, joining when National Foods acquired the King Island... ...Read more »

Michael White, Vice Chairman and PepsiCo International CEO, will retire from the beverage and snacks maker later this year after nearly two decades with the company.”Close to a year ago, Mike shared with me his interest in eventually moving on to ‘the next chapter’ of his life,” Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo Chairman and CEO, advised. “Since then we have been working together to ensure a smooth and orderly transition. Our current international structure reflects that planning,... ...Read more »

Goodman Fielder Chairman Max Ould has informed shareholders that the company remains set on a growth path despite facing significant headwinds in recent years. Mr Ould said private label, credit markets and commodity costs had caused concern for the largest publicly-listed food manufacturer in Australia but he was confident they would grow profits in the years ahead. “We have had to deal with very high commodity costs over the last couple of years which have added over $350 million to our cost... ...Read more »

New research from Wegmans Food Markets – an American grocery chain – has shone light on the key issues that families face when deciding on the right meal for dinner. “Feeding the family is a big job and our customers deserve all the help we can give them in making that job a little easier,” said Jo Natale, Wegmans director of media relations. “In doing our research, we tried to listen with both ears. For example, we think customers are telling us two things when they... ...Read more »

The ACCC agreement with Coles and Woolworths to get rid of restrictive shopping centre leases has been welcomed by leading industry players as a step toward a more competitive grocery sector. Outlined below are the reactions of prominent players: ACCC “This is a major breakthrough for grocery competition in Australia,” ACCC chairman, Graeme Samuel, said. “Reducing the barriers to entry for new and expanding players opens the possibility for Australian consumers to have greater choices in where... ...Read more »

The competition watchdog has reached agreement with Coles and Woolworths to phase out all restrictive provisions in supermarket leases. Both companies have agreed that they will not include restrictive provisions in any new supermarket leases, and in the case of existing supermarket leases, they will not enforce restrictive provisions five years after commencement of trading. This phasing out in the case of current leases takes account of commercial arrangements and rental contracts already in place,... ...Read more »

One of the world’s largest tortilla producers is opening a new factory in Melbourne to boost their Australian manufacturing operations. The factory, in the suburb of Epping in Melbourne’s north, will create 470 jobs. “Mission Foods produce over 25 per cent of the world’s tortillas and have chosen to set up its manufacturing and logistics hub in Victoria,” Premier John Brumby said, welcoming their arrival. “Mission Foods exports to 50 countries worldwide and having... ...Read more »

Coca-Cola remains the No. 1 brand for the ninth year in a row, according to BusinessWeek and Interbrand’s annual ranking of the “Best Global Brands”. Coca-Cola has been positioned at the top for the entire nine years the research has been carried out. A number of other food and beverage brands were seen to prosper during a year in which many brands lost value. Heinz, Wrigley, Kellogg’s, Nestlé and Danone were among the big risers as consumers faith in food and beverage brands... ...Read more »