Davies Bakery Ltd is conducting a recall of its Bakers Life Multigrain Sandwich Sliced Bread. The bakery has said that some of the bread may be contaminated with fragments of plastic. The product in question, sold exclusively in Aldi’s Victorian-based stores, comes in brown and white plastic packaging and weighs 650g. Davies Bakery Ltd is recalling all loaves with a Best Before date of 12 October 2011 (today). Davies Bakery Ltd said, “Food products containing plastic may cause injury if consumed.... ...Read more »

Aldi has won its Federal Court case against ePAL, which has been found liable for misleading and deceptive conduct under the Competition and Consumer Act. The case related to the fact that the ePAL payment system is changing for Eftpos from 1 October 2011. From that date, a bigger share of the Eftpos payment will flow to owners of ePAL itself. Under the new ePAL system, the retailer’s bank will have to pay an “interchange fee” of up to 15c to the shopper’s bank. The ePAL... ...Read more »

For the first, the National Heart Foundation has given an Australian supermarket group the Heart Tick endorsement an Australian retailer for an exclusive range of products. ALDI is launching a range of exclusive-brand products that will display the National Heart Foundation Tick, said the company in a statement issued August 10 2011. Over 100 food items will display the Heart Tick by the end of 2011, with ALDI working with its suppliers to reformulate other products. The company is aiming to have... ...Read more »

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted court enforceable undertakings from Aldi Foods Pty Ltd and Spring Gully Foods Pty Ltd in relation to misleading claims about the composition of Aldi’s ‘Just Organic’ honey. ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell said, “Consumers expect products to match the description on the label. In this case, consumers expected premium honey sourced from Kangaroo Island.” The ‘Just Organic’ honey label affixed... ...Read more »

Many of Australia’s supermarkets are moving towards private label groceries, but while consumers are interested, the price drop may be hurting retailers in the long run, according to new research by Nielsen’s Homescan panel. Private label products grew slightly in the last six months, going from 24.5% to 24.7% of total groceries over two quarters. However, this quarter saw the average spend on private label drop by $5.79 – down from $208.03 in the December quarter to $202.24 in... ...Read more »

The Roy Morgan February Supermarket Satisfaction Report has shown an underwhelming month of satisfaction results at all four of the major supermarkets, with none showing an increase. Aldi’s impressive run of recent increases in customer satisfaction was put on hold and Woolworth’s satisfaction has stabilised after three consecutive months of decline. However, both Coles and IGA lost ground after their recent notable satisfaction gains. Among Aldi customers, 94.5% were satisfied, followed by IGA... ...Read more »

The big brands on supermarket shelves are under increasing pressure as Asia-Pacific consumers have indicated they will continue to choose own-brand consumer packaged goods, even when finances are not so tight. Spend on private label across Asia-Pacific countries will increase to reach $24.65 billion for food, $11.17 billion for non-alcoholic drinks, $580 million for alcoholic beverages and $370 million for household care products by 2014, according to consumer research group Datamonitor. The group’s... ...Read more »

Sales of Fairtrade products have bucked the recession in the UK, rising by 40% and topping the GBP 1 billion mark for the first time.As it launched Fairtrade Fortnight, the Fairtrade Foundation reported that sales of Fairtrade products rose by 40% in 2010 to an estimated retail value of GBP1.17bn. The organisation said it demonstrated that UK shoppers are continuing to show their ethical values despite the tough times. “It is fantastic to break the first billion,” Fairtrade Foundation... ...Read more »

The Australian senate has announced an inquiry into the ongoing price war between the country’s major supermarket chains.The price war, which began around Australia Day (26 January), when Coles dropped the price of milk to A$1 (US$1) a litre. Woolworths Ltd, Aldi and Franklins have quickly followed Coles’ lead. The senate inquiry will consider whether the behaviour of the leading supermarkets’ anti-competitive and whether the price reductions will have a negative impact on dairy... ...Read more »

Australia continues to be one of the world’s fastest growing markets for Fairtrade Certified products with sales tripling in just 12 months to over $120 million in 2010, Fairtrade Australia & New Zealand (Fairtrade ANZ) announced today. Fairtrade ANZ CEO Stephen Knapp said the outstanding sales growth was matched by a significant jump in Australian consumer awareness of the Fairtrade Label – rising from 23% in September 2009 to 37% in November 2010 (Mobium Group 2010). “Across the country,... ...Read more »