ASX-listed franchisor Allied Brands has entered into a ten year Licence Agreement to launch the Cookie Man brand in Cyprus with a local operator. The license agreement will help underpin their forecast for FY10 of NPBT (net profit before tax) of $6.6 – $7.2m as outlined at the AGM on November 30, the company said. It will see Allied Brand’s receive an up-front License Fee and on-going supply of products (cookies, coffee and giftware) and ovens for the Cyprus market. Allied Brands CEO... ...Read more »

Supermarket chain Aldi has opened a $145 million Warehouse and Distribution Centre in Prestons, western Sydney, providing a key plank in their expansion plans. “The 56,000 square metre Prestons Warehouse and Distribution Centre is one of the largest ALDI facilities in the world and it will support the addition of another 80 Aldi stores to the current network of 85 stores in New South Wales,” David Zalunardo, Managing Director Prestons Region, said. “Importantly it will help support... ...Read more »

ASX-listed pizza chain Domino’s announced yesterday at its Annual General Meeting that group same store sales are in line with expectations and the company re-affirmed its Full Year 2010 guidance of profit growth between 10% – 15%. Domino’s Chief Executive Officer Don Meij said both the European and the Australian and New Zealand markets were experiencing strong momentum. “We have experienced strong earnings during the first four months of the 2009/2010 Financial Year in line... ...Read more »

Publicly listed pizza chain, Domino’s, has announced plans to boost the number of franchise outlets in the “under- penetrated” cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Domino’s CEO Don Meij advised that the Melbourne metro area made sense from a market size point of view. “We’re just really under-penetrated in Melbourne and Sydney overall, the two biggest capital cities,” he said. “Our home, Brisbane – we’ve got every bit of it covered – and... ...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 »

Discount grocer Aldi has suggested that Western Australia is not in their short-medium term plans after announcing expansion plans earlier this week. The German-owned retailer launched its first television campaign in Australia on Wednesday and outlined plans for a future national store network of up to 700 – or over three times current levels. Aldi indicated western expansion was likely for the first time this week, when saying they would expand to Adelaide at some point – although they... ...Read more »

The representative of over 1,270 independent IGA retailers has announced a new deal with their leading supplier, Metcash, to share the proceeds of growth and major expansion projects. The IGA National Council announced the deal today, with Metcash – the owner of the IGA brand – to share equally in the $10‐20 million worth of expected annual improvements in profits to be generated through the expansion of the IGA chain, refurbishments of stores, brand compliance, and improvements in... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest supermarket chain will continue the rollout of their upmarket Thomas Dux Grocer outlets, after announcing the purchase of up to nine store leases from Macro Wholefoods in NSW and Victoria. The deal also includes the purchase of Macro’s organic private label brand. Woolworths launched Thomas Dux, an upmarket grocery store, in April last year and currently operates two stores in Sydney -  Paddington and Lane Cove. The arrangement* will see the eight existing Macro stores... ...Read more »

Fonterra, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, has temporarily shelved plans to spend $10 million upgrading its Wynyard cheese factory in northern Tasmania. The decision has come in response to concerns about the economic environment, although Fonterra’s MD, Bruce Donnison, remains confident of a turnaround in dairy fortunes in the future. “This recent crisis that we’re in around credit, and the demand drop off as a result, is definitely reflecting on our farmers and how they... ...Read more »

German-owned discount supermarket chain Aldi, which now has over 200 outlets in Australia, is continuing an aggressive store roll-out. The company is currently building new distribution centres in Sydney and Melbourne to cope with the expected expansion, allowing it to double its impact on the Australian grocery market, according to The Australian. The new warehouses in Sydney and Melbourne will be built over the next three years at a total cost of $500m, enabling the company to cater for 460 stores.... ...Read more »