Australian supermarket Coles has announced that some popular Australian brands will among a list of 40 new products to be added to its ‘Down Down’ savings list. The latest ‘Down Down’ price reduction features some iconic brands, including Vegemite, Old El Paso, Milo and Kellogg’s Cornflakes. The latest ‘Down Down’ campaign will feature rock band Status Quo with a unique version of the song ‘Whatever You Want’. The popular brands will receive their own version of the song in the... ...Read more »

The Australian farming and manufacturing sectors have expressed growing concerns about Australia’s booming gas export industry. While the energy and mining sector is generating billions of dollars that are underpinning the strength of the Australian dollar, this has led to the so-called “2-tier economy” with economic dislocation or slowdown for other parts of the Australian economy outside the energy and minerals export industry. Difficulties for local food producers and manufacturers have... ...Read more »

Eight-five percent of respondents to a Nielsen global online survey say that rising food prices are impacting their choice of grocery purchases, with more than half (52%) stating higher prices are a major influence. But price is not the only consideration that weighs heavily on the minds of consumers when shopping for groceries. Health factors, product availability and in-store services are also important considerations. New findings from a Nielsen online survey of respondents from 56 countries around... ...Read more »

There are big legal risks for any food supplier who serves to maintain retail prices by arrangements with retailers.  This has been highlighted by a new legal action against a supplier this week. Australian manufacturer and wholesaler of essences for alcoholic products to homebrew shops nationwide, Edwards Essences Pty Ltd, has acknowledged that it engaged in resale price maintenance in undertakings that is has now provided to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Resale price... ...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 »

World food prices surged to a new historic peak in January, for the seventh consecutive month, according to the updated FAO Food Price Index, a commodity basket that regularly tracks monthly changes in global food prices. The Index averaged 231 points in January and was up 3.4 percent from December 2010. This is the highest level (both in real and nominal terms) since FAO started measuring food prices in 1990. Prices of all monitored commodity groups registered strong gains in January, except for... ...Read more »

Supermarket retailer Coles is using its market dominance to destabilise the whole of Australia’s food and grocery supply chain by cutting prices on essential daily items, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) said today. AFGC highlighted that Coles’ “Down, Down” campaign to heavily discount staple foods like bread and dairy products was designed to increase traffic in Coles supermarkets without considering the long-term, flow-on effects to farmers, industry and consumers. AFGC... ...Read more »

Unilever will increase its prices at a more “rapid rate” in 2011 as it continues to look to offset rising commodity costs, concerns over which hit the company’s share price yesterday (3 February). The UK group’s stock closed down 1.1% in London this afternoon despite a 26% increase in annual profits and accelerating underlying sales growth in the fourth quarter of 2010. However, rising commodity costs hit Unilever’s margins in the last three months of the year, which... ...Read more »

Cocoa prices have shot up as the president-elect of major cocoa-exporting nation Cote D’Ivoire announced an export ban amid political struggles in the country. Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of last November’s presidential election, announced a one-month suspension on exports of cocoa yesterday morning. He said that anyone not adhering to the ban would be considered to be “financing the illegitimate regime” of Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent Ivory Coast... ...Read more »

Fonterra announced today that it will increase its farmgate milk pirices for Victorian and Tasmanian farmer suppliers after a pricing review. The company will now offer farmers a further 8c per kg of fat, and 20c per kg of protein (13c per kg of milk solids). Fonterra’s National Milk Services Manager, Heather Stacy, said the increase reflects conditions in global dairy commodity markets where prices have held and then strengthened during December and January. “Whole milk powder is now trading... ...Read more »