Some of the world’s leading retailers and manufacturers in the consumer goods sector have united to create a global trade and industry body, which will develop common positions on key issues affecting the consumer goods industry. Named The Consumer Goods Forum, the range of members is a who’s who of the sector with combined sales of EUR 2.1 trillion (A$3.6 trillion). Manufacturers of the likes of Procter&Gamble, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Kraft join retail behemoths Wal-Mart,... ...Read more »

The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry (in the USA) performed significantly better than the rest of the market in 2008, as measured by the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Averages, besting both by at least ten points, according to a report released today by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). The study also found that CPG manufacturer median sales grew approximately 10 per cent last year, down just slightly from 2007 median sales figures. The... ...Read more »

As unemployment rose last year so did the incidence of alcohol and food theft, according to a Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research report released yesterday. The research, from New South Wales, discovered food shoplifting surged by 17 per cent last year as almost two cases were reported, on average, each day. Alcohol was first on the list for thieves, as retail shoplifting rose by 7.8 per cent. “It is a telling fact that in the last 12 months the types of items stolen from retail stores... ...Read more »

As the debate about local food and the concept of food miles heats up in Australia, new research from Mintel shows that “buying local” still has many fans to earn in America. According to Mintel’s exclusive consumer survey on local shopping, just one in six adults (17%) buy local products and services as often as possible. These ‘True Locals’ are willing to pay a higher price and they’ll even buy local if competitive products are better. This figure has been found... ...Read more »

Retailers in NSW are calling on the NSW Government to implement new measures to help reduce business costs and support jobs during the economic downturn. At the Jobs Summit in Sydney yesterday retailers prepared a wish list, which included: • Full deregulation of trading hours, similar to the ACT or the Tasmanian model; • Creating a single ‘can do’ contact point in the Premier’s office to facilitate retail investment in NSW; • Reducing red tape – drawing on the Victorian... ...Read more »

Retailers and consumer goods manufacturers are increasingly looking at ways to become more ‘consumer-centric’ as the importance of understanding buyer behaviour becomes more critical in light of the prevailing economic conditions. DemandTec, a provider of on-demand optimisation solutions for retailers and manufacturers, and Precima, an analytics firm that translates retail customer data into insights, this week released the findings of a survey measuring how retailers and consumer products... ...Read more »

Peak retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has supported the Rudd Government’s announcement of its $10.4 billion Economic Security Strategy including handouts and tax rebates for pensioners and other consumers to boost Christmas spend.ARA Executive Director Richard Evans said after successive months of stagnant and declining growth, Australia’s retail sector would welcome any stimulus boosting consumer confidence for a successful Christmas trading season. “Retailers... ...Read more »

New findings suggest that many customers concerned with the environment are not following through by purchasing environmentally friendly products. Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), a leading global provider of consumer, shopper, and market insights for consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, has revealed new findings from a study based on TNS’ Shades of Green Segmentation, which highlight distinct variations in buying behaviors even among those consumers who claim... ...Read more »

New research has established a number of methods to assist CPG companies prosper in spite of rising economic pressure and falling consumer demand, with important lessons for companies of all sizes. Top performers in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry achieved 3.6 per cent sales growth over and above category average while decreasing their sales costs as a percent of sales by 6.1 per cent over two years, according to the 2008 Customer and Channel Management Survey: Doing More with Less: Winning... ...Read more »

A leading academic and legal expert on food believes there is a growing body of evidence to indicate that the concept of “food miles” is badly flawed and might well breach Australia’s free trade obligations if ever it was introduced as a mandatory labelling requirement nationwide. Joe Lederman, Managing Principal of FoodLegal and Adjunct Professor of Food Law at Deakin University, advised that a growing number of supermarkets and restaurants in the UK were promoting the labelling... ...Read more »