Fonterra announced this week that cheddar cheese would be offered for sale on its globalDairyTrade electronic trading platform from the 19 July event. The addition will expand the range of products available on the platform to seven, including Whole Milk Powder, Skim Milk Powder, Butter Milk Powder and Anhydrous Milk Fat. Fonterra will begin offering Milk Protein Concentrate and Rennet Casein from the 17 May event. Ian Palliser, Director of Optimisation, Trading and Sourcing, said adding cheese was... ...Read more »

The proportion of grocery products sold on promotion in the UK has hit an “all time high”, according to the latest data from research firm Nielsen. UK grocery sales witnessed a “dramatic” slowdown in March prompting the sector to employ “powerful” promotions in order to maintain sales, Nielsen claimed yesterday. “Shoppers are responding well to powerful promotions and we are seeing 40% of all sales now on promotion – an all time high,” senior... ...Read more »

General Mills yesterday booked a 1% increase in year-to-date earnings and sales and insisted that it expects growth to accelerate in the final quarter of the year.For the first nine months of fiscal 2011, General Mills said net sales increased to US$11.24bn, with a 2% rise in volumes slightly offset by a 1% dip in price realisation and mix. Foreign exchange had “no material effect” on sales, the company added. Segment operating profit totalled $2.27bn, also up 1% on last year’s... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest café group The Coffee Club has finalised its 2010 financial year results, announcing a 16.6% increase in sales, taking global sales to $264 million for the year. The company attributed its strong Australian performance – almost 32% growth in annual profits – to streamlined business operations and strong consumer demand. The company also described its operations in as perfoming “exceptionally well”, with 300% sales growth for 2010, fuelled by the opening... ...Read more »

New Zealand dairy co-operative Fonterra has today reported a net profit after tax of NZ$293 million, or 21c per share, for the six months to 31 January 2011, marking the first time Fonterra has reported a profit for the half year. The dairy co-operative said strong international dairy markets were supporting 2010/11 results, which they said is shaping up as one of Fonterra’s best years ever in terms of returns to its farmer shareholders. Announcing the Co-operative’s financial results for the... ...Read more »

Costco recorded a rise in second-quarter net income as the US warehouse club’s results were boosted by strong sales and higher gas prices. The chain said yesterday that net income rose 16% to reach US$348m for the quarter ended 13 February, while net sales rose 11.4% to $20.45bn. Excluding the impact of inflation in gas prices and stronger foreign currencies, comparable sales were up 4% on a consolidated basis. Sales were up 3% in the US and 8% in its international division. For the first half,... ...Read more »

Woolworths Ltd has once again played down speculation that its chief executive Michael Luscombe is preparing to stand down from his post.Reports have dogged Woolworths over the past month that Luscombe is looking to retire. In an interview at the beginning of February, Luscombe noted that “all of us will retire at some time”. The comment sparked speculation that the Woolworths MD and CEO will stand aside, particularly given the mounting pressure that the supermarket operator is coming... ...Read more »

Wesfarmers has seen earnings in its its food retail division rise as it works to implement its turnaround strategy. Coles said that for the half ended 2 January, EBIT was up 18.3% to $575 million , while revenue grew 5.9% to $16.06 billion. Wesfarmers’ food and liquor division recorded a 22.1% rise in EBIT to $12.8 billion. Comparable-store sales were up 6.4%. Revenue from Wesfarmers’ convenience division grew 3.9% to $3.2 billion, with comparable-store sales growth slowing to 1.5%... ...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 »

Wesfarmers released its second-quarter figures for Coles yesterday, reporting comparable food and liquor store sales growth of 6.6% in Q2, and food and liquor sales of $7 billion – a 6.7% increase on Q2 last year. The company’s Q2 results for last year included sales figures for the 22 Coles supermarkets which have now been transferred to Foodworks, which the company said will continue to dampen comparisons between year-to-year sales growth until the third quarter of 2011. Total figures... ...Read more »