SUPERMARKETS – AUSTRALIA

Woolworths needs to fix more than its Homebrands

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 30-Mar-16

Marketing Focus’s Barry Urquhart says Woolworths will need to market a change in branding for its entry-level private-label products in the same way it markets national brands. Woolworths intends to phase out the Homebrand name in favour of Essentials, in a bid to counter perceptions that the private-label products of rival grocery chains are of better quality. Melbourne Business School’s Mark Ritson says Woolworths should also seek to reposition its other private-label brands.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MARKETING FOCUS PTY LTD, MELBOURNE BUSINESS SCHOOL, PRINCIPALS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD

Woolworths turns back on Homebrand

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 29-Mar-16

Australian-listed Woolworths will drop the Homebrand name for its entry-level range of private label products. The branding will be phased out in favour of the similarly-priced Essentials brand, in order to counter the widely-held view that the generic products of rivals Coles and Aldi offer better quality. Homebrand was launched in 1983, and currently features a much broader range of products than the Essentials range. About $A1.4bn worth of Homebrand products are sold each year.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CAPILANO HONEY LIMITED – ASX CZZ, BEECHWORTH HONEY

Coles slammed over pay rorts

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Original article by Michael Owen
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Mar-16

Australia’s Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James has criticised Coles for failing to ensure that supermarket trolley collectors employed by sub-contractors were being paid their full wages. She says large companies can expect to be held accountable for wage exploitation in all levels of the supply chain. The FWO has successfully prosecuted two trolley collection businesses that underpaid staff in Adelaide. Coles has also agreed to provide the employees with substantial back pay.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, STARLINK OPERATIONS GROUP PTY LTD

Inside the blast zone: Foodland puts out the welcome mat for Aldi

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 2-Mar-16

Discount supermarket chain Aldi opened its first Adelaide stores in early 2016, and it will open another five during March. Foodland has been "extremely aggressive" in defending its market share in areas where Aldi has opened a store, according to CEO Con Sciacca. South Australia-based Foodland argues that it has more scope to reduce grocery prices at individual stores than national rivals Woolworths and Coles. Foodland’s market share in the state is just below that of Coles and Woolworths.

CORPORATES
FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Woolies turns to Saatchi for brand refresh

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 2-Feb-16

Andrew Hicks has been appointed as the director of marketing at Woolworths, a role he has held in an acting capacity since the resignation of chief marketing officer Tony Phillips in May 2015. Meanwhile, Woolworths has hired advertising agency M&C Saatchi to develop a new marketing campaign for its supermarkets business. Leo Burnett has been the retailer’s creative agency for the last two years, and was responsible for revamping the long-running Fresh Food People campaign. It also developed the not-so-successful Cheap Cheap campaign.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, M&C SAATCHI AGENCY PTY LTD, LEO BURNETT PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

ALDI ups ad spend as rivals cut back

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 1-Feb-16

Data from Nielsen’s Advertising Information Service shows that ALDI Australia increased its advertising budget from $A15m in 2014 to $A28.9m in 2015. In contrast, Coles and Woolworths reduced their advertising expenditure by 25 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively in 2015. ALDI has ramped up its metropolitan and regional TV advertising in recent years, and reduced its budget for newspaper advertising.

CORPORATES
ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

Woolworths struggles to hire CEO

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 : 22-Jan-16

An overseas candidate is likely to succeed Woolworths CEO Grant O’Brien, after no local executives expressed interest in the role. Woolworths is believed to have identified about five potential candidates from the UK, Europe and North America. Chairman Gordon Cairns had originally indicated that he aimed to install a new CEO by March 2016, but he has conceded that the selection process may take longer as overseas candidates are being interviewed in person rather than by video link.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Woolies, Coles and Aldi caught up in child labour scandal

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Original article by Sarah Danckert
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 15-Dec-15

Australian supermarket groups Coles, Woolworths and Aldi will review their supply chains after revealing that they source frozen prawns from a Thailand-based company that has been accused of using forced labour. It is also alleged that Thai Union uses child labour at a prawn peeling factory in the city of Samut Sakhon. Thai Union is one of the world’s largest seafood suppliers.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, THAI UNION FROZEN PRODUCTS PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED, INDEPENDENT GROCERS OF AUSTRALIA, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL, ASSOCIATED PRESS, THAILAND. DEPT OF FISHERIES, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION

Woolies sued over payments

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Original article by Sue Mitchell, Sarah Danckert
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Dec-15

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced legal proceedings against Woolworths, accusing the retailer of unconscionable conduct. The ACCC alleges that Woolworths contravened Australian consumer law when it demanded more than $A60 million in extra payments from suppliers in late 2014. The matter will be heard in the Federal Court.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COLES GROUP LIMITED

Coles MD says suppliers living on Treasure Island

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 9-Dec-15

Coles MD John Durkan has criticised global suppliers of brand-name groceries for charging excessive prices in Australia, a concern he first raised in 2008. He concedes that consumers must be expected to pay a reasonable price for groceries, but he says cost increases in Australia should not be higher than in other countries. Durkan adds that more consumers will switch to supermarkets’ private-label products if the cost of branded groceries keeps rising.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLES GROUP LIMITED, ARNOTT’S BISCUITS LIMITED, COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, SCHWEPPES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, AUSTRALIAN FOOD AND GROCERY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION