SUPERMARKETS – AUSTRALIA

Sexting with manager not harassment but baker loses job

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Nov-17

The Fair Work Commission has dismissed an unfair dismissal claim made against Coles by one of its bakers. The supermarket operator had sacked Jay Higgins after his manager had complained about sexually explicit pictures that Higgins had sent to him. Coles dismissed him on the grounds of sexual harassment and serious misconduct. The Commission found that sending the pictures did not amount to sexual harassment, but that Higgins had breached Coles’ codes of conduct in regard to respect and dignity.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Wesfarmers’ Scott eyes the long game

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 24 : 26-Oct-17

Grocery giant Coles has reported an 0.3 per cent decline in sales for the September quarter, to $A9.4bn. Same-store food and liquor sales increased by just 0.4 per cent, down from 0.7 per cent growth in the previous three months and well below the forecasts of some analysts. Wesfarmers’ incoming MD Rob Scott remains upbeat about the outlook for Coles, forecasting that it will return to sales growth in the second half of 2017-18. Meanwhile, Kmart has reported same-store sales growth of 4.9 per cent, but Target has posted a 6.4 per cent decline.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, VIVA ENERGY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Kaufland bid a shock to industry veteran

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 10-Oct-17

Businessman Roger Drake says Australia’s supermarket sector is the most competitive it has been in four decades. Competition is set to intensify with confirmation that Kaufland will enter the local market. It recently paid $A25m for a 3.6-hectare site in Adelaide, and Drake says he had expected the German group’s first store to be in Sydney or Melbourne. Drake notes that independent greengrocers appear to have been hit harder by Aldi’s entry to the South Australian market than the Foodland stores that he owns in the state.

CORPORATES
KAUFLAND STIFTUNG & CO KG, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DRAKE FOODMARKETS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, CBRE PTY LTD

Foodland leads supermarket satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that customer satisfaction with Foodland in August 2017 was 94.4%, making it the top performer among the big five supermarkets. Foodland was also one of only two supermarkets to increase satisfaction over the last year, with an increase of 0.6% points. Roy Morgan’s "Retail Satisfaction Report-Supermarkets" also shows that both Foodland and Aldi (92.3%), lead Woolworths (90.0%) and Coles (88.4%) in terms of customer satisfaction. IGA is further behind on 84.7%. Meanwhile, of the two major supermarkets, Woolworths main shoppers spend 70.9% with them, compared to Coles main shoppers who spend 67.4% with Coles. Foodland shoppers are narrowly ahead with 71.0% spent at Foodland. Aldi is well behind the other four supermarkets, with only a 55.5% share of their customers spend. Over the last 12 months, IGA showed the biggest improvement in the share of their customers spend (up 4.7% points), followed by Coles (up 2.9% points) and Foodland (up 1.8% points). Those showing declines were Aldi down 3.1% points and Woolworths (down 0.5% points).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, IGA

Minimum-wage sting in Coles penalties deal

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 19-Sep-17

A draft enterprise agreement between Coles and the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ ­Association is intended to guarantee that all employees will be paid more than the award rate for the retail industry. If the deal is approved, permanent ­employees who work at night and on weekends will receive award-level penalty rates, as well as the full $A22.10-per-week increase in the minimum wage. However, employees who work solely on weekdays and are now paid above-award rates will receive only 50 per cent of the minimum wage rise.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

Woolies’ abattoir gets the chop

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Original article by Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 31-Aug-17

The imminent closure of the Churchill Abattoir in Queensland has been attributed to factors such as rising cattle prices and a shortage of cattle to process. Some 500 jobs will be lost when the facility at Ipswich closes in late September. The abattoir processes about 20 per cent of the beef that is sold in Woolworths’ stores, forcing the major retailer to seek a new supplier. Woolworths buys about 600,000 head of cattle each year, with between 9,000 and 12,000 being processed each week for sale across its store network.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, CHURCHILL ABATTOIR, JBS DINMORE, TEYS BROS (HOLDINGS) PTY LTD, CARGILL AUSTRALIA LIMITED, OAKEY BEEF, STANBROKE BEEF, THOMAS FOODS, AUSTRALIAN MEAT INDUSTRY COUNCIL

Price check: food and groceries

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Aug-17

Richard Aedy, the host of ABC Radio National’s "The Money" program, examines the challenges facing Australian supermarkets and the way the sector is responding to changing consumer trends. His guests are Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine, Small Business & Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell, SupermarketGuru.com’s Phil Lempert, CHOICE lifestyle editor Kate Brown and data scientist Cathy O’Neil. They discuss issues such as the growth of Aldi in Australia, supermarkets’ growing use of private-label products, the entry of Amazon to the local market and the future of shopping.

CORPORATES
RADIO NATIONAL, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, SUPERMARKETGURU.COM, CHOICE

Woolies back in the retail race

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 24-Aug-17

Retail giant Woolworths has posted a 2016-17 net profit of $A1.533bn, following an impairment-marred loss of $A1.234bn for 2016-17. Net profit from continuing operations was down 3.6 per cent at $A1.422bn, but revenue was 3.7 per cent higher at $A55.47bn. Woolworths’ core supermarkets division recorded 4.5 per cent growth in food sales, to $A36.37bn, while the struggling Big W business recorded an EBIT loss of $A150.5m and a 5.6 per cent decline in sales.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, EZIBUY, LOWE’S COMPANIES INCORPORATED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, VERTIUM ASSET MANAGEMENT

Coles ends bargaining over weekend rates

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 5-Jul-17

Grocery retailer Coles has opened negotiations with unions for a new two-year enterprise bargaining agreement. Coles has indicated that the new EBA will be based on the minimum employment conditions in the relevant industrial award. The Fair Work Commission terminated the existing EBA in 2016, as it included lower weekend penalty rates in return for higher base pay rates. Coles has advised that all employees will be paid at least the award rate at all times under the new EBA.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, THE AUSTRALASIAN MEAT INDUSTRY EMPLOYEES’ UNION, RETAIL AND FAST FOOD WORKERS’ UNION, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED

Aldi hits new high in supermarket wars

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 18-May-17

The latest Supermarket Currency report from Roy Morgan Research shows that Australia’s grocery buyers spent $90.3 billion at supermarkets during the 12 months to March 2017. Of that, $32.2 billion was spent at Woolworths (35.7 per cent of the market, down from 36.3 per cent in the year to September 2016) and $30.0 billion at Coles (33.2 per cent, unchanged). Aldi claimed $11.9 billion of grocery buyers’ expenditure during the year (13.2 per cent, up from 12.5 per cent), stretching its lead over IGA, which fell to $8.4 billion (9.3 per cent, down from 9.8 per cent). The combined share of other supermarkets rose from 8.1 per cent to 8.6 per cent, or $7.8 billion.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, IGA