Industry News

Carman’s Kitchen has named Nicola Richardson as its first externally appointed CEO. According to the business, Richardson brings close to 25 years of commercial leadership experience across some of Australia’s most respected food and beverage companies.  “Nicola stood out for her deep FMCG expertise, her track record of building brands and high-performing teams, and her genuine alignment with what makes Carman’s different: A founder-led, values-driven business,” it said in a LinkedIn post. Before joining the company, Richardson spent five years at Asahi Beverages, where she held several positions including commercial director and GM of retail and e-commerce. She was previously COO of Soulfresh and sales director at Lion. Carman’s Kitchen was founded by Carolyn Creswell and Manya van Aken in 1992 in Melbourne, Victoria. Creswell bought out her business partner and became the sole owner in 1994. The business specialises in muesli, muesli bars, granola, and nutritious snacks. It entered…

Ampol, in collaboration with Ausgrid and Kwetta, has formally unveiled AmpCharge electric vehicle (EV) charging at its dual Ampol Foodary M1 Wyong service stations. The M1 Wyong sites present a unique first for the AmpCharge network as the first to operate under a dynamic connection model, enabling substantially more charging capacity without requiring traditional fixed network augmentation works. Direct integration connecting Kwetta’s charging technology with Ausgrid’s network allows the site to adjust charging capacity in line with the demand required in near real time, helping deliver a fast and reliable charging experience for customers. This additionally enables the two sites to share network capacity during certain outage scenarios. The deployment of Kwetta technology is also an Ampol first in Australia, with their infrastructure already being utilised across 13 New Zealand public sites through the Ampol-owned Z Energy EV charging network. Located along Australia’s busiest inter-capital highway, the M1 Pacific Motorway,…

McDonald’s and Uber have targeted Australia as one of the 14 countries where their newly expanded McDelivery partnership will launch.  Uber has become the preferred delivery partner for orders placed on McDonald’s own app, with the two companies connecting to ‘My McDonald’s’ rewards points. Uber and McDonald’s first partnered in 2017, before expanding to 30 countries. Now, Australia joins the US, New Zealand, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK as participants. “McDelivery has grown into a global business of more than $20 billion a year. That growth reflects customers’ increasing desire for more ways to enjoy the McDonald’s food and beverages they love, whenever and wherever they choose,” said Mason Smoot, McDonald’s senior VP of global franchising and delivery.  “By building on our longstanding relationship with Uber, we’re making the customer experience even easier, more reliable and more rewarding, while continuing to give…

After two years of seemingly being everywhere on the NACS Show Expo floor, the pickle has been overtaken by another “P” word, protein. At this year’s NACS Show, it felt like you couldn’t turn around without seeing a booth that featured protein in some way. There were still a lot of pickle-flavored products on the Expo floor—including new ones like a pickle slushie, a Chamoy pickle gummy and a spicy dill pickle sausage (all were delicious, by the way!)— but the predominant theme was protein, protein, protein. Only one thing was in more booths— energy, not specifically related to the category, but related to overall excitement. The NACS Show was simply pulsing with energy, whether at receptions and networking events, the packed General Sessions and Education Sessions or on the Expo floor. Here are a few of the big trends seen and heard by the 25,572 attendees at this year’s…

Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) now displace 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, roughly 1.2 per cent of global oil consumption and more than five times the amount displaced five years ago. European clean transport and energy organisation T&E (Transport and Environment) has published a new analysis to commemorate the start of the latest UN Climate Change Conference, COP31, which starts in Antalya, Türkiye this week. Five years ago, at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, 24 countries and a group of leading car manufacturers committed to ending the era of fossil-fuel powered vehicles by 2040 “or earlier”.  In that time, the world has endured two energy crises and fluctuating ambition from carmakers. Despite this, new analysis from T&E shows that oil savings from EVs globally are up fivefold and are easily the single most effective way of cutting oil demand, improving energy security, and reducing emissions. “Right now the only winners in…

Trust, transparency and control take centre stage next year, according to new research from Euromonitor. Consumers are no longer placing full trust in brands, technology or the future itself. As uncertainty becomes a permanent feature of daily life, greater value is being placed on reliability, transparency and immediate proof of value. Euromonitor International’s Top Global Consumer Trends 2027 report finds consumers seeking greater control as uncertainty reshapes consumer behaviour. Drawing on insights from Passport, Euromonitor International’s AI-powered market intelligence platform, the report finds consumers looking for balance and control in a world they no longer expect to be certain. Across markets, consumers are placing greater value on reliability, transparency, community and immediate, tangible benefits. “Consumers are no longer simply buying products or services; they’re looking for confidence,” said Ali Angus, Head of Innovation at Euromonitor International. “Whether it’s trust in a brand, confidence in AI, belonging within a community or…