Industry News

Chris Zappone July 17, 2012 The Age Drivers should brace for higher petrol prices in the weeks ahead amid renewed concerns oil prices may have been manipulated by reporting agencies in recent years. “Motorists in mainland capital cities should expect to see pump prices between $1.30-1.50 a litre rather than $1.15-$1.35 in (the) coming fortnight,” said CommSec chief economist Craig James late yesterday via Twitter. The forecast for higher prices comes after global growth worries had sent average petrol prices lower for nine weeks straight from $1.52 per litre on May 13 to $1.34 last week, according to data from the Australian Institute of Petroleum. Mr James said the current stability in the European debt crisis and hopes for stronger Chinese economic growth may underpin rising petrol prices in the weeks to come. Motorists are often left puzzled how fuel prices can shift uniformly 10 per cent in a day…

Sarah Michael news.com.au July 17, 2012 WHAT do soldiers, accountants and insurance brokers have in common? They’re the most engaged workers in Australia, according to a new study by global firm Right Management. The survey of 5330 Australian employees measured workers’ emotional and intellectual commitment to their job and to the success of their organisation. The industry with the highest engagement was the armed forces at 50.4 per cent, followed by insurance at 49.1 per cent and accountancy 48.5 per cent. Workers in biotechnology had the lowest engagement at 23.9 per cent, followed by the agriculture, hunting, forestry, fishing industry at 25.1 per cent and retail at 28.9 per cent. Right Management general manager Bridget Beattie said armed forces rated so high because they had strong leadership at a macro level. Accountants and insurance brokers rated well because of the type of work they do. “[Insurance brokers] have been busy,…

NACSonline 17 July 2012 The sandwich chain is printing saturated fat, sugar and sodium levels on its product labels. CHAPEL HILL, NC – While menu-labeling laws in New York and California have led to menu boards packed with calorie counts, sandwich chain Pret A Manger has begun adding far more detailed nutritional information, including saturated fat, sugar and sodium levels, to its product labels in stores and online, reports QSR.com. With stores in New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., the news source writes that Pret has included calorie counts on its labels for the past several years (even when not required to do so), but this new level of information is designed to provide greater transparency to consumers, according to Martin Bates, the company’s president of U.S. operations. “People are getting more discerning — and our customers are certainly getting more discerning — and they want to know more,” he…

BLAIR SPEEDY The Australian July 18, 2012 DEEP petrol discounts of up to 40c a litre are under threat, with the competition regulator launching an investigation into the fuel price wars estimated to save motorists about $400 million a year. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is seeking detailed information from Coles and Woolworths about their popular “shopper-docket” schemes. In 2007, an ACCC petrol inquiry report found the schemes benefited consumers and promoted competition. However, it is understood the regulator is now concerned about the expansion of the schemes, which generally reward supermarket shoppers with a 4c a litre price reduction if they spend more than $30 in Coles or Woolworths supermarkets but increasingly feature discounts of up to 30c a litre. ACCC Petrol Commissioner Joe Dimasi in 2009 ruled that 40c-a-litre discounts offered by Coles and Woolworths for a three-day period were not anti-competitive, but the commission has received…

July 17, 2012 The Age Australians eat almost three times as much meat as the world average. It’s no wonder that Australia is the fifth-fattest nation on earth. A report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that many Australians are consuming too much food that is high in fat and sugar and not enough vegetables or wholegrain cereals. The report, Australia’s Food and Nutrition 2012, says that Australians exceed the world average consumption of alcohol, sweeteners, milk and animal fats. But Australian consumption of vegetables and cereal is below the world of average. The AIHW report said that 90 per cent of people aged 16 years and over failed to eat the recommended five serves of vegetables each day. Most adults didn’t eat enough fruit and adolescent girls failed to eat enough dairy foods or alternatives. People in remote areas had difficulty accessing a variety of…

Dan Oakes July 17, 2012 The Age AFTER 15 years of trading in the centre of Footscray, Grant Miles could no longer stand by and watch the havoc wrought by alcohol abuse and public drunkenness on the streets of the inner west. In a move that could cost him tens of thousands of dollars this year – but has been applauded by local police – Mr Miles has torn up his liquor licence and stopped selling alcohol at his discount grocery shop. Mr Miles, who owns Cheaper Buy Miles in the mall section of Nicholson Street and is the president of the Footscray Traders Association, said he could no longer sell alcohol with a clear conscience while it was causing such damage to the community. ”I feel that in some small way I might have been contributing to problems of alcohol abuse in Footscray and the surrounding areas,” he told…