Industry News

Just beyond the southern end of the Cambridge Aerodrome runway, where planes descend low over Kennedy Drive on approach to Hobart Airport, a service station has begun to behave less like a pit stop and more like a destination. Mood Food Flight Deck Cambridge opened earlier this year following a $5.5 million redevelopment that transformed what had once been a small, unmanned fuel site into one of the most distinctive convenience destinations in Tasmania. There are 90 fuel hoses beneath one of the largest service station canopies in Australia, six outdoor payment terminals and a compact retail offer built around fresh food, barista coffee and a real sense of atmosphere. But the most intriguing feature may be upstairs, explains Troy Bennett, CEO of Bennett’s Petroleum. “Visitors have been loving the chance to sit up on the flight deck, enjoying lunch or a coffee while catching a glimpse of planes passing…

Protein Shakes. Finally Done Right. New flavour alert! Salted Caramel All Natural Protein Shake by True Protein has launched! True Protein, founded on the Northern Beaches by Ben Kiereth, has always refused to compromise on quality. This commitment has earned the brand a loyal following among Australia’s elite athletes, including Genevieve Gregson OLY, Rohan Browning OLY, Jack Della Maddalena, Khan Porter to name a few. In April 2026, True Protein will launch the True All Natural Protein Shake, Australia’s cleanest RTD protein shake, a product five years in the making.  “It took us five years to develop this product,” explains Ben Kiereth, “but I am so proud of what we are putting out there. For over five years, we have been working on a ready-to-drink protein that stays true to our standards: real ingredients, ultrafiltered grass-fed dairy, zero artificial additives, nothing that doesn’t belong in your body.” The breakthrough came when ultrafiltration technology advanced, allowing True Protein to finally create the…

The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) has welcomed the Victorian Government’s Workplace Protection Order (WPO) legislation introduced into Parliament today, while warning that a commencement date of 26 July 2027 leaves frontline workers exposed for another twelve months. AACS CEO Theo Foukkare said the scheme directly targets the problem members have been raising for years — the small number of repeat offenders who drive most incidents. “Our members employ more than 20,000 frontline staff across Victoria, and the overwhelming majority of the interactions they have every day are perfectly normal,” Mr Foukkare said. “But there is a hard core of repeat offenders who walk into the same store, week after week, because they know nothing happens to them. A court order that bans them from the premises for up to 12 months, backed by two years’ imprisonment or a $50,000 fine, is exactly the kind of consequence that changes…

Seven & i Holdings Co. on Thursday announced that Mauricio Leyva is the new CEO of 7-Eleven Inc., its North American convenience-store business, effective Aug. As CEO, Leyva will lead the company’s next phase of growth, working closely with SEI’s leadership team to elevate the customer experience, strengthen the store network, advance operational excellence and innovation and drive sustainable, profitable growth, the company said. Mauricio Leyva is a seasoned executive with more than two decades of experience in the consumer products industry, the company said. From 2020 to 2024, he served as group president of Keurig Dr Pepper, where he led the company through a post-merger transformation, strengthening its operating foundation while shaping and executing a new business strategy. During Leyva’s tenure, Dr Pepper grew to become the second-largest carbonated soft drink brand in the United States. Prior to Keurig Dr Pepper, Mauricio held senior leadership roles at Lala Mexico,…

Restricting the sale of energy drinks for under 16-year-olds is a quick headline that does not reflect the long-standing evidence and effective local regulatory arrangements designed to inform Australians. In Australia, energy drinks are strictly regulated under Standard 2.6.4 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. The Code sets a maximum caffeine level of 80mg per 250mL – comparable to a cup of instant coffee made with one teaspoon of coffee. The mandatory labelling requirements include an advisory statement that the product is not recommended for children, as well as a declaration that the product contains caffeine. Following its comprehensive Caffeine Review, published in March 2026, “FSANZ has not identified a risk that would necessitate amending the requirements for FCBs” (formulated caffeinated beverages or “energy drinks”). Instead, the review introduced new controls for other caffeine-containing products, while leaving existing permissions for energy drinks unchanged. The 2023/24 ABS Apparent Consumption Data shows that the average per capita daily intake of energy drinks was just 13.1mL, representing 3.4 per cent of total consumption across the non-alcoholic beverages…

TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–FamilyMart Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Tatsuo Odani) will launch the Next FamilyMart Project in 2026, the year of its 45th anniversary, as an initiative to explore the potential of the “next convenience store.” The company will also launch FAMIMA to bring this project to life, taking on the challenge of creating a new convenience store experience unconstrained by the conventional framework of convenience stores. As a symbol of this initiative, FamilyMart’s first flagship store, FAMIMA PARK AZABUDAI, will open on Friday, July 10, 2026. Launch of the Next FamilyMart Project: Introducing FAMIMA, Bringing the “Next Convenience Store” to Life FamilyMart will launch the Next FamilyMart Project as an initiative to explore new possibilities for convenience stores and evolve their value. While continuing to pursue customer convenience and efficiency, the project focuses on creating an exciting shopping experience where customers can encounter new discoveries and…