Press Releases

Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL), the FMCG arm of Reliance Industries Limited, has launched India’s iconic beverage brand Campa in Australia, with New Sunrise becoming the first petrol and convenience retail network in Australia to launch the brand. The heritage brand, with close to five decades of legacy, is making its Australian debut through the New Sunrise national store network, reinforcing RCPL’s commitment to the Australian market by delivering ‘global quality at affordable price’. Since acquiring Campa in 2022 and reintroducing it to India in 2023, RCPL has successfully revived the iconic heritage brand, positioning it as a strong player in the Indian beverages market. The company has expanded Campa into a comprehensive beverage portfolio spanning carbonated soft drinks, juices and packaged drinking water. The launch marks an important milestone in RCPL’s international growth journey and builds on the company’s expanding presence in global markets, including the GCC countries, Nepal…

The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) has endorsed the Coalition’s real-world policy to finally quash Australia’s deadly illicit tobacco and nicotine black market for good. AACS CEO Theo Foukkare said responsible retailers fully support the Coalition’s policy that would cripple the illicit tobacco black market and return tobacco control to the Federal Government and authorities. “The illicit tobacco black market is organised crime’s golden goose and the Coalition’s policy will kill it. “AACS members urge Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to immediately adopt the Coalition’s policy in an act of bipartisanship that will put the welfare of Australian retailers and communities well ahead of politics,” Mr Foukkare said. Mr Foukkare said AACS members had spent years desperately trying to get the Federal Government to shut down the illicit tobacco and nicotine black market. “AACS saw the illicit tobacco black market start and we’ve sounded the alarm for years now, but…

The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) has welcomed the NSW Legislative Council’s final report into the illegal tobacco trade, which calls for an immediate reduction to the excise rate to 2019 levels. The report found that the increasing tobacco excise has been a major factor in the “dramatic expansion” of Australia’s tobacco black market in Australia and calls on the NSW Government to ask its Commonwealth counterpart to act now. AACS CEO Theo Foukkare said the recommendations from the NSW Legislative Council should not go ignored. “Every day the chorus of calls for a real solution to the illicit tobacco crisis grows louder but the Albanese Government is stubbornly sticking their fingers in their ears and pretending this isn’t the right move,” said Mr Foukkare. “This report spells it out in black and white: the tobacco black market is fuelling organised crime, murder and arson – and the Federal…

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…

The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) is calling on the Victorian Government to immediately fast-track tobacco shop closure powers after another firebombing devastated multiple innocent businesses, warning every day of delay gives organised crime another opportunity to strike. AACS CEO Theo Foukkare said reports that around 10 neighbouring businesses had been impacted by the attack highlighted that Victoria’s illicit tobacco crisis was no longer confined to rogue tobacco shops. “Yet again, innocent business owners and the community have paid the price for organised crime,” Mr Foukkare said. “This wasn’t just an attack on one illegal tobacco store. It was an attack on an entire business community that should never have been put at risk in the first place. “The shop at the centre of this attack could have already been shut down. Instead, organised crime continues to operate while legitimate businesses are left to pick up the pieces.” Mr…

One Nation says what everyone is thinking about tobacco excise. The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) has welcomed One Nation’s call to abolish tobacco excise, saying it is the first political party willing to openly acknowledge the role excessive taxation has played in creating Australia’s illicit tobacco crisis. AACS CEO Theo Foukkare said while the Association has consistently advocated for a 50 per cent reduction in tobacco excise to begin restoring legal trade and starving organised crime of customers, One Nation deserves credit for saying what many politicians privately admit. “Finally, a political party has said the quiet part out loud,” Mr Foukkare said. “Whether you support a 50 per cent reduction, a complete abolition, or something in between, the reality is the same: Australia’s tobacco excise settings have failed. “The Albanese Government has failed retailers, failed taxpayers, failed public health objectives and handed organised crime the business opportunity…