Feb 18, 2013 CSNews DALLAS – Technology magazine Fast Company named 7-Eleven Inc. as one of “The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies.” Ranked third on the list, 7-Eleven was chosen for its ability to “localize and compartmentalize its stores.” “The brand’s partnership with Amazon allows users to have small packages delivered to stores rather than their homes. In 2012, that partnership expanded to five areas globally: New York, Seattle, [Washington], D.C., Silicon Valley and London,” wrote the magazine’s staff. As CSNews Online previously reported, Amazon began its in-store pickup trial in 7-Eleven locations in Seattle, New York state and near Washington, D.C., in September 2011. The system allows customers to use computerized lockers at 7-Eleven stores as temporary P.O. boxes. When packages arrive, customers will receive an e-mail with a bar code that can be printed or scanned from their phones at the store to reveal a PIN, which…

Michael Baker February 20, 2013 The Age Each year, Fast Company, a business media company founded by two former Harvard Business Review editors, puts out its list of the world’s 50 most innovative companies. The 2013 list includes four retailers in the Top 10 – Nike at number 1, Amazon at number 2, Fab at number 5 and Target (the US retailer, no relation to Australia’s Target) at number 10. Other retailers pepper the remaining 40 places in the Top 50. Technology is turning the retail sector upside down. And for traditional retailers there is an ominous message. The prominence of retailers in a list of cutting-edge innovators is no coincidence. Technology is turning the sector upside down. And for traditional retailers there is an ominous message from this list – very few of the retailers that appear on it are mainstream. This suggests that despite significant investments in technology…

JOHN ROLFE February 21, 2013 News Limited Network THE ACCC will today declare open season on “free range” and other claims made by premium food makers. In a major speech in Sydney, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims will announce the ACCC’s seven priority areas for 2013. Many are the same as last year, but Mr Sims will say that “new to our priorities is an interest in credence claims, particularly those in the food industry”. Notes for his speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia say: “Consumers are increasingly placing weight on premium claims made by producers that a consumer cannot test or validate. “They are in the hands of the producer, leading to a particular vulnerability.” Mr Sims will highlight the ACCC’s ongoing concerns about “free range” eggs, country of origin claims and the labelling of olive oil. In November, the ACCC said it…

Abhik Kumar Chanda February 21, 2013 AAP EUROPE’S horsemeat scandal spread on Wednesday to Asia where an imported lasagne brand was pulled from the shelves in Hong Kong, as Czech officials ordered similar action on frozen meals mislabelled “beef”. A host of top players have been caught up in the spiralling scandal including Nestle, the world’s biggest food company, top beef producer JBS of Brazil and British supermarket chain Tesco. Hong Kong authorities ordered ParknShop, one of the biggest supermarket chains in the city, to remove lasagne made by frozen food giant Findus, one of the firms at the centre of the scandal. The product was imported from Britain and made by French firm Comigel. Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety said the item “might be adulterated with horsemeat which has not undergone tests for veterinary drugs”. “The product was removed from our stores last week following the government’s instructions,”…