Madeleine Heffernan July 17, 2012 The Age WOOLWORTHS and Coles say their private-label milk will become free of permeate, a watery waste product from the production of cheese. The shift follows a report by The Age revealing that milk from National Foods – home of popular milk brands Pura and Dairy Farmers, and supplier to both supermarkets – contained up to 16 per cent permeate. The report, released in April and citing internal documents, showed that almost $23,000 could be saved by adding 16 per cent permeate to the production of 350,000 litres of whole milk. Coles spokesman Jim Cooper said Coles’ private-label milk is already permeate-free in some parts of Australia. ”We’re working with our milk processors to make all Coles brand milk permeate-free in the coming months.” Woolworths has also confirmed it is in discussions with suppliers about shifting to permeate-free milk. More than half of Australia’s milk…

Kim Christian AAP July 16, 2012 PATTIES Foods hopes to post a seven per cent increase in full year profit as its Four’N Twenty pies sell well despite tough trading conditions and pressure from the major supermarket chains. The maker of other famous brands, such as Nannas and Herbert Adams, on Monday said its margins had come under pressure in the supermarket category as the popularity of private label products continued to grow. But Patties managing director Greg Bourke said the popularity of Four’N Twenty pies at football matches and new national distribution contracts at Brumbies and BP service stations had contributed to sales growth in fiscal 2012. “We sourced supply rights in most NRL and AFL stadia and our view the great Australian sporting event is having pie at the footy,” Mr Bourke said. “If consumers have a good experience at the footy, they’re more likely to buy some…

nacsonline.com The NACS Board of Directors unanimously rejected the proposed settlement because it does not introduce competition and transparency into the broken credit card swipe fee market. ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The proposed settlement of longstanding antitrust litigation between merchants and the credit card industry was rejected by NACS, a class plaintiff in the lawsuit. Because the proposed settlement does not introduce competition and transparency into the broken credit card swipe fee market, the NACS Board of Directors, comprised of more than two dozen merchants, unanimously rejected the proposed settlement agreement. “Not only does the proposed settlement fail to introduce competition and transparency into a clearly broken market, it actually provides Visa and MasterCard with the tools to continue to shield swipe fees from market forces,” said NACS Chairman Tom Robinson, president of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Robinson Oil Corp. “This proposed settlement allows the card companies to continue to dictate the…

Christopher Niesche July 13, 2012 The Age When it comes to collecting money from customers, cafes have traditionally been low-tech – a couple of gold coins for a coffee, maybe a card payment for a bigger order. But Shawn Karakashian, of Get York Coffee in Sydney’s CBD, is at the forefront of a revolution that is changing the way small businesses take payments and keep track of their customers. Karakashian is trialling the PayPal Here service, a smartphone application and small triangular card reader that fits onto the top of a phone to allow it to take credit card payments. It lets small businesses take payments on their smartphones wherever they are, and is one of several similar services being offered by major banks such as Westpac. Julian Josem, of retail specialist Josem Consulting, says consumers are increasingly demanding a wider range of payment options, especially mobile. Mobile payments “are…

Steve Lewis Herald Sun July 16, 2012 SMALL retailers, farmers and big-supermarket suppliers are facing carbon tax-related increases on everything from pizza boxes to transport. A fortnight after the Gillard Government’s climate change reforms came into effect, businesses are weighing up the cost of changes to the diesel fuel rebate and a massive spike in refrigerant gas supplies. Vegetable suppliers and chicken farmers are considering the costs of the carbon tax on their energy-reliant operations. And a staggering 300-400 per cent rise in refrigeration gas costs has shocked the industry. The Government also announced changes to its fuel rebate scheme from July 1. Kerry Demos, who runs the Hastings Pizza shop on the Mornington Peninsula with her husband Phill, said the price of pizza boxes would rise by 2.5 per cent – adding to their weekly costs. But they planned to absorb these increases rather than pass them on. “If…