Circle K is aiming for a premier position in European emobility and has the valuable differentiators required to reach that goal. That’s according to Christian Ellneby, director and head of finance & strategy for global emobility at Circle K.  Ellneby spoke to Global Convenience Store Focus ahead of a Shop Talk LIVE episode focused on the future of e-mobility.  Ellneby joined Circle K e-mobility two years ago having previously held the CFO position in the company’s Danish business. With a strategic and M&A background, he was also leading the deal team in the recent acquisition of TotalEnergies in four European countries on behalf of Circle K parent, Alimentation Couche-Tard.  Together with his colleagues in the eMobility management team, he leads 60 employees focused on emobility in Oslo, who are supported by a team of 70 employees dedicated to IT development for emobility in Warsaw.  To date, Circle K operates 1,600 EV chargers…

We speak to István Kapitány, Global Executive Vice President of Shell Mobility, about the role of China in its global operations, unveiling the company’s biggest EV hub, and their 10-in-1 integrated energy station. Q. China has become synonymous with the future of mobility. The country is investing in all forms of new mobility while becoming the biggest EV player in the world. Shell currently operates a network of over 2,000 service stations, around 25,000 EV chargers, and one hydrogen site in the country (according to Shell’s website). Could you put into words what role is China starting to play in Shell’s global retail operations? A. China is a very important market for mobility globally including for Shell. We see great potential in China for Shell Mobility to further grow on many aspects. I was recently in China for my first visit since the pandemic, and it’s always a pleasure to…

Asda will convert all of EG Group’s 356 forecourt stores to Asda Express by summer next year, The Grocer can reveal.  Following the completion of the £2bn acquisition, which was announced on 31 October, the supermarket giant has already switched 12 Asda On The Move stores to its Express format, with a further 13 set to be converted by the end of the week.  These include sites on Chellaston Road in Derby, Chartwell Business Park in Shropshire and King Street in Weymouth.  As part of the conversion programme, Asda will also be converting 177 Spar stores that were sitting on EG Group forecourts.  The transaction builds on Asda’s acquisition of 119 forecourt stores from the Co-op, which it started to convert to the Asda Express fascia in October.  Asda said between the rollout of EG Group and Co-op’s estates, it will be opening up to 20 stores per week.  Asda Express, which was initially launched as a standalone convenience format at Sutton…

Viva Energy (ASX: VEA) has offered a court-enforceable divestiture proposal to the ACCC in relation to its proposed acquisition of the OTR Group.  Viva Energy and its related companies operate a nationwide fuel supply chain with retail sites in each Australian state and territory, including Coles Express convenience sites.  OTR is a fuel and convenience retailer operating predominantly in South Australia with some locations in other states and territories, including the Northern Territory under the Puma brand.  “We are assessing whether the divestiture proposal will effectively address our competition concerns regarding the supply of retail fuel in South Australia and replace the competition that would be lost with the proposed acquisition,” ACCC Commissioner Stephen Ridgeway said.  The divestiture proposal would require Viva Energy to divest 24 Coles Express sites in Adelaide and one additional site in Ceduna, on the Eyre Peninsula to an ACCC-approved purchaser.  Viva Energy has proposed Chevron…

Accredited Distributors have had a busy October with two supplier events held. We joined the Snackbrands management team for a fun day of lawn bowls and awards at Mulwala. Winners were rewarded with a $ 3 0 0 0 travel voucher. Sevi Durali, Ledian Bytygi, and Louise McEvoy congratulations all. Field Sales Manager Stella Newton was awarded for the Dandenong’s team highest sales result.Jack Magee and Nick Summers received vouchers for their support to Snackbrands. Thank you, Kane, Wayne, and team for a wonderful event.We travelled to Adelaide for the Annual Mondelez Cadbury 4-day event. Craig Bain and Stuart Hobbs along with the management team spoke of the success of the company in 2023 and what’s new for 2024- the key message all suppliers’ products are selling well. Sales Rep of the Branch and Accredited Sales Rep of 2023 were awarded at a dinner See photos of award winners. Thanks…

How does a business whose sole purpose is refining and selling fossil fuel products embrace a low-carbon future? That’s a challenge Viva Energy boss Scott Wyatt is tackling by building the country’s largest retail convenience business, rolling out EV chargers, refining waste cooking oil into diesel, and processing waste plastics.  Under a strategy outlined to investors last week, Wyatt is backing the fuel refiner’s rapidly transforming retail convenience business – a national network of service stations – to grow Viva’s share of earnings from non-fuel products and is dabbling in producing lower carbon fuels using existing refining infrastructure to help its customers reduce their carbon emissions.  Viva bought out 700 Coles Express outlets in a $300 million deal in May and is waiting on competition approval for its takeover of Adelaide-based On The Run’s (OTR) network of 205 company-owned and leasehold stores. “It’s very much about shifting from being a…