Eli Greenblat and Eric Johnston June 12, 2014 The Age Coles has pulled together a high-level strategy team to develop its burgeoning financial services arm, with an eye to offering banking services to better bind customers to its stores and boost grocery sales. The team have been meeting in a sealed-off section of Coles’ Melbourne headquarters where their confidential discussions are quarantined from other staff in the building’s open-plan office. Early work on the project has seen Coles trademark last month the brand ”Coles mobile wallet”, setting the retailer up to break into the high-growth digital payments space that many experts believe will be the future of financial transactions as mobile phones replace wallets. It builds on a growing pile of trademarks reserved by Coles such as ”Coles Money”, ”Coles Financial Solutions” and ”Coles Financial Group”. Since Wesfarmers bought Coles in 2007, it has steadily rolled out a suite of…

Graham Ruddick 11 Jun 2014 Supermarket chain suffers second consecutive fall in sales after nine years of unbroken growth Justin King has insisted he is leaving J Sainsbury in good shape despite the supermarket group suffering a second consecutive drop in like-for-like sales in his final trading update as chief executive. Sainsbury’s said that like-for-like sales fell 1.1pc excluding fuel in the 12 weeks to June 7. Including fuel, like-for-like sales dropped by 2.4pc. Britain’s third largest supermarket group has now reported two consecutive quarters of sales declines. Prior to this drop in sales, the company enjoyed nine years of unbroken sales growth under Mr King. However, the departing chief executive said: “I would prefer sales to be growing, but I don’t think I am leaving on a low. I think if my tenure were to be judged on one quarter that would be a little sad.” During his decade…

Esther Han June 12, 2014 The Age Woolworths has cancelled a ”critically important” meeting between Australian farmers and 40 international buyers, the growers’ peak body claims, in retaliation for their public protest against being made to pay for a campaign starring Jamie Oliver. AusVeg said on Wednesday morning – the day Fairfax Media reported Woolworths was charging farmers to cover the cost of its ”Jamie’s Garden” campaign – the supermarket declared it had cancelled a visit from Asian buyers at its Sydney distribution centre. ”I think it’s petulant behaviour, I think it’s churlish, it’s mean-spirited,” Richard Mulcahy, chief executive of AusVeg, said. ”It’s fairly obvious it’s linked to the adverse media they’re receiving about Jamie Oliver.” Woolworth confirmed the meeting had been cancelled. Its communications manager Russell Mahoney said the ”buyers were unavailable”. Mr Mulcahy said the 40 buyers flying in from Asian countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and…

Sue Mitchell June 13, 2014 The Age Unilever Australia chief executive Clive Stiff says Australia’s $111 billion food and grocery market is one of the most challenging in the world, but increased competition is good for retailers, consumers and suppliers alike. The local market is getting tougher and supplier profit margins have fallen across the board, the former top Procter & Gamble and Goodman Fielder executive said. ”I’d say there is a degree of competitiveness in Australia that was certainly not here five or 10 years ago,” said Mr Stiff, a 28-year veteran of the fast-moving consumer goods industry in Australia, the UK and France. Unilever ranks as one of the world’s biggest consumer goods companies. Its brands include Dove soap, Lipton and Bushells tea, Rexona deodorant and Streets ice-cream, and it appears to have bucked the trend in the past year. ”But we do believe that a good competitive…

JUNE 12, 2014 News.com.au HOW much do you know about the country you live in? Not enough according to renowned demographer and social commentator Mark McCrindle. “Most everyday Australians couldn’t tell you what our current population is,” he tells news.com.au. “They feel the effects of growth on their lifestyle and hip pocket but they don’t know the actual number.” If you think it is 21 million, you’d be wrong. It’s much closer to 24 million now and it’s growing by 500,000 a year. That figure might surprise you and it’s certainly not the only number worth a second glance. Western Australia grows by more people every 48 hours than Tasmania adds every year (500 people). There are almost 100,000 more women than men in Australia and there are more people in Sydney born in China than England. These are just some of the amazing truths about our rapidly changing country…

BRIGID O’CONNELL JUNE 13, 2014 HERALD SUN VICTORIANS are skolling soft drink at levels dangerous for their health, with 12 per cent of adults consuming more than two cups of sugar a week by cracking a can every day. Tooth decay remains the most prevalent health problem in the state, five times more common than asthma. But a coalition of health organisations behind the Rethink Sugary Drink campaign say regular soft drink consumption does not just rot teeth. Its impact on weight gain increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancers. Dental Health Services Victoria chief Dr Deborah Cole said soft drink consumption, coupled with smoking, diet and oral hygiene habits, all impacted oral health. “Many people might not know this but dental conditions are the most common cause of potentially preventable hospitalisation in young Victorians under 19 years, with the most common cause being tooth decay in children,”…