IBISWorld Much has been reported on the battle for consumers’ hearts, minds and money by Australia’s two biggest supermarket brands. As the supermarket price war rages on with no clear winner emerging, liquor retailing may yet play a key role for the two giants in their battle for market-share supremacy. Woolworths currently holds the advantage over Wesfarmers in a segment with opportunities for growth. IBISWorld expects revenue from the liquor retailing industry to increase by an annualised 3.3% over the five years through 2013-14, to total $17.7 billion. So far, Woolworths has clearly had the advantage in liquor retailing. Woolworths’ warehouse brand Dan Murphy’s and bottle shop brand BWS have both outperformed their Wesfarmers counterparts (1st Choice Liquor and Vintage Cellars/Liquorland respectively). This is evident in the companies’ financial results: Woolworths enjoys a significant lead in liquor retailing, with revenue totaling $6.8 billion versus Wesfarmers’ $3.2 billion for 2012-13. Coles…

SABRINA TAVERNISE APRIL 14, 2014 The New York Times WASHINGTON — An investigation by Democratic members of Congress into the marketing practices of electronic cigarette companies has found that major producers are targeting young people by giving away free samples at music and sporting events and running radio and television advertisements during youth-oriented programs. The inquiry, led by Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, was conducted as the Food and Drug Administration prepared a major package of tobacco control rules that would place e-cigarettes under federal regulation for the first time. The new rules have been slow to appear, and lawmakers said they hoped their report, which came out Monday, might help speed their release. “It’s time for the F.D.A. to step up and regulate these products,” Senator Durbin said during a conference call with reporters. “We’ve got to put an…

APRIL 16, 2014 news.com.au WHAT’S the largest, least regulated and most misunderstood drug trade in America? That would be caffeine. In his new book Caffeinated , investigative reporter Murray Carpenter takes a deep dive into this white-powder stimulant. The author says we underestimate nearly everything about caffeine: its prevalence in our daily lives, its health benefits, its negative impacts on our bodies and patterns. Carpenter shares a peek into his book’s most intriguing, and sometimes surprising, revelations. Caffeine makes us act like lab rats. “With caffeine, coffee and tea especially, people develop very consistent patterns,” says Carpenter. “They hit it hard early in the day and then fade off in afternoon. It’s predictable self-administration, kind of like a lab rat pushing a lever that’ll give them the next expected hit of a drug.” These patterns become so ingrained that many of us don’t even realise how long it’s been since…

Mark Hawthorne April 16, 2014 The Age It is called the Uniqlo Way. Every morning at 9am – an hour before the first customers arrive – staff at Uniqlo’s clothing stores around the world gather to recite what are called ”The Behaviours”. These are a series of well-honed phrases that define customer service. Sales staff – their official title is ”advisers” – pair off, face each other, and say the following out loud: Tadashi Yanai. Tadashi Yanai. Photo: Josh Robenstone â– ”Hello, my name is [insert name], how are you today?” â– ”Did you find everything you were looking for?” â– ”Let me know if you need anything. My name is [insert name].” â– ”Thank you for waiting.” â– ”Goodbye, we hope to see you again soon.” Every adviser must use a minimum of four of these lines – including ”Did you find what you were looking for?” twice – or their service is deemed…

Julia Kollewe 15 April 2014 theguardian.com Closure of Imperial’s last factory and distribution hub will put an end to cigarette manufacturing in mainland Britain The last cigarette factory in Britain is to close, with Imperial Tobacco shutting its Nottingham plant, as well as its biggest Gauloises-producing factory in France, at Nantes. The two closures put nearly 1,000 jobs at risk. Imperial employs 540 people in its factory and distribution centre in Nottingham, where it makes Lambert & Butler, Embassy, Regal, Superkings (known as John Player) and JPS (John Player Special). The planned closure of Imperial’s last factory means there will be no cigarette manufacturing left in Britain. The only other remaining factory in the UK is run by Japan Tobacco International in Northern Ireland. Unite, Britain’s largest union, accused Imperial of “social dumping” and shipping production to low-cost eastern Europe, and vowed to fight the proposed closures together with its…