SUE NEALES APRIL 03, 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN THE shake-up in Australia’s fresh-milk market looks set to continue, with Woolworths dumping dairy processor Lion in two key states as it shuffles contracts worth $300 million for its $1-a-litre Select home-brand fresh milk. From July, major dairy company Lion, owned by the Japanese Kirin brewing and food group, will lose the right to supply Woolworths’ supermarkets in Victoria with about 67 million litres annually of fresh Select milk. The $60m Victorian deal instead is understood to have been won by Lion’s biggest international rival, New ­Zealand-based Fonterra. In Western Australia, Lion has also lost the right to supply Woolies with its local Select milk — which last year achieved local sales of 24 million litres — in favour of West Australian supplier Brownes Dairies. The Woolworths’ contract losses will deeply hurt Lion, supplier of well-known milk brands such as Pura and Dairy…

JANE HARPER APRIL 02, 2014 HERALD SUN Investors punish the breads and spreads maker on the back of a profit warning. It was the group’s biggest one-day market rout since it listed in 2005, with its shares closing at a 19-month low of 47.5c. It came as Goodman, whose brands include Vogel’s bread and Meadowlea margarine, said it would speed up plans to cut costs and axe jobs in light of weak market conditions. Goodman management warned that pre-tax earnings for the year to June were likely to clock in 10 per cent to 15 per cent below analysts’ expectations of $180 million. In February, the group posted a first-half loss of $64.8 million, but said at the time it expected full-year earnings to be in line with last year’s result of $185.6 million. “Trading conditions in Australia and New Zealand have deteriorated and manufacturing and supply chain cost savings…

KIM CHRISTIAN APRIL 06, 2014 AAP AUSTRALIANS are drinking less, but opting for better quality booze. Official data shows total consumption of alcohol fell for the sixth straight year in 2013, to a 17-year low. Over the year, Australians aged 15 or over consumed an average of 9.88 litres of alcohol, or the equivalent of 2.2 standard drinks a day. Beer drinkers consumed less in 2013 than they have in 67 years, while wine drinking hit a seven year low, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show. The nation’s thirst for cider gained momentum, with cider consumption rising to about double what it was four years ago. The ABS was unable to shed much light on the reasons for the decline in consumption of beer and wine, but CommSec chief economist Craig James said anecdotal evidence suggested Australians were embracing quality ahead of quantity. “That is certainly the case with…

BLAIR SPEEDY APRIL 07, 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN IAN McLEOD will justifiably be remembered for transforming Coles from a near-basket case to Australia’s agenda-setting supermarket, taking the fight to Woolworths by cutting prices and boosting fresh food quality, winning back customers lost over the previous decade of lacklustre management. Since his first full year of running the business in 2009, Mc­Leod has overseen a 24 per cent increase in revenue from Coles’ food and liquor business, while earnings before interest and tax have grown even faster, up 84 per cent. It’s an enviable record, which has included consistently outperforming Woolworths on sales growth from existing stores — a trend that in its early stages could be dismissed as coming from a low base but is now looking simply like better retailing. So good did Coles become at wooing customers that Woolworths had little choice but to ­follow its lead, matching audacious…

APRIL 01, 2014 BUSINESS SPECTATOR ITALIAN giant Parmalat has bought control of Western Australian milk and fruit juice company Harvey Fresh. Harvey Fresh, established in the farming town of Harvey, south of Perth, in 1986, is WA’s second largest dairy producer. According to the Australian Financial Review newspaper, the deal is worth around €79 million ($117.43m), while Harvey Fresh has revenue of around $125 million and exports 20 per cent to 30 per cent of processed dairy products to Asia. Parmalat said the acquisition would help strengthen its position in the Australian market and boost its export strategy. The company also supplies fruit juice in WA and NSW, with two production facilities employing about 250 people. Parmalat said the takeover makes it a “fully national player” in the Australian market. It also owns the Pauls dairy brand, Vaalia yoghurt and several iced coffee products. Parmalat did not provide financial details…

David Bennett April 2, 2014 CSD Staff Foodservice remains critical to convenience stores’ bottom line as the business structure changes to respond to consumer trends. With the 2014 NACS State of the Industry (SOI) Summit now underway at the Intercontinental Hotel in Rosemont, Ill., hundreds of c-store retailers and suppliers are taking an opportunity to review up close various economic trends and figures that provide a snapshot of how the industry is doing, and where it’s headed. After Brad Call, vice president of adventure culture for Maverick Inc. and chairman of the NACS Board of Directors, kicked off the program Wednesday, April 2, presenters delivered what c-store attendees had come to hear. Data gathered from retailers nationwide indicated the challenges that companies faced in 2013, as well as future issues. According to guest speaker and economist David Nelson, Ph.D., professor of economics at Western Washington University and founder and president…