PAULA BEAUCHAMP APRIL 09, 2014 HERALD SUN THERE was a time when head of Zoos Victoria Jenny Gray felt closest in the animal kingdom to the beaver. “I work hard and I like to shape and change things around me,” the South African-born executive says. Today, the three-time zoo CEO believes she’s aligned more closely with the meerkat. “I’m a more collaborative species these days,” she laughs. “I like working together with others to achieve a common purpose, so I’d say I’m most like them.” Ms Gray will this May share the lessons she has learned — including those from the various animals she has worked with — during her upward rise to the rank of chief executive. As one of five women featured in the Australian Institute of Management’s Outstanding Women Series, she hopes her journey will inspire other women in business. “When I worked at a bank nobody…

Jenny Buchan 09 April 2014 smartcompany The government is moving to introduce a new Franchising Code of Conduct as part of wide ranging reforms to how franchising arrangements are regulated, claiming it will be fairer for small operators and cut red tape. Whether that will happen is far from certain. The proposed changes will only apply to franchise agreements signed from the start of 2015. The biggest changes are the introduction of a specific duty of “good faith”, and the requirement for franchisors to give prospective franchisees an “information statement”. These changes are accompanied by legislation that will give the regulator, the ACCC, the ability to impose financial penalties on franchisors that breach the code, whereas it wasn’t able to before. But the changes would leave some of the fundamental problems affecting the relationship between franchisors and franchisees – namely knowledge and power imbalances – unfixed. A question of imbalance…

Max Mason April 10, 2014 The Age Once nothing but a second thought on the world fashion stage, big international players are now looking to tap into Australia’s lucrative, but under-served, retail market. The $2.15 billion takeover offer for David Jones from South Africa-based Woolworths further highlights the growing interest in Australian consumers from international retailers. Wednesday’s bid comes on the heels of Swedish fashion house H&M opening its first Australian stores and three years since Spanish powerhouse Zara came into the country. A major part of the success of northern hemisphere brands has been on selling their own clothing labels and a fast supply chain that can bring fashion from the catwalk to the store in a matter of weeks. At the same time, local consumers have shown little loyalty to brands considered Australian icons. David Jones and Myer have both suffered from their inability to adapt to the…

Angela Hanson March 26, 2014 Convenience Store News JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Ice cream is thought of as the classic frozen treat, but with the popularity of frozen yogurt reaching an all-time high within the United States, convenience store retailers should consider adding it to their offering, according to a Convenience Store News webcast held today. The web event, “Cool Profits: The Experts Discuss Implementing a Frozen Yogurt Option in C-stores,” was sponsored by Donper America. Looking at the TCBY brand of yogurt as a case study, Donper Vice President of Sales Denny Romer said frozen yogurt saw immense growth from 1981 onward and peaked in the mid-1990s. In 2010, TCBY rebranded itself and responded to shifting trends by going to 50 percent self-serve units, leading to solid company growth and contributing to frozen yogurt’s dramatic nationwide resurgence over the past five years. “It’s evident that this treat is something…

Aoife Boothroyd 9 April, 2014 Foodmagazine Bulla Dairy Foods has announced their license to produce a frozen range of Mondelez Australia’s successful confectionery line, Cadbury Marvellous Creations. Australia’s oldest owned and operated family dairy company, Bulla Dairy Foods has announced their license to produce a frozen range of Mondelez Australia’s successful confectionery line, Cadbury Marvellous Creations. Since the initial launch of Cadbury’s Marvellous Creations in May 2012, the line has gone from strength to strength with a number of new flavours added mid last year. Nicolas Georges, Director Premium Chocolate & Dairy, Research & Development, Asia Pacific said the brand’s latest offering – the new frozen format – was the perfect addition to the hugely successful line. “Cadbury Marvellous Creations confectionary range has been one of our most successful confectionary lines in our history,” said Georges. “By bringing this product to life in a frozen format, we’re confident that the…

APRIL 10, 2014 News.com.au AUSTRALIA’S unemployment rate fell to 5.8 per cent in March from 6.1 per cent in February, official figures show. The total number of people with jobs rose 18,100 to 11.553 million in the month, according to seasonally adjusted figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. The median forecast for the unemployment rate was 6.1 per cent in March, with 5,000 fewer people with jobs, according to an AAP survey of 11 market economists. Full-time employment fell 22,100 to 8.029 million in March and part-time employment was up 40,200 to 3.524 million. The participation rate — the proportion of the population that have a job, are looking for work or are ready to start work fell to 64.7 per cent, from 64.9 in February. Employed people in Australia worked a total of 1.617 billion hours in March, the seasonally adjusted figures showed. That was…