AACS: COURT RULING REINFORCES PETROL THEFT IS A SERIOUS OFFENCE

MEDIA RELEASE The Geelong Magistrates Court today handed down an important ruling which reinforced the serious nature of petrol theft, giving permission for service station operators to bring petrol thieves to justice. The court has granted permission to APCO, a service station franchise network of 23 stores mainly in Victoria, to pursue the details of petrol thieves through VicRoads. The path is now clear for APCO to obtain the personal details of thieves with a view to initiating action and repayment for the petrol stolen. According to Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) CEO Jeff Rogut, the decision is a significant win for the convenience industry and could have broader national ramifications. “Petrol theft costs the convenience industry upwards of $30 million in lost profit annually. It is a serious crime which costs service station operators significant financial loss and triggers considerable safety concerns for employees and the general public,”…

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Petrol prices at 30-month low as supermarkets continue fuel war

29 Oct 2013 Mirror UK Asda slashed 2p off a litre of petrol before Sainsbury’s matched its price and Morrisons and Tesco also lopped 2p off Asda has ramped up the fuel pump war by slashing 2p off a litre of petrol. It takes the forecourt price down to to a two-and-a-half year low of 126.7p. Rivals followed suit with Sainsbury’s matching Asda’s price and Morrisons and Tesco lopping 2p off. The relief for millions of motorists comes as wholesale fuel prices fell 8%. The last time petrol was this cheap was in January 2011 when unleaded cost 125.19 – but a tax increase took it up to 127.21p days later. Asda, which has capped unleaded at 126.7p and diesel at 113.7p a litre, has been at the forefront of a round of price cuts this year. Jeremy Walton head of petrol trading said: “Our shoppers don’t have to figure…

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Australia’s ‘plain packaging’ stubs out cigarette branding, prompting backlash

Howard Schneider Wednesday, October 30 The Washington Post Marlboro cigarettes’ red-and-white box and distinct typeface created one of the world’s most powerful brands — by some estimates, one of the 10 most-recognized consumer products. In Australia, the red chevron is now taboo. Since the start of the year, customers looking for Marlboros must get beyond the “drab” wrappers mandated for all cigarettes, the warning label at the top of the pack, and the picture of the gangrenous foot or rotting gums in the middle, to find the brand name snuggled at the very bottom, in nondescript type. For an industry that has thrived off effective marketing, from the rugged mystique of the Marlboro Man to the women’s lib appeal of Virginia Slims, Australia’s new “plain packaging” rules are a further sign of how the tide has turned. “Much of this industry is about image. It is not about tobacco,” said…

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Bottled Water Sales Rising as Soda Ebbs

STEPHANIE STROM October 25, 2013 A Stop and Shop in Tarrytown, N.Y. Some grocers sell plain bottled water at a steep discount. But bottled water is washing away the palate trained to drain a bubbly soda. By the end of this decade, if not sooner, sales of bottled water are expected to surpass those of carbonated soft drinks, according to Michael C. Bellas, chief executive of the Beverage Marketing Corporation. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Mr. Bellas, who has watched water’s rise in the industry since the 1980s. Sales of water in standard lightweight plastic bottles grew at a rate of more than 20 percent every quarter from 1993 to 2005, he said. The growth has continued since, but now it has settled into percentages within the high single digits. If the estimated drinking of water from the household tap is included, water consumption began exceeding that of…

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Court defeat fuels move to ban e-cigs

Cathy O’Leary October 30, 2013 The West Australian The Cancer Council wants WA’s tobacco laws changed to specifically ban electronic cigarettes after a test case that sought to charge a business for selling them was thrown out of court. Joondalup Magistrate’s Court ruled last week there was not enough evidence that two types of electronic cigarettes looked like cigarettes or cigars, acquitting the operators of Heavenly Vapours of breaching the Tobacco Products Control Act. So-called e-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that do not burn tobacco but turn nicotine or fruit flavours into vapour that is inhaled and exhaled. It is illegal to sell e-cigarettes that contain nicotine under Australian law. The WA Health Department prosecuted the Duncraig-based operators who sold e-cigarettes and nicotine-free “e-juice” through a website in late 2011. WA tobacco laws prohibit the sale of any food, toy or other product that is not a tobacco product but is…

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ACCC delays decision on legal action over supermarkets’ price wars

John Durie October 30, 2013 The Australian The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has delayed a final decision on any legal action against the big supermarket chains until next year, citing the complexity of the issues involved. In a speech to be delivered today to the Australian Food and Grocery Council leaders’ forum in Canberra, ACCC chairman Rod Sims flagged the delay and outlined the major competition issues facing the industry, but also noted that supermarket competition is just a fraction of the ACCC’s focus.A decision on whether to go to court is now expected by next March.Mr Sims’ comments come as the federal government outlines its concerns about the price war between supermarket giants Woolworths and Wesfarmers-owned Coles and its impact on the Australian food growing industry.Small Business Minister Bruce Billson told the same conference today that market pressures could “stifle” Australian suppliers and eventually lead to higher…

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