Industry News

AAP August 03, 2012 ESCALATING commodity costs and ongoing weakness in Europe drove Kellogg’s second-quarter net income down 12 per cent Thursday. But adjusted results topped Wall Street’s view and the food maker’s one-two punch of breakfast goods and snacks gave a lift to revenue, driven by sales of Pop-Tarts and strength in North America. Kellogg Co. has long been known to consumers for its morning wake-up foods like Frosted Flakes cereal and Eggo waffles. But the company is aggressively building its snacks business as well, with hopes that its recent $US2.7 billion ($A2.59 billion) acquisition of Pringles from Procter & Gamble Co. will make it a global player in that market. The snacks division already includes Cheez-It, Keebler’s Club crackers and Special K crackers. With consumers busier than ever and worried about the economy and high unemployment, on-the-go foods like Pop-Tarts and Pringles potato snacks are proving popular because…

August 3, 2012 The Age ·While shopping, if you’ve felt that big business just keeps getting bigger, your instincts would be right. ·Over the past four years, small businesses market share dropped from 39.5 per cent to 36.5 per cent in the $252 billion industry, according to a report from Morgan Stanley equities research. “The weak retail environment is having a disproportionately large impact on smaller retailers,” said Morgan Stanley Australia equities analyst Thomas Kierath. Looking at retail downturn during the late 1990s showed that larger grocery and food and clothing companies took “considerable” market share from smaller players – “and this share doesn’t come back,” the report said. The advantage larger players such as Woolworths, Coles, Myer and David Jones have suggests they would emerge from the current retail slump in “far stronger market positions,’’ helped by lower costs and better distribution networks. Retail sales rose 1 per cent…

August 5, 2012 The Age British retailer Tesco will start offering mortgages to customers with a 20 per cent deposit. The interest rates offered will range from 3.19 per cent for a two-year fixed deal to 4.69 per cent for a five-year tracker mortgage, the company said on its website. The mortgages will be available from August 6 and will also give customers the option of taking monthly repayment holidays each year. ”Entering the mortgage market is a significant step in broadening the products we offer to Tesco customers,” Tesco Bank chief executive Benny Higgins, said. Read more:

Mark Kenny August 05, 2012 AdelaideNow SOUTH Australian consumers pay at least 20c more for some beer, soft drink and bottled water because of container deposit legislation, research shows. The higher prices are being used as an argument against a national container deposit scheme which could be agreed to by state and federal governments this month. Beverages companies say a national scheme would be costly to run and would send prices higher for ordinary families. However, new research conducted by the Boomerang Alliance – a peak body of environment groups committed to reducing waste – suggests that three of the six main beverage companies are using SA and NT container deposit schemes to charge more for popular brands such as Coca Cola, Coke Zero, and Mount Franklin water. The study compared 20 common bottles for sale online by Coles in Adelaide, Darwin, Perth and Sydney and found the drinks cost…