The ACCC will not oppose Metcash Trading Limited’s (Metcash) (ASX:MTS) proposed acquisition of wholesale food distributor SFG Group Holdings Pty Ltd, trading as Superior Food Services (Superior). Superior purchases a wide range of food products from suppliers and distributes them to food service businesses such as restaurants, cafes, hotels and clubs, petrol and convenience stores, and institutions such as hospitals. Metcash is a wholesale distribution company which supplies grocery and fresh foods to independent supermarkets and retailers. Metcash also operates Campbells, which also wholesales food and food adjacent products to retailers. The ACCC’s review focused on how closely Metcash and Superior compete in the wholesale supply of food products to food service customers, how the acquisition may affect suppliers or increase Metcash and Superior’s buyer power, and the likely impact of the acquisition on prices, product range and quality. “We conducted extensive market inquiries with customers, suppliers, competitors and industry…

CHICAGO (CBS) — Two Chicago-based grocery chains, Dom’s Kitchen & Market and Foxtrot Market, suddenly closed their stores Tuesday. This came six months after the chains announced a merger. “It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you of a difficult decision we have had to make. After much consideration and evaluation, we regret to announce that Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market will be closing their doors starting on April 23, 2024,” Dom’s Kitchen & Market wrote in a message on their website. “We explored many avenues to continue the business but found no viable option despite good faith and exhaustive efforts.” In November, Dom’s – a pair of upscale grocery stores – and Foxtrot – a high-end convenience store chain – announced they were merging under the new entity Outfox Hospitality. Each and every Dom’s and Foxtrot store closed Tuesday. Delivery was halted, mobile apps went dark, and…

Amazon’s Maple Valley, Washington, warehouse is built for speed. At night, big rigs pull up to one end to unload boxes and padded mailers – some after a short drive from a bigger warehouse down the road, others following a flight in the hold of a cargo plane. Waiting employees scan, sort and load them into rolling racks. Before 7 a.m. each day, many of those racks are wheeled out to dozens of vans lined up in four painted lanes. It’s the starting line at a Formula One race, but for $22-an-hour delivery drivers who ferry bottles of shampoo and packs of batteries to suburban Seattle doorsteps. Their routes, the last step in a journey that can take products thousands of miles, are the source of a large chunk of the carbon emissions Amazon has pledged to eliminate in the coming decades. The solution lies in the parking lot across the street: 309 Siemens electric…

7-Eleven Inc. has completed its acquisition of 204 convenience stores from Sunoco LP, which includes Stripes c-stores and Laredo Taco Company restaurants. Sunoco divested the stores for approximately $1 billion. Located across West Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, these stores join the more than 13,000 7-Eleven, Speedway and Stripes locations that 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses across the United States and Canada. With the closing, 7-Eleven now owns and operates all Stripes and Laredo Taco locations in the United States. “Stripes and Laredo Taco Company have been a great addition to our family of brands since they first joined us back in 2018. That deal provided us a valuable brand to grow our restaurant offering,” said Joe DePinto, CEO of 7-Eleven. “We’re excited to welcome the remaining Stripes stores and Laredo Taco Company restaurants to the family, and we look forward to serving customers across West Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.” Sunoco…

The United Kingdom has taken another step towards banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009, just months after New Zealand abandoned a similar policy. Overnight, the UK House of Commons passed a bill containing the proposed ban 383 votes to 67. The debate centred on the cost of smoking to the public health system, principles of freedom of choice and whether addiction hampered freedom of choice. The bill still needs to go through several more votes and pass the House of Lords, but this can be assured in the second half of the year given the Labour Party’s support. It would be the first national-based laws of its type to be implemented. It would not ban vaping but would introduce greater restrictions, including on marketing towards young people. But is there an appetite for similar reform in Australia – a country that has, in…

Almost 500,000 vapes were seized by police during a search of a Lennon St warehouse in West Melbourne on April 17. Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Martin O’Brien said the illicit tobacco market had become a “significant driver” for organised criminal activity over the last 12 months. It has led to more than 100 arrests and large-scale seizures of illegally imported product.  Taskforce Lunar was established back in October to target these crime groups, working closely with a range of specialist units including the VIPER Taskforce. Police investigated whether the warehouse was being used by an organised crime syndicate for the trafficking of illicit tobacco products.  Six men were arrested, including two 20-year-old Melbourne men, a 37-year-old Point Cook man, a 31-year-old Southbank man, a 33-year-old Adelaide man and a 24-year-old man of no fixed place of address. All six were interviewed and released pending further inquiries. Victoria Police has been…