NACS Daily News Britain’s supermarkets are offering steep discounts on gasoline, leading to tough times for many independent gas stations. LONDON – Britain’s major supermarket chains are offering steep gasoline discounts in an effort to lure customers, and the effort is impacting independent gas stations which are closing in large numbers, Petrol Plaza reports. Morrisons is offering loyalty points on its new fuel card while Asda has launched a price comparison smartphone app. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s and Tesco have offered shopping discounts with a fuel purchase. In response, Brian Madderson, chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI), has lobbied the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to launch an inquiry into the practice, maintaining that the pricing is unfair and predatory and thus makes it impossible for them to compete. There are currently 8,000 independent gasoline retailers in Britain, compared with 21,000 two decades ago and 40,000 in 1966. The RMI…

NACS Daily News Coke plans to spend more than $30 billion over the next five years to grow its brand globally. ATLANTA – In an effort to grow its brand globally, Coca-Cola announced investments totaling more than $30 billion in markets around the world over the next five years, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The move coincides with a major world population shift, as more than 2 billion people are expected to move from rural and farming areas into big cities. The investment commitment will be done in partnership with Coca-Cola’s bottling partners and will become part of the company’s “2020 Vision,” an initiative to double the company’s revenue in the next eight years (it stood at $100 billion in 2010). The expansion won’t come without challenges. Growth in China and India has eased of late, while developing nations lack necessary infrastructure, such as roads or reliable electricity. “Infrastructure is a…

George Monbiot September 12, 2012 The Age WHEN you raise the subject of overeating and obesity, you often see people at their worst. The comment threads discussing these issues reveal a legion of bullies who appear to delight in other people’s problems. When alcoholism and drug addiction are discussed, the tone tends to be sympathetic. When obesity is discussed, the conversation is dominated by mockery and blame, though the evidence suggests that it may be driven by similar forms of addiction. I suspect that much of this mockery is a coded form of snobbery: the strong association between poor diets and poverty allows people to use this issue as a cipher for something else they want to say, which is less socially acceptable. But this problem belongs to all of us. Even if you can detach yourself from the suffering caused by diseases arising from bad diets, you will carry…

Julie Power September 12, 2012 The Age Confusing … how many servings? IF YOU thought a small yoghurt tub was a single serve, think again. Many food manufacturers are using portion distortion to make products seem healthier than they really are, according to the consumer watchdog Choice. For example, most people would presume a standard 225-gram container of Bulla Yoghurt Crunch was one serving, yet the back of the pack says it has 2.25 servings. The nutritionist Rosemary Stanton said 2.25 servings was ”the epitome of absurd. As if someone’s going to leave some.” Choice is calling for clear labels on the front of packaged foods which would translate the numerical information on the back of the pack using colours, symbols, ratings or words. It says there should be a consistent measure, such as the 100g or 100ml which is used on the back of the packs, so shoppers can…

Eli Greenblat September 12, 2012 The Age A dirty tricks campaign has broken out between Woolworths and its arch rival in the hardware sector, Bunnings, over the style and format of Woolworths new hardware chain, Masters. Woolworths issued a statement today saying that a critical report was being circulated to brokers and the media by an organisation called Madison Cross, a consultant associated with Bunnings. Bunnings is owned by Wesfarmers, which also owns Coles, Target and Kmart. “[It] is further evidence of a dirty tricks campaign being waged against the Masters Home Improvement business,” the Woolworth s statement said. The Madison Cross report is believed to criticise Masters over its ‘female friendly’ format which it claims is turning away traditional tradesmen. Woolworths said it will refer the report to the competition regulator. “The unreasonable nature of the assumptions makes the Madison Cross report misleading and Woolworths will refer it to…