This week in FMCG
Another week comes to an end so it’s time for us to recap on the top headlines from the FMCG sector this week.
Coca-Cola shakes up top leadership team
Global beverage giant Coca-Cola has elected a new president and COO as well as a new CFO. Brian Smith will take the seat of president and COO from January 1. The company said in a statement that Smith is well-equipped to lead field operations and bring an “accelerated focus” on executing key strategies. He will report to Coke CEO James Quincey. While John Murphy, president of the company’s Asia Pacific group, will be the new executive vice president and CFO on March 16, 2019, after Kathy Waller retires from the company.
Deputy PM open to royal commission into supermarkets
Deputy prime minister Michael McCormack has supported having a royal commission for supermarkets for allegedly failing to support Australian farmers during the drought problem. Queensland Nationals MP Llew O’Brien told parliament that supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths should be condemned for failing to follow through on a 10 cent “drought levy” on all the milk brands they are carrying at their stores. The “big two” brought a milk levy but solely for their own private label milk ranges. O’Brien said that this move of both groceries were taking consumers away from purchasing branded milk.
Elon Musk uncorks “Teslaquila” plan
Business magnate Elon Musk has veered into a new business venture, this time in the liquor business. His electric car business company, Tesla, filed a trademark application for the name “Teslaquila” last Monday for a new tequila brand. CNBC reported that the application form claimed that Teslaquila would be used for labelling “distilled agave liquor, distilled blue agave liquor”.
Amazon Australia moves into the food category
E-commerce giant Amazon has unveiled its new ‘pantry range’, which includes over 400 local and international brands of food, such as Arnott’s, Milo, Uncle Tobys, Masterfoods, T2, Carman’s, Sanitarium, Oreo, Powerade and M&Ms. While the range will impact the Australian grocery sector, it doesn’t include any AmazonFresh produce. Amazon’s former executive, Brittain Ladd, commented on LinkedIn, on the rationale behind the e-commerce giant’s focus on food which he deems as a “must-have for all consumers. The retailer that does the best job of meeting the grocery or food needs of consumers to the point where customers become loyal to the retailers brand, will provide that same retailer with an opportunity to sell additional products.”
Nestlé unveiled baby formula to rival a2
Nestlé has released its new Illuma A2 infant formula in China in February. The New Zealand and China formula products are Wyeth Nutrition brands, while the Australian product is labelled Nestlé Nutrition. Its new A2 products contain a special protein – A2 beta-casein – a protein that may be similarly digested to breast milk beta-casein. A2 is the original form of the beta-casein protein from when cows were domesticated thousands of years ago. Tarun Malkani, Nestle’s global business head for Wyeth Nutrition, told The Australian Financial Review that they “are going to win [market share] on the strength of the brand. It comes down to the power of the brand. In this case it happens to be the A2 offering, but its still about the brand.
That caps the top news for this working week. Stay tuned for more headlines next Monday morning!
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