This week in FMCG

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.