As the week draws to a close, we take a look back at the top stories that dominated the headlines. A supermarket giant expanded into B2B while a confectionery giant acquired one of Australia’s chocolate manufacturers. Read below what happened this week.
Woolworths expanding B2B offer
Woolworths will launch an online shopping site for the B2B market tailored for early learning centres, education, disability and care services. It will be launched this year and aims to improve the shopping experience for the target market in terms of account management, centralised invoicing and consistent year-round prices. However, suppliers have raised concerns that they will not see higher margins.
Barry Callebaut completes acquisition of GKC Foods
Barry Callebaut finalised the acquisition of GKC Foods. Ben De Schryver, president in Asia Pacific, said that the move catapults the business into the industrial chocolate market in ANZ. He added that the heritage of GKC Foods will continue with its “state of the art manufacturing processes and the capabilities of an undisputed leader in chocolate and cocoa innovation”.
Freedom Foods to write down $60 million of expired stock
Freedom Foods sought the help of PwC and Ashurst to investigate alleged fraud after the company announced a $60 million write-down from expired milk. Chief executive Rory Macleod also departed the company. In May, the ASX-listed company said it was likely to make a one-off non-cash write-down approximately A$25 million, but on Friday a revised estimate added A$35 million to that figure.
Mondelēz switching to renewable energy in Melbourne
Mondelēz International will switch to renewable electricity at its two Melbourne factories in January 2021. The facilities manufacture products from Cadbury, The Natural Confectionery Company and Pascall. The confectionery giant partnered with businesses across Victoria to establish a power purchase agreement to source renewables from the Yaloak South wind farm west of Melbourne.
FSANZ revised pregnancy warning on alcohol
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand revised the wording on a pregnancy warning label on alcohol bottles, using red lettering. This is despite the group’s claim that this would lead to an unreasonable cost burden in the industry. The pictogram of a pregnant woman holding a glass with a line through her silhouette will be updated with a mandatory message that ‘alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby’.
That is it for this week. Have a lovely weekend!
