Jul 15, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
The Covid-19 lockdowns forced changes on all of us, workwise and personally. But it wasn’t just in the 12 weeks we were subject to some form of social distancing. In the early weeks of Level 1 we also saw how some of those changes were sticking, and could do so well...
Jul 3, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
Whether people follow the grocery sector in detail or take a casual interest as shoppers, most would be aware of the transformation that has taken place in supermarket aisles over the past decade as manufacturers work hard to develop and launch healthier formulations...
Jun 26, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
There’s been a lot of speculation about what our post Covid-19 world will look like, and how our daily lives will change and our businesses might have to adapt. Long-term, it’s anyone’s guess, and will depend on how quickly the world can rid itself of the virus and...
Jun 3, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
The food and grocery industry has just experienced a period like no other. The eight or so weeks leading to our exit from COVID-19 Alert Level 3 have been a time of pressure not seen since the days of rationing during the Great Depression and World War II. As demand...
Apr 16, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
There have been lots of grocery heroes through the Level 4 lockdown, and I’d like to acknowledge some of them. It’s a frantic time for the sector, with suppliers and supermarkets working overtime to ensure the huge public demand for groceries is met. And with people...
Apr 3, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
Amid the challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak and the pressure on suppliers and retailers to keep supermarket shelves stocked, it’s essential we continue to celebrate the bright spots. One was the recent announcement of the Supreme Winner at the New Zealand Chocolate...
Apr 2, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
Merchandisers have been described by some as “The Silent Sales People” of retail, important team members who help supermarkets and suppliers make sure product is on the shelf at the right time to satisfy shoppers’ requirements and, of course, sell more...
Mar 4, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
As we all know, we don’t have to walk too far down any supermarket aisle to realise just what a huge challenge it would be to remove all plastic or non-recyclable packaging used for groceries. So many of them rely on plastic and other packaging for reasons of safety,...
Jan 22, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
The food and grocery scene in 2020 will no doubt be dominated by several significant occurrences that came to the fore in the second half of last year. The first of these was the formation by the NZ Food & Grocery Council of a committee to tackle one of the big...
Dec 16, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
Banning plastic items such as fruit stickers, cotton buds, microbeads, straws, supermarket bags and the next small plastic item deemed Public Enemy No. 1 can give the impression of environmental progress, but the bigger gains must come from tackling New Zealand’s more...
Dec 9, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
The food and grocery sector embarked recently on two initiatives that promise benefits far into the future. Health & safety and sustainability have for many years been at the forefront of companies’ thinking. Most can point to work they’ve done and are continuing...
Nov 21, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
Consumer NZ has done its annual “testing” of sunscreens and has hit the media claiming many sunscreens don’t measure up to their packaging claims. It’s nonsense. I’ve put “testing” in inverted commas because if the methodology used is the same as in previous years,...
