Mar 19, 2021 | Katherine Rich Comments
I’m running a bit late with Chinese New Year good wishes, but 新年快乐 / 新年快樂 (Xīnnián kuàilè) to all members of the New Zealand Food & Grocery Council and readers of FMCG Business of Chinese descent. I hope the Year of the Ox is a fortunate one for all parts of our...
Feb 22, 2021 | Katherine Rich Comments
Challenge and change defined 2020 like few other years in food & grocery, and they’re set define 2021 too, though (fingers crossed) not in quite the same way. I’m confident the supply chain legends of 2020 will retain their place in industry history. Rather, 2021...
Dec 9, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
Wow – what a year that’s coming to an end! Usually at this time we’re saying, ‘let’s put that one behind us, have a decent break and start afresh next year’, and be relatively sure that will happen. But this year I’m afraid it’s not going to be that simple. There are...
Nov 25, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
Before the election, the Labour Party said it would get the Commerce Commission to undertake a market study into grocery pricing. Jacinda Ardern said there is “some evidence to suggest competition problems exist in these markets”. Though the Food & Grocery Council...
Oct 21, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
With the supply chain challenges of the March and April Covid-19 lockdown and the Auckland Alert Level 3 border problems successfully behind them, suppliers of food and groceries are now able to turn their full attention to another issue – rebuilding their businesses...
Sep 15, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
For most, this election will be like no other in living memory, except for those who can remember the disruptions of WWII. It’s doubtful there will be the usual discussion and scrutiny of policy, instead replaced by the focus on Covid-19 and answering the growing...
Aug 24, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
How to keep food on the shelf in Auckland? The short answer is to let essential food workers travel to their factories in and out of Auckland, says FGC Chief Executive Katherine Rich. For the longer explanation about changes that need to be made to the current...
Jul 24, 2020 | Katherine Rich Comments
New Zealand grocery shoppers are the most promotion-driven in the world. The latest data I’ve seen showed almost $6 in every $10 spent on groceries were sold on promotion (compared with $4 in Australia and $3 in the UK). Countdown and Foodstuffs have acknowledged...
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...
