Page 10 - Conveniece World Magazine Nov/Dec 2020

PETROL & CONVENIENCE SUMMARY FROM PAGE 7 new product lines, while our campaigns to ‘Help lower the cost of breakfast, lunch and dinner’ introduced more than 1500 new products at everyday low prices. We renewed 70 of our stores, tailoring them to the needs of the local community, including the opening of three Coles Local supermarkets in NSW and Victoria. Sales of Own Brand grew by 10 per cent to exceed $10 billion for the first time, accounting for more than 31 per cent of supermarket sales. We’re increasing our use of technology to manage our business more efficiently, including using artificial intelligence to help our store teams order the right amount of stock. Meanwhile, construction is underway on the first of two Witron automated distribution centres, and sites have been secured for two Ocado automated online customer fulfilment centres. We take pride in supporting our communities, and together with our team members, customers and suppliers, we provided more than $139 million in community contributions this past financial year, up 21 per cent from FY19. This included $3 million in gift cards to more than 6000 rural fire brigades across Australia, $3.2 million for the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund to assist with bushfire recovery, and more than $1.8 million for the Country Women’s Association drought relief efforts. We also donated the equivalent of 31 million meals to SecondBite and two million meals to Foodbank, providing nutritious food to Australians in need. I would like to thank our team members, who continue to show resilience and dedication as they serve our customers with a smile; our suppliers and community partners, whose collaboration, passion and innovation help us to serve Australian communities; and our millions of customers each week at more than 2500 retail sites for their support of our efforts to provide a safe environment in which to work and shop. Metcash Food CEO Scott Marshall The past 12 months will stand as one of the most challenging years Metcash has experienced, with devastating bushfires severely affecting many of our retailers and local communities, particularly in rural and regional areas where our retailers are strongly represented. During the bushfires, our teams went to extraordinary efforts to ensure our retailers were safe and able to continue supporting their communities, working closely with government, the Rural Fire Service and other essential services to ensure continuity of supply, including arranging air drop deliveries into some communities that became isolated by the bushfires. Not long after the bushfire crisis had subsided, the spread of Covid-19 became a focus around the world. We recognised the critical role that we and our retailers would need to play in supporting communities, particularly in regional and remote areas where our retailers are often the only store in town. We quickly reset our priorities to protecting the health and wellbeing of our teams, including our independent retailers, doing whatever was necessary to make sure we kept our supply chains running and distribution centres operating safely, and ensuring we remained in a strong financial position so we could continue to supply and support our retailers. At the height of the pandemic we introduced IGA Priority Shop to provide local grocery deliveries to those who were elderly, vulnerable or isolated. In May we extended this offer and launched IGA Shop Online, which is available to everyone in the community, in hundreds of local areas across Australia. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed shopping behaviours in Australia, and independent retailers have seen an increase in demand as people eat at home and shop in their local neighbourhood. We’ve been pleased to hear from our retailers that many new or returning customers have commented on how impressed they’ve been with the quality of their local stores, their ranging and competitive prices. Looking forward, we’re focused on ensuring the customers gained through the Covid-19 period are retained in our independent network. New Sunrise Managing Director Steve Cardinale There are many insights and almost four times as many interpretations surrounding the future impacts of Covid-19 to the industry. In my opinion, Covid-19 wasn’t the only trigger to fundamentally change consumer behaviour. In fact, I would argue that it acted as a catalyst to accelerate some emerging trends, as well as amplify the importance of the fundamentals of business. At the onset of the pandemic, the softer underbelly of the channel was exposed, with the power of the major corporates made evident in the management of the supply chain. Consumer demand was high for staples that were just not available to the channel. Further exacerbated was the influence that continues past product and price into industrial relations (for example, not paying the penalty rates we’re lumbered with in this channel) and to all aspects of retailing operations, from lower rents, electricity rates, bank fees and much more. But small businesses are resilient, flexible and nimble. They’re innovative and adaptable. New Sunrise retailers were extremely quick to react, and literally overnight rose to the challenges the virus and the government had thrown at us. We’ve grown through the pandemic and we’ll continue to grow. Across our network, it was the independent retailers that continued to serve their local communities, delivering a great customer experience while maintaining operational efficiencies: managing a Covid plan, managing the anxiety and morale of uncertain staff, wading through JobKeeper and tax support packages, adapting their business model to suit a changed consumer sentiment – and throughout, continued to remain open, stocked and ready to trade with a smile. The shift balanced out, and longer term it was our industry that shone throughout the year as a beacon for communities. It was our industry that provided a local touch, that kept the community close to home and provided a safe, clean environment to shop. As to when the virus subsides and Australians find the ‘new norm’, the challenge remains to recognise the industry, not as a cash cow, paying more for 8 CONVENIENCE WORLD NOV/DEC, 2020