Coles
Another victory to Coles in war of the supermarkets
Coles signalled on Thursday there is no end in sight for the supermarket price wars it kicked off a year ago in Australia as sales results for the December quarter confirmed it continued to close the gap on larger rival Woolworths.
''Coles will continue to have a very strong focus on delivering value for its customers and will continue to invest in price,'' said Richard Goyder, CEO of Coles owner Wesfarmers, using the company terminology for the savage price cuts on milk last year and on fruit and vegetables last week.
Coles closes gap on Woolworths
Australia's retail-to-coal conglomerate Wesfarmers's subsidiary Coles continued to close the gap on Woolworths during the December quarter reporting on Thursday that second-quarter sales growth exceeded its larger rival's.
The expansion included record-breaking Christmas sales despite price deflation and weak consumer sentiment.
Australian retailers' standards "aid poor farmers"
Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles have hit back at claims they are hurting suppliers in developing countries by holding them to strict environmental standards.
US-based free-market lobby group World Growth has accused the retailers of "harming the poor" by imposing tough environmental and social conditions that suppliers in developing countries are unable to meet.
However, Coles spokesman Jim Cooper said the company's commitment to ethical and sustainable sourcing actually protected small overseas suppliers.
Australian farmers cry foul as retailers cut milk price
Australia's dairy farmers have reacted with anger to the move by Coles and Woolworths to slash milk prices by 33 percent at a time when many producers are struggling to overcome the devastation wrought by flooding in three states.
Coles and Woolworths said they would absorb the cost of the cuts and that farmers would not be commercially disadvantaged.
'Anti-competitive' supermarkets to be challenged
Developers could be given greater scope to open more supermarkets in Melbourne's suburbs to break the dominance of Coles and Woolworths.
