 14 Mar 2011 |
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Every cent counts
On a happier note, one of the biggest names in SA retail celebrated his 80th birthday last week. Many happy returns Raymond Ackerman, we wish you many more! Shan Radcliffe, Retail editor Please send retail news to: retailnews@bizcommunity.com Responses to this column welcomed in our new online editor's column archive. Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Top stories
RetailTomorrow is International Consumer DayTuesday, 15 March 2011, is International Consumer Day and Tshiwela Mhlantla, managing executive of Absa Personal Loans, suggests that tomorrow, consumers consider 10 truths about personal finance and lending. Read more >>Food price hikes 'may trigger farming investment'[Miriam Mannak] While the food price spikes of the past few years have had a negative impact on food security and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, where people on average spend 70% of their income on food, they may also present the region with opportunities. Read more >>AssociationsRSA Market Agents comes to Cape Town The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for the Western Cape, Gerrit van Rensburg, officially opened the fifth agency for market agency group, RSA Market Agents, in Cape Town on 1 March 2011. The agency joins Johannesburg, Durban, Bloemfontein and Tshwane markets, rounding off its presence on the five leading fresh markets in the country. Fresh produce markets (19 in total) posted a turnover for 2009/10 in excess of R9.4 billion and handled over 3 million tons of fruit and vegetables. Read more >>South African Barista champion Lani Snyman recently qualified as a World Barista Championship Judge at a certification workshop held by the World Barista Championship in Tolentino, Italy, achieving a score of 93%. 15 out of the 24 candidates attending the workshop were certified as world championship judges. Read more >>Banking & FinanceLocal bank scoops Asian awards On 11 March 2011, the Asian Banker and its international panel of judges presented Absa Retail Banking with two awards - Best Mobile Phone Banking (International) and the Best Retail Bank in South Africa for 2010. Read more >>Brand newsMarie Claire - best of brands The winners of the annual Marie Claire Prix d'Excellence de la Beauté were announced late last week at an awards ceremony hosted by Edgars at the Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel in Sandton. All the local and international winners are featured in a special supplement in the April issue of Marie Claire, sponsored by Edgars. Read more >>Bigger portion of food[Shannon Sherry] Listed agricultural services group Afgri intends expanding its foods business and will purchase the entire yellow maize milling business of Pride Milling. Read more >>Clothing & TextilesClothing range will not commercialise MandelaThe global clothing brand to be launched by non-profit organisation 46664 will not commercialise former president Nelson Mandela in any way, the organisation said at a press briefing in Houghton on Wednesday, 9 March 2011. Read more >>New T-shirt design competition from Springleap.com Springleap.com, launched in 2008 as an online crowdsourcing t-shirt design website, has announced its latest design contest in association with Vodacom, which explores the theme of connectivity. Submissions and voting for the competition closes on Friday 25 March 2011. Read more >>Commercial propertyCorporate Social InvestmentNew charity card offers sustainable income streamA solution for charities to overcome the fact that they find it difficult to plan and commit to long term projects without a secure, ongoing income stream will be alleviated with the new Good Card, a Visa cash back card with a monthly subscription fee of R289, where R45 is donated to a charity on behalf of the user. Read more >>Ackerman gives R2 million in gifts on 80th birthday Raymond Ackerman took his 80th birthday as an opportunity to give rather than receive by donating R1 million to the Children's Hospital Trust, the fundraising arm of the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, R500 000 to Pick n Pay's Incubator Campaign and R500 000 to the Raymond Ackerman Golf Academy, situated at the Clovelly Golf Club, which was established to teach children from a disadvantaged background how to play golf as well as life skills. Read more >>CRMDistributionChina to get Zandvliet wines A five-year sales and distribution agreement has been signed between Zandvliet Estate, Johannesburg-based export service suppliers CJ&MG and SA Valley to provide mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other countries in the region with wines. Read more >>New UK distributor for Distell Matthew Clark (MC), considered one of the UK's leading distributors, representing producers throughout the world, has been appointed to distribute Nederburg, Fleur du Cap, Durbanville Hills, Pongracz and Drostdy-Hof for Distell through its extensive network of restaurant and pub chains, style bars and independent licensed premises. Read more >>Exhibitions & EventsHave a hearty harvest lunch
Expect the unexpected at Down to Earth, ProWein At Down To Earth, the New World show-within-a-show at ProWein, the top-level annual trade show in Düsseldorf, delegates will encounter well-known German writer and sommelier Christina Fischer, who is chairing two food and wine pairing sessions that she says are both seminars intended to challenge prejudices, extend boundaries of taste and inform even the most seasoned palates. Read more >>Green sustainabilityEvent Greening Forum becomes official The Event Greening Forum (EGF), which has been operating informally since 2009, has now become a Section 21 company and received support from eight MICE associations (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), enabling it to be effective in realising its mandate - to promote sustainable and ethical business practices in the South African events industry. Read more >>Sustain the Earth, go beyond Earth Hour 2011 This year, Earth Hour takes place from 8.30-9.30pm on Saturday, 26 March 2011, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is calling on South Africans to pledge their support and go beyond the hour and commit to an action, big or small, that they will sustain for the future of our planet. Read more >>Health & SafetyLight waves deliver cost, hygiene benefits[Hylton Cowie] Using infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) systems offer invaluable cost-control optimisation, essential hygiene controls and a major point of distinction in the heavily traded marketplace of the food and hospitality industries. These could revolutionise traditional approaches to food preparation, flavour, handling and hygiene control. Read more >>HospitalityImport/ExportGroup to feel loss of import credits[Annaleigh Vallie] The scrapping of a credit certificate scheme that gives relief to importers on customs duty will affect Rex Trueform Clothing's margins in the second half of the financial year, the company says. Read more >>LogisticsState of South African logistics survey out now The 7th State of Logistics survey, considered one of one of the premier references for logistics in South Africa, was released yesterday, 8 March 2011, by the CSIR, Imperial Logistics and Stellenbosch University. It points to an underperforming logistics sector, within a recessionary context. The consistently high total cost of logistics decreased by just 1.2% between 2008 and 2009, from 14.7% to 13.5% of GDP. This year, topics centred on 'green' logistics (including 'extra distance' measurement); deteriorating road quality and benefit-cost analysis; supply chain risk management; the skills issue; and rural logistics. Read more >>ManufacturingPackagingBowler Metcalf rockets on boom in drinks business[Mark Allix] Cape Town-based manufacturer of plastic packaging, mouldings and carbonated soft drinks Bowler Metcalf's unaudited results for the six months ended December reflected a continuing upturn in SA's fast-moving consumer goods market. Read more >>RegulatoryResearchFNB BER Building Confidence Index shows dropThe release of the FNB/BER building confidence index on Thursday 10 March 2011 showed a disappointing building confidence decline for the first quarter of 2011. The rate retreated from 38 in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 24, matching 2Q2010, which was the lowest in the recession. Read more >>Competing for growth, new survey by Ernst & YoungErnst & Young has released a research report entitled 'Competing for Growth,' which uncovers the ways in which high performers are setting themselves up for success in a changed global economy. The four areas which it has identified as critical to achieve success in an economy fundamentally changed following the recession are - customer reach, cost competitiveness, operational agility and stakeholder confidence. Read more >>RetailersMetcash franchise division to be sold to Shoprite[Zeenat Moorad] Metcash Trading Africa announced on Tuesday, 8 March 2011, that it had entered into an agreement with the Shoprite Group in terms of which the franchise division of Metcash would be sold to Shoprite. Read more >>SecurityUS warns of quake-related Internet scamsWASHINGTON, USA: US computer security authorities warned on Friday, 11 March 2011, that online scammers may seek to exploit the earthquake in Japan. Read more >>Retail crime statistics decline in 2010: CGRIRetail crime statistics have decreased considerably over the past year, with armed robberies decreasing 43% and burglaries dropping 26% when compared with figures reported in 2009, according to the Consumer Goods Risk Initiative (CGRI). Read more >>Shipping & TransportTechnologyDigital ways to donate to Japan disaster reliefHONG KONG, CHINA: Technology giants Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter are all offering digital ways to donate to Japan's recovery efforts following the massive earthquake and devastating tsunami. Read more >>Tracking assets in real timeA pilot project utilising the application of RF Controls' 3D Intelligent Tracking and Control System (ITCS) has been installed successfully at two sites in Gauteng and is currently being rolled out to three more across the province. US-based RF Controls has developed ITCS as a standards-based automatic data capture system. It achieves wide area zonal monitoring using innovative "smart antenna" technology. Read more >>
Spikes Asia: New-look website; new awards SINGAPORE: Launching the newly designed 2011 website, the Spikes Asia Advertising Festival has announced that they will be introducing Mobile and PR as two new entry categories and recognising the Independent Agency of the Year at this year's Awards. Read more >>eCommerce sites urged to clean up content before Google's 'Panda' goes global LONDON, UK: Hot at its heels of an algorithm update to combat duplicate content last month, Google has followed up with "Panda", another algorithm change that hits purveyors of "low-quality content." Read more >>What's on the minds of agency chief executives? LONDON, UK / JOHANNESBURG, SA: The Independent Agency Selection & Search Company (IAS) and UK counterpart the AAR, recently conducted a survey and polled the top 25 CEOs of global adverting agency networks and 15 UK counterparts. Read more >>Opera launches Opera Mobile StoreOSLO, NORWAY: Opera Software, a leading provider of mobile browsers around the world, has announced that the Opera Mobile Store is now open and available at mobilestore.opera.com. Read more >>More International news...
FMCGWhat's hot snippet: New Pringles twin pack with free snack box - Fore Good Investments The new Pringles twin pack offer includes two large Pringle cans and a convenient snack box that tucks away neatly into any lunchbox, picnic basket or laptop bag. Read more >>
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Call me Sexy, not Caddy... [Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] A caddy is one of the pleasures of playing golf because it means that somebody else gets to hump a rather heavy and unwieldy collection of clubs, balls and a sundry collection of golfing accessories in a heavy bag around a usually undulating golf course in the pouring rain or scorching sunshine. Read more >>Two share SA Car of the Year title [Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] For the first time in the 26-year history of the South African Car of the Year competition, two cars, the VW Polo and the BMW 530d, tied for the top honours. Read more >>Emerging auto insurance and aggregator sites attracting meaningful market share RESTON, US: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, has announced the availability of an expanded competitive set of insurers and aggregator sites for its online auto insurance benchmarker. In Q4 2010, these additional sites accounted for 724 000 submitted quotes, making up 8% of quotes submitted online. Read more >>More Motoring news...
Long Beach, Mauritius - something for everyone [Rod Baker] Biz.Travel spoke to Nicolas de Chalain, the general manager of the new Long Beach Resort in Mauritius recently, and about the Sun Resort group's new 'jewel in the crown'. Read more >>ITB 2011: Part 1 - key trends and learnings for Cape Town [Mariette du Toit-Helmbold] ITB Berlin is the world's leading travel trade show with some 100 000 trade visitors and more than 60 000 members of the public that will visit the show between 9 and 13 March 2011. Read more >>Travel & tourism report focuses on moving beyond the downturn ANDORRA: Switzerland, Germany and France have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the fourth Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, just released by the World Economic Forum at the Global Tourism Forum 2011 (GTF) held in Andorra. Austria, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Spain and Singapore complete the top 10. Read more >>More Travel news...
(Gold)Fish are friends ... [Ilse van den Berg] Goldfish rocked up on Sunday, 6 March at Kirstenbosch Gardens with an amazing energy that literally raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Having seen them previously perform an unforgettable show at St. Yves Club, Camps Bay, I was really excited to see what they would be able to do in front of a crowd easily four times that size and in an open-air venue like Kirstenbosch. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Read more >>The Crucible lacks local flavour [Johann Smith] Nothing new can be said about The Crucible. Its history and story are in many books and plastered all over the Internet. Arthur Miller's classic, written in 1953, is a central work in the canon of American drama and has won several awards. Read more >>White man on the loose, in Kalk Bay [Johann Smith] Words cannot describe music. Syllables cannot substitute chords. Paragraphs will never possess the power of a melody. A music review is reality trying to illustrate and paint the abstract. After all, language is limited and, therefore, we reach for the arts. Music, in its own right, exists in a world of its own and language is alien. Read more >>More BizLounge news...
Retail Buyer: Electronics - WynbergYou might think of yourself as a bit of a gadget queen/king and that passion is exactly what we need. HomeChoice created your dream opportunity... Read more >>Graphic/Web Designer - WynbergHomeChoice is looking for a graphic/web designer who has an advanced understanding of Dreamweaver, working with DIVs on a MOBI site. Click here for more information. Read more >>
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