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The Labour government’s new federal budget has promised a host of relief measures to small businesses and retailers to curb the rising cost of living and inflationary pressures.

Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra said cost-of-living relief was “front of mind” for retailers and consumers alike.

“Australians are rightfully keeping a close eye on cost-of-living reprieve, but so too are retailers – with discretionary spending beginning to significantly soften in the wake of inflation and consecutive interest rate rises.

To help small businesses bounce back from the current cost of living crisis, a $20,000 instant asset write-off has been introduced along with an energy bill relief and a Small Business Energy Incentive program to encourage investments.

Zahra said “alleviating” the cost-of-living pressures is a vital component of economic stimulation.

The budget’s made reforms to the Australian migration system, are “welcomed” by the retail community since it will ease labour and skills shortages.

“The red tape of Australia’s migration system and the barrier of expensive childcare are two leading drivers of high job vacancies.

“We are pleased to see the commitment to cut the cost of childcare for 1.2 million families – together these measures will have enormous benefits for retail and the broader economy,” said Zahra.

He flagged businesses need more support managing higher labour, leasing and supply chain costs as well as insurance.

Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) CEO, Tanya Barden, said this year’s federal budget provides “much-needed” cost of living relief to businesses.

“The cost of living measures announced tonight recognise that higher levels of discretionary spending are essential drivers of growth.”

The $310 million Small Business Energy Incentive, introduced in the budget, will assist small and medium food and grocery manufacturers invest in upgraded, energy-saving plants and equipment.

Barden described the incentive as a “sensible support” for essential industries that keep supermarket shelves stocked amidst fragile supply chains, rising input costs and subsidised foreign competitors.

Pepsi Lipton International, a joint venture between PepsiCo and Unilever, has unveiled T2 Iced, a new range of ready-to-drink iced tea. This marks the first time T2 has entered the RTD category since its acquisition by Unilever in 2013. 

T2 Iced features a “refreshingly playful spin” on traditional teas and is available in three flavours: Peach Amore, a black iced tea with notes of peach and raspberry; Lemon Coco Breeze, a lemon coconut-infused black iced tea; and Watermelon Fiesta, an herbal hibiscus blend with splashes of watermelon and mint.

 T2 GM Katrina McDonald said the new range was designed to meet the demand for premium beverages that are lower in sugar. 

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to bring T2 Iced to consumers, a new range that delivers an elevated experience to the beverage category,” said McDonald.

These iced teas are low in sugar (2 grams per 100 ml) and do not contain artificial colours, preservatives, or sweeteners. They are also made sustainably using Rainforest Alliance-certified tea.

T2 Iced is available in 4x240ml multipack at RRP $10 and 300ml single bottle serve (Peach Amore and Lemon Coco Breeze) at RRP $3.35 in major supermarkets and online through Amazon.

It will also be available at select cafes, restaurants, and convenience stores in the coming months.

New Coles boss Leah Weckert has made her first major appointments since taking control of the nation’s second-largest grocery chain, hiring Amanda McVay as chief customer officer and elevating Michael Courtney to run the liquor business.

Ms Weckert took over as chief executive of the supermarket chain from Steven Cain on May 1. She is the first woman to become CEO at Coles, and has wasted no time adding to her leadership team.

Ms McVay joins Coles from Michigan-based family-owned Meijer, a supercentre chain with 240 sites throughout the Midwest where she was group vice president, head of marketing, digital, customer strategy and own brand. Before joining Meijer in 2012, Ms McVay had an extensive career at US discounter Target.

“As chief customer officer, Amanda will lead the development and execution of the marketing, brand and customer communication strategies that bring our Coles Group vision, purpose and strategy to life,” Ms Weckert said in an email to staff.

Ms Weckert also has promoted Michael Courtney to chief executive of the liquor business following the departure of Darren Blackhurst who has returned to the UK. Coles operates Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars.

Mr Courtney successfully led Coles Express for more than four years, helping to deliver a winning strategy in the petrol and convenience market. He also oversaw a successful sale to Viva Energy last year.

“Michael has spent the past six months immersing himself in the e-commerce business and transforming our customer offer. Michael is exceptionally well-placed to lead liquor in delivering the strategy and transformation plans underway,” Ms Weckert said in her message.

“He is committed to building a strong culture and team who are passionate about being local drinks specialists. I’m delighted to welcome Michael to the executive leadership team. He is a fantastic example of building a great career at Coles and this appointment is testament to his ability to seek opportunities to continually adapt and grow.”

Other changes within the executive team include Matt Swindells, chief of operations and sustainability, who will take responsibility for manufacturing and delivering the Ocado program.

Coles and its partner, British e-commerce company Ocado, are building two highly automated customer fulfilment centres, which have been delayed and blown out in cost.

Mr Swindells was pivotal in the delivery of Coles’ two automated Witron distribution centres which are opening on time and on budget.

Chief financial officer Charlie Elias will take on procurement and group transformation. Ms Weckert said Ian Finlay, general manager procurement, will report to the CFO and group transformation will report to Clay Welch, who heads corporate strategy, transformation and development.

Chief digital officer Ben Hassing will take on responsibility for financial services.

“Paul Askew, GM financial services will join Ben’s leadership team. We have commenced recruitment for the EGM omnichannel operations and innovation role,” Ms Weckert said.

Andy Mossop, who heads Coles’ fresh division, and Jonathan Torr, executive general manager of packaged grocery, will join the executive leadership team on an interim basis while Ms Weckert searches for a new head of commercial.

Trish Unwin has joined Mr Torr’s team in a newly created position, GM wholesale. George Saoud, who was heading up emerging businesses, will leave Coles after three years.

Ms McVay has an MBA and is a former elite junior tennis player, who received a tennis scholarship at Indiana University as an undergraduate. She will join Coles on June 13, while the other executive changes will take effect from July 1.

Bubs Australia chief executive officer Kristy Carr has been ousted from the company she founded amid a stoush that has been brewing behind closed doors between her and the board of directors, who also dumped long-time chairman Dennis Lin.

In a statement to the ASX on Wednesday, the infant formula maker said Carr’s employment had been terminated effective immediately “due to failure to comply with reasonable board directions”.

“We acknowledge Kristy’s long service to Bubs and the role she has played in building the Bubs brand to the position it enjoys today,” said new chair Katrina Rathie, who was appointed to the role on April 11.

“Noting the recent deterioration in Bubs’ financial performance over the half year, the non-executive directors considered the time was right for a change in leadership and to change the governance framework of the company to ensure that it aligns with ASX Corporate Governance Principles and best practice,” the ASX statement said.

Carr had been on personal leave ever since the board installed Rathie and removed Lin from the position he served for nearly six years. The company also terminated Lin’s employment on Tuesday.

Chief operating officer Richard Paine is acting as interim chief executive until a replacement for Carr is found.

Carr has been contacted for comment.

Investors didn’t seem to welcome the executive shake-up, sending Bubs Australia’s share price down 1.6 per cent in afternoon trading.

In a LinkedIn post shortly after Lin was removed from his role, Carr described the ousted chairman as “the smartest, most strategic person I’ve ever met” and “an inspiration”.

“He has not only been a mentor to me, but also to many younger budding team members ... he has only ever acted with the highest level of integrity in the best interest of the business and all shareholders,” she wrote. “I 100 per cent stand by him.”

Carr founded Bubs in her kitchen in Sydney’s northern beaches almost two decades ago while on maternity leave from her communications job at a global firm. The mother of three was dismayed by the baby food on offer and began experimenting with making her own.

The infant formula maker, which produces products using goat’s milk, had its trading debut on the ASX in January 2017 at 10 cents a share and soared to $1.42 in early 2019 amid strong demand from the Chinese market.

It shot to global fame in May last year thanks to a tweet by US President Joe Biden thanking Bubs Australia for its assistance in patching the US infant formula crisis, which resulted in the Dandenong-based baby formula maker supplying millions of bottles to American families in a deal aided by former treasurer and ambassador to the US Joe Hockey.

Its entry into the highly competitive and tightly held American infant formula market prompted the company to turn its focus on growing further in the US and China, which helped it turn a profit for the first time in the 2022 financial year.

In the company’s ASX statement on April 11, Rathie said it was important for the company to evolve from a founder-led business to a company with a “deeply experienced” board and chair who would “help guide and mentor management, oversee growth, exercise fiscal responsibility and help navigate financial and non-financial risks”.

“As a growing company now operating in three core markets, it is critically important that the newly reconstituted Bubs board under my leadership has strategic oversight over our expansion plans, as well as financial and non-financial risks as we look into rapidly changing economic circumstances and evolving markets.”

Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya says it’s about time businesses started shifting away from simply chasing profits and instead focus on social responsibility.

The founder of the multibillion-dollar yoghurt brand says the success of his company, which started with him buying a disused yoghurt factory in upstate New York in 2005, is proof that it’s possible to run a business that puts communities and consumers before profits and shareholders.

Since its humble beginning, Chobani has become the No.1 Greek yoghurt brand in the United States and runs the largest yoghurt facility in the world. For Ulukaya, it has given him a platform to pursue his passion to democratise access to quality food globally.

“I want this idea of Chobani to impact other businesses as a proof point of saying this narrow view of focusing on only profit is yesterday’s idea — and there is no place for companies in the future to be in this narrow mindset.

“Through yoghurt, we want to make a difference [to] people’s lives,” he said while visiting his company’s Australian team last week.

As the world has emerged from the pandemic to face soaring inflation, including in grocery prices, Ulukaya’s focus on access to food has taken on a greater importance.

He is critical of other global food giants who are posting record profits at a time when many shoppers are struggling to get food on the table, and notes companies were keen to pass on price rises immediately but have been slower to wind these back when input costs have moderated.

“During the pandemic and post pandemic ... the underprivileged community’s access to food became more challenging. Yet companies are focused on extreme profits during this time,” he said.

“You see an enormous amount of profit records from food companies – it’s real, it’s out there, they publish it. Yet, there is this problem of hunger, and not being able to afford food – that is a big problem.”

Inflation has hit food makers across the globe, however, and Chobani is by no means immune from the reality of rising supply chain costs.

The company’s Australian managing director, Lyn Radford, says she has had several long conversations with Ulukaya about the impact of rising ingredient prices in Australia, and how to balance these soaring costs with price increases.

The company has put prices up for some Australian products, but Radford says Ulukaya’s message was to find a balance and keep the brand accessible to consumers.

“The one thing that he said to me that really stuck with me is, ‘Don’t make the short-term decisions that will impact the long-term business. Don’t damage the business now … this is a longer-term journey that we’re on,’ ” Radford said. “We are not taking the same quantum of price increases that our competitors are.”

Ulukaya said it was critical that the company’s core consumers still felt they could afford Chobani products.

“I want to make sure when someone buys this yoghurt, it doesn’t make a pain in their gut [and they say], ‘Well this is too much.’ I want them to buy it with a smile and say, ‘I can’t wait to take this home and feed my children,’ ” he said.

The company’s approach to manufacturing has provided some degree of control during difficult trading conditions, including the pandemic.

“One of the advantages we have is that [from] day one, we believed contract manufacturing was not something that we liked,” Ulukaya said.

The business has instead invested heavily in its own manufacturing hubs, including its new facility in Dandenong South, which opened in 2022, with a view to having more control over how it makes its products.

The strength of Chobani’s growth during the pandemic sparked plans for a sharemarket listing in the US, but Chobani pulled plans for the float in 2022, citing tough market conditions.

Ulukaya said he was happy the business made the decision to focus on continuing its growth instead of getting distracted by the ups and downs of the market, though he is still open to the idea of listing in future.

“We paused it because we didn’t think it was a good moment. I’m proud of the intelligence Chobani had [to do that],” he said.

Whether the company stays public or private, Australia remains a key growth market for the brand, which has expanded its product portfolio significantly over the past few years.

Chobani’s most recent financial documents filed with the corporate regulator show that it generated $191 million in Australian sales in 2021, up from $189 million in 2020, and profits increased to $1.8 million, compared with $787,000 the year before. The company’s US listing prospectus, lodged in 2021, revealed the company hit global sales of $US1.4 billion ($2.1 billion) in 2020.

“If you didn’t know it, you would think this company was an Australian start-up – it is built in an Australian way,” Ulukaya said.

Radford said Ulukaya has always trusted the Australian team will do the right thing by the Chobani brand, which has given local employees the freedom to come up with new ideas and products.

The idea for a dog yoghurt, for example, came from an Australian employee who could see how many consumers were giving Greek yoghurt to their pets. When Radford called Ulukaya to launch the product, she was surprised by his openness and enthusiasm.

“He said, ‘Of course, Lyn, dogs are part of our family and they deserve better food too. Why wouldn’t we do that?’ ”

Julie Mathers and a New Zealand-based online wellness retailer HealthPost have acquired the Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life brands from BWX, the beauty giant that collapsed a month ago.

Mathers, who established Flora & Fauna in 2014, has teamed up with HealthPost, to register a new company in New Zealand called The Future Collective.

The new entity will acquire the assets of BWX Digital including IP, websites, data, goodwill and stock across both brands.

“There is a lot of work to do and we will be working at speed to get Flora & Fauna back up and running as soon as we can,” said Mathers.

She added both companies’ values and ethics align and that together with their combined experience, team and infrastructure, the acquired businesses will thrive.

CEO of HealthPost, Abel Butler, said: “We have admired both Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life for a long time and wanted to help these businesses flourish into the future.

“We recognise there is a lot of work to be done; with our experience in e-commerce, health, wellness and natural beauty, we are confident we are the right custodians of these purpose-driven brands.”

HealthPost turns over NZ$35 million per annum and has more than 200,000 customers. The acquisition will triple the current customer base to more than 600,000 customers.

Treasury Wine Estates is stepping up a cost-cutting and restructuring push centred mainly on its division selling commercial wines under $10 per bottle as it braces for tougher economic times and repositions further towards the luxury segment.

The company, which has a workforce of about 2500 people, last week foreshadowed the looming restructure in internal communications and a series of meetings.

The main area being targeted is the Treasury Premium Brands division which oversees affordable labels including Wolf Blass, Lindemans, Squealing Pig, Pepperjack, Wynns, Seppelt and 19 Crimes.

The $15 per bottle (or less) price bracket is under the most pressure across the wine industry as households cut back because of cost-of-living pressures and rising interest rates.

There was speculation that the restructuring could result in up to 200 jobs being removed in a reshaping by 2025. The company declined to comment on specific job numbers, saying it was at an early stage and that part of the process was connected to an existing “2025” strategy.

Treasury Wine Estates chief executive Tim Ford confirmed to The Australian Financial Review that a review is under way. “Like any business, we continually assess our structure and cost base to make sure we’re in the right position to continue to deliver on our strategy,” he said.

“We’re now at the halfway point of our five-year strategy and faced with changing consumer preferences and economic uncertainty in major markets, we’re reviewing the structure in our Treasury Premium Brands division, as well as some other parts of our business”.

He said a new program of work in the review would step up over the coming weeks.

Treasury Wine Estates shares closed on Friday at $13.68. They reached $14.28 in mid-April after a 13 per cent climb over the four weeks from $12.63 on March 20 on the back of optimism about a potential early unwinding of the punishing tariffs slapped on Australian wine exports in late 2020 by the Chinese government.

Australian wine companies, led by Treasury’s big-selling Penfolds brand, built a $1.3 billion annual export business to China but the heavy tariffs cut that back to just $12 million in calendar 2022.

MST Marquee analyst Craig Woolford said last month after an investor roadshow in the US by Mr Ford and his management team, that in the Treasury Premium Brands division, only 61 per cent of revenues is derived from wines above $10 per bottle.

“The dilemma in Treasury Premium Brands is the division accounts for 60 per cent of group-wide volumes, mostly from Australia,” he said at the time. “While exiting some low-end wines may be desirable from a revenue perspective, Treasury Premium Brands helps fractionalise manufacturing overheads across the group.”

He expects there to be “minimal” volume growth in the division, and profit margins in Treasury Premium Brands to be around 13 per cent in 2022-23, compared with Penfolds at 44 per cent. The third division, Treasury Americas, is expected to produce profit margins of 23 per cent. Mr Woolford currently has a 12-month price target of $14.90 on the stock, with future upside largely predicated on whether there is an unwind of China tariffs.

UBS analyst Shaun Cousins has a price target of $15 on the company and also suggests the main near-term catalyst for a share price rise is the potential for changes in China wine tariffs.

Treasury Wines has pursued a diversification strategy, pushing harder in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, and then began selling in September last year a locally made version of Penfolds in China, known as One By Penfolds. It is made with grapes from the Ningxia region and sells for around $50 per bottle.

Last year, Sydney entrepreneur Rhian Allen sold The Healthy Mummy business that she founded in her kitchen back in 2010 for $17 million. Now, she is on a mission to help pet owners rethink pet nutrition for dogs and cats.

Allen’s new business venture Healthy Active Pet offers appropriate meal plans, raw dog and cat food, and recipes to help pets live long and healthy lives.

Healthy Active Pet customers can access programs, recipe books, shopping lists and step-by-step cooking guides for a monthly subscription fee of $6.95. Everything is Australian-sourced and Australian-made, including the packaging.

Close to 50 per cent of dogs and 35 per cent of cats are considered overweight in Australia, according to Healthy Active Pet, the premise of which is that to be healthy and live a long life, pets need the correct nutrition. The number one way to deliver the best nutrition for your animal, according to the company, is feeding them a species-appropriate diet, not kibble.

For dogs, this means a fresh food diet that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates.

Healthy Active Pet on a mission to make a difference

Allen, who helped more than 1.5 million mums get healthy and learn about nutrition through The Healthy Mummy, says she is passionate about the health of pets. Her mission is to help educate and inform pet owners about the best health and nutrition choices for their pets.

“I’ve got two dogs and two cats. I’m very passionate about the healthcare space. I think that whether it applies to animals or humans, I think the health and nutrition of our pets and ourselves as humans is so important,” she told SmartCompany.

“Just over 12 months ago I got two puppies and found out they were allergic to chicken. It was a completely new thing for me because I’ve had dogs and cats all my life and never had a problem with chicken.”

Allen said the discovery was eye-opening and inspired her to look into the pet care and pet health industry with food and nutrition. 

“Coming from my background with The Healthy Mummy, I’ve always been so focused on the health of humans, but it never occurred to me about what I was feeding my pets,” she said.

Allen says she wants to make a difference in the pet health and nutrition space.

“The response has been amazing,” she says. “I went into this to do something that I was passionate about and I loved and obviously you always hope that it’s gonna resonate with the consumer. That’s what your hope is and it’s been amazing. 

“It’s only four months in and it already has so much interest, so many customers are purchasing and repeat purchasing as well.

“I’ve got my kids involved in it and getting them to understand how to create a business and teaching them about how to launch and set up and build a business and a brand.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that there is such an appetite for this. But people need to be educated on it because people don’t know, just like I didn’t know, that what we feed our pets via the big pet food industry isn’t necessarily the best thing to feed our pets.”

Research is key

When asked by SmartCompany what she is doing differently this time with her second business, Allen says she’s chosen a different e-commerce platform, which enables business owners like herself to do so much more in a more cost-efficient way. 

“The great thing for me is that I’ve got a lot of experience in the e-commerce and customer space,” she says.

“So, I do feel that from a starting a business perspective there’s a lot of benefits of having someone like myself who’s got a lot of experience because you don’t make a lot of those mistakes that you’ve probably made the first time round. 

Allen says it is important for any business owner to do their research before embarking on their business journey, even if it’s not their first venture.

“I think that it’s always really worth doing your research before you launch your business because you want to make sure that what you’re going into is something that is going to be sustainable for you,” she says.

“I think a lot of people jump into a business and discover the pitfalls later. So I think it’s really important to research. Also, make sure you get your trademarks done and invest in your trademarks.

“When you’re doing your business, you have to understand that it’s gonna take time to make a profit. You have to invest, you have to invest in your idea, you have to invest in the customer and the reality is it takes businesses a long time. 

“Do your research, know what you’re doing is the right thing, building your customer base, building your brand and really getting behind marketing.”

BoozeBud, the online liquor retailer, has collapsed and entered administration joining a growing list of e-commerce-based delivery services going under.

Established in 2014 by Alex Gale, Mark Woollcott, and Andy Williamson, the company sold a range of beer, wine and spirits products online before being acquired by Carlton United Breweries in 2017.

In 2020, it was sold back to its original founders, Catcha Group and some individual investors.

On Tuesday, the company appointed Michael Brereton and Sean Wengel of William Buck as joint administrators to oversee the sale of the business and its assets. It has stopped taking orders online.

“We have made the difficult decision that the company has insufficient funds to continue operating,” Brereton told News.com.au.

“We have accordingly been forced to stop taking future orders via the online portal… We have also made the difficult decision to lay off staff.”

The administrators aim to secure an investment of funds with expressions of interest sought by May 9.

In December 2021, BoozeBud acquired Get Wines Direct as an independent business which is believed to be unaffected by the decision.

Two weeks ago, BoozeBud’s CMO Dan McMillan, announced on LinkedIn that the brand had completed its site migration to Shopify.

He added the move will enable BoozeBud to become “a leaner, meaner, and more efficient operation with the robust and user-friendly platform.” However, the retailer subsequently abruptly collapsed.

The company’s demise follows the collapse of food-delivery startups Milkrun and Colab last month.

The online pet supplies store Pet Circle has launched an insurance service which offers policies for dogs with coverage of up to $30,000 annually.

Pet Circle co-founder and CEO Mike Frizell (pictured above) said there is a “clear opportunity” as pet parents are “underserved by other pet insurance providers”.

“Our Pet Circle Vet Squad which works in veterinary clinics, told us that many pet insurance policies were not up to scratch, with sub-limits catching out pet parents.

“In fact, about 85 per cent of Australian pet insurance products impose sub-limits that could restrict pets from receiving the best possible treatment.”

The company’s Insurance policies can be personalised with different annual limits for various pets, reimbursements of up to 90 per cent and annual excesses variable from $0 to $150.

To help pets heal from an accident or illness, a 360º Care Optional Extras package can also be added which covers dental illnesses, behavioural problems and supportive therapies like physiotherapy, acupuncture and hydrotherapy.