News
EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
IN THIS ISSUE 3. Message from Paul Harker 4. Trade Partner Charter 5. Trade Partner Charter in action 6 . Fancy Plants launch in Woolworths 7. Brand Update 8. Digital update 9. Woolworths Organic Growth Fund Update 10. What’s happening in Fruit & Veg 11. Fruit & Veg Quality update 12. Partner Hub Update 13. Visitor Management App Upgrade 14. Sustainability news 15. Sustainability Council update 16. Responsible Labour Hire Update 17. Animal Welfare and Seafood Sustainability Innovation 18. Woolworths In-Store Sampling 19. Field Support 20. Field Support - ESL Update 21. Primary Connect 22. Primary Connect Sustainability Update 23. Further information
A message from Paul Harker Welcome to our seventh edition of Woolworths News!
As I write this Easter is just around the corner, another wonderful opportunity to help Australians connect with family and friends. As I have reflected on the continued disruption to supply networks post the Omicron surge at the start of the year, with flood damage isolating WA from rail, the widespread terrible flood catastrophe in Northern NSW and SE Queensland - which in turn isolated supply into FN Queensland, there is probably little appreciation by many of our customers on what has gone on behind the scenes to keep products on the shelves. Once again you have our heartfelt thanks for working with us to keep Australia stocked with groceries and fresh foods. It has now been nearly 2 and half years of “unprecedented” events which have tested us all, starting with bushfires in November of 2019, followed by Covid, and lately floods. The impact to our collective teams over this time, keeping things flowing and moving, has itself been “unprecedented”. The teams are now busily working through the cost of all this global supply chain disruption in a business sense but I wanted to acknowledge everything our teams have done and sacrificed to keep it all together and to ask everyone to just find some time to not “talk shop” and do a check in with each other to see how people are travelling.
Bringing our Trade Partner Charter to life
It is always great to get feedback on how our teams are working together and I thought I would call out some of the feedback we received from a Supply Partner in our recent Voice of Supplier survey, this is a fantastic example of our Trade Partner Charter at work. It touches on ‘We drive our business through the Merchandise Manager and Joint Business Plans’. “We've seen a big lift in our Joint Business Plans with strong, productive sessions in which both teams aren't afraid to challenge the other on areas we can do more. Such is the strength of our alignment that I no longer even worry about point 7 of the trade partner charter because there have been multiple instances where the Freezer team have stepped up & provided solutions where we've fell short of expectations” - A freezer category supplier -
Thanks to all our Trade Partners who take the time to provide their feedback each time the survey comes out.
Update on our Commercial Strategy - Healthier & Sustainable
As part of our Commercial Strategy, our team has an important focus on health and sustainability. To help drive this initiative in March we formed a Sustainability Council that has started to meet with our trade partners. There is more information on the council on page 13 but I wanted to say thank you to our trade partners who took part to represent the industry and have started this journey with us. We will continue to keep you updated on the council progress in our category supplier events which is coming up in May and then our Mid-Year Trade Partner update in June. Stay safe,
Paul Harker Chief Commercial Officer - Supermarkets and Metro
Trade Partner Charter 1
We are always Customer 1st
2
We behave like business partners
3
We do what we say
4
We balance business sustainability & market competitiveness
5
We inspire and challenge each other to do better
6
We drive our business through the Merchandise Manager and Joint Business Plans
7
We make it right when we fall short
Trade Partner Charter in action "We behave like business partners"
Josh's Rainbow Eggs and their brand As we continue our journey through clustering, localisation, and range curation, there are many examples of Woolworths supporting unique, small suppliers to create a differentiated offer for our customers. Josh's Eggs are an egg-cellent example of this! At just 9 years old, Joshua Murray started his business by selling eggs to his neighbours, local farmers’ markets and then independent grocery stores, before moving into major supermarkets. Today, Josh runs his business with his mum Tamsyn, and directly supplies Josh’s Rainbow Eggs to 50 of our stores across Melbourne. Together, they’ve sold over 40 million eggs and donated a further 1 million eggs to charity! No yolk! As Easter approaches, Josh is bringing out something exciting for our customers - his line of Chocolate Rainbow Easter Eggs speckled with sprinkles. These will be ranged in every store in Melbourne, with 50cents from each egg sold to be donated to the Good Friday Appeal which supports sick children in hospital.
There’s a bright future for Josh’s business with Woolworths. They are investing in new sheds and a new eggs grading machine that will process 40,000 eggs per hour, as opposed to the smaller machine they currently have, which could only process 12,000! Much of this growth, investment and certainty, is due to the partnership that the Category Manager Justin Heffernan has forged with Josh and Tamsyn over the past two and a half years, aligning on priorities, opportunities and an effective strategy via a shared Joint Category Plan. Working together with Woolworths, Josh’s now has an expanded range of pack sizes, appealing to more customers, and delivering some cracking sales for both Josh’s and Woolworths.
Our team visiting Josh's Eggs early last year: L/R James Hogben - Group Manager Dr Tamsyn Murray - CEO Josh’s Rainbow Eggs Andrew Cooper - Head of Supplier Relations Josh Murray - Founder Josh’s Rainbow Eggs Paul Harker - Chief Commercial Director - Supermarkets & Metro
EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
5
Fancy Plants launched in Woolworths across Australia in October 2020. All products are plantbased and include the deliciously smooth Silky Pot, café style Chia Pod and fancy fave Rice Pud. They have invested in the development of a bespoke plant-based stabilizing system to deliver dairy like taste, texture and mouthfeel and each of their fancy snacks are packed with positive nutrition such as prebiotic fibre, calcium and omega-3, making it easy to pick plants.
Trade Partner Charter in action "We are always Customer 1st" As part of the Woolworths Ecosystem, Quantium has partnered with Woolworths to help Fancy Plants understand their customer and react to changes in market conditions. Segment leading repeat purchase rates and loyalty confirm this and provide the brand with confidence to continue to invest in NPD and supercharge marketing efforts.
"We inspire and challenge each other to do better" The team have embraced working remotely. Often days out from an event, plans had to be changed with samples and POS redirected. Online sampling with food delivery boxes such as Marley Spoon became essential to get the brand into the hands of their target consumers in states where traditional forms of sampling was not an option.
Collaboration with Woolworths/Cartology & Quantium Q.Checkout has enabled Fancy Plants to provide greater strategic value in review presentations with the commercial team. Retail insights from Quantium help Fancy Plants direct marketing efforts to their target audience and prove they are working. The brand have been able to confirm that their range of fancy snacks is resonating with premium and young consumers using Q.Checkout Working with Woolworths and Cartology, Fancy Plants have been able to take these consumer insights and deliver highly personalised, integrated marketing campaigns, targeted to their ideal audience. Their launch campaign was highly successful and delivered good exposure for the brand, generating nearly 10 million impressions in store. This resulted in 69.7% of customers trialling the product for the first time in 12 months, during the campaign period.
Watch the interview with Fancy Plants CEO, John Foss on their journey to aisle, here.
EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
6
Brand Update
Marketing Communications The start of 2022 has seen significant COVID impacts with related supply issues and store capacity pressure. As a result, we pivoted our Marketing communications in January with a focus on short term supply issues and COVID communication.
Making Healthier Easier As one of 5 Brand Propositions supporting Today’s Fresh Food People, we launched our Making Healthier Easier campaign, making healthier choices more accessible, affordable and inspiring for all Australians. We communicated Prices Dropped on over 200 healthier products and being recognised by The George Institute as having Australia’s healthiest supermarket own brands for the third year in a row. We also focussed on healthier recipes and content across our digital ecosystem.
Pick Fresh, Play Fresh Woolworths Cricket Blast and our sponsorship of cricket during The Ashes reinforced our commitment to the health and wellbeing of Australian children. Communication of our sponsorship platform Pick Fresh, Play Fresh was elevated. Additionally, a product donation mechanic with Dettol to support the Woolworths Community Cricket Fund achieved its fundraising target. This Fund provides deserving communities with access to cricket programs.
Digital update
It’s official - we have the most satisfied customers!
Our Everyday Rewards team recently claimed top spot in Canstar Blue’s Reward Programs ratings, scoring an incredible five stars in almost every category, including overall customer satisfaction. We’re always working to create better experiences for our Everyday Rewards members to enjoy a little more every day, so this is especially exciting because every Canstar award is determined directly through our members’ feedback. Congratulations to our Everyday Rewards team on this fantastic recognition.
WooliesX welcomes new Managing Director of eComX, Sally Copland As Annette Karantoni takes the reigns at Primary Connect, eComX welcomed Sally Copland in February to lead and scale the incredible growth of the ecommerce business. Sally comes to us from an impressive career at Woolworths NZ, including her most recent role as Acting Managing Director where she guided the Countdown business through Christmas and COVID. Sally has worked closely with many WooliesX and Woolworths Group teams to build strong relationships and connections across our ecosystem, and was the perfect fit for the every growing ambition of eComX.
What are the top three things you're looking forward to doing when you move to Australia?
We spent five minutes with Sally to get an insight into what she thinks about ecommerce, moving to Australia, and the vegemite/marmite debate. Here’s what we learnt...
James, Max, Archie and I are very excited about exploring Sydney and the rest of Australia together. My sons are both into cricket and we all love the beach so those things are going to feature a lot in our first few months.
What excites you about eCom? Can I say everything? To be honest it's simply the fact that each day we get the chance to make someone's busy life just that little bit easier by doing their shopping for them. As a full time working mum I know how important each minute of the day is!
If your team could use three words to describe you, what would they be?
What's your most memorable moment at Countdown?
What's always in your shopping cart?
The way our team pivoted during the many lockdowns to meet the increased demand for online shopping was simply incredible. Because we work so closely with WooliesX we’d seen how Australia had created Priority Assist - this idea we were able to pick up and deliver within a week, quickly pivoting our service to give priority to over 120K vulnerable Kiwis who needed to stay home and stay safe. How cool is that?!
I asked my team and they said; “driven, authentic and caring”’ plus “dress ups, 80s dance moves, champagne”. I'll own up to all of them.
1. Loads of Macro products! 2. Fruit for school lunchboxes 3. Avocados 4. White bread (I’ve got two hungry boys to feed!) 5. Vegemite (definitely NOT Marmite) 6. Tonic (essential for my G&T) EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
8
Woolworths Organic Growth Fund Update We have awarded $1,140,000 in new funding to three organic growers in the latest round of the Woolworths Organic Growth Fund. Adelaide Hills business SA Organic Strawberries received a $232,000 grant to install packing shed technology that helps cool strawberries quickly, extracting heat once they're picked to retain quality and extend shelf-life for customers. Family-owned South Australian organic date farm, Gurra Downs Date Company, received a $414,000 grant to help increase the availability of locally-grown dates in the heavily import-reliant market.
SA Organic Strawberries owners Plamen Paraskevov and Sonja Bognarova
And Victorian-based organic broccoli, zucchini and celery growers, Butler Market Gardens, received a $500,000 interest-free loan – building on an almost 50-year-long supply partnership between Woolworths and the Butler family. Woolworths’ Commercial Director of Fruit & Veg, Paul Turner said: “We’re proud to be backing family-owned Australian businesses who are sowing the seeds to help meet the demand for organic produce in the years ahead. Over the last three years, demand for organic fruit and vegetables has increased by around 30 per cent, as customers become more interested in where their food comes from and how it’s grown.” The Woolworths Organic Growth Fund was established in 2018 in partnership with Heritage Bank - one of Australia’s largest customer-owned banks - to provide financial grants and interestfree loans to support organic fruit and vegetable production. To date we have invested millions of dollars into 17 established and transitioning organic farms across Australia, and we are keen to partner with more Australian farmers to boost long term organic supply in Australia.
Discover more about the Woolworths Organic Growth Fund here.
Shaun Reilly, Dave Reilly, Anita Reilly and Kelsey Reilly from Gurra Downs Date Company
Rick Butler'and Peter Butler from Butler Market Gardens
What’s happening in Fruit & Veg Avoid withdrawals - understand the risk of labelling mistakes
An additional certification body approved for HARPS : ACO Certification Ltd
Having a product withdrawal is an expensive and time consuming process. Many withdrawals occur at the busiest times of the year when staff are under pressure either from high workload, time pressures or a shortage of staff. Withdrawals can incur a cost of up to $79 per affected store supplied on top of the cost of the product itself.
ACO Certification Ltd (previously Australian Certified Organic) is Australia’s largest certifier for organic and biodynamic produce and has over 2000 certified operations within its certification system.
To Ensure that the risk of a withdrawal is managed properly here are some helpful tips on how to manage the risk of withdrawal.
ACO has been providing food safety certification services to fresh produce businesses for over 10 years, and are accredited by IOAS to provide Freshcare Food Safety & Quality certification services and will also soon be offering Freshcare Supply Chain certification services.
The number one cause of withdrawals is packaging and labelling issues. Ensure that anyone handling packaging is trained and that products are being checked for the correct packaging before dispatch. Use By & Best before dates are another common cause of withdrawal particularly at the change of a year or month. Take particular care when applying a use by or best before date when the month or year has changed. If the product has a shelf life less than 3 months, you don’t need to include the year in the Best Before Date. Recognise the importance of label checks and regular training & retraining. Avoid complacency around the handling of packaging and labelling. Do not let untrained staff handle packaging and labelling. Use training resources that are available to you in SPHERE. There are training materials available in MyLibrary in the SPHERE system that address withdrawals and Labelling.
ACO is keen to work with businesses in all sectors in the fresh produce supply chain to foster a culture based on ensuring food safety.
If you would like to contact ACO: Email: info@aco.net.au Phone: 07 3350 5706
Best in Quality Fruit & Veg Supplier At the end of each month our agronomists review the product quality for the best in quality segment. Suppliers who go the extra mile to deliver the best product for customers are eligible for a best in quality mention. Congratulations to this quarter’s suppliers!
Grape Co GRAPES
SMA Marketing WATERMELON EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
10
Fruit & Veg Quality update Withdrawals due to labelling mistakes are expensive and can easily be avoided with good training and good practices. In the past year the number of withdrawals from labelling issues is on the rise. Woolworths has provided resources for labelling best practices. Getting a copy of the Labelling Flier is easy: 1. Log onto SPHERE 2. Click myCreations (The same place you can find Fruit and Veg specifications) 3. Click the myLibrary tab at the top of the screen
In myLibrary you will find all the available Fruit and Veg resources including the labelling fliers available for download
Updated Variation Forms
Attention all Supplier QA teams, we have recently updated the form template for Variation submissions in the SPHERE MyLibrary section. If you have a copy of the old QCRF 008 variation form, we kindly request that you discard this and start using the NEW form FOR.033 which can be downloaded as a word template via the MyLibrary Produce Supplier folder.
NOTE: If you don't have access to SPHERE or are having trouble logging on, please contact or your relevant Quality Specialist for assistance.
Don't forget, a handy user guide on the variation process is also available in this folder.
Partner Hub Update
Late last year we shared our plans outlining updates to the product submission process, enabling our Suppliers to provide further product attributes and images via Partner Hub or alternatively through nominated third party providers e.g. GS1 Australia or SKUvantage. These changes are coming soon. This will provide a streamlined process ensuring the most current data including detailed nutritional information (e.g. health star rating) and images, are available on our online platforms for our customers. Further information and an invitation to book into training sessions will be sent to you in the weeks leading up to these changes. Keep an eye out!
Help and Support Should you have any queries or require more information regarding Suppliers images please do not hesitate to contact Partner Hub Support by raising an admin case for support
Partner Hub Update Late last year we shared our plans outlining updates to the product submission process, enabling our Suppliers to provide further product attributes and images via Partner Hub or alternatively through nominated third party providers e.g. GS1 Australia or SKUvantage. These changes are coming soon. This will provide a streamlined process ensuring the most current data including detailed nutritional information (e.g. health star rating) and images, are available on our online platforms for our customers.
Help and Support Should you have any queries or require more information regarding Suppliers images please do not hesitate to contact Partner Hub Support by raising an admin case for support
Further information and an invitation to book into training sessions will be sent to you in the weeks leading up to these changes. Keep an eye out!
Woolworths Group Visitor Management App Upgrade Last year we introduced the 'Woolworths Group Visitor Management' app, to be downloaded to phones and replace the paper sign in book at our stores. This is a mandatory requirement for entering our stores and applies to all visitors; including contractors, merchandisers, demonstrators and delivery drivers. It’s a solution which is safer for our stores and visitors and we thank you for using the app. Following feedback from our visitors and suppliers, the app has been updated with a better flow of information. We are also adding a documents section to the app homepage that will be customisable by stores and will include information for users of the app such as HAZMAT reports, restricted access registers and diagrams/evacuation details that you may/will need when visiting or providing services at our stores
If you haven't done so already, please update the app on your phone
EDITION MARCH 2022 13 EDITION 7 7I IMARCH 2022
Sustainability news "We create better experiences together for a better tomorrow" Woolworths Group oxo-degradable plastics policy
National battery & mobile phone recycling unit rollout
In line with our Woolworths Group Sustainability Plan 2025 as well as current and forthcoming legislative changes, Woolworths Group will cease the sale, supply or distribution of any product or packaging that contains oxo-degradable plastics from 1 March 2022 nationally in Australia, and by 1 October 2022 in New Zealand.
Woolworths has now completed the rollout of its battery & mobile phone recycling collection units. These collection units are in all supermarkets across Australia. This is the largest network of battery collection units in Australia. Based on early collection volumes, we anticipate Woolworths will collect up to two million batteries a month.
To support this action, the Woolworths Group Oxodegradable Plastics Policy was launched in February. We have also have released an updated problematic and preferred packaging materials list and it’s great to see that many suppliers have already removed it from products and packaging, in line with our position on problematic materials. As of this month, a letter has been distributed to our suppliers acknowledging this change and to disclose whether any product or product packaging supplied to a Woolworths Group business contains oxo-degradable additives. This includes products supplied for Supermarkets, Metro, BigW, Countdown, Everyday Market, HealthyLife, PetCulture and any non-trade items or consumables.
Woolworths battery collection units accept all types of handheld batteries regardless of brand. This is a free service for the community. Currently only approximately 10% of handheld batteries are recycled in Australia compared to 40% in the UK & Germany. Woolworths hopes that providing this initiative Australia will become a leader in battery recycling.
If you have any concerns that any of your products supplied to Woolworths Group do not comply with our Oxo-degradable Plastics Policy, please reach out as soon as possible. This will allow us to work closely with you to understand the impact of our Policy and plan a transition accordingly. If you did not get your letter, or have any other questions or concerns, please reach out to your key supplier lead for more information or contact sustainability@woolworths.com.au
For more information, visit woolworthsgroup.com.au/sustainability EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
14
Our sustainability council begins it's journey to healthier choices and improving recycling and packaging In September 2021 our Woolworths team engaged our top twenty grocery food and non-food trade partners in a workshop to discuss how we could achieve our 2025 sustainability goals. The session focused on five priority areas including Healthier Choices, Recycling, Packaging, Food Waste and Carbon Emissions. After the session two sustainability council was formed which would focus on healthier choices and recycling and packaging.
Recycling and Packing Council Session
In December the council had it's first meet and greet session which was a great opportunity for participants to connect. Then in March the council had it's first workshops, the sessions included presenting the latest industry trends, sharing success stories and a facilitated workshop. The teams were challenged to share their big ideas to achieve their individual goals and discuss key focus areas. In the next council sessions in April the groups will be further refining the focus areas into actionable initiatives and discussing measures of success. If you would like more information on how you can be part of the council and contribute please contact the Supplier Relations team. We look forward to keeping you updated on the progress of the council.
Healthier Choices Council Session
Responsible Labour Hire Update In 2022 we will continue to evolve and expand the scope of our Responsible Sourcing Program, with a focusing lens on Responsible Labour Hire and foreign migrant workers. Overseas or foreign migrant workers are any workers who are not a citizen or permanent residents of the country of employment and have additional requirements before being allowed to work in the country. They are often found in countries and industry sectors where the labour supply is limited and can face unique risks that make them vulnerable to exploitation. Woolworths Responsible Sourcing Standard no. 17 on Overseas or Foreign Migrant Workers applies if suppliers recruit, either directly or via a third party, overseas or foreign migrant workers into their business or supply chain. This includes meeting additional legal standards before workers are allowed to work in the country. At Woolworths Group, one of our core values is: I care deeply. Where applicable, ensuring the following 10 requirements under Responsible Sourcing Standard no. 17 are implemented within your business, helps protect workers, communities, and your business.
To read the 10 requirements and for more information, please click here. EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
16
Funding Animal Welfare and Seafood Sustainability Innovation Woolworths is proud to have funded sustainability innovation in dairy and organic horticulture with another two sustainability focussed supplier funds launching in 2021 - the 'Woolworths Animal Welfare Horizons Fund' and the a one-off 'Woolworths Ocean Pool Fund'.
"We create better experiences together for a better tomorrow"
The ‘Woolworths Animal Welfare Horizons Fund’ was created to help support research and development for suppliers and farmers to address welfare challenges, projects, and initiatives. The fund assists in tackling issues associated with animal welfare and driving a positive effect on supply chain animals. Three fund recipients have been awarded up to a maximum of $100,000 per year. The ‘Woolworths Ocean Pool Fund’ is a one-off fund to help support the environmental performance of the Australian Seafood Industry through traceability, data capture, certification, process improvements and education. Developed in collaboration with WWF, as part of our three-year partnership to support our suppliers on their journey towards a more sustainable seafood industry. Our three successful suppliers were awarded up to $160,000. If you are interested in knowing more please email sustainability@woolworths.com.au
Health Star Rating ‘As Prepared’ Rules Update Following a 5 year review of the Health Star Rating (HSR) system, the Government has released additional guidance on how to display the HSR for products which are suspended in or prepared with liquid other than water or brine. The new guidance has been added to the Health Star Rating System Calculator and Style Guide (page 18). Woolworths will now also include the statement ‘Health Star Rating calculated undrained’ under the Nutrition Information Panel. Reach out to your Quality Specialist for more information.
Woolworths In-Store Sampling The Woolworths In-Store Sampling team works closely with suppliers, category teams and agencies to create and execute sampling experiences in Woolworths stores. Our team will manage the campaign from end to end to ensure a seamless, streamlined experience for the supplier. Campaigns can be tailored to meet each suppliers objectives, individual needs, budget and requirements.
Woolworths In-Store Sampling team continues to ramp up activity for 2022! We have recently sampled the reformulated Coke NoSugar to generate excitement about the product's new taste amongst customers in store. The campaign aimed to engage customers about the new look packaging, the ‘new and improved taste’ and help create customer awareness around this being an excellent no sugar beverage option. Our talented brand ambassadors enthusiastically educated customers on the brand, their reformulation, product location in stores and the varieties of products that we have available. We saw roughly 9,000 samples distributed to customers across approximately 80 sessions and had wonderful customer feedback about the flavour!
We are now booking in campaigns for May and June. If you’d like to discuss how we can bring your brand to life, please reach out to instoredemo@woolworths.com.au.
Field Support The Woolworths Field Support Team supports suppliers and internal teams with an extensive range of field marketing services. Full execution of planogram implementations in our stores Compliance management Merchandising / POS support Stock Replenishment Audits
How we can support you
The Woolworths Field Team works in collaboration with our field agency partners to ensure the timely delivery of these activities into our Supermarket and Metro stores nationally.
Event Support Back to School Installation of Event Space planogram and bins + compliance call in Stationery Aisle 4 week promotional field call 850 stores
Outcome
Improved tie up compliance Uplift in sales across all supplier lines Opportunities and trend analysis for future event support
EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
19
For more information on how Woolworths Field Services can support you, contact us via fieldservices@woolworths.com.au or visit our page on Partnerhub
Field Support - ESL Update The Woolworths Field Support Team supports suppliers and internal teams with an understanding of ESL and what that means for the planograms.
What does ESL change? We are moving from paper tickets
Paper based tickets Time consuming tasks Ticket inaccuracies of prices in real time No additional product data No easy way to find a product
To Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL)
Automatically updated electronic tickets, manual intervention (when required) Real time ticket accuracy Product information data Easy finding of products through lights
So far We have introduced ESL into a small number of stores over the last few years to test & learn. We are planning on introducing ESL across the country in FY22 to another 44 stores.
In the future From March 2022, ESL will be introduced into all stores in New & Renewals EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
20
Primary Connect Annette Karantoni has joined the Primary Connect team
We’re pleased to announce that Annette has now joined the team as Woolworths Group’s Chief Supply Chain Officer and the Managing Director of Primary Connect. Welcome, Annette! Annette comes to us from her most recent role as Director of eCom B2C for Woolworths, and has had more than 20 years of experience in roles across Woolworths Group. We’d also like to recognise the mammoth effort from Chris Brooks, who has acted in the role during the challenging last 4 months. Chris will stay on with the team as Director - Commercial, Transport & 3PL Business.
Erskine Park DC to transition to become grocery DC Kemps Creek DC (or KCDC) is planned to go live mid September and commence transition of liquor out from Erskine Park to complete by the end of October. Erskine Park will be backfilled with groceries and deliver additional capacity to support growth in the ambient network.
ASN Express Receiving ASN Express Receiving is a process for accelerating receipt of deliveries by relying on their Advance Shipping Notices (ASNs) — linking the ASN to the physical delivery. The ASN is an electronic summary message detailing all of the relevant data specific to a delivery, and is a precise digital representation of what the DC should expect to physically receive.
Benefits of ASN Express receiving
Heathwood Chilled & Frozen DC goes live
We are now live and transitioned to our new Heathwood Chilled & Frozen DC (HCFDC) in QLD. For more information, please check out our Supplier Partners Guide which was distributed in October last year. We also held a Supplier event on this topic in late February. You can watch the 25-minute recording on YouTube here.
ASN Express Receiving relieves labour-intensive checking/ receiving process, significantly reducing truck turnaround times, giving your carrier partner a quicker turnaround time. Product can be made available for despatch to stores sooner, as it's received much quicker, leading to better on shelf availability for our shared customers in store, subsequently leading to an increase of sales. Reduced data entry reducing administrative time and potentially costs Faster flow of information between our systems, improved data accuracy. Improved inventory accuracy (fewer receipt errors, pick errors and adjustments)
How to get started? Reach out to the ASN Support team on: asnsupport@woolworths.com.au For more information or to start the accreditation and testing process.
EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
21
Primary Connect Sustainability Update Primary Connect is making good progress against our sustainability commitments for People, Planet and Product. A key sustainability commitment for Planet is to move our operations to net positive emissions across the Woolworths Group. Some of our highlights so far, related to the move towards net positive emissions have been: The extended roll out of solar across our distribution centres Design and development of Green Star Level 5 new distribution facilities Rollout of new ripening rooms, reducing energy consumption per room compared to our existing rooms
Solar and Renewable Energy
New Ripening Rooms
Over the last few years we have been increasing solar on our distribution centres, once all planned installations are complete we will be able to power a larger proportion of our operations using site generated renewable energy. As we continue to invest in solar self generation, additional energy not consumed by our operations will be available to use by our communities as we redistribute this back into the national energy grid. With the construction of new distribution facilities we are installing charging points, powered by renewable energy for carriers to use for charging and powering of refrigeration.
Green Star building design and construction
All our new facilities are being designed and built to Green Star Level 5. Our two recent temperature controlled sites Heathwood and Melbourne Fresh are now operational both having obtained level 5 accreditation. The facilities have the following sustainable features:
Ripening rooms
We are currently rolling out new ripening rooms across our network which use significantly less electricity per room compared to our existing rooms. The ripening technology provides a consistent airflow through the product and enables ripening at multi temperatures within a split room. As a result we are also able to better manage variants in microclimates to maintain product quality.
Heathwood DC Green Star Level 5 Energy
All Site generated energy through rooftop solar Charging points located at docks for trailers to use for refrigeration supplied by renewable energy Provisions for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging to support carrier and Woolworths EV trucks Automated building management systems and smart metering to manage energy across the sites Sensor lighting with low energy LEDs EV car charging ports
Water/Materials
Rain water storage tanks to use within each site Roofing for both facilities is made from a reflective material to reduce internal temperature from the sun Acoustic ceiling tiles for noise reduction Sustainable environmental carpets EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
22
Monthly Supplier Video Update In our latest video, Lauren Cook who has joined our Woolworths Commercial team as General Manager - Food Safety and Quality, sharing a story about her wealth of experience from working for our suppliers and how her team will play an even more important role within our Commercial team.
Further information Supplier Assistance and Feedback (ask the team) Do you have a supplier query or have a topic you want to see more of in our newsletter? supplierengagement@woolworths.com.au Partner Hub partnerhub@woolworths.com.au https://partnerhub.woolworthsgroup.com.au/s/ Code Arbiter - Helen McKenzie codearbiter@wwgrocerycode.com.au Independent Reviewer - Chris Leptos AM Contact via Federal Treasury at fgc@treasury.gov.au EDITION 7 I MARCH 2022
23
COVIDSafe information covid.woolworths.com.au/
Supplier Speak Up
WoolworthsSpeakUp.ethicspoint.com
In-Store Events Sampling
instoredemo@woolworths.com.au
Field Services
fieldservices@woolworths.com.au
Vistrak app
Download Apple version here Download Android version here