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September 2014 • Vol. 7 No. 9
The changing face of supermarkets over his 55 years at Progressive Graeme Gower (see page 6)
SUPPLIER RELIEF AS FOODSTUFFS ENDS ITS MORATORIUM
BADEN NGAN KEE
PHEW! Suppliers are breathing communal sighs of relief as Foodstuffs North Island has ended its moratorium and is expecting things to get back to normal quickly. And with that concluding on August 31 as scheduled, the roll-out of the new SAP retail solution has started.
In mid-August its second SAP go-live was successfully concluded as it was rolled out to the merchandise, supply chain and retail divisions at its Mt Roskill Support Centre. At the same time, the company also deployed enhancements to existing SAP users in the Commercial Operations and Wholesale divisions along with the eight Gilmours stores. The complex IT work bringing the whole North Island into a single operation proved to be the biggest challenge in integrating SAP with existing retail and warehouse systems and FSNI is still managing the normal post go-live issues arising out of such a significant change. “We have been incredibly fortunate to have the full support of our supplier community in adhering to the moratorium on price adjustments, new promotions and new product launches,” says general manager merchandise Baden Ngan Kee. “Without their support we would
not have had the stable environment to migrate the 57,000 article/product data,” he says. Ngan Kee says SAP would eventually replace the systems used for ordering, promotions, reporting and the management of product and supplier information across the organization as each supermarket migrates to SAP over the next four years. “It will be the first time in our 90 year history that we will operate across a single enterprise solution as one Foodstuffs’ organization,” he says. In the meantime, the retail stores in the upper North Island – Pak’nSave, New World and Four Square – will continue to operate their existing systems until they migrate to SAP. But in the interim, the new SAP Retail solution has been integrated with their in-store systems and with the warehouse management systems in the upper North Island. FSNI’s next SAP go-lives will be the rollout to three pilot stores, the first being Pak’nSave Albany this month followed by New World Morrinsville and Papamoa Four Square before the end of the year. While the project promises many benefits in the near future, it has been difficult times for numerous suppliers who have had to bury their price, product and promotion ambitions although admittedly FSNI has dealt with extreme problem cases. n
GROCERY BALL A SUCCESS HELD at The Langham Hotel in Auckland last month, the 2014 Grocery Charity Ball has raised in excess of $200,000 for cancer charity Camp Quality. Now in its 11th year, the annual event was sold out three months in advance and attracted almost 700 attendees from across the grocery sector. For the first time in the Ball’s history, attendees were able to vote on more than 100 silent auction items via an electronic voting system with iPads on each table and a downloadable app. Pictured left (l-r) are Karen Kelly, Don Graham, Gary Troup (Camp Quality), Rob Davis, Scott MacKay with Ross MacKenzie and Leanne Murphy in the front row. n
COUNTDOWN EARNINGS INCREASE
COUNTDOWN has increased its annual earnings by 4.2% in the year to June 29 despite reported subdued trading conditions in New Zealand. The chain had pre-tax earnings of $309.8million for the 52 weeks, up over $7m on the previous year. Countdown sales were up 1.6% to $5.749 billion with the small sales growth reflecting price deflation across a number of categories. Online sales increased by more than 20% and this would be higher in future through service improvements and a planned 15 new online fulfilment stores. n
MURRAY JORDAN TO STEP DOWN FOODSTUFFS North Island managing director Murray Jordan has announced plans to resign mid next year after 11 years with the business. Jordan has successfully spearheaded the complex merger of Foodstuffs Auckland and Wellington, which is set to be largely completed before his departure. “During a time of massive change, Foodstuffs North Island increased sales growth and market share which is a testament to Murray’s leadership,” says FSNI chairman Peter Anderson. Anderson says the board will be conducting a comprehensive search for Jordan’s replacement to ensure the transition is seamless. “Murray Jordan will be a huge loss to the grocery sector. He has played a stellar role in our industry and will leave holding the respect of the New Zealand supplier community,” says FGC CEO Katherine Rich. n
contents 10 Convenience Awards 14 Checker of the Year 18 Liquor 25 New Products 30 Artisan
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