Food industry is bucking the downward manufacturing trend.
A recent report from the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) and CHEP (a large packaging and distribution company) is showing that retail food sales haven’t been stronger, since 2010.
The AFGC CHEP Retail Index report, released at the end of January 2014, has the Index was higher in the December 2013 quarter compared to that of the December 2012 quarter. The suggestion for this increase may be that the strong sales expected by analysts for Christmas 2013 were actually stronger. The really good news is that based on these figures, sales for early 2014 should also be better than may have been expected.
The Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index has also recorded unexpected growth in January 2014. This seems contrary to the perception out there in the community that manufacturing is declining.
Gary Dawson, AFGC CEO, said; “The combined effect of low interest rates and improved consumer confidence after the Federal election has seen retailers experience a stronger-than-expected rise in retail sales over the past few months. Retailers will be hoping that the labour market also strengthens to support a return to a genuinely strong retail environment.”
Phillip Austin, CHEP Australia and New Zealand President, said; “The strong growth since August 2013 is a welcome change.We’re delighted that the retail industry experienced a stronger than forecasted Christmas peak and that the uplift can be expected to continue into the March quarter of 2014.”
April 2014 will see the release of the next AFGC CHEP Retail Index.
With much being made of the future of manufacturing in Australia, it seems that the food industry is not listening to the doomsayers, and is not dropping sales, in fact it is increasing according to several indexes. This is definitely a watch this space.
Written by Rachelle Williams – the Green Food Safety Coach