Aldi liquor launch looms in NSW
Colin Kruger and Vanda Carson
March 11, 2011
THE Aldi supermarket chain has applied for the right to sell alcohol in its NSW stores, in its latest attempt to disrupt the Woolworths and Coles grocery and liquor duopoly.

The German retailer confirmed that it had applied to sell liquor in all its 102 NSW stores and had begun the licence application process.

''A decision as to whether Aldi will sell alcohol in NSW will not be made until the outcome of these applications is known,'' it said.

In applications seen by the Herald, Aldi said it planned to open 40 sq m liquor retail areas in its supermarkets which it said would be modest operations compared with traditional liquor outlets.

''The proposed licensed premises will be significantly smaller than, carry significantly less products than and trade less hours than a traditional liquor store,'' the company said in one application.

The retailer has been selling liquor in Victoria for seven years, offering about 70 varieties of non-refrigerated beer, wine and ready-to-drink spirits, most of which are Aldi brand products.

It is Aldi's latest foray against the market share of its competitors Coles and Woolworths, which sell about half the $16 billion worth of alcohol purchased in liquor stores nationally.

Woolworths, the more dominant player, owns more than 1200 liquor stores, including brands such as Dan Murphy's. Its stores collectively generate annual alcohol sales of about $6 billion.

Woolworths' liquor business does not include its pubs subsidiary Australian Leisure & Hospitality Group, which will be Australia's biggest poker machine operator by next year.

The dominance of Woolworths in liquor sales is set to increase after it announced last month that it planned to buy the direct-market liquor retailer Cellarmasters for $340 million. It is subject to approval by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Aldi's strategy of selling predominantly own-brand products follows the lead of its two rivals, which have pushed their own private-label beers, wines and spirits at the expense of branded competitors.

For example, Coles-owned Liquorland sells Maxx Blonde beer in competition with Foster's Pure Blonde, and Woolworths' Platinum Blonde.

Aldi, which began selling in Australia 10 years ago, has about 5 per cent of the national grocery market.

This should annoy the hell out of Buzz . .chortle chortle!

Buzz keeps pushing this line about Coles & Woolworths being owned mainly by Australian mums & dads.
As usual, he is way off beam.
Coles is owned by Wesfarmers. The top 20 shareholders of Wesfarmers are institutions comprising a who's who of the world's biggest banks & insurance companies and together they own more than 50%. The 2 biggest - HSBC and JP Morgan - own 30% between them. In fact you can bet that Wesfarmers (& therefore Coles) is owned about 85% by such institutions, but I can't prove that as the figures are not published.
If you care to look at the Annual Report of Woolworths you will find a similar situation.
Now some of these institutions are holding their shares on behalf of Australian super funds, but believe me, it's a drop in the bucket.
The real ultimate beneficial ownership of Coles & Woolworths is IMPOSSIBLE to ascertain because so many of the individual shareholdings can be nominee holdings on behalf of trusts and foriegn owners but it's certainly not mainly Australian.
And it is certainly a MYTH that Aussie mums & dads own Coles & Woollies.

Let them I say.

It will be interesting to see what Coles and Woolworths do next.

Anyone for cheap vino from Italy ....go for it!

Well it works in Europe. In the UK, they just have a separate part of the supermarket for liquor and cigarettes.

Re Woolies: actually I've looked it up knowing you were all hanging out for the details (especially buzz . .he he he).

Well you guessed it . .the usual suspects. JP Morgan Nominees & HSBC Nominees between them own 28%. The next biggest holders own another 13%.
Now 40% is effective control of corporations like this. Among the top twenty holders are all the nominee/trustee company including Citicorp, UBS holding on behalf of God knows who.
I must admit though Woolies is much more widely held than Wesfarmers (Coles) or so it appears.
No, I'll correct that last statement. In fact 183 holders own about 52% of the shares.

Yep, I'm with you pansi. I hope they sell German & Italian wines even if they brand them differently. It costs too much here to buy Italian or French wines.

C'mon buzz, you mut have finished walking your dog by now. I want your comments on my posts about your favourite supermarkets!!!

So what's the problem with THAT???? Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Franklins all sell liquor now....

gizmo_2655 wrote on Mar 11^th, 2011 at 4:45pm:

So what's the problem with THAT???? Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Franklins all sell liquor now....

I see lot's of problems with that but do agree. Everyone else sells it so why not.
the question is, Does the ease of access and visual profile of alcohol contribute to the social and economic not to mention health problems relate to the national alcohol problem.
Sorry, on my high horse. Truth is i love a drink so better variety works for me. Hope they bring in some interesting wines.

nairbe wrote on Mar 11^th, 2011 at 5:00pm:

gizmo_2655 wrote on Mar 11th, 2011 at 4:45pm: So what's the problem with THAT???? Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Franklins all sell liquor now.... I see lot's of problems with that but do agree. Everyone else sells it so why not. the question is, Does the ease of access and visual profile of alcohol contribute to the social and economic not to mention health problems relate to the national alcohol problem. Sorry, on my high horse. Truth is i love a drink so better variety works for me. Hope they bring in some interesting wines.

Yeah, but if every other bugger sells it, why complain about one company???

what or who gave the supermarkets permission to put liquor in the middle of the grocery section???.. thats what I want to know.. we now fall over cartons of grog in Aldi[they already sell it in act] ...in Coles at least it is in one aisle but still in the middle of groceries..

cigarettes on the other hand are not to be seen. they are under cover like as if they are illegal.. why for gods sake.. both are killers..

both ruin health and relationships.. grog actually more so

Let 'em sell booze.

Our problem lies with our drinking culture, not the availablity of alcohol (as such).

Jaykaye_09 wrote on Mar 11^th, 2011 at 6:18pm:

Let 'em sell booze. Our problem lies with our drinking culture, not the availablity of alcohol (as such).

duh!

cods wrote on Mar 11^th, 2011 at 6:13pm:

what or who gave the supermarkets permission to put liquor in the middle of the grocery section???.. thats what I want to know.. we now fall over cartons of grog in Aldi[they already sell it in act] ...in Coles at least it is in one aisle but still in the middle of groceries.. cigarettes on the other hand are not to be seen. they are under cover like as if they are illegal.. why for gods sake.. both are killers.. both ruin health and relationships.. grog actually more so

WOW! really cods. We don't have any alcohol in the grocery section of supermarkets up here in Qld, not that I've seen anyway. It will be interesting to see what Aldi do.

Why wouldn't Aldi be allowed to sell alcohol?
This is Australia isn't it?
Do we still live in a free market based on capitalism?
Or are some industries exempt?
Shouldnt we be happy that prices are driven by market forces and not communist regimes?

Well Aldi sell alcohol in the store I go to in Victoria.  So probably it will happen in NSW as well.  Why not?.    :)

If Aldi arent allowed then can see them taking it to the ACCC for restraint of trade, and I dare say they'd win.
So just a matter of time, and theyre just going through the protocol processes.

Just what the police, emergency service workers, crises centres and hospital emergency departments need..a flood of cheap booze into this country.

Its an increase in outlets.

Australia needs to address its massive alcohol problem, the growing adolesent binge drinking culture and the huge cost to society and the health system.
Flooding the market with cheap Aldi branded booze will only increase the problem.

adelcrow wrote on Mar 12^th, 2011 at 7:25am:

Australia needs to address its massive alcohol problem, the growing adolesent binge drinking culture and the huge cost to society and the health system. Flooding the market with cheap Aldi branded booze will only increase the problem.

Any problem was already there.

Aldi has every right to sell alcohol.

Otherwise you should be picketing against Coles, Safeway, Franklins, IGA and every other licensed grocer and hotel.

adelcrow wrote on Mar 12^th, 2011 at 7:25am:

Australia needs to address its massive alcohol problem, the growing adolesent binge drinking culture and the huge cost to society and the health system. Flooding the market with cheap Aldi branded booze will only increase the problem.

What massive problem?

adelcrow wrote on Mar 12^th, 2011 at 7:25am:

Australia needs to address its massive alcohol problem, the growing adolesent binge drinking culture and the huge cost to society and the health system. Flooding the market with cheap Aldi branded booze will only increase the problem.

Why not? Your mummy does cheap porn.  :o

cods wrote on Mar 11^th, 2011 at 6:13pm:

what or who gave the supermarkets permission to put liquor in the middle of the grocery section???.. thats what I want to know.. we now fall over cartons of grog in Aldi[they already sell it in act] ...in Coles at least it is in one aisle but still in the middle of groceries.. cigarettes on the other hand are not to be seen. they are under cover like as if they are illegal.. why for gods sake.. both are killers.. both ruin health and relationships.. grog actually more so

That is not the case in NSW - no alcahol is allowed on the store shelves.

It has to be restricted to a seperate section, its like a grog shop in the store and in many cases it exists as a grog shop attached to the store.

Looks like at least one area where the corrupt incompetant NSW government have done significantly better than other states.

Coles and Woolworths sell mainly imported lines now so Aldi shouldn't be singled out. We need the competition.

I live in a seaside suburb and until the past year, we've only had two smallish supermarkets - both subsidiaries of Woolworths & Coles. They have now been upgraded to a fully blown Coles and Woolworths with massive price increases, but a block close to them is being developed as an Aldi store.

In regard to selling alcohol - one of the richest men in Australia owns the only pub, only bottleshop and only drive through and he has a monopoly on the liquor license in the area.

Aldi will break the monopoly and provide some competition which is desperately needed in many similar areas of NSW.

And Costco will be landing soon in NSW, they sell all sorts of stuff but no alcohol.

mantra wrote on Mar 13^th, 2011 at 8:29am:

Coles and Woolworths sell mainly imported lines now so Aldi shouldn't be singled out. We need the competition. I live in a seaside suburb and until the past year, we've only had two smallish supermarkets - both subsidiaries of Woolworths & Coles. They have now been upgraded to a fully blown Coles and Woolworths with massive price increases, but a block close to them is being developed as an Aldi store. In regard to selling alcohol - one of the richest men in Australia owns the only pub, only bottleshop and only drive through and he has a monopoly on the liquor license in the area. Aldi will break the monopoly and provide some competition which is desperately needed in many similar areas of NSW.

Assuming the license gets approved; it's pretty easy to throw a spanner in the application works.

mantra wrote on Mar 13^th, 2011 at 8:29am:

Aldi will break the monopoly and provide some competition which is desperately needed in many similar areas of NSW.

Yes it will be good, as competition drives the prices down