Dear Supplier Partner,

 

As you may be aware, with the recent increase in COVID-19 cases being recorded in Victoria, a number of businesses have been required to isolate all or part of their workforce for periods of up to two weeks, resulting in significant operational disruption.

 

Through our experience in managing a small number of positive cases at our chilled distribution centre in Laverton, Coles has gained a thorough understanding of the processes and assessment criteria used by health authorities in managing positive cases in the food supply chain.

 

We would like to share our learnings with your management teams so that you can ensure your own safety protocols are aligned with the relevant guidelines, and that you are prepared to respond quickly and appropriately in the event of a positive case so that you can protect your teams and maintain operational capacity.

 

To register to attend the webinar please complete the attached RSVP form and send to events@coles.com.au by 4:00pm, Thursday 16 July 2020.

 

The weblink, unique passcode and instructions will be emailed to you upon confirmation of your registration.

 

We ask that you gather your key point person to this call, preferably your quality and technical lead and/or safety lead within your business.

   

A proactive approach is essential to ensuring business continuity. To assist Coles with its own business continuity planning, we ask that you share your response plans with your Category Manager. Your plans will remain confidential and used only to inform Coles own continuity planning.

 

Many thanks for your co-operation during this difficult time.

 

Greg Davis

Chief Executive, Commercial & Express

 

2 July 2020

Dear Valued Supplier,

 

The Victorian Government has announced the lockdown of certain postcodes to contain the spread of COVID-19. During this lockdown, essential services are permitted to continue operations, and we want to reconfirm that Coles Supermarkets and our suppliers are defined by State government as an essential service.

 

As a result, every Coles store will remain open, and supplier facilities in the affected postcodes are also permitted to remain open. If it is necessary for you to visit one of these postcodes to perform your duties as a supplier to Coles, then this is also permitted. Our store teams have strict protocols in place to ensure that our stores are safe to visit for customers, team members and suppliers.

 

We also want to update you on the situation at our Laverton Chilled Distribution Centre, where a small number of team members have tested positive for COVID-19.

 

The Victorian Government is working with Coles to ensure the distribution centre can remain open and keep food on shelves, and has confirmed all necessary precautions and steps have been taken by Coles to ensure the site has been appropriately cleaned and that relevant measures are in place regarding testing and isolation of team members.

 

As a result of the further health and safety protocols we have enacted at the site, we are experiencing significant capacity issues. Our supply chain team has put in place a number of contingency measures, including re-routing stock through other Coles distribution centres, introducing pop-up distribution centres in Victoria, utilising interstate capacity, and directing some suppliers to deliver direct to Victorian stores.

 

A dedicated team are working full-time to get Laverton back to full capacity as soon as possible and our Business Unit teams will keep you updated on the progress.

 

We thank you for your ongoing co-operation and patience, the collaboration and commitment of our suppliers during the whole COVID-19 crisis has been remarkable. Closely following the disruption caused by bushfires and drought, this has been a challenging year, and we are humbled by the support you have shown to our team.

 

We want to reassure you that at Coles, the safety and wellbeing of our team members, customers and supplier partners remains our absolute priority. We thank you again for your ongoing support as we work together to stay safe and keep our customers supplied with the essential food and groceries they need.

 

Greg Davis

Chief Commercial Officer

Message for Dairy Farmers 28 May 2020

 

Expressions of Interest to Supply Milk from 1 July 2020.

 

Coles invites dairy farmers in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria to express an interest in supplying milk to Coles as we are expanding our direct to farm sourcing model across Australia. Coles’ dairy farmers play a vital role in supplying high quality fresh milk to Australian families.

 

In 2019 Coles had an exciting opportunity to begin working directly with New South Wales and Victorian farmers, rolling out its new direct-to-farm milk sourcing model. We also established the Coles Sustainable Dairy Development Group, a collaboration between Coles’ dairy farmers and Coles to share thinking on dairy sustainability and to build a pipeline of initiatives. Coles dedicated $1.9M to support the group’s activities to enable its growth.

 

Our dairy team has travelled thousands of miles and shared many conversations with our farmers to gain vital insights into each other’s business. We are looking forward to travelling many more miles this year as we grow our relationships with farmers and visit dairy regions.

 

To find out more about supplying milk to Coles please email milksupply@coles.com.au or call 1300 995 141.

 

We look forward to welcoming dairy farmers to Coles.

 

Regards

Charlotte Rhodes
General Manager – Dairy, Frozen and Convenience

Message for our Suppliers 18 May 2020

 

Coles Small Supplier Payment Scheme

 

Coles is committed to supporting our suppliers so that they can grow their business alongside us and continue to deliver innovation, great products and services. We recognise the importance of paying our suppliers on time and assisting our small suppliers cash flow. To underpin our commitment we are proud to announce we are a signatory to the Business Council of Australia’s Small Supplier Payment Code effective from 1 July 2020. As a signatory to the Code our commitment includes paying eligible small business suppliers within 30 days, paying suppliers on time, and working with small business suppliers to adopt electronic trading.

 

To be eligible for Coles small supplier payment terms of 30 days, a supplier must meet the following conditions:

 

(a)  the supplier has registered for an Australian Business Number on the Australian Business Register;

 

(b)  the supplier and its related bodies corporate (as defined in Corporations Act 2001) (if any) together have an annual turnover of up to $10 million;

 

(c)  the supplier is not a subsidiary (as defined in Corporations Act 2001), of an overseas corporation;

 

(d)  the supplier has registered with coles.earlytrade.com and Earlytrade Verify has confirmed that the supplier meets the requirements under paragraphs (a), (b) and (c); and

 

(e)  the supplier’s current payment terms with Coles result in payment being more than 30 days from delivery of goods or services.

 

Coles has teamed up with Earlytrade Verify to enable small suppliers to apply for and verify their small business status in an efficient, secure and confidential manner. Earlytrade Verify will not share your annual turnover details with Coles.

 

It’s free to register on Earlytrade Verify and we encourage all businesses who have an annual turnover of up to $10m to register so you can be assessed and once approved join the Small Supplier Payment program. Use of Earlytrade Verify is entirely voluntary and at the discretion of each supplier. If you choose not to register on Earlytrade Verify you will be paid as per the payment terms agreed in your Trading Terms, Contract or Purchase Order agreement.

 

If you are an active supplier to Coles Group, you can register for Coles Small Supplier Payment and find out more at coles.earlytrade.com, including frequently asked questions.

 

Yours Sincerely,

Shane Healey
General Manager Finance - Treasury & Corp Function

 

24 April 2020

Dear Valued Coles supplier,

 

Thank you once again for supporting our business through these unprecedented times. Together we have managed to maintain supply of essentials for our customers and communities, providing a pillar of certainty where so many things in their lives have been uncertain.
    

As the COVID-19 situation has evolved, we’ve watched and participated in the community’s efforts to “flatten the curve” and like you, are pleased to see this occurring. Customer demand continues to stabilise and supply levels are recovering in more categories each week allowing for customer limits to be removed. Whilst social distancing measures continue in our supermarkets, there are many signs of a steady return to more normal conditions for our customers.

 

You will continue to see a return to normalcy over the coming weeks, with our range review program already available on the supplier portal, the return of our paper based catalogue from promotional week commencing 6 May, resumption of joint business planning and sharing of category plans across the business units. We will also be focussed on bringing NPD and innovation to market to help inspire customers as they spend more time at home and look to us for ideas to help feed their families.

 

Our strategy to Inspire Customers and Win Together has not wavered over this recent period. The success and positive customer response to our strategy tells us that although conditions may have evolved, the fundamentals including being trusted for value by our customers and providing a tailored customer offer has not. As we emerge from the volatility of the last few weeks, I look forward to your continued support of our business and our customers and in your partnership to deliver the strategy.

 

My sincerest thanks once again for the extraordinary work you are doing to support our customers and communities. I look forward to hearing more examples of the great work we are doing together.

 

Greg Davis
Chief Executive - Commercial & Express

 

9 April 2020

Dear Valued Coles supplier,

 

The safety and wellbeing of our team members, customers and suppliers continues to be our number one focus during the coronavirus outbreak.
    

We want to assure you we are taking every possible step to prevent the spread of the virus through the most stringent hygiene standards, cleaning practices, social distancing, and by closely following the directions from the State and Federal governments.

 

Health and safety in our stores is a priority

 

We’re continuing to add extra cleaning and sanitisation in our stores to help ensure the safety of our team members, customers and suppliers.

Coles’ standard cleaning procedures comply with the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Hygiene Practices For Supermarkets. Checkouts and self-service areas now have additional cleaning every hour, plus we’re providing more wipes for baskets and trolleys. To help minimise close contact time, we’re asking customers to follow signs around the store, packing instructions at the checkout, and using tap & go payment.

Cases of coronavirus in Coles stores

So far, Coles has recorded only a handful of positive coronavirus cases among our 120,000 team members. We are publicly disclosing these cases as they occur on our website.

In every case, we work closely with the relevant State Health Department to ensure the safety of our team, customers and other visitors to our stores. The Health Department works directly with the affected team member, conducts contact tracing, and contacts any individuals who may be required to self-isolate, this would include merchandisers visiting our stores. Coles then conducts an additional deep clean of the store. Following each case we will only open our stores once the relevant State Health Department assures us that it is safe to do so.

I would like to once again thank you for your support during this difficult period. What we’ve accomplished together in the last several weeks has been simply amazing and fills me with enormous pride. We know that by working together we will be able to make the greatest difference for our customers and the Australian community. Let’s continue to work together and win together.

Happy and Safe Easter,

 

Greg Davis
Chief Executive - Commercial & Express

 

26 March 2020

Dear Valued Supplier,

 

Thank you once again for your extraordinary support to Coles. It’s been incredible to see our suppliers step up to the challenge of meeting customers needs over the last few weeks. I’m personally grateful for your continued hard work and effort to supply our stores; because of you, Australians have been able to get their essential goods and services from Coles.

We have also implemented a number of measures to help ensure we are sustainably feeding all Australians:

• Purchase limits applied to categories and products daily to do our best to ensure all customers have access to their daily needs.
• Extended Coles Community Hour to improve access to essential groceries for all customers, including the elderly and disadvantaged, healthcare and emergency workers.
• Changing our store hours to give our stores the time and space to replenish stock and allow us to extensively clean each store every night.
• Temporarily suspending our change-of-mind refund policy to discourage over-purchasing.
• Recruiting 5,000 additional casual team members to join our supermarkets across Australia so that we can serve more customers and replenish shelves faster.
• Provisionally stopping the distribution of the Coles paper catalogue to households until the 1st April 2020. This will be replaced with a digital version of the catalogue at www.coles.com.au
• Donating $1 million every week to our charity partners SecondBite and Foodbank to help our most vulnerable communities.
• Refocusing Coles Online to deliver to elderly and vulnerable members of the community, including retirement and nursing homes.
• Implementing social distance measures to support our customers and team members in store. In addition, we are also increasing the frequency of our already stringent cleaning procedures in stores.
• Setting up Pop-Up DC’s around Australia to ensure we have stock flowing faster to stores.

During these unprecedented times, you have worked with us calmly, compassionately and collaboratively; and as the COVID-19 situation changes daily we need to ensure our businesses continue to keep open and swift lines of communication. We are here to help and want to work collaboratively to find solutions to meet our customers needs efficiently and effectively. If you have issues in manufacturing, options to optimise production, please talk to us. If you have issues in fulfilling order volumes, please talk to us. As always do, it is imperative that we work together and win together.

My sincerest thanks once again for the extraordinary work you are doing to support our customers during this time.

Best regards,

 

Greg Davis
Chief Executive - Commercial & Express

 

18 March 2020

Dear Valued Supplier,

 

The unprecedented customer demand we have been seeing across our stores continues to have a significant impact. I want to take this opportunity to once again thank you for your incredible support during this time and to share with you some of the key measures we are taking to support our communities, customers, suppliers and team members:
    

• Coles Community Hour to improve access to essential groceries for all customers, including the elderly and disadvantaged.
• Changing our store hours to give our stores the time and space to replenish stock and allow us to extensively clean each store every night.
• Temporarily suspending our change-of-mind refund policy to discourage over-purchasing.
• Recruiting 5,000 additional casual team members to join our supermarkets across Australia so that we can serve more customers and replenish shelves faster.

In addition, we are reviewing purchase limits applied to categories and products daily to do our best to ensure all customers have access to their daily needs.

As a temporary measure, we have also decided to not distribute the Coles paper catalogue to households from Wednesday 18 March. This will be replaced with a digital version of the catalogue next week at www.coles.com.au with specials and recipes for the products on which we have availability. At this stage, the measure will also apply to catalogues commencing 25th March and 1st April.

If you have any questions regarding any of these changes, please contact your Category Manager.

My sincerest thanks once again for the extraordinary work you are doing to support our customers during this time.

Best regards,

 

Greg Davis
Chief Executive - Commercial & Express

 

13 March 2020

COVID-19 Update

Dear Valued Supplier,

Thank you for your support through the last two weeks as we’ve faced into unprecedented demand due to the evolving concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19).

As part of Coles’ corporate risk management program, we have extensive response plans and protocols in place to mitigate and manage disruption to our operations and supply chain. We have instigated some of these measures specifically in relation to the current spread of COVID-19, which we are confident will adequately address known risks at this time. We will continue to take direction and advice from the Australian Government including the Department of Health while monitoring the evolving situation and adapting our response as needed.

The health and wellbeing of our suppliers (such as yourselves), customers and team members is our highest priority. Accordingly, we are introducing some new measures within our Support Offices, Distribution Centres and Stores. These are based on advice from the Australian Government about minimising the spread of COVID-19. Please read these and ensure your teams are aware of them.

As of Monday 16 March, we will be closing visitation for meetings to all third-party visitors at our Store Support Offices and Distribution Centres until further notice.

As advised previously, in the event you are visiting any Coles store (including our supermarkets, Coles Express or liquor retailers), we ask that you advise your usual Coles contact prior to arrival if:
 

• You have travelled overseas at any time in the last 14 days to a country that is listed as higher risk due to COVID-19. This is regardless of whether you have any symptoms.
• You have come into close contact with a proven or suspected case of COVID-19. This is regardless of whether you have any symptoms.
• You are otherwise unwell with COVID-19 or ‘flu like’ symptoms (fever, coughing, sore throat, fatigue, shortness of breath).

We will work with you to either reschedule your visit to a later date or make alternative arrangements such as teleconference or videoconferencing.

Continuing to do business

As an important supplier to Coles, we ask that you continue to communicate with us, as we will with you, regarding the evolving COVID-19 situation and that you work closely with us to minimise disruption to operations or supply of product to the communities we serve.

If you have any queries in relation to specific operational concerns or issues, please reach out to your Coles contact. Our Merchandise contact list can be found here.

Regards,

Greg Davis
Chief Executive - Commercial & Express