‘Disingenuous’ Coles slammed by industry body after ceasing catalogue delivery
Coles’ decision to stop printing and distributing its catalogues to consumers has been slammed by The Real Media Collective (TRMC).
The industry association representing the interests of companies in the paper, print, publishing/media and related distribution sectors across Australia, said Coles’ assertion that the decision was related to sustainability was “disingenuous”. Coles attributed the decision to changing consumer behaviour alongside its commitment to sustainability.
Coles has said that from September it will cease all catalogue deliveries, replacing them with a digital platform. Catalogues will still be available instore.
TRMC CEO Kellie Northwood called the supermarket chain “disingenuous”.
“The claim that Coles is stopping production of its supermarket catalogues due to environmental concerns is simply disingenuous,” said Northwood.
“For every Coles customer spending 60 seconds browsing a digital catalogue, they will emit 12g of CO2 compared to looking at a printed catalogue for a day and only emitting 0.5g of CO2 [according to Climate Care]. All of Coles’ catalogues are made from a renewable resource, using bio-diverse and planted forestry principles, and the papermaking process is powered by hydro-electricity – paper carries the highest environmental credentials over e-waste and CO2 powered digital streaming.”
Northwood went on to say that as the change is likely to result in job cuts, it should have been considered further.
“In an era where Australia is in recession and double-digit unemployment is looming, the impact of Australian job losses should be met with concern, especially when supermarkets have made record profits from the COVID pandemic. Digital media channels reduce local employment and contribution to local economies, and regional economies will suffer the most with major employment for paper manufacture being within Maryvale, Victoria and Boyer, Tasmania.
“We know that a lot of Australians rely on catalogues to plan and budget for their weekly shopping, both for themselves and their families, there are many Australians who are being left behind by big brands and digital social exclusion is a growing divide. With this example, our most vulnerable, will not have access to the best offers from Coles Supermarket catalogues once they go online.”
IVE Group, which currently holds the contract for Coles’ print and distribution, has advised that the changes will have a $35 – $40m impact on the company’s revenue. The catalogue is currently delivered to the homes of around 7m Australians using 14,000 walkers, according to an ASX announcement made today.
IVE Group said Coles has advised its monthly in-store magazine will continue to print and its in-store catalogue order will increase.
IVE Group is due to announce its financial results on August 25 and has advised it will provide full details of its financial implications then. The business said it has already put plans in place to deal with the economic downturn of COVID-19.
topics
catalogue
catalogues
Coles
IVE Group
IVE Group Limited
Kellie Northwood
The Real Media Collective
I think it is TRMC CEO Kellie Northwood who is being disengenous here with her distortion of the print industries eco-credentials… Should’ve just stuck to the jobs line, as she has lost all credibility
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“IVE Group, which currently holds the contract for Coles’ print and distribution, has advised that the changes will have a $35 – $40m impact on the company’s revenue”
Hiding behind carbon emission statements is a ridiculous standpoint. The positive impact on the environment by saving paper far outweighs this and Coles should be applauded for this.
A well needed knife in the legacy catalogue industry, which is going the way of newspapers. Go digital or go home.
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I feel it’s a touch disingenuous to equate viewing a PDF on a website with “CO2 powered digital streaming”.
I’d also like to understand more of where the “12g of CO2” claim comes from – is that the total CO2 output as a result of the computer running while the user is looking at the page? How much of that is explained by the computer idling, many people just run their computer all day.This is especially suspect on mobile devices, people tend to run these constantly and charge every day. So how is there an impact from reading a PDF?
I’d also like to know just how many of these paper brochures are thrown straight out and if that is baked into that amount given for “looking at a printed catalogue for a day”. As if time spent reading has a bearing on CO2 emitted?
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Maybe now they’ll stop filling my letterbox (with NO ADVERTISING stickers all over it) with paper which goes straight into the recycling bin. Has the cost to councils to get rid of this rubbish been calculated?
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What has Kellie said that is distorted? Pretty cheap shot unless you can show what she says is wrong.
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Looking at those CO2 emission numbers and based on the work Christopher Sewell has done with us on measuring CO2 contributions of advertising and marketing, I am wondering if they have perhaps neglected to include the carbon pollution for distribution? While it is true that the print industry has invested greatly in reducing carbon emissions and developing sustainable sourcing, often the biggest carbon pollution contribution is physical distribution. But it is also important to recognise that digital or online production and distribution is not without its cost to the environment, especially in a country like Australia, which relies so heavily on fossil fuels for electricity generation. The power used, not just in the device used for viewing the catalogue, but in powering all of the infrastructure (including servers and networks) consumes significant amounts of electricity and therefore generate tonnes of carbon pollution.
Monopoly guy, throw your phone and ipad in the garden and have a think about how long that phone will last for…maybe 1000 maybe 2000 years maybe more?…throw a catalogue in the garden and it will have disappeared after a few rain falls…don’t be fooled in thinking that your digital way of life is sustainable and somehow more environmental
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Something that can be produced and distributed 100% digitally from start to finish being more wasteful than printed media that requires printing and delivery is real long stretch and disingenuous.
Both print and digital require the same volume of work to produce the final art. Arguably print moreso. But only print requires printing and fuel to deliver.
There is clearly a distortion of truth in the CO2 omissions going on by disregarding the entire production process and instead only factoring in how a consumer consumes the medium being the key statistic to rip into Coles as being disingenuous.
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Yes, Coles citing green reasons for axing its catalogue is rather naff and treats the public like idiots, this is clearly driven by cost (printing & distribution). But I’m not sold on the line that a digital version is worse and “for every Coles customer spending 60 seconds browsing a digital catalogue, they will emit 12g of CO2 compared to looking at a printed catalogue for a day.”
I’m going to take a punt and say this is based on a desktop or even laptop computer, not a more efficient tablet such as an iPad, and might also be attached to alleged cost of generating AC power, and I’m also going to suggest that given that people are using tablets anyway, for all sorts of things, adding a few minutes (if you’re lucky) flicking through the catalogue makes bugger-all difference to the total carbon footprint. Given how many catalogues are tossed away or litter common letterbox areas at apartment blocks etc, I think the whole ‘paper is better than digital’ argument in this case is daft.
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yeah but who is rushing out to get a new phone to look at a catalogue? Be realistic…people are already using their devices each and every day for a multitude of activities, coles transitioning catalogues to digi only isn’t going to suddenly increase mobile phone production. do you know what it will do? suddenly decrease the amount of physical catalogue production….
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Stuart, are you suggesting that nobody at the legacy catalogue businesses use a phone or laptop?
As that would be hypocritical, right?! You eco-warriors, you!
Do you have any further thoughts or statistics on all the trees saved by eliminating catalogues that 90% of the population throw out without even reading? Read the writing on the wall Stuart, its a dying industry for very good reason.
Again, bravo Coles, a progressive move for our countries future.
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This is a good move from Coles, yet one that is probably 5 years too late. Every week I am taking a stack of catalogues out of my letterbox and immediately putting them in the recycling bin, and people I’ve spoken to about this say similar things. Most people tend to be loyal to the supermarket of their choice too, making it unlikely that they are going to go somewhere else because their sliced ham is 10c cheaper this week. Catalogues are outdated and a massive waste of resources.
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