Wesfarmers Annual Report 2011 21
Coles was also awarded a Good Egg
Award from the RSPCA following a
decision to phase out caged eggs by 2013.
Having a diverse and inclusive culture
is a priority, and during the year Coles
launched an Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Plan to be more representative of
the communities it serves. Part of this plan
is an indigenous employment program
and cross-cultural awareness training
which assists team members to better
understand and respect Aboriginal culture.
The business continued to build safety
leadership and raise safety awareness
during the year. Close to 350,000 hours
were invested in improving health and
safety skills and knowledge through
training. New methodology for calculating
lost time due to injuries this year, and an
increase in manual handling injuries at our
supermarkets, led to a higher Lost Time
Injury Frequency Rate of 16.98
1
, up from
12.87 last year.
This year, Coles raised and contributed
more than $22.3 million to community
programs and emergency relief. Of this,
$5.34 million was in aid of the Queensland
Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal.
Another $7.1 million in sporting equipment
was distributed to more than 7,600
schools across Australia as part of Sports
for Schools and over 1.1 million kilograms
of food was donated to people in need
through Foodbank Australia, SecondBite
and the Salvation Army.
Outlook
In the coming year, the business will
move into phase three of its turnaround
plan where it will focus on ‘Driving the
Coles Difference’ by creating a culture of
continuous improvement; building strong
customer trust and loyalty; delivering
operational effciency; innovating and
improving its customer proposition; and
delivering new stores with new categories.
The business expanded Coles Online
shopping, which is now accessible to
85 per cent of Australia, including areas
such as Alice Springs and Darwin. Coles
also launched new products and services,
including Coles Car Insurance and
Home Insurance and Coles Mobile.
Coles continued to invest in its store
network, adding 94 new format
supermarkets, bringing the total number
of new format stores to 144.
During the year, more than 25 Coles stores
were affected by the Queensland foods
and Cyclone Yasi – the worst affected
of these were at Emerald, Fairfeld and
Ipswich. In June 2011, Coles Emerald and
Fairfeld were re-opened with the latest
store design and a new store at Ipswich
will be built in the coming year.
As part of improving on-shelf availability
of stock, Coles’ Easy Ordering system was
implemented for all supermarkets, and
store effciency programs are streamlining
stock replenishment and reducing
stock loss.
Business sustainability
As part of managing our business
responsibly, we continued to focus on
ways to be more energy effcient. Coles’
programs were aimed at reducing the
energy consumed for refrigeration and
lighting across its store network.
Together with Green Building Council
of Australia, Coles worked to fnalise
a ‘Greenstar’ rating tool for future
freehold supermarket developments.
The frst development to use the tool
as a benchmark is our new store at
Greenacre, New South Wales, which
is under construction.
Coles is committed to sustainable
agriculture, including best practice animal
welfare practices, and works closely with all
of our food and grocery suppliers to build
long-term mutually benefcial relationships.
Coles announced a range of responsible
sourcing initiatives in 2010/11, including a
three year program with the WWF Australia,
a leading authority on marine sustainability,
to deliver sustainable seafood across Coles
brands in fresh, frozen and canned fsh.
Coles continued to deliver better value to
customers and build trust in the Coles brand.
www.coles.com.au
www.colesonline.com.au
www.bilo.com.au
www.1stchoice.com.au
www.liquorland.com.au
www.liquorlanddirect.com.au
www.vintagecellars.com.au
Business websites
Main image: Team member Jared Moore setting
up signage at the 1st Choice Liquor Superstore
in Tooronga, Victoria
1 Restated for a change in the LTIFR calculation
to be consistent with the other divisions of
Wesfarmers.