Coles Archives - Toowong News

Sam Anderson of Toowong Harriers Helped Team Queensland Secure Little Athletics Podium Finish

Sam Anderson of the Toowong Harriers contributed to Team Queensland’s medal haul and podium finish at the Coles Australian Little Athletics Championships held at the Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne.

Sam placed fifth on countback in the boys Under 13 high jump after clearing 1.60m, just five centimetres away from the podium. His leap helped the Queensland state Little Athletics team nab the second overall in the Under 13 and third in the Under 15 team trophies.

Overall, the team collected 16 gold, 16 silver and 9 bronze medals over the weekend.

The win comes as Coles launched Banana A-Peel to help local centres like Toowong Harriers, which received a $5,000 grant earlier this season from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund to buy new timing gates.

Speaking about the grant at the time, Toowong Harriers Little Athletics Centre President Ross Anderson said, “It is a constant challenge to find and retain enough volunteers every week to successfully run the Little A’s meets. These electronic timing and recording solutions will significantly reduce the burden in this space.”

“The timing gates will remove the need to have eight timing volunteers at each meet which adds up to about 500 plus volunteer hours per season. They will also significantly improve the accuracy of data and reduce the administrative burden on recording officials, with automatic data entry into the Results HQ system.”

“The unplanned but added bonus for the new timing gates is a much more COVID-safe way in which we can operate without multiple pens, stopwatches and notepads changing hands throughout the meets.”

What is Coles Banana A-Peel?

Coles Banana A-Peel donates 10 cents from every kilogram of Cavendish bananas sold at its supermarkets. All funds raised will be directed to the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund to provide sports equipment grants for grassroots Little Athletics clubs and centres.

The fund has already provided 417 Little Athletics centres across Australia with more than $2 million in sports equipment grants in just four years.

Coles Little Athletics Australia President Sherrie Boulter said the funds raised from banana sales at Coles this week would help kids to participate and stay in the sport.

“Bananas have become synonymous with Little Athletics since we partnered with Coles in 2017 and Coles stores started donating boxes of bananas to their local Little Athletics centres,” she said.

“It’s incredible to think that in just five years, Coles has donated more than 3.7 million bananas to Little Athletics. The banana donations have played a huge role in helping to embed healthy eating habits among young athletes and at Little Athletics canteens across Australia.”

“We’re so excited that this year bananas will also have a role to play in helping fund our sport, in particular, to help our local clubs and centres buy essential equipment for their volunteers and budding athletes.”

Nina Kennedy Supports Banana-A-Peel

Australian pole vault record holder and Coles ambassador Nina Kennedy encouraged shoppers to buy a bunch of bananas to help grassroots Little Athletics centres across the country.

“Little Athletics played a huge part in helping me become the athlete I am today and any support we can give local clubs and centres to buy new and safe sports equipment is invaluable,” she said.

“Through my role as Coles ambassador, I’ve visited many Little Athletics centres this season and I’ve seen first-hand the benefit that new equipment from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund provides for kids, volunteers and the club.”

“I hope shoppers across the country can help support our future Aussie track and field stars by buying a bunch of bananas this week. Not only will you be supporting a great cause, but you’ll be getting a nutritious, healthy snack for your lunchbox.”

Heads Up, Toowong! Hot Cross Buns and Other Egg-Citing Easter Deals For You

Did you know that Toowong has had the second-highest sales of hot cross buns among Coles stores across Queensland since Boxing Day? Coles Toowong has sold more than 140,100 of these spiced sweet buns in the weeks leading up to Easter Sunday.

Next to Victorians, Queenslanders are the second highest consumers of hot cross buns, gobbling up 27 per cent of the 50 million buns rolled out since December 2021.

Also topping the list of suburbs with the most number of hot cross buns sales are Carindale in third place (128,500) and The Gap (123,200) in fourth place.

Hot cross buns, chocolate eggs and bunnies remain the favourite Easter products from Coles. Voted as the best in the country for the second year in a row, the buns are now even more affordable with 2 packs for just $6.

Hot Cross Buns Toowong coles — Photo Credit: Supplied

Coles’ irresistible and CHOICE Recommended chocolate hot cross buns with 25% real chocolate chips are made using cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, ensuring better opportunities for farmers and safeguarding the environment for the future.

This year, Coles was the first major supermarket in Australia to develop a savoury flavoured hot cross bun range, launching the iconic, limited-edition VEGEMITE hot cross buns which sold out within weeks of arriving in store, and recently adding a fiery new flavour – Jalapeno and Cheese.

More Egg-Citing Deals at Coles

This Easter, however, will find Coles Toowong shoppers snapping up more egg-citing deals as 46 per cent of Australian families are planning to gather and celebrate their Easter traditions after two COVID-restricted years.

Almost half of the cuisines are planned to be “modern Australian,” with 30 per cent of people planning on having a barbeque this Easter and more than half planning to eat fish on Good Friday. Seven per cent will be eating vegetarian meals and 4 per cent will choose meat on Good Friday.

seafood display at Coles — Photo Credit: Supplied

More than half of families said they are hunting for Easter food specials now more than ever. Coles has prepared the best value seafood spread at discounted prices. Coles cut the price of WA Rock Lobsters to $22 each, down from $27 each, so customers can enjoy a luxury delicacy over Easter.

Shoppers will also find the following fresh seafood savings:

Coles Deli Fresh Tasmanian Salmon Skin on $29
Coles Deli Raw Banana Prawns $23 p/kg, down from $26 p/kg
Coles Deli Fresh Black Tiger Prawns $27 p/kg down from $30 p/kg (ex. WA)
3kg Box of XL Black Tiger Prawns $75 p/box, down from $102 per box
Coles Tasmanian Salmon Portions with Lemon & Herb Crumb, $14.50 per pack

For gifting or personal indulgence this Easter, Coles has heaps of merchandise on the shelves as well, such as new plush toys and bunny ears, novelty mugs, sustainable crafts, books and Easter hunt options to entertain the kids over the long weekend and offer an alternative to chocolate gifting.

Easter bunny chocolate eggs hot cross buns — Photo Credit: Supplied

“We know it’s been a challenging few years for many Australians, and it’s important to understand what our customers are feeling to ensure we can provide the best value and quality on products they need most this Easter,” Coles General Manager for Bakery, Deli and Seafood, Andy Mossop said.

“We started Easter specials on our hot cross buns and confectionery early this year to help customers spread the cost of the entertaining season – these include 2 packs of hot cross buns for $6 and half-price specials on chocolate bunnies and eggs which are perfect for family Easter egg hunts.

“We are ready for a massive week of seafood sales with customers buying 200% more fresh seafood compared to any other week of the year. We’re delighted to be able to make great quality and responsibly sourced Australian seafood like WA Rock Lobsters more affordable so our customers can treat themselves over the long weekend. We’ve kept the prices low on some popular seafood lines since Christmas, and now are offering an even better price on raw banana prawns at just $23 per kilo.”

Coles Scraps Plastic Toys Giveaway in Nationwide Sustainability Drive

As part of its mission towards sustainability, zero waste, zero-emission, and zero hunger, Coles Group has launched another initiative across its stores nationwide, including Toowong, to reduce its impact on the environment.

Starting 25 Jan 2021, Coles has committed to stop giving away plastic toy collectibles in its marketing campaigns under its “Together to Zero” initiative. As a result, they have dropped two popular programs with Little Shop and Stikeez as these no longer align with their goals for sustainability.

“While very popular, we must listen to our customers who say their priorities are changing,” the Coles Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Ronson said.

“In a recent survey of 9,000 of our customers, reducing waste to landfill and plastic packaging was the number one concern when it comes to environmental issues in retail, with 69% of those surveyed saying it was of high importance to them.

“We know that customers will understand the need to ensure our campaigns are more sustainable for future generations. We are proud to be now using our marketing platforms to raise awareness of our sustainability ambition which is focussed on acting together now for generations of Australians ahead.”

In line with this, Coles has also removed 31 million soaker pads from meat trays that will no longer end up in landfills. The company will also shift to 100% recycled packaging for its instore bakery in the 2022 financial year and has been working with the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands Plastics Pact (ANZPAC) to develop recyclable, reusable, or compostable containers by 2025.

The move follows after Coles Group also scrapped sales of single-use plastic tableware products when “Together to Zero” launched in early 2021.

Ms Ronson added that the Coles Group has ambitious plans to become the “most sustainable supermarket” in Australia” and are coming up with ways to deliver innovative items down to its packaging.

“We are ensuring it’s contributing to the circular economy by being produced with recycled content where possible, as well as being recyclable.”

Clean Up Australia Chairman Pip Kiernan said that Coles Group has been “true to their word” and taking conscious steps in becoming Australia’s most sustainable supermarket.

“We are really encouraged to see Coles making meaningful changes to all parts of their business,” Kiernan said.

Olympian Visits Little Athletes in Toowong During Coles Community Round

Olympian Matthew Denny, Australia’s premier male discus thrower and Coles athletics ambassador, was one of 23 Australian athletes who visited Little Athletics centres across the country — including the one in Toowong.

As part of the inaugural Coles Little Athletics Community Round, children of all ages could meet and learn from some of the nation’s greatest athletes — including Denny, Cameron Crombie and Eliza Ault-Connell, as well as Catriona Bissett, Sarah Carli, and Alex Hulley — as they toured the country.

One of their stops was the Toowong Harriers Little Athletics centre. Making rounds to visit each community provides young aspiring athletes with the opportunity to meet their heroes, which then motivates them to strive harder. Given the pandemic, every little bit of hope helps. “It’s been such a tough year for everyone in athletics,” says Denny, “I hope my visit during Coles Community Round may have even inspired a future Olympian or two.”

Matthew Denny, who competed in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is the current Commonwealth Games silver medalist in men’s hammer throw. Denny’s skill with the discus also landed him fourth place at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, an event in which he finished sixth at the 2019 World Championships held in Doha, Qatar.

Olympian Matthew Denny at the Toowong Harriers Little Athletics centre.
Photo credit: Supplied

Little athletes were also able to meet young and fast-rising high-jump star Oscar Miers, who won a silver medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina by jumping a personal best of 2.22m. As of late, Miers is gunning for a spot on the Olympic team heading to Tokyo in Japan.

Coles, major partner of Little Athletics Australia and community partner of Athletics Australia, has provided Little Athletics centers and young athletes with over 3.5 million bananas and droves of sports equipment whose total worth exceeds $1.68 million.

According to Coles Corporate Affairs General Manager Sally Fielke, these athletics organizations, namely Little Athletics, “…provides an important pathway for Aussie athletes and it’s also a place where kids develop healthy habits like being active and eating healthily.”

By providing children with training and the facilities and equipment necessary to help them improve, Little Athletics centres across the country help people practice fitness at a very young age. “That’s why we’re incredibly proud to support Aussie athletes through banana donations and sports equipment grants from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund.” Fielke concludes.