The valuation of fast food outlets in Australia : methodology, analysis and reliability

Fast food outlets are a significant sub sector of the Hospitality and Tourism Property Market and a specialized form of business. This form of hospitality outlet has experienced significant growth and change in the last 20 years. Their value as an asset is therefore of significant interest to many involved in the tourism and hospitality industry, not least fast food operators or potential operators and their financiers. However, little attention has been given in professional and academic literature to valuation methodology, the analysis of the major components of asset value, and the underlying factors which influence asset value. As such the reliability of the valuation process could justifiably be questioned.
This paper sets out a working definition of a fast food outlet. It investigates the major determinants of value with respect to asset value and examines the accepted methods of valuation of fast food outlets in Australia as well as establishing the methods most commonly used. It clarifies the major components of asset value and examines to what extent these have changed with the changing business environment. In particular it isolates the role of Goodwill in assessing Going Concern Value. Sources of data include a comprehensive literature review and personal interviews with professionals involved in the valuation process. The paper concludes that an efficient valuation process requires that fast food outlets be considered as both a real estate and business investment. The contribution of both tangible and intangible assets to the value of the asset must be identified.

Does cigarette promotion increase susceptibility to smoking? : a re-test of the link between tobacco industry promotion and adolescent susceptibility to cigarette use

In 1998, using the Index of Receptivity to Tobacco Industry Promotion (IRTIP), it was claimed that tobacco promotion increased youth susceptibility to smoking. Arguably, this claim started the belief that ?cigarette advertising causes smoking? and led to many countries severely restricting cigarette promotion. The problem is, ten years lat... more »er, youth are still lighting up. Could they have gotten it wrong? The IRTIP procedure is widely used to model the link between promotional activities and susceptibility to product use. It is now being used for other products like alcohol, fast-food and colas. This book reports the results of a verification and re-test of the IRTIP model. Using the original data, it was found that IRTIP magnifies Response-Style and Respondent Drop-Out Biases. These biases are shown to lead to the finding of a positive link between tobacco promotion and susceptibility to smoking. Because the IRTIP process is biased, it may be prudent to revisit the many research studies that have used this procedure. The faulty 1998 claim may have harmed efforts to control and limit the use of cigarettes.

Industry self regulation of television food advertising : responsible or responsive?

Introduction. This study evaluated the impact of the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) self-regulatory initiative on unhealthy food marketing to children, introduced in January 2009. The study compared patterns of food advertising by AFGC and non-AFGC signatory companies in 2009, 2007 and 2006 on three Sydney commercial free-to-air television channels.

Methods. Data were collected across seven days in May 2006 and 2007, and four days in May 2009. Advertised foods were coded as core, non-core and miscellaneous. Regression for counts analyses was used to examine change in rates of advertisements across the sampled periods and differential change between AFGC-signatory or non-signatory companies between 2007 and 2009.

Results. Of 36 food companies that advertised during the 2009 sample period, 14 were AFGC signatories. The average number of food advertisements decreased significantly from 7.0 per hour in 2007 to 5.9 in 2009. There was a significant reduction in non-core food advertising from 2007 to 2009 by AFGC signatories compared with non-signatory companies overall and during peak times, when the largest numbers of children were viewing. There was no reduction in the rate of non-core food advertisements by all companies, and these advertisements continue to comprise the majority during peak viewing times.

Discussion. While some companies have responded to pressures to reduce unhealthy food advertising on television, the impact of the self-regulatory code is limited by the extent of uptake by food companies. The continued advertising of unhealthy foods indicates that this self-regulatory code does not adequately protect children.

The Pharmaceutical Industry and Access to Medicines in India

Pharmaceutical policy in India as elsewhere is shaped by conflicting economic and social interests and opposing values and priorities. Tensions can be understood as revolving around the contradiction between use value and exchange value in the production of medicinal drugs as commodities, as per Marx’s original analysis. The use value of medicines – if safe and efficacious, of good quality, and prescribed and consumed appropriately – is the prevention, cure or alleviation of ill-health and disease. Health policy is – or should be – aimed at optimising the use value of medicines. For this purpose government agencies administer regulatory oversight of the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of medicines. Drugs made available to patients are expected to meet adequate safety, quality and efficacy standards, but regulation to ensure such standards is subject to controversy in most countries. This is a domain where definition and interpretation of scientific-technological principles and criteria is infused by partiality and bias grounded in social and material interests, as evidenced by recurrent debates about industry ‘capture’ of regulatory agencies, including the world’s most regulator, the US Food and Drug Administration (Angell 2005; Law 2006). In India, a Parliamentary Committee Report in 2012 depicted the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) as dysfunctional and influenced inappropriately by the exchange value perspective of manufacturers (Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Welfare 2012). The clash between use and exchange value perspectives is starkly illustrated by cases of products known to cause more harm than good, particularly common in poorly regulated markets such as India’s, as shown by Srinivasan & Phadke.

Towards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study

Objective To articulate a healthy and sustainable (H&S) diet; outline key health and environmental sustainability principles that can be applied in the selection of foods for inclusion in such a diet; and describe a methodology with which to assess the availability and affordability of a H&S food basket.

Design We synthesized publically available evidence on the environmental impact of different foods from academic, government, industry and non-government sources and constructed a hypothetical H&S equivalent of the typical Australian diet. Based on this, we constructed a weekly H&S food basket for a household of two adults and two children.

Setting Australia.

Subjects Australian populations.

Results The H&S diet is based on three overarching principles: (i) any food that is consumed above a person's energy requirement represents an avoidable environmental burden in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, use of natural resources and pressure on biodiversity; (ii) reducing the consumption of discretionary food choices, which are energy-dense and highly processed and packaged, reduces both the risk of dietary imbalances and the use of environmental resources; and (iii) a diet comprising less animal- and more plant-derived foods delivers both health and ecological benefits.

Conclusions We have focused on the articulation of a H&S diet not to facilitate ‘policy drift’ to focus on individual dietary choice, but rather to provide evidence to extend dietary guideline recommendations so as to integrate environmental considerations within the scope of food and health policy advice in Australia and elsewhere.

Improving availability, promotion and purchase of fruit and vegetable and non sugar-sweetened drink products at community sporting clubs: a randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Amateur sporting clubs represent an attractive setting for health promotion. This study assesses the impact of a multi-component intervention on the availability, promotion and purchase of fruit and vegetable and non sugar -sweetened drink products from community sporting club canteens. We also assessed the impact the intervention on sporting club revenue from the sale of food and beverages. METHOD: A repeat cross-sectional, parallel group, cluster randomized controlled trial was undertaken with amateur community football clubs in New South Wales, Australia. The intervention was conducted over 2.5 winter sporting seasons and sought to improve the availability and promotion of fruit and vegetables and non sugar-sweetened drinks in sporting club canteens. Trial outcomes were assessed via telephone surveys of sporting club representatives and members. RESULTS: Eighty five sporting clubs and 1143 club members participated in the study. Relative to the control group, at follow-up, clubs allocated to the intervention were significantly more likely to have fruit and vegetable products available at the club canteen (OR = 5.13; 95% CI 1.70-15.38), were more likely to promote fruit and vegetable selection using reduced pricing and meal deals (OR = 34.48; 95% CI 4.18-250.00) and members of intervention clubs were more likely to report purchase of fruit and vegetable (OR = 2.58 95% CI; 1.08-6.18) and non sugar -sweetened drink (OR = 1.56; 95% CI 1.09-2.25) products. There was no significant difference between groups in the annual club revenue from food and non-alcoholic beverage sales. CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrate that the intervention can improve the nutrition environment of sporting clubs and the purchasing behaviour of members. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12609000224224 .