Australia: Japan has banned all poultry imports from Australia following an outbreak of avian flu. The LPAI virus was discovered at two duck farms in Victoria last week, and some 24,000 ducks have been destroyed to stop the virus from spreading. Partial bans of poultry from Victoria have also been put in place by Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.

France: Lars Olofsson is to step down as CEO of Carrefour. His resignation comes just two weeks after the French retailer warned that its 2011 operating profits would fall by as much as 20%. He will be replaced by Georges Plassat, chairman and CEO of Vivarte, who joins on 2 April as COO and takes up the CEO role on 18 June. Plassat said he was “well aware of the magnitude of the task ahead”.

United States: Second-quarter profits have slumped 89% at Archer Daniels Midland. Net profits were just $80m during the “tough” quarter, admitted chairman and CEO Patricia Woertz. “Ongoing weakness in global oilseeds margins, lower results in corn and poor international merchandising results hurt our second-quarter profits,” she said.

Ivory Coast: The Hershey Company is to invest $10m to tackle child labour and improve cocoa supply in the Ivory Coast. Hershey was already trying to address child labour, “but we all recognise that more needs to be done”, a spokesman said. The news came as Hershey reported a 6% hike in fourth-quarter sales to $1.57bn, slightly ahead of analyst expectations. It also raised sales and profits forecasts for 2012 due to cost savings and productivity measures.

United States: The Coca-Cola Company reduced its global carbon emissions by 2% last year, according to its eighth sustainability report. The report, which focuses on water, energy efficiency, packaging and community, also revealed the soft drinks giant had distributed 2.5 billion bottles made from PET plastic containing up to 30% material from plants. “Sustainability has been core to our business for nearly 125 years,” said chief sustainability officer Beatriz Perez.

Canada: Supermarket chain Metro has posted a 3.4% increase in first-quarter sales to $2.7bn. Sales were boosted by the retailer’s acquisition of ethnic food retailer Adonis and distributor Phoenicia, which contributed $33m. “Our customer-focused strategies and programmes supported by a strong execution, together with our new Adonis partnership, fuelled our results and we are confident they will allow us to continue our growth,” said president and CEO Eric La Flèche.