Kroger and Tesco breaks exclusive relationship

Customer science and data company Dunnhumby has announced that it will end its exclusive partnership with supermarket chain Kroger in order to work with other US retailers and fast-moving consumer goods clients, thedrum.com reports. The move comes as Tesco tries to make Dunnhumby more appealing as it considers selling the data branch in an effort to reduce costs. The company announced a review of strategic options for Dunnhumby earlier this year. It will replace the 12-year exclusive joint venture with a more flexible long-term license and service agreements. Up until now, Kroger has exclusively used Dunnhumby’s customer science and insight products as part of its growth strategy. As part of the agreement, Kroger will acquire Dunnhumby USA’s data-mining technology and more than 500 of its employees to form a new company called 84.51°. Stuart Aitken, who previously led Dunnhumby USA, will now serve as CEO of 84.51°.

Tesco staff are to get rewards of up to 5% of their annual income if they help CEO Dave Lewis meet his targets for recovery, The Grocer reports. 

UK: Tesco makes banana pledge
The single largest seller of bananas in the UK has committed to ensuring that a living wage is paid to banana workers by 2017, Reefer Trends reports.

UK: New finance boss joins Sainsbury's board 

Next's former finance boss David Keens is joining the Sainsbury's board this week, cityam.com reports. Keens will take up the non-executive directorship from Wednesday (April 29). He is replacing Gary Hughes, who will retire at the supermarket's annual general meeting on July 8. 

X5 Retail Group, a leading Russian food retailer, is honoured to announce the opening of the 5000th store of the Pyaterochka national retail chain in Russia, eprretailnews.com reports. Over recent years, X5 Retail Group has significantly expanded its footprint, from Petrozavodsk in the Republic of Karelia to Tobolsk in the Tyumen Region.

Walmart has released its eighth annual Global Responsibility Report (GRR), outlining its social and environmental work over the past year, including its efforts to reduce solid waste, such as food waste and packaging materials, and its initiatives around using more sustainable materials for product packaging, packworld.com reports. 

A study which analysed 22.7m tweets has found that the relationships between consumers and the Big Four supermarkets, including Yorkshire brands Asda and Morrisons, have taken a beating, thebusinessdesk.com reports. Asda performed better than the other Big Four supermarkets in the study involving 350,000 individuals, which showed their brand engagement scores from best to worst. Morrisons' consumer connection took the biggest hit, with the Bradford-based supermarket finishing last, a full eight points below its nearest rival.

Tesco Lotus remains committed to Thailand and will continue to invest in expanding its retail and online channels, according to a report in the Bangkok Post newspaper, insideretail.asia writes. Tesco Lotus has previously announced plans to open five large stores and 50 express stores over the coming year. But a cloud descended over the company’s future in the wake of parent Tesco UK’s financial turmoil, with talk of the Thai division possibly being sold to pay off debt in the UK. However, in an interview with the Bangkok Post, CEO John Christie said Tesco will also increase investment in programs to help reduce the prices of fresh food, groceries and household items.

The Portuguese are spending more money on supermarket purchases, according to Nielsen’s scantrends, with food sales reaching €1.92bn in the first two months of 2015, esmmagazine.com reports. The growth in January was 0.4%, but in February it accelerated to 1.7%, after negative sales throughout 2014.

IGD retail analysis looks at developments from retailers across the region in the first quarter of 2015, including a good start to the year for many retailers, the unveiling of new strategic and investment plans, and initiatives to reward loyalty and help lower income consumers. Please, click here to read the news review.