Since Loblaw relaunched the Provigo banner in Quebec two years ago, basket share for fresh products has grown 7% to 55% on average, the retailer announced, supermarketnews.com writes. Ready-to-eat meals prepared by Provigo’s chefs are the category that has grown the most. Provigo has 26 chefs in stores, 19 of whom were added in the last two years. Purchases of organic products have grown 6% each year.Kenya: Uchumi implementing a new turnaround strategy
Following the departure of its previous CEO and CFO, Uchumi has said that it is implementing a forensic investigation of its recent and short term investment plans, which will lead it to close unprofitable stores, igd.com reports. To enable it to pay suppliers and get stock back onto its shelves, Uchumi is set to receive a US$ 4.9m loan from the Kenya Commercial Bank, while it was looking to sell a 20-acre piece of land it owns in Kasarani, Nairobi, which is valued at over US$ 21.5m. However, it is clear that following the investigation into its recent investment, that Uchumi could be a very different retailer than the one that exists today. US: Safeway plans to hire 1,600 in mid-Atlantic
Safeway's Eastern Division plans to fill 1,600 jobs in Maryland and three other jurisdictions as part of a hiring effort that added 2,000 employees in the last two months, the supermarket chain said Thursday, baltimoresun.com reports. The company said it is seeking workers who want retail grocery careers.Dutch Online grocery shopping increases in popularity
Online grocery shopping in the Netherlands doubled in 2014, with sales up 55% to €450m on the previous year, dutchnews.nl reports. The figures are contained in a report on the state of online grocery retail in Europe by data supply 
company Syndy. As well as the Netherlands, the report also looks at the UK, France and Germany, together the biggest ‘e-grocery’ markets in western Europe. Although over 70% of the Dutch shop online, just 15% of them bought groceries via internet last year. This is a rise of 4% on 2013. The online market is dominated by Albert Heijn, market leader in the physical world, followed by Jumbo and Deen. Online turnover is €450m. Carrefour acquires Turkish grocery chain Kiler
French retailer Carrefour finalized the acquisition of Turkish supermarket chain Kiler, Carrefour said in stock exchange filing late Wednesday, bgnnews.com reports. International retailer Carrefour’s joint venture company in Turkey CarrefourSA announced that the deal had been finalized, with the French company acquiring 85% of Kiler's shares in exchange for cash. The value of the agreement was US$ 160m. “We have already set 2015 as a growth year for us and said earlier that we were open to acquisitions. We are now very happy to acquire the majority stakes in Kiler, one of the biggest players of Turkey’s retail market. We will continue to assess inorganic growth opportunities in the future as well,” said CarrefourSA CEOUS: Raley’s to offer imperfect produce
Raley’s will offer imperfect produce at a discount, sacbee.com reports. Raley’s said its “Real Good” program will sell “scarred, aesthetically challenged” produce that might otherwise be headed for landfills when it launches Saturday at 10 of its more than 120 stores in an open-ended pilot program. The West Sacramento-based chain made the announcement Thursday. New CEO for Lidl in Portugal and Italy
Afroditi Pampa has been named as the new chief executive of Lidl Portugal, taking over from Marin Ðoković, now promoted to the company's international structure based in Germany, esmmagazine.com reports. Pampa (34) has been with the company for over 10 years, having passed through Germany and, more recently, in Greece, where she was responsible for one of the regional directorates. In addition, Ignazio Paternò is the first Italian-born president of Lidl Italia in 23 years, a post previously occupied by Daniel Marasch, who after five years in the office, will take over as president of Lidl Deutschland. Paternò (35) has spent 11 years with Lidl Italia and until recently was the CEO for purchasing.France: Aldi debuts in Paris
The grocery chain, ALDI, celebrated an opening on Tuesday at its newest store in Mirabeau Square, kxii.com reports. It's the first ALDI in Paris, and it's already drawing people from near and far, including one shopper who drove all the way from Arlington.CA: Labour disputes end at 69 Loblaw stores
The union that represents some 13,600 workers at 69 Loblaw-owned grocery stores in Ontario says they have averted a strike after members voted to accept a six-year contract that takes effect immediately, thespec.com reports. Local 1000A of United Food and Commercial Workers Canada says its 12,000 members ratified an amended contract negotiated with Loblaw after an earlier tentative deal was rejected. It says members at 60 Loblaws Great Food and Superstore grocery stores and two Joe Fresh clothing stores will receive wage increases and protection of defined benefit pension plans, though further details weren't disclosed. UK: Tesco increases minimum online order spend to £40
Tesco is following Asda in increasing the minimum order for online deliveries from £25 to £40, grimsbytelegraph.co.uk reports. And it is ending its fuel saver discount on petrol from August 31. The news comes after Tesco reported its first loss - £6.4 billion - and announced it would not be opening planned new stories, such as the one in Immingham and Mablethorpe, and closing others across the country. Shoppers have already started forums to protest at the increase in the minimum spend online, saying it will hit couples and single people the most.Canadians say grocery meals are better than fast food
An increasing number of Canadians believe that prepared foods and ready-to-eat meals sold at food retailers are better, and fresher, than products sold at fast-food outlets, according to a recent survey by Technomic, nacsonline.com reports. “This is a huge new area of opportunity for food retailers,” Kelly Weikel, Technomic director of consumer insights, told Canadian Grocer.7-Eleven Japan driving positive performance for 7&I in Q1
As 7&I reports positive Q1 performance amid challenging conditions, the retailer updates on its omnichannel strategy and US$ 89m investment, igd.com reports. Total Group sales rise 3.3% to JPY 2.5tn (USD 20.5bn), whilst operating income grows 5.6% to US$ 970m. Convenience operations in Japan and continued to be the primary growth driver. 7-Eleven Japan saw total sales rise 7.4% to US$ 8.2bn). The network expanded by 281 stores, whilst existing stores saw robust like-for-likes of 3.5%. 7&I aims to target greater reliability and convenience for its shoppers by investing in omnichannel.Italian CRAI launches format with focus on fresh
Italian cooperative Codè CRAI Ovest has opened a new store in Milan, marking a first step for the transformation of its entire proximity trade concept, esmmagazine.com reports. The concept, which has been rolled out to two in 250 square metre stores, will be replicated in two other sized stores. The CRAI store in Viale Teodorico is strongly oriented to fresh products, with a loft area that will host meetings on nutrition as well as wine and cheese tastings.Delhaize moves to pay Greek staff in cash
Belgium's Delhaize Group has said that it will commence paying its Greek employees in cash, as Eurozone talks continue about the future of the beleaguered EU member, esmmagazine.com reports. A spokesperson for the retailer told Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad that the decision to pay the 12,000 workers in its Greek stores in cash was taken because "we want to show our staff our appreciation." Delhaize operates the Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos S.A. chain in Greece.French Monoprix to continue expansion drive outside Paris
Following 65 openings during 2014, Monoprix has announced that it will continue its expansion outside of Paris by opening in 50 new cities “in the very near future,” LSA reports. The president of the French retailer has said that there are a number of areas in France in which Monoprix’s presence is not “sufficient.” He said, “Toulouse, for example, is an area into which we wish to expand – there is at present not one single Monoprix supermarket there.” He went on to comment that it is the retailer’s short-term goal to do business in at least 250 cities. (source: esmmagazine.com)Swiss Migros to acquire Pedrazzini forecourt chain
Migrol, a unit of Migros, has announced it will acquire the Pedrazzini chain of service stations in Switzerland, igd.com reports. Migrol operates around 300 service stations across the country and this deal will allow it to acquire a further 18, as well as Pedrazzini's fuel trading activities, distribution network and fleet. Turkey’s retail sales volumes increased in May
Turkey’s retail sales volumes increased in May by 0.7 % compared to the previous month, and turnover increased by 1.7% as reported by haberport.com. The Turkish Statistical Institute released the ‘Retail Sales Volume Index’ for the month of May. Accordingly, food, beverages and tobacco sales increased by 1.7%, non-food sales (excluding automotive fuel) decreased by 0.2%, sales of automotive fuels rose 1.2%. In comparison with May 2014 sales increased by 4.5% and food, beverages and tobacco sales increased by 5.1%.China's major retailers see robust sales growth
China's top 100 retailers saw combined sales jump 26.2% year on year to 3.37 trillion yuan (US$ 544bn) in 2014, an industry association official said Thursday, news.xinhuanet.com reports.