The Co-operative Group has announced a £75m price investment that will save customers money while showing support for British farming. It wants to have a wider British fruit and veg offer and increased collaboration with producers. The convenience retailer has reduced prices across more than 1,000 products over the past two years. Fresh fruit and vegetable prices were dropped last summer, and prices were also lowered on everyday staples, such as bread. This time, the retailer mainly cuts prices of meat. (thenews.coop)Brand 'Permaculture' now sold in German supermarket chain
German supermarket, 'Real', are the first to sell branded permaculture produce. The supermarket are working with permaculture farmers who create healthy soils with natural ecosystems, to grow fruit and veg. The produce they sell : - is 100% free of artificial additives
- is 100% free of chemicals, including synthetic manure, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides
- promotes the building of top soil. Top soil stores CO2and increases the ground’s fertility.
- 100% fulfils the EU Organic Requirements
- fosters an economical usage of water
- contributes to the preservation of biodiversity, nature and habitats.
Walmart, Tesco and farmers to benefit from Indian foreign direct investment ruling
Walmart is to benefit from a new ruling by the Indian government that makes foreign direct investment 100% legal. This means that the retailer will no longer be tied to joint business-to-business ventures with domestic companies when it wishes to do business in India, the International Business Times’s Indian online edition reports. The legislation will mean, however, that Walmart 
must source its product materials, and make the products themselves, within India. Tesco is another food giant that will most likely capitalise on the revised law. "This far-reaching reform will benefit farmers, give impetus to domestic food processing industry and create vast employment opportunities." said Krish Iyer, CEO of Walmart India, to the Economic Times. (esmmagazine.com) Migros extends PickMup service for Swiss customers
Migros’s Swiss customers can now use PickMup, a click and collect service that allows them to order from the retailer’s online shops and pick up their purchases at Migros, Ex Libris. Migrolino, or even at the brand’s fitness centres. Since June 2015, Migros has been testing the concept with various retail formats. (esmmagazine.com)Lidl Europe doubled its export of Croatian products in 2015
According to the company press release sent out on March 1, 2016, Lidl, second largest retail chain on the Croatian market, exported more than €8.9m worth of Croatian goods through its stores across Europe in 2015. Since in 2014 they exported €5.7m of Croatian products through the same channels, LIDL is extremely happy that they almost doubled their effect in just 12 months. (total-croatia-news.com)US: Publix reports 3.2% comps in 4Q
Publix Super Markets on Tuesday said sales improved by 4.5% in the fourth quarter to $8.2bn, while earnings improved by 15% to $521.1m. Comparable-store sales improved by 3.2% in the quarter. For the fiscal year, the Lakeland, Fla., company reported earnings of $2bn, a 13% increase, on sales of $32.4bn. Sales increased by 5.9% for the fiscal year, while comps for the year were up by 4.2%. “I’m pleased to report another year with excellent results,” CEO Ed Crenshaw said in a release. (supermarketnews.com) Spain: El Corte Inglés to sell 200 properties worth total of €1bn
El Corte Inglés has announced plans to sell off 200 properties worth up to €1bn in order to reduce its debt level, reports Expansion.com. Among the assets to be sold are 102 supermarkets, some of which are closed and others which are still in use. Also on the table are 32 logistics centres with a combined area of 500,000 square metres. (esmmagazine.com) US: Aldi's acceptance of credit payments to increase sales
Aldi U.S. on Tuesday announced that its stores nationwide will now accept credit payments, betting that the added consumer convenience will trigger volume increases that can overcome added processing costs that come with credit. (supermarketnews.com)Slovakia: Lidl opens new ecological logistics centerLidl, one of the fastest growing retail chains in Slovakia, opened in Sered its third logistics center. It is one of the largest and also the most ecological centers in Europe. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)
Australian Frewville Foodland supermarket named best in the world
A popular family-owned supermarket in Adelaide has been named the world’s best international retailer by its global peers. The Chapleys-owned Frewville Foodland won the International Retailer of the Year excellence award at the IGA Conference in the US. (adelaidenow.com.au)Online Grocery in India estimated to develop at 55%
Newly released market research study shows that the online grocery market in India would develop at 55% through 2021. The report released by TechSci Research, a global market research and consulting company with offices in Canada, UK and India suggests that the easy availability of products and improved logistics will help the country achieve the 55% goal. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)
Moody's downgrades Australia's WoolworthsRatings agency Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday it has downgraded Australia's Woolworths Ltd as a result of increased competition to the country's largest supermarket chain. (Reuters)
'Auckland could support third supermarket chain'
Auckland's council-owned golf-courses should be dug up to support a third supermarket operator for the city, says potential mayoral candidate Tex Edwards. Edwards, who founded mobile operator 2degrees, said Auckland had grown to a size where it could support a new supermarket chain which would boost the "minimum wage economy". But he said a minimum of 20 sites would need to be made available simultaneously to make a new chain economic, which he did not believe could happen with current regulatory restrictions such as the Resource Management Act. (stuff.co.nz)JD.com florishes with Q4 revenue and Q1 outlook
China e-commerce company JD.com reported fourth-quarter earnings early Tuesday that showed strong revenue growth and a lower-than-expected loss, defying concerns of economic weakness in that country. JD, the largest online direct-sales company in China, also provided Q1 revenue guidance that beat Wall Street views, with the company seeing sales of 8bn to $8.4bn, up 45% to 50% from Q1 2015. (investors.com)Lidl Czech profit doubles to 2.6bn crowns
German discounter Lidl increased its profit for the financial year 2015 by 50% to 2.6bn crowns. This is the highest profit achieved retail chain in the Czech Republic in recent years. The company’s revenues rose 16% to 33.6bn crowns. These figures are as per the company’s annual report Lidl released recently. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)Philippines: Robust performance of SM Retail
The group’s positive financial results were driven by the strong performance of its retail operation SM Retail, which reported sustained growth of 7% in total sales to US$4.45bn, with net income up 17%. At the end of December 2015, SM Retail had a total of 310 stores, comprising 53 THE SM STORES, 45 SM Supermarkets, 44 SM Hypermarkets, 136 Savemore stores and 32 WalterMarts stores. (igd.com)UK: McColls reaches 900 convenience stores
In a trading update accompanying the publication of its preliminary results for the full year 2014/15, major UK convenience retailer, McColls has revealed that its sales in the 13 weeks to 28 February 2016 grew 2.7%. However, like-for-like sales were down 1.8% in the period, much in line with the previous quarter. Within the same period store numbers were boosted by 12 acquisitions and seven conversions to take its total conveniences portfolio to 911, well on the way to its target of 1,000 by the end of 2016.