AU: Coles sales growth under pressure; chain continues to lower prices -
Coles food and liquor sales growth has slowed significantly as aggressive price cuts among the major supermarkets drive prices sharply lower. The supermarket giant revealed comparable food and liquor sales rose 2.8% in the three months to June 30, as parent company Wesfarmers posted an 83% plunge in full-year profit. On top of the slower growth, Coles recorded its biggest quarterly fall in prices in two years, with liquor and food prices declining 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wesfarmers' managing director Richard Goyder says Coles will continue to lower prices amid fierce competition from Woolworths and the expanding discount retailer Aldi. (yahoo.com)
US: SpartanNash makes Fair Food pledge
SpartanNash is supporting fair labor practices for Michigan’s more than 94,000 migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families by signing the Migrant Legal Aid’s Fair Food Pledge. SpartanNash distributes fresh produce from 250 Michigan farms to its 160 corporate-owned stores and 2,100 independent customers. As part of its pledge, SpartanNash will work in partnership with Migrant Legal Aid when Michigan produce suppliers appear to be in violation of regulations requiring fair treatment and safe working conditions. (supermarketnews.com)
Lidl becomes UK's fastest growing supermarket
Lidl has become the UK's fastest growing supermarket with sales up 12.2% in the last three months, data reveals. And among Britain's supermarkets, there remains 'no evidence of Brexit fuelled inflation causing food prices to rise', Kantar Worldpanel's findings add. Own-brand supermarket products are proving increasingly popular with shoppers, with sales of premium ranges up 9% in the period. (thisismoney.co.uk)
Source: Kantar Worldpanel - igd.com
US: Meijer expects to sell 1.6m pounds of apples to students
Meijer is in the midst of “Meijer Mania,” as it welcomes about 40,000 incoming college freshman to its annual shopping party events. The retailer will have hosted 22 events at 20 colleges across the Midwest by early September. Meijer expects to sell 1.6 million pounds of apples this back-to-school season. (supermarketnews.com)
US: New project aims at making supermarket produce local
Texas retailers want locally grown produce, and Texas A&M AgriLife is working to make that happen. Dr. Bill McCutchen, Texas A&M AgriLife Research executive associate director in College Station, and Joseph Bunting, United Supermarkets produce director from Lubbock, talked about the need for Texas-grown produce at a recent Summer Crops Field Day near Bushland. Please, click here to read more.
SpartanNash eyes acquisitions as it looks for new growth areas
Grocery retailer and distributor SpartanNash Co. appears to be ready to go on the hunt for more acquisitions. Speaking yesterday during a quarterly conference call with brokerage analysts, executives with the Byron Center-based SpartanNash said that modest growth in the company’s food distribution and military segments allows it to explore new areas for expansion. (mibiz.com)
Giant Food introduces fresh meal kits
Giant Food of Landover, Md., has launched fresh meal kits in eight greater Washington, D.C. stores. Each kit features pre-measured, fresh ingredients and step-by-step instructions to create a meal for two in 35 minutes or less.(groceryheadquarters.com)
Tesco removes Scottish flag from fruit
Tesco has removed Scottish flags from its soft fruit punnets after customers in England complained. The supermarket confirmed the change on Twitter after a confused shopper asked why she could no longer see the nation’s emblem on strawberries. Tesco told her the packaging would now only show the British flag following a redesign. (metro.co.uk)
Shoprite says retailer would mull expansion outside Africa
Shoprite Holdings Ltd. would consider expanding outside Africa as the continent’s largest food retailer seeks additional fast-growing markets, CEO Whitey Basson said. “There are countries that have great potential,” Basson said. Vietnam and Cambodia are examples of markets that look interesting to Shoprite, Basson said, while the company would consider India if the country further opens up its retail sector to foreign investors. Unlike Steinhoff, the company doesn’t see many opportunities in Europe and high levels of competition in the U.S. make expansion there difficult, the CEO said. (Bloomberg)
Carrefour deploys new 'urban' store format in Italy
Coles food and liquor sales growth has slowed significantly as aggressive price cuts among the major supermarkets drive prices sharply lower. The supermarket giant revealed comparable food and liquor sales rose 2.8% in the three months to June 30, as parent company Wesfarmers posted an 83% plunge in full-year profit. On top of the slower growth, Coles recorded its biggest quarterly fall in prices in two years, with liquor and food prices declining 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wesfarmers' managing director Richard Goyder says Coles will continue to lower prices amid fierce competition from Woolworths and the expanding discount retailer Aldi. (yahoo.com)US: SpartanNash makes Fair Food pledge
SpartanNash is supporting fair labor practices for Michigan’s more than 94,000 migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families by signing the Migrant Legal Aid’s Fair Food Pledge. SpartanNash distributes fresh produce from 250 Michigan farms to its 160 corporate-owned stores and 2,100 independent customers. As part of its pledge, SpartanNash will work in partnership with Migrant Legal Aid when Michigan produce suppliers appear to be in violation of regulations requiring fair treatment and safe working conditions. (supermarketnews.com)Lidl becomes UK's fastest growing supermarket
Lidl has become the UK's fastest growing supermarket with sales up 12.2% in the last three months, data reveals. And among Britain's supermarkets, there remains 'no evidence of Brexit fuelled inflation causing food prices to rise', Kantar Worldpanel's findings add. Own-brand supermarket products are proving increasingly popular with shoppers, with sales of premium ranges up 9% in the period. (thisismoney.co.uk) Source: Kantar Worldpanel - igd.com
US: Meijer expects to sell 1.6m pounds of apples to students
Meijer is in the midst of “Meijer Mania,” as it welcomes about 40,000 incoming college freshman to its annual shopping party events. The retailer will have hosted 22 events at 20 colleges across the Midwest by early September. Meijer expects to sell 1.6 million pounds of apples this back-to-school season. (supermarketnews.com)US: New project aims at making supermarket produce local
Texas retailers want locally grown produce, and Texas A&M AgriLife is working to make that happen. Dr. Bill McCutchen, Texas A&M AgriLife Research executive associate director in College Station, and Joseph Bunting, United Supermarkets produce director from Lubbock, talked about the need for Texas-grown produce at a recent Summer Crops Field Day near Bushland. Please, click here to read more. SpartanNash eyes acquisitions as it looks for new growth areas
Grocery retailer and distributor SpartanNash Co. appears to be ready to go on the hunt for more acquisitions. Speaking yesterday during a quarterly conference call with brokerage analysts, executives with the Byron Center-based SpartanNash said that modest growth in the company’s food distribution and military segments allows it to explore new areas for expansion. (mibiz.com) Giant Food introduces fresh meal kits
Giant Food of Landover, Md., has launched fresh meal kits in eight greater Washington, D.C. stores. Each kit features pre-measured, fresh ingredients and step-by-step instructions to create a meal for two in 35 minutes or less.(groceryheadquarters.com)Tesco removes Scottish flag from fruit
Tesco has removed Scottish flags from its soft fruit punnets after customers in England complained. The supermarket confirmed the change on Twitter after a confused shopper asked why she could no longer see the nation’s emblem on strawberries. Tesco told her the packaging would now only show the British flag following a redesign. (metro.co.uk)Shoprite says retailer would mull expansion outside Africa
Shoprite Holdings Ltd. would consider expanding outside Africa as the continent’s largest food retailer seeks additional fast-growing markets, CEO Whitey Basson said. “There are countries that have great potential,” Basson said. Vietnam and Cambodia are examples of markets that look interesting to Shoprite, Basson said, while the company would consider India if the country further opens up its retail sector to foreign investors. Unlike Steinhoff, the company doesn’t see many opportunities in Europe and high levels of competition in the U.S. make expansion there difficult, the CEO said. (Bloomberg)Carrefour deploys new 'urban' store format in Italy
Carrefour has deployed a new 'urban' store format in Italy, offering a wider assortment of products and 'handyman' services for customers. The first remodelled store has opened in Turin, with more following this autumn, including in Milan. Open 24 hours a day, the Carrefour Market Urbano store offers 8,500 products over an area of 785 square metres. (esmmagazine.com)Russia: Auchan expanding online presence
Auchan has expanded its online operations to sell products on digital platform Yandex.Market. The test phase of the project will see 3,700 products sold on the marketplace, in the Moscow area; this will be expanded to 25,000 and serve all of Auchan's operating regions. (igd.com)Tops to open six recently acquired stores
Tops Friendly Markets is opening six stores this week that it recently acquired from Stop & Shop and Hannaford Supermarkets. The locations will open in Rhinebeck, New Paltz, Wappingers Falls, LaGrangeville and Carmel, N.Y., and Gardner, Mass. (supermarketnews.com)
AU: Metcash to buy Woolworths' home improvement businessAustralian grocer Metcash is buying the home improvement and hardware unit of larger rival Woolworths for A$165 million ($125.5 million) in cash. The acquisition, expected to be completed in early October. (Reuters)
Asda sells off loss-making businessAsda is selling its loss-making photo business to Photo-Me International for about £5.4m in cash as it seeks to reverse plunging sales at its main grocery business. (theguardian.com)
Japan supermarket sales rise, boosted by summer vegetables
Sales at supermarkets in July rose 0.2% from a year earlier on a same-store basis, up for the first time in five months, the Japan Chain Stores Association said Monday. Food sales grew 1.4%, mainly led by strong sales of summer vegetables and fruits, and meat. (the-japan-news.com)
Indonesia: Alfamart Group achieves 21.5% growth in H1
Alfamart has reported strong sales and profit growth in H1 with continued store expansion. Total revenue increased by 21.5% in the first half of 2016 reaching IDR36,870bn (US$2.0bn). Unaudited gross profit for H1 also increased by 20.6%. With a network total of 12,971 stores, Alfamart group remains narrowly behind competitor Indomaret, with 13,099. (igd.com)Waitrose and Fairtrade Foundation support The Great Fruit Adventure
Two leading charitable food foundations, Waitrose and Fairtrad Foundation have given their backing to a new initiative designed to raise awareness in the UK of the importance of fruit and vegetables and where it comes from. The Great Fruit Adventure is a journey through Europe and Africa in order to make people in the UK more aware of where food comes from. (foodmanufacture.co.uk) Siberia: Auchan to open more hypermarkets
Auchan plans to open three hypermarkets in the West Siberia economic region before the end of 2016. The stores will comprise what Auchan calls a 'classic' hypermarket (15,100 sq. m) in Barnaul, followed by two, smaller, City banners in Tyumen and Krasnoyarsk. (igd.com)