Alibaba’s local operation Alibaba (Australia) Company signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Austrade that expands the variety of Australian products sold to some of Alibaba’s hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers through Alibaba’s ecommerce platforms. According to the parties, the goal is to broaden Alibaba’s existing partnership with Austrade by providing dedicated services for Australian products and leveraging digital content to build brand Australia abroad. (which-50.com) Ahold-Delhaize criticised for squeezing suppliers
The Netherlands' Food and Grocery Industry Federation (FNLI) plans to register a formal complaint against Ahold-Delhaize for squeezing its suppliers, newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad reports. The paper cites FNLI director Philip den Ouden saying the country's largest supermarket was demanding concessions from suppliers in the wake of its merger with Belgium's Delhaize that violate Dutch industry behaviour codes. A spokeswoman for the FNLI says it is the first time that the industry group, which represents food producers, has registered a complaint with a cross-industry association that enforces fair trade practices. (Reuters)Italian food retail store count up 33% in ten years
The number of food retail stores in Italy has grown by 33% in ten years, although food consumption has dropped by 10% in the same period, according to the Coop Report 2016. The Italian food retail market is one of the most competitive in Europe, as the top five players only have a 52% share. (esmmagazine.com)Coles and Woolworths supermarkets in farm watch
Australia's two biggest supermarkets have started auditing suppliers to try to stamp out the exploitation of foreign workers on farms. The Weekly Times can reveal, Coles started on-farm audits after allegations of worker's exploitation on a West Australian farm. The chief executive of Coles’ parent company, Wesfarmers, Richard Goyder, said the supermarket’s code of conduct for suppliers required compliance with labour and occupational health and safety laws. He said Coles’ “reputation gets hammered” when allegations of worker exploitation in their supply chain are made, and the company decided to strengthen its system. (weeklytimesnow.com.au)Ocado would actually benefit from Amazon Fresh rivalry
Ocado, the U.K.-based online grocery retailer, would benefit from new competitor Amazon Fresh taking on some of its rivals, an analyst told CNBC. McGuire disagrees with other analysts such as Hargreaves Lansdown, who commented in a research note on Tuesday, that Amazon Fresh was pressuring Ocado's margins. Instead, he asserted that Ocado "would prefer Amazon Fresh to be a better competitor globally," thereby diminishing the market share of Carrefour, Woolworths and other grocery outlets. "I don't think [Ocado] is particularly nervous" about Amazon crowding its retail space, he said. (cnbc.com)Korean retailer E-mart pledges $200m in Vietnam
Korean retailer E-mart has announced a US$200 million investment into Vietnam. The agreement between the Shinsegae-owned discount giant and Ho Chi Minh City was signed last week and will see E-mart invest in building supermarkets, commercial facilities and local ‘social development’ facilities over the next four years. (insideretail.asia)United Natural Foods' fresh initiatives are paying off
United Natural Foods’ response to encroachment on its core store distribution business has begun to bear fruit — fresh fruit, to be precise. Steven Spinner, CEO of the Providence, R.I.-based natural products distributor, said acquisitions of several speciality and perimeter product distributors over recent months has helped to grow the company’s fresh business to 15% of its total sales. (supermarketnews.com)Weis begins Food Lion conversions
Weis Markets will reopen the first five of its 38 recently acquired Food Lion stores under the Weis Markets banner this week as part of a plan to rebanner all of the locations by the end of next month. Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis bought the stores, located in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, this summer when they were divested to satisfy antitrust concerns after the merger of former owner Delhaize Group and Ahold. (supermarketnews.com)Ahold Delhaize’s CEO puts spotlight on private label
Ahold Delhaize’s chief executive, Dick Boer, in an interview with Financieele Dagblad, has underlined why private labels are important to the retailer, in that they can be more innovative than many A brands. Boer said that about 50% of all sales from the Dutch chain Albert Heijn were private labels, a share that has steadily risen as it has focused on fresh, health-oriented ranges that shoppers are increasingly demanding. Boer also pointed out the benefits to the retailer of also being able to manage the ranges within its own supply chain. (igd.com)Asda follows Morrisons in slashing Princes range
Walmart-owned UK retailer Asda has slashed the range of products it stocks from Princes, following a similar move from WM Morrison Supermarkets. Asda is thought to have started phasing out products from Mitsubishi-owned Princes at the end of July and the start of August, sources told Undercurrent News. (undercurrentnews.com) Record high amount of groceries shipped to Arizona
Census data shows Arizona grocery stores are at a three-year high for the amount of food shipped to our state. Arizona's Food Marketing Alliance says the latest stats show $7 billion in food shipped in 2014 with that stock winding up in a growing number of grocery stores. Arizona's Food Marketing Alliance says many companies see an opportunity to expand in Arizona where properties are still affordable. (tucsonnewsnow.com)Google rolls out home delivery in Minnesota
Google today becomes the latest to debut personal-shopper services in St. Paul and Minneapolis, offering to snap up goods at big-name retailers and deliver these to customers’ homes or offices for a fee. Google Express is an online marketplace that connects shoppers with major-name retailers such as Walgreens, Costco Wholesale, Whole Foods Market and PetSmart. At the moment, Google's offer will not include perishable groceries. (wctrib.com)Aussie Woolworths' switch from local to New Zealand avocados
Australian avocado growers say Sydney could be in for a glut of poorer quality avocados, after Woolworths made changes to its supply chain earlier than expected. Avocados Australia has called out the supermarket chain for not consulting with its suppliers after it stopped sourcing locally grown Australian avocados for most of its Queensland stores, to be replaced by New Zealand avocados. (stuff.co.nz) Albania to get first Spar hypermarkets and supermarkets
Albania will soon get its first Spar supermarkets following a licensing deal with local private investment group Balfin (through its Almark unit). Work is currently underway to convert Carrefour branded stores to Spar, focusing first on the launch of two Interspar hypermarkets and thereafter on rolling out the conversion of supermarkets. By 2017, Balfin Group plans to open over 100 supermarkets and 10 hypermarkets, creating the largest retail network in Albania and investing over €50 million in the project. (esmmagazine.com)