Zero-waste supermarket opens in Ottawa
Valérie Leloup’s Ottawa store will offer a zero-waste grocery shopping experience. The products will be sold in bulk, with shoppers encouraged to bring their own containers or borrow or buy them inside the store. Please, click here to read more at canadiangrocer.com. Marsh stores have potential buyers
Marsh Supermarkets — or at least some Marsh locations — might find a last-minute savior as the Hoosier grocer heads further into bankruptcy. The company has been talking to "interested parties" about some of its 44 remaining locations, a spokesman told The Star Press. (thestarpress.com) US: H-E-B is growing its own veggies in a shipping container farm
Based in Dallas, the H-E-B-owned Central Market has joined forces with Controlled Environment Agriculture Advisors, a self-described “horticulture disrupting” firm, to raise some of its produce in a custom-built onsite shipping container—a first for an American food retailer. The 53-foot-long “Growtainer” features 480 square feet of climate-controlled and food-compliant vertical space designed to achieve a higher yield in a shorter time than conventional methods, according to GreenTech Agro, the system’s manufacturer. (inhabitat.com)US: Costco quarterly comparable sales top estimates
Costco Wholesale Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly comparable-store sales on Thursday, helped by higher membership fees and strong sales in the United States. Sales at established stores open at least a year rose 5%. Net income attributable to Costco rose to $700m in the latest quarter from $545m a year earlier. Total sales rose 8% to $28.86bn. (Reuters)Amazon opens grocery pickup kiosks to rival Wal-Mart
Amazon.com Inc. opened two grocery pickup kiosks in Seattle, part of its latest effort to enter the $800bn grocery market and compete with “click and collect” shopping options from big box competitors like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The “AmazonFresh Pickup” spots let shoppers buy groceries online and pick them up in as little as 15 minutes rather than having them delivered to their homes. Grocery sales have been slow to shift online, unlike books and electronics, leaving Amazon at a disadvantage to competitors like Wal-Mart, Target Corp. and supermarket chain Kroger Co. (Bloomberg)US: Trader Joe's to sell 'Teeny Tiny' avocados
Trader Joe's has begun selling "Teeny Tiny Avocados." These Hass avocados come six to a bag, and each is a little larger than a lime. Teeny Tiny Avocados and are sold for $2.69 in West Coast and Texas stores and $2.99 other states. (laist.com)US retailers say border tax would mean higher prices: NRF
The US National Retail Federation (NRF) has said that retailers would 'have no choice' but to pass the higher costs on to consumers if Congress passes a proposed $1 trillion border adjustment tax. The new tax could be introduced as part of a larger tax reform, but the NRF senior vice president for government relations, David French, believes that it will cause the tax burden on retailers to skyrocket. (esmmagazine.com)US: SpartanNash's organic sales rise helps offset struggles at its retail stores
SpartanNash reported consolidated net sales of $2.4bn and operating earnings of $29.6m for the first quarter, according to a company release. Both figures were an improvement from the same period a year earlier, with net sales rising $123.7m and operating earnings increasing $7.9m. The company’s acquisition of produce distributor Caito Foods last year, coupled with 4.2% organic sales growth, drove gains in the wholesale segment. (fooddive.com) US: Yesway buys 35 c-stores in Texas
Des Moines, Iowa-based Yesway is expanding with the acquisition of 35 Wes-T-Go and Chillerz Convenience Stores in Abilene, Texas. The new Yesway stores will be added to the company’s existing portfolio of 38 units that operate in Iowa and Kansas. By the end of the second quarter of 2017, Yesway expects to have more than 100 stores. (theshelbyreport.com) Kroger recalls Simple Truth macadamia nuts for Listeria risk
The Kroger Co. is recalling Simple Truth brand macadamia nuts from various retailers in three states because they may contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. (foodsafetynews.com)
Slovenia: Mercator Group sees decline in revenue in Q1, but profits rise
Slovenian retailer Mercator Group has reported €564.6m in revenue for the first three months of 2017, representing a drop of 6.7% year-on-year. However, the retailer, which is part of Croatia's Agrokor Group, says that in real terms the annual decline was about 0.7%, given that the company divested some of its activities that are not part of the core business. Net profit in the same period jumped 64.1% to €1.1m, while operating profit amounted to €5.9m. (esmmagazine.com) Russia's X5 opens first Pyaterochka store in Yamal-Nenets
Russian retailer X5 Retail Group has announced the launch of its first Pyaterochka store in the autonomous Yamal-Nenets region. The store opened in Purpe, in the Purovsky District. This opening falls in line with X5’s progression into Russia’s eastern markets. The retailer said that the ‘social and demographic environment, as well as X5's logistics infrastructure, could support the opening of another 80 to 90 stores in the region’. (esmmagazine.com) Sales of new products decline in UK supermarkets: IRI
UK supermarkets saw a decline of 6.5% in sales of branded new products last year, according to retail research group IRI. IRI says that new products are finding it hard to achieve distribution in multiple retailers. Only around 14% of new products launched last year achieved more than 75% distribution in the major UK supermarkets. Asda cut its ranges of new products by 9.8%, while Tesco and the Co-operative reduced their product ranges by 8.3%, Sainsbury's by 1.7%, and Waitrose by 2.7%. Frozen food retailer Iceland, however, increased its range by 6.1% and launched a new line of luxury products. (esmmagazine.com)Oman shops raise food prices by as much as 20%
Food prices in Oman rise every year at the start of Ramadan, but this year shoppers have been hit particularly hard as retailers raised the price of most items by as much as 20% – more than the usual 5 to 10%. Please, click here to read more at thenational.ae. Low inflation continues across EU grocery market: Nielsen
The amount of money European consumers spent on every day items, like food, drinks and toiletries rose by just 0.2% in the first quarter of 2017, according to a study by research firm Nielsen. The study revealed that this is the lowest level of growth for the last eight years. Nielsen said that the timing of Easter negatively affected year-on-year comparisons. Greece had one of the biggest declines, -7.3% in fact. (esmmagazine.com) Waitrose 1 launches in India and China
Waitrose has marked the first anniversary of its premium range, ‘Waitrose 1', by starting to export it to both India and China. The retailer now exports the range to more than 30 territories in response to high demand since it first launched in May last year. Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, the Caribbean and the UAE are among those territories now receiving the range, the company says in a press release.