India's consumer price inflation falls to record low
India’s inflation slowed to the lowest on record as food prices continued to soften, adding to expectations that the central bank will cut rates when it meets for a review in August. Consumer prices declined to 2.18% in May from 5.76% a year earlier, the Statistics Ministry said in a statement in New Delhi on Monday. That’s slower than the 2.4% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 38 economists and April’s figure of 2.99%. Food and beverage prices declined by 0.22% compared with a 1.21% increase the previous month. (esmmagazine.com)Food price inflation 'likely to return to France by year-end': Barclays
A new report from Barclays European Food Retail Equity Research has found that overall food prices in France are down by an average of 0.74% since the start of the year (January to May), compared to a 1.1% decline at this point last year, and a 1.2% decline at this point in 2015. This, coupled with the fact that private label prices have now moved into positive territory, suggests that 'food inflation [in France] will likely return to positive territory in 4Q at the earliest', Barclays said. However, the French food retail sector 'continues to be characterized by an intense promotional activity especially from independent operators, including Leclerc', it said. (esmmagazine.com) Ocado to raise £350 mln to support growth
Britain's Ocado plans to raise at least £350m ($446m) from issuing bonds and making changes to its banking facilities, money that the online food retailer will use to expand capacity and develop software, it said on Monday. Ocado, which last week clinched a long awaited overseas deal with an as yet unnamed European retailer, also published its results for the 22 weeks to April 30, showing a strong increase in sales. Gross retail sales were up by almost a quarter to £600m, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 20.5% to £37.6m while pretax profit rose 45.7% to £6.7m. (Reuters)British summer sees surge in strawberries for Asda
Asda has seen a spike in strawberry crop growth this last month thanks to May’s mild weather resulting in an increased number of the nation’s favourite red berry. Growers for the supermarket have seen an increase in crop production of 30% versus the predicted harvest, which they’re attributing to the high number of mild days Britain saw throughout May. As a response to the impressive number of strawberries harvested by Asda’s growers this last month, the supermarket is introducing a new 700g punnet of berries, alongside its existing 300g pack. (londonlovesbusiness.com) 
Biggest Israeli grocery chain looks to reduce presenceUS: Bashas' launches rebranded e-commerce site for Phoenix stores
Bashas’ has launched its own e-commerce site through provider Instacart, according to an announcement from the online ordering and delivery company. The “white label” site, which plays down Instacart’s branding in favor of the retailer’s, will be available to customers in the Phoenix market. In March, Bashas’ began offering grocery delivery through Instacart in eight Arizona markets, including Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Chandler. Since then, it has seen 13% weekly sales growth on online orders and twice the average basket size per order, according to Instacart. (fooddive.com) Alibaba launches new sales channels in Malaysia, Singapore
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group on Monday said it is launching new sales channels in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan as China's deep-pocketed e-commerce firms vie for new users in the region. The new service, Tmall World, will allow overseas Chinese users to buy goods from Alibaba's Tmall brand-to-consumer retail site, the company said in a statement. "Alibaba will provide end-to-end solutions including logistics, payment, and localization support catering to each local market's needs," the statement said. (Reuters)US: Walmart adds new signs for local produce
The Arkansas Agriculture Department and Walmart have teamed up to create new signs that will help residents in the Natural State distinguish which produce has been locally grown in the state. The Arkansas Grown program, which is an effort to increase local sales of produce as well as support local farmers and businesses. Arkansas is generally one of the top 25 states in the county which helps to produce 21 agricultural commodities such as tomatoes and sweet potatoes. (thv11.com) US: H-E-B tops trust ratings list, tying with Mercedes-Benz
Texas grocer H-E-B has landed at No. 1 on the 2017 Temkin Trust Ratings list from Temkin Group, marking the third year in a row the San Antonio-based grocer has topped the Waban, Mass.-based customer experience research and consulting firm’s list. The list, which “examines the trust that consumers have that an organization will operate on their behalf,” shows the San Antonio-based retailer scoring at 82% – compared with 80% in the previous two years – tying with automobile brand Mercedes-Benz. (progressivegrocer.com)US: Marsh auction waiting game continues
The Marsh bankruptcy auction waiting game continued Monday afternoon. The docket for Marsh Supermarkets' bankruptcy case, on the website for the Delaware court where its bankruptcy was filed, was updated several times over the course of the day. But as of just before 5 p.m. Monday, the docket still did not include details of what was happening in an auction of the Hoosier supermarket company. (thestarpress.com)