Hy-Vee Inc. has announced plans to eliminate more than 200 artificial ingredients or synthetic chemicals across 1,000 Hy-Vee label products by July of 2018. The removals include high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and colors and partially hydrogenated oils. (supermarketnews.com) US: Sprouts Farmers Market strengthens ties with Amazon
Sprouts Farmers Market has announced that it has expanded its partnership with Amazon, to deliver groceries to consumers within one to two hours. Sprouts products will be offered through Amazon Prime Now in the Atlanta, GA, region. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Amazon Prime Now already offers fresh foods, but its extended partnership with Sprouts will allow convenience-minded consumers access to its produce, meat, and seafood. (delimarketnews.com) US: Walmart making checkout lanes obsolete
Walmart is rolling out a new technology in its stores that enables shoppers to scan and pay for their items without checkout lanes, registers, or cashiers. Here’s how it works: shoppers download Walmart’s “Scan & Go” app, then scan the barcodes of the items they wish to purchase. Once they are finished shopping, they click a button to pay for their goods and show their digital receipt to a store greeter on their way out the door. (businessinsider.nl) US: Aldi to invest $28m in 20 Detroit store remodels
Continuing to freshen up its face across the U.S., Aldi has announced that a new span of stores are set for its latest remodeling spree. The retailer will have 20 stores in the Detroit, MI, area renovated by 2019. The chain plans to spend $28m on the renovations, according to MLive. (delimarketnews.com) US: Weis sales jump 20% in Q2
Weis Markets Inc. finished the second quarter ending July 1 with $876.6m in sales, a 20% climb from the second quarter of 2016. Net income rose 21% hitting $18.5m, while operating income also increased 15.2% to $27.7m. (supermarketnews.com) US: Food Lion freshens up North Carolina stores
Food Lion has finished remodeling 93 stores in North Carolina’s Triad market, which includes the cities of Winston-Salem and Greensboro, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. The fresh-focused updates, which began last October and cost the company $178m, include improved lighting; additional employees; an expanded selection of local, organic and grab-and-go items; a walk-in produce selection; and an increased assortment of the company’s Nature’s Place all-natural private label products. (fooddive.com)US: Natural Grocers earnings come in well below estimates
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage reported a net sales increase of 8.6%, to $194.6m, while comp-store sales increased 0.4%, according to a company release. Earnings per share was 3 cents, well below the 12-cent estimate set by Wall Street. Net income for the quarter was $600,000. (fooddive.com) Costco Canada recalling Gold Coast broccoli
Costco Wholesale Canada is recalling Gold Coast brand Broccettes – Broccoli Florettes due to possible E. coli contamination. The recalled product was distributed in British Columbia, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). (canadiangrocer.com) Amazon selects Australia’s retail country manager
After months of speculation about Amazon and its potential effect on the Australian market, Rocco Braeuniger has been named as the manager of the company’s Australian retail operations. Braeuniger has over a decade of experience at Amazon, having worked at Amazon Germany since 2006. On Thursday, Amazon also confirmed that it would be opening its first fulfilment centre in Dandenong South in south-east Melbourne. The massive 24,000-square-metre warehouse is expected to create hundreds of jobs in the suburb. (smh.com.au) UK: Startups developing smart grocery shopping app
John Lewis Partnership has announced that the five retail tech startups selected for the JLAB 2017 accelerator programme include a smart grocery shopping app and an intelligent addressing system. According to John Lewis Partnership, the Mucho smart grocery shopping app provides daily personalised recipes and enables customers to order ingredients when they need them. (postandparcel.info) Spar’s biggest supplier explores £100m sale
The biggest supplier of convenience store chain giant Spar is poised to sell its wholesale arm, aiming to cash in on the rapidly changing market. AF Blakemore, which owns 290 Spar stores nationwide and supplies more than 1000, has reportedly hired KPMG to explore a sale with an estimated value of £100m. According to The Telegraph, the UK’s fifth largest wholesaler Bestway is interested in purchasing 250-year-old AF Blakemore. It made sales of £1.3bn last year, but tight margins mean just £7.6m of this was profit. (retailgazette.co.uk) 
SA: Shoprite shares fall after Steinhoff says could buy controlling stakeShares in South Africa's Shoprite fell more than 5% on Monday as investors digested news that Steinhoff through its African spinoff could acquire a controlling stake in the supermarket operator in a share deal worth 35.5bn rand ($2.6bn). (Reuters)
UK: Sainsbury's to cut 1000 jobs
Sainsbury's is cutting up to 1000 jobs at head office, it has been reported. The exact number of job cuts will be revealed next month. The supermarket giant currently employs 3000 staff outside of store employment - this number will soon be slashed by a third. It's believed the cuts are part of the £500m three-year, cost-saving plan announced back in 2015 - after the company's acquisition of Argos. The company - with whom Mike Coupe took up the role of CEO in July 2014 - said cuts would mean they could avoid having to raise prices, the Sunday Telegraph reports. (express.co.uk) Dairy Farm's H1 2017: net profit up 6%
Dairy Farm has reported solid profit growth in the first half despite lower sales in its supermarkets and hypermarkets. Total sales, including associates and joint ventures, were 3% higher at US$10.4bn. The underlying net profit was US$211m , up 6%. Supermarket and hypermarket sales declined 3% at constant exchange rates, and profits fell because of continuing softness in some key markets, such as Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. In Indonesia, better margin management enabled profits to be maintained despite lower sales. Profitability improved in the Philippines even though sales were flat following the closure of a hypermarket. Yonghui had 15% growth in revenue and a 57% jump in profit, thanks to higher store numbers and margin improvement from more effective merchandising. (igd.com)US: Is Sprouts the last grocery takeover target standing?Please, click here to read the article.