Woolworths' Countdown supermarket chain in New Zealand had a 1.4% decline in annual profit despite margins rising, with dairy and fresh produce costing more along with uninsured losses related to the November 2016 earthquake. Earnings before interest and tax fell to $309m in the year to June 30, from $313.9m in the previous year, its ASX-listed parent company Woolworths announced. Sales were $6.23bln versus $6.1bln in the prior corresponding period, up 2.1%. (sharechat.co.nz) German Rewe targets Luxembourg
German supermarket chain Rewe has turned its attention to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It recently opened a store in Echternach and will soon open several others, which spells bad news for other chains, like Ahold Delhaize. (retaildetail.eu)AU: Woolworths' groceries boost annual profit
Woolworths Ltd, Australia's biggest grocery chain by sales, said on Wednesday it swung to an annual net profit from its first ever loss the previous year, helped by cost-cutting at its core supermarket business. Net profit was A$1.53bln ($1.21bln) for the year to June 25, recovering from a net loss of A$1.2bln the previous year mostly caused by a one-off charge to exit a failed foray into hardware, the company said. But it was Woolworths's grocery sales - which account for about two thirds of its total revenue - which impressed investors. Comparable store food sales rose 3.6%, beating Coles owner Wesfarmers' food and liquor sales growth of 1%. Pre-tax profit for food at Woolworths declined 2.4% because of staff training expenses in the first half, and the company noted that second-half pre-tax profit for food grew 13%. (Reuters)Google and Walmart join forces
Wal-Mart Stores Inc is teaming up with Alphabet Inc's Google to enter the nascent voice-shopping market, currently dominated by Amazon.com Inc, adding another front to Wal-Mart's battle with the online megastore. Google will offer hundreds of thousands of Walmart items on its voice-controlled Google Assistant platform from late September, Walmart's head of e-commerce, Marc Lore, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. Amazon, whose voice-controlled aide Alexa allows users to shop from the retailer, has the lion's share of the U.S. voice-controlled device industry, with its Echo devices accounting for 72.2% of the market in 2016, far ahead of the Google Home gadget's 22%, according to research firm eMarketer. (Reuters)Tesco-Lotus looks forward to higher consumer spending in Thailand
Mr Sompong Rungnirattisai, chief commercial officer of Ek-Chai Distribution System Co, the operator of Tesco-Lotus, said market conditions has been sluggish for the first part of this year. However, this is set to improve as the retailer kicks off its marketing campaign this month. Tesco-Lotus will start selling some key consumer products at reduced prices at all its retail formats. It is also renovating its fresh food division to draw shoppers, and the makeover at its Sukhumvit 50 branch is nearly complete. (igd.com)UK Supermarket sales impacted by cooler weather: Nielsen
Supermarket sales in the UK were impacted by cooler weather at the start of this month, not to mention the start of summer holidays, according to Nielsen data for the four weeks to 12 August. Supermarket sales grew by 2.5% in the period, which is half the rate of growth seen in the previous month (5.1%), a period that was influenced by a heatwave across the UK. (esmmagazine.com) Shoprite Nigeria sales up 48.2%
Shoprite Holdings Ltd has reported group full-year earnings of 141 billon rand or N3.86 trillion for its financial year ended July 2017 with sales from Nigeria and Angola, two of its key markets outside South Africa contributing strongly to group sales. (businessdayonline.com) Ahold USA: Giant Food in sustainability drive
Ahold Delhaize's Giant Food of Landover chain has broadened its partnership with sustainability research organisation HowGood. This follows a pilot at Giant stores in Baltimore-Washington and will be expanded to all Giant stores in the future. (igd.com)New poll shows that rural Nebraskans aren't shopping locally
Nearly half of rural Nebraskans are not shopping at their local grocery stores but instead buying their food at supercenters and supermarkets, according to the 2017 Nebraska Rural Poll. "Almost half of rural Nebraskans are choosing to drive farther and choosing less local," said Vanessa Wielenga, assistant extension educator for food access and availability. (nebraska.tv)US: Target remodels stores to focus on freshness
Target’s redesigned stores are centered on freshness and providing an experience-focused shopping trip, according to Minnesota’s Star Tribune. A store in Minneapolis’ Nicollet Mall, for instance, includes LED lights, concrete flooring, more upbeat music, curved aisle ends and more produce and grab-and-go items at the front of the store. (fooddive.com) CA: Union urges grocers to consider positive impact of wage hike
While Metro and Loblaw have claimed a hike to Ontario’s minimum wage could negatively impact their business, the country’s leading private sector union said it could actually have a positive effect on their bottom line. Unifor’s national president, Jerry Dias, said it was “incredibly disappointing” that Loblaw Companies CEO Galen Weston and Metro CEO Eric La Flèche had chosen to focus on the increased labour costs resulting from the Wynn government’s decision to increase the provincial minimum wage next year. (canadiangrocer.com) 
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