Waikanae New World is trialling fruit and healthy snacks at all their checkouts in a bid to give customers healthy choices as they add a little treat to their trollies while paying for their groceries. Foodstuffs external relations manager Catherine Reiss says the feedback from customers on the trial has "been entirely positive". (tvnz.co.nz) Alibaba, New Hua Du supermarkets forming JV
To accelerate its roll-out of new high-tech retail, Alibaba Group is establishing a JV company with supermarket chain New Hua Du Supercenter. It will be a co-operative platform to pool their resources and respective advantages in the supply chain. (insideretail.asia) US: Fresher produce at 70 Food Lion stores
In a bid to remain as competitive as possible in the hotbed Richmond, Va., market, Food Lion has completed its $110mln capital investment for its 71 area stores, which includes remodeling, lowering prices, hiring hundreds of additional associates and giving back to local communities. Among the changes customers will see are improved quality and freshness for products throughout the store, including produce and meat. (groceryheadquarters.com) FamilyMart Philippines chain up for auction
FamilyMart Philippines convenience-store chain, partly owned by the Ayala and Tantoco groups, is up for auction. With about 70 stores, the Japanese chain has been offered to prospective investors in the past few months, reports the Business Inquirer. (insideretail.asia) Aldi to build 75 mln pound UK distribution centre
Aldi plans to build a new distribution centre in the southeast of England to supply the German discount supermarket chain’s expanding British network, it said on Monday. The company has earmarked more than 75mln pounds ($99mln) to build a centre in Bedford on a site covering an area equivalent to 20 soccer pitches, creating 400 jobs. (Reuters)Croatian Agrokor says it failed to report millions of liabilities
Agrokor d.d., the conglomerate under the largest state-led restructuring in Croatian history, failed to report more than 3.9bn kuna ($616mln) of liabilities at the end of 2015, according to a company report published on Monday. The firm released audited results for 2016 and reviewed financial reports for the previous years, confirming earlier warnings from Ante Ramljak, a government-appointed commissioner, that the original results may have contained irregularities. The Zagreb-based food producer and retailer reported a 3% decline in revenue in 2016 to 46.2bn kuna and a 10.1bln kuna loss attributable to equity holders of the parent, against a 3.8bln kuna loss a year earlier. Reported equity dropped by 22.1bn kuna at the end of last year, compared with the revised figures for 2015, it said. (Bloomberg) UK: Tesco trials checkout-free supermarkets
Tesco boss Dave Lewis has confirmed that the UK's biggest supermarket chain is looking at building stores without traditional checkouts. Instead, artificial intelligence will be used to calculate when an item is removed from a shelf and taken out of the store - automatically debiting your account when appropriate. (mirror.co.uk) Carrefour Brasil opens online grocery shopping
Grupo Carrefour Brasil will start an online grocery shopping and rewards platform in Sao Paulo this week, executives said on Monday, deploying fresh capital to boost its e-commerce presence in a fiercely competitive market. The Brazilian unit of French retailer Carrefour SA, which raised 5bn reais ($1.6bn) in a July IPO, will offer the services over mobile app “Meu Carrefour,” which will slowly expand beyond an initial 200 neighborhoods in Brazil’s biggest city. (Reuters) Double blow for suppliers as Kenya's retail chains sink
When suppliers put their foot down and turned Nakumatt and Uchumi supermarkets’ shelves empty, they were rightfully agitating for a monumental Sh40bn debt. But as the two retailers struggle and fizzle out, suppliers may be at the receiving end of the collapse, with an irredeemable stock of debt and the collapse of the sole avenue to sell their products. Please, click here to read more at standardmedia.co.ke. Botswana's Choppies to open 40 new stores in region
Botswana’s Choppies Enterprises , a budget retailer with operations in seven African countries, plans to open 40 more stores in the region by mid-2018 at a cost of about 300mln pula ($29mln). Choppies plans to enter Namibia before December while expanding its presence in South Africa, Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania, Chief Executive Ramachandran Ottapathu told Reuters on Monday. The retailer has 217 stores in the region, including operations in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. (Reuters)What is UK’s cheapest supermarket?
Trade publication Which? has tracked the price of 68 grocery items at various UK supermarkets. Morrisons was the cheapest supermarket to buy a basket of branded groceries over the past month – reclaiming the lead from Asda in our monthly grocery prices comparison. (which.co.uk)Leader Price tests new concept in France
LSA has revealed that the Casino-owned discounter is trialling a new store concept that puts the focus on fresh and organic ranges as part of a complete overhaul of the fascia’s design and layout. LSA has said that the design has been incorporated in two stores – in Pontault-Combault, about 20 km from Paris, and Ulis, which is about 23 km from Paris – and points to a completely new direction for the banner. (igd.com)UK: Co-op makes formal offer to acquire Nisa
Following a month of exclusive talks, the UK's largest consumer co-operative, the Co-op Group has launched its bid to acquire the member-owned retail and wholesale group Nisa. The deal puts the value of Nisa's full shareholding at £137.5m which, with associated costs of £5.5m, will result in a total payment of £143m by the Co-op. If successful, this acquisition will establish the Co-op as a significant wholesaler to independent convenience retailers; enabling it to supply 3,200 independent stores alongside its company-managed portfolio of some 2,800 stores. (igd.com)