Consumers have not established loyalty to an online grocery store. A new survey from RichRelevance found 36% of consumers now shop at multiple online food retailers. In addition, more than 60% of consumers who don’t shop for food online are willing to look at new grocery companies when they do. Among online grocery destinations, Amazon attracts twice as many shoppers (60%) as traditional supermarkets (27%) and big box retailers (27%). Amazon attracts four times as many shoppers as wholesale clubs such as Costco, with 15%. Opportunities still exist in the segment because 56% of Americans have yet to shop online for groceries. And 60% of those who said they have shopped for food online said they do so rarely.Source: fooddive.com
US: New Whole Foods cultivates mini mushroom farm in produce section
When designing the new Whole Foods location in Bridgewater, New Jersey, the company created an expansive produce department and carved out space for something a bit different: a mushroom farm. "We think the farm will add a level of innovation and intrigue that customers will find very interesting,” said Chris Manca, Whole Foods Market’s local program coordinator for the Northeast region. “These mushrooms will also be the freshest possible produce that you can buy, and we know our shoppers will be excited about that.”Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Wholesaler Mitchell acquires 3 Winn-Dixies for Indie customers
Wholesaler Mitchell Grocery Corp. announced an agreement to purchase three Winn-Dixie store locations in Alabama from Winn-Dixie's parent company, Southeastern Grocers. All three stores are located in Northeast Alabama in the cities of Jacksonville, Oxford, and Pell City. Mitchell Grocery said it was purchasing the stores on behalf of two of its current customers, Johnson's Giant Foods and The D’Alessandro Organization LLC. Johnson's Giant Foods will own and operate the Jacksonville and Oxford locations, and The D'Alessandro Organization will own and operate the Pell City location under the Fresh Value banner. Terms were not disclosed.Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
JMA Group invests $16mln to open supermarket chain in UAE
JMA Group has invested $16mln (AED60mln) to open a chain of twenty supermarkets in Dubai by the end of 2018, creating an estimated 1,000 jobs in the country. The firm will invest further to open around 100 convenience stores across the UAE, GCC and Asia by 2020. The supermarkets will offer food, beverages, ready-meals, organic produce, electronics, fashion and lifestyle products, as well as farm fresh and self-branded products. The stores will also have speedy self-checkout counters to reduce long queues, accepting multiple forms of payment. In addition, they will provide e-shopping through a mobile application.Source: arabianbusiness.com
Denmark retail sales rise for second month
Denmark's retail sales increased for the second straight month in February, preliminary figures from Statistics Denmark showed. Retail turnover rose 0.5% month-over-month in February, slower than the 1.3% rise in January, which was revised from a 0.2% fall reported earlier. Sales of food and other groceries grew 1.0% over the month and clothing and related sales advanced by 1.1%. Meanwhile, sales of other consumables dropped 0.1%.Source: markets.businessinsider.com
Philippines: Robinsons Retail Holdings to buy 100% stake in Rustan Supercenters
Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. is set to acquire a 100% stake in supermarket chain operator Rustan Supercenters, Inc. Gokongwei-led company RRHI announced the P18bln deal in a press release. “The respective Boards of Directors of RRHI and Mulgrave Corporation B.V (MCBV) approved the acquisition by RRHI of MCBV’s 100% stake in Rustan Supercenters, Inc. through a share for share swap involving shares of RSCI in exchange for primary common shares of RRHI,” it said.Source: cnnphilippines.com
Carrefour launches marketplace in Spain
Carrefour Spain has plans to launch an online marketplace. The idea is that this marketplace will be connected to the company’s hypermarkets throughout the country, so customers can pick between over 2mln products instead of 100,000. Carrefour already has launched marketplaces in France and Poland, while a Carrefour marketplace in Belgium is soon to be opened. And now Spain will also get its own Carrefour marketplace. Rafael Sánchez-Sendarrubias, ecommerce director at Carrefour Spain, revealed the plans during Retail Forum 2018. He didn’t give much details about this initiative, but he said that it will be developed in the coming months.Source: ecommercenews.eu
China: Aeon Stores books bigger loss of HK$54.7mln
Supermarket operator Aeon Stores (Hong Kong) Co. reported a loss of HK$54.7mln for the full year 2017 compared with a loss of HK$23.2mln in 2016. Aeon Stores said it had renovated the Kornhill and Whampoa stores, which adopted "the "Aeon Style,'' a new business model from Japan.'' Revenue increased by 7% to HK$9.66bln from HK$9.03bln in 2016. Gross profit margin climbed during the year to 31.3% from 31.2% in 2016.Source: thestandard.com.hk
UK: Online supermarket Ocado achieves near-zero levels of food waste
Online supermarket Ocado has revealed near zero food waste figures, in what it says is the lowest in the industry. The British firm said that 0.02% of food and drink was discarded last year, which is about just one in 6000 food items. “Our business model is built around efficiency and low waste,” said Suzanne Westlake, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Ocado. Ocado credited its efficient supply chain for the result and said that chilled food is constantly kept at the right temperature from supplier to the customer’s doorstep which helps to keep products fresher for longer. Source: fdfworld.com
Zimbabwe: new wholesale firm Gains ground
Gain Cash and Carry is fast gaining a significant share of Zimbabwe's wholesale market, which was traditionally dominated by giants such as Mahomed Mussa. The company says its rapid penetration of the market was due to a number of new services that were being rolled out. These include all modes of payment and personalised customer service. Gain, which has made a $1mln investment towards Harare Mega 1 refurbishment, is planning to provide a full range of products in all its outlets including food, fruits as well as a range of hardware components.Source: allafrica.com
France: Casino's Monoprix teams up with Amazon for grocery delivery
Monoprix, one of France's biggest grocery store chains, said it will start selling its products to customers in Paris through Amazon's Prime Now service this year, a move that will reverberate through the country's food retail industry. "Thanks to this unique partnership between Amazon and Monoprix, Casino Group reinforces its omni channel distribution strategy," Jean-Charles Naouri, chief executive of parent group Casino, said in a joint statement with Amazon.Source: nasdaq.com