Instacart and Whole Foods promise to offer largest range of fresh

Grocer Sobeys Inc. is cutting its fresh food prices in Western Canada as it feels the pressure of low-cost rivals touting their discounts in oil-struck markets and stealing away business. Sobeys is being hit with fewer customers coming to its stores and eroding profit margins and sales, especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan, company executives said on Thursday after posting disappointing third-quarter results. Sobeys’ third quarter sales increased by 1.5% to $6.0bn, with same-store sales up 0.4%. Excluding the impact of fuel and the retail West business unit, same-store sales would have increased by 2.7%. The parent of the Sobeys chain said net losses in the period totaled $1bn (U.S.), triggered by a $1.3bn impairment charge related to its assets in Western Canada. Excluding the effects of the write-down, earnings declined by 36.1% to $62.1m (U.S.) in the quarter, while sales grew 1.5% to $4.5bn. (theglobeandmail.com / igd.com/ supermarketnews.com)

Ahold Delhaize will have to sell American storesCarrefour in talks to enter Israel market with victory deal

Low cost supermarket chain Eurospin recorded growth in sales of 48.7% between 2010 and 2014 – the highest in Italy during the period – going from €2.77bn to €4.12bn. This compares to average growth for the Italian food retail sector of 1.5% in the same period. According to research conducted by Mediobanca, Eurospin was also top for profitability, measured in return of equity and profit margin. (esmmagazine.com)

Turkish discount supermarket BİM has recorded growth of 21% and turnover of TL17.4bn (approximately €5.4bn) for 2015. The retailer chose not to pass increased purchase prices in Turkey on to its customers in 2014, helping it to retain shoppers and see a 48% increase in profitability in 2015 compared with the previous year. (esmmagazine.com)

Montenegrin retailer Mercator-CG, owned by Croatian food-to-retail giant Agrokor, has announced it will rebrand all of its stores from Roda to Idea. The rebranding has already started in Herceg-Novi, where 19 Idea stores have been opened, and the whole process should be completed within one month. (esmmagazine.com)

Today, the companies officially announced plans to expand their partnership and increase the number of Whole Foods Market stores with dedicated Instacart shoppers by up to 50% nationwide by the end of 2016. According to a representative for the companies, the expansion plans means that Whole Foods and Instacart will "deliver more fresh groceries to households in the U.S. than anyone else." The first two markets coming this year are Orange County, California, and Baltimore, Maryland. (zdnet.com)

Carrefour SA, France’s largest retailer, said it’s still waiting for the right moment for an initial public offering of its shopping mall property unit as it reported higher full-year profit. The division, called Carmila, still plans an IPO, CFO Pierre-Jean Sivignon said on a call to reporters, though he declined to be drawn on whether that means this year. The property company might be worth €4.5bn ($5bn), according to Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne. (esmmagazine.com)

This week, Whole Foods announced that it is moving in the decidedly hip direction of offering less-than-attractive fruits and vegetables to its customers. Please, click here to read an interview with the founder of Imperfect Produce, Ben Simon. 

Carrefour SA shares fell in Paris after full-year profit growth at France’s largest retailer was held back by losses in China. Carrefour is making an operating loss in China, where the retailer is seeking to tackle a shift by shoppers toward convenience. China, which accounts for about 5% of sales, “remains a substantial spot of weakness for the group,” said Michael Romer, an analyst at Bank J Safra Sarasin. (Bloomberg)

Sainsbury’s and South African retail group Steinhoff need to hurry up and decide whether they want to make a formal bid for Argos, according to the boss of the catalogues chain. Both companies have said they are eyeing a takeover of the retailer, but neither has put forward a formal offer. (standard.co.uk)

Waitrose has reported encouraging full year results with profits proving resilient, despite a fall in like-for-like sales. For the 52 weeks to Jan 30th, gross sales increased by 1.1%* on the prior year with like-for-like sales down by 1.3%* as the business competed harder on price. Operating profit however held almost steady at £232m reflecting a drive to improve productivity in branches, reduce head office costs and deliver operational improvements in the supply chain. (igd.com)

Aldi Ireland, the German discounter that yesterday opened its 123rd store, is expanding its range of premium products by a third to capitalise on renewed confidence and predilection for luxury among post- recession Irish consumers. It is not clear if the expansion of its range of premium products will include fruit and vegetables. (irishtimes.com)

South Korea’s Lotte Group is among suitors that submitted bids for French retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA’s Vietnam grocery business, which could fetch as much as $800m, people with knowledge of the matter said. Billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s TCC Holding Co. and Central Group, controlled by Thailand’s Chirathivat family, also submitted first-round offers by the March 10 deadline, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. (esmmagazine.com)