UK: Costcutter pledges 20% sales uptick
Costcutter Supermarkets Group (CSG) announced the next stage of its Shopper First Programme (SFP) at its annual expo in Harrogate. SFP offers every partnered store a tailored guide based on local demographics and store format. CEO Darcy Willson-Rymer said it will boost sales by 20% “without significant retailer investment” and would “set CSG apart from the other symbol groups”. Retailers that attended the expo were selected to take part in the first wave of the enhanced SFP, with personalised training material supplied on the day.
Source: betterretailing.com
Germany: Penny awarded for measures against food waste
Germany's Rewe Group has announced that its discount supermarket chain Penny has been awarded the 'Zu gut für die Tonne!' (Too good for the bin!) prize for implementing measures to reduce food waste. The award was given by the German minister of agriculture, Julia Klöckner, at an event in Berlin on 3 April. The retailer was recognised for its 'Naturgut Bio-Helden' (Nature Good Organic Heroes) and 'Kostbares Retten' (Save Precious) campaigns. COO of Penny, Stefan Magel, said: "We are proud that we were able to win this significant award. Penny has been actively involved in the preventing food waste for many years.[...] The two winning campaigns show how active we are in the fight against food wastage."
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Co-op reports strong FY2018 results
Major UK convenience retailer Co-op has reported strong trading results for the year 2018, with Food underlying profit up 12% to £204mln on sales of £7.3bln. Total group revenue was driven by Co-op’s acquisition of Nisa and robust performance from the food business, and increased by 14% to £10.2bln. Food like-for-like sales were up 4.4%, its fastest growth in seven years. This marks five consecutive years of like-for-like revenue growth for the retailer. Wholesale sales from the Nisa acquisition in May were £983mln, representing seven months of trading. In 2018, the Co-op invested £75mln into opening over 100 new food stores, as well as the refurbishment of 138 existing stores. The retailer now operates 2,582 food stores across the UK. Working through Nisa Co-op now supplies over 4,000 independent stores, including the Costcutter symbol group network. Through this new channel Co-op own-label products are being made available to thousands of new customers.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Portugal: Continente launches pilot project to eliminate plastic bags
Portuguese retailer Continente has launched a pilot project that offers customers alternatives to plastic bags for fruit and vegetable purchases. They have the option to bring their own bags or opt for reusable cotton bags offered by the food retailer. The project also offers customers a card made of recycled paper for sticking the price and bar code labels on the fruit and vegetables.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Japan: retailer Aeon warns of weaker-than-expected annual profit
Japanese retail group Aeon slashed its annual profit estimate by 12%, citing bad weather and weak consumer sentiment. The company warned that it expected to report a profit of 212bln yen ($1.90bln) for the year that ended in February, down from its previous forecast of 240bln. The market’s consensus forecast was for 226bln yen, according to Refinitiv data. Aeon owns Japan’s biggest supermarket chain, but its stores have struggled due to lacklustre growth in household spending.
Source: reuters.com
Australia: Woolworths in a strong position to take on Kaufland
Woolworths and Aldi have increased their share in Australia’s grocery market, while Coles and IGA have slipped slightly, according to the latest research from Roy Morgan. Woolworths remains Australia’s top grocery retailer, increasing its share of the market to 34% in 2018, up 1.4ppts, while a newly independent Coles now has a share of 27.6% of the total grocery market, down 1.6ppts on a year ago. Aldi grew its grocery market share to 11.4% in 2018, up 0.5ppts from a year ago, while Other Supermarkets outside the ‘big four’ such as Foodland and Foodworks have increased their share to 9.1%, up 1.2ppts. IGA’s grocery share was down 0.4ppts to 7.1%. Woolworths’ dominance in key fresh food categories has helped its strong lead. The retailer holds the largest market share in dollar terms for fresh meat, fresh deli, fresh bread and fresh fruit and vegetables ahead of Coles, Aldi and IGA supermarkets. The big two currently dominate Australia’s fresh food markets holding over 50% of each of the fresh food markets. Michele Levine, Roy Morgan CEO, said Woolworths’ impressive performance places it in a strong position to deal with the entry of German hypermarket Kaufland into Australia’s more than $100bln grocery market.
Source: insideretail.com.au
UK: Spar partner to trial 'Scan, Pay And Go' App
Spar UK partner Henderson Group has announced that it is to trial the Ubamarket 'Scan, Pay and Go' app in its EDGEPoS system in selected Spar and Eurospar stores in Northern Ireland. Ubamarket's app will enable customers to write a shopping list on their phone, scan product barcodes as they shop, without having to re-scan them at the till, as well as pay by using their phone thanks to the in-app payments function, the retailer said. “Ubamarket provides retailers and consumers with a nimble scan-and-go system, enabling them to enjoy the convenient service offered on online platforms, in bricks and mortar stores”, commented Will Broome, chief executive of Ubamarket.
Source: esmmagazine.com
US: Albertsons Performance Media sees strong results
A year after its rollout, Albertsons Performance Media (APM) powered by Quotient is delivering to CPG companies as high as two times more return on their ad spend versus industry benchmarks set by Nielsen. “Albertsons Performance Media has quickly grown into a powerful way for brands to connect with their loyal shoppers on major campaigns that drive significant sales,” noted Karen Sales, VP of National and Shopper Marketing at Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons. “APM has executed 300 campaigns on behalf of 150 CPG companies. We’ve been able to target the right shoppers at the right time and in the right digital places. It has exceeded our expectations.”
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Wegmans expansion leads to first North Carolina store 
In advance of opening its first location in North Carolina, Wegmans Food Markets is seeking to fill about 325 part-time positions for its new Raleigh store slated to open Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Midtown East Shopping Center on Wake Forest Road near Interstate 440. The Rochester, New York-based retailer has already filled the majority of the store’s 150 full-time positions since January, and select openings remain, such as cooks and sushi rollers. Wegman' Raleigh store will employ 475 people, the majority of whom will be new to the company and hired locally. “New employees begin training right away so that they are prepared for opening day”, Store Manager Hallie Johnston said in a release, courtesy of what she said stems from “some of the most in-depth culinary, customer service and product education in the industry.”
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: GIANT Food Stores opens six new locations in four different states
Ahold Delhaize-owened GIANT Food Stores is celebrating a first for its banner by opening six new stores in four different states. The stores will include newly built locations and former Shop 'n Save locations, all of which opened up shop on April 5 in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. This move brings GIANT's store count up to 178. “These multiple store openings align with our aggressive long-term growth strategy - entering new markets where it makes sense and expanding our offerings for our current customers”, said company President Nicholas Bertram. “Along with the recent introduction of our GIANT Heirloom Market in Philadelphia and our GIANT DIRECT e-commerce hub in Lancaster, our team has demonstrated a relentless focus on innovation that allows customers to connect with our brand whenever and however they want.”
Source: delimarketnews.com