Tesco completes sale of businesses in Thailand and Malaysia
Following the announcement on 9 December 2020, Tesco is pleased to announce that it has completed the sale of its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to C.P. Retail Development Company Limited (CPRD), the acquiring entity in which Charoen Pokphand Group, CP All Public Company Limited and Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Limited are invested.
Source: tescoplc.com
Esselunga ranks highest for consumer satisfaction in Italy
Esselunga has topped an Italian consumer survey on which supermarket offers the highest level of consumer satisfaction. In the survey, which was carried out in September by dunnhumby and boasted a sample size of 3,000 consumers, the Italian supermarket chain placed first in 5 out of 6 factors, followed by Conad, Coop and Eurospin, with participants hailing its price perception, product variety, positioning and range of targeted offers.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Asda owners line up adviser to sell off logistics portfolio
Asda owners Issa brothers have reportedly drafted in advisers to prepare for the sale of the Big 4 grocer’s logistics portfolio. The brothers who own petrol empire EG Group, and private equity firm TDR Capital have collectively lined up advisers Eastdil Secured to market Asda’s logistic network to prospective buyers. However, the process is not expected to be finalised until the acquisition of the supermarket chain is complete, React News reported.
Source: retailgazette.co.uk
SPAR Gran Canaria signs eleventh agreement to support local potato farmers
SPAR has signed its eleventh consecutive agreement to support the local potato sector. To celebrate this agreement, SPAR Gran Canaria has delivered 100 tonnes of potato seeds to participating farmers. The harvests of these seeds will result in an approximate production of 1,500 tonnes of consumer potatoes.
Source: spar-international.com
Italy: Gruppo VéGé forecasts 10% turnover growth in 2020
Italian retailer Gruppo VéGé is on track to close 2020 with a 10.1% increase in turnover, to €11.2bln, and like-for-like growth of 6.9%. This figure is well above the average growth rate for the sector, which currently stands at +4.2% for the year. With 35 associated companies and 3,585 stores, encompassing some 2.4mln square metres of total commercial surface area, Gruppo VéGé ranks second in Italy in terms of the size of its store estate.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Amazon doubles reach in the Netherlands
Last month, Amazon has managed to double its reach in the Netherlands, compared to last year. In November, the US ecommerce giant reached 7.3mln Dutch consumers. This amounts to 45% of all online users in the Netherlands. At the beginning of this year, Amazon reached ‘only’ 3.8mln people that month. Back then, it ended on the 28th place in the Dutch Online Reach Survey by Vinex. Last month, however, it ranked 14th, making it the only major website to have made such a major development in the past year. This jump has, of course, everything to do with the launch of Amazon.nl in March.
Source: ecommercenews.eu
New Zealand: Countdown trials anti-theft technology at self-checkouts
Countdown is trialling technology used by Australian supermarkets to prevent theft at self-service checkouts. Picklist Assist is able to detect the type of loose produce a customer is purchasing, making it difficult to scan a more expensive item as something cheaper. The feature uses image recognition technology to scan the produce being weighed. It then displays a selection of fruit and vegetables with similar characteristics for the shopper to choose from.
Source: stuff.co.nz
Holland: HEMA acquisition finalized in €440mln deal
HEMA, the Dutch variety store-chain, will be taken over by the owners of the supermarket chain Jumbo, the Van Eerd family, and investment company Parcom after all sides agreed to final terms of a deal. The troubled retail chain confirmed this in an announcement. The acquisition will be formally completed in February 2021. The takeover is worth around 440mln euros. HEMA has over 500 stores in the Netherlands and many more in other countries across Europe and the Middle East.
Source: nltimes.nl
Carrefour Brasil acquires stores, gas stations in $102mln deal
Reuters reported: Carrefour Brasil, Brazil's largest retailer, has agreed to acquire five stores and two gas stations from national retail chain Makro for 519mln reais ($102mln), it said in a securities filing. The company is the local division of France's Carrefour SA.
Source: nasdaq.com
US: Food and beverage sales decline in November
Retail sales declined 1.1% in November compared to the previous month, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau - though sales increased 4.1% year over year. Food and beverage sales decreased 17.2% in November compared to the previous month in 2019, however.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Instacart connects Cardenas with customers
Cardenas Markets is keeping up with the demand for online grocery by partnering with Instacart to provide its customers a convenient way to shop. Instacart’s delivery service for the Hispanic grocery chain will be available in Las Vegas, as well as the following communities in California: Calexico, Cathedral City, Coachella, Colton, Corona, East Palo Alto, El Centro, Fontana, Gilroy, Hayward, Hesperia, Indio, Lake Elsinore, Merced, Modesto, Montclair, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Oakland, Ontario, Perris, Pittsburg, Pomona, Rialto, Riverside, Salinas San Bernardino, San Jacinto, San Jose, San Rafael, Vallejo, Victorville, Watsonville and Whittier.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Southeastern Grocers delivers more than 40 enhanced stores in 2020
Southeastern Grocers, Inc. (SEG), parent company and home of BI-LO, Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, concludes 2020 with the completion of 41 new and renewed grocery stores that provide local residents throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi with an enhanced shopping experience. Over the course of the year, the grocer has renewed 32 stores throughout its footprint to offer improved shopping experiences, opened 8 brand new Winn-Dixie stores in Florida and expanded its growing Hispanic grocery store, Fresco y Más, into a new community in Southwest Florida.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Teamsters launch campaign against UNFI exec compensation
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) has rolled out a Vote No campaign against executive pay practices at distributor United Natural Foods (UNFI), urging the company’s shareholders to vote against the company’s Say-on-Pay proposal and equity plan. “With UNFI’s CEO, Steven Spinner, eligible for $8.5mln cash severance (two times base salary, plus bonus) when he voluntarily retires in July and benefiting from a low-balled performance target in his 2020 annual bonus, it is clear that UNFI has doubled down on overpaying for a disastrous tenure as CEO”, the Teamsters said. “In addition to the golden-parachute payout, typically not afforded for retirement, Spinner benefited from a 140% bonus payout ($2.5mln), driven by a low-balled 2020 performance target and the unforeseen pandemic-related boost to its business.”
Source: progressivegrocer.com