Sweden: ICA posts lfl sales growth of 6.6% in December 2020
Swedish retailer ICA Gruppen has reported a like-for-like sales growth of 6.6% across its stores in December 2020. The retail giant generated sales worth SEK12.3bln (€1.22bln) in this period across all banners. In the January to December period, like-for-like sales increased 7% to SEK130.6bln (€12.9bln).
Source: esmmagazine.com
Holland: Lockdowns boost ordering out, Just Eat Takeaway delivers 180mln meals in Q4
Food delivery group Just Eat Takeaway delivered almost 180mln meals in the final 3 months of last year, an increase of 57% on the same period in 2019. Revenue in the fourth quarter was up 60% at around €740mln, the company said in a trading update. The growth was particularly strong in Britain, and in the Netherlands where the company is based, it delivered 38% more meals.
Source: dutchnews.nl
Spain: Covirán eliminates non-biodegradable plastic bags
Spanish retailer Covirán has announced that it has eliminated the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags from its stores. The decision is in line with the Royal Decree that regulates the use of plastic bags in shops and allows packaging only if it is compostable.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Britain's Tesco matches rivals with Christmas sales surge
Tesco followed supermarket rivals in reporting buoyant Christmas trading, keeping its full year profit forecast despite rising costs from COVID-19. Britain’s biggest retailer said UK like-for-like sales growth was 6.7% in its third quarter to November 28, accelerating to 8.1% in the 6 weeks to January 9, as coronavirus pandemic restrictions meant people splashed out on celebrations at home. “This was our sixth consecutive Christmas of growth and a record performance”, Tesco’s chief executive Ken Murphy said.
Source: reuters.com
Holland: ‘HEMA loses 10mln euro per week and cancels all orders with suppliers’
HEMA will cancel all orders it had placed with its suppliers up to mid-April with immediate effect and will not order new products for the time being. Trouw reports this on the basis of a letter from the management. There is no room to store new stocks and the capacity to process invoices has drastically decreased due to working from home, the letter says.
Source: netherlandsnewslive.com
OXXO trialing autonomous stores in Mexico
Mexican business FEMSA, which owns the OXXO convenience store chain, are trialing autonomous convenience stores in Mexico. The small-sized units are designed to serve customers in hospitals, apartment complexes and offices. FEMSA has launched two stores in the format, which it has named OXXO Smart.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
US: Grocery retailer confidence strong heading into 2021, says SN survey
More than 150 grocery retailers (including brick-and-mortar, online and omnichannel) shared their thoughts and plans for 2021 in Supermarket News’ first Retailer Expectations Survey, covering such topics as the economy, sales projections, store count and hiring, and, of course, the impact of COVID-19 as we get closer to the one-year mark since the pandemic first struck the United States.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: UNFI’s Better for All initiative sets 10-year targets in waste reduction, climate action and food access
Providence, Rhode Island-based United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) released its 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report showcasing the wholesaler giant’s commitments to building a brighter future, transforming today’s foodscape by delivering greater freedom of food choice and by taking innovative action on global social and environmental issues.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Target provides update on holiday sales
Target Corporation announced that comparable sales in the combined November/December period grew 17.2%, driven by a 4.3% increase in traffic and a 12.3% increase in average ticket. Store-originated comparable sales grew 4.2%, while comparable digital sales grew 102%.
Source: corporate.target.com
US: Fast-casual chain Just Salad launches a ‘no-commitment’ meal kit
Fast-casual chain Just Salad launched Housemade, a “no-commitment” meal kit delivery service available via Grubhub. Housemade, as the meal-kit service is called, currently features 10 different entrees that can be prepared in 15 minutes or less in one pot or pan, Just Salad CEO Nick Kenner said. Unlike other meal kit brands, the Housemade kits don’t require a subscription, can be delivered in about an hour and packaged-to-order at each of Just Salad’s 44 locations in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago and South Florida.
Source: restaurantbusinessonline.com
US: Hy-Vee moves to settle data breach class action
Hy-Vee has reached a preliminary settlement agreement in a class action brought by customers whose credit and debit card information was exposed as a result of a huge data breach at some of the company’s stores, according to a published report. Papers filed in an Illinois federal court on January 12 noted that the grocer began negotiating the proposed settlement with the plaintiffs’ attorneys after a judge declined to dismiss the lawsuit last April, Little Village magazine reported.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Metro launches Canada's only My Health My Choices program guide
Metro is launching My Health My Choices, a new guide for customers who want to simplify making the best product choices based on their own lifestyles, values or health needs when they shop. Nearly 9,000 products - found in store, online and the My Metro app - will display one or more of the program attributes - close to 50 - allowing Metro customers to make their shopping experience easier and faster.
Source: newswire.ca