Discounters ramp up the competition in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Retailers Lidl and Mere have announced that they are seeking to break into the grocery retail market in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both are hoping to succeed by targeting the discounter segment, which has thus far been somewhat underserved by existing players. The country's modern retail grocery market has for years been dominated by local player Bingo and regional powerhouse Fortenova Group (formerly Agrokor) with its Konzum supermarket and Mercator hypermarket banners.
Source: esmmagazine.com
LuLu’s ‘India-Saudi Utsav’ celebrates 75 years of India-Saudi bilateral relations
LuLu Hypermarket, the largest and fastest-growing retail chain in the region and the flagship enterprise of the LuLu Group, is celebrating the 75 years of India-Saudi bilateral relations with a promotion on Indian goods called ‘India-Saudi Utsav’. The festival was inaugurated at the LuLu Hypermarket Riyadh Avenue Mall, Riyadh, by Indian Ambassador Dr. Ausaf Sayeed. He was accompanied by Shehim Mohammed, director of LuLu Saudi Hypermarkets and other LuLu Group officials. “I am delighted to inaugurate this showcase of Indian products ranging from vital food grains that are such an integral part of the Arab table to fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and seafood from India”, said Ambassador Sayeed.
Source: saudigazette.com.sa
India: Grofers launches 10-minute grocery delivery in 10 cities
Softbank and Zomato-backed online grocery delivery service Grofers, which just became a unicorn, plans to reduce the delivery time for groceries from 15 to 10 minutes as it expands its services to 10 cities in India. Grofers is offering customers 7,000 items of daily essentials in Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ghaziabad, Noida and Lucknow.
Source: moneycontrol.com
Acquisitions cause record loss for Just Eat Takeaway
Despite a substantial increase in sales, Just Eat Takeaway has suffered a loss of nearly half a billion euros in the first 6 months. The fact that the meal delivery company dived so deeply in the red has everything to do with the completion of the acquisitions of Just Eat (April) and Grubhub (June). According to the merged company, the peak of loss has been reached, and profitability will soon improve thanks to increased scale and growth. Just Eat Takeaway's turnover increased in the first half to 1.77bln euros. This number does not yet take into account the contribution of Grubhub. The number of orders increased by 61% to 412mln, and the market share also grew. Ultimately, the net loss came to 486mln euros. In the same period last year, the loss was 59mln euros, reports Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Philippine supermarket operator AllDay Mart files for IPO
Reuters reported: "Philippine supermarket operator, AllDay Marts Inc, has filed for an up to 6bln pesos ($119mln) initial public offering (IPO), the corporate regulator said, adding to a robust pipeline of share sales on the country's bourse".
Source: nasdaq.com
UK: Ocado sales slip as shoppers return to pre-Covid habits
Ocado has reported its first ever sales decline as the grocery home shopping boom triggered by the pandemic dissipates. Sales at the online supermarket fell 0.7% in the 12 weeks to 8 August, according to the latest snapshot from the grocery market analysts Kantar, which described it as the “first decline on record”.
Source: theguardian.com
SUEZ Australia buys in to YUME Food
SUEZ Australia & New Zealand has announced it has taken a 20% equity stake in online surplus food marketplace Yume Food as part of an investment in the circular economy. SUEZ CEO Mark Venhoek said synergies between the 2 companies meant the decision to invest was an easy one.
Source: insidewaste.com.au
Stacked in the USSR: A peek inside the Russian chain Mere as it joins the discount supermarket war, with plans for 300 UK stores
Mere, with the slogan Low Cost Every Day, aims to be 30% cheaper than Aldi. It is owned Valentina Schneider, whose family owns Russia’s Svetofor supermarket chain. Svetofor now has 3,200 stores around the world and it was named fastest-growing grocery chain in Europe last year, with a revenue growth of 39%. Mere hopes to open 300 UK stores in the next 8 to 10 years, with 3 this year: 2 in Mold and Caldicot, Wales, and 1 in Castleford in Yorkshire.
Source: thisismoney.co.uk
Drone delivery is live today, and it’s 90% cheaper than car-based services
John Koetsier reported: 'Amazon may be failing to deliver on its promises of drone delivery programs. But a home-grown Irish company is running live autonomous drone delivery right now in Galway, Ireland, has licenses to take it across the European Union, and is poised to - at the right moment - take its tech and knowhow across the Atlantic. To Canada, at least. Regulation in the U.S. is too far behind the times. “We’re delivering coffees”, Manna CEO Bobby Healy told me in a recent episode of the TechFirst podcast. “We’re delivering burgers and fries. We’re delivering ice cream, broccoli, melon, you name it, we’re delivering it. And it arrives perfect, you know, piping hot coffee, foam intact, little design on top of the foam still intact.”'
Source: forbes.com
Mexico: Digital supermarket Jüsto expands its presence into Puebla
A Mexico City-based delivery-only grocery store chain has announced a 400mln peso (about US$20mln) investment in Puebla. Jüsto plans to source agricultural products in the state before selling them domestically and through export. Puebla will be the 4th state where Jüsto has a presence, along with Mexico City, Guadalajara and Querétaro. The investment is expected to generate 500 jobs and more than 2,000 in the next 2 years, according to the newspaper El Universal.
Source: mexiconewsdaily.com
US: Nicole Wegman named to lead Wegmans brand
Wegmans Food Markets has promoted Nicole Wegman to president of the Wegmans brand, a newly created position. In the role, Wegman will oversee the Rochester, New York-based supermarket chain’s store-brand program, the grocer said.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: GrubMarket makes its fourth acquisition in New York
GrubMarket announced it has completed the acquisition of L&J Produce, a well-regarded and reputable produce wholesaler in New York. L&J Produce is a key sourcing channel for fruits and vegetables in the New York Metro Area, and has deep relationships with domestic farms in New England, Florida and California. L&J Produce works with many customers in New York ranging from supermarkets to restaurants and e-Grocer companies.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: What Walmart's Q2 means for grocery
Walmart said it gained market share in grocery during the second quarter as same store sales at its U.S. stores division advanced 5.2% and customer traffic rebounded from a prior year decline. Total revenues at the Walmart U.S. division increased 5.3% to $98.2bln while operating profits increased 20.4% to $6bln. The gains were driven by an interesting shift in customer traffic and transaction sizes as life for many Americans began returning to familiar patterns during the second quarter ended July 31.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Amazon grocery exec Wei Gao, once an advisor to Bezos, departs the company
Wei Gao, Amazon’s vice president of grocery tech, product and supply chain, is leaving the company. Gao held a number of roles throughout her 16-year tenure at Amazon and served as Jeff Bezos’ “shadow” adviser for a period of time.
Source: cnbc.com