Food supply disruption, soaring energy costs could hit UK grocers' growth - NielsenIQ
Global food supply disruption due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine plus soaring energy and fuel costs could slow down growth in supermarket volumes, NielsenIQ said. The market researcher said inflation at UK supermarkets was running at 2.7%, the highest since September 2013. NielsenIQ said grocery sales at UK supermarkets fell 3.4% over the 4 weeks to February 26 year-on-year. Sales were, however, up 4.4% compared with pre-COVID levels 2 years ago.
Source: reuters.com
Singapore: Grab shares crash as revenue plunges on promotions, driver incentives
Shares in Grab tumbled 37% after Southeast Asia's no. 1 ride-hailing and food delivery firm posted a $1.1bln quarterly loss and a worse-than-expected drop in revenue, hit by promotional offers and higher driver incentives. Grab Holdings Ltd has poured money into incentives to attract drivers as ride-share demand recovers from pandemic lows, and also offered aggressive food-delivery promotions as people began to dine out more with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. But the incentives ate into sales in the 4th quarter ended December 31 - the 1st it has reported as a public company - which slumped 44% to $122mln.
Source: reuters.com
French consumers set to adopt variety of measures to combat inflation, says Kantar
French consumers are likely to face a 3% increase in the price of food products from the next quarter onwards, and with this in mind, Kantar surveyed 13,000 households to uncover what the current inflationary environment is likely to mean for their shopping habits, and whether any parallels can be drawn with the financial crisis of 2008.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Deliveroo launches ultra-fast delivery service in Italy
Deliveroo has chosen Italy as the 1st country in continental Europe to launch its new ultra-quick delivery service, following rollout in the UK. The company has teamed up with Carrefour Italia to launch Deliveroo Hop, which will allow customers to order groceries online and receive them at home in just 10 minutes.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Southern Co-op ditches traditional plastic bags
Southern Co-op is stopping selling all single-use plastic bags in its effort to encourage shoppers to make a greener choice. The 2 bags it will now sell are compostable carrier bags for 10p, which can have secondary uses at home, such as a bin liner, and durable fold-away bags for £1 which are more likely to be re-used by customers.
Source: talkingretail.com
South Africa: Walmart-owned Massmart reports $290mln+ loss, turns to growing eCommerce business
Retail group Massmart Holdings said that it was still feeling the severe impact of a July 2021 civil unrest in its core market that led to the closure of 43 stores and resulted in lost sales of 2.7bln rand ($175.8mln). According to the 2021 earnings report, the retailer lost an additional 1.8bln ($117mln) in revenue due to a 110-day Covid-19 prohibition on liquor sales that further hurt the company’s overall 2021 sales performance.
Source: pymnts.com
New Zealand: $430mln a year in excess profits but no supermarket split
The competition watchdog won’t recommend Countdown and Foodstuffs be forced to sell parts of their businesses despite estimating they are making about $430mln a year in excess profits. Commerce Commission chairwoman Anna Rawlings said measures to break up the businesses would be “high complex to develop and would be unprecedented in our view”. It has instead recommended some smaller changes that it said would improve competition, which include encouraging but not forcing Countdown and Foodstuffs to wholesale groceries to rivals. The commission estimated that Countdown and Foodstuffs’ combined profit would fall by $430mln a year if they earned a 5.5% return on their capital, instead of the 12.9% annual return it said they enjoyed between 2015 and 2019.
Source: stuff.co.nz
Shoprite weathers unrest to pump up first-half profit
Reuters reported: "South Africa's largest grocery retailer Shoprite Holdings Ltd reported a rise of 25.5% in half-year earnings, and said it expects selling price inflation to move higher during the second half of its financial year. In the 6 months ended January 2, Shoprite's South Africa supermarkets business had selling price inflation of 2.6%, which declined from 4.3% in the previous 6 months."
Source: nasdaq.com
US: RocketCart launches free next morning Korean grocery delivery service in Southern California
RocketCart announced that it has launched RocketCart.com, its free next morning Korean grocery delivery service, in Southern California to residents of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties. The company plans to expand to additional cities, states, and locations nationwide in the near future.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Dollar General opens 1st store in Idaho
Dollar General announced the opening of its 1st store in the state of Idaho, increasing its presence to 47 states. The store opening at 30601 N. Old Highway 95 in Athol, Idaho extends Dollar General’s ability to provide affordable access to household essentials at everyday low prices to Kootenai County residents.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Save A Lot operator wraps up tristate store remodel program
Save A Lot owner Save Philly Stores has completed 19 store remodels in metropolitan Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware. Philadelphia-based Save Philly said the $4.5mln investment include an easier-to-shop store layout with new produce fixtures, LED lighting, updated decor and signage, wider aisles, and new interior and exterior paint. The stores also feature expanded assortments with new international offerings, more fresh produce, additional national brands and a larger non-foods selection, plus meat cut fresh in-store daily by experienced butchers.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Weis Markets reports 4th quarter and fiscal year 2021 results
Weis Markets, Inc. reported its financial results for the 13-week 4th quarter and 52-week fiscal year ended December 25, 2021. 4th quarter results: net sales totaled $1.1bln for the 13-week 4th quarter ended December 25, 2021, compared to $1.0bln for the same period in 2020, up 8.0%. Fiscal year 2021 results: net sales totaled $4.2bln (highest in company history), increasing 2.7% for the 52-week fiscal year ended December 25, 2021, compared to $4.1bln (2nd highest in company history) for the same period in 2020.
Source: prnewswire.com