UK: Asda to invest over £73mln this year in tackling cost of living crisis
Asda has announced it will be investing over £73mln in tackling the cost of living crisis for its customers and colleagues. In a sweeping range of measures aimed at supporting UK households tackling inflation, the supermarket has confirmed that it has ‘dropped and locked’ the price of over 100 family favourites and will lock the price down until the end of the year. Products covered by the ‘dropped and locked’ promise include a range of household favourites, including fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat, store cupboard favourites like rice and noodles as well as soft drinks, desserts and frozen products. It has also confirmed to 120,000 hourly paid shop floor colleagues that their pay will increase to £10.10 per hour from July.
Source: corporate.asda.com
China: Alibaba's Freshippo adds more couriers, still unable to meet Shanghai demand
Alibaba's supermarket chain Freshippo said it was adding more couriers to meet high demand in Shanghai but this was not yet catching up with the rising needs of locked-down residents as the city battles a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Source: reuters.com
Reliance calls off $3.4bln retail deal with India's Future Group
India's top retailer Reliance called off its $3.4bln deal with Future Group, saying it "cannot be implemented" after Future's secured creditors rejected it. In a stock exchange filing, Reliance said the deal now cannot go through as "the secured creditors of FRL (Future Retail) have voted against" it.
Source: reuters.com
Delhaize Luxembourg invests in proximity stores, not in e-commerce
Delhaize is celebrating its 100th anniversary in Luxembourg and has just opened its 56th store. The retailer is not developing any e-commerce activities in the Grand Duchy for the time being, but is focusing on proximity stores. In Esch-sur-Alzette, a brand new Proxy Delhaize opened near the train station in the city centre. It is the 56th store for the retailer, which has 3 more store openings planned in Luxembourg this year.
Source: retaildetail.eu
UK: McColl's warns short-term funding unlikely to benefit shares, slumps 42%
McColl's warned it was increasingly unlikely that its ordinary shares would benefit from a potential financing that might help resolve its short-term funding issues, sending shares of the British convenience store chain down 42%.
Source: reuters.com
Denmark: MENY offers more than 400 items at competitive prices
Danish retailer Dagrofa has announced that its MENY retail chain has launched 'Hverdagspris' (Everyday Price) campaign, offering more than 400 basic products at competitive prices. The prices of the items will be in line with the prices in discount stores going, the retailer added. The Hverdagspris programme includes a wide range of items used by Danes in their daily lives, such as bananas, milk, organic oatmeal, peeled tomatoes and detergent.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Poundland owner Pepco names Trevor Masters CEO
Pepco Group, owner of European discount retailer brands PEPCO, Poundland and Dealz, named Trevor Masters as chief executive, promoting him from an interim role. Masters, a former Tesco executive, joined Pepco in 2019 and took over as interim CEO at the end of last month when CEO Andy Bond stepped down for health reasons.
Source: reuters.com
China: In Beijing, markets stock up on produce, daily goods
Supermarkets in Beijing have stocked up with double and triple the usual amount of daily goods - especially vegetables, eggs, meat and fruit - to keep up with rapidly soaring purchases. A senior government official said the city's supplies for daily goods are sufficient and prices are stable. In Fengtai district, the Xinfadi wholesale market, which supplies around 80% of the capital's agricultural produce, provides more than 19,000 tons of vegetables on average during the week. Carrefour Group said its stores in Beijing have prepared triple vegetable stocks for the market.
Source: chinadaily.com.cn
Grocers face further pressure following collapse of major Greencore supplier
Grocers face the prospect of further pressure on food availability and price following the collapse into administration of a Dutch-Spanish fruit and vegetable grower. Retail Week can confirm that Fortuna Frutos UK, a subsidiary of Dutch-owned Canary Island tomato grower Fortuna Frutos Group, has collapsed into administration as soaring costs heaped pressure on the business, which had struggled during the pandemic. The collapse will have a knock-on effect on Greencore, the Irish-based convenience food manufacturer, to which Fortuna Frutos was a major supplier of fruit and vegetables, such as tomatoes and cucumbers.
Source: retail-week.com
Amazon takes on Shopify with ‘Buy With Prime’
Amazon is making moves to boost its relationship with sellers as rival Shopify continues to expand its presence and swoop in on the eCommerce giant’s turf, according to a press release.
Source: pymnts.com
US: Save Mart Cos., Union reach tentative labor agreements
Following extensive bargaining sessions, UFCW 8-Golden State has arrived at tentative contract agreements covering its membership at Save Mart Cos. locations throughout Southern, Central and Northern California. The new agreements cover 8,000 members working at all unionized Save Mart banners in UFCW 8-Golden State’s jurisdiction under 7 separate contracts at FoodMaxx, Save Mart Office, Yosemite Wholesale Distribution, Lucky, Maxx Value and Save Mart Supermarkets across California.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Mexico's e-commerce gig app Zubale eyes Brazil, Chile in $40mln expansion
Mexican e-commerce startup Zubale, which pairs gig workers with storefronts or warehouses to complete packaging or deliveries, is eyeing an expansion to Brazil and Chile as a part of a $40mln Series A funding round.
Source: reuters.com
US: Bashas’ now accepts EBT SNAP for Instacart orders
More than 100 stores operated by Bashas’ Supermarkets Inc. across Arizona will now allow Electronic Benefits Transfer and Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (EBT SNAP) recipients to access same-day delivery and curbside pickup orders via Instacart.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
The Amazon banana giveaway lives on in D.C.Jeff Bezos may not be running Amazon.com Inc.'s day-to-day or overseeing its 2nd headquarters' development, but he’s already left a mark on Crystal City, Virginia that’s uniquely his idea: giving away free bananas to all comers, an Amazon tradition since 2015. Back then, Bezos wanted to give back to his Seattle headquarters community and shape Amazon’s local reputation in a quirky way, said company spokespeople and Crystal City "banista" Catherine Anderson. Apples need to be washed before they're eaten. Oranges have to be peeled and can get sticky. But bananas are portable, relatively mess-free, and easy to discard, Anderson told the Washington Business Journal.
Source: bizjournals.com