Italy: Aspiag Service to expand to Lombardy, opening 60 stores
Aspiag Service reported 2021 sales of €2.5bln - up by 1.7% year on year - while net profit remained in double figures, at €13mln. Sales of private-label lines, consisting of 6,244 SKUs, accounted for 25.7% of the groups turnover. The group, which operates the DESPAR brand in the Triveneto, Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy regions, noted that it had invested €103.8mln (+8%) - mainly for opening, restructuring and upgrading stores - in addition to expanding the logistics network.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Morrisons rescue deal for McColl’s cost £190.1mln 
Morrisons shelled out a total of £190.1mln to rescue the collapsed convenience chain McColl’s, administrator’s documents have revealed. Administrator PwC said in a letter to creditors that the supermarket’s rescue package for its convenience and wholesale partner amounted to £182.1m, with a further sum of up to £8m to pay unsecured creditors.
Source: retailgazette.co.uk
Indian supply chain startup Ninjacart raises $9mln
Ninjacart, an India-based fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain startup supported by Flipkart has raised $9mln from STIC and Mainstream Digital. The funds will be used to scale Flipkart's 90-minute online grocery business to 200 cities by the year-end and expand its grocery offering Supermart.
Source: techloy.com
Italy: Todis earmarks €25mln for 22 new stores
Italian discounter Todis plans to invest €25mln in opening new stores and restyling existing outlets, in addition to expanding its presence in Campania and Sicily. Owned by Iges, a subsidiary of the Pac2000A Conad cooperative, Todis manages a network of franchised discount stores in Southern Italy. Speaking to news platform Il Sole 24 Ore, managing director Massimo Lucentini said that Todis achieved 2021 sales of over €903mln - up by 7.5% on a like-for-like basis - adding that the aim is to reach €1bln in 2023.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Holland: Ahold Delhaize signs the new Tax Governance Code
Ahold Delhaize is one of the 40 large Dutch internationally operating companies that embrace the new Tax Governance Code presented by employer organization VNO-NCW. Ahold Delhaize is part of the large group of listed companies (including 20 of the 25 AEX companies), non-listed cooperatives and family businesses that embrace the new code.
Source: aholddelhaize.com
UK: Tesco launches Better Baskets campaign to help customers fill their baskets with better choices
Tesco has created Better Baskets, a campaign that aims to tackle the barriers that customers come up against when looking to fill their basket with better choices every time they shop. To support the campaign, chef Jamie Oliver has worked with Tesco and WWF to create new veg-packed recipes, to inspire customers.
Source: tescoplc.com
Hepsiburada named as Turkey's most recommended e-commerce brand
Hepsiburada announced that "E-commerce NPS (Net Promoter Score) Research" conducted by FutureBright, an independent research institution, has named Hepsiburada as the "Top Recommended E-Commerce Brand of Turkey". The first quarter 2022 report surveyed 5,400 participants. According to the research, Hepsiburada leads the market ahead of other players.
Source: prnewswire.com
India: Tata in acquisition talks with as many as five consumer brands
Tata Consumer Products Ltd., the food and beverage arm of the $103bln Indian conglomerate, wants to go on an acquisition spree to bolster its position in the country’s competitive consumer goods sector, and is in discussions to buy up to five brands. A “significant amount” of the Mumbai-based firm’s future growth will come from inorganic expansion, Tata Consumer Products’ Chief Executive Officer Sunil D’Souza said in an interview.
Source: bnnbloomberg.ca
Holland: Albert Heijn opens Home Shop Centre in Utrecht
Dutch retailer Albert Heijn has opened a new Home Shop Centre (HSC) in Utrecht, as it looks to expand its grocery delivery capabilities. The site consists of more than 21,000 square metres and has received the BREEAM-NL Excellent certification due to its sustainable energy solutions, including solar panels, an energy-efficient cold store, energy-efficient LED lighting, and a heat pump for the climate control system.
Source: esmmagazine.com
IDB Invest fosters e-grocery shopping and job creation with Merqueo in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil
IDB Invest and Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital provided a $22mln financing package to Merqueo, the first full-stack e-grocery delivery player in Latin America with operations in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. This includes a $4mln mezzanine facility from IDB Invest and $18mln mobilized from Blue like an Orange. The proceeds will help Merqueo expand in Brazil and enhance its technological platform. Merqueo is building the largest dark store logistics network in Latin America to deliver groceries faster and cheaper. Its catalog encompasses up to 10,000 products including fresh fruits and vegetables, imported products, liquors, household items, personal care goods, and more.
Source: prnewswire.co.uk
Amazon Fresh to enter New York, New Jersey
Amazon is getting ready to open its first Amazon Fresh supermarkets in New York and New Jersey. Seattle-based Amazon said that it will begin hiring for Amazon Fresh stores in Paramus, New Jersey, and Oceanside, New York. The e-tail giant reported that it aims to fill “hundreds” of full- and part-time positions at the upcoming stores, both of which will feature the company’s Just Walk Out technology that enables customers to pay for their items without waiting at the checkout line.
Source: supermarketnews.com
Creating a fresh food safety culture
With the potential for fresh fruits and vegetables to be contaminated with harmful germs anywhere in the supply chain, and for pathogenic bacteria to grow on fresh meats due to improper storage temperatures, it’s no wonder that many consumers have likely experienced a food safety issue. A recent “DEEP Study on Food Safety” from Sensormatic Solutions by Johnson Controls and Progressive Grocer found that 56% of the 1,000-plus grocery shoppers surveyed had experienced a food safety issue in the past. More than one in four (28%) experienced an issue in the past year alone. This highlights the widespread issue of grocers needing to create a better food safety culture by accelerating efforts to digitize fresh management.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Target sees Q1 sales rise as earnings fall
Target Corp. eked out fiscal 2022 first-quarter sales gains atop robust growth a year ago but fell well short of Wall Street’s earnings estimates as higher costs and inventory issues bit into profits. Minneapolis-based Target said that net sales for the quarter ended May 1 came in at $24.83bln, up 4% from $23.88bln a year earlier, when the company saw a 23.3% jump. Overall revenue also rose 4%, to $25.17bln.
Source: supermarketnews.com