Trader Joe's recalls 10 items over Listeria worries -Trader Joe’s has issued a recall of 10 items made with frozen vegetables that may contain Listeria monocytogenes. Please, click here to get more details.
Another sales slide expected at Asda
Big-four grocer Asda is expected to come under pressure this week, with forecasts for another big dip in sales at the retailer as its other large rivals appear to be in recovery. Kantar now expects Asda to post a further 5.1% slide in total sales this week, though the Telegraph pointed out. (uk.finance.yahoo.com)
Robinsons Supermarket Corp. has teamed up with the Philippine unit of Asian online grocery platform Happy Fresh, which started operations on Sunday. In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. said its subsidiary Robinsons Supermarket is Happy Fresh’s first partner in the supermarket category. (bworldonline.com)UK: Online grocery shopping nears majority stake in market
Almost half of people now carry out their grocery shopping online, according to the latest report from Mintel. This represents a 30 per cent year on year increase for this part of the retail market, with analysts expecting Brits to spend £9.8 billion on their weekly food shop using home delivery services this year.(shopsafe.co.uk)Belgium: Delhaize faces strike action over transformation plan
Delhaize Belgium has been dealing with strike action at a number of its stores over the past few weeks, as employees react unfavorably to its Transformation Plan. Employees have complained that the Plan, which was implemented in June 2014, is leaving stores with an inadequate staff, lacapitale.fr reports. (esmmagazine.com)
Israel: Court affirms sale of Mega A judge Monday approved the sale of the bankrupt supermarket chain Mega to Yenot Bitan, ignoring Rami Levy’s offer to raise his last minute bid. (haaretz.com)
Vietnam: Vingroup supports local producers in fierce competition
Local producers and suppliers have been at risk at many supermarkets in Vietnam due to strong competition from foreign rivals, prompting Vingroup to launch a supporting programme that promotes domestic production. In particular, the group committed to distribute fresh food products at the supplier's prices within one year. In specific cases, Vingroup would also provide further supporting and promoting policies for those products. According to the group, all local firms can take part in the programme so long as their products are certified as clean. (english.vietnamnet.vn)Russia: Magnit most affected by challenging economy
Magnit has reported sales growth of 16.6% to RUB 254.4 bn (USD4.25 bn) in Q1 2016. Company’s like-for-like sales returned to the positive growth of 0.44% after a negative growth of -0.07% in Q4 2015. Magnit convenience stores reported still positive like-for-like sales growth of 2.7%, while the traffic is back in positive numbers. However, hypermarkets and Magnit Family supermarkets reported the third consequent quarter with negative like-for-like sales growth of -9.0% resp. -4.7%. (igd.com)Lenta's and O'Key large store formats doing well
O’Key has reported sales up by 14.4% to USD 0.62 bn with strong like for-like-sales growth of 8.6% (+4.9% in traffic, 3.5% in basket) which was underpinned by rebalanced assortment, promotional campaigns and increased sale of private label products. Lenta’s sales grew by 22.1% USD 1.11 bn, while like-for-like sales growth was up 5.6% (+3.0% in traffic, +2.5% in basket). Dixy Group total revenue increased by 16.5% to 
USD 1.24 bn while like-for-like sales growth was 2.3%. Metro Group reported that sales slightly declined but with improving trend. Weak Russian rouble has negative impact on Metro’s results. The company reported exchange losses of about €47m, primarily in relation to Russian rouble. (igd.com)
Retail changes hit Vietnamese labelsPlease, click here to read more
SPAR acquires 12 stores in Portugal
The breakup of locally-based Alisuper continued, with SPAR Portugal acquiring 12 stores for €750,000. In the last set of confirmed financial results, from 2014, SPAR operated 96 stores and generated sales of €66.9m, so the acquisition of the stores from Alisuper will boost its presence strongly in the market. (igd.com)AU: Aldi increases ads spend as Woolies, Coles scale back
Discount supermarket Aldi invades TV screens as the two big chains, Woolworths and Coles, slow ad spending. While the number one chain Woolworths and number two Coles are tightening their purse strings, Aldi has shrugged off its traditional caution about mass-media campaigns in Australia. Beyond catalogues and paying bloggers, it now accounts for more than 17 per cent of the sector's ad spending, figures of Nielsen show. (theage.com.au)Greek: Marinopoulos to modernize and renovate its stores
By the end of 2016, the retailer hopes to refurbish its 350 Marinopoulos stores and 130 franchised stores to the new concept. As part of the rebranding, the Marinopoulos logo will no longer include the Carrefour brand, although local reports have speculated about discussions to supply Carrefour’s private label products. (igd.com)SPAR to continue expansion in Oman
SPAR is aiming to operate 24 stores in Oman by the end of 2017, with a target of 14 for 2016, according to SPAR International’s managing director, Tobias Wasmuht. Wasmuht was speaking as part of an interview with the Times of Oman, and was quoted as saying “I think there is considerable opportunity for multi-format retailing in Oman — which today is very much historically driven by hypermarkets. The future will show that there is not only opportunity but demand for greater variety of formats.” SPAR operates in Oman through a tie-up with local business conglomerate Khimji Ramdas. (igd.com)
