Ocado Retail said its customers purchased fewer items per order as cost-of-living crisis weighs

Spain: José Antonio Benito Díaz elected as new president of Covirán
The governing council of Spanish cooperative and supermarket chain Covirán has elected José Antonio Benito Díaz as its new president. Benito Díaz has extensive experience as a businessman and a long trajectory within Covirán.
Source: esmmagazine.com 

India: Online grocery delivery provider Dunzo cuts 3% jobs
Online grocery delivery provider Dunzo has terminated 3% of its workforce amid cost-cutting measures. “We are looking at team structures and network design to build efficiency into our teams. As we scale from 10 to 100, we are continuously learning how to redefine business processes at scale”, Kabeer Biswas, CEO and Co-Founder, Dunzo, said.
Source: infotechlead.com 

Italy: Conad opens new store in Rome
Italian retailer Conad has opened a new store in the Via Vittorino Cannavina region of Rome. In a statement, the retailer said it aims to make the most of the Lazio area. The supermarket will provide its customers with a wide assortment of fruit and vegetable products of the 'Ori del Lazio' Consortium, together with other local produce.
Source: esmmagazine.com 

Veg of Lund receives a European patent protecting the company’s plant-based potato drink
The European Patent Office has notified Veg of Lund AB that the authority intends to approve the patent “Vegan potato emulsion” (EP3687298) which defines the company’s unique vegetable milk alternative. This means that the upcoming patent protection covers the European market, which can amount to 39 countries. Veg of Lund’s patent portfolio has been strengthened by the announcement from the European Patent Office and refers to the company’s vegan drink based on a combination of potatoes, rapeseed oil and a vegetable protein in the form of an emulsion. The drink is sold under the DUG brand in several European markets.
Source: ir.dugdrinks.com 

UK: Ocado Retail customers buying less per order as cost-of-living crisis weighs
British online supermarket Ocado Retail said its customers purchased fewer items per order in the run-up to Christmas in response to the cost-of-living crisis. The business, a 50:50 joint venture between Ocado Group and Marks & Spencer, said its sales rose 0.3% in the fourth quarter to November 27 and were up 15% over the five days before Christmas. Ocado Retail's revenue was down 3.8% at 2.2bln pounds for the full 2021-22 year. Full year core earnings, or EBITDA, were forecast at close to break even, in line with guidance.
Source: reuters.com 

Belgium: Intermarché seeks to overtake Colruyt in Wallonia and Brussels
Mestdagh CEO Guillame Beuscart does not lack ambition: its 86 supermarkets that have joined the Intermarché chain are well capable of doubling their turnover under the new brand. This should enable the French retailer to overtake Colruyt as market leader in French-speaking Belgium.
Source: retaildetail.eu 

India: Spencer’s to expand in smaller cities with value retail format
Spencer’s Retail said it will enter the value retail format with the launch of hyper market chain Spencer’s Value Market to expand its retail footprint in India’s smaller cities. The shift to the value segment is part of the company’s plans to expand its presence beyond the 35 cities it is currently present in. The value format stores will sell fast moving consumer goods, food and personal care items, fruits and vegetables, general household needs and apparels.
Source: livemint.com 

UK: Aldi extends Plant Menu ‘Food To Go’ range with new products starting from just £1.79
Catering to the growing number of vegans in the UK, Aldi is launching a brand-new range of deliciously convenient plant-based sandwiches. Landing in stores just in time for Veganuary, shoppers following a plant-based diet, or those simply trialling it for the new year, will be hap-pea with their new and updated lunch break options. Starting from just £1.79, these vegan delights are available to pick up in stores now.
Source: aldipresscentre.co.uk 

Germany: New potential buyer for Galeria stores
A new candidate has emerged to acquire a “substantial” number of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department stores. A new kid on the block, Aachener, is interested in some locations currently occupied by the ailing German department store chain.
Source: retaildetail.eu 

Northern Ireland: Portadown food firm prospers from strategic focus on local sourcing
Yellow Door: founded by distinguished local chef Simon Dougan, among NI’s best- known culinary ‘stars’, and run with wife Jilly and other family members. Yellow Door now grows “an array of salad leaves, all kinds of soft and hardy herbs, edible flowers, rhubarb, soft fruit, and has an orchard yielding apples, plums and pears”, according to Jilly, who is also well-known from her horticulture presentations at the RUAS show at Balmoral Park and other food and farming events.
Source: newsletter.co.uk 

Italy: Unicoop Firenze records sales of €2.6bln in 2022
Italian regional cooperative and supermarket operator Unicoop Firenze reported sales worth €2.61bln in its financial year 2022, registering an increase of 8.6% compared to 2021.
Source: esmmagazine.com 

Australia: New fruit and veg shop proves a better choice for Beaudesert
The Beaudesert community is set to benefit as The Big Pumpkin reopened at a new, bigger location as The Scenic Rim Farmers Market. The new store is a one-stop-shop for locals, offering an extensive range of delicious fresh fruit and vegetables. Independent retailers and Beaudesert locals Gemma Holden and Brett Grattan have owned and operated The Big Pumpkin for the past four years, sharing their passion for fruit and vegetables with their community. They hope their new, larger and modern location will help them to better serve their community.
Source: abetterchoice.com.au 

BTG, Bradesco among most exposed to Brazilian retailer Americanas
Brazilian lenders BTG Pactual, Bradesco and Santander Brasil are among those most exposed to debt of Americanas SA, analysts' estimates showed, after the retailer obtained an injunction protecting it from creditors. Analysts at JPMorgan and Citi said in research notes that Banco Bradesco SA had the largest nominal exposure to the firm, while Banco BTG Pactual SA topped exposure as a proportion of loans.
Source: reuters.com 

US: SeeChange partners with Diebold Nixdorf to transform retail checkout through the power of AI
SeeChange Technologies, a leader in retail-focused computer vision AI technology, announced a partnership with Diebold Nixdorf, a global leader in designing, enabling and operating relevant retail consumer and staff journeys, to launch the first in a series of AI-powered self-checkout (SCO) solutions. Diebold Nixdorf's Vynamic® Smart Vision uses SeeWare® machine learning to recognize fruits, vegetables, baked goods and items without a barcode. Diebold Nixdorf will demonstrate Fresh Produce Recognition at the NRF's Big Show 2023, to be held in New York City from January 15-17.
Source: prnewswire.com 

Growing with purpose: CEO Jason Buechel shares vision for Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market CEO Jason Buechel unveiled Whole Foods Market’s 10-year vision to lead the company into the future, calling it Growing with Purpose, during the grocer’s first quarterly town hall meeting of the year. Whole Foods Market continues to grow to 534 stores across the U.S., Canada and UK, most recently adding its One Wall Street store in New York.
Source: media.wholefoodsmarket.com