US: Albertsons taps Jim Perkins to ready SpinCo option for merger with Kroger
Albertsons Cos. has confirmed published reports that Jim Perkins, executive vice president of retail operations and special projects and Mid-Atlantic division president, will lead planning for SpinCo, a possible spin-off company to run stores divested for regulatory approval of Albertsons’ pending $24.6bln merger deal with The Kroger Co.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: Publix is closing its 8 Greenwise locations
Publix announced it is phasing out its eight Greenwise locations across the state. In an email, Publix spokeswoman Hannah Herring said they will be converted into traditional Publix markets. Publix launched the Greenwise brand in 2007 with a focus on natural and organic foods, to compete against such grocers as Whole Foods and Fresh Market. Greenwise has stores in Tampa, Odessa and Lakeland.
Source: wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu
US Foods to acquire Renzi Foodservice
US Foods Holding Corp. - one of America’s leading foodservice distributors - announced that it has agreed to acquire Renzi Foodservice, a broadline distributor located in Watertown, New York. The acquisition, which is the first for the company since April 2020 and the first under CEO Dave Flitman’s leadership, will allow US Foods to further expand its reach into central upstate New York where the company does not have a distribution center. Pending regulatory approval, the acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Source: businesswire.com
Top 5 supermarket retail chains in Slovenia
Here's an overview of the top five supermarket retail chains in Slovenia, according to their most recently-available full-year turnover. All data is supplied by Retail-Index (www.retail-index.com) 1. Mercator turnover: €1.25bln (2021); 2. SPAR turnover: €866mln (2021); 3. Hofer turnover: €593mln (2021); 4. Lidl turnover: €489mln (2021); 5. EngroTUS turnover: €455mln (2021).
Source: esmmagazine.com
Broccoli truck starts UK tour at Luton nursery to encourage children to eat fruit and veg
A novelty broccoli-themed truck rolled into a nursery in Luton as part of its mission to encourage children to eat fruit and veg. Children at Foxcubs Nursery were first to try Ella’s Kitchen sensory food play truck before it sets off on a UK tour. The Eat. Play. Love truck has novelty broccoli wing mirrors and aims to use interactive sessions to get little ones under five excited about fruit and veg, all through the power of sensory food play.
Source: lutontoday.co.uk
Blooming marvellous: New insect monitor listens out for bees on UK’s blossoming apple orchards
Tesco and WWF have teamed up with start-up tech innovator, AgriSound, to roll out its ground-breaking insect-monitoring device, ‘Polly’, across several English apple orchards, just as the spring blossom emerges. The technology will enable UK fruit growers access to game-changing insights into the activity of their precious pollinators.
Source: tescoplc.com
India: Delhivery to make a strategic investment in Vinculum
Gurugram-based logistics firm Delhivery will make a strategic investment in Vinculum, a global software company enabling omnichannel retailing for D2C (direct-to-consumer) enterprises, brands, brand distributors, and quick commerce companies.
Source: yourstory.com
Australia: Woolworths drops prices on hundreds of hearty favourites for winter
Woolworths is dropping the prices of more than 450 winter essentials including chicken, corned beef, soup and pasta, from 24 May until 22 August 2023 as part of its latest seasonal Prices Dropped campaign. Highlights from Prices Dropped for Winter include: Australian Carrots 1kg - was $2.40, now $1.50 a pack (available in NSW, QLD and VIC only). Woolworths Mashing Potatoes Bag 1.5kg - was $7, now $4.50 (available in SA and NT only).
Source: woolworthsgroup.com.au
UK: Poundland eyeing up more locations to open new convenience stores
Poundland is looking to open more shops in London under its new convenience store format. The discounter confirmed it is eyeing up new locations inside the M25 following the success of its “Local” stores. All the “Local” stores sell core ranges including groceries, snacks, household products, health and beauty and batteries. Customers will also find items they would expect in a convenience store including fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, chilled and frozen food, nappies and formula milk, beers, wines and spirits.
Source: mirror.co.uk
Portugal: MC Sonae reports 13% revenue growth in first quarter
Food retailer MC Sonae said that turnover in the first quarter of its financial year totalled €1.5bln, up 13.5% year-on-year and 11.8% in like-for-like terms. Contributing to the positive performance were the company's hypermarkets and supermarkets, operating under the Continente banner, which grew sales by 8.9% and 17.4%, respectively.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Has the vegan bubble burst? Sales stagnate in UK as brands withdraw plant-based products
Clive Black, a retail analyst at investment group Shore Capital, said the vegan market had been overhyped. He said: “The real market is nowhere as big as some people hoped and some people ramped up. Reality is dawning. We looked with some incredulity at the number of companies that were drawn into this space and the amount of shelf space that was given to it in supermarkets. There will be some winners, but the numbers will be relatively small because we’ve been through a bubble”.
Source: theguardian.com
India's Swiggy food delivery business has turned profitable: CEO Sriharsha Majety
Foodtech firm Swiggy's food delivery business has turned profitable for the first time in March since its launch in 2014, Co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety said. This includes all corporate costs, excluding costs for employee stock ownership plan, he wrote in a blogpost.
Source: yourstory.com
UK: Tesco chair Allan to step down after inappropriate behaviour claimsTesco chairman John Allan will step down at the group's annual shareholders' meeting next month, with Britain's biggest retailer saying claims of inappropriate behaviour against him risked becoming a distraction to the business.
Source: reuters.com
Plan to invigorate Welsh retail welcomed by ACS
Plans to make the retail sector in Wales more resilient have been welcomed by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS). The Welsh government published “Together for Retail: a Wales Retail Forum Action Plan”.
Source: talkingretail.com