Shoprite announces restoration of services in South Africa after unrest
The Shoprite Group has said that it has restored operations across its stores in parts of South Africa affected by recent social unrest, with the reopening of 89 stores in the past 3 weeks. The group said that it has worked 'day and night' to restore operations affected by the unrest, which saw several outlets looted in the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng regions.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Indonesia: Rivals Grab & Gojek both team up with Tokopedia-affiliated logistics firm
Indonesia-based Anteraja, an ecommerce-focused logistics service, announced partnerships with Southeast Asian decacorns and rivals, Grab and Gojek. The logistics firm will integrate Gojek and Grab’s logistics services into its last-mile ecosystem. With these partnerships, Anteraja will get access to the 2 companies’ fleet of riders to deliver packages. The collaboration with Gojek will initially begin in the Greater Jakarta area later this month.
Source: techinasia.com
Ahold Delhaize exceeds expectations and increases forecasts
Despite a difficult basis for comparison, Ahold Delhaize reported strong figures in the second quarter, with Albert Heijn and bol.com topping the charts. The group raised its earnings estimates for the full year 2021. Food retail group Ahold Delhaize recorded sales of 18.6bln euros in the second quarter of this year, up 3% at identical exchange rates. With a comparable increase in sales of 2.4%, the group did better in Europe than in the US (-1.5%), where the easing of corona measures started earlier and where consumers also hoarded more last year. Online sales grew by 35.8%. The operating margin was 4.5%, down 0.8 percentage points from last year. The operating result amounted to 832mln euros, a decrease of 12.2%.
Source: retaildetail.eu
SPAR International rolls out integrated grocery e-commerce platform worldwide
SPAR International, as part of its worldwide digital transformation strategy, is pleased to offer a fully customisable e-commerce platform to SPAR country organisations and retailers. SPAR is partnering with Naveo Commerce, a unique end-to-end e-commerce and fulfilment technology provider, to drive the optimisation of SPAR’s grocery e-commerce offering.
Source: spar-international.com
UK: Retail sales recovery continues but slowing
Industry data shows that retail sales continued to improve in July when compared with the same month last year, although growth slowed as the reopening of the hospitality and leisure sectors led to a dilution in consumer spending. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG sales monitor reveals that total sales last month had increased by 6.4% compared to a year ago, although this is weaker than the three-month rolling average of 14.7%.
Source: kamcity.com
Germany: Delivery Hero takes 5.1% stake in rival Deliveroo
Germany's Delivery Hero has taken a 5.09% stake in online food delivery rival Deliveroo, driving the British company's share price to its highest since listing on the stock market in March.
Source: reuters.com
Fighting food waste in UK: Gousto and DPD launch scheme to tackle wastage in supply chain
In what is a first for the meal kit category, recipe box Gousto has launched a pioneering scheme with courier partner DPD to combat food waste within the supply chain. The scheme sees DPD drivers facilitate the rerouting of any failed box deliveries to the surplus food redistribution charity, FareShare. The food is then donated to charities and community groups who provide meals and support to vulnerable people all across the UK.
Source: fmcgmagazine.co.uk
Australia: Goldman Sachs collects Harris Farm bids, ball in family’s court
Indicative bids are in for grocer Harris Farm, with private equity firms leading the field of potential investors. As anticipated, it was understood to be a PE-heavy list of contenders with interest from global buyout bigwig Bain Capital, Australia’s Quadrant Private Equity, Pacific Equity Partners and Alceon Group’s PE arm, as part of the Goldman Sachs-run auction.
Source: afr.com
Portugal: Lidl to open first store in a motorway service area
Discounter Lidl is to open its first store at a motorway service area later this week, in Oeiras, near Lisbon. The new store, which will open on 12 August, will be located at the Oeiras service area, on one of the main access routes to Lisbon, the A5 motorway, in the direction Lisbon-Cascais.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Indonesia: Tokopedia doubles down on e-groceries business
Tokopedia is strengthening its groceries segment by digitalizing traditional markets and using location-based store recommendations as it banks on the online food shopping trend to outlast the COVID-19 pandemic. The e-commerce firm said the 2 programs, which it refers to as “hyperlocal initiatives”, had pushed Tokopedia’s transactions up in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period of 2020.
Source: thejakartapost.com
Meal delivery company Doordash has its eyes on Europe
The American meal delivery company Doordash has European ambitions. It wants to realise these by investing in the Berlin-based express grocery delivery service Gorillas, also active in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Source: retaildetail.eu
US: PCC Community Markets CEO Suzanne Monford exits
Suzanne "Suzy" Monford, president and CEO of PCC Community Markets, has left the company, the community-owned grocery retail cooperative has confirmed. Seattle-based PCC said in an email that Monford departed on August 7 but didn’t provide a reason for her exit. Brad Brown, a retired REI executive and former PCC board member, has been named as interim CEO while PCC searches for a new chief executive. The company noted that Brown previously served as interim CEO last year.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Lowes Foods plans new entertainment-themed store
Lowes Foods is hatching a new store concept with a food hall-style design and space for customer and community events. The 25,000-square-foot store will occupy a former Earth Fare supermarket space at 14021 Boren St. in Huntersville, North Carolina, within the Charlotte market area, and feature specialized foodservice, entertainment elements and frictionless shopping, Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Lowes said.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Grocery Outlet cycles 2020 pandemic sales
The opening of 11 new stores couldn't bring Grocery Outlet's revenue or comps into the positive during the second quarter. For the quarter ended July 3, net sales decreased by 3.5% to $775.5mln at Grocery Outlet. Same-store sales decreased by 10% compared to a 16.7% increase in the same period last year when pandemic sales were very strong. Net income decreased 33% to $19.6mln, or 20 cents per diluted share. Adjusted net income decreased 27.1% to $23.3mln, or 23 cents per adjusted diluted share.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Flashfood teams up with Price Rite Marketplace to launch pilot in Greater Buffalo area
Flashfood, an app-based marketplace that strives to eliminate retail food waste by connecting consumers with discounted food nearing its best by date, is adding more stores to its U.S. footprint through a new pilot program with Price Rite Marketplace. Price Rite Marketplace customers in the Western New York area can now save up to 50% off select groceries that would otherwise go to waste. The Flashfood app allows shoppers to conveniently browse and purchase fresh food, including produce, meat, deli and bakery products, nearing its best before date at significantly reduced prices. Shoppers can find great deals and purchase through the app, then simply pick up their items at the Flashfood zone located at their selected Price Rite store.
Source: flashfood.com