Makro Belgium grants buyers a week’s delay
Parties that are interested in buying the Belgian stores of the Makro and Metro chains, are granted an extra week to formalise their offer. At this moment, only two candidates have gone publicly on the record: Dutch Sligro and current CEO Vincent Nolf - and they may not be interested in buying the whole branch.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Reliance group, Adani bid for India's debt-ridden Future Retail
Companies led by Asia's richest man, Gautam Adani, and billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the owner of Reliance Industries have entered the fray to acquire India's debt-laden Future Retail Ltd, a document seen by Reuters shows. April Moon Retail Private Ltd, a joint venture between Adani Airport holdings and Flemingo group, Reliance Retail ventures as well as 13 other firms have submitted expressions of interest (EOIs) for Future Retail.
Source: reuters.com
New Zealand: Customers change shopping habits as record inflation bites harder
“Broad-based cost pressures are still building for everyone growing, manufacturing and retailing food, baking in the conditions for inflation to continue well into 2023”, says Foodstuffs NZ Managing Director Chris Quin. Commenting on the latest food price inflation figures released by Stats NZ (reaching 14-year highs), Quin says customers are changing the way they shop as prolonged record inflation bites harder.
Source: foodstuffs.co.nz
Belgium: Intermarché gets go-ahead for Mestdagh acquisition
The Belgian anti-trust authorities have greenlit French supermarket chain Intermarché‘s acquisition of the former Carrefour stores operated by Mestdagh. In one go, the chain more than doubles its presence in Belgium.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Wing brings drone delivery options to DoorDash customers in Logan, Australia
DoorDash is teaming up with Alphabet’s Wing to offer customers an easier way to arrange for goods to be delivered via drone. A small number of DoorDash users in Logan, Australia will be able to order certain convenience and grocery items through the DoorDash app and have them delivered by a Wing drone, typically in 15 minutes or less, Wing says.
Source: techcrunch.com
India: Zomato posts smaller net loss as online orders jump
Indian food delivery firm Zomato Ltd reported a narrower loss for the second quarter thanks to a rise in volumes and value of online orders. Adjusted core loss, excluding figures for its recently acquired quick-commerce business Blinkit, narrowed to 600mln Indian rupees ($7.37mln) from 3.1bln rupees.
Source: reuters.com
Japan: Enjoy shopping at "Ehime Specialty Shop" on JD.com site on November 11, "Singles' Day"
Ehime Prefecture opened its special page "Ehime Tokusankan", or "Ehime Specialty Shop", on the "JD.com" e-commerce site in June 2022, and released videos in which Ehime Gov. Tokihiro Nakamura touts the charms of Ehime products in Chinese for "Singles' Day" on November 11. Food products using citrus fruit (Ehime produces over 40 kinds of citrus fruit characterized by sweetness and juiciness).
Source: en.prnasia.com
Portugal: Sonae Q3 net profit falls on record energy, transport costs
Sonae, which owns Portugal’s largest food retailer, said third-quarter net profit fell 4.2%, despite a solid increase in sales, as record energy and transport costs dented its margins. With businesses ranging from food retail to telecoms, Sonae earned 92mln euros ($92.13mln) from July to September, down from 96mln a year earlier.
Source: reuters.com
New Zealand’s very own rapid grocery delivery
Teddy, NZ’s very own grocery delivery platform, is hoping to cause some change in the local grocery landscape. The door-to-door delivery service has launched in Queenstown and Auckland by founders and co-owners Chaz Savage and brothers Ricki and Daniel Taiaroa. The Teddy app, two dark stores and a fleet of Ubco electric motorbikes are ready to take on grocery delivery.
Source: supermarketnews.co.nz
Perfekto bags $1.1mln to find homes for imperfect produce in Mexico
Over a third of food ends up wasted across the globe, with 6% of that occurring in the Latin America and Caribbean regions. Among that waste, the majority of it, around 70%, occurs prior to the consumer stage. This is where Perfekto believes its subscription box of imperfect food can help. Launched in 2021, the Mexico-based company works with over 70 producers to “rescue” food and delivers it to consumers. Subscribers used to get a “surprise box”, but can now personalize their box and choose how much of each type of produce they want. On the backend, the company developed software that automates routing and logistics.
Source: techcrunch.com
Profits of Chile's Cencosud fall by half, hit by inflation
Chilean retailer Cencosud posted a 48% drop in its third-quarter profit, the company said in a statement, as it faces rising consumer prices across the region. Cencosud's net profit in the July to September period totaled 72.97bln pesos ($81mln), down by nearly half from its 141.3bln peso profit during the same period last year.
Source: reuters.com
US Foods reports third quarter fiscal year 2022 earnings
US Foods Holding Corp., one of the largest foodservice distributors in the United States, announced results for the third quarter fiscal year 2022. Third quarter fiscal 2022 highlights: Net income available to common shareholders improved to $100mln. Adjusted EBITDA increased 20.6% to $351mln. Nine month fiscal 2022 highlights: Net income available to common shareholders was $145mln. Adjusted EBITDA increased 20.8% to $960mln.
Source: businesswire.com
Some relief for consumers: Prices on a few grocery items are actually coming down
Market research firm Nielsen IQ recently looked at more than 2,500 fresh and packaged foods to find bargains. In fresh produce, the average unit price for prepared mixed vegetables from July to September (the latest data available) dropped 68% versus the same period last year. In fruits, the average unit price is down 1.8% for tangerines and has declined 7% for dates in the same three-month period.
Source: edition.cnn.com
US: GrubMarket acquires notable provider of produce software, Fresh Software Solutions
GrubMarket announced that it has completed the acquisition of Naperville, Illinois-based Fresh Software Solutions ("FSS"), a proven and respected enterprise software provider that specializes in building solutions for fresh produce distributors, wholesalers, repackers and food service suppliers across North America.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: SpartanNash partners with Uber for convenient grocery delivery
Food solutions company SpartanNash (the “Company”) announced its new partnership with Uber Technologies, Inc. to offer on-demand and scheduled grocery delivery to shoppers across the Midwest.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Target’s new larger-format stores focus on fulfillment
As the industry experiments with retail footprint sizes and rightsizing fulfillment operations, Target Corp. has unveiled big plans for its next-generation store design. At nearly 150,000 square feet, Target’s new larger-format stores will optimize additional space in an effort to support same-day fulfillment services and deliver on its stores-as-hubs strategy for digital fulfillment. The new store format recently debuted in Katy, Texas, outside Houston, and is more than 20,000 square feet larger than the chain’s standard locations.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Amazon unveils smaller delivery drone that can fly in rain
Amazon unveiled the design for a new delivery drone that promises to be smaller, quieter and capable of flying in light rain. The drone, called the MK30, is due to go into service in 2024, the tech giant said in a blog post.
Source: cnet.com