Lidl Austria raised its sales from EUR 900m (USD 985m) in the preceding year to EUR 1bn in the financial year 2014/15, friedlnews.com reports. Over the year only one shop was added, sales growth was achieved on the same retail space, the company announced. From the end of 2016 the branch network is supposed to be expanded again. Lidl Austria currently has over 200 branches and almost 4,500 employees.US: Amazon comes up with own line of food
Following the playbook of countless retailers, Amazon.com Inc. is preparing to broadly expand its fledgling lineup of private-label brands to include an array of grocery items such as milk, cereal, wsj.com reports. Amazon has approached some private-label food manufacturers seeking a partner, according to people familiar with the matter. Never before has Amazon ventured into perishable goods.Amazon launches fresh offering in China
Amazon has tied up with local stores and suppliers to offer an AmazonFresh style selection of fresh groceries in China, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. Amazon's new fresh product categories in China include fruit and vegetables, meat, seafood and cakes. The layout of the site uses appealing images and descriptions similar to AmazonFresh. However, unlike AmazonFresh in the US, in China the company is working with suppliers to curate a marketplace of products without handling logistics or using its refrigerated vans to deliver items to shoppers.
UK: Fruitful deal for Asda and Forest Feast
Northern Ireland based dried fruit and nut business Kestrel Foods has landed a significant contract with Asda to supply four lines from its Forest Feast premium dried fruit range into 257 Asda stores across the UK, packagingtoday.co.uk reports. Spain: Eroski sees turnover decline slightly in FY2014/15
Spanish retailer Eroski has posted profits of €90m for the full year to 31 January 2015, according to accounts just filed, esmmagazine.com reports. Turnover at the group stood at €6.1bn, which is 2% lower than the previous year, however the retailer has attributed this fall to the launch of the Eroski Club loyalty platform in the second half of the year. Its Caprabo supermarket business saw an improvement in its performance, with a profit of €24.1m following a turnover of €1.327bn.AU: PMA and retailers find solution to labour hire problems
The fresh produce industry's Produce Marketing Association (PMA Australia-New Zealand) today announced that major retailers, including Coles, Woolworths, Metcash and ALDI, have agreed to work with representatives of the produce sector to find a robust, workable and enduring solution across the supply chain to some of the recent bad practices that have come to light in the labour hire industry in Australia, scoop.co.nz reports. PMA is working with the National Farmers Federation on helping bring about the changes, which cover a range of farming sectors, especially those that rely heavily on back-packer and migrant labour during seasonal harvest peaks. Dia and Intermarché join together in Portugal
Spanish retail group Dia and the French group Intermarché have decided to join together with one common purchasing unit in Portugal, Cindia. Dia has 634 stores in Portugal, and Intermarché has 231, making Portugal their second biggest outlet in Europe. Dia 
stated in a press release that this alliance should allow them to “negotiate more effectively” and stand up to competition from market leaders Jeronimo Martins and Sonae. The new central buying unit, Cindia, will negotiate with large suppliers of national brands, excluding small and medium enterprises. Traditional fresh products from fishing and agriculture are not concerned either.US: Whole Foods' new chain to open next year
A couple of weeks ago, Whole Foods Market Inc. announced a new value-oriented concept targeted toward Millennial shoppers, nreionline.com reports. Whole Foods Market recently said that the chain has already put together a team, is in the midst of negotiating several leases and plans to open the first stores next year. The company told that the new format will feature a modern, streamlined design, innovative technology and a curated selection. “Over the past several years, we have explored the idea of new formats several times but never felt the time was right, particularly given our accelerated growth plans. That issue is now behind us, as we have successfully increased our new store openings for six years.”OK Zimbabwe engages foreign suppliers
OK Zimbabwe Limited (OK), says it is engaging foreign retailers for the manufacturing of in-shop brands to boost the group’s revenues, nehandaradio.com reports. Its chief operations officer, Albert Katsande, told analysts last week that the group was failing to realise profit from in-house brands due to the state of local industry, which is operating below optimum capacity. Market experts say the South Africa-based franchise is expected to go the Pick n’ Pay route, of importing brands into Zimbabwe for competitive pricing.Alibaba online grocery to go big in China
Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics affiliate, announced a major expansion that includes a new 60,000 square-meter grocery distribution center to cover 25 cities in eastern China techcrunch.com reports. The warehouse, which will begin operating in July 2015, is the largest of Cainiao’s five grocery distribution centers and will power deliveries of Tmall Supermarket orders in Shanghai, as well as the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and An’hui. Cainiao also plans to make next-day deliveries available for more shoppers in southwestern China with another distribution center based in Chengdu. The company says it will be able to deliver groceries to over 250 cities by the end of this year, with next-day delivery available in 50 cities. One of Alibabas main rivals, JD.com, announced a $70m investment in FruitDay, which imports and sells fresh produce.Accountancy watchdog to focus on suppliers after Tesco scandal
The relationship between retailers and their suppliers is to be scrutinised in the wake of the Tesco accounting scandal, theguardian.com reports. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK’s auditing and accountancy watchdog, plans to make food retailing a priority sector for audit inspections this year. The FRC will “pay particular attention to the audit of revenue recognition and complex supplier arrangements” at food, drink and consumer goods manufacturers, as well as retailers. Delhaize chairman: Seeking scale in merger
Delhaize Group officials on Thursday said a need to generate greater scale to provide fuel for investment is sparking industry consolidation in the U.S. — and by extension, its own talks of a merger with rival Ahold, supermarketnews.com reports. Food retail has been and will continue to be a highly competitive industry. Given evolving customer needs and demands, traditional grocers, like ourselves, will have to continue investing in order to remain customer-centric organizations and to remain relevant in their respective communities,” Mats Jansson, chairman of Delhaize Group, said in an address at the company’s annual meeting in Belgium. US: SpartanNash Q1 profits up on flat sales
SpartanNash reported first-quarter financial earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations on the strength of cost controls and merger synergies amid flat revenues, supermarketnews.com reports. The company reported sales of $2.3bn for the quarter, which ended April 25, essentially flat from the first quarter last year. Total revenues reflected higher sales in Spartan’s distribution and military sales segments and a 7.6% decline in retail sales. Net earnings from continuing operations of $10.3m was down from $12.5m in last year’s first quarter, but earnings per share of 44 cents beat estimates of 41 cents. Philippine/Indonesia: Alfamart’s expansion plans
Joint venture partners Alfamart and SM Retail piloted their first Philippines stores in summer 2014, and are now poised to add 100 – 120 stores this year, according to the Jakarta Globe. Hot convenience competition in the market is generating lots of innovation, and the partners continue to evolve their store model, including dine-in space and hot food-for-now options, retailanalysis.igd.com writes. The longer term plan is to expand the network to 3,000 stores in the next five years. Alfamart has allocated IDR 2tn (USD 151m) to invest in opening 1,200 stores in Indonesia in 2015. Alfamart’s sister company Midi Utama, operator of Alfamidi, Alfa Express and Lawson store banners, is also investing heavily in building scale. In 2015 it has set aside IDR 900bn (USD 68mn) for expansion, up 61% on the previous year.American Costco plans e-commerce expansion
Beyond its direct operations in the US, UK, Canada and Mexico, Costco is partnering with Google Express and Instacart in the US, and with Tmall in China, retailanalysis.igd.com writes. The latter is a relatively new initiative, with around 160 of Costco’s Kirkland Signature private label items available. Over the next year, e-commerce initiatives are expected to be launched in two additional markets, South Korea and Taiwan, while its seventh e-commerce operation will come on stream up to a year later.Walmart China goes mobile
Walmart China has launched a new suite of mobile-focused solutions as it seeks to create a seamless online to offline retailing experience, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. These include a "Walmart To Go" app, in-store click and collect service and m-payments. Interesting links on retail
The Supermarket of the future knows exactly what we’re eating
“This is how the supermarket of the future will look,” Luca Setti, Future Food District Coop Manager, tells me as I walk into the large, rectangular-shaped building in Milan, Italy. Click here to read the article. The most profitable grocery stores
The United States is so large and diversified that even its “national” grocery chains don’t all operate in every state. Take Kroger for example. The grocery company is one of the largest in the world and it only has stores in 34 states. In 2014, U.S. supermarkets had combined sales of over $638bn. Let’s look at the largest six chains and see how profitable they were in the 2014 fiscal year. Click here to read the article.