Russian food retailer Dixy has received their first direct supply of bananas, reports retail.ru. The goods are supplied to the chain directly from the producers in Ecuador, without intermediaries. Bananas are the best selling goods in the chain’s ‘U Doma’ stores not only in the fruit category, but from the entire assortment range- in a week buyers purchase more than 1,000 tons. The first delivery has already arrived in ‘U Doma’ stores. The retailer has been increasing direct fruit and vegetable exports over the past six years and they intend to double the amount of direct suppliers. The retailer’s press officer stated that direct imports allow the chain to better control supplies as well as prices.Walmart changes Fresh Food Management for better fresh produce
Walmart Stores Inc will create hundreds of management positions as part of a new program aimed at improving the fresh food sections at its US stores, according to people familiar with the matter and a spokesman for the retailer. Walmart, the largest grocer in the United States, has already hired 30 field managers and plans to hire hundreds more over the next three years, people familiar with matter said in recent days. Their job is to train workers and take other steps to improve the fresh food offering in stores, the people said. (fortune.com) Asda asks suppliers for discounts and cash in battle with Aldi and Lidl
Asda is asking suppliers for discounts and cash contributions worth millions of pounds so it can fight back against the rise of discounters Aldi and Lidl by slashing prices for shoppers. The supermarket, which is expected to reveal a sixth consecutive quarter of declining sales on Thursday after a tough Christmas, is calling in suppliers for individual discussions about ways to cut prices by as much as 10%, according to trade journal the Grocer. One industry source told the Guardian that suppliers had been asked for “significant amounts of money”. He added: “Individual suppliers are being asked for millions of pounds and asked what they want in return.” (theguardian.com)Google's fresh food delivery service becomes a reality
Google Express, the search engine's home delivery service, will begin shipping fresh grocery items to its customers. According to the Wall Street Journal, the offering is starting small and is only available to select areas of San Francisco and Los Angeles. As the report says, there are some drawbacks (for users), with Express' two-hour delivery window being stretched out to four hours. In addition, the minimum charge has increased from $15 to $35, plus a $3 per-order surcharge for members. (engadget.com)Portugal’s Jerónimo Martins awarded for fighting food waste
Portuguese retailer Jerónimo Martins Group has been internationally recognised for its fight against food waste in Portugal, having received a Ruban d’Honneur in the Environmental and Corporate Sustainability category of the 2015/2016 European Business Awards. (esmmagazine.com)Carrefour Romania increases cmployee wages
Carrefour Romania has increased the wages of its employees and decided to give them monthly instalments of food vouchers that can be redeemed in Carrefour hypermarkets nationwide, Romania-Insider.com reports. (esmmagazine.com)US: Fairway gets a second warning of stock delisting
More dark clouds gathered above Fairway Group Holdings late Tuesday when the company said it has received a second warning of a potential stock delisting by the Nasdaq exchange — this time for failing to maintain a minimum market capitalization of $15m for three consecutive business days. (supermarketnews.com)US: Weis profits dipped in 3Q; earnings review immaterial
Weis Markets late Tuesday said its net earnings for the fiscal third quarter decreased by 5.4% but were not affected by a review of accounting that had delayed the company's report on the financial results for the period. As previously reported by Weis in November, sales for the period ending Sept. 26 totaled $711.9m, an increase of 4.1%, and a comparable store sales gain of 4%. Net earnings of $12.8m decreased by 5.4% (supermarketnews.com) 
Match: new CEO for Benelux, stores sold in FranceLouis Delhaize-owned Match has appointed a new CEO for its Benelux stores, while announcing that it has sold four Match supermarkets in France to Carrefour as it continues to rationalise its store base in the country. (supermarketnews.com)
India’s beating foreign retailers
India seems to be the place foreign retailers go to lose money. Walmart, Carrefour SA and Germany’s Metro AG have had severe struggles in the last decade. India’s D-Mart supermarket 
chain, which has managed to turn a profit in each of the last 15 years, is an example of how to do it right. The chain makes money from giving customers fewer choices of no-frills products, enabling it to negotiate better prices with vendors, and by refusing to spend money on analytics, loyalty programs, social media or any other new-fangled strategies. It just sells cheap stuff. “We’ve been doing just one thing. No distractions,” said Neville Noronha, CEO of D-Mart parent Avenue Supermarts Ltd. (Bloomberg)Greece: Sklavenitis to manage Marinopoulos hypermarkets
Greek retailer Sklavenitis is set to manage Carrefour Marinopoulos hypermarkets in the country, following a joint-venture agreement between the two retailers last week. The deal is expected to be completed in the next two months, subject to approval by local competition authorities. The move will see Sklavenitis manage Carrefour Marinopoulos’s 33 hypermarkets, which generated a turnover of around €325m in 2015, around a third of Carrefour Marinopoulos’s turnover. (igd.com)
Metro to expand in the PhilippinesMetro Retail Stores Group, the Philippines’ fourth-largest retailer, is planning to expand its network by opening 50 to 70 new stores in the next five years, the majority of which will be located in the Visayas region. (igd.com)
