UK: AF Blakemore appoints Carol Welch as new CEO
AF Blakemore, one of the UK's largest privately owned family businesses, is pleased to announce that Carol Welch will join as Chief Executive in April, succeeding Jerry Marwood who is leaving to focus more time on his non-executive directorships and consultancy roles.
Source: newsfilecorp.com
UK: Sainsbury's praised for bargain £2 'don't waste me' veg boxes
Sainsbury's has been praised by shoppers for offering large boxes of fruit and veg to customers for just £2. The boxes come with a label saying 'taste me don't waste me' and appear to be part of an effort to reduce food waste at stores and help make healthy food affordable.
Source: coventrytelegraph.net
UK: Costcutter owner Bestway buys Sainsbury's stake, not considering offer
Privately owned retail group Bestway, the owner of Costcutter, has built a 3.45% stake in Sainsbury's describing the move as an investment and not a step towards making a takeover offer for Britain's second largest supermarket group. Bestway, which bills itself as the seventh largest family-owned business in the United Kingdom with turnover of about 4.5bln pounds ($5.57bln), said it intends to hold its shares and looks forward to supporting the executive management team.
Source: reuters.com
Food Crowd encourages the UAE community to be more sustainable and support local farms in 2023
Food Crowd, the UAE’s local online shopping platform, is pleased to declare its dedication to assisting regional farmers and elevating the value of consuming locally farmed food. In support of its sustainability goals, Food Crowd obtains a variety of its fruits and vegetables from regional farms in the United Arab Emirates and promotes the purchase of these products through its #golocal loyalty program, which rewards users with cashback on locally purchased items.
Source: zawya.com
Britain's Asda to remove 211 night shift managers
British supermarket group Asda plans to remove up to 211 night shift manager roles as it seeks efficiency savings, it said. The working patterns of 4,137 workers would also be impacted. They would retain their hours but not receive a night shift premium.
Source: reuters.com
SPAR network expands with new store opening in Rēzekne, Latvia
SPAR has expanded its operations in Latvia by opening a new store in Rēzekne. To bring more communities a high-quality grocery offering, SPAR Latvia will seek to bring its total number of stores to 24 in the coming months. A wide assortment of goods is available in SPAR Latvia stores, including SPAR Own Brand products and fresh produce, bakery, and meat products.
Source: spar-international.com
Holland: Picnic tackles ‘outrageous’ international A-brand price differences
Online retailers can get around supply restrictions by international brand manufacturers by translating product information in their webshops. Picnic uses this to offer German products cheaper in the Netherlands.
Source: retaildetail.eu
UK: Morrisons reveals sales and profits dived in 2022 despite putting up prices
Morrisons has revealed its sales and profits fell last year even as it put prices up, blaming the slide on shoppers becoming “increasingly pessimistic” amid the rising cost of living, political uncertainty and higher costs. The retailer, which lost its spot at the UK’s fourth largest supermarket to Aldi last year, said underlying profits fell 15% to £828mln in the year ending 30 October, as sales at established stores decreased by 4.2%.
Source: theguardian.com
‘Dry Misting’ to be showcased at Fruit Logistica and EuroShop 2023
Dry Misting, a sustainable solution to reduce food waste, will be showcased again at Europe’s largest fresh-produce trade show, Fruit Logistica in Berlin, and the world's no. 1 retail fair, EuroShop in Düsseldorf. Last December, Dry Misting, developed by Contronics, got voted the ‘most innovative solution against food waste’, by a jury of retailers in the ECR Food Waste Challenge.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: CMA to scrutinise ‘green’ claims in sales of household essentials
The CMA will examine the accuracy of ‘green’ claims made about household essentials - such as food, drink, and toiletries - to make sure shoppers are not being misled. The move is an expansion of ongoing work by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into ‘greenwashing’, which seeks to get to the bottom of whether products and services that claim to be green or eco-friendly are being marketed to shoppers accurately.
Source: gov.uk
Dishing the dirt: Tesco teams up with veg farmers for low carbon fertiliser rollout
Tesco is teaming up with five of its largest vegetable suppliers to launch the UK's "biggest ever" commercial rollout of low carbon fertilisers, in a move the supermarket claims will boost food security and slash emissions across its supply chain, and all at no extra cost for its farmers.
Source: businessgreen.com
US: The first smaller format Meijer Grocery stores open in Michigan
Meijer has opened the first two of its smaller format Meijer Grocery outlets in Michigan’s Orion Township and Macomb Township. The condensed layout is designed to simplify the shopping experience, Meijer said, with stores ranging from 75,000 to 90,000 square feet, compared to approximately 150,000 square feet for newer Meier supercenter locations.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Meati opens up ‘Mega Ranch’ production facility, plans to produce “tens of millions of pounds” of fungi-based meat
Meati Foods, a producer of plant-based whole-food protein made from mycelium, announced the opening of its largest-yet production facility in Thornton, Colorado. The 100 thousand foot facility, dubbed the “Mega Ranch”, is expected to hit a production rate that could produce tens of millions of pounds of the startup’s fungi-derived meat product by late 2023.
Source: thespoon.tech
US: UNFI expands Wild Harvest organic produce offering with over 40 new products
Delivering on its commitment of freshness and value to customers, United Natural Foods, Inc. (the “Company” or “UNFI”) announced the expansion of its Wild Harvest private label organic produce line with more than 40 new offerings available nationwide. Wild Harvest’s expanded organic offerings consist of best-selling items such as bagged apples, russet and sweet potatoes, oranges, mangoes, limes, avocados, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, and iceberg and romaine lettuces. All new items will be launched with Wild Harvest’s distinct purple branding and a prominent USDA Organic Certified label.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Walmart-owned Sam’s Club plans to open about 30 new stores over next five years
Walmart-owned Sam’s Club plans to open more than 30 new clubs in the U.S. The warehouse club is expanding after seeing sharp gains in sales and membership during the Covid pandemic. Inflation makes the club’s value packs, cheaper gas and private label offerings more relevant, CEO Kath McLay said.
Source: cnbc.com
US: Addie's debuts as the East Coast's first drive-up grocer, with rapid expansion to follow
Addie's, the drive-up grocer redefining the grocery shopping experience, officially launched its first concept store with $10.1mln in seed funding led by the Disruptive Innovation Fund, the venture capital arm of Clay Christensen's Rose Park Advisors. Instead of patchworking together in-store grocery, online grocery, and direct-to-consumer delivery models, Addie's has built an entirely new one: a pick-up-only store designed solely for stocking, storing, and bagging groceries without the need for a shopper ever to step foot in the store itself.
Source: prnewswire.com