US: Jason Buechel featured at Axios What’s Next Summit on The Future of Retail
Jason Buechel, Whole Foods Market Chief Executive Officer, participated in a fireside chat at the Axios What’s Next Summit, an event spotlighting the innovators making their mark on the future of work, where Jason shared his thoughts on the important issues shaping Whole Foods Market and where the company continues to raise the bar.
Source: media.wholefoodsmarket.com
US: Natural Grocers offers nutritionist-led store tours in new ‘Personalized Shopping Experience’
Better-for-you grocery chain Natural Grocers has launched a new program called the Personalized Shopping Experience at selected stores. Under the free, one-on-one service, customers can schedule a 30-minute store “walk-through” with a nutritional health coach, who will provide guidance specific to their dietary, health and wellness goals; Lakewood, Colorado-based Natural Grocers said.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: Cultivated meat maker New Age Eats shuts down
Cultivated pork maker New Age Eats closed because the company no longer had enough money to keep operating, founder and CEO Brian Spears announced on LinkedIn. Founded in 2018, the California-based company formerly known as New Age Meats had made scientific breakthroughs and some progress toward creating viable products that were a hybrid of plant-based ingredients and cultivated meat.
Source: fooddive.com
Top 10 supermarket retail chains in France
Here's an overview of the top ten supermarket retail chains in France, according to their most recently-available full-year turnover. All data is supplied by Retail-Index (www.retail-index.com). 1. Leclerc turnover: €51bln (2021); 2. Carrefour turnover: €35.28bln (2021); 3. Les Mousquetaires turnover: €36.06bln (2022); 4. Système U turnover: €22.97bln (2021); 5. Auchan turnover: €16.2bln (2021); 6. Casino turnover: €14.03bln (2021); 7. Lidl turnover: €14bln (2021 - estimated); 8. Cora turnover: €5.09bln (2021); 9. Metro turnover: €3.75bln (2021 - estimated); 10. Aldi turnover: €3.3bln (2020 - estimated).
Source: esmmagazine.com
Ireland: Shoppers tell us what is best in fresh
Most shoppers are happy with the fresh produce ranges and special offers available in-store. Fresh produce is very important to Irish consumers, as is buying in-season fruit & veg - and they don’t appear to be switching to meat/dairy alternatives. These are some of the findings of research conducted by Bounce Insights on behalf of Checkout. The research revealed that the top five most popular fruit/vegetables that are purchased regularly are potatoes, bananas, onions, carrots and apples, with 76.75% of respondents agreeing that buying fruit/vegetables that are in-season is important to them compared to 5.28% of respondents who disagree.
Source: checkout.ie
Germany: REWE Group sees sales growth of 10.4% in FY 2022
Retail group REWE has posted sales growth of 10.4%, to €84.8bln, in its 2022 financial year - up from €76.8bln in the preceding year. In Germany, the cooperative group witnessed sales increasing by 8.2%, to €58.6bln - from €54.1bln in 2021. In overseas markets, sales increased by 15.7%, year on year, to €26.2bln.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Scrapping food VAT not enough to tackle cost of living crisis, Portuguese say
As prices soar in one of western Europe's poorest nations, many Portuguese say the government is failing to help them cope and they brush off a new measure to scrap value added tax (VAT) on basic food products as too insignificant. The government, which did not reply to a request for comment, announced a list of 44 essential goods, including milk, bread, rice, tomatoes, and some types of meat and fish whose 6% VAT will be temporarily removed.
Source: reuters.com
Profit at UK supermarket Asda slumps on inflation hit
British supermarket group Asda reported a 24% fall in annual earnings after it decided not to pass the full impact of cost inflation onto consumers, taking a hit to profits instead. Asda, owned by brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital, said core earnings, or adjusted EBITDA, were 886mln pounds ($1.1bln) in 2022, down from 1.17bln pounds in 2021, on flat sales of 20.45bln pounds.
Source: reuters.com
Carrefour is Kenya’s first supermarket chain with self-checkout service
Retailer Carrefour, which also offers services via its app and online platform, has announced that its customers will now be able to check themselves out of stores in a move aimed at reducing queues and speeding up the checkout process.
Source: techweez.com
UK: New kind of supermarket opens in East London town where shoppers can buy £25 of groceries for just £4
A new supermarket has just opened in East London where shoppers can purchase 12 grocery items - with a retail price of around £25 - for just £4. A first for the capital, the Community Grocery store in Ilford allows those struggling with the cost of living crisis to get all the essentials they need for a very reasonable price. Shoppers can choose from a wide selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, bakery items, canned food, frozen goods, meal kits like fajitas, and sanitary items.
Source: mylondon.news
Norway: REMA 1000 owner Reitan Retail sees profit down 5%
Reitan Retail, which operates the REMA 1000 chain, has reported a drop in operating profit for 2022, the second consecutive year of decline from record earnings in 2020, as its grocery shops, petrol stations and convenience stores were hit by soaring cost inflation. Reitan's operating profit (EBIT) for the full year declined by 5% to NOK3.6bln, from NOK3.8bln in 2021 and was down from NOK4.4bln in 2020.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Self-service fresh juice machines. The next big thing in convenience retail?
iSqueeze is infiltrating the retail/convenience market, installing fresh juice machines into people’s favourite pit stops, to cool people down this summer. iSqueeze offers the latest machines in commercial juicing “for added theatre and fun” when going instore squeezed by customers, rather than the usual bottled concentrate varieties on shelves. It is constantly adding to its product portfolio, now offering pomegranate juice as well as classic fresh orange juice.
Source: talkingretail.com
Makro opens new central delivery depot in the Netherlands
Makro Netherlands has announced the opening of a new delivery depot to optimise its Food Service Distribution (FSD) business in the Netherlands. The new depot in Dordrecht will bundle deliveries as a central warehouse and delivery hub, the wholesaler noted.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Easy-to-miss detail in Woolworths logo shocks Australians: 'You can't unsee it, this is insane'
A revelation about the Woolworths logo has stunned thousands of Aussies. While it's long been agreed that the stylised 'W' represents fresh produce, many Aussies say it looks like something completely different. Eagled-eyed Woolies shoppers say the logo looks like a pumpkin. Others claimed they thought the logo resembled an apple or a W made from an apple. Other Aussies said the logo looked similar to a head of lettuce. But a Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the logo design does not represent any specific fruit or vegetable.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
Poland: Eurocash Group reports 'record-breaking' EBITDA in FY 2022
Eurocash Group has reported total revenue of PLN8.2bln (€1.75bln) in its financial year 2022, which represents an increase of 19% on the previous year. In the fourth quarter, the Polish retailer recorded the highest EBITDA in its history, reaching PLN308mln (€65.7mln) with 14% year-on-year growth.
Source: esmmagazine.com