Singapore: FairPrice Group freezes prices on all chilled pork and select seafood and vegetables to celebrate CNY
FairPrice Group reported: "To ensure that all in Singapore have access to the essentials they need to celebrate Chinese New Year (CNY), FairPrice Group (FPG) announced a price freeze on all of its chilled pork products, and popular seafood and vegetable items. The price freeze will come into effect across all of FPG's more than 160 FairPrice supermarkets, from 29 January to 3 March 2026. It will be coupled with promotions on select fresh vegetables that will run throughout the same period".
Source: fairpricegroup.com.sg
UK: Aldi announces over £370mln investment in opening new stores
Aldi reported: "Aldi, the UK's fourth-largest supermarket, is to invest £370mln this year to open new stores across Britain. This includes the development of new stores in Southam in Warwickshire, Hastings in East Sussex, and Amersham in Buckinghamshire, with the supermarket targeting 40 new store openings this year".
Source: aldipresscentre.co.uk
France: Record figures for Coopérative U
Coopérative U's sales rose by 5.3% last year to €28.35bln (including VAT, excluding fuel). According to the retailer, it attracted 820,000 new households, bringing its customer base to 13.3mln. Its market share rose by 0.6 percentage points to 12.7%. This means that the group remains number four in France, after E.Leclerc, Carrefour, and Groupement Mousquetaires (Intermarché/Netto). The target is a market share of 15% in 2030.
Source: retaildetail.eu
UAE supermarket chain Spinneys to open in PH
Spinneys, a fresh food supermarket chain based in the United Arab Emirates, is set to open stores across Metro Manila starting this year. Under its partnership with ACX Holdings, the retail arm of the Philippines' Ayala Corp., Spinneys will launch 12 branches over the next four years beginning the fourth quarter of 2026. And the first two locations have been announced: UP Town Center in Quezon City and San Antonio Plaza Arcade in Makati.
Source: abs-cbn.com
Australia: Woolworths Group Board update
Woolworths Group announced that Jon Alferness will join the Woolworths Group Board as a non-executive director effective 1 March 2026 (subject to the relevant licensing approvals), and Tracey Fellows intends to retire from the Board effective 1 March 2026.
Source: woolworthsgroup.com.au
UK: Lidl seeks feedback on plans for new store
Supermarket chain Lidl has launched a public consultation on plans to build a new store to serve Chivenor, Braunton and the surrounding areas. The discount retailer has been seeking feedback on its proposals for the store in Tinever Road, before submission to North Devon Council.
Source: bbc.com
Italy: Multicedi posts revenue growth, opens 72 new stores in FY2025
Italian regional retailer Gruppo Multicedi, which operates across Central and Southern Italy, reported a 17.5% year-on-year increase in turnover in its financial year 2025 to €2.1bln. The group opened 72 new stores, including 54 Decò outlets across four different formats and seven Dodecà stores, bringing the total network to 585 stores (446 Decò and 47 Dodecà). The Supermercati Decò brand accounts for 76% of the retailer's store network, with 68% of operations concentrated in Campania, where the group holds a 15.7% market share.
Source: esmmagazine.com
China: ALDI opens four stores simultaneously, accelerating China's hard discount growth in Nanjing
ALDI China simultaneously opened four new stores across districts in Nanjing: Jianye, Qixia, Jiangning, and Pukou. With these four successful store launches, ALDI's national store count has reached 95, all concentrated in the East China market, including Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Kunshan, and Changzhou.
Source: discountretailconsulting.com
UK: YouGov's 2026 Best Brand Rankings revealed
Marks & Spencer reported: "Marks & Spencer is the strongest Brand in the UK over the past year, as measured by YouGov's market leading BrandIndex tool. After Marks & Spencer, IKEA, Samsung, John Lewis and Netflix follow in the top five".
Source: corporate.marksandspencer.com
Ocado to lose another North American fulfilment centre
Ocado Group will lose £7mln in annual fee revenue following Sobeys' decision to shut its Calgary customer fulfilment centre, the company announced. The closure stems from slower-than-expected growth in Alberta's online grocery market, which failed to meet original projections for size and expansion pace.
Source: ukinvestormagazine.co.uk
US: Introducing Instacart's Preference Picker, so you can get groceries just how you like
Instacart reported: 'Preference Picker gives customers an easy way to select their banana ripeness - from "Not Ripe" to "Almost Ripe" to "Ripe" - with availability varying by retailer and location. We're launching Preference Picker with bananas because they are the number one selling product on Instacart, with more than 1.8bln bananas delivered to date. Bananas also have the most Shopper Notes - written instructions for shoppers - of any items sold on Instacart, with more than 32mln notes, showing how small preferences can make a big difference. In the months ahead, Instacart will explore expanding Preference Picker to additional categories, such as options to select avocado ripeness and specify deli meat thickness. We are spotlighting Preference Picker during this year's Big Game with a new 30-second commercial "Bananas", airing in the first quarter on Sunday, February 8, 2026'.
Source: instacart.com
Amazon to cut an additional 16K jobs
Amazon said it would eliminate approximately 16,000 jobs companywide as it works to cut costs and streamline operations. The layoffs come less than three months after the Seattle-based retail giant said it would cut 14,000 corporate jobs as it pivots its focus to artificial intelligence.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Food Lion adds To Go online ordering to 36 stores in 4 states
Food Lion is adding online ordering to 36 more stores across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Maryland in an expansion of its Food Lion To Go platform. Customers in these locations can now place orders directly through foodlion.com or the Food Lion mobile app for pickup or home delivery.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Lidl US opening a fresh new store in TotowaLidl US reported: "We're opening a new Lidl US location at 545 US-46, Totowa, NJ 07512 on Wednesday, February 4. Break out your best fruit and veggie salad recipes; we dare you to find sweeter berries or juicier tomatoes!".
Sourced: mediacenter.lidl.com
Canada: Sungiven Foods partners with Uber Eats
Sungiven Foods will be available to Lower Mainland, B.C. residents through Uber Eats in February. The grocer will offer Uber Eats users on-demand grocery delivery from select locations. Product offerings will include fresh produce, meats and private-label products that "combine Asian culinary traditions with Western retail standards".
Source: canadiangrocer.com
US: Gelson's debuts small-format neighborhood grocery store
Gelson's opened a new small-format neighborhood grocery store in Toluca Lake, California. The market includes full-service meat and seafood departments, produce, grocery items, floral offerings, natural and kosher products, baked goods, gift baskets and a wine cellar.
Source: supermarketnews.com
