CA: Sobeys and Safeway lower prices of fruit and veg

Sainsbury's agrees terms for £1.3bn deal to buy Home Retail Group -
Sainsbury's has offered £1.3bn to win control of Argos owner Home Retail Group, today. After revealing earlier this month that an approach last year was rejected, the supermarket giant has offered the equivalent of 161.3p a share for the retailer. The offer represents a 63% premium to Home Retail's share price on 4 January. A deal will depend on the sale of the Homebase DIY chain that Australia's Wesfarmers has agreed to buy for £340m. (BBC)

Colruyt to continue expansion in Belgium
In an interview with De Tijd the retailer’s CEO, Jef Colruyt, said that it remained focused on adding new stores in Belgium and that attractive growth opportunities remain in the country. Outside Belgium Jef Colruyt said that the retailer planned to expand in France over the next 10 years and remained convinced that the operations in France will be profitable in two to three years. (igd.com)

Canada: Sobeys cuts produce prices
As part of its initiatives to encourage healthy eating, Sobeys Inc. said it would reduce prices on many produce items at its Sobeys and Safeway stores. The produce department will also offer weekly “produce picks” based on best quality, tips on preparation from Chef Jamie Oliver, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Jamie Oliver will star in a marketing campaign to promote the changes in the produce department. “We know produce pricing is top of mind for many Canadians and we want to help Western Canadians eat better and more affordably,” Dave Rodych, VP operations, Safeway Canada, said in a press release. “We hope the improved produce experience at our stores will not only help customers continue to enjoy their everyday staples like potatoes and lettuce, but to also discover fruits and vegetables they may not have tried before.” (supermarketnews.com)

UK: Metro test online grocery service together with Peopod
Online grocery delivery service Peapod and the Metro public transportation service throughout the Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland metro areas have teamed up for a six-month pilot that allows commuters to pick up online grocery orders as they exit Metro stations. (washingtonpost.com)

Easyjet founder launches supermarkets with food for 25p
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of easyjet, has finally launched his assault on the competitive budget grocery sector with the trial of his first easyFoodstore shop. The easyFoodstore is selling all of its grocery items, including noodle pots, sardines and tinned spaghetti hoops, for just 25p for the whole of February. The easyFoodstore currently sells a range of 76 products, meaning that a shopper could buy all of the goods on offer for less than £20. He is being supplied in his new venture by Euro Shopper, a brand produced by Dutch non-profit buying alliance AMS which works on behalf of ten other European retailers, including Kesko in Finland and Esselunga in Italy. (telegraph.co.uk)

Asia: Study forecasts double-digit growth for only grocery market
Traffic jams and long working hours are forcing consumers to buy their groceries online, according to shopping platform HappyFresh in its latest survey. HappyFresh forecast double-digit growth for the online grocery market business in Asia over the coming years, expecting it to hit S$19bn (RM55bn) by 2020. (themalaymailonline.com)

Aldi boss says no fine-tuning needed for SA, WA
The managing director of German supermarket chain Aldi in South Australia, Viktor Jakupec, says there's no need to fine-tune the business model for the state, where independent chain Foodland is almost as large as Woolworths and Coles. Please, click here to read the article at smh.co.au.

Choppies continues expansion in Zimbabwe
Botswana-based Choppies has laid out plans to open two more supermarkets in Zimbabwe – in Bulawayo and Gokwe – by the end of the first quarter of 2016. The retailer, which entered the market in 2013, now operates 29 stores and has set a target of running 50 by the end of 2017. Choppies’ expansion in Zimbabwe is part of its aim of operating 200 stores across a range of countries by the end of 2017. (igd.com)

Mo Ibrahim PE fund swoops for Mozambique supermarket chain
Satya Capital, a private equity fund established and chaired by African telecoms magnate Mo Ibrahim, has agreed to buy the Extra supermarkets chain from Mozambican group ADC, in partnership with major Portuguese retail group Sonae, according to Zitamar News. (zitamar.com)

China: Lianhua supermarket expects loss
Chinese retail chain Lianhua Supermarket has warned investors that the company expects a net loss ranging from approximately US$ 68m to US$ 76m for the year ended 31 December 2015, according to Lianhua’s latest announcement. (igd.com)

Nigeria: Shoprite supports local producers
Underlining its support of local producers, suppliers and small businesses, Shoprite has announced that 76% of all the products sold in its stores are procured locally. (igd.com)

Organised grocery sector has opportunity of Rs 3.4 lakh crore
Grocery accounts for about half of the country's retail consumption, but is the least organised, a report said, pegging the size of the market for organised players at Rs 3.4 lakh crore. "We peg the size of opportunity for organised (including online) grocery retailers at Rs 3.4 based on requirements in urban metropolitan areas (cities having population of more than 1m)," the report from Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE) said. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Couche-Tard completes Topaz acquisition
Couche-Tard has completed on its previously announced acquisition of one of Ireland’s leading fuel and convenience store retailers, Topaz. The business will be led by Niall Anderton, formerly the CFO of Topaz, succeeding Emmet O’Neil who stepped down on the completion of the transaction. (igd.com)

Majid Al Futtaim FY2015: retail revenues rise 7%
UAE-based Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) saw revenues at its Retail division rise 7% to US$6.0bn, but its EBITDA increased by only 2% to US$326.7m as the retailer expanded into new markets and grew its presence in its existing operations MAF Retail said that by the end of the year it operated more than 150 Carrefour branded stores in 13 countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. (igd.com)

AU: Lidl still keen to take on Aldi
Giant European retailer Lidl has not written off taking on Aldi in the Australian market according to sources. The group who has been talking to commercial real estate Companies and distributors in Australia with the Company now believed to be looking at several Masters locations where Woolworths is set to relinquish a lease. (smartoffice.com.au)