"Tesco sales decline slows - Sainsbury outperforms "Big Four"

New Food policy allows Walmart to finally grow in India -
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, long an opponent of global retail giants, is finally giving them an opening in India. Modi’s government is finalizing details of a policy to allow 100% foreign investment in marketing of food made in India. Companies like Walmart Stores Inc. and Carrefour SA will be allowed to set up shops as long as they only sell locally produced food, according to Rajinder Chaudhary, a spokesman for the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. (esmmagazine.com)

US: Albertsons is launching a new private label
The new Signature brand will be launched across Albertsons’ almost 3,000 store strong estate and all 18 banners. Covering almost 4,000 items, the Signature umbrella brand will be a multi-category brand covering fresh, grocery and consumable product categories. (igd.com)

Germany: METRO GROUP closes the acquisition of RUNGIS express
Last Friday, the acquisition of RUNGIS express by METRO AG was officially closed. With this step, the premium foods supplier now formally belongs to METRO GROUP. In the run-up to the closing the pertinent competition authorities and the Supervisory Board of METRO AG had approved the transaction. "We are pleased to now be able to take the next steps together with RUNGIS express and discuss the specific details of our future cooperation", says Pieter C. Boone, Member of the Management Board of METRO AG and CEO of METRO Cash & Carry.

Tesco sales decline slows - Kantar Worldpanel
The UK grocery retail sector has posted its fastest growth all year, with supermarket sales growing by 1.1% in comparison with the same period a year earlier. The sales decline at Tesco has slowed for the fourth month in a row, industry data showed on Tuesday, adding to evidence that Britain's biggest supermarket group is gradually recovering. Sales, profit and asset values at Tesco have been hit by shifts in shopping habits and the rise of German discounters Aldi and Lidl. Tesco's sales fell just 0.2% in the 12 weeks to March 27, according to market researcher Kantar Worldpanel's monthly report. Partly affected by previously announced store closures, Tesco's market share fell by 0.3 percentage points to 28.1%. Sainsbury's, the second largest player, continued to outperform its "big four" rivals with a sales increase of 1.2%. Asda and Morrisons saw sales declines of 3.9% and 2.4% respectively, the latter reflecting Morrisons' store closures accounting for 5% of its trading space. Lidl remained Britain's fastest growing supermarket with sales up 17.7%. Sales at bigger rival Aldi rose 14.4%, giving it a record-high market share of 6.0%. (Reuters)

Source: Kantar Worldpanel

Woolworths loses top position as Australia's most valuable brand
Woolworths lost its top position as Australia's most valuable brand to Telstra, according to the latest 2016 list from Brand Finance. Woolworths has held the top spot since 2009, and Crowe suggested the dip and result reflected tough competition thanks to German supermarket chain, Aldi. (cmo.com.au)

UK: Lidl spends £78 million on advertising
Discounter Lidl ramped up store wars with a £78mn spending spree, blowing more on advertising than any other high street chain. While the Big Four - Tesco , Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons - all slashed their budgets, Lidl boosted its ad campaign funds by 89%. (mirror.co.uk)

US: NightFood secures first regional supermarket chain
NightFood Holdings has announced that NightFood is now available at all Fairway Market stores throughout the New York Metro area. (globenewswire.com)

Vietnam: Saigon Co-op posts 2015 results
Saigon Union of Trading Co-operatives (Saigon Co-op), Vietnam’s largest domestic retail network, has seen its revenue reach VND 25,000bn (US$1.12bn) in 2015. Saigon Co-op operates multiple retail formats, including Co.opmart supermarkets, Co.opXtra hypermarkets, Co.op Food c-stores etc. Saigon Co-op is looking to achieve an 8% increase in revenue to VND 26,786bn (US$1.2 bn) in 2016. (igd.com)

Serbia’s Gomex to open 25 new stores in 2016
Serbian supermarket chain Gomex is planning to expand its network in 2016 by opening 25 new stores. The stores will be opened in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, as well as in the capital Belgrade. (esmmagazine.com)

South-African Pick n Pay gains to record as earnings seen beating estimates
Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. rose for a sixth consecutive day to a record as earnings due to be published later this month are expected to show an improved performance by the South African supermarket chain. The shares climbed 1.7% to 71.79 rand by the close in Johannesburg for their longest winning streak since the six days ended 24 November. (Bloomberg/esmmagazine.com)

Philippine Puregold realigns store format
Puregold has revealed a plan to adjust its store format strategy by focusing on the superstore or warehouse format and re-branding its Junior and Extra banners. Puregold opened its first supermarket in 1998 and has grown to a retail network of 267 outlets by the end of September 2015, with sales of PHP84.8bn (US$1.8bn) in 2014. It looks to maintain the rapid growth by expanding its network to 500 stores. (igd.com)

UK: Tesco axes Nutricentre
Tesco is closing down its loss making health and wellness business as part of its continuing drive to repair its balance sheet and re-focus efforts on restoring growth through its core business. (igd.com)

AU: Supermarket giants to SLASH their prices by 20% in a price war if Woolworths can't stop its falling sales
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