Is this the supermarket of the future?

Retail chain Tesco Kipa, owned by Tesco Overseas Investments, was in talks with Turkish-owned retail group Migros, concerning the Turkish retailer’s acquisition of the British retail giant’s Turkish subsidiary, reports ajanshaber.com. A statement issued by Tesco Kipa said that its shareholder, Tesco Overseas Limited is in the midst of confidential negotiations with Migros; however the parties have been unable to reach an agreement on basic principles. 

This vision of the supermarket of the future, dreamt up by renowned architect and designer Carlo Ratti, became a reality last year at the Expo Milan. Please, click here to view more pictures. 

Spanish grocer Caprabo is expanding its Caprabo Rapid format, and it has announced it will open six new shops under this model in 2016. All the currently functioning Rapid stores are located in Barcelona. Despite their size, these shops offer a wide array of products as they are designed to fit a higher density of items per square metre. (esmmagazine.com)

Peapod customers will be able to add recipe ingredients to their shopping carts thanks to a partnership with Whisk.com. On select recipe pages across the web, customers can click Whisk’s “Create a smart shopping list” button to match the ingredients to Peapod products. Customers can edit the shopping list and add more products. (supermarketnews.com)

Conglomerate Vingroup, which has been expanding its retail business, has entered a deal with an allegiance of nearly 250 local manufacturers and suppliers, promising not to squeeze their profit margins. The move came amid a war between Vietnamese suppliers and foreign retailers. As large retail chains compete with one another on aggressive low-price models, some have reportedly forced suppliers to cut prices or offer higher rebates. Vingroup has pledged support to the group of suppliers by accepting low commission payments for a year. Organic food products, including meat, fruit and vegetables, will be carried by Vingroup's retail stores for free. (thanhniennews.com)

Spar International appointed Graham O’Connor, Spar South Africa's current CEO, as its new president. He will succeed Spar Ireland's chairman of the board, Leo Crawford, who was Spar's president for more than 10 years. (retaildetail.eu)

Kroger Co. stores in Michigan will encourage shoppers to eat healthy through a new partnership with Henry Ford Health System. Starting Wednesday, Henry Ford — a six-hospital system based in Detroit — will provide a weekly dietitian-developed recipe in all 126 Michigan Kroger stores through a program called LiveWell Wednesdays. (supermarketnews.com)

Metcash has also revealed that it is about to launch its new standard tier private label range. Following the re-launch of entry tier brand Black & Gold last year, the retailer released plans to replace its IGA Signature range at its last strategy update. The new range will first launch in grocery, with plans to quickly extend products into fresh food, where currently Metcash's wholesaling business under indexes. (igd.com)

Grupo Éxito has reported what it calls a solid performance across most of its markets for the quarter ended 31 March. Total sales in Colombia were up 7.4%, with discount and premium segments reporting the strongest performance amongst positive progression for all banners. For discount, the acquisition of Super Inter has brought new expertise in fresh products and optimising the assortment, which is clearly beginning to take effect. (igd.com)

New figures from Kantar Worldpanel point to an essentially flat UK market grocery market with growth for the 12 weeks ending 22 March 2016 of just 0.1%. Food price deflation remained at 1.5%, the 22nd consecutive period when inflation has been negative. (igd.com)

Source: Kantar World Panel / IGD

Acting group chief executive officer of publicly-listed retail and property group Metro Holdings, Lawrence Chiang, has been appointed as the group CEO and executive director of the company with effect from June 1, Metro said in a release to the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday. (businesstimes.com.sg)

Conad has entered into a partnership with Legambiente, a not-for-profit group, to support sustainable agriculture. Legambiente will help Conad develop the ethical and environmental aspects of its ranges, as well as working on the launch of new brand Conad Verso Natura, due later this year. The partnership will also look at aspects like packaging and environmentally-friendly materials. (igd.com)

Woolworths faces the prospect having to overhaul the pay and conditions of its 100,000 supermarket staff after the industrial umpire found an almost identical agreement at Coles left thousands of workers worse off. In a humiliating ruling on Tuesday, the Fair Work Commission found some of the nation's 77,000 Coles workers faced "significant" underpayments due to a deal struck between the company and the powerful shop assistants' union – the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. (smh.com.au)