Middle East grocer to import British fruit and veg

UK: Morrisons' sales rise for sixth straight quarter
Morrisons beat forecasts as it reported a sixth consecutive quarter of underlying sales growth. The company said on Thursday that its expectations and guidance for the 2017-18 year were unchanged. Morrisons said sales at stores open over a year, excluding fuel, rose 3.4% in the 13 weeks to April 30, its fiscal first quarter. That topped the 1.8% growth expected by analysts on average and growth of 2.5% achieved in the previous quarter. Sales, excluding fuel, rose by 2.8%. (Reuters)

Middle East grocer to import British fruit and veg
LuLu Group launched yesterday a ‘British Food Festival’ across all its hypermarkets in Qatar, to supplement the ongoing work of the British Embassy and British Council, Doha. More than 10,000 British products imported from the UK are being exhibited, including fruit and vegetables. (gulf-times.com)

Czech Tesco to sell more “ugly” fruit and veg
Tesco is trying to combat food waste through its “Perfectly Imperfect” project. The project involves the sale of less conventionally attractive produce. Just three months after the launch of the project in the Czech Republic, the number of Tesco stores has increased from 12 to 23 to be involved in the project of selling these imperfect goods. (praguemorning.cz)

Alfamart Philippines targets 500 stores by 2019
Alfamart minimart continues its rapid network expansion in the Philippines with 120 new stores expected in 2017. Alfamart Philippines said it will continue to expand its existing network of 262 stores in the next two years to around 500. (igd.com)

Spar Guangdong opens two new hypermarkets in China
Spar Guangdong, a retail partner of Spar China, has opened two new hypermarkets in Guzhen Huayi and Wuhua county. Both stores offer a wide selection of fresh and imported food products. The retailer plans to expand its store network in the next few years. (esmmagazine.com)

S Group exits Latvia and Lithuania
S Group has announced it is to close its Prisma stores (seven in total) in Latvia and Lithuania in June. Meanwhile, the retailer plans to develop its presence in Estonia and Russia, where it has eight Prisma stores and sixteen Prisma stores respectively. (igd.com)

Ocado's ideas for happiness at home mean problems for M&S
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Egyptian online grocery startup GoodsMart raises $750k
Egyptian online grocery service GoodsMart has raised US$750,000 in funding from Algebra Ventures, which will go towards growing its operational capacity, increasing service coverage in Cairo and raising awareness. (disrupt-africa.com)

Spar opens first supermarket in Ukraine
Spar has opened the first grocery store with an area of 250 square meters in Ukraine in Rivne. According to a company press release, 90% of the products in the new store are of Ukrainian origin, as well as Private Label products of international and Ukrainian companies. (en.interfax.com.ua)

Spar International: Europe and India
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Indonesia: Profit up but sales slip for MPPA hypermarkets
Sales have fallen 3.5% to RP3.1 trillion (US$232.7m) for Indonesian hypermarket chain Matahari Putra Prima (MPPA) for its first quarter. However, its gross profit margin improved by 120 basis points from RP428.2bn to RP433.4bn for the three months to the end of March. (insideretail.asia)

Sainsbury's: UK market means long wait for profit growth
British supermarket Sainsbury's warned a challenging market meant it could take up to five years to deliver sustainable profit growth, despite a robust performance from general retailer Argos which it bought last year. (Reuters)

US: Food Lion to continue Easy Fresh and Affordable
Food Lion said late Monday it would expand its ongoing Easy Fresh and Affordable initiative to 71 stores in the Richmond, Va., market. The changes under the Easy Fresh and Affordable initiative expand variety in areas like fresh food, healthy snacks and local selections. (supermarketnews.com)

US: Costco's net sales grow
Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $9.42bn for the month of April, the four weeks ended April 30, 2017, an increase of 5% from $8.98bn during the similar period last year. (nasdaq.com)

US: Kroger beats Whole Foods in brand battle
America's largest grocery retailer, Kroger, was named the "most loved" national grocery store in the public opinion data company's recent survey, according to People. Based on the feedback of 35,000 customers who were asked to rate stores "favorable" or "unfavorable," Kroger received a favorable score of 53%, while Whole Foods earned one of 48%, followed by Safeway with 40% and Publix with 33%. (countryliving.com)

US: Suppliers petition to force Central Grocers into bankruptcy
A group of product suppliers has petitioned a U.S. Bankruptcy Court for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case against grocery supplier Central Grocers — a move that could force liquidation on the troubled distributor. Central Grocers is reviewing the bankruptcy petition and “will respond to it shortly.” On Wednesday attorneys filed notice on behalf of fresh suppliers Strube Celery & Vegetable; Jem D International; Jack Tuchten Wholesale Produce. (supermarketnews.com)

CA: Loblaw's enhanced fresh food offer pays off
Loblaw’s first quarter revenue increased by 0.2% to $10.4bn, with retail segment sales up 0.1% to $10.2bn. Food retail same-store sales (ex-fuel) declined by 2.1%. Despite the marginal increase in sales, Loblaw delivered strong profit growth due to a focus on cost control, with operating income up 12.8% to $492m. Since the acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart, the introduction of an improved food offer has been a key driver of growth. This includes an enhanced fresh food offer for urban locations, igd.com writes. (igd.com)

Wal-Mart seeks anti-corruption certification
Wal-Mart Stores said on Wednesday it was considering getting certified under a new international program that could help companies defend themselves against isolated cases of corruption or poor business practices. (Reuters)

US: Smart & Final posts Q1 loss
Smart & Final said Wednesday that effects of deflation, cannibalization and bad weather contributed to a comparable-store sales decline of 2.5% and an adjusted net loss of $1.5m in the fiscal first quarter, but that it anticipated those effects would subside through the year. Its total revenues improved by 6.4% to $967m in the quarter, which ended March 26. It posted a net loss of $4.6m. (supermarketnews.com)