Asda treats suppliers worst of all

Tesco to deliver fruit and veg in one hour
Tesco is to offer a one-hour grocery delivery service to customers in central London, firing the latest salvo in the cut-throat online supermarket sector. Tesco said on Monday the new service will allow customers to order, through the Tesco Now app, up to 20 items from a range of 1,000 products, including fruit and vegetables. (Reuters)

Lidl adding fourth US distribution centre
Lidl is investing $100m in a building a regional headquarters and distribution centre in Cartersville, Greater Atlanta. This new distribution centre, which will open next year, will be the retailer’s fourth in the US. It currently has operations in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland. Commenting on the initiative, Brendan Proctor, President and CEO of Lidl US, stated: “We are excited to be part of the community in Cartersville, which has a vibrant workforce and offers a central location for our distribution network. This facility will be an important part of Lidl’s efficient infrastructure that will allow us to deliver outstanding quality goods to our customers at the lowest possible prices." (igd.com)

Asda is named worst supermarket in treatment of suppliers
Asda has been named as the worst of the UK’s major supermarkets in its treatment of suppliers. It dropped below Morrisons, which was bottom of the list last year, as the Bradford-based chain took action to improve its performance according to a survey of more than 1,200 grocery suppliers by the industry watchdog. About 12% of Asda’s suppliers said the Walmart-owned chain rarely or never complied with the Grocery Supply Code of Practice, which covers dealings by 10 retailers that sell over £1bn of groceries a year. (theguardian.com)

German Infarm wants to put a farm in grocery stores
Infarm, a 40-plus person startup based in Berlin is developing an “indoor vertical farming” system capable of growing anything from herbs, lettuce and other vegetables, and even fruit. “The challenge [now] is in finding the right partners. Our initial focus is on supermarket chains, online food retailers, wholesalers, hotels, and other food-related businesses, for whom the superior quality and range of produce — with no fluctuation in costs — makes Infarm an attractive partner. In return, we can reintroduce the joy of growing to the urban population”, the company said. (techcrunch.com)

Korea ranks No. 1 in online grocery shopping
South Korea ranked No. 1 in terms of e-commence for grocery shopping, far outpacing other major developed countries. According to Kantar Worldpanel, the percentage of fast-moving consumer goods shopping via online and mobile channels out of all purchases in South Korea between June 2015 and June 2016 came to 16.6%. Japan came in second with 7.2%, followed by the United Kingdom with 6.9%, France with 5.3% and Taiwan with 5.2%, the report showed. (koreaherald.com)

All UK supermarkets in growth, Kantar Worldpanel figures reveal
The latest UK market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel have shown that all major supermarket groups are currently in growth, with the data firm reporting the highest sales growth for the industry for five years. For the 12-week period to 18 June, supermarket sales growth accelerated to 5.0%, which was the strongest increase since March 2012. It is also a marked improvement on the same period last year, when the market posted a 0.2% decline. In terms of the performance of the UK’s largest grocers, Morrisons posted the strongest growth of the Big Four, with a 3.7% rise to put it on 10.6% market share. Tesco continues to top the list, with 27.8% market share, posting a 3.5% increase in sales for the period. Sainsbury’s, on 16.0% share (+3.1% increase) and Asda, on 15.1% share (+2.2% increase) are second and third respectively. (esmmagazine.com)

India: Future Group to expand Nilgiris banner
India's leading grocery retailer Future Group plans to revamp and grow the Nilgiris supermarket banner. Nilgiris is a banner that Future Group acquired in 2014. It operates 170 stores in Southern India, with INR7.8bn (US$121mn) in revenue. Future Group plans to have 380 stores under this banner in 2017-2018. Its revenue target will be INR40bn by 2021, with INR28bn from private labels. The new stores will be redesigned to attract younger consumers. The group will also improve the product range and increase ready-to-cook/ready-to-eat category. (igd.com)

UK: Morrisons teaching kids about fruit and veg in stores
To show kids that eating healthily can be ‘fun’, Morrisons has teamed up with baby food brand Piccolo. The store is attempting to make learning fun by using puppets to teach children all about the importance of fruit and veg. The puppets will be hidden among fruits and veggies including cabbages, carrots and cauliflower, before they pop out to give kids a fun little lesson in eating healthily. (metro.co.uk)

'Walmart to benefit from GST in India'
Walmart will be benefited by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will be a win-win situation for all, the American retail giant's top official in India said here today as the landmark tax reform measure is all set to be rolled out on July 1. "For instance, in the medium to long term when it becomes one national unified market, you don't need warehouse in every single state. That's a big benefit in terms of economies of scale, how one can drive economies of scale," Krish Iyer, president and CEO of Walmart India, told PTI in an interview. (indiatimes.com)

India: Tata Group to enter online grocery business
The Tata group is buying out the management team and technology infrastructure of Gurgaon-based GrocerMax to enter the online grocery business as consumers increasingly place orders for their supplies over the internet. The new team will help set up the online platform for Trent Hypermarket, an equal joint venture between Tata and British retailer Tesco that will rival Amazon and Bigbasket in the nascent yet rapidly growing segment. (indiatimes.com)

Kenya: Why Nakumatt died
A combination of factors including gross mismanagement, poor strategic decisions, tax issues and massive internal losses perpetrated by some wayward employees and suppliers are the main reasons behind the slow death of giant supermarket chain Nakumatt, multiple sources familiar with the retailer's financial tribulations have told the Nation. One of the sources likened the retailer's fate to the way a pyramid scheme is eventually fated to collapse after some time: "For a long time Nakumatt has worked hard to keep this façade of a profitable company while knowing that the opposite was true," the source said. (allafrica.com)