Carrefour Q2 sales growth accelerates

E-mart's bananas becomes top-selling product
Bananas were the most sold fruit in the first half of the year, according to leading retail giant E-mart on Friday, replacing the longtime favorite apples. E-Mart said it sold 37.6 billion won (US$32.48 million) worth of bananas in the January-June period, up 8.7% from the same period last year. The amount tops numbers for apples that stood at 33.1 billion won, down 16.2 percent from last year. The retail company said the latest tally marks the first time that bananas were the top-selling fruit at its stores. (english.yonhapnews.co.kr)

Zimbabwe: Spar set to expand stores
SPAR Zimbabwe plans to open three supermarkets before the end of this year, bringing the number of new operations it opened during the year to five. According to Spar Zimbabwe managing director, Terrence Yeatman, the company had already opened two new Spar stores in Harare bringing the total to a current 33. (newsday.co.zw)

Carrefour Q2 sales growth accelerates
Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, said sales growth accelerated in the second-quarter, reflecting an improving performance in its core French market and robust sales in the rest of Europe. Second-quarter group sales reached 21.759 billion euros ($24.82 billion), above the average of analysts estimates of 21.5 billion euros. Stripping out fuel, currency and calendar effects, revenue grew 2.8% year-on-year, an acceleration from 1.4% growth in the first quarter. Because Carrefour plans to list its Brazil business on July 20, it is not allowed to disclose figures for Brazil, its second-largest market after France. (Reuters)

Irish Musgrave to ‘invest heavily’ in online grocery shopping
Wholesale and retail company Musgrave is to “invest heavily” in online grocery shopping as Irish shoppers adjust their shopping habits, its chief executive has said. Mr Martin said there had been “a clear focus on cost reduction and the delivery of a transformation programme” which began in 2014 to turnaround the business and return to growth following the recession. “If you look around the world, the market with the biggest penetration of online is the UK which is around 6-7% of the total grocery spend. In Ireland, we are around 1.5%. “What we saw last year is that our online grew by about 22%. So far this year, it has grown by around 24%. We’re investing heavily,” he said. (irishexaminer.com)

UK: BRC notes continued increase in fresh food prices
The British Retail Consortium said that food prices continued to rise across the UK in June, as a four-year deflationary trend appears to be coming to an end. Fresh food prices were 1.4% higher, which is the highest rate of increase since February 2014. (esmmagazine.com)

UK: Morrisons launches online delivery from stores
Morrisons has extended the reach of its home delivery service with the launch of direct deliveries from stores in North-East England. The new service will provide access to morrisons.com for around half a million shoppers, including the major population centres of Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Darlington. (igd.com)

Walmex same-store sales rise
Mexico's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart de Mexico, said on Thursday that sales at its Mexican stores that have been open at least a year rose 7.2 percent in June compared to the same month last year. Total sales in Mexico increased 8.6 percent in the same period, Walmex said. (Reuters)

South-Africa: Supermarkets 'should be forced to help small farmers'
The big-name supermarkets should be compelled to stock products produced by "smallholders" and new shopping mall developments should be made to allocate 25% of floor space to local township businesses, it has been suggested to the Competition Commission. (timeslive.co.za)

Costco evades Amazon-inspired gloom as sales beat estimates
Costco posted same-store sales for June that far exceeded analysts’ estimates, sending shares up as much as 2.1 percent to $161.35 in New York. The company’s sales have outpaced big-box rivals like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and the brick-and-mortar retail industry in general as foot traffic slows and consumers continue to migrate to digital alternatives, particularly Amazon. (esmmagazine.com)

CA: Merger creates huge Hispanic supermarket chain
Ontario-based Cardenas Markets, which operates multiple stores in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and Bay Area-based Mi Pueblo are merging to create one of the largest Hispanic supermarket chains in the country, it was announced Thursday. KKR and Victory Park Capital Advisors took proprietary interests in the two grocery chains and merged them under one management unit, according to a joint statement released by the private equity firms. (patch.com)