Waitrose's soft fruit sales up thanks to promotion
Morrisons slashes fruit prices | Lidl ramps up expansion plans
Ahold and Delhaize Group today announced that they have called Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM) for March 14, 2016 at which their respective shareholders will consider and vote on the proposal to approve the companies' intended merger. (benzinga.com)
UK: Save-A-Lot spinoff could weaken Supervalu credit: Moody's
Supervalu's proposed spinoff of Save-A-Lot would deprive the distributor of a key business that generates approximately 30% of its EBITDA and could result in a weaker credit profile, Moody’s Investors Service said Friday. (supermarketnews.com)
UK: Tesco ends 24-hour trade in 76 stores
Tesco is ending 24-hour shopping at 76 of its stores - around one in five of those currently open around the clock. The company says the growth of online shopping means that certain shops had few customers during the night. Normal night time activities - such as refilling shelves - will continue in the supermarkets so Tesco says the impact on employees will be "minimal". The move is Tesco's latest effort to turn around its business which has been hit by challenges on several fronts. (BBC)
UK: Morrisons slashes fruit prices
Britain's fourth-largest supermarket operator Morrisons on Sunday said it was cutting the price of more than 1,000 products, with an average drop of 19% across fruit and vegetable lines. Morrisons said it would use it own fresh food manufacturing business to help keep prices down. (Reuters)
AU: Aldi's ad spend soars as Coles and Woolworths cut back
Aldi Australia is almost doubling its advertising spend in 2015 as larger rivals Coles and Woolworths cut back. Coles' marketing spend fell 25% to $53.6m last year and Woolworths supermarkets cut back by 5.3% to $87.9m, according to Nielsen's latest Advertising Information Service figures. In contrast, ALDI Stores' total spending across metropolitan and regional TV, metro and regional press, magazines, radio, out of home, cinema, online and direct mail reached $28.9m, according to AIS, up from $15.0m in 2014. (smh.com.au)
UK: Waitrose's soft fruit sales up thanks to promotion
Waitrose said January’s healthy eating trend was continuing, with sales of fresh produce and fish seeing an increase, despite total divisional sales (excl fuel) dipping 1.8% in the week ending 23 January 2016. A new Power of 5 promotion also ran in stores, offering customers a 25% saving when they bought five fruit and vegetable products. “The promotion saw soft fruit continue to perform well, up 12.1%, with Nutribullet favourites strawberries and raspberries rising 29% and 14% respectively. To give smoothies that added ‘green’ boost, avocados were up 15.4% and organic green veg up 31%, with spinach proving to be a favourite, up 47%. (talkingretail.com)
Convenience stores hit record numbers in Florida
The amount of convenience stores has grown from 9,348 in 2011 to a record 9,910 in 2015, according to the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association. "The convenience store industry in Florida continues to see incredible growth," the association's director, Ned Bowman, said in a statement this week. More than a third of all stores in the country are convenience stores, according to the 2016 National Association of Convenience Stores/Nielsen Convenience Industry Store Count. More than a third of all stores in the country are convenience stores, according to the 2016 National Association of Convenience Stores/Nielsen Convenience Industry Store Count. (sun-sentinel.com)
Tunisia : Monoprix’s turnover reachers over 555m Dinars
Businessnews.com.tn reports that Monoprix’s turnover has increased by 4.55% compared to 2014, reaching 555.22m Dinars by the end of 2015. Annual net margin increased from 16.99% in 2014 to 18.17% in 2015, i.e. a 1.18 point improvement. Payment time to suppliers has been stable for 62 days.
DIA introduces Minipreço family store concept in Portugal
Spanish retail group DIA has introduced a new supermarket concept to suburban areas in Portugal called Minipreço Family. The Minipreço Family stores will feature redesigned fresh produce, bakery and wine concepts, as well as entirely new sections such as fish and butcher counters, cafeterias and a new food-to-go offering. Minipreço Family offers 20% more products, both private label as well as brands, than DIA's other stores in Portugal. (esmmagazine.com)
Denmark: Rema 1000 announces 130 new stores
The Norwegian discount supermarket chain Rema 1000 is stepping up the competition with its main rival Netto by announcing that it will open 130 new stores in the coming years, Børsen reports. “The goal is 15-25 shops per year. We have previously said up to 20 shops, but we would like to increase that figure,” he said. (cphpost.dk)
UK: Lidl ramps up expansion plans as other grocers try to slim down
Lidl has ratcheted up its UK expansion plan by issuing almost three times as many planning applications as Aldi for new supermarkets in the last quarter of the year. Lidl filed 48 applications, worth roughly £150m in construction costs alone, during the three months to the end of 2015. Aldi filed 17, by comparison, during the same period. Property experts said the timing of Lidl’s flurry of applications was unusual and pointed to a significant acceleration in its store roll-out. In the first quarter Lidl filed 19 applications; 10 in the second quarter and 27 in the third – a total of 104 during the whole of 2015. (telegraph.co.uk)
Ocado fails to meet deadline for international licensing deal
Ocado has failed in its attempts to broker a technology licensing tie-up before a self-imposed deadline of the end of last year. The online grocer has repeatedly said that it is in “multiple talks with multiple parties” about signing a deal with an overseas supermarket, but it has failed to clinch a tie-up ahead of its annual results report this week. (telegraph.co.uk)
AU: Woolies in court for 'squeezing millions from suppliers'
Woolworths has faced a directions hearing in the Federal Court today over claims it squeezed millions from suppliers to plug a gap in its own profits. The competition watchdog has accused Woolies of unconscionable conduct over a scheme which sought to obtain as much as $60m in payments it had no right to from a group of 821 ‘Tier B’ suppliers. (news.com.au)
UK: 'Sainsbury’s deal might not happen'
Home Retail Group’s shares droops after rumors that Sainsbury’s deal might not happen. Sainsbury’s shares surged by 8.4p to 245.1p, satisfying investors who were against the deal. Home Retail Group drooped as it seemed as if Sainsbury’s might not have the capacity to concur a takeover cost with the Argos proprietor in time for Tuesday’s “set up or quiets down” due date. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)
Fuji: Increased half-yearly profits by RB Patel
RB Patel Group Limited has posted a 10.6% increase in profits for its half year ended December 31, 2015. It posted profit after income tax expense for the current year as around $3.2m compared to the past year’s result of around $2.9m. (fijisun.com.fj)
Singapore’s RedMart invests to expand grocery service In Asia
Singapore-based online grocery company RedMart is close to raising a massive $100m Series C round to expand its service across Asia. Two sources with knowledge of the deal confirmed to TechCrunch that the new funding is expected to close in the next one or two months. RedMart did not respond to emails from TechCrunch seeking comment. (techcrunch.com)
Woolworths asks Saatchi to refresh its brand
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