Tesco presents community for suppliers | French Lidl expands
SuperValu misses Q2 forecasts | Fresh & Easy to close stores
According to gondola.be, Carrefour will offer free home delivery to pregnant women using Drive.be. The site allows clients to order online and pick up their shopping in one of more than 60 click and collect points, or have home delivery. Changes to the service have recently been made: Order processing fees have been removed and Carrefour will offer free delivery to pregnant women. The service will be free until the baby is 3 months old. Currently one third of Belgian households can benefit from Carrefour’s home delivery service (by bpost, Carrefour’s partner) and they hope by the start of 2016 for the service to be available in other regions.
US: Fresh & Easy begins closing down stores
Fresh & Easy, the grocery chain that has struggled for years in Southern California, said Wednesday that it was closing its business — but holding out hope for a buyer. Brendan Wonnacott, spokesman for the El Segundo chain, said Fresh & Easy was starting “the process for an organized wind-down.” Fresh & Easy doesn't have enough cash and couldn't obtain financing to continue operating the business, Wonnacott said. That's despite progress made over the last two years that has moved the company “closer to break even.” The company operates 97 stores in California, Nevada and Arizona. The Southland is home to 54 locations. (latimes.com)
Lidl aiming to expand in France
French newspaper Le Monde has reported that Lidl is aiming to increase its market share in the country to 8%, from 5% presently, over the course of the next five years. The reports followed a meeting of the country's store managers at which Lidl France's CEO, Frédéric Fuchs, set out the ambitious target. (igd.com)
US: Supervalu down on deflation in 2Q
Supervalu on Wednesday said deflation triggered a challenging second quarter which missed analyst estimations for sales and profits, supermarketnews.com. Supervalu’s second quarter sales increased by 0.5% to $4.0bn, with net earnings flat at $31m. Identical store sales fell by 1.6% at Save-A-Lot, and by 1.2% within its retail food banners, reflecting the challenging trading conditions, and continuing the downward trends from the first quarter. Sales at Save-A-Lot continued to be challenged by product cost deflation, and while this is likely to impact results for the remainder of the year, the retailer’s leadership remains pleased with the underlying fundamentals of the business. (igd.com)
Russia: Rosselkhoznadzor inspect Magnit hypermarkets
Rosselkhoznadzor are carrying out inspections at Magnit hypermarkets in different regions in Russia, reports k-vefomosti.ru. According to the assistant head of department Alexey Alekseenko, stores in Moscow have not been yet inspected by Rosselkhoznadzor staff, although checks may be carried out in the capital later. The authority stated that they are continuing to check domestic retail on the government’s instruction, and not just the chain Auchan. Summer 2015, the authority conducted checks at Auchan on behalf of deputy pm Arkady Dvorkovich. The request was related to customer complaints about the freshness of products. During an unscheduled inspection at the Kostroma branch of Magnit, violations in the storage and sale of meat products were recorded. The dubious products were withdrawn from the market. In late July, Rosselkhoznadzor announced violations in a number of Auchan stores in the Moscow region, mostly concerning meat products. In September, Rosselkhoznadzor also reported repeat violations in Auchan hypermarkets in the Moscow region, in October, violations were reported in Auchan hypermarkets in Samara and Kostroma.
UK: Tesco presents its free online community: the Tesco Supplier Network
Tesco launched an online resource which is open to all of Tesco and its suppliers and producers from around the world: the Tesco Supplier Network. It exists to create a common vision between Tesco and its suppliers by connecting them not only with each other, but also with industry experts; this way, the community strengthens the business of the whole supply chain through knowledge exchange and industry insights. With over 3,200 active suppliers, 50+ countries represented, 40+ webinars with Tesco teams and industry experts, 2 advisory panels; the Tesco Supplier Network provides its suppliers with the information they need, when they need it. There are more than 800 active fresh produce suppliers on the network, across all of the regional hubs (Europe, Africa, Asia, Americas) and all of the subcategories in Produce (salad, fruit and vegetables). You can use these businesses to seek advice and recommendations from anything from installing solar PV panels and reed beds for water recycling, to ideas about how to motivate your workforce.
DIA Nigeria operator plans growth to tap rising food spend
The Nigerian operator of Spanish supermarket chain Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentacion SA plans to open more than 100 stores by 2020 to take advantage of rising spending in Africa’s most populous country. First Master Retailers Ltd., the Nigerian company that bought the local rights to operate DIA stores, could open as many as 25 CityDia shops a year, CEO said in an interview in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, on Tuesday. DIA-branded shops are in emerging markets including China, Brazil and Argentina. (bloomberg.com)
Israel: Victory buys 5 Mega supermarkets
Victory supermarket chain has signed an agreement to acquire rental righpts to five branches of the troubled Mega supermarket chain at a cost of NIS 7.5m, lus VAT. Victory said, "The acquisition includes all the rights to the stores, including the equipment in them." Completion of the deal is subject to several conditions, including the agreement of the property owners and approval from the Antitrust Authority director general. (globes.co.il)
Lotte Mart expands in Vietnam
Lotte Mart plans to open 50 new supermarkets in Vietnam by 2020. The retailer that currently operates 11 supermarkets in Vietnam, is planning to increase its investment over the next five years. The supermarket expansion was announced by Hoong Soon Chang, the ViceConsul of the Republic of Korea and Lotte Mart Vietnam director general, Hong Won Sik. (igd.com)
Dutch Sligro Q3: sales up 3.5%, driven by foodservice
Sligro has announced third quarter results saying that total sales rose 3.5% to €659mn, driven by its foodservice division, where sales increased by 4.1% versus only 2.0% at its EMTÉ supermarket chain. (igd.com)
Dutch Hoogvliet to launch home delivery
In conjunction with Post NL, Hoogvliet has said that it will launch home delivery of grocery orders. Initially the service will only be available in districts of Amsterdam. (igd.com)
New Lidl CEO's in Austria and Poland
Lidl has appointed Maksymiliam Braniecki as CEO of Lidl Poland and Christian Schug as CEO of Lidl Austria. Braniecki replaces Michal Lagunionek who has been promoted onto the group's board at its headquarters in Germany. Prior to this appointment, Braniecki was chairman of Lidl's operations in Romania, a post that will be filled by Frank Wagner, Lidl Romania's director of sales and logistics. In Austria, Schug, who has worked at Lidl for 13 years and the last eight as a member of its executive committee, replaces Alexander Deopito, who has left the retailer. (igd.com)
US: Ahold's bfresh opens second location
Ahold on Wednesday opened a second location of its bfresh concept, in Fairfield, Conn. Bfresh, which debuted in Boston in September, was developed by Ahold’s Fresh Formats division. The store aims to provide a convenient, fresh-focused assortment and value to neighborhood shoppers with a modern feel. According to Ahold officials, the store offers more natural and organic options than a typical market. (supermarketnews.com)
Russia: Lenta’s share sale raises $275m as EBRD cuts stake
Lenta, the St. Petersburg-based retailer backed by US buyout firm TPG Capital, completed a $275m share placement, the biggest share sale by a Russian company in almost two years. (esmmagazine.com)
Singapore online grocery service Honestbee raises $15m
Singapore-based Honestbee, an on-demand grocery concierge and delivery service company, has successfully raised a Series A round of $15m, led by VC firm Formation 8. (dealstreetasia.com)