Pricecheck: Aldi much cheaper alternative to Walmart

France: Carrefour launches new “ugly” products brand
Carrefour is expanding their Les Gueules Cassées range which promotes sales of non-calibrated, “ugly” products, aiming to fight food wastage. The group is launching a new label for the non-calibrated produce, “Tous AntiGaspi” in partnership with Les Gueules Cassées. The CSR Director of the Carrefour Group explains that the products must be made using the same recipe and with the same food safety guarantees as it’s calibrated counter-part. The range will also focus on local produce, “the products are sold in shops in the same region as the factory”. These products will be sold with 30% off. Carrefour will not be able to guarantee permanent supply of the products as “By definition, these products are accidents in production. It is out of question to systematically produce ugly products!”

US: Aldi much cheaper alternative to Walmart
The German grocery chain Aldi offers drastically cheaper prices than Walmart, according to a recent price check. We compared the prices of 34 items at an Aldi store in Richmond, Virginia, to an identical set of items at a nearby Walmart store. The Aldi basket was about 30% cheaper than the total at Walmart. Aldi was cheaper in fresh produce as well as packaged goods. The websdite uk.businessinsider.com found the biggest price differences between the two retailers on quinoa, apples, grapefruit, flour tortillas, and coconut oil. (uk.businessinsider.com)

UK: Tesco's head of transformation quits after 15 years
One of the key lieutenants to Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has quit unexpectedly, less than a year into her role as the supermarket’s transformation director, the Evening Standard can reveal. Jill Easterbrook, who has been with Tesco for 15 years in a variety of different roles, was tipped at one point as a possible CEO of Tesco’s UK business but will now leave next month. (standard.co.uk)

China: JD.com to start delivery with supermarket chain Yonghui
JD.com, China's second largest e-commerce site behind Alibaba, is rolling out a service with a leading Chinese supermarket chain that will allow shoppers to order groceries and fresh food and have them delivered to their homes within two hours, nzherald.co.nz reports. The service will begin later this month with 30 stores of Yonghui Super Stores Co. Ltd. in the Beijing area. The grocery service will also offer fresh produce. The company said that it will look to expand the partnership in the months ahead.

Alon Blue Square to sell six additional supermarket branches
Alon Blue Square in Israel announced today that Mega Retail has entered into agreements to sell an aggregate of six supermarket branches operated by Mega Retail under the brand "YOU" to Rami Levi Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing 2006 and C.N. Market Storages Ltd. Under the terms of the agreements, Mega Retail will transfer its rights and obligations with respect to the supermarkets and sell certain assets and equipment located in the supermarkets. (prnewswire.com)

ICA Sweden sees sales rise 3.7% year-on-year
Sales at ICA's Swedish stores were 3.7% higher in November 2015, compared to the same month the previous year. Sales in November stood at SEK 8.6bn, while sales for the period January to November 2015 totaled SEK 98bn, an increase of 3.8% on the previous year. As of 30 November, ICA operates 1,306 stores in Sweden. (prnewswire.com)

Mexico grocery chain Soriana launches final Comerci offer
Mexican supermarket chain Soriana on Monday launched its offer to buy rival Comercial Mexicana at a price of 32.6124 pesos per share, as part of a deal first announced in January. The offer, for up to 35.417bn pesos ($2.10bn), is slightly lower than the original price as the competition regulator Cofece said they could not purchase some of the stores. (Reuters)

US: Haggen sets date for 'core' store auction
Haggen Holdings will auction its remaining 33 "core stores" on Feb. 5, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. (supermarketnews.com)

German Kaufland commits to higher minimum wage
Discounter Kaufland has said that it is to raise its minimum wage to €10 per hour, starting 1 January, Lebensmittel Zeitung has reported. The new level is a Euro more than the current minimum wage of €9, and represents an increase of 11%. Lidl announced earlier this year to raise its minimum wage to €11.50 per hour. (esmmagazine.com)

UK: Co-op chain accidentally introduces 20% discount at stores
A regional supermarket chain accidentally introduced a 20% discount in all its stores - costing thousands in lost revenue. The East of England Co-op intended to have the offer at just one shop, in Clacton, starting last Wednesday. However, computers introduced it at the checkouts of 140 stores across Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. (bbc)

UK: Asda among the top 20 retail websites
Asda has taken off to the top 20 best performing retail websites in the last quarter of the year. The Walmart owned supermarket chain has climbed 324 spots to reach the nineteenth spot for first time ever. The rating, which was done by Sitemorse on the UK’s main 500 retailers’ websites, gave Asda a score of 5.72 out of 10 in correlation to 2.14 in Q3. Asda is one of two grocery retailers in the top 20, the other being family bakery company Waterfields. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)