Germany: DM sees sales exceed €10 billion in 2017
Italy: Conad Del Tirreno aims to surpass Coop
Italian regional supermarket chain Conad del Tirreno is aiming to surpass its rival Coop in Italy’s central region of Tuscany. In an interview with regional daily Il Tirreno, the CEO of Conad del Tirreno, Ugo Bladi, outlined the company’s plans, which include reaching a turnover of €3 billion over the next three to four years. According to Bladi, the retailer will invest €160 million over the next three years. Next month, new supermarkets will be opened in Viareggio, Arezzo and Cascina. (esmmagazine.com)
Georgia: Spar continues expansion plan, reaches 36 stores
Retail giant Spar is continuing with its expansion plan in Georgia, and has opened eight new stores in the past few months, bringing the total number of outlets in the country to 36. Spar Georgia says that with these openings it has penetrated three new local markets, and aims to open up to ten more stores before the end of the year. (esmmagazine.com)
Ireland: Tesco and SuperValu tussle for victory in grocery war
Tesco and SuperValu are now neck-and-neck in the battle to be Ireland's biggest grocery chain. But Dunnes Stores is in hot pursuit as the busy Christmas buying frenzy approaches. New figures from research group Kantar Worldpanel show that Tesco has continued to claw back market share after being toppled from the top spot in 2015. (www.independent.ie)
France: new Carrefour service lets customers deliver orders
Carrefour has introduced a new service in France, which allows customers to deliver orders to other customers. The ‘Merci Voisin’ (‘Thank you, neighbour’) app applies to online orders only, and lets customers select if they want their groceries delivered by other shoppers. Customers who want to offer their services as a courier have to register on the app, and will receive a small fee for their services, and also receive a rating. (kamcity.com)
UK retail sales slump in September
High street sales slumped last month, pushing the UK retail sector to its lowest growth rate in four years for the three months to the end of September as the impact of rising inflation and sluggish wage growth dented consumer spending power. Official figures showed the amount of goods bought by consumers fell 0.8% in September and set the UK on course for a period of slow growth in the run-up to Christmas. (theguardian.com)
UK: Supermarket sneak: bruised strawberries placed in punnets in war against food waste
Asda has started sneaking bruised and wonky strawberries into standard punnets in a war against food waste. For the past 20 weeks its packs of strawberries have contained a mix of "class 1" and "class 2" fruit instead of purely class 1. The supermarket said shoppers haven't noticed and that the trial was proving a big success. (telegraph.co.uk)