M&S's UK food business makes strong start to new year, says NIQ
British retailer Marks & Spencer's food business kept up its strong sales momentum in the early weeks of the new year, with industry data showing it to be the country's fastest growing bricks and mortar grocery retailer. Market researcher NIQ said M&S's grocery sales rose 9.7% over the 12 weeks to January 25, giving it a market share of 4.2%, up 20 basis points on the year. Online supermarket Ocado remained the fastest growing of all grocers with sales up 15.6% over the period.
Source: reuters.com
EuroCommerce joins call for swift conclusion of EU-Indonesia CEPA
EuroCommerce, as a member of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) Coalition, is among 18 Associations urging European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič to accelerate the finalisation of the CEPA between the EU and Indonesia.
Source: eurocommerce.eu
Good start in Q1 2024/25 with 7.1% sales growth
METRO increased its sales in Q1 2024/25 by 7.1% in local currency. All segments, in particular the segment East, and all sales channels contributed to the growth driven by the consistent implementation of the sCore strategy. In local currency, sales in the store-based business increased to €6.4bln (+4.5%), delivery sales to €2.1bln (+15.3%) and METRO MARKETS sales to €40mln (+17.1%). The growth was mainly due to the hospitality sector. Reported sales increased by 5.6% to €8.6bln and were affected by negative currency effects, particularly in Russia and Türkiye.
In other news: METRO and EPGC sign agreement on delisting of METRO AG.
Source: newsroom.metroag.de
Italian large-scale retail trade and grocery market grows 2% in 2024
The Italian large-scale retail trade, including online sales, saw a 1.8% annual growth in turnover to €135.1bln in 2024, up 1.9% in value and 1.5% in volume, according to latest data from NIQ. Drug stores led growth at 8.8%, followed by supermarkets (2.6%), discount stores (2.3%), and superstores (2.1%). Packaged consumer goods saw a 2% value increase, with groceries at 1.9%, fresh produce at 1.8%, and non-food at 0.7%.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Riverford employees to share £1.3mln payout as veg box firm's profits jump
Employees of Riverford will share in a payout of £1.3mln after the organic vegetable box company more than doubled profits last year. More than 1,000 staff at the Devon-based group, which began making deliveries from an old Citroën in 1993, will receive about £1,000 each as the employee-owned company nearly tripled its annual payout to workers. Riverford made pre-tax profits of £5.3mln in the year to 4 May 2024, up from £2.4mln a year earlier as sales rose by a better-than-expected 11% to £110mln, according to accounts filed at Companies House.
Source: theguardian.com
Social impact firm Too Good To Go appoints Sid Baveja as VP of Operations for Central Europe, UK and Ireland
Too Good To Go, which lays claim to the world's largest marketplace app for surplus food, has announced the appointment of Sid Baveja as its new Vice President of Operations for Central Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, and Czechia), the UK and Ireland.
Source: retailtechinnovationhub.com
Factor debuts in Germany
HelloFresh SE ("HelloFresh") announced the launch of Factor, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) Ready-to-Eat (RTE) meal service in Germany. Unlike conventional options, Factor meals are developed by dieticians, freshly prepared by chefs and aimed at health conscious consumers who want to reach their dietary goals.
Source: hellofreshgroup.com
UK: Jo Whitfield joins Asda's board of directors
Asda has announced a significant appointment to its board of directors with Jo Whitfield joining as a non-executive director. The move marks a return 'home' for Jo as she previously spent eight years with Asda and George from 2008 onwards, holding a number of senior leadership positions in operations, ecommerce, commercial, general merchandise and Asda Money & Mobile.
Source: corporate.asda.com
Data: Supermarket sales surge as Brits focus on budget-friendly cookingTotal till sales at UK supermarkets grew by 5.3% in the four weeks to 27 January, according to the latest data from NielsenIQ (NIQ). NIQ data shows that 12% of UK households purchased meat-free substitutes in the last four weeks, down slightly from 14% in the previous year. Despite this, shoppers maintained healthy eating habits, with significant growth in freshly prepared fruit and vegetable accompaniments. One standout trend in the current market is the rise in scratch cooking, with families increasingly turning to home cooking to save money. NIQ data shows that half of UK households now cook from scratch every day or most days, with around 16% doing so more frequently amid rising living costs.
Source: retailgazette.co.uk
Circle K taps RELEX Diagnostics to help improve store performance across European network
RELEX Solutions has expanded its collaboration with Circle K. RELEX Diagnostics will be implemented by the retailer to support the improvement of visibility into root causes of stockouts and increasing product availability. With over 4,800 stores operating under the Circle K brand in Europe, Circle K has a broad retail network offering fuel, electric vehicle charging stations, fresh food and beverages.
Source: retailtechinnovationhub.com
US: Walmart to cut roles, shut office in North Carolina, memo says
Walmart said it is eliminating some roles and closing its office in North Carolina, as part of its move to relocate employees to its main hubs in California and Arkansas, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
Source: reuters.com
Retailer confidence is up. Here's why.
The economic outlook for the year ahead has continued to improve among retailers and wholesalers, according to the latest Supermarket News Retailer Expectations Survey. Interestingly, more retailers - 50% - said they planned to expand their fresh offerings in 2025 than said they planned to adjust their pricing or discount strategy. Departments where retailers said they anticipated success in 2025 included fresh meat (cited by 62% of retailers) and fresh produce (54%).
Source: supermarketnews.com
Cencosud expands in Argentina with Makro and Basualdo acquisition
Chile-based retailer Cencosud is expanding its Argentinian presence with the acquisition of Makro and Basualdo supermarkets for $122.5mln (€119.3mln). The final price may be adjusted based on net debt, working capital, and other conditions established in the contract, the company noted.
Source: esmmagazine.com
US: Natural Grocers readies new location in Texas
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. will cut the ribbon on its latest Texas location on February 19. Located at 601 N. Valley Mills Drive in Waco, this is the retailer's 25th site in Texas.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Demand for delivery is not slowing down
Uber Eats reported gross bookings of $20.1bln for the fourth quarter of 2024, up from $18.7bln in the previous period. It was the company's largest quarter-over-quarter increase since the first quarter of 2021, in the thick of the pandemic.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: ReposiTrak & Upshop eliminate gaps in traceability with an end-to-end solution
The recently announced partnership between ReposiTrak and Upshop effectively ends the need for retailers to cobble together traceability solutions for FSMA 204. Retailers can leverage existing supply chain data from ReposiTrak and in-store technology from Upshop for seamless, source-to-store traceability that's fast and easy to implement.
Source: businesswire.com