US: Raley’s opens 4th O-N-E Market banner
Raley’s has opened its newest Raley’s O-N-E Market, in Roseville, California, representing the fourth store under the banner. The Raley’s O-N-E Market concept is centered around the brand acronym Organics, Nutrition and Education. The banner touts a highly curated assortment of better-for-you, natural and organic options, alongside popular conventional products, to deliver healthy and convenient options at an affordable price.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: KeHE unveils KeHE CONNECT Direct digital fulfillment
KeHE Distributors is bolstering its distribution capabilities with the launch of KeHE CONNECT Direct, a new fulfillment service that streamlines retailer procurement. KeHE CONNECT Direct is designed to expand grocery retailers’ assortment options for dry, refrigerated, and frozen items outside of their home distribution center, as well as open up access to thousands of additional new products to buy and bring to their store shelves, Naperville, Illinois-based KeHE said.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Grocery Outlet enters 8th state with new store in Maryland
Emeryville, California-based Grocery Outlet announced its latest East Coast expansion, with the opening of a new store in Maryland. Located at 1713 Massey Blvd. in Hagerstown, Maryland, the store marks the extreme-value grocer's entrance into its eighth state.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
Gorillas to leave Belgium this month
Just a week ago, Gorillas still formally denied a decision about an exit from Belgium was made. The quick commerce player admitted it would close a few warehouses, but said it would certainly remain active in both Antwerp and Brussels. However, talks with the trade unions suggested otherwise, as the delivery service said it did want to leave Belgium as quickly as possible. The 240 employees (Gorillas works with real employment contracts rather than using freelancers) are to receive almost double the legal redundancy compensation, Belgian newspaper De Standaard reports.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Australia: Students’ startup saves 600,000kg of veggies from landfill
Startup Farmers Pick has saved 600,000 kgs of produce from going to waste amid a growing national food crisis. Farmers Pick says food waste is responsible for 8% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions while nearly 5mln Australians experience food insecurity. Joshua Ball and Joshua Brooks-Duncan founded the company in 2020 to offer a cost-effective, environmentally friendly option for food shopping. The pair would collect rejected fruits and vegetables from supermarkets and deliver them directly to customers’ doorsteps.
Source: insidefmcg.com.au
China's JD.com posts slowest growth ever in '618' shopping event
Total sales by China's e-commerce giant JD.com rose 10.3% over the 18 days to Sunday during the first major shopping festival since a recent COVID-19 outbreak, the company said, sharply down from the 2021 event's growth of 27.7%. Chinese shoppers purchased 379.3bln yuan ($56.48bln) of goods on JD's platform over the "618" period, it said on its official WeChat account.
Source: reuters.com
Product shortages costing supermarkets millions in lost revenue
In recent months, the widespread disruption to supply chains has led to out-of-stock situations on shelves in supermarkets across Western Europe. New data from NielsenIQ shows that in France, Spain and the UK, approximately 4% of FMCG products were out-of-stock on the shelf in 2022 for an average of four days, costing retailers millions in lost revenue. Dan Sutton, Analytics Manager of Retail Collaborative Solutions at NielsenIQ, commented: “While a 4% out-of-stock rate might seem small, the value in missed sales this represents is huge. The 4.4% out-of-stock rate in France resulted in €851mln in missed sales, while in the UK, this 4.0% figure represents approximately £1bln in missed sales”.
Source: kamcity.com
Pieter Pot expands to Wallonia
Dutch packaging-free web supermarket Pieter Pot has started delivering to Brussels and Wallonia, half a year after expanding to Dutch-speaking Belgium. A French version of the website is coming soon, while French-speaking customers can already start subscribing.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Germany: Edeka Nord posts group sales of €3.8bln in full year
German retailer Edeka Nord has reported 7.7% growth in consolidated group sales, to €3.8bln, in its financial year 2021. Independent merchants at Edeka Nord saw like-for-like sales growth of 2.9% during the financial year, the group added. Edeka Nord opened three new stores, took over two former real properties, relocated six properties and expanded ten outlets during this period.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: City traders betting on squeeze at supermarket giant Asda as it grapples with huge debt pile and consumer slump
City traders are betting on a squeeze at supermarket giant Asda as it grapples with a huge debt pile and a consumer slump. The food retailer was snapped up less than two years ago by Blackburn brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, along with private equity firm TDR Capital. The deal, fuelled by borrowing money from corporate lenders, has left the company with about £4bln of debt.
Source: thisismoney.co.uk
Iceland, Danish supermarkets primed for Thai delicacies
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit led a trade delegation to Denmark and Iceland to introduce Thai products, promote the Kingdom and boost the country's customer base. He visited the MENY supermarket, which has more than 100 outlets in Denmark and 200 worldwide. “We plan to open a direct channel for Thai products and put them on the shelves without changing labels or going through middlemen, which will help reduce costs”, the minister said. “The first batch will include ready-to-eat meals, seasoning, organic foods and fruits. These should be on the shelves in the next three to six months”. Jurin also took the delegation to Reykjavik’s Kronan supermarket, which has 23 branches across Iceland and sells products imported from China, Vietnam and Thailand. Jurin expects to add coconut milk, ready-to-eat meals, fruits and organic foods to the shelves at Kronan and has instructed the Department of International Trade Promotion to coordinate with manufacturers, exporters and the Icelandic supermarket to add Thai products to the shelves as soon as possible.
Source: nationthailand.com
Russian discounter Mere fails to get permit for second Belgian store
Just days after Russian discounter Mere succeeded in opening its first store in Belgium, it was denied a permit to open a second one. An appeals procedure, asking to be granted a permit for its Couvin store, achieved nothing.
Source: retaildetail.eu