Aldi to become highest-paying UK supermarket as it raises hourly wage to £11
Aldi is raising its starting pay for all supermarkets store assistants to £11 an hour, with London workers getting £12.45. Around 26,000 store colleagues will benefit from the increase, which will come into force from January 1, 2023.
Source: mirror.co.uk
Sri Lanka: Cargills FoodCity opens its 500th outlet
Home-grown Sri Lankan brand Cargills FoodCity achieved another milestone with the opening of its 500th retail outlet while also marking its 39th anniversary - since opening the first outlet in 1983. The latest outlet was opened in Akuregoda, Battaramulla. To date, it is the only supermarket to operate in the North and East. The company is the single largest collector of fresh produce, sourcing fresh fruits and vegetables from a network of over 5000 farmers and contributes over 4% of the national production in fruits and vegetables.
Source: sundaytimes.lk
South Africa: Checkers opens in Merino Mall creating 73 new jobs in Ermelo
Checkers has opened its first world-class Fresh X supermarket in Ermelo, Mpumalanga at the newly built Merino Mall. Checkers FreshX Ermelo Mall will offer customers a unique shopping experience, including: exclusive private label brands such as Forage & Feast and Simple Truth; a Meat Market with free range chicken and restaurant-quality steak; a sushi bar; a selection of meats and veggies expertly prepared on an imported rodizio grill; fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers; a Foreign Ground coffee shop; a Money Market counter.
Source: shopriteholdings.co.za
UK: Asda completes acquisition of 132 Co-Op sites
Asda has confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of 132 grocery retail sites, with attached petrol stations, from The Co-Op as part of its strategy to enter the convenience retail space and create an exciting new part of the Asda business that brings Asda value to more Asda communities.
Source: corporate.asda.com
The rise of the vegetables - and vegan hemp burgers!
From cauliflower pizza and rice paper rolls to vegan sausage rolls, new data shows Kiwis are ordering healthy takeaways in growing numbers. Data from online food delivery platform Menulog shows a 30% increase in orders of vegan dishes in 2022 compared to last year. Orders for vegetarian dishes were up 21% for the same period.
Source: scoop.co.nz
South Africa: Pick n Pay opens new ultra-modern, energy efficient flagship store in Cape Town
Pick n Pay has unveiled its new flagship store in Cape Town. The Waterstone store in Somerset West will be the model for what customers can come to expect at all revamped Pick n Pay stores in the future: all stores boast a new coffee bar, and customers are welcomed with an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, creative and curated product displays and spacious aisles.
Source: picknpayinvestor.co.za
Norway: Coop to sell more than 800 tonnes of pumpkins 
Coop Norway hopes to set a new record for pumpkin sales this year, exceeding last year's figure of 640 tonnes. The retailer expects to sell more than 800 tonnes this year, or approximately 160,000 pumpkins, it said in a press release. In previous years, Coop Norway has had to meet the requirement for pumpkins across its stores with Danish supplies. However, this year, it will only sell Norwegian produce, thanks to favourable conditions for growing and drying pumpkins.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Colruyt considers ‘just walk out’ technology
Okay Direct, Colruyt Group‘s recently awarded autonomous city store concept, plans to open additional branches in the near future and is looking at new features such as seamless payment according to the ‘just walk out’ principle.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Australia: Coles tells its suppliers to cut costs as supermarket inflation soars
Coles has told its suppliers to cut operational costs instead of requesting price rises, warning the supermarket giant may not accept their request for a cost increase even if they can prove their inputs have gone up. “All businesses will incur impacts to the cost of doing business at some point”, Coles wrote to suppliers, according to The Australian, which obtained the note. Coles’ first quarter trading update showed fresh food inflation continued to be driven by bakery, with higher wheat prices, as well as fresh produce such as berries and bananas.
Source: news.com.au
France's Casino mulls sale of $500mln stake in Brazil's Assai
Brazilian cash-and-carry chain Assai said that its largest shareholder, France's Casino, had started studies to potentially sell a $500mln stake in the company. The figure could be increased, if market conditions allow, Assai said in a securities filing. The deal is set to take the form of a secondary public offering and be completed by the end of November.
Source: reuters.com
US: Save Mart begins grocery delivery with Amazon
Modesto, California-based Save Mart said that Save Mart banner stores in Lathrop and Ceres, California, now offer two-hour grocery delivery via Amazon. Plans call for Save Mart to soon launch Amazon delivery at more stores in California’s Central Valley.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Specialty Food Association Trendspotter Panel predicts top 2023 specialty food trends
The Specialty Food Association (SFA) Trendspotter Panel has predicted what will be hot in specialty food for 2023. 2 of the 9 trends the Trendspotter Panel anticipates for 2023: Environmentally Friendly Foods: Plant-based foods' continuing growth plays a role here. Ingredients like mushrooms, seaweed, and jackfruit have been developed into different products and pasta's pandemic-fueled comeback made room for more innovation with black rice, pumpkin, red lentils, lupini, and purple carrots. International Fruits: Amid the tightening pressures of a global recession and a slowing economy, consumers want to elicit feelings of escapism without travel or exorbitant cost. "Enter international fruits - alternative citrus, melons, and stone fruits wildly colorful and in extraordinary shapes and flavors - to invoke a sense of faraway destinations, new flavors, textures, colors, and possibilities", says Mikel Cirkus, Firmenich. Expect to see more as ingredients in beverages, sweets, snacks, and on their own.
Source: prnewswire.com
Mexico: FEMSA posts drop in Q3 earnings on increased costs
Mexican bottler and retailer Femsa posted a drop in third-quarter net profit to 10.75bln pesos ($534.10mln), down 23.8% from a year ago as operating costs jumped. Quarterly revenue rose 20.5% year-on-year to 171.66bln pesos ($8.66bln), driven by increased sales across markets and beating the Refinitiv consensus of 163.17bln pesos.
Source: reuters.com
US: United Natural Foods to offer Smart Shelf Tags from Cornerstone for Natural
North American grocery wholesaler United Natural Foods has announced an agreement with Cornerstone for Natural to brings its Smart Shelf Tag programme to UNFI’s suppliers and retailers. Smart Shelf Tags contain ELi QR Codes, pitched as an enhanced, more secure version of a QR code, which can be scanned to provide shoppers with additional product information and content on their mobile phones without requiring an app.
Source: retailtechinnovationhub.com
US: Wakefern reports a record year
It has been a record-breaking year for Wakefern, the country’s largest retailer-owned cooperative. The Keasbey, New Jersey-based company announced $18.6bln in retail sales for the fiscal year ended October 1. That’s a 4.69% increase over the previous year. Wakefern’s Price Rite Marketplace reported retail sales of $850mln, a 6% jump over the year before.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com