'Containergeddon': Supply crisis drives Walmart and rivals to hire their own ships
“Chartering vessels is just one example of investments we’ve made to move products as quickly as possible”, said Joe Metzger, U.S. executive vice president of supply-chain operations at Walmart, which has hired a number of vessels this year.
Source: reuters.com
US: Hy-Vee, Northgate Gonzalez Market and Cub Foods receive FMI’s Community Uplift Awards
The Food Industry Association announced the recipients of the 2021 Community Uplift Awards, following the evaluation of 21 laudable program nominees. Among these nominees, Hy-Vee, Northgate Market and Cub Foods stood out for their especially unique and impactful youth development, food insecurity and neighborhood health improvement programs, respectively.
Source: fmi.org
A2Z Smart Technologies launches 1st pilot in U.S. with Morton Williams Supermarkets
A2Z Smart Technologies Corp. ("A2Z" or the "Company") announced a pilot program for its Cust2mate smart carts with Morton Williams Supermarkets, a leading upscale grocery store chain, operating 16 stores in the New York metropolitan area. The 60-day pilot program will employ 50 (fifty) Cust2Mate smart carts at 2 of the chain's locations. The pilot is scheduled to start the end of Q4 of 2021.
Source: accesswire.com
US: KeHE to open new distribution center in Arizona
This month, KeHE Distributors plans to open its 17th distribution center in Goodyear, Arizona. Naperville, Illinois-based KeHE said that the 500,000-square-foot DC in Goodyear, a Phoenix suburb, will enable the company to provide faster distribution and improved service to key grocery retail customers in the Southwest region.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Softbank-backed Reef Technology to buy Israeli logistics startup Bond
Reef Technology, a Miami-based operator of parking, mobility, and logistics hubs across North America backed by Japanese multinational Softbank, announced that it signed an agreement to acquire Israeli startup Bond, the developer of a logistics platform for the e-commerce industry. Bond was initially founded in 2017 in Tel Aviv as Shookit, a direct-to-consumer grocery startup that delivered fresh produce to clients in the city within hours.
Source: timesofisrael.com
Sachem Head owns US Foods stake, plans to push for changes
Investment firm Sachem Head Capital Management LP said that it owns a stake in US Foods Holding Corp and plans to push for changes at the food service company.
Source: reuters.com
US: Costco Wholesale Corporation reports September sales results
Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco” or the “Company”) reported net sales of $19.50bln for the retail month of September, the 5 weeks ended October 3, 2021, an increase of 15.8% from $16.84bln last year.
Source: globenewswire.com
Walmart Canada plans a hiring spree
Walmart Canada says it plans to hire 12,000 permanent new employees to staff its retail stores, warehouses and delivery trucks. The retailer says its hiring spree will include on-the-spot job interviews across the country on October 14 and 15.
Source: canadiangrocer.com
US: Instacart acquires online catering platform FoodStorm
Expanding further within the grocery channel, Instacart has purchased catering e-commerce software provider FoodStorm. Financial terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. With the deal, San Francisco-based Instacart will add FoodStorm’s order management software-as-a-service (SaaS) to its suite of enterprise grocery e-commerce solutions, enabling Instacart retail partners to offer order-ahead catering services online. FoodStorm’s team, based in New York and in Melbourne, Australia, also will join Instacart.
Source: supermarketnews.com
UK: Firms warn of price rises as energy costs soar
High energy costs are forcing manufacturers to warn of higher prices for their goods as they pass on increases to consumers. Iceland boss Richard Walker said higher energy bills and other costs meant price rises were now "inevitable". The warning came as analysts predicted that household energy bills could rise by hundreds of pounds next year.
Source: bbc.com
UK: Asda rolls out one-hour Express Delivery service to more stores
Asda has announced that it will extend its one-hour (Express Delivery in one hour is subject to slot availability, distance from an Asda store and the number of items selected) Express Delivery service to 96 stores to provide customers with speedier and more convenient delivery options.
Source: corporate.asda.com
Taiwan's Pxmart offered Carrefour, RT-Mart stores: chairman
PX Mart Co Ltd chairman Lin Ming-hsiung said that both RT-Mart International Ltd and Carrefour Taiwan had approached him with sales offers. Lin told local media on the sidelines of a public event that both companies had asked about the supermarket chain operator’s interest in buying them out. He declined to comment further as the topic is sensitive, local media reported.
Source: taipeitimes.com
Philippines: AllDay banks on premiumization of Filipino middle class
AllDay Supermarket, the fastest growing supermarket operator in the Philippines, is establishing itself as a leading player in the mid-premium supermarket segment in recognition of the growing buying power of the Filipino middle-class. “AllDay has always held itself to a global standard as we differentiate ourselves from the local supermarket landscape”, said Manuel B. Villar Jr., chairman of AllValue, AllDay’s parent company.
Source: mb.com.ph
Australia: Woolworths settles 2019 class action over underpaying staff
Australia's biggest grocery chain Woolworths Group Ltd said it has provisionally settled a class action lawsuit filed against it by a Canberra law firm in 2019 for underpaying supermarket workers.
Source: reuters.com
Casino's ecommerce arm Cnova defers capital increase and drops earlier guidance
Cnova NV, the e-commerce arm of French retailer Casino, said it had decided to defer an earlier fund-raising plan, and could no longer confirm financial guidance given in June due to challenging third quarter business conditions.
Source: reuters.com
European food retailers: The bitter digital aftertaste of the Covid-19 legacy
Aurélien Duthoit of Euler Hermes reported: "The Covid-19 crisis has fast-forwarded Europe’s e-commerce transition by 4 to 5 years, especially in food retail: In the top 5 markets, e-commerce penetration now ranges from between 3% to 11% of grocery sales. But we estimate that every percentage of grocery sales moving online threatens EUR13.6bln in sales and up to EUR1.9bln in profits (4% of total)".
Source: eulerhermes.com
UK: Asda launches incubator programme to support emerging brandsAsda has announced it will launch an incubator programme to support emerging and entrepreneurial brands in bringing exciting products into its stores. The ‘Nurture’ programme will give innovative suppliers easier access to shelf space and the opportunity to work with Asda in getting new products into the hands of shoppers.
Source: corporate.asda.com