UK: Eat Out scheme takes bite out of grocery sales growth
Britain’s grocery sales growth slowed to 8.0% year-on-year in August, the lowest since April, hurt by a state-funded scheme designed to get people to return to pubs, cafes and restaurants during the COVID crisis, industry data showed. Market researcher Kantar said fewer meals eaten at home meant UK shoppers spent 155mln pounds less in supermarkets in August compared with July, as the “Eat Out to Help out” scheme ran throughout the month and some aspects of pre-pandemic life resumed. Over the 12 weeks to September 6 grocery sales rose 10.8%, with many households still working from home. Kantar said online grocery sales rose 77% year-on-year in August, bringing the cumulative increase in orders to 3.2bln pounds since lockdown began. Online pioneer Ocado was the fastest growing grocer over the 12-week period with sales up 41.2%. Of Britain's big four supermarket groups, Morrisons, the No. 4 player, was the best performer with sales up 12.9%. Market leader Tesco saw growth of 10.5%, while Sainsbury's sales were up 8.0%. Walmart owned Asda was again the laggard with growth of 6.3%. Sales at the Co-operative Group rose by 13.4%, but increased by more than double that rate in northern England, where local lockdowns meant consumers continued to shop closer to home.
Source: uk.reuters.com
Vietnam: Bach Hoa Xanh to invest in high-tech agriculture
Mobile World Corporation, which operates a chain of convenience stores called Bach Hoa Xanh, will partner farmers to grow clean vegetables for sale at its stores. The retailer will invest in a model of growing clean vegetables in 4K Farms with four criteria: No pesticides; No growth agents; No preservatives; No genetically modified varieties. A team of experts will work with the farmers to grow the vegetables in a greenhouse. Besides transferring the technology, the retailer will commit to buying the produce and selling it in Bach Hoa Xanh stores. The farmers will have the land available, while 4K Farm will provide the investment, planning to meet market demand and necessary material to ensure product quality.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Swiss retail giant Migros slashes prices on 600 products
Faced with the competition from Aldi and Lidl, Switzerland’s largest supermarket chain is now cutting prices by at least 10% on several hundred products. Three-quarters of the discounted items are from the food sector and the rest are other consumer items. Their prices will be reduced before the end of the year. "The new price discounts should convince people to think of Migros when they are planning their purchases”, the company spokesperson told Swiss media outlet 20 Minuten.
Source: thelocal.ch
Amazon Australia partners with Myer for parcel collection
Amazon has partnered with Australian department store chain Myer to introduce its Amazon Hub parcel collection service in Myer’s stores. The Amazon Hub parcel pickup points will be rolled out to 21 of Myer’s stores. The service allows Amazon customers to select a Myer store location as their delivery location upon checkout for delivery to an Amazon Hub location. Once their parcel arrives in-store they receive an email notification with a unique code to present at the nominated store. The service works with Free Expedited Delivery and Standard Delivery options and is available to Prime members at no extra cost. There are plans to roll out the service to further Myer stores before Christmas.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
British home working drives 5.3% August grocery sales growth: Nielsen
British grocery sales rose by 5.3% year-on-year in the four weeks to September 5, boosted by households working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed. Market researcher Nielsen said, however, that the growth was down from 7% in last month’s report, adding that supermarkets in Britain had continuing strong online sales over the period, up 102%, while sales at stores fell by 1.6%. “Food retail sales are still being boosted by households working from home, and such disruptions are expected to continue for the foreseeable future,” Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight, said in a statement.
Source: reuters.com
US: Weis Markets expands Low, Low Price Program to produce
Weis Markets announced the expansion of its Low, Low Price Program to its produce department, reducing prices on 60 of its best-selling items, including bananas, potatoes, apples and bagged salads. Launched in January 2019, when prices were reduced on 7,000 items throughout the store, the Low, Low Price program is designed to be the lowest everyday price in the market. “Our Low, Low Price program for grocery items has helped customers save millions of dollars since it launched”, said Ron Bonacci, VP of advertising and marketing for Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based Weis Markets. “The logical next step is extending it to produce to help customers save even more.”
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: H-E-B will deploy micro fulfillment in response to e-commerce rise
As more grocery shoppers use e-commerce, H-E-B is responding to that rising demand by installing automated micro-fulfillment centers (MFC), joining one of the hottest trends in food retail. H-E-B will deploy equipment and software from Swisslog to support the retailer’s curbside pickup and delivery business. Micro-fulfillment centers are designed to streamline online fulfillment and moving it closer to the customer. In this case, MFCs will allow H-E-B to efficiently meet the growing demand for curbside pickup without negatively impacting customer experience in the store.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: GrubMarket expands to Texas with the acquisition of Fresh Tex Produce
GrubMarket announced it has completed the acquisition of Fresh Tex Produce, a highly-reputable and well-scaled provider of a wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables, with established customer base in Texas, New England, Midwest, and other major metropolitan areas around the U.S., including some of the biggest and most renowned grocery store chains across the country. This is GrubMarket's first acquisition in Texas, and the company plans to continue bolstering its strategic presence in the region. Fresh Tex Produce will remain based in Alamo, and will continue to be managed by its current leadership team.
Source: prnewswire.com
Why Walmart still wants in on the TikTok deal
Walmart Inc said it is pressing ahead with its goal to invest in TikTok as Oracle Corp takes the lead in a partnership with the Chinese video-sharing app. Oracle beat Microsoft Corp in the battle for the U.S. arm of TikTok with a deal structured as a partnership rather than an outright sale to try to navigate geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington. Walmart had teamed up with Microsoft on the unsuccessful bid.
Source: reuters.com
US: ALDI unveils Top 20 Fan Favorite products for 2020
ALDI released the second annual Fan Favorites survey results, showcasing a powerful testament to #ALDILove, with more than 177,000 shoppers voting for their most-loved ALDI-exclusive products across 20 categories. The results are in, and ALDI is proud to share this year's Fan Favorites. Mama Cozzi's Take & Bake Deli Pizza earned the title of overall winner and repeated as the Fan Favorite in the easy meal category, receiving more than 55,000 votes. Winner in the category Produce is: Avocados.
Source: prnewswire.com