UK: Asda partners with Publicis Sapient to deliver full transformation of its online grocery business
Asda Stores LTD and Publicis Sapient, the digital business transformation company, have announced a partnership to transform Asda’s online grocery business, enabling the retailer on its journey of independence from former owner Walmart Inc, and helping Asda build its digital future. The hugely ambitious programme will see Publicis Sapient take on the overall transformation of Asda’s ecommerce capability, delivering a new digital platform before April 2024.
Source: corporate.asda.com
India: Agritech startup Otipy plans to raise $75mln
Agritech startup Otipy, which sells fruits, vegetables and groceries online, plans to raise $75mln or about Rs620crore to scale up its business that is likely to grow more than two times to Rs170crore this fiscal, its founder Varun Khurana said.
Source: bqprime.com
South Africa: Pick n Pay becomes first retailer to stop using barrier bags at till points 
Pick n Pay has removed all plastic barrier bags from its till points - a first in South Africa that will prevent over 20mln of these small bags from entering the environment. Pick n Pay will still have barrier bags in its fruit and vegetable section for loose produce but continues to encourage customers to use alternatives, such as re-useable netted produce bags, which it stocks in all its stores nationwide.
Source: picknpayinvestor.co.za
Lidl Northern Ireland announces region-wide roll out of ‘Waste Not’ fruit and veg boxes
Lidl Northern Ireland has become the first supermarket retailer in the region to implement a rollout of a major new initiative aimed at reducing food waste and bringing shoppers even more savings at the tills. Lidl Northern Ireland’s Waste Not boxes, priced at just £2.50, will contain at least 5kg of mixed fruit and vegetables which are perfectly good to eat but have been separated from other products which have become slightly damaged and removed from multipacks.
Source: northernirelandchamber.com
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Lulu opens new hypermarket in Al-Khobar
Lulu Group has further expanded its presence in the Eastern Region by opening its latest Hypermarket in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The 100,000 sq. feet single level hypermarket is located in Al Rakkah district and will showcase abundant range of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood from around the world, an in-house bakery to serve up fresh-baked breads and cakes, as well as shopping options that tap into new award-winning trends. These include a wide selection of plant- based meat substitutes and foods, a special organic and superfood selections and an extensive ‘free-from’ range varieties.
Source: saudigazette.com.sa
African online retailer Jumia's Q4 losses narrow on cost savings
African e-commerce firm Jumia Technologies said that cost savings had helped it reduce fourth quarter losses by 30% from a year earlier, with a further sharp drop expected this year. The company, the first Africa-focused tech start-up to list on the New York Stock Exchange, reported an adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $49.2mln in the three months ended December 31 from $70mln in the same period of 2021.
Source: reuters.com
Greece: Five supermarket chains fined for profiteering
Five leading supermarket chains have been fined a total of 382,497 euros for over-pricing their products, the Development Ministry announced. The biggest fine, which is also the second-largest on record in Greece, went to the Dutch-owned AB Vassilopoulos chain, which faces a bill of 319,900.
Source: ekathimerini.com
Belgium: Train passengers can now buy fresh produce directly in Schaerbeek train station
Belgian railway company SCNB is opening ten takeaway points for fresh and local produce in stations, giving people the possibility of picking up fruit and vegetable parcels and other local products when getting off the train, directly from local producers. The project will be launched in Schaerbeek (Brussels), Mol and Sint-Niklaas (both in Flanders), and Waremme, Braine-le-Comte, Jurbise, La Louviere-Sud, Leuze, Luttre, Saint-Ghislain (all in Wallonia).
Source: brusselstimes.com
Indonesia tech firm GoTo expects positive adjusted EBITDA in Q4, 2023
Indonesia's biggest tech firm PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia said that adjusted EBITDA is expected to turn positive in the last quarter of 2023 due to its cost management measures. GoTo said gross transaction value (GTV) in the last quarter of 2022 stood at 162tln rupiah ($10.69bln), up by 18% annually. GTV for the full 2022 year was 613tln rupiah, up by a third from the previous year on a pro forma basis.
Source: reuters.com
Amazon funds the world’s first commercial-scale seaweed farm located between offshore wind turbines
Amazon has announced it is funding the world’s first commercial-scale seaweed farm located between offshore wind turbines. The project known as North Sea Farm 1 will be located in a wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands.
Source: aboutamazon.co.uk
US: Ahold CEO cites progress on sustainability, employment
Ahold Delhaize has made “good strides” in its efforts to reduce food waste and its use of plastics in the U.S., Frans Muller, CEO of Ahold Delhaize, told SN. The efforts are part of a broader effort around sustainability that includes a goal of having net zero CO2 emissions by 2040 for its overall operation.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: H-E-B ranked among the top employers by Forbes
H-E-B is the leading grocer in Forbes magazine’s list of the best large employers in the U.S. In rankings based on a survey of about 45,000 workers at U.S. companies and institutions with 5,000 or more employees, Forbes listed H-E-B fifth overall in its top-500 list.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Will Walmart open wallets? Prices in focus as retailer reports earnings
Walmart Inc's results on Tuesday will provide Wall Street with new details on what items American shoppers are buying as rising grocery prices squeeze their wallets. The world's biggest retailer with more than 5,000 U.S. stores is expected to post a roughly $7bln rise in sales for the fourth-quarter ended January 31, up 4.5%. Higher-income shoppers in recent months have been drawn to its "Everyday Low Price" strategy.
Source: reuters.com
US: The Fresh Market launches first retail media network for shoppable livestreams
The Fresh Market is launching what the company said is a first-of-its kind retail media network for vendors seeking to post shoppable ads during the retailer’s livestreamed online broadcasts.
Source: supermarketnews.com
Brazil's Americanas makes offer to creditors but no deal reached
Brazilian retailer Americanas SA failed to reach a deal on proposal to creditors that included a multi-billion-real capital injection by key shareholders as part of its bankruptcy process. The retailer said the offer presented to creditors by financial advisor Rothschild & Co included a capital increase of 7bln reais ($1.34bln) backed by the trio formed by Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupura. The proposal also included the repurchase of debt of about 12bln reais and conversion of roughly 18bln reais in debt to equity, Americanas added in a securities filing, while noting no deal had been reached.
Source: reuters.com