JD.com partners with southern region of Thailand for joint durian harvesting initiative
JD.com and Chumphon in southern Thailand announced a new collaboration for centralized durian harvesting, the first of its kind between a Chinese company and the southern durian-producing region of Thailand. The southern region of Thailand is expected to produce 670,000 tons of durians this year, a 44% increase compared to 2022.
Source: jdcorporateblog.com
Luxembourg: Fresh focus on sustainability for school free fruit program
The Ministry of Agriculture has issued a call to tender for the 15th edition of the free fruit programme for schools, which supplies nearly 400 educational facilities in the Grand Duchy with fresh fruit.
Source: today.rtl.lu
Australia: Organic vegetable consumers getting involved with cooperative supermarket alternative
When Britnie Hocking moved to South Australia's Riverland a decade ago, she found it hard to access fresh vegetables, despite the region growing food and vegetables in abundance. Ms. Hocking has started ordering boxes of organic produce through a cooperative. Adelaide Hills farmer Vanessa Comley said she had been inundated with interest in her organic produce cooperative since expanding it to the Riverland last month. Ms. Comley said she started selling produce boxes through her business, SA Organics, about 15 years ago because of her own health issues.
Source: abc.net.au
Poland: Hugo Mesquita to step in as director general of Delikatesy Centrum
Wholesaler Eurocash Group has appointed Hugo Mesquita as director general of the Delikatesy Centrum supermarket chain. Mesquita will join Eurocash Group in September of this year to assume the new role and lead the chain, which operates more than 400 stores in Poland.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim reports a 74% jump in H1 2023 net profit
Dubai-based retail conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim, which operates across the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia, reported a 74% year-on-year jump in H1 2023 net profit to 1.7bln dirhams ($463mln).
Source: zawya.com
Germany: How Lidl aims to become a hard discount retailer again
Lidl has revealed its new store concept: with a minimalist layout, the retailer is focusing more strongly on price-conscious shoppers again. Productivity on the floor also needs to increase, the discounter says. In recently converted Lidl stores in Germany, the beautiful wine aisle has once again given way to a "normal" shop rack. The fruit and vegetable department also looks more austere, as does the drugstore aisle.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Australia: Woolworths wants customers to spend less this Spring
From Wednesday, August 23 until November 28, 2023, Woolworths will drop the prices of more than 450 products as part of its seasonal Prices Dropped for Spring program: Australian Washed White Potatoes 2kg pack - was $7.50, now $4. Customers can also take advantage of great value on seasonal vegetables right now, such as zucchini, capsicum, and broccoli, with most vegetables around 20% cheaper than a year ago (based on data from Jul 2022 vs Jul 2023). Fresh bagged salad varieties (120g) - was $3, now $2.20. Qukes baby cucumbers (250g pack) - was $4.50, now $3. Solanato tomato punnet (200g pack) - was $4.50, now $3. Australian Snackables Carrots (250g pack) - was $3.90, now $3. 5 pack fruit range - was $3.50, now $2.50.
Source: woolworthsgroup.com.au
Poland: Dino Polska sees like-for-like sales up by close to a quarter in first half
Retailer Dino Polska has reported a like-for-like sales increase of 23.3% in the first half of its financial year, driven by the group's 'clear product assortment and price positioning,' it said in a statement. Reported sales were up 38.3% compared to the same period last year, to PLN12.1bln (€2.71bln), due to a rapid increase in stores in the past year.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Top 10 Chinese fresh commerce apps in H1 2023
Hema, the app for Hema Xiansheng, Alibaba Group's supermarket chain, has topped the list of China's fresh commerce apps in the first half of the year, according to a recent release of China Internet Weekly. Dmall, a digital retail platform of Wumart Group, as well as JD Daojia, China's local on-demand retail platform of JD.com, are also on the list.
Source: chinadaily.com.cn
Namdhari's eyes up to $30mln for expansion
Premium grocery retail chain Namdhari's Agro Fresh Pvt. Ltd is looking to raise between $20mln and $30mln as it looks to scale beyond South India. Meanwhile, increasing competition from quick-commerce firms and online grocery delivery platforms is also prompting retailers like Bengaluru-based Namdhari's to boost investments in their brand and scale operations.
Source: livemint.com
Australia: Woolworths' big trolley move could change how you shopWoolworths has announced a $35 divider that separates shopping trolleys into five core food groups in line with the government's dietary guidelines to help customers understand how to shop for a balanced diet. The dividers were rolled out in collaboration with Healthylife, an online health and wellness platform and pharmacy. They include four labeled compartments for each of the core food groups - fruit, vegetables and legumes, grains, meat, and dairy - alongside the smallest divider, which is dedicated to "sometimes" foods.
Source: news.com.au
Germany: Online grocer Picnic enters Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate
Online supermarket Picnic has expanded its business to Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, and Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. The move follows weeks after the online retailer launched its services in Hamburg and Berlin.
Source: esmmagazine.com
US: Dollar General in Richmond Dale is now open
Dollar General announced its store at 170 O'Dell Alley in Richmond Dale is now open. The new store features a curated assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables, including lettuce, tomatoes, onions, apples, strawberries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lemons, limes, salad mixes, and more.
Source: eu.chillicothegazette.com
Chile's Cencosud more than doubles profit as shop margins spike
Reuters reported: "Chilean retailer Cencosud posted a 163% rise in its net profit for the second quarter of 2023, boosted by an improvement in the profitability of its shopping centers operations. Cencosud's net profit totaled 143bln pesos ($178mln), it said. The figure excludes the financial effects of operations in neighboring Argentina, which is suffering from triple-digit inflation".
Source: nasdaq.com
US: AI-powered grocery and recipe delivery service Hungryroot announces 67% revenue growth in first half of 2023
Hungryroot, the AI-driven healthy grocery and recipe service that is redefining food-at-home, making it more personal, sustainable, and economical, announced 1H 2023 revenue of $182mln, a YOY increase of 67%. The last quarter was an inflection point in Hungryroot's growth story. The company achieved YTD profitability and is set up for continued profitable growth in 2023 and beyond.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Boxed.com to make return under new owner
Bankrupt online bulk-products retailer Boxed.com is getting a second life. MSG Distributors, a Farmingdale, New York-based regional distributor of consumables and household items, said that it has acquired Boxed's intellectual property and affiliates and plans to relaunch the e-tail brand in the business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) markets. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
Argentina sets grocery price controls for 90 days to tame inflation
Argentina's government has announced a price agreement for supermarkets to limit monthly increases to a maximum of 5% for 90 days as the country tries to tamp down triple-digit inflation as a high-stakes election looms.
Source: esmmagazine.com