Canada: Organic Garage finalizes its transition to a decentralized distribution model; anticipates savings of $1mln annually
Organic Garage Ltd. (“Organic Garage” or the “Company”), one of Canada’s leading independent organic grocers, announced that it has finalized the closing of its distribution and warehouse facility and has moved to a fully decentralized distribution model. Cost savings from the transition are anticipated to exceed $1mln annually.
Source: businesswire.com
Amazon expanding garage grocery delivery
Amazon announced that it is expanding Key by Amazon In-Garage Grocery Delivery to everywhere grocery delivery from Amazon is available, providing the service to more than 5,000 U.S. cities and towns. Originally launched in 5 cities last November, Key In-Garage Grocery Delivery proved to be very popular with Amazon customers, according to the company. It can now be used by millions more eligible Prime members wishing to have their Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market groceries delivered inside their garage to keep packages safe from weather, damage and sticky-fingered neighbors.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Full Circle Home and Farmbox Direct tackle food waste
Full Circle Home, a sustainable home care brand, announced its partnership with Farmbox Direct, a fresh produce delivery and subscription company. The partnership aims to bring light to the mounting environmental impact food waste has on our planet and its resources.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: PCC Community Markets sales up more than 25% in fiscal 2020
Seattle-based PCC Community Markets (PCC), the largest community-owned food market in the U.S., reported 2020 grocery sales totaling $383.2mln, up 26.1% from the prior year, with net income - including one-time impacts from historical tax refunds - of $2.7mln, up 26.4% from the previous year. PCC also said it gave back more than 60% of its profit to its community, including its first-ever member dividend totaling $3.9mln.
Source: supermarketnews.com
Russia: Lenta sees sales and gross margin up in Q1 2021
Russian retailer Lenta has reported a 2.4% year-on-year growth in gross profit to RUB23.4bln (€260mln) in the first quarter of its financial year, with gross margin increasing 26 basis points year-on-year to 21.8%. EBITDA amounted to RUB6.7bln (€74mln) in this period, while the EBITDA margin was 6.2%.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Portuguese shoppers increase visits to supermarkets but buy less
Portuguese consumers made more visits to supermarkets since the start of 2021, but the value and size of the shopping basket has decreased compared to 2020. A market analysis by Kantar for Centromarca shows that Portuguese consumers made three more shopping trips during the second lockdown (starting on 15 January 2021) compared to the first lockdown (2 March to 31 December 2020).
Source: esmmagazine.com
Colruyt acquires foodservice operator in Belgium
Colruyt Group has acquired Culinoa, which is described as ‘a foodservice partner [that] guide and supports over 100 large-scale kitchens of healthcare institutions in Belgium’. The company said the purchase fitted with its ‘ambition to respond to the evolving needs of professional customers and to promote quality catering’.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
UK: Sainsbury's profit down 39% as COVID-19 costs offset strong sales
Britain’s Sainsbury’s reported a 39% fall in full year underlying pre-tax profit to 356mln pounds ($494mln) as strong food sales during the pandemic were outweighed by extra costs and the forgoing of business rates relief.
Source: reuters.com
Belgium: Delhaize to change name to focus on local products
Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize is becoming "Belhaize". With this marketing stunt, the retailer wants to draw attention to its focus on local products. The Belgian retailer, in Dutch hands since 2016, will not really change its name: just 2 of the almost 800 stores will get the new logo and the webshop will remain at delhaize.be. However, a number of private label products will temporarily be rebranded and local products will benefit from a better focus in stores and online.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Holland: Jumbo raises €200mln in first 'Schuldschein' transaction
Dutch retailer Jumbo Supermarkten has announced that it has raised €200mln on the Schuldschein market. Schuldschein is a private loan taken out directly under German law with investors, mainly from the banking, insurance and pension sectors. The amount raised was twice as much as the supermarket had targeted due to the high level of interest from investors, the retailer added.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Oddbox announces expansion plans as it pledges to reach net zero by 2030
Surplus fruit and veg distributor Oddbox has unveiled a string of new climate targets, vowing to achieve net zero emissions by 2030 and prevent 150,000 tonnes of food from going to waste by 2025. The B Corp, which delivers boxes of surplus or 'odd' fruit and vegetables to customers' front doors, announced its new climate and food waste goals in a sustainability report.
Source: businessgreen.com
The Dutch spent €2.6bln online in Europe
Last year, Dutch consumers spent nearly 2.6bln euros on purchases from foreign online shops within the European Union. This amounts to an increase of almost 32% compared to the situation a year earlier. In 2019, consumers in the Netherlands spent 1.9bln euros in European online shops. This year, they spent over 600mln euros more. According to Statistics Netherlands, which presented this figures, it has never happened before that the annual expenditure of the Dutch at online shops in the EU increased so much.
Source: ecommercenews.eu
UK's Waitrose expands rapid home deliveries with Deliveroo
British supermarket Waitrose will expand its Deliveroo service by 110 shops to 150 by the end of the summer, giving more customers access to rapid home delivery, it said. Waitrose, which is part of the employee-owned John Lewis Partnership, said it had agreed a two-year deal with the app and delivery service following a successful trial. Waitrose’s long partnership with online grocery specialist Ocado came to an end last September.
Source: reuters.com