ALDI US testing all-propane stores, in addition to transcritical CO2
While most of the natural refrigerant systems that Batavia, Illinois-based ALDI US has been installing are transcritical CO2 (R744), the chain is also testing full-store propane (R290) refrigeration display cases at a handful of stores as well. To date, ALDI US, a division of German retail giant ALDI Süd that operates more than 2,000 stores across 36 U.S. states, has installed only R290 self-contained semi plug-in display cases with a glycol loop to remove heat of condensation at two stores, and only R290 air-cooled plug-in cases at one store, according to Dan Gavin, Vice President of Real Estate at ALDI US. One of the semi plug-in stores is in California and is supported by a state incentive program.
Source: hydrocarbons21.com
US: Wakefern's fifth banner goes live with ThryveAI for digital grocery shopping
ThryveAI, a grocery-first ecommerce platform, announced The Fresh Grocer is Wakefern's fifth banner to use ThryveAI to power its digital storefront to deliver a seamless ecommerce shopping experience to customers. The ThryveAI multi-site solution enables Wakefern to easily manage its portfolio of grocery store banners from a single administration console. The technology works with Wakefern's enterprise ecommerce architecture and streamlines centralized management of multiple ecommerce banner websites while delivering unique shopping experiences at the brand and store level.
Source: prnewswire.com
Canada: Eat Beyond portfolio company, The Very Good Butchers, expands its grocery distribution network
Eat Beyond Global Holdings Inc. ("Eat Beyond" or the "Company"), an investment issuer focused on the global plant-based and alternative food sector, is announcing that its portfolio company The Very Good Food Company ("VERY GOOD") has significantly increased its grocery distribution footprint by forging a relationship with Horizon Grocery + Wellness, Canada's leading distributor of wholesale organic food and natural products.
Source: newswire.ca
Le Groupement U strongest performer in France, Carrefour continues dynamism
French retailer le Groupement U saw its market share grow by a percentage point to 11.5% in the most recent four-week period, outperforming its rivals, according to Kantar. The retailer's performance was driven by both positive in-store and online sales, Kantar said. The data, for the period from 17 May to 13 June (P6 2021), also showed that Carrefour continued its recent dynamism in the marketplace, growing market share by 0.5 percentage points, with loyalty and customer appreciation also on the rise. Its Carrefour Market arm grew share by 0.2 percentage points, while its online service continues to make progress, Kantar noted.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Czech online grocery delivery startup Rohlik raises 100mln euros
Rohlik said it had raised 100mln euros ($118mln) from investors at a valuation of 1bln euros, becoming the latest player in the red-hot sector to add firepower to its push for growth. The round, led by Index Ventures, comes just 3 months after Rohlik raised 190mln euros ($226mln) from investors to expand into Germany from its existing markets in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria.
Source: reuters.com
Woolworths crowned Australia’s best online grocery delivery service in 2021
Woolworths was just named the 2021 Online Grocery Service of the Year in the Mozo Experts Choice Online Grocery Service Awards - the second time in a row it has taken out the title. In fact, Woolies totally swept the 2021 awards, taking out the titles in all four categories on offer: Cheapest Online Groceries, Online Product Range, Online Ordering Experience and Online Delivery.
Source: mozo.com.au
UK: Morrisons suitor should up offer to around $9bln, top investor says
The U.S. private equity firm trying to buy Morrisons should increase its offer to around 6.5bln pounds ($9bln) to merit engagement from the British supermarket's board, according to a top ten shareholder in the retailer. Morrisons - Britain's 4th largest grocer after Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda - this month rejected a proposed 5.52bln pound cash offer from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), equivalent to 230 pence a share. "In our view there is validity to a bid...", said JO Hambro, which manages funds accounting for 3% of Morrisons. "We believe any offer for the group approaching 270p per share merits engagement and consideration".
Source: reuters.com
UK: Truck stop troubles
Convenience stores across the country have been experiencing severe disruption to their deliveries in recent weeks - a situation caused by a national shortage of truck drivers. Nisa has been one of the wholesalers affected. It told Independent Retail News the issue caused its logistics supplier DHL to miss deliveries to stores at the start of June. The wholesaler said: “The shortage is affecting Nisa in the same way as it is the whole sector. So far, we have been able to continue to deliver orders on the day, but it is certainly a very challenging time”.
Source: talkingretail.com
South Korea: GS25 launches AI robot delivery service
Convenience store GS25 said that it has recently launched a delivery service using an artificial intelligence-based robot at a second location in southern Seoul. The second AI-powered robot dispatched at its GS Tower branch in Yeoksam-dong in the Gangnam area comes after the company first unveiled the service last year.
Source: retailinasia.com
UK's food retail growth to slow sharply in short term - IGD
Britain’s retail food and grocery market will see unprecedented pandemic driven growth of 8.5% in 2020 slow to 1.7% in 2021 and 0.9% in 2022, as shoppers economise and the eating out industry reclaims sales, industry researcher IGD said. It said the sharp decline in growth will be followed by a period of modest recovery, that will see the market grow by 8.1% to 229.1bln pounds ($316.7bln) over 2021-2026.
Source: reuters.com
Carrefour Belgium partners with Google Cloud for next phase of digital transformation
Google Cloud and Carrefour Belgium, one of the country’s largest retailers, announced a new partnership to bring Carrefour Belgium’s business-critical SAP systems and supply chain data to the cloud. Under this alliance, Carrefour Belgium is building a new data cloud; migrating its data centers to Google BigQuery for storage and analysis; and helping to create a framework for next-generation projects in mobile and ecommerce, data analytics, and machine learning.
Source: carrefour.com