US: UNFI names Chris Finck president of Atlantic Region
Food wholesaler United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) appointed Chris Finck as its new president, Atlantic Region, effective May 1. Finck will lead the Atlantic Region sales team with accountability to support customers with UNFI’s full portfolio of comprehensive products and services and will report to UNFI chief customer officer Steve Dietz.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Meijer sets opening date for 2 supercenters
May 12 is shaping up to be a big day at Meijer, which is planning grand openings for 2 new supercenters on that date. One location will welcome shoppers in West Branch, Michigan, and the other will open its doors in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Both stores span 155,000 square feet and carry the retailer’s typical assortment of grocery, fresh produce, bakery, meat and deli items, apparel, electronics, toys and sporting goods.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
GrubMarket expands further into Canada through the acquisition of food supply chain software provider WaudWare
GrubMarket announced it has completed the acquisition of Ontario, Canada-based WaudWare, an award-winning and long-standing enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider that specializes in building software solutions for businesses operating in the North American fresh produce industry.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Wegmans launches SNAP EBT payments for Instacart orders
Wegmans Food Markets has begun accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) electronic benefits transfer (EBT) payments for Instacart online grocery orders chainwide. San Francisco-based Instacart said that all 106 Wegmans supermarkets in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia and North Carolina now enable SNAP beneficiaries ordering groceries through the Instacart online marketplace and mobile app to use their EBT cards to complete purchases.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Food-at-home CPI jumps 10% year over year in March
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the Consumer Price Index for food-at-home swelled 10% year over year (unadjusted) for March, the largest 12-month increase since March 1981. New research by the FMI-The Food Industry Association indicates that grocery shoppers are reacting to food inflation. FMI’s 2022 Grocery Shopper Trends report found that average household spending on groceries rose just 4% to $148 per week so far in 2022, well below the $161 per week seen at the height of the pandemic.
Source: supermarketnews.com
Leaft Foods yields protein from the world's most abundant source: leaves
Alternative protein sources range from cell-based cultures to seeds from plants like oat, almond, soy and pea. Leaft Foods, however, is enabling the extraction of protein from the most abundant commodity of any plant - its leaves. On the back of this breakthrough, the company has raised a Series A round of $15mln from Khosla Ventures, NBA star Steven Adams, New Zealand indigenous investor Ngāi Tahu and sovereign health provider ACC via their Climate Change Impact Fund. The new funding will be used to build out R&D, growth, and create a global value chain starting with the United States.
Source: prnewswire.com
Holland: Ahold Delhaize shareholders adopt 2021 financial statements and approve all agenda items
Shareholders adopted Ahold Delhaize’s 2021 financial statements and agreed to the proposed 2021 annual dividend of €0.95 per common share for the full year. An amount of €0.43 per common share was paid as interim dividend on September 2, 2021. The remaining amount of €0.52 eurocents per common share shall be payable on April 28, 2022. Shareholders adopted all other proposals on the agenda, including the appointment of Pauline van der Meer Mohr as member of the Supervisory Board and the new remuneration policies of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board.
Source: aholddelhaize.com
Israeli retailer Shufersal rejects Delek Israel merger offer
The board of Israeli retailer Shufersal rejected an offer to merge with Delek Israel, with the company saying the proposal did not comply with the strategy of Shufersal and its shareholders.
Source: reuters.com
GoTo makes strong debut, lifts mood for Indonesia tech sector
GoTo soared as much as 23% in its market debut after Indonesia's largest tech company raised $1.1bln in a keenly watched IPO, fuelling expectations of more offerings to come from the sector in Southeast Asia's largest economy. PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk was formed by last year's merger of ride hailing-to-payments company Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia, with its businesses straddling millions of small and mid-sized firms across the archipelago.
Source: reuters.com
Carrefour is the 1st retailer to use blockchain technology with its own-brand organic products, providing consumers with more transparency
Carrefour Bio is breaking new ground and has announced it is to use blockchain technology with its products starting in April 2022. Carrefour thus becomes the 1st retailer to use blockchain technology with its own-brand organic products. In April 2022, the Carrefour Bio Spanish-origin dessert orange, sold in trays of 4, will be the 1st product to leverage the benefits of blockchain technology, before it is gradually extended to all Carrefour Bio brand products.
Source: carrefour.com
Deliveroo delivers increasingly more groceries
Deliveroo sold 12% more in the 1st quarter of 2022, and the number of orders grew by 18%. According to the food delivery service itself, that is a strong performance, given that a year ago, there were still stringent Covid measures in place and sometimes even lockdowns. The growth is mainly attributable to the British home market (20% more orders). On an international level, the courier service booked 11% more gross turnover on 16% more orders.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Ireland: SuperValu to create 150 jobs in 2022
Grocery retailer SuperValu is to create 150 jobs and invest €35mln in Irish stores this year as it reveals increased 2021 sales and a growing customer base. The chain, which is owned by retail giant Musgrave, said total sales reached €3.2bln in 2021, with weekly customers at 2.7mln.
Source: independent.ie