Morrisons sold
Morrisons’, Britain's fourth-biggest supermarket group after Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Asda, has agreed a 6.3-billion-pound ($8.7 billion) takeover by a trio of investment groups led by Fortress Investment Group.
Food News
News articles from the FOOD research project.
Morrisons in Play
US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is expected to push ahead with its pursuit of Morrisons despite an initial offer at £5.5bn being rejected. Analysts believe the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain could also attract bids from other companies, including Amazon.
American grocery business post Corona
As North American consumers begin to adjust to the next normal, McKinsey, a global and prestigious consultancy, anticipate that the landscape of winners and losers in grocery will cease to be determined by format.
Axfood buys Bergendahls Food
Axfood acquires Bergendahl's wholesale business and one tenth of City Gross. A transaction of SEK 2.5 billion with full call option exercise.
Aldi Denmark has an accumulated loss of DKK 4 billion
It is no secret that Aldi Denmark has been under pressure for many years, and that the money has flowed out, while the German owners have poured new capital into the discount chain - a total of around DKK 4 billion, according to Børsen, a newspaper.
Five reasons FMCG businesses should be investing in Asia
Asia remains a major growth opportunity for FMCG businesses, particularly in the short term, consultancy IGD concludes in a new report.
The green trend is growing
Women are leading the way in the transition to a sustainable food system and real flavors are taking place among the substitutes. These are among the conclusions in this year's future report from ICA, "Growing Together".
Salling Group with historical results
Denmark's largest grocery group, Salling Group, came out of 2020 with the best underlying result and the highest turnover ever. CEO Per Bank believes in even more growth in top and bottom line.
Tesco profits dive
Tesco profits dive 20% despite surging grocery sales during pandemic. The pre-tax profits tumbled by almost 20 per cent to £ 825 million over the past year, despite big increases in turnover.
Netto tests climate labeling
As the first store chain in Denmark, Salling-owned Netto is now testing how climate labeling of grocery purchases can work. This is done in a pilot test in two selected stores, where signage and labeling of the products will guide customers to the less climate-damaging alternatives.
American giant Costco opens in Sweden
Next autumn, the US-based chain Costco will open its first Swedish store in Arninge, Täby, north of Stockholm. A contract with the property owner Trophi for premises of 13,000 square meters is ready, confirms CEO Jan Björk.
Heavy Covid 19 costs for Morrisons
Annual results released by Morrisons last week confirm that while its sales have benefitted from surging demand in supermarkets over the last year, profits have taken a major hit from costs related to operating its business during the pandemic.
Rema 1000 most sustainable in Denmark
Rema 1000 is now perceived as the most sustainable brand in Denmark, new research shows. For the past three years, the grocery group Coop has been the most sustainable brand in Denmark. Now it is Rema.
Reitan’s green convenience
With a new concept, Reitan Convenience in Sweden hope to create the world's greenest convenience/grocery store, claims Mariette Kristenson, CEO of Reitan Convenience Sweden.
Tesco disappears from Southeast Asia
The massive private Thai group, Charoen Pokphand, rebrands all former Tesco stores in Malaysia and Thailand to Lotus’s. No more Tesco in Thailand and Southeast Asia.
End of Netto in Sweden
In 2019 Denmark's largest grocery group, Salling Group, said goodbye to the Swedish market with the divestment of a total of 163 Netto stores, which were sold to the Swedish company CBS for almost DKK 1 billion.
ICA disappoints the market
The Swedish giant, ICA, disappoints the market at the end of the year and the stock exchange sends the share values down by about 0,4 percent. The reason is that ICA is growing slower than the market, hence losing market share in a market that is growing strongly due to the Corona pandemic.
Amazon expands biometric palm scanning system
Amazon recently announced that the company is expanding the rollout of its biometric palm scanning system to more of its branded stores, allowing customers to pay with nothing but their hands.
Five trends to watch in 2021
Driving online profitability, creating safe shopping spaces, and bringing the out-of-home experience in-home are among the key trends expected to shape global retail in 2021, according to new predictions from IGD.
French Labor Minister says no
Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne gives a clear message that she is against a takeover of French retailer Carrefour by Canadian convenience-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Alimentation Couche-Tard offers $ 20 billion for Carrefour
The owner of the Circle K petrol station chain, Canadian Alimentation Couche-Tard, is offering $ 20 billion for the world's second largest grocery chain - French Carrefour SA. That is about 30 percent above current capitalized values in Carrefour.
Jack Ma goes missing
Alibaba's founder, Jack Ma, has gone missing after he publicly criticized China's financial system and called for reforms.
Brexit food price increases are modest
It is reason to believe that food prices in UK will rise modestly in the wake of Brexit because food import and export regulations are very similar to the situation ex ante Brexit.
Salling Group with record growth in turnover
Denmark's largest grocery group, Salling Group, was extremely busy in 2020 and increased its turnover at an unprecedented rate.
Giant bang for the grocery giants
The Norwegian Competition Authority is cracking down hard on the use of “price spies” in the major grocery chains in the Norwegian market and warns of a possible fine of NOK 21 billion to NorgesGruppen, Coop and The Reitan Group combined.
Accelerating online growth for ICA in 2020
The Swedish grocery giant ICA reports accelerating online growth so far in 2020, not least driven by Covid19. Turnover at the store level is also increasing for the same reason.
Tesco Shareholders Set For £5bn Payout
Tesco has announced that it expects to complete the £8bn sale of its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to the CP Group within days.
Strong Q3 in Walmart
The world’s biggest grocery retailer, Walmart, is among the many grocery retailers that scores high on Covid19. The retail giant delivered a positive surprise despite analysts' optimism about its performance.
Unilever tests 4 day week
Consumer goods giant Unilever will trial a four-day working week in New Zealand to enhance worker wellbeing and boost productivity.
Grab Inc stands firm on IPO plans despite Covid19
Singapore's Grab has not changed its thinking regarding a future IPO because of COVID-19, according to its president, Ming Maa.
Walmart to sell most of Seiyu to KKR and Rakuten
U.S retailer Walmart Inc has agreed to sell most of Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu to the investment firm KKR and e-commerce company Rakuten in a deal that values Seiyu at $ 1.65 billion (172.5 billion yen).
Walmart drop robot plans
Walmart has dropped plans to use roving robots to scan shelves and keep track of inventory, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Corona is a nightmare, but drives forward new technologies
Covid19 is a plague and a nuisance for everyone. However, for the grocery retail business it has led to strong growth and increased profitability because people do not eat out anymore. It is more important to note that the Corona is also pushing forward new technological solutions in the value chain.
France advises Arab countries to stop boycott
Supermarket shelves are empty of French products in Kuwait City in a protest of cartoons in the French media illustrating the Prophet Mohammed. The protests are spreading at an alarming rate to all Muslim countries.
Asda sold to Issa brothers in a deal worth £7 billion
The Issa brothers and TDR Capital - a private equity firm - acquire majority ownership stake in the supermarket chain ASDA from US retail giant Walmart.
Lidl scraps plans to launch online in the UK
Lidl is scrapping plans to launch into online grocery in the UK as it closes its digital logistics arm and declares to focus on bricks-and-mortar business.
Tesco ups shareholder payouts as profit soars
Tesco increases shareholder payouts as half-year profit soars increases 28.7% to £551 million, mainly due to Corona! *
Franchise is hot in Denmark
The reason is that the strong success of Rema 1000's in Denmark is now being copied by rivals.
Walmart needs 20,000 more employees now
The American grocery chain Walmart will employ 20,000 seasonal workers to handle e-commerce, and important autumn stunts such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping.
Walmart teams up with Zipline for one-hour deliveries by drone
The retail giant and the drone company will start trials in early 2021.
Iceland creates 3000 new jobs amid online boom
Iceland, the British frozen discount grocer hires 3000 new workers amid online boom. Trial with food delivery platform Uber Eats has also been launched in London, with plans for a larger rollout if successful.
This is Coop Denmark’s new CEO
Executive Vice President Kræn Østergård Nielsen has been appointed CEO of Coop Denmark. Thus, the Danish grocery giant has found a replacement for its longtime CEO Peter Høgsted
Amazon has ordered 1800 electric cars for Europe
The online giant Amazon is expanding and has ordered almost 2,000 green vans for the European market.
Danish Coop opens new discount chain concept
Coop is rebuilding 13 of its Fakta stores, which in future will be called Coop 365. The ambition is to take market shares from Lidl and Rema 1000.
Excellent results in ICA Sweden
Covid-19 does not have a negative effect on everyone. The grocery giant ICA has never done as well as it does now - in Sweden. The reason is, simply put, that because of Corona, customers eat more at home.
Lidl Outlines Expansion Plan in Great Britain
Lidl has revealed that it will be opening one store per week in the UK over the next six months, creating up to 1,000 new jobs by the end of the year. The 25 new stores will be opening across England, Scotland and Wales.
Aldi is still losing millions in Denmark
The discount chain got new capital injection of DKK 370 million in April but is still losing big money.
Norwegian government impose measures, but drops a ban on price discrimination in the grocery retailing
The government wants more control over the purchase prices and makes access to retail space easier. But it will not refuse the suppliers to give the chains different prices.
Danske Salling Group buys 300 stores in Poland from British Tesco
“Discount is Salling Group's key to Poland,” says CEO Peder Bank after the 181-million-pound deal with British Tesco was officially approved last week.
UK watchdog closes investigation into Tesco
Britain’s accounting watchdog said it has closed its examination into accountants at Tesco in relation to the British supermarket chain’s 250-million-pound overstatement of profit in 2014.
Lidl with strong development in Northern Ireland
As seen in Britain, the grocery market in Northern Ireland is experiencing strong growth because of the lockdown.
Aldi UK with traffic lights at entrances
Aldi has started rolling out a new automated traffic light system at its entrances to control the number of shoppers going in and out of stores during the coronavirus outbreak.
Walmart sales surge on coronavirus led demand
Over the past couple of years, many experts have predicted that Walmart's time was over. The future belongs to online stores, some experts claim. Q1 for Walmart, however, tells a different story. The future probably belongs to strong retailers with both online - and – traditional stores.
Scenarios beyond covid19: rebound, reboot, reinvent
Governments around the world are edging toward plans to exit mass population lockdowns, albeit at different speeds and in different ways, but the persistent questions for business are around what the future holds and how it should be navigated.
ICA shares are down despite strong growth in Q1
It seems investors do not care that ICA Sweden had more than 8 per cent growth in Q1 2020 - which is huge in grocery context. The reason, of course, is the Corona-crisis.
Tesco starts laying off army of temporary workers
Britain's biggest supermarket hired 45,000 extra workers at the height of the crisis but is letting some go earlier than planned.
How FMCG can prepare for the “next normal"
As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the globe, threatening both lives and livelihoods, fast moving consumer-goods manufacturers continue to play an important role: producing essential items we all rely on for our health and well-being.
UK Supermarket Sales Fall as People Ease Up on Stockpiling
Industry executives and market analysts have confirmed that supermarket chains have seen a significant downturn in sales over the last couple of weeks following an easing of stockpiling and the introduction of stringent social distancing measures in stores.
Fastest UK turnover gains ever during Corona stress
Latest grocery market share figures from Kantar show year-on-year supermarket sales grew by the fastest rate in over a decade during the 12 weeks to 22 March – increasing by 7.6%.
Denmark is considering gradual reopening after Easter
Denmark will not open the borders, although there is optimism about the gradual opening of workplaces and educational institutions, says Mette Fredriksen, Denmark’s prime minister.
What food retailers should do during the coronavirus crisis
The food-retail industry plays a critical role in these uncertain times. Here are six actions food retailers should take to help their communities, their employees, and their business.
Aldi Best supermarket in Great Britain
Aldi is the supermarket in the UK most recommended by its customers, with none of the “Big Four” making into the top 10 ranking, according to YouGov, a consultancy.
Danish e-commerce increases to 146 billion
Danes spent DKK 146 billion on the Internet during 2019. That makes it another record year for Danish e-commerce. This concludes the Association for Danish Internet Commerce in an analysis for 2019.
Nestle boss announce more deals
Nestle SA Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider says the world’s largest food and beverage company plans to become more aggressive with acquisitions, identifying areas including metabolic health and nutrition to push sales growth that remains behind the company’s target.
ICA is disappointing the market
The grocery giant in Sweden, Ica, did not quite reach the expected result, with recurring costs weighing on the company's Swedish operations. Like industry colleague Axfood, which also opened its books last week, the Ica share fell on the Stockholm Stock Exchange on Thursday morning by six per cent.
Great Britain: Discounters and Online prosper
Latest grocery market share figures from Kantar show the Big Four supermarket chains continued their downward trend in the new year, whilst the likes of Aldi, Lidl, Ocado and Co-op made further gains.
Automation is necessary now
Automation will reshape retail business models and the broader value chain, creating organizations with fewer layers and a better trained and trusted workforce empowered by real-time data and analytics.
Aldi and Lidl take the lead
2019 was the year when Aldi passed Europe’s big box flagships, Carrefour and Tesco, taking the second place in the European Grocery Retail Ranking, only behind its rival, Schwarz Group (Lidl and Kaufland).
Walmart sacks staff in India as part of restructuring
Walmart Inc., the world’s largest retailer, has fired 60 or more of its executives in India. The move underscores the challenges Walmart has faced in expanding its wholesale business in the country. More job cuts are expected soon.
The 5 top stores you must visit in 2020
IGD, a British think tank, visited 1,000 food retail stores in over 45 different countries in 2019. Here you can read of some of the best stores to be on your must-see list in 2020.
Global grocery retail to add $2.2 trillion in sales in five years
The global grocery retail market will generate an additional US$2.2 trillion in sales by 2024, growing by 24%, according to the latest forecast from international research organisation IGD.
Downsizing in Tesco
The history of Tesco has some parallels to UK. The supermarket chain has grown from a modest foundation to an admired world power with arguably the best stores in the world. Now it is withdrawal and downsizing that applies. If the trends continue, Tesco is soon reduced to ‘UK only’.
UK Grocery shoppers are more environmentally conscious
77% of UK grocery shoppers have, in the last 12 months, switched, avoided or boycotted buying certain products, or would consider doing so in the future, based on brands’ environmental policies, shows data from Kantar, a consultancy. That is serious for many old brands.
Alibaba celebrates successful stock market debut in Hong Kong
Alibaba, the Internet retailer, raised $ 11.3 billion in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Just a few minutes after the start of trading, the stock rose by almost 8 percent, rising from the initial price of 176 Hong Kong dollars to 189.50 Hong Kong dollars.
Ocado shakes up grocery retailing
Tim Steiner, the co-founder of Ocado Ltd., has ambitions to shake up the British and international retail sector with the online company Ocado.
Huge possibilities for brick and mortar stores
In these columns we have discussed a great deal about digitalization and e-commerce - a mega trend. Of course, that doesn't mean it's “the end” for traditional stores. A good example is probably that the “online ruler,” Amazon, is stepping up its focus on brick & mortar grocery stores in USA.
Coles launches grocery subscription service
Coles is taking its online grocery offering a step further with the launch of a new subscription service that allows customers to make unlimited orders for a flat monthly fee.
4222 stores in Sweden closed last year
E-commerce is knocking out the physical stores. Between 2017 and 2018, the number of retail stores decreased by 6 percent from 35,953 stores to 33,688 in Sweden.
ICA makes great investment in ecommerce
That the grocery giant ICA, in Sweden, does not take market shares, but retains its position as a strong market leader in Sweden is not unexpected, but nonetheless a fact. Good purchasing conditions and efficient operations are the background, but the ICA boss is probably more concerned about market shares than he might like to stress.
Føtex will soon be launching an online store
Online grocery sales are still not a particularly large market compared to physical grocery sales, but the area is growing, and several large chains such as Coop, Bilka and Netto are already “on the ball”.
French Picard enters Scandinavia
French frozen specialist, Picard, wants to grow in Sweden after several years of closures and losses. The owner of Picard Scandinavia, Knut Faremo, draws inspiration from Picard's first store in Norway and will spice up the concept in Sweden shortly. Denmark and Finland are in the cast in 2020. Faremo has ambitions. No doubt.
Lidl best on prize
Lidl wins the newspaper B.T.'s large price check of supermarkets, the chain says in a press release. B.T. has checked the prices of everything from pasta to chocolate biscuits and milk - a total of 97 different products, divided into five product categories, have been tested in 11 grocery chains, and here Lidl was the cheapest in all five categories.
Sainsbury’s mean business
Mike Coupe, CEO from 2014, has been under hard pressure since Britain’s competition regulator in April blocked Sainsbury’s 7.3-billion-pound agreed bid for Walmart daughter Asda. That pressure has cost shareholders 33 percent in reduced shareholder value so far in 2019.
Asda profit & sales rise despite failed merger
Asda, the British supermarket arm of U.S. retail giant Walmart (WMT.N) that is considering a future UK stock market listing, saw its profit increase 9.2% in 2018 - a year when it was unsuccessfully targeted for takeover by rival Sainsbury’s.
Aldi will invest £1 billion
Aldi will double its stores in UK after sales increase of 11%. Aldi says it will step up the pressure on rivals by increasing store numbers in London from 45 to 100 by the end of 2025, by opening more standard-sized Aldi stores and new, smaller-format Local stores on London high streets.
Nemlig.com is Denmark's best online supermarket
RetailNews, a retail business site, in Denmark, have tested four supermarket websites on design, usability, credibility, inspiration and content. The conclusion of RetailNews is that Nemlig.com is the best online supermarket in Denmark.
Lidl warns UK suppliers on nodeal Brexit
The German discounter wrote to suppliers recently asking for their confirmation that they would be “deliver duty paid-ready”. In other words that they were ready to cover extra costs in the event of a “No-deal Brexit.”
Sainsbury's outperforms rivals
Sainsbury’s recorded the smallest sales decline among Britain’s big four grocers in the latest 12-week period, showing tentative signs of improvement after nearly two years of underperformance.
Ica's results are better than expected
Good results in ICA's Q2 sends the market capitalization up by 8 per cent. Online is growing strongly from a low level and is a focus area for ICA in the years to come.
Online grocery in Asia to grow 198% by 2023
Online grocery in Asia is developing at a rapid pace, with the market set to grow from its current value of US$99bn to US$ 295bn by 2023, according to the latest forecasts from international researcher IGD Asia.
Expects excessive growth in online grocery shopping
Those who reject online shopping in groceries as a flop will get a big surprise in a few years, predicts IGD, a British non-profit analysis institute. Three key global markets will see 212% combined online growth over the next five years, according to IGD.
Coop Sweden grows stronger
The Swedish Competition Authority has approved Coop’s purchase of Netto's Swedish stores from the Danish retail giant Salling Group.
Tesco scales down in Poland
Britain’s biggest supermarket chain Tesco has announced the closure of four hypermarkets and a distribution center in Poland.
Aldi Süd to open its first store in China
Aldi Süd has revealed it will open stores in China, with the first one opening on the 7 June in Shanghai, writes IGD.
Aldi Denmark loses money at frightening speed
The money is pouring out of the Danish Aldi stores. Aldi Denmark’s results for 2018 are characterized by declining revenue and a posted loss of DKK 381 million.
Waitrose plans to triple Online Operation
Less than three months after revealing the end of its partnership with Ocado, Waitrose has outlined plans to triple the size of its online grocery operation over the next three years. The upmarket grocer ambitions are to create a £1 billion operation online.
Salling Group sells 163 Netto stores
The Danish supermarket giant Salling Group withdraws from Sweden, which never became a success for the group.
CMA blocks Sainsburys & Asda merger
Britain’s competition regulator has blocked Sainsbury’s proposed 7.3-billion-pound takeover of Walmart owned Asda. It is not unexpected, but nonetheless a huge blow to the supermarket groups who wanted to combine to overtake market leader Tesco.
ICA will halve food waste by 2025
ICA, the Swedish grocery giant with more than 50% market share in its home market, adopts new targets for reduced food waste.
Food companies threatened
Food companies in nine European countries have received threat letters: Transfer 300,000 Euros or get your goods poisoned.