Italy’s Famila To Open Seven New Outlets By Year End
Italian supermarket chain Famila, which opened 63 new stores in January 2020, plans to open seven more outlets by the end of 2021.
The new openings will take the total number of stores under the Famila banner to 274. The retailer, a part of Gruppo Selex, attributed the rapid growth to the rollout of the new Famila Market store format, spread across an area of up to 400 square metres. The company also highlighted its return to Sicily and the opening of shops in new areas of Italy as factors contributing to its growth.
Source: www.esmmagazine.com
Tesco to end buying partnership with French supermarket Carrefour
Tesco has said it will end its buying partnership with French supermarket chain Carrefour after three years. The UK’s biggest grocer told investors on Monday morning that it will end the alliance – which was intended to improve product choice and lower prices – on December 31.
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Asda and Waitrose make major packaging ban on popular items
ASDA and Waitrose have launched plans to make packaging more sustainable in stores. More changes are expected to come into place this year. Asda has detailed how it will make shopping more sustainable. It recently published its first environmental, social, and governance report which interviewed 3,000 customers to discover their priorities.
Asda concluded with plans to remove three billion pieces of plastic from products in the next four years. This is likely to change how many popular food products are packaged in the future.
Source: www.express.co.uk
Amazon to create 3,000 new permanent jobs in Italy in 2021
Amazon will take on 3,000 new employees on permanent contracts this year in Italy as part of its “Italy Plan” aimed at increasing its investments in the country, the e-commerce giant said on Monday. Amazon had 9,500 members of staff at the end of 2020 in over 50 locations, the group said in a statement.
“The growth in the digital sector is an opportunity to relaunch the country and we want to give our contribution,” Mariangela Marseglia, Amazon country manager for Italy and Spain said. She added that it planned to invest over 350 million euros ($425.74 million) in three new sites which will open in the autumn, in the northern regions of Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia Romagna.
Source: www.reuters.com
Kroger looks to hire 10,000 more workers
The Kroger Co. aims to hire 10,000 associates across its operations in a summer hiring drive that kicks off this week. Cincinnati-based Kroger said Monday that its first nationwide “hybrid” hiring event — encompassing online and in-store interviews — will launch on Thursday, June 10, with the company looking to fill positions in retail, e-commerce, pharmacy, manufacturing and logistics. The hiring event is open to all, including veterans, high school and college students, retirees and people with physical and intellectual disabilities, the retailer said.
Source: www.supermarketnews.com
How Albertsons Is Overcoming the E-Commerce Profitability Problem
With data science and AI as its allies, Albertsons Cos. sees the potential for e-commerce to become a more profitable shopping trip than traditional brick-and-mortar, said Colleen Qiu, VP and head of data science for the retailer. Qiu’s remarks came as part of a panel discussion at the recent Data + AI Summit, that also included commentary from executives at Shell Retail, H&M, Mars and Gousto, and was hosted by the software company Databricks. Seventy-three percent of organizations struggle with big data and AI initiatives, said Rob Saker, global industry leader, retail and manufacturing, for Databricks, in opening remarks. He pointed to a recent survey from McKinsey & Co. that found only 50% of companies had adopted AI in at least one aspect of their businesses.
Source: www.winsightgrocerybusiness.com
Sprouts’ new distribution centre to support 10 additional stores in Florida
Sprouts Farmers Market opened its first fresh produce distribution center in Florida, which will support the supermarket chain’s growth in the Sunshine State, where the company plans to open ten new stores this year. Since opening its first store in the state in 2017, Sprouts has rapidly expanded across Florida, with 23 supermarkets. In addition to the newly opened distribution center in Orlando, the retailer has six other facilities across the country in Aurora, Colo.; Colton and Union City, Calif.; Glendale, Ariz.; Wilmer, Texas; and Atlanta, Ga.
The 135,000 square-foot facility located in Orlando was built for Sprouts Farmers Market and includes 34°F, and 55°F storage and fruit ripening rooms ideal for the wide variety of fresh produce Sprouts offers.
Source: abasto.com
Rapid growth in online grocery shopping shows no signs of slowing down
Online grocery sales have grown in popularity across the country amid the pandemic, and that growth is expected to continue as people seek new and safe ways to shop, according to a recent report. Total online grocery sales in the U.S. reached $106 billion in 2020, up over 300 percent from the previous year, according to the report from Mercator Advisory Group. Online grocery shopping accounted for 10 percent of the overall grocery market in 2020 and will make up about 22 percent by 2025, the report says. The current market share could double to over $250 billion.
Source: www.bizjournals.com