Don Longo March 18, 2014 CSNews BENTONVILLE, Ark. — I must say I’m impressed. After many false starts, Walmart — the world’s largest retailer — finally appears to have gotten it right when it comes to operating a convenience store. Walmart to Go is the retailer’s newest attempt to crack into the c-store business. Located on a busy intersection near the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. corporate office in Bentonville, Walmart to Go, which we visited the day before its official grand opening, is sharp-looking, well-merchandised and looks like a real convenience store — not some kind of hybrid or smaller version of the retailer’s giant Walmart Supercenters. With a forecourt featuring six gasoline dispensers (with the company’s own gas priced competitively at $3.25 per gallon), Walmart to Go is a match regarding product mix and pricing for most modern convenience stores. The store even features a strong foodservice operation run by…

IBISWorld The market for convenient takeaway meals has become a battleground between small independent cafes and the fast-food heavyweights. Fierce competition between the cafes and fast-food services industries continues. Cafes are encroaching on the traditional territory of fast-food operators, offering a wider variety of ready-to-eat options for consumers on the go. The $15.3 billion fast-food services industry continues to dwarf the $4.2 billion cafes and coffee shops industry. Nevertheless, cafes are expected to expand by 3.7% over 2013-14 compared with 2.8% for fast-food operators. Fast-food operators have sought to steal ground from cafes in the coffee market by introducing cafe-style options. However, rising health consciousness is working against them, as consumers increasingly opt for cafes over fast-food restaurants. More consumers are living their lives on the run by trying to pack more into their already busy schedules. While such a trend would usually spell profit for fast-food vendors, Australia’s booming…

Nielsen 03.19.2014 Times are changing for Europe’s retail food market, and operators are consequently finding it increasingly difficult to boost their sales. Three agents of change have affected food retailing in Europe over the last 20 years. Europe’s markets initially swelled with rapid store expansion and the discount channel boomed. But the wind fell from the growth sails when consumer demand weakened following the economic crises of 2008. Recently, the effects of these factors have culminated to stifle growth. As a result, the only underlying increases in sales Europe has experienced since 2006 has come from price inflation. Headline consumer packaged goods (CPG) value sales growth across Europe(1) slowed again in 2013, dropping to 2.5 percent with volumes once again flat (-0.1%). As a result, how well the CPG industry, particularly in Western Europe(2), handles the next 12 months or more will hinge on how well companies learn to live…

Lucy Fisher 21 March 2014 Guardian Professional An innovative system allows retailers to send offers and information to customers based on their position in-store At a pilot scheme in a museum in the Netherlands, LED lights enable visitors to learn more about exhibits as they view themy. Photograph: Eugene Sergeev/Alamy Apple may be stealing the limelight once more with its iBeacons technology, but flying under the radar is a technology arguably no less interesting for retailers, and which was showcased by the technology company Philips last month at EuroShop in Düsseldorf – the retail trade fair for the increasingly complex world of store fit-out. In essence, it’s a smart LED system that can communicate with visitors’ smartphones, sending relevant offers and information. Philips claims that the system offers a high degree of accuracy, unlike some of the temperamental location-mapping offerings we have grown accustomed to. Menno Kleingeld, head of indoor…

Sue Mitchell March 21, 2014 The Age Metcash will reduce its dividend payout to fund almost $700 million of capital investment over the next five years as it embarks on a transformation plan aimed at securing the future of the grocery wholesaler and independent retailers in the face of increased competition from Coles and Woolworths. Releasing long-awaited details of the plan on Friday, chief executive Ian Morrice said the strategy would underpin long-term sustainable growth for Metcash and its customers by growing sales and improving efficiency. Investors wasted little time in dumping the stock in early trade, with the shares off a quick 12.6 per cent at $2.79 with more than 3.75 million shares done in the opening few minutes. Mr Morrice says Metcash can no longer rely on cost-cutting to boost margins and profits and plans to reignite sales growth in the food and grocery channel through six growth…

Don Harrison March 22, 2014 Washington Post MOUNT JACKSON, VA. — Being a small fry can have its advantages. Take the Route 11 brand of sweet potato chips. The snack-food giants — Frito-Lay and such — haven’t taken up the challenge of this more fragile of the tubers, which tends to caramelize and burn during mass production. But for a snack food maker that’s used to taking its time, this is a sweet and profitable niche. Welcome to the world of Route 11 Potato Chips, a small Virginia chippery in the rustic Shenandoah that has been cooking up Kettle-style cult favorites for more than 20 years. Today, the crew at its industrial plant in Mount Jackson is busy churning out 600 pounds an hour of sweet potatoes. They are grown on the Eastern Shore, slow cooked in a mixture of peanut and sunflower oils and lightly seasoned with unrefined salt…