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E-commerce grows by 13.1 per cent while sales in physical shops grow by 1.6 per cent
Nielsen (progressive sales growth 2026)
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The fertiliser factor: why bread, pasta, meat and eggs are at risk
It is no exaggeration to say that about half of the world's population meets its food needs through the use of fertilisers. In this scenario, Iran plays a crucial role as the world's fourth largest exporter of urea.
We are talking about a vital substance to ensure abundant harvests of wheat and cereals, the mainstays of our diet. With the war in Iran turning the straits into a shooting gallery, the situation has become critical. Prices are out of control: urea has risen by 25% in just one week, putting spring sowing at risk If with the Russian invasion the problem affected wheat and sunflower oil, the war in Iran shifts the critical issues to fertilisers.
'If the situation continues, consumers could see higher prices for bread within six to ten weeks, for eggs within a few months, and for pork and broiler chicken within six months, estimates Raj Patel, a food systems expert at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs'.
Source: the Financial Times, which adds:'The Middle East is one of the world's biggest fertiliser producers, while the Strait of Hormuz is a crucial sea route for exports.
According to CRU data, about 35 per cent of global urea exports pass through this waterway. Urea is the most widely used nitrogen fertiliser, which in turn supports about half of the world's food production.
The route also handles 45 per cent of global exports of sulphur, a key ingredient used to produce phosphate fertilisers, as well as significant volumes of ammonia, a key ingredient for nitrogen fertilisers,' he says. Moreover, according to recent work, oil and gas price increases of similar amounts to those observed so far, if sustained over time, would lead to a price increase of 1.4 per cent one year from now, compared to a scenario without the shock.
In the article in Il Sole 24 Ore of 6 March below, the problems of the fruit and vegetable sector are highlighted.
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The new Ministerial Decree No. 323651 of 18 July 2024: An Unreasonable Punitive System for Biologicals
On 1 January, a ministerial decree from July 2024 came into force that is unreasonably punitive towards the organic world. These are measures that control bodies must enforce against operators found to be non-compliant.
The DM suffocates virtuous operators under the weight of unsustainable legal and economic uncertainty. If the control system becomes a minefield of punitive bureaucracy and rising costs, the flight from organic farming will no longer be a hypothesis, but a necessity for many companies. A corrective that restores balance and proportionality is urgently needed, so that supervision remains an added value for the consumer and not a death sentence for producers.
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The war in Iran could disrupt European agriculture and food supply in general
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has halted the transport and marketing of around 30% of the world's fertilisers. A stop that could soon have repercussions on European agricultural production
Source
The local effect: there could be a shortage of food in the Gulf countries (see article below on fruit and vegetables).
Global effect : inflation.
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Oscar Farinetti at the ecommerce food conference in Bologna
Three concepts expressed by the founder of Eataly:
Eataly's e-commerce is doing very well (40 million sales in the US)
The perception of e-commerce service is wrong: logistics should be charged for
Demand for e-commerce exceeds supply
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Carrefour: 2025 accounts disappoint, with sales down 0.4% in Q4 in France and net profit halved due to exit from Italy
The share price fell on the Paris stock exchange.
A cost cut of EUR 1 billion a year until 2030 and a perimeter of activity reduced to three countries: France, Spain and Brazil. After exiting Italy and Romania, Carrefour is launching its new 2030 strategic plan, with a restricted geography and along three strategic lines. The first is to win the customer and product battle through price, fresh produce, the Club loyalty programme and private labels.
Read previous article
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Realco crisis, four suitors but no offers. Employees without pay
...The players that have expressed interest are Etruria Retail (on 13 January), Migross (26 January), Crai (20 January) and Vega (30 January). But the lack of binding proposals for the unions 'is confirmation of a very critical situation'...
In the meantime, Realco has asked the signs concerned for a commercial credit line of up to EUR 7 million for the entire group, which would allow them to refurbish their stores. A virtual data room has been set up for the interested parties. The due diligence is expected to last until mid-March. Realco has 65 members and a sales network of 120 shops with 1,500 employees. The balance sheet 2024 shows revenues of EUR 316.4 million and a loss of EUR 15.7 million. Total debt is EUR 98 million.
Source
Read previous article
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Mercosur: why we move forward
The Commission wants to apply it provisionally at the urging of Germany whose industry, faced with the fact that it can no longer buy cheap Russian gas and the invasion of Chinese products (e.g. cars), is in great difficulty and needs outlets.
France, with its agriculture, which is also in great difficulty, especially on the livestock and meat fronts, on the other hand, is opposed and disappointed.
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Usa / Uber lancia Cart Assistant: la spesa si fa con l’IA
...L’obiettivo, come riporta Food Dive, è semplificare la pianificazione degli acquisti, intercettando una tendenza in crescita: secondo il sondaggio CPG 2025 di PwC, il 40% dei consumatori prevede di utilizzare l’IA per confrontare i prodotti entro il 2030 e circa un terzo immagina decisioni d’acquisto completamente automatizzate.
Con Cart Assistant non è più necessario scorrere tra i vari prodotti e categorie: basta inserire il nome di un piatto, oppure caricare la foto di un elenco pasti scritto a mano o lo screenshot di una ricetta per ottenere automaticamente la lista degli ingredienti. Il sistema tiene conto anche di disponibilità, prezzi e promozioni del singolo punto vendita.
La funzione è pensata per evolversi nel tempo, imparando le abitudini degli utenti e suggerendo marchi preferiti e prodotti acquistati di frequente. All’interno dell’assistente è possibile modificare il carrello, sostituire articoli e rivedere l’ordine prima del checkout....
Alimentando
Uber Eats fa e-commerce da almeno 6 anni
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Plant closures and surplus imports: the structural sugar crisis in Europe and Italy
22 out of 103 plants on the Continent closed. In Italy, the last remaining cooperative announced the temporary suspension of the Veneto plant.
Coprob-Italia Zuccheri, Italy's only national sugar producer - two plants that manage the entire beet supply chain, from processing to storage - announces the seasonal suspension of the Veneto beet processing plant. For 2026 in Pontelongo (Padua) - 200 workers, both permanent and seasonal, and 2,000 conferring farmers - only the packaging site will be maintained, but 'the structural modernisation project will be completed with the 3 million euro Pnrr project'.
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Coffee producing countries are getting too hot to grow beans, according to an analysis
Five countries responsible for 75 per cent of the world's coffee supply record an average of 57 extra days of coffee-damaging heat per year...
The plants, particularly the most valuable Arabica variety, suffer from temperatures above 30°C...
The worst affected coffee producing country was El Salvador, which recorded 99 extra days of plant-damaging heat. Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, accounting for 37% of global production, recorded 70 additional days [days added, in dark red below in The Guardian table] with temperatures above 30°C. Ethiopia, which accounts for 6.4 per cent of coffee production, recorded 34... and there small farmers produce 60 per cent to 80 per cent of their coffee, but received only 0.36 per cent of the funds needed to adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis.
