n.489
Aldi creates a Fan Club in the USA
ALDI Quarter Club" members will receive prizes such as:
One year of free groceries for an individual
An exclusive invitation to a members-only event in the retailer's hometown
A personalised Quarter Club style jacket, among other merchandising items
A chance to be featured on ALDI's social channels
Source.
Conclusion: Aldi, like Lidl and other discounters, is always 'more supermarket (and less discount)'.
n.488
At the supermarket, one in four products is Italian. Over 11.6 billion spent
Gs1 Italy, in 2024 the basket volume marks -0.7%. The most widespread 'indicator' of Italianness - the economic report points out - is the tricolour flag, present on over 16 thousand products with positive annual sales in value and stable in volume. It is followed by the claims '100% Italian', which remains stable in value but loses 1.5% in volume, and 'produced in Italy', with negative sales in value and volume. Analysts point out that "2024 was not an easy year for European geographical indications either: in the basket of 4,888 references and 1.6 billion euro turnover of PDO, DOC and DOCG products, only PDO references record positive sales in value (5.8%) and volume (2.7%)" for a total of almost 803 million euro.
Flags with the tricolour no longer work. So says someone who put them on Esselunga organic products 25 years ago. Also because they often 'don't beat inflation' and, without proper labelling on the product's characteristics, they could simply be 'Italian sounding'. Read also : The false myth of '100% Italian' food
n.487
Sycamore completes acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance: the end of Stefano Pessina’s dream
The private equity firm acquired assets in transactions valued at up to $23.7bn. New York-based private equity firm Sycamore Partners completed the acquisition of retail pharmacy company Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc(WBA).
WBA is an integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retail leader serving millions of customers and patients every day. With approximately 12,500 locations in the US, Europe, and Latin America, its consumer brands include Walgreens, Boots, Duane Reade, No7 Beauty Company, and Benavides.
WBA, under the Boots brand , also has a presence in Milan and was a supplier to Esselunga (beauty products).
Covid- 19, Amazon and Walmart contributed to its sale to Sycamore.
n.486
Eurospin over 9 billion turnover. Ready to land in Serbia
Source
The Eurospin network has about 1,340 stores. At the beginning of September it will open 3 more: in Parabiago, Orte and Terni. In 2024 it cut the ribbon at 35 new pdv...
In 2024 the Eurospin Italia group achieved a value of production of 9.14 billion, 4 .9%, an Ebitda of 635 million (-2%) and a profit of 395 million (-7.4%). Net retail revenue growth (9.03 billion) stopped at 5%, half the average from 2019. And the margin ratio also lost half a point to 7%. Eurospin is the only Italian retailer with international projection (about fifty stores in Slovenia, Croatia and Malta and soon in Serbia), except for Conad in Albania, which relies on third-party entrepreneurs, and Crai in Malta.
In Italy, the market share in the discount channel exceeds 31% and 8% in the large-scale retail trade. Average revenues per pdv are 6.8 million . 100% of the offer is own brand.
n.484
Temu: sales up, profits down
Revenues of PDD - the holding company that controls Temu - rose 7% to 103.98 billion yuan ($14.53 billion) during the quarter ended June, beating analysts' estimate of 103.34 billion yuan, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Its operating profit fell 21%. Adjusted earnings per US depository share stood at 22.07 yuan, beating the estimate of 15.74 yuan.
Competition from Amazon is very strong. Temu is testing the sale of food - under an advertisement for the sale of Coca-Cola on its site - in Italy.
n.481
Donald Trump’s grand plan to save Florida’s tomatoes: make Mexico pay
The US president has imposed a 17 per cent tariff on fruit exports from the southern neighbour to save the dwindling number of local farmers...Mexico supplies more than 60 per cent of the fresh tomatoes consumed in the United States, a clear example of how the country has gained market share in various sectors, becoming the US's largest trading partner since the North American Free Trade Agreement came into force in 1994...Mexico's National Agriculture Council has stated that it is the consumers who will pay, predicting a price increase of 11.5%, also because those grown in the US are of different species
n.480
US wholesale prices rise 3.3% as Trump’s trade war hits economy
The increase in the producer price index in July was the highest since February...
The data suggest that despite subdued inflation so far in consumer prices, the levies the president has imposed on US trading partners are driving price increases higher up the supply chain.
Walmart, in the same headline, has just announced rising costs.
