Alibaba has raised $10 billion through a record-breaking share sale in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Sheinis aiming for a valuation of up to $27 billion in its long-awaited IPO in Hong Kong.
These fund-raising efforts indicate that the financial centre of gravity is shifting from the West to the East.
In July, volumes in the large-scale retail sector grew more than turnover (sales by value: 0.5 per cent; volumes: 0.9 per cent). This is a significant difference as it signals the end of inflationary pressure: in the four weeks ending 19 July, the Circana Price Observatory recorded a change of -1 per cent, whilst the year-to-date figure remained just positive at 0.1 per cent.
Superstores performed poorly – in July alone – with a fall of 1.3 per cent.
In the year-to-date figures for 2026, discount stores maintained a market share of 20.2 per cent and recorded a 0.4 per cent increase in sales by value.
The annual figure therefore remains positive, but is significantly lower than the 2.1% for the packaged consumer goods sector as a whole. The channel is growing at a slower rate than the market and, as a result, is no longer able to gain market share at the pace observed in previous years...
I largely agree with Andrea Meneghini: discount stores are no longer ‘a novelty’ and need to reinvent themselves. And perhaps many customers are looking for a different, ‘higher-quality’ range.
Amazon already delivers by drone in seven US states, and a further 500 cities are set to be added by 2026.
Amazon has stated that almost all items weighing 5 kilos or less that fit into a large shoebox can be delivered by a drone, meaning that over 60 per cent of the items customers buy most frequently from Amazon are eligible for delivery within 30 minutes.
This includes millions of groceries, electronics, cosmetics, medicines and household products.
A fish capable of snapping soft-drink cans in half is destroying fishing nets and livelihoods.
For Greek small-scale fishermen, the invasion of pufferfish represents yet another blow to a sector already under severe strain from rising costs, depleted fish stocks, warming seas and decades of overfishing.
“The pufferfish is responsible for 80 per cent of the damage to the sea”… “The sea is dead and dying,” say the fishermen.
Below: the bite mark of a pufferfish shown in the first image taken from Wikipedia.
Lagocephalus sceleratus has now reached the northern Adriatic: it is poisonous and can bite humans.
Read this article on invasive species in the Mediterranean too
Written on 7 August, updated on 22 August 2026
“Coricelli is prepared to pay 500 million euros and has therefore outbid the offers submitted by both the Andalusian co-operative Dcoop and Acesur, the company that owns Coosur and La Española,” writes *El Economista*.
However, the bid is said to have come too late.
Deoleo owns historic Italian brands such as Carapelli, Sasso and Bertolli.
Drafted on 21 August, updated on 22 August 2026
Coffee, the world’s most popular drink, is under threat. Global warming, soil depletion, wars, genetic erosion and other interrelated factors are threatening its survival – and not just in the case of the two most widely used varieties, Arabica (Coffea arabica), which is particularly vulnerable to excessive heat, and Robusta (Coffea canephora), which requires large quantities of water, but also for all the others. These are varieties about which, until recently, little was known; not all are suitable for roasting, yet they too are at risk.
According to a 2019 study, which analysed 124 species of wild coffee according to the criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its ‘Red List’, in germplasm collections (where seeds are preserved) and in protected areas around the world, 60 per cent of species are at risk of extinction, 45 per cent are not present in any collection (and could therefore easily be lost forever) and 28 per cent are not present in any protected area. Furthermore, current conservation measures are insufficient and inadequate to address the current risks...
We have already discussed this.
On Thursday, highlighting the strain that rising fuel costs are placing on consumer spending, its shares fell by 8 per cent in early trading.
The world’s largest retailer has slightly raised its annual sales and profit targets, but said it expects fuel prices to remain stable, leading to $2 billion in additional fuel-related costs on top of the original forecasts.
E-commerce sales in the US rose by 24 per cent, whilst Walmart Connect recorded a 43 per cent increase in turnover.
Average spend per transaction rose by 1.1 per cent, slowing sharply compared with the previous year .
Target has 2,000 superstores and 400,000 employees. It is the eighth-largest retailer in the United States by turnover. Source:
Furthermore: The annual net sales growth forecast has risen to around 5 per cent from around 4 per cent.
Second-quarter profit received a boost of around $1 billion from tariff refunds.
Like-for-like sales rose by 3.8 per cent, with footfall up by 3.6 per cent.
Shares are up 5% in pre-market trading and are up 56% so far this year.
This was Target’s third consecutive quarter of growth, and the results suggest that new CEO Michael Fiddelke’s turnaround plan is taking root ahead of the crucial Christmas shopping season, even as high fuel prices put pressure on household budgets. Reuters
Written on 14 August, updated on 20 August 2026
On the one hand, pasta is becoming increasingly popular on markets around the world. On the other hand, however, those who grow the raw material are struggling. According to Confagricoltura, prices for high-quality durum wheat in Italy have fallen below 300 euros per tonne, which is less than the average production costs.
Over the past 13 years, the area under cultivation has shrunk by 10 per cent, whilst the proportion of demand met by domestic production has plummeted from 78 per cent to 56.5 per cent. This is not a market crisis, the farmers’ association claims, but “a crisis of production sovereignty”...
Source
In mid-August, many seasonal workers are still on holiday: Joël Boueilh, a winegrower from the Gers and president of the Vignerons Coopérateurs de France, told *Le Monde* that he has 25 per cent fewer workers than his usual team.
The problem with yields is even more serious. The prolonged drought and water stress are resulting in smaller grapes with less juice; in the most vulnerable plots, some grapes are scorched by the sun or are being removed to protect the vine. In Champagne, a harvest of just 6–7 thousand kilos of grapes per hectare is forecast, compared with the appellation’s maximum limit of around 9 thousand, resulting in a significant financial loss. In Alsace, where the soil retains less water, yields are feared to be halved; at Château de Fontenille, in the Bordeaux region, a loss of 25–30 per cent compared with the average of recent years is estimated...
Next Thursday, Walmart is expected to provide an update on its sales and profitability figures, with like-for-like sales growth below 4 per cent for the first time since 2024, mainly due to petrol prices (To cope with these challenging times, Walmart has reduced the prices of 7,000 items in its range).
Bucking the trend, Walmart Connect’s advertising revenue is up by 44 per cent; whilst this represents an infinitesimal fraction of total turnover ($713 billion), it accounts for a third of operating profit (EBIT).
Walmart has identified AI as the next phase of growth for Walmart Connect, as more and more consumers use AI chatbots to search for deals. The retailer has begun testing adverts within its AI shopping assistant, Sparky...
Almost a third of consumer searches now originate from AI models, according to data from digital commerce consultancy Flywheel...
Amazon is further ahead in transforming its proprietary chatbot, now called Alexa for Shopping, into a new advertising channel, but Walmart’s 2024 acquisition of smart-TV manufacturer Vizio has enabled it to expand Connect beyond its website and into its television streaming services.
The disparity in growth between Walmart’s retail and advertising sales is evident in this Reuters table
Drafted on 18 August, updated on 19 August 2026
Purely Elisabeth’s product range includes traditional granola, oatmeal (oat-based meals), breakfast cereals and, above all, protein granola (gluten-free, vegan and GMO-free).
It appears that the company was acquired for a sum equivalent to three times its turnover (approximately $600 million).
The granola market is worth $1.3 billion and Purely Elisabeth is the market leader.
The products are stocked by major retailers: Target, Kroger, Sprouts, Whole Foods (Amazon) and Costco.
The brand will most likely be managed by Lapo Civiletti.
