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Amazon: 100 billion (gross) groceries


Amazon CEO Andy Jassy opened up in a recent question-and-answer session with shareholders on the company's strategy and performance in the food sector, emphasising his focus on the many aspects of the physical and online food retail business. "I'm very bullish on groceries. I think some people don't realise how big a grocery business Amazon has today. If you look at our core aisle stuff - so it's things like consumables, canned goods, pharmaceutical items, beauty products, really, everyday essentials - if I exclude just Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh, we did over $100 billion in gross sales in our grocery business on those items last year alone..." The figure would then cover Amazon Go, Amazon Grocery and the ubiquitous Amazon.com website.

AmazonE-CommerceWhole Foods
 

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US: inflation-fatigued consumers stock up on discount stores (the ‘box stores’ where you enter with a subscription and membership card)


The Financial Times headline I took my cue from was: 'US consumers, tired of inflation, queue up for toilet paper and cheap Bordeaux wine': "... inflation... has left consumer prices in the US 26% higher than in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. Consumer surveys show continued concern about inflation as the US imposes tariffs on trading partners. "In good times we do well, and in bad times we do even better," said Chris Nicholas, CEO of Sam's Club US... who reported that like-for-like sales rose 6.7 per cent in the first quarter, excluding fuel, outpacing the growth of his parent company's US namesake shops ..." . It is a division of the Walmart Group, which had sales of USD 92.6 billion in 2025 . "Sam's' is named after its founder, Sam Walton, and only buys large packages ('bulk') there. Read the long version here. Compiled on 30 May , updated on 3 June 2025

Covid-19DiscountE-CommerceInflationWalmart
 

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France: consumption at a standstill, consumers traumatised by inflation


"...And for good reason: with purchasing power still constrained by food spending 20% more expensive than in 2021 and prices that, despite the pause in recent months, continue to rise (0.6% in March, 1.2% in April, 1 .7% in May, according to INSEE), fears for employment due to the economic crisis and the multiplication of redundancy plans, the threat of budget cuts and tax increases, or an anxious geopolitical climate, the French are watching their spending very closely. And they prefer to save, for those who can, more than to consume. As a result, despite a slight improvement in wages, food consumption is struggling to recover. In the first quarter they even fell by 0.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, according to INSEE, whose analysis is not limited to large retailers and includes restaurants. In March, they were even 3.2 per cent lower than in March 2024."

Inflation
 

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Mineral water, which is the best for quality and price? Eurospin’s Sant’Antonio at the top: the Altroconsumo ranking


three brands proved to be completely free of Tfa: Blues Sant'Antonio (Eurospin), which won the title of Best of Test and Best Buy, with one of the lowest costs (0.17 euro/litre), Conad Valpura, which also won Best Buy, and San Benedetto Eco Green Benedicta. Note these little-known aspects of San Benedetto's advertisements. Compiled 22 May, updated 27 May 2025

ConadWater
 

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Walmart relies on pharmacies and invests in specialised distribution centres


Walmart opened one of its largest centralised prescription processing facilities to date in Frederick, Maryland. The 102,000-square-foot state-of-the-art site is designed to fulfill up to 100,000 prescriptions per day, supporting more than 700 shops in 16 states and Washington, DC... Earlier this year, Walmart expanded its same-day pharmacy delivery pilot test to offer that service to customers in 49 states. Walmart's technology investments have enabled the availability of same-day pharmacy orders that can now be integrated with general merchandise and grocery orders... Source

Non-foodWalmart
 

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Retail Area 1: discount stores and supermarkets win, hypermarkets and superstores fail


The total turnover of the entire region reached EUR 37.089 billion, according to the latest figures, an increase of 6.1% compared to the previous budget ofEUR 34.95 billion. The discounters, in this scenario, confirmed their position as one of the most dynamic players: their turnover reached EUR 7.544 billion, marking anincrease of 9.2% over the previous year and gaining 2.88 percentage points in market share... hypermarkets and superstores had a share drop of 2 points while supermarkets showed superior resilience and vitality: with EUR 12.452 billion turnover and a growth of 7.9%. Agorà and Selex are leading this segment while Lidl but also Aldi are launching themselves on the attack in Milan. Nielsen Area 1, which includes Piedmont, Val d'Aosta, Liguria and Lombardy, is one of the four geographical areas used by Nielsen for market data collection in Italy. Compared to the other areas (Area 2, Area 3 and Area 4), it is considered the most dynamic, a commercial reference point.

AldiDiscountLidlSuperstores
 

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Pesticides: their use contributes significantly to the biodiversity crisis.


pesticides are causing devastating negative effects on hundreds of species of microbes, fungi, plants, insects, fish, birds and mammals, which should not be affected. Globally, their use contributes significantly to the biodiversity crisis. Scientists analysed more than 1,700 laboratory and field studies on the impacts of 471 different types of pesticides (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) used in agriculture, commercial or domestic settings. Far-reaching negative effects were observed on more than 800 terrestrial and aquatic species, with impacts on growth rate, reproductive success and even behaviour, such as the ability to catch prey, find plants to feed on, move or attract partners. Pesticides can also alter the metabolism of organisms and damage cells. On food and pesticides read here

AgriculturePesticides