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France: drought causes a ‘plunge’ in crop production: ‘even with irrigation, the young plants did not survive’


Cauliflower, peas and salad crops are suffering from a lack of water and successive heatwaves. The sector is describing the situation as a ‘disaster’, particularly across the whole of western France, whilst the ability to sow crops for subsequent seasons is also being hampered. Vegetables are not the only crops affected: the maize harvest is also expected to fall sharply (by 30 per cent), whilst poultry farms were hit hard by high mortality rates during the heatwave at the end of June...  milk production, one of the sectors hardest hit by climate change this year, according to the Minister for Agriculture... Below: a scorched maize cob in Albiate

AgricultureAlbiateClimate changeFruit and vegetablesMeat
 

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Italy: between 2011 and 2024, whilst the number of businesses run by Italian nationals fell by 7.9 per cent, those run by foreign nationals grew by 46.9 per cent


rising from 454,029 to 666,767 people... Retail remains one of the leading sectors, albeit with a gradual easing of the more rigid ethnic specialisations — the historical channelling of Moroccans, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis into retail, or that of Chinese people into retail, manufacturing and catering — alongside a growing expansion into more specialised services. Lombardy offers a consistent detailed picture: businesses run by immigrants in the region number over 130,000, having grown by 8.9 per cent between 2021 and 2025, and after Italy, the main countries of birth of Lombardy’s entrepreneurs are Egypt, China, Romania, Albania and Morocco — a geographical distribution which, in urban retail, is directly reflected in the mix of neighbourhood shops changing hands. “We must view this reality for what it is: not a temporary phenomenon, but a structural component of the Lombardy economy”, notes Eugenio Massetti, president of Confartigianato Lombardia, in an interview with *Corriere della Sera* — an assessment based on the craft sector observatory but which applies just as strongly to local retail, the other sector where foreign entrepreneurial initiative has progressed more rapidly than average... Below: fruit at a market in Europe. It is worth noting that turnover in the local retail sector in France has almost doubled over the past 10 years.

Fruit and vegetables
 

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Lawyer Dario Dongo comments on the circular concerning the blending of extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil


...In this context, the circular in question – in addition to being inapplicable, unconstitutional and contrary to EU law, for the reasons outlined in the previous paragraph – imposes restrictions on the operations of the Italian olive oil industry which, in the author’s view, have no reasonable justification. Competitors from other Member States , in strict compliance with EU regulations, will be able to continue to correct the defects in certain virgin olive oils by blending them with extra virgin olive oils and marketing them as such — even in Italy (!) — as the final products do indeed meet the higher quality requirements. Prohibiting the blending of the two categories of oil is undoubtedly an excellent idea , in the author’s view, for improving the guarantees of the superior quality of extra virgin olive oil. However, this idea must be supported by the European legislator , whose exclusive competence in this sector has been underestimated in both the ECA report and the circular under consideration...

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
 

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Kroger launches its AI shopping assistant for meal planning


Shoppers can plan a week’s worth of meals, browse recipes and put together a shopping basket that fits a set budget or dietary restriction. They can also take a photo of a handwritten shopping list or recipe card, or simply paste in a URL, and the tool will find the corresponding products and build a shopping basket in seconds. The assistant also offers personalised product suggestions and ready-made shopping lists for occasions beyond the everyday, such as birthdays or tailgate parties... [RELATED: 70% of US shoppers already use AI for shopping and plan to use it more – Report] Kroger is a supermarket chain and the fourth-largest retailer of consumer goods in the US, after Walmart, Costco and Amazon

AIAmazonWalmart
 

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Coca-Cola: sales and profits boosted by the success of the World Cup


Coca-Cola Co. has raised its full-year outlook, buoyed by demand in the last quarter, whilst it was one of the main sponsors of the FIFA World Cup. The company now expects organic sales growth of 5 per cent and has raised its forecast for earnings per share growth to 8 per cent. Coca-Cola exceeded earnings and sales expectations for the last quarter, with organic sales rising by 7% in North America (= 40% of turnover), where the World Cup was hosted. Thanks to football, Coca-Cola can put all its problems behind it this year

Coca-Cola
 

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Grand Frais reaches 350 shops and consolidates its leadership in the specialist fresh food sector


...With 350 outlets, Grand Frais maintains a clear lead over other French retailers specialising in fresh produce. In second place is Mangeons Frais, a brand belonging to the Blachère group, with 156 shops – less than half the size of Grand Frais’s network. Next comes Fresh, a brand belonging to the Prosol group dedicated to fresh produce, which has 77 outlets across France. This gap in numbers highlights the dominant position Grand Frais has established in a segment that continues to attract consumers seeking product ranges focused on fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products and speciality foods... Below: one of Grand Frais’s rivals – Carrefour’s Match supermarkets, with a photo by Olivier Dauvers showing the fruit and vegetable and meat departments.

CarrefourFruit and vegetablesMeat
 

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Action closes the half-year at 8.3 billion and steps up the pace of new store openings


Action closed the first half of 2026 with net revenue of €8.3 billion, up 14 per cent on the same period last year. On a like-for-like basis, growth stood at 3.6 per cent, driven primarily by increased footfall and pricing measures.. Growth was also driven by territorial expansion. With 121 new openings, the network has reached 3,423 stores across 15 countries. The group thus remains on track to open 400 stores throughout 2026. In Italy, Action made its debut in Sicily with three new openings, bringing the national network to 241 outlets... The high temperatures recorded across Europe also boosted demand for seasonal products, ranging from fans and inflatable swimming pools to beach towels and barbecues. Added to this was the expansion of online shops in the Netherlands and Belgium, which were used to broaden the range of products available beyond what is offered in physical stores alone... Read more on this topic here

DiscountE-CommerceNon-food
 

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Nestlé: a 2 per cent increase in sales volumes had been forecast, but growth was only 1.8 per cent and the share price plummeted by 7 per cent


Profit margins have been squeezed by high coffee and cocoa prices. Shares in the KitKat manufacturer plummeted by nearly 7 per cent on Thursday after the company said it expected an operating profit margin “broadly similar” in the second half of the year compared with the first, following earlier forecasts of higher margins. The company’s operating profit margin fell by 0.1 percentage points year-on-year, standing at 16.4% in the first half of the year... Operating profit fell by 2.8% to 7.1 billion Swiss francs ($8.7 billion). Nestlé stated that its operating margin was also affected by increased marketing expenditure, customs duties and the global recall of infant formula earlier this year In an attempt to emerge from a prolonged crisis, the company recently announced that it had sold 50 per cent of its water business to the Platinum Equity fund.

CoffeeNestlèWater
 

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Pewex: launches ‘Radici nel Lazio’ in the fruit and vegetable sector


“Radici nel Lazio” is the name of the new project resulting from the agreement with the CAR in Rome. What are the most important aspects of this initiative? Our agreement with the CAR (Rome Agri-Food Centre) is not simply a procurement initiative. Through this project, we are seeking to adopt a model based on an extremely short supply chain, drastically reducing the time between harvest and display. Suffice it to say that in some cases we manage to get produce onto the shelves on the very morning it is harvested (*) The benefit for the consumer is immediate: a visibly fresher product that retains its organoleptic properties, flavour and aroma intact. Better-tasting produce that lasts much longer, with the added benefit of reducing household waste. The produce from“Radici nel Lazio” travels a very short distance. No long journeys, no prolonged stays in cold storage: the fruit and vegetables are harvested in the fields of Lazio, transported by lorry and delivered directly to our shops. The agreement currently involves around fifteen producers, but we intend – not least in light of the results – to expand it in the coming months. Finally, as our company is deeply rooted in this region, “Radici nel Lazio” embodies the aim of bringing the agricultural and food wealth of these areas to our shelves, whilst promoting the work of local producers. For Pewex, local sourcing is indeed a commercial decision, but it is also an ethical one and a choice made by those who produce and provide employment in our region...(says David Cetorelli, commercial director). (*) Esselunga, for example, would receive its deliveries the following day (the lorries travelled overnight and the goods were received at dawn the next day, before being distributed across the network). Below: courgettes, a private-label salad – Consilia – by Pewex on sale in Prati (Rome), and the report by Daniele Tirelli (Cx Store Research) showing that the chain ranks second in fruit and vegetable sales in Lazio, behind Lidl. Overall, the chain ranks first in the region.

Fruit and vegetablesLidlLocalismPrivate Label