Quick Take — Lidl pasta, EU Court: tricolour on labels can mislead consumers

At the centre of the dispute are the Italiamo (with the depiction of the tricolour shield and the words ‘Italian Passion’ on the packaging) and Combino (with images of Italian landscapes and the words ‘Italian speciality’) lines. In both cases, the Antitrust Authority ruled that the emphasis on Italianity misled the consumer, as the wheat used was largely foreign (EU and non-EU) and this information appeared only on the side or on the back, with very small and hardly legible graphic characters…

The Court of Justice of the European Union has put an end to the long legal battle over Lidl brand pasta, confirming that the use of patriotic symbols to disguise the foreign origin of wheat is an unfair commercial practice. In ruling C-301/25 filed on 30 April 2026, the Luxembourg judges agreed with the Italian antitrust authority (Agcm), reaffirming that the €1 million fine imposed on the supermarket chain is legitimate: transparency on the packaging must be immediate and cannot be hidden among the small print on the back of the package.

This slip tarnishes the image of Lidl, which would like – and has the potential – to be ‘branded’.

The image below is by Paolo Caruso (LinkedIN).

Quick Take — Lidl revolutionises the mobile phone market with discounted tariff plans

The chain intends to expand beyond Germany, Austria and Switzerland, offering a service that could be available in up to 30 countries…

The chain told the Financial Times it plans to expand beyond Germany, Austria and Switzerland with a mobile service that could be available in up to 30 countries in the future, including the UK, US, France and Spain. Lidl did not specify which markets it intends to target first…

As part of the deal, Schwarz Group will also acquire a 9.9% stake in 1GLOBAL, a company that holds telecommunications licences and partnerships in 12 countries. The mobile initiative is a further step in Schwarz’s efforts to build a broader digital ecosystem alongside its 14,000 Lidl and Kaufland shops. Through its Schwarz Digits division, thegroup has already become a fast-growing European provider of cloud computing and cybersecurity services , as well as an investor in artificial intelligence startups… Financial Times

Lidl continues on its path to becoming a brand (and in Italy focuses on non-food fruit and vegetables and technology)

Quick Take — Carrefour relies on ChatGPT to win new customers

Carrefour becomes the first European food retailer to launch an application on ChatGPT, allowing users to compose shopping trolleys by drawing on its offer directly through OpenAI’s chatbot…

AI is one of the main pillars of the plan unveiled in February by CEO Alexandre Bompard, which aims for a 25% market share in France by 2030, up from 22% today.

Carrefour had already launched its chatbot Hopla based on ChatGPT in 2023, and announced in early 2024 a partnership with Google to enable shopping via the AI agent Gemini.

A third of French cyber shoppers already use AI during their online purchases, according to an Odoxa study for Fevad published in February…

In Europe, only Lidl seems to be banking on AI.

Confirmation of the German giant’s orientation by Martin Brandenburger, CEO of Lidl Italy, can be found here.

Below: Google is a historical partner of Carrefour.

Quick Take — Discount: worldwide growth exceeds the grocery market

According to IGD’s most recent analysis, the discount channel is confirmed as the physical food retail segment with the strongest growth globally by 2030, reinforcing a positioning that in recent years has progressively evolved from a simple price lever to a highly competitive and innovative retail model. In fact, the “Global discount trends 2026” report shows that discounters will register a compound annual growth rate of 4.8%, almost one percentage point higher than the 4.0% expected for the overall grocery market, a sign of a structural dynamic that continues to reward efficient formats, streamlined assortments and a strong value orientation.

Underlying this expansion are several converging factors, including persistent consumer demand for convenience, expanding sales networks, and a growing capacity for innovation in both product and operating models. As Dan Butler, insight partner at IGD, points out, discounters are no longer perceived as…

In this scenario, operators such as Aldi and Lidl will continue to play a dominant role, with combined sales estimated at $334 billion by the end of the decade, supported by private label investments, international expansion and advanced pricing and loyalty models. In parallel, the report points to even faster growth for so-called variety discounters, such as Action and Dollar Tree, which could reach a CAGR of 6.3% due to strong demand for low-priced non-food products and increased impulse buying…

Source

AI Agents in Retail: the silent revolution in large-scale retail

McKinsey estimates that retailers with autonomous AI systems are growing 50 per cent faster than competitors. Cognizant projects $4.4 trillion in additional spending over the next five years from customers embracing AI. Agents are not an investment in the future of retail, they are already the present, and those who delay to act today risk having to make up for a hard-to-fill disadvantage tomorrow