Quick Take — 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.

Quick Take — Germany: tofu is a good alternative to meat

In 2025, tofu sales in Germany rose by 26.1 per cent compared with the previous year (Circana data), whilst the Rewe supermarket chain reported growth of around 30 per cent. And this growth shows no sign of slowing down, given that by March 2026 there had already been an 11 per cent increase compared with the same month the previous year…

In Italy too, on social media, several consumers have reported temporary difficulties in finding Lidl’s smoked tofu, complaining that it had been missing from the refrigerated shelves of some stores for weeks…

Quick Take — Heatwaves: sales at risk

In France, sales of barbecue products have fallen – by 30 per cent – with even minced meat (viande hachée) down by 10 per cent, alongside chocolate, sugar, stock, tea, sausages, fresh pizzas, coffee and spreads.

Uniqlo – a Japanese clothing group with a presence in various countries around the world – has stated that it has had to close some of its shops due to the extreme heat.

It would be interesting to have reports and data for our country.

Quick Take — The Po Valley is the most polluted area in Europe, partly due to intensive livestock farming

Global meat production hasrisen by 400 per cent, with Asia leading the global market. According to the study, global meat production rose from around 71 million tonnes in 1961 to 361 million tonnes in 2022, marking a more than fivefold increase. Over the same period, milk production has almost tripled, whilst egg production has increased more than sixfold.

Eggs are considered nutritious and affordable, as well as healthy; they are also one of the most sustainable sourcesof animal protein in terms of feed, water and land use. However , avian influenza is now regarded as a ‘physiological component’ of the sector, which also limits the expansion of poultry farms, at least in Italy.

This has led to trials of a vaccine in the provinces of Mantua and Verona in an attempt to eradicate the disease…

The article in *La Repubblica* is dated 2 March 2026, whilst the one in *Il Sole* is dated 30 May 2026

How Walmart became an advertising powerhouse whilst remaining focused on its food, non-food and e-commerce businesses

It is a pity that no Italian company has had the scale, but above all the vision, to take on the world in the way these giants have done. In Italy, everyone thought: e-commerce must be self-sustaining. This was the case for Esselunga at home until it had no rivals, but Amazon and Walmart disprove this view. E-commerce is underpinned by other, more profitable sources of revenue

Quick Take — Imports of Brazilian meat into Europe to be halted from 3 September. The country’s authorities are working to have the ban lifted

The measure was unanimously approved on 12 May by the 27 EU countries.

The decision concerns cattle, horses, poultry, eggs, aquaculture products, honey and casings, and was taken by a committee comprising experts from EU Member States due to the use of antibioticsandgrowth-promoting hormones in livestock farming, as reported in L’informatore zootecnico.

Brazil is a key trading partner for Europe in this sector: according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, between January and March 2026, Brazilian meat exports to the EUhad already reached508.7 million dollars, amounting to 116.5 thousand tonnes.

In 2025, the EU purchased animal proteins from Brazil worth approximately 1.8 billion dollars, equivalent to 368,100 tonnes. After China, it is the second-largest market for Brazilian meat…

It is a serious matter that Brazil is not considering removing the banned substances but is only thinking about lifting the ban. And that nobody knows anything about the illegal meat that has already been sold. Nobody is talking any more about Mercosur, which has already come into force.

Quick Take — US: inflation at 4.2%

Consumer prices rose by 4.2% in May compared with a year earlier, the US Department of Labour said on Wednesday, accelerating from 3.8% the previous month.

The figures highlighted by Andrea Montanino in the *Corriere della Sera* on 8 June 2026 arenoteworthy: the price of a gallon of petrol (= 4 litres) in the US rose from $2.91 (in February) to $4.43 in June, and the price of beef, partly due to climate change, has risen by 15% over the past year.

Today’s Wall Street Journal adds to this the AI boom, which will create a bottleneck for many supplies (for example: in IT, many components and equipment are no longer available except with long waiting lists and sky-high prices).

Then there is plastic, which is everywhere: from nappies to household and beauty products.

Drafted on 10 June, updated on 15 June 2026

Quick Take — Global meat production has risen by 400%, with Asia leading the global market

According to the study, global meat production rose from around 71 million tonnes in 1961 to 361 million tonnes in 2022, marking a more than five-fold increase. Over the same period, milk production almost tripled, whilst egg production increased more than sixfold.

Of all the categories considered, the poultry sector showed the most significant growth, with production increasing approximately fivefold. Pork and eggs also recorded strong increases, whilst beef production remained largely stable or declined in many regions of the world.

Asia has established itself as the world’s leading producer of animal-sourced foods, thanks mainly to economic and demographic growth over recent decades. However, per capita availability of these products remains lower than in the most advanced economies…

Quick Take — Nielsen: in the supermarket sector, 70% of volume growth is driven solely by 20 categories linked to the theme of wellbeing

Over the last twelve months, the ‘fresh’ category has grown by 4%, whilst ‘fruit and vegetables’ (5.5%), ‘butcher’s & poultry’ (6.8%) and ‘packaged fresh products’ (3.7%). By contrast, categories such as “cold cuts” (-2.6%) and “packaged food” (1.3%) have slowed down …

purchase frequency is rising.
Over the last year, it has increased by 7.6%: people are visiting shops more often, buying less to avoid stockpiling items that might end up being thrown away. Among young families with children under 24 – those facing the greatest financial difficulties – the trend is even more pronounced: the frequency has jumped by 12.8%. Despite all this, large-scale retail is showing stable growth of around 2%…

Repubblica, 10 June 2026.

Among the 20 categories mentioned in the headline, bananas and extra virgin olive oil stand out. It is unclear whether Nielsen’s figures are adjusted for inflation or not.

Quick Take — Which US foods will enter Europe duty-free

With this agreement, the EU eliminates customs duties on all US industrial products and grants preferential market access for a wide range of US fish and agricultural products including nuts, dairy products, fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, processed foods, seeds, soybean oil, pork and bison meat, as well as lobster both fresh and processed.

In parallel, the regulations introduce strong safeguards to protect the European industry. A system of constant monitoring of trade flows will be in place, allowing rapid intervention in the event of sudden and damaging increases in US exports. In specific circumstances, the EU will also be able to suspend tariff concessions in whole or in part, thus enhancing its ability to respond to any imbalances. The new market access regimes will remain in force until the end of 2029 with the possibility of extension…

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