PLMA International e-Scanner - June 2021

In Germany, Rewe has opened a hybrid supermarket that allows consumers to do grocery shopping without a payment process at the counter. It is called hybrid because customers decide for themselves whether to pay at the counter as usual or shop autonomously without a checkout process. The store is called “Pick & Go” and is located in downtown Cologne.

Customers can use a special app to enter the store. They then do their grocery shopping and at the same time bag their items. At the end, they simply walk out of the store and an invoice will appear in the app.

From the outside, the test store looks like a regular supermarket but inside it is full of technology. There are intelligent cameras and sensors on the shelves and all customer movements are detected by computer vision. Rewe has worked on the project for two years and says that its main focus is to enhance the shopping experience of customers while protecting their privacy.

The technology is now being tested by employees and the store will open up for customers in late summer.

In Portugal, Sonae just opened a 100% cashierless store under the Continente Labs banner in Lisbon. The retailer invested more than 1 million euros in its construction, equipment and technology. It is equipped with about 230 cameras on the ceiling and over 400 shelf sensors which associate the products picked up (and returned) from the shelves with each customer, creating virtual shopping carts, with payment being processed automatically via a connected card.

Customers need to download the Continente Labs application and register with an associated bank card. To enter the store, they open the app and scan the displayed QR code in the turnstile area.

The store has a sales area of 150 square meters and will be manned with six employees to receive goods, restock items and ensure hygiene and safety in the operation.

Both Rewe’s and Continente Lab’s concept stores resemble the Amazon Go stores that offer “Just Walk Out Shopping”. Amazon operates more than twenty Amazon Go stores in four cities in the US and this year launched in the UK with 4 stores branded as Amazon Fresh.

Hard discounter chain Mere is expanding in Europe. The Russian chain, owned by parent company Torgservis, is already in Romania, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania Ukraine and Poland and has opened its fourth store in Germany. Mere wants to open ten stores in Belgium this year, it has secured its first store locations in Spain and will launch in the UK over the next few weeks. It is said to have plans to enter Italy, Greece and Bulgaria.

Mere stores have a very simple and efficient concept with suppliers deliver directly to stores and products sold from pallets in a warehouse type environment. The assortment is limited to around 1,200 SKUs and priced on average 20% cheaper than the market.

With Aldi, Lidl and other discounters having upgraded their stores and enlarged their assortment in the past decade, this no-frills hard discounter may have found a gap in the market. The economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, declining purchasing power and consumer confidence could give the retailer a jump start in Europe and become a serious competitor for Aldi and Lidl.

EU allows dairy descriptive terms for plant-based items

The European Parliament has dropped Amendment 171, a bill which would have censored all use of dairy-related language for plant-based food. Regulations on dairy-free alternatives in the EU are already restrictive. Legislation passed in 2013, means words like “cheese,” or “yoghurt,” can only be used to describe milk-based products which must originate from animals.

This amendment would have gone further and would have prohibited dairy-related packaging formats, such as a carton for plant-based milk, or a block for plant-based butter. In addition, allergen information like “does not contain milk” and descriptive terms like “creamy” or “buttery” would not be allowed.

Plant-based food manufacturers, environmentalists and consumers had heavily criticised the proposed bill. They argue that consumers aren’t confused by descriptions of dairy alternative products and that a more sustainable production and consumption is desirable.

This amendment would have gone further and would have prohibited dairy-related packaging formats, such as a carton for plant-based milk, or a block for plant-based butter. In addition, allergen information like “does not contain milk” and descriptive terms like “creamy” or “buttery” would not be allowed.

Plant-based food manufacturers, environmentalists and consumers had heavily criticised the proposed bill. They argue that consumers aren’t confused by descriptions of dairy alternative products and that a more sustainable production and consumption is desirable.

Auchan launched in Taiwan in 1997, it now operates 20 hypermarkets and two convenience stores there with around 5,500 employees. The chain is active in 12 other countries including France, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Ukraine and Russia. It has a consolidated revenue excluding taxes of 32 billion euros from 1,985 points of sale under the Auchan banner.

Food discounters increased revenues by an average of 5.6 percent compared to the previous year, while sales of supermarkets grew by 13.1 percent. Among Germany’s discounters, Lidl has the largest market share with 27 percent and sales of 21.6 billion euros in 2020 in about 2,300 stores. Aldi Süd and Nord follow with 2,000 and 2,200 stores generating 16.4 and 12.2 billion euros, respectively. Netto-Marken-Discount achieved sales of 14.6 billion euros through 4,200 stores and Penny 8.1 billion euros with 2,200 stores.

The deal will allow the cooperative to purchase both food and non-food products from Carrefour including French, Spanish and Italian private label items. Coop Nordics will sell Carrefour‘s own brand products in its more than 4500 stores in Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The company says that some of its categories will never be ‘healthy’ no matter how much it renovates. Only 37 per cent of Nestlé’s food and beverages by revenues, excluding products such as pet food and specialised medical nutrition, achieve a rating above 3.5 under Australia’s health star rating system.

Dixy is in the top five largest chains in Russia with a revenue of about 3.4 billion euros. Magnit’s and Dixy’s revenues combined would add up to 22.4 billion euros, which brings it close to market leader X5 and gives it a good chance to catch up the leader’s place in the future.

Two years ago, Magnit tried to buy another big Russian retailer, Lenta, but it lost negotiations to steel tycoon Alexei Mordashov who ventured into the retail sector for the first time. Supermarket consolidation in Russia comes as no surprise since the economy is marked by yearslong decline

in income putting pressure on retailers to merge and gain power to better compete with an increasing number of rivals.