JD.com sets new record for 618 Grand Promotion: Over 2.2bln orders placed, more than 100% year-on-year growth in shoppers
JD.com announced that it achieved record-breaking results during the 2025 JD.com 618 Grand Promotion, the company's anniversary and China's largest mid-year shopping festival. During this year's 618 promotion, JINGDONG Logistics (JD Logistics) achieved a new milestone by delivering fresh lychees from Guangdong's Lingnan orchards to consumers in major Chinese cities within just 24 hours.
In other news: JINGDONG Logistics' JoyExpress makes debut in Saudi Arabia, enabling delivery as early as the same or next day
Source: jdcorporateblog.com
UK: M&S Pudsey's brand-new bigger foodhall revealed
Claire Smith, Store Manager at M&S Pudsey, said: "We are so excited to reveal the latest touches to our brand-new foodhall and I can't wait to see customers' responses on seeing it all come together! Our new fruit and veg section looks especially amazing with our signature neon lighting but also the very best selection of fresh and seasonal produce from our Select Farms, just in time for the summer!"
Source: corporate.marksandspencer.com
Spain: Euromadi boosts sales and market share in FY 2024
Spanish retail buying group Euromadi reported combined sales of €31.9bln in its financial year 2024, representing a 6.7% increase compared to 2023. Barcelona-based Euromadi comprises of 126 distribution partners and a national network of 14,946 outlets, including food, perfumery, and cash-and-carry formats across Spain.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Strong and sound Co-op secures £350mln in new funding deal
Co-op reported: "Co-op, together with six major banking partners, has agreed a new five-year £350mln lending agreement, linked to its ambitious sustainability and social impact targets. The deal underscores the Group's continued financial strength alongside its commitment to a fairer and more sustainable future, based on members' priorities".
Source: co-operative.coop
Malaysia: Farm Price to acquire Johor-based grocery and vegetable businesses for RM4.5mln
Price Holdings Bhd is acquiring assets and the business operations of two Johor-based companies involved in the grocery and fresh produce trade for a total cash consideration of RM4.5mln. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company said its wholly owned subsidiary Food Life Sdn Bhd has entered into two agreements - a RM3.9mln deal with Hong Yun Vegetables & Fruits Sdn Bhd and a RM600,000 deal with D & D Sinma 8888 Univeg Trading - to acquire specified assets and business operations from both parties.
Source: themalaysianreserve.com
Spain: Alcampo agrees on workforce reductions and store closures
Spanish hypermarket chain Alcampo, a unit of France's Auchan, has finalised an agreement with employee representatives to implement a workforce reduction plan. The plan includes the permanent closure of 16 supermarkets and workforce reductions at 127 remaining stores.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Aldi reveals latest priority locations for new stores
Aldi has announced an updated list of priority locations across the UK where it is hoping to seek sites for new stores: Braintree, Essex; Bromley, Greater London; Chesham, Buckinghamshire; Balby, Doncaster, South Yorkshire; Ealing, Greater London; Ferndown, Dorset; Hitchin, Hertfordshire; Kenilworth, Warwickshire; Kirkby, Merseyside; Largs, North Ayrshire; Pickering, North Yorkshire; Ponteland, Northumberland; South Croydon, Greater London; South Shields, Tyne and Wear; Tadcaster, North Yorkshire; Uckfield, East Sussex; Warwick, Warwickshire; Wellingborough, Northamptonshire; Witney, Oxfordshire; Worthing, West Sussex.
Source: aldipresscentre.co.uk
From wonky to wonderful: Oddbox rescues 55,000 tonnes in 10mln deliveries
UK-based fruit and veg delivery company Oddbox has now sold over 10mln boxes of fresh produce directly to consumers - saving nearly 55,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables from going to waste in the process.
Source: fpcfreshtalkdaily.co.uk
Japanese supermarket Queen's Isetan to again sell Tainan mangoes
Japanese supermarket Queen's Isetan will once again sell top-grade mangoes from Tainan in July, the Tainan City Government said in a news release. The announcement came after the retailer's president, Ryuichi Amemiya, met with Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che in the southern Taiwanese metropolis to discuss plans to expand imports of the city's agricultural products to Japan. Huang said red dragon fruit and Irwin mangoes exported to Japan last year were very well received, and expressed hope that more agricultural goods from Tainan would be added to the shelves at Queen's Isetan supermarket.
Source: focustaiwan.tw
Malaysia: Jaya Grocer has been named Supermarket of the Year
Jaya Grocer reported: "We're proud to share that Jaya Grocer has been named Supermarket of the Year (Malaysia) at the Retail Asia Awards 2025, an honour made possible by the support of our customers, the dedication of our team, and the strength of our partnerships".
Source: facebook.com/jayagrocer
Asda appoints new Chief Commercial Officer
Asda announced the appointment of Darren Blackhurst as its new Chief Commercial Officer, Food. He succeeds Kris Comerford, who has decided to step down after three years with Asda.
Source: corporate.asda.com
US: Stop & Shop named Official Grocery Store of the New York Mets
Stop & Shop reported: "Stop & Shop is proud to announce it is now the Official Grocery Store of the New York Mets, joining forces with the team to fight food insecurity across New York City and Long Island. As part of the partnership, the Mets Citi Field Food Truck will make deliveries of hot meals and fresh produce, donated by Stop & Shop, to Stop & Shop's school food pantries across Queens and Long Island".
Source: globenewswire.com
US: Natural Grocers on the move in the Southwest
Natural Grocers is readying a new location in New Mexico. The retailer announced that a store in the city of Ruidoso will welcome shoppers in the fall. As the 7th store in New Mexico, the latest Natural Grocers outlet in the center of that state will feature an array of organic and natural offerings across categories in the perimeter and center store. The assortment includes 100% organic produce.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: H-E-B launches robot delivery pilot in Austin
Delivery robots roughly the size of a large ice cooler have hit the streets of Austin, Texas, through a pilot program between Texas grocer H-E-B, its delivery partner, Favor, and autonomous delivery tech company Avride. The Houston Chronicle reports that H-E-B began testing the robot delivery service in May from a store in Austin's Mueller neighborhood.
Source: supermarketnews.com
How to add spice to produce marketing
"Produce shoppers are heavily impulse purchasers, and operators can sell a lot more of what they promote to them", said Anthony Totta, founder of FreshXperts, a Parkville, Missouri-based consortium of consultants for the North American fresh produce industry. "Building attractive displays and calling attention to the items is important, along with having secondary displays and lobby displays. It is to make extraordinary out of the ordinary in the produce department".
Source: supermarketnews.com
Destination Amazon: How Amazon Fresh unlocks new ways of shopping
Meredith Bunche, head of growth and marketing for Amazon Fresh, joins the TWIG Podcast to explore how that ever-growing company is firing on all cylinders in the physical and digital space.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Billionaire John Catsimatidis threatens to close Gristedes chain if Zohran Mamdani elected NYC mayor
Billionaire John Catsimatidis threatened to close or sell his Manhattan-based grocery chain Gristedes if Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is elected the next mayor of New York City.
Source: nypost.com