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Liquor account leads and category specialists: Be clear how Coles Liquor shoppers say the retailer’s doing. Why? Because that’s how you put the most compelling plans on the table to support them in 2024. CEO Michael Courtney highlights sales growth, store transformation, and partnerships in The Drinks Association today. As an account lead or category expert working with Coles, you need to know what their shoppers are saying. Here’s a quick comparison between Liquorland & BWS shoppers: ⚠ Liquorland overall satisfaction = -2.5% v. BWS Within that, biggest differentials in… ⚠ Assortment factors = -4% v. BWS ⚠ Product factors = -3% v. BWS Broken down further, key factors to address: Assortment: ⭐ “There are often appealing new ideas in the category” = -5% v. BWS Product: ⭐ “When I buy premium prods, I really notice the difference” = -6% v. BWS ⭐ “The retailer helps me drink responsibly” = -5% v. BWS This is how you get from the elevator pitch to the granular detail. Next step – overlay your specific category, brand, and segment shopper insights to demonstrate the opportunities where you can make a difference to Liquorland’s performance. Show me a buyer that would say no to that… #shopperinsights #proofpoint #collaboration #growth

Pepsi. 7Up. Doritos. Cheetos. Lay’s. Lipton Ice Tea. These are some of the PepsiCo products returning to shelves at one of the world’s biggest grocery chains, after an agreement was reached with Carrefour stores in France. The food feud lasted for about three months, after Carrefour — a France-based grocer which has 12,000 stores globally — announced it was removing PepsiCo products over price increases. Stores in countries such as France, Italy, Belgium and Spain were reported to be affected during the dispute as Europeans continued to battle with high food prices. “It’s good to see friends we haven’t seen in a long time,” Alexandre de Palmas, executive director of Carrefour’s France branch, posted Wednesday on X alongside a photo of himself holding a bottle of Pepsi. “PepsiCo products are back on our shelves,” Carrefour said in a statement, according to French media. “An agreement has been reached, as we had hoped, in the interest of the customer.” PepsiCo France said in a statement that it was "pleased to have reached an agreement and are delighted that our products are returning to Carrefour’s shelves for people to enjoy once again.” The dispute between the two companies became public in early January, when Carrefour began displaying signs in its stores explaining that it would “no longer” sell PepsiCo products “due to unacceptable price increases,” adding: “We apologize for the inconvenience caused.” A spokesperson for PepsiCo told The Post at the time that the company had “been in discussion with Carrefour for many months and we will continue to engage in good faith to try to ensure that our products are available.” The move from Carrefour came as food prices in France had risen 7 percent year-over-year in December. This March, the year-on-year rise was 1.7 percent, according to France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies — a significant decrease from a high of 15.9 percent in March 2023.

🥐🍜🍒 Foodie Tuesdays: The Grocer Awards Edition The ECJ team is excited to share our favourite brands that received a Grocer Awards this year: 🚀 MOTH Drinks - B Corp™: Making waves in the RTD market MOTH's tinned cocktails are revolutionising the RTD scene. Crafted with award-winning spirits, MOTH now dominates 70% of the ‘super-premium’ RTD market and 73% of UK grocery margarita sales. In 2023, sales soared to nearly £9M, with availability in 3,500 outlets including Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Tesco, and Morrisons. A can is sold every 10 seconds in the UK. 🥒 VADASZ DELI LTD: Creating a new superfood category, Vadasz's kimchi, fresh pickles, and ferments have come a long way from humble beginnings. Inspired by family tradition, Nick Vadasz launched Vadasz Deli in 2009. The homemade pickles quickly became a standout, evolving into a leading superfood brand. 🌽 LOVE CORN: Snack Disruptor Love Corn impressed the judges with its crunchy corn. This year, their lunchbox-friendly multipack tripled Tesco distribution and added Sainsbury’s, Co-op, WH Smith, and Ocado. Their clever branding and partnerships have led to skyrocketing sales and expansion into the US market with 12,000+ points of sale. 🛍️ Tesco: Supermarket of the year, Tesco celebrates a decade as Britain’s top supermarket, excelling in convenience, promotions, technology, assortment, availability, and overall shopping experience. With 19% naming Tesco their favourite and 65% showing definite interest in shopping there, Tesco also led as the favourite online supermarket with 25% of the vote. Who were your favourite Grocer Award-winning brands this year? Let us know in the comments. 🍽️ #FoodieTuesday #FoodNews #FoodandDrink #FoodTrends #TheGrocer #GrocerAwards24 #GrocerAwards

For twenty years, our partners at FMI- The Food Industry Association have been recognizing outstanding store managers. Store managers are critical to success in the fast-paced, people business of grocery and Janet Jones Kendall of SmartBrief profiled this years winners. I’ll be sharing our conversations with them here. First up is Roman Perez of The Fresh Market #foodretail #grocery #foodandbeverage #cpg #b2bmedia #digitalmarketing

🥕 15p Veg Deals only at Christmas? Not anymore….   There’s been much debate over the 15p deals on the likes of Potatoes, Carrots and Sprouts that have become a regular feature from some of the supermarkets leading up to Christmas Day each year.   Are they great deals that ensure customers remain loyal to their favourite #supermarket in this key trading week, are they simply #marketing gimmicks, are they creating unnecessary #foodwaste, and are they squeezing #farmers and #growers out of more money?   🥕 Well, the debate can re-ignite, as this week we have seen #tesco, #sainsburys and #aldi all offer 15p Veg deals leading up to this #easter weekend.   ✴ Brown Onions down from 99p (1kg) in Tesco and 89p (3 pack) in Aldi. ✴ Swede down from 69p in Tesco, 62p in Sainsbury’s, and 62p in Aldi. ✴ White Cabbage down from 80p in Tesco, 75p in Aldi, and 80p in Sainsbury’s. ✴ Carrots down from 52p (800g) in Tesco, 65p (1kg) in Aldi, and 65p (1kg) in Sainsbury’s. ✴ And White Potatoes 2kg down from £1.39 in Tesco, £1.29 in Sainsbury’s, and £1.39 in Aldi.   All to 15p. 😮   No movement from #asda or #morrisons as of yet. Will pop into #lidl to see what they’re doing (but likely to be at Aldi’s prices).   Of course, you need to have signed up to Clubcard or Nectar to get the Tesco/Sainsbury’s deals – if you don’t have one of these you pay the full price (unless you go to Aldi of course).   Great marketing? Unnecessary? Responsible retailing?   Or just more proof of how competitive the #ukgrocery market is? #ukretail #supermarkets #competition #promotions #loyalty #farming #produce #vegetables #Easter International Private Label Consult (IPLC)

Some interesting news we found in the food and drink industry recently: 1. Lidl GB is on track to invest a total of £21 billion in the British food industry by the end of FY24, exceeding its original five-year commitment of £15 billion by 40%. This equates to an additional £6 billion and underscores the retailer’s ongoing support for British agriculture and food production.  2.  UK start-up Nuisance Drinks has unveiled the latest addition to its range of botanical beverages, a damson and dandelion tonic. The new product pairs the light, bitter and slightly sweet flavours of dandelion with sharp notes of damson, tapping into the trend of ‘new-stalgia’. 3. Huel sales surged past £200m last year as demand for meal replacement options remained resilient. Revenue rose 16% to £214m in the year to 31 July 2024 while pre-tax profits tripled from £4.7m to £13.8m, as the company benefited from improved economies of scale and newfound efficiencies. 4. Keystone Brewing Group, the brewing arm of private investment group Breal Capital Group, showed an interest in acquiring ailing craft brewer Fourpure Brewing Co. in a joint deal with brand owner IN GOOD COMPANY (IGCO). Keystone, which owns beer brands including Black Sheep, Purity Brewing Co, Brew by Numbers and Brick Brewing, “engaged in substantial discussions with IGCO. 5. Tesco’s Finest champagne has triumphed over the prestigious French label Moët & Chandon in a festive quaff test. The Tesco Finest premier cru brut champagne received the top score of 82% in a blind taste test conducted by the consumer group Which? #acquistion #businessgrowth #startup

7-Eleven's recent financial struggles in North America, notably the U.S., have been the talk of the c-store industry in recent weeks, as the company is set to shutter nearly 450 underperforming locations. As it looks to foodservice to help bolster its business, the company appears intent on learning a thing or two from the second-largest grocery chain in the continent. Just recently, it tapped one of Albertsons top executives, Brandon Brown, to lead its fresh food programs. I'm curious: What practices from the grocery world could 7-Eleven use to boost its foodservice operations?

On Monday night, BBC Panorama aired an investigation that revealed some eye-opening findings about supermarket price-matching. They found that many of Tesco’s products, which claim to be price-matched with Aldi, are not like-for-like. The programme, which aired on BBC One, highlighted that nearly a third of Tesco’s matched products contain less of the main ingredient compared to Aldi’s. This really reinforces what we’ve always believed: Aldi is the only supermarket where you can count on both top-quality products and low prices. At Aldi, we believe that fresh, healthy, great-quality food is a right, not a privilege. That’s why we’re so committed to bringing our customers the best at the most affordable prices. And while we put all our energy into maintaining these standards, we’re aware that no one is perfect, including ourselves. We are always striving to improve, and we welcome feedback from our valued customers to help us do just that. We’re aware that other retailers might claim to match our prices, but as this research shows, these claims are not always what they appear to be. We welcome the investigation by Panorama, as it supports what we passionately believe: at Aldi, you don’t have to compromise on quality to get great value. We work tirelessly to ensure our exclusive products are not only affordable but meet the highest standards, often with a higher specification than equivalent own-label products sold by our competitors. This dedication has been recognised, with Aldi winning over 530 individual awards for quality over the last 12 months, including Quality Food Awards Retailer of the Year 2023 and Drinks Retailer of the Year at the 2024 Retail Industry Awards. We’re also incredibly proud to be named the UK’s cheapest supermarket by independent Which? research for the last 10 consecutive months and for the last three years running. To learn more about the Panorama findings, you can read the full article below, and if you missed it, the programme is available to watch now on iPlayer. We truly value every single customer who chooses to shop with Aldi.

To my mind a clear example of the difference between attempted price and real value leadership. And why a superior (& disruptive) business model design beats a narrow price proposition. Always. #thinkdisruption- visit www.thinkdisruption.com #retail #supermarket #strategy #platforms #disruptiveinnovation #businessmodel

Some interesting news in the #food and #drinks industry this week: 1. Ready-to-drink coffee has become overly reliant on promotions to drive sales, according to the CEO of London challenger brand Grind | Certified B Corp. Speaking to The Grocer, David Abrahamovitch said competition between leading RTD brands such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee was putting downward pressure on pricing, and suppliers needed to offer higher quality products to “encourage consumers to trade up” and preserve value in the category. 2. pladis Global has promoted Emily Stuart to head of innovation for the UK & Ireland. With 13 years’ in fmcg experience. Emily started out as a buyer for Tesco and has held numerous commercial, strategy and category roles for General Mills and PepsiCo. 3. According to Future Market Insights (FMI), the spice oils and oleoresins market is expected to record a CAGR of 7.9% between 2023 and 2033. Oleoresins are used to create aromas, fragrances, and various cosmetic items. They are utilised in the pharmaceutical sector with multiple uses such as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and other medication, thus expecting to drive growth along with the expanding consumption of organic food making spice oils popular in the market. 4.  The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has called on the new government to put the wine and spirits trade at the centre of its programme for growth. They said “urgent action” needs to be taken to halt “unnecessary changes” to taxing wine in February 2025, and to “clear up” confusion over waste packaging regulations. 5. Morrisons has launched a limited-edition heritage butter packaging design to mark its 125 years as a business. The anniversary product is a nod to how the company started as an egg and butter market stall in Bradford. The heritage butter packaging is on both salted and unsalted variants of Morrisons British Butter and includes a union jack, gold wrapper, and blue and red accents. #grocer #newgovernment #election