Retail News CRM

Category: Food

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Food and Food & Beverage news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Aldi Australia vows to maintain pressure on rivals

    Aldi Australia vows to maintain pressure on rivals

    Discount retailer Aldi Australia has vowed to maintain pricing pressure on rivals in the AUD85 billion (USD69.58b) grocery market, after increasing sales by 13 percent in 2014, outpacing food and liquor sales growth at Coles and Woolworths almost three-fold.

    Aldi Australia’s sales reached AUD6 billion in the 12 months ending December 2014, compared with AUD5.3 billion in 2013. The growth was underpinned by strong same-store sales growth and 25 new stores.

    In comparison, Woolworths’ Australian food and liquor sales grew 4.7 percent to AUD41.7 billion in fiscal 2014 and Coles’ food and liquor sales rose 4.6 percent to AUD29.2 billion.

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  • Outback Steakhouse aims to double growth in Indonesia

    Outback Steakhouse aims to double growth in Indonesia

    Singapore’s Universal Success Enterprises, the franchise holder of Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse chain in Southeast Asia, aims to double its sales growth this year as new stores opens amid a recovery in customers’ purchasing power.

    Outback Steakhouse opened its fourth restaurant in Indonesian last week inside the Lippo Mall Puri, a shopping centre in West Jakarta.

    The new restaurant is expected to nearly double the Indonesian franchise’s annual sales growth to 40 percent this year, compared to average growth of 20 percent, USE chairman Prasoon Mukherjee told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

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  • India set to become a big bakery market

    India set to become a big bakery market

    Fieldfresh Foods, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and California-based Del Monte Pacific, says India is becoming a big bakery market. The company, which sells pastas, sauces, is in the process of increasing its brand penetration both in the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) segments.

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  • GCH to open 4 more Giant hypermarkerts, supermarkets this year

    GCH to open 4 more Giant hypermarkerts, supermarkets this year

    GCH Retail (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, the owner of Giant, Cold Storage, Mercato, Jason’s and G-Express stores, is to open four new Giant hypermarkets and supermarkets in Malaysia this year to add to the 126 it already has.

    They will be in the Klang Valley, Sarawak, Perlis and Trengganu and will further strengthen its position as the country’s largest hypermarket group.

    Its G-Express, a convenience store subsidiary, is also embarking on a similar expansion plan and targets to open 500 nationwide within the next five years.

  • Pizza Hut to sell gluten-free pizza

    Pizza Hut to sell gluten-free pizza

    Beginning Jan. 26, roughly 2,400 of the chain’s 6,300 domestic locations will begin selling gluten-free pizzas. The move comes two years after rival Domino’s rolled out a pizza sold with a gluten-free crust — but not entirely gluten free. Pizza Hut will be the first major pizza chain to sell a pizza that is certified gluten-free.

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  • KFC aims to have 500 outlets by year end

    KFC aims to have 500 outlets by year end

    American quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand KFC plans to become the largest QSR chain in the country and expects to have over 500 outlets by end-2015.

    The company has just launched its “Flaming Crunch Chicken,” which has been spiced using the ‘BhutJolokia’ chilli grown in Assam.

    Talking about expansion, Dhruv Kaul, Chief Marketing Officer, KFC India, said: “We have aggressive plans. It’s our ambition to become the number one QSR chain in the country by next year. We target having over 500 outlets by 2015.”

    Kaul said despite softer consumer sentiment, the company is continuing to open new stores, not only in cities where it is already present but also in new cities. KFC India has over 300 restaurants across 81 cities, which are a mix of franchisee and company-run outlets.

    “Last year was challenging for the industry, but we are confident about 2015. We hope to see an uptick in the economic environment and are well-positioned to leverage it,” added Kaul.

    Vegetarian menu

    Last year, the company expanded its vegetarian menu and it has kick-started this year by introducing a spicier version of its chicken offering. Kaul said: “We have seen a new trend emerging, where our consumers prefer a more intense, spicy experience in their food, After scouting for chillies from around the world, we narrowed down on “BhutJolokia” from Assam. We will continue to focus on introducing products that are rooted in consumer insights.”

    This year, the company will also focus on growing its online ordering facility as an incremental channel for sales. “Last year, we scaled up home delivery significantly across our outlets. Also, without any big push, we have seen growth in online ordering. Stores that offer home delivery are seeing over a quarter of orders coming through the online channel. This year, we will give a big thrust to grow the online ordering,” Kaul added.

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  • New nugget woes strain McDonald’s already tarnished image

    New nugget woes strain McDonald’s already tarnished image

    As McDonald’s Japan struggles to repair its image, tarnished from last year’s expired meat scandal, two new incidents related to its Chicken McNuggets surfaced in restaurants in Japan in the last week, a company spokeswoman admitted Tuesday.

    She said a piece of blue vinyl was found by a customer Saturday in a chicken nugget purchased at a McDonald’s restaurant in Misawa, Aomori Prefecture.

    The fast-food giant also admitted it had received a similar complaint by another customer who bought chicken nuggets on Dec. 31, this time at an outlet in Koto Ward, Tokyo.

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  • Jollibee, partner to operate Dunkin’ Donuts stores in China

    Jollibee, partner to operate Dunkin’ Donuts stores in China

    Philippine fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) and its partner, Asian investment firm RRJ Capital Master Fund II LP, have sealed the deal with Dunkin Donuts Franchising LLC to operate Dunkin’ Donut stores in China.

    In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday, JFC said the franchise agreement grants the newly formed joint venture firm Golden Cup Pte. Ltd. the exclusive right to develop Dunkin’ Donuts in Hong Kong, Macau, Fujian, Hunan, Jianxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Guanxi, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shangxi, Chongqing, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Heilongjiang and Jilin.

    Golden Cup Pte. Ltd. is the joint venture company formed by Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of JFC) and Jasmine Asset Holding Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of RRJ Capital Master Fund II, L.P.).

    In an earlier disclosure to the PSE on 19 December, JFC said “the Dunkin’ Donuts deal provides the JV with an excellent opportunity to operate and expand one of the leading global coffee chain brands in the 2nd largest economy in the world.”

    JFC said it will invest USD300 million in the venture, USD180 million of which will be contributed by JPWL. In the first 12 months of operations, JPWL’s initial investment would be about USD18 million.

    As of December 2014, Jollibee operates 811 stores in the Philippines and 101 stores overseas. Dunkin’ Donuts, on the other hand, has nearly 11,000 restaurants in 33 countries worldwide.

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  • Garrett Popcorn opens second HK store

    Garrett Popcorn opens second HK store

    Garrett Popcorn has opened its second store in Hong Kong at the Festival Walm Mall in Kowloon Tong.

    Lance Chody, Chairman and CEO of Garrett Popcorn Shops, said the shop complements its first store located at the IFC Mall shop.

    “We like to say that Garrett Popcorn is Happy Food and we hope that our launch in Festival Walk will make our Hong Kong customers as happy as our popcorn makes us,” said Olivia Huynh, VP APAC Operations at Garrett Popcorn Shops.

    The gourmet popcorn brand is popular throughout the US and many places in Asia including Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.

    Signature Flavors include: Caramel Crisp, Cheese Corn, various Nut Caramel Crisps, Buttery, Plain and the famous Chicago Mix, which blends Caramel Crisps’ sweetness with Cheese Corn.

  • Cheaper fuel encourages Australian shoppers to spend

    Cheaper fuel encourages Australian shoppers to spend

    Motorists in Australia have celebrated cheaper petrol prices by going shopping.

    Pump prices have fallen to the lowest point in four years, giving consumers something to be cheerful about following a run of bad economic news.

    The Australian Retailers Association, which represents small businesses and department store Myer, says this has encouraged people to spend, since suburban stores reopened after the Boxing Day sales.

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  • Sheng Siong signs joint-venture deal to run supermarkets in China

    Sheng Siong signs joint-venture deal to run supermarkets in China

    Singapore-listed Sheng Siong Group has signed a conditional joint-venture (JV) agreement with Kunming LuChen Group Co Ltd to operate supermarkets in China.

    Under the conditional agreement, the proposed JV company will be incorporated under the laws of China with a registered capital of USD10 million.

  • Australian shoppers flock to the Boxing Day sales despite poor sentiment

    Australian shoppers flock to the Boxing Day sales despite poor sentiment

    Retailers in Australia were delighted by a strong turnout of shoppers on Boxing Day, giving analysts further reason to suspect a turnaround in consumer sentiment.

    Myer executive general manager stores, Tony Sutton, said the crowd through the doors at the Melbourne Bourke Street store at 5am looked like its biggest in a decade.

    Accounting firm BDO reported that spending in the week before Christmas was up 13 percent on 2013. BDO national retail lead partner Simon Scalzo said the last few weeks of December had seen a shift in consumer sentiment and now more people were willing to spend.

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  • KFC to add 65 new outlets in Indonesia next year

    KFC to add 65 new outlets in Indonesia next year

    The franchise holder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) brand in Indonesia, PT Fast Food Indonesia (FAST), plans to open between 60 and 65 new outlets in and outside Java to tap into the country’s growing food retail market.

    FAST business development general manager Gandhi Lie said on Tuesday that his firm would spend around IDR240 billion (US$19.2 million) on the expansion, of which about IDR200 billion would be used to open 40 to 45 new “stand alone” outlets, with the remaining IDR40 billion to set up 20 “KFC box” outlets.

    “We will use our internal cash as well as partner with landlords to build the new outlets next year,” he said without providing details on the composition of each source of funds.

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  • Tesco masterplan? New boss keeps investors and staff guessing

    Tesco masterplan? New boss keeps investors and staff guessing

    When Phil Clarke was sacked as Tesco’s CEO, senior executives hoped his 0700 strategy meetings would go with him. They did – new boss Dave Lewis starts his at 0630.

    Parachuted in from Unilever in September, Lewis soon faced the task of making the shock announcement that a GBP250 million (USD391 million) hole had been found in Tesco’s profits, in an accounting scandal that led to the departure of several senior executives.

    Now the CEO – despite having no direct retail experience – is keeping management on a tight rein and personally taking charge of key areas of the business, sources say. And as he conducts a vast review of Tesco’s operations to come up with a strategy to revive its fortunes, he is giving little away – even to insiders.

  • MPP to build 20 new Hypermart outlets in Indonesia

    MPP to build 20 new Hypermart outlets in Indonesia

    Matahari Putra Prima, the operator of the supermarket chain Hypermart, is setting aside up to IDR882 billion (USD71 million) to beef up its retail network next year in another sign of confidence for the country’s burgeoning middle class.

    Danny Kojongian, a director at Matahari Putra Prima, said that the listed company aims to build 20 new Hypermart outlets and renovate 10 existing outlets next year. The 20 additional outlets will primarily target cities in the eastern region of Indonesia, he added.

    Danny said that there are also plans to build up to eight additional stores for grocery market chain Foodmart, as well as a high-end version of the grocery market chain next year, which will be called Foodmart Primo.

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