Olaf Koch, CEO of German retail company Metro Group, is also becoming CEO and chairman of the executive committee of Metro Cash & Carry. On 31 March current director Frans Muller will abdicate in favour of Koch, in a move that points to a new focus of the group on its wholesale activities.

British supermarket chain Tesco has bought Giraffe, a chain of family restaurants, for the amount of 55 million euro. Giraffe currently has 47 locations in Great-Britain and one on the international airport of Dubai.

2012 was an excellent year for German retail multinational REWE, much to the delight of CEO Alain Caparros - especially after a weak 2011. Discounter Penny still remains a liability, which is why the chain will start rebranding its stores.

Tesco has introduced ‘Price Promise’, an automated price check that compares prices of A-brands, private labels and fresh produce with those of competitors Asda, Sainsbuy’s and Morrisons. If their prices are lower, customers at Tesco will get a coupon worth the difference, with a maximum of £10.

In 2012 Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize saw its net profits plummet 77% compared to 2011. In the fourth quarter the group even ended at a small loss, mainly because of lower margins in the US and competition of discounters. Delhaize's cure? Open more new stores.

French hypermarket group Carrefour performed better than expected last year: operational profit dropped by only 2.6 percent to 21.4 billion euro, while net profits were three times higher than the year before. As CEO Georges Plassat promised in August of last year, it seems Carrefour is back on the rise.

The new approach taken by chocolate maker Neuhaus in the United States since last year, is paying off. The company wants to open new stores as soon as possible, starting on Wall Street.

French group of department stores Auchan has opened a fresh food store named Arcimbo, next to their drive-through for picking up goods ordered online, in Villeparis (Seine-et-Marne). On offer are fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and fish and some other groceries and wine.

International criminal police organisation Interpol has announced a massive inquiry into fishery fraud. The main focus of the investigation will be the deliberately wrong labelling of fish.