Food

Both Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt suffered blows on the stock exchange as it seems like investors have completely lost faith in supermarket shares. However, they are not all alike, because Ahold Delhaize seems to bounce back, unlike Colruyt.

Amazon’s cash register-free supermarket, Amazon Go, still has not opened to the general public and now one of its directors will leave Amazon.

Dairy manufacturer Danone is to optimize its European organization: Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland are to form one cluster. Kris Geeraert, general manager Benelux, will leave the company.

British liquor group Diageo has paid 700 million dollars (about 620 million euro) for George Clooney’s premium tequila brand Casamigos and that could rise to 1 billion dollars.

AB InBev is looking for a buyer for its German beer brands Hasseröder and Diebels. The Belgian beer giant hopes to attract about 200 million euro for both brands.

Colruyt Group has seen its turnover grow 3.4 % to 9.493 billion euro in its fiscal year 2016/2017. Thanks to the sale of its French food service business Pro à Pro on 1 February, profits also grew.

The European Commission revealed it will not stand in Hungary’s way if it wants to ban certain symbols, including the red star in Heineken’s logo.

British supermarket chain Tesco has performed very well over the past quarter, publishing its largest sales growth in seven years’ time. It outshone analysts’ expectations by 0.4 %.

Brewery Duvel Moortgat set record results in 2016: its turnover exceeded 400 million euro for the first time. Since it left the stock exchange in 2013, the company’s turnover and profit more than doubled.

Analysts expect another acquisition phase in the United States after Amazon acquired supermarket chain Whole Foods. Ahold Delhaize is often named as a possible target.

Amazon dealt a serious blow to Ahold Delhaize and Walmart: it acquired supermarket chain Whole Foods Market, its giant introduction to physical food retail. AD’s share was in freefall after the announcement, down 10 % after only an hour.

Swiss food group Nestlé is looking at several strategic options for its American candy division, including a possible sale. It should reach a decision by the end of the year.

“The beer market has never been as interesting as it is now”, AB InBev’s sales director off-trade Benoit Bronckart said. There is a positive vibe in the beer industry and the brewer has embraced diversity more than ever.

Belgian dairy manufacturer Inex, known for its milk cartons at school, is targeting Asian growth. It signed a deal to ship 800 million tons of cream during its South Korean trade mission.

Can a manufacturer of organic alternatives call its products “soy milk” or “tofu butter”? The European Court of Justice confirms it cannot, because the European Union has strict legislation about what can be called milk, cream, butter, cheese and yoghurt.

Alexandre Bompard will need to perform another gargantuan task at department store group Carrefour. After he managed to get Fnac back on track, he will need to do the same for Carrefour.

Smaller stores, fewer discounts, more service and robots, those are just a few changes we may see appear in supermarkets in the next few years. How should retailers and manufacturers react?

French liquor group Rémy Cointreau has had an excellent fiscal year, thanks to its Rémy Martin cognac and its increased popularity in the United States and China.