DoorDash extends grocery delivery reach with Southeastern Grocers partnership

Online food delivery provider DoorDash on Tuesday launched on-demand grocery delivery from more than 400 Southeastern Grocers stores, including the retailer’s Fresco y Más, Harveys and Winn-Dixie banners. Online shoppers at SEG stores throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana can now have groceries delivered from their local store in as little as 45 minutes.

7-Eleven to pilot delivery via robotics-powered vehicles

Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven said Wednesday said the pilot in Mountain View, Calif., will mark the first autonomous commercial delivery in the state. Customers in the service area will be able to place orders through the 7NOW delivery app and have their products delivered by bot-powered vehicles.....Read More

BJ’s taps H-E-B exec Rachael Vegas as chief merchant

BJ’s said that Vegas starts as chief merchant effective immediately. The Westborough, Mass.-based warehouse club chain also announced the promotions of Tim Morningstar to executive VP and chief membership officer and Monica Schwartz to executive VP and chief digital officer......Read More

Cub Foods eyes crisper produce operations

Midwestern grocer Cub Foods plans to deploy the Afresh fresh-food optimization platform in selected stores across the greater Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. The artificial intelligence-powered Afresh Fresh Operating System will be used to sharpen fresh produce operations at the Cub supermarkets, helping them reduce shrink, accelerate stock turns to provide shoppers with fresher produce......Read More

Grocers tap cash-back platform to spur shopper return visits

Cardenas Markets, Woodman’s Market, Vicente Foods and Lunds & Byerlys — have enlisted the GetUpside cash-back promotional platform to boost shopper engagement. Washington-based retail technology provider GetUpside said this week that the additions expand its total grocery store locations to more than 175, as well as its geographic footprint in the supermarket channel. ........ReadMore

FreshDirect co-founder David McInerney steps down as CEO

FreshDirect co-founder and CEO David McInerney is leaving the pure-play online grocer, four months after the company’s acquisition by global food retailer Ahold Delhaize. McInerney is stepping down from FreshDirect effective today and will be succeeded on an interim basis by Farhan Siddiqi, chief digital officer of Ahold Delhaize, the Zaandam, Netherlands-based company said.......Read More

Amazon expands own-brand grocery lineup with Aplenty

Amazon has added a new food line called Aplenty to its private-brand grocery roster.Sold online and in-store via Amazon Fresh supermarkets, Aplenty at launch includes such items as pita chips, potato chips, crackers, cookies and mustard, Seattle-based Amazon said Monday. Plans call for hundreds more Aplenty products to roll out over the next year, covering such categories as.....Read More

Grocery retailers feel impact as nationwide protests escalate

Just like the rest of the nation, grocery retailers are watching and waiting as the strife from protests over the death of George Floyd is exploding in cities coast to coast. Through the weekend, protests were ongoing in more than 30 cities, ....Read More

Pandemic pushes shoppers to expand ‘retailer repertoire’

Encountering empty shelves and disarray at their regular stores, many U.S. consumers turned to other retailers or went online to buy groceries and daily essentials as the coronavirus outbreak started and then escalated, a study by market research firm Kantar revealed....Read More

OCEAN HEALTH INFLUENCES CONSUMERS’ SEAFOOD CHOICES

According to recent research by consultancy firm Changing Tastes, most American consumers are worried about the effect of ocean health on fish and seafood, with a majority now concerned about heavy metals, plastic contamination and radiation in their fish and seafood, as well as the use of forced labor and antibiotics.....Read More

FMI CHANGES NAME, BECOMES THE FOOD INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

FMI said the new identity, launched Tuesday, reflects its strategy to expand its representation of the food marketplace from its traditional membership of grocery and other food retailers include their suppliers and other business partners......Read More

WEIS, BROOKSHIRE’S GET MORE PERSONAL WITH ONLINE GROCERY

Weis Markets and Brookshire Grocery Co. have enlisted e-commerce specialist Mercatus to make online grocery shopping more relevant for their customers......Read More

THE BIGGEST TRENDS IN CENTER STORE IN 2019

Health & wellness, “clean” products and authentic flavors were the drivers behind sales growth in center store in 2019......Read More

LIDL TO OPEN FIRST LONG ISLAND STORES NEXT WEEK

Lidl US has moved up the timetable for the opening of its first Long Island, N.Y., stores from its acquisition of metropolitan New York grocer Best Market. Lidl said Monday that it plans to open stores in Center Moriches and West Babylon on Dec. 11. A brand-new store,.....Read More

SHOPPERS WOULD GO LOCAL FOR SAME-DAY DELIVERY

Though Amazon has raised customer service expectations in online retail, shoppers would order from local stores if they could provide same-day delivery, a survey from last-mile delivery.....Read More

SUPERMARKET CAFÉS ACCUSED OF HAVING ‘IRRESPONSIBLE’ CHILDREN’S MENUS

A number of supermarket cafe chains including Marks & Spencer and Tesco are serving children unhealthy and unsustainable meals, according to a nationwide analysis......Read More

HOW BRANDS CAN MAKE THEIR WAY INTO SHOPPERS’ CHRISTMAS DINNER PLANS

Christmas. A time of year when shopper demand is at its highest. Prices hit rock-bottom and the nation’s heartstrings are pulled by the much-anticipated Christmas adverts (and we enjoy debating which retailers got it right and which got it horribly wrong)......Read More