Concerns over Sainsbury’s margins and the departure of its developmet director Darren Shapland grabbed UK retail headlines this week – as did Haldanes Stores’ war of words with The Co-operative Group. Tyson Foods and Dean Foods issued their latest results and Parmalat faced shareholder scrutiny as it prepared to consider the takeover bid from Lactalis.
“Other retailers have faced problems with their hypermarkets as food has become incidental to their offer. Food has to be the core reason why people come into your store, not a supplementary objective”- Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King explains why the retailer will not face the same sluggish performance as other hypermarket operators as it focuses on expanding its stores.
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“The Co-op has sold me, customers in 26 local markets, and quite possibly 600 of their former employees down the river in order to do its deal with Somerfields while cynically weakening the competition their own stores face in these localities” – Haldanes CEO Arthur Harris sparks off a war of words with The Co-operative Group over stores it acquired from the retailer in 2009 and 2010.
“Our decision to take legal action followed Haldanes’ failure to pay rents owing to the group and was made reluctantly after other avenues had been exhausted” – The Co-operative Group argues that Haldanes has not paid rent on the 26 stores it acquired from the Co-op.
“What sort of profit? You’re going to get $10m in 2015, or $20m in 2017, do you really think that 10 years on, cumulatively after the best part of $2bn spent you’re going to be happy with $10-20m operating profit?” – MF Global analyst Mike Dennis questions whether Tesco will be happy with the sorts of profits it should expect from Fresh & Easy in coming years.
“No competitor has our product diversification. We have unparalleled resources – our team and our discovery centre – to create value for our customers throug product innovation” Tyson Foods president and CEO Donnie Smith insists that its business model is ahead of the market.
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By GlobalData“This partnership with Cargill, a global leader in the food industry, will create a world class company and a flagship for the Australian beef industry – Brad Teys, Teys Bros.’ CEO, reveals the benefits behind the beef processor’s merger with Cargill.
“While we have a long way to go at [Dean Foods’ milk division] Fresh Dairy Direct-Morningstar, I am cautiously optimistic that the trajectory of our business is upward” – Dean Foods chairman and CEO Gregg Engles is optimistic of the group’s prospects.
“I would find it really unacceptable to surrender control of the company with a EUR2.60 bid when a group of vocal and not very co-operative shareholders were able to secure a EUR2.80 price for their shares. I urge you to keep that in mind” – an investor tells Parmalat CEO Enrico Bondi to remember that suitor Lactalis has already bought shares in the business – for a lower price than it is offering for the rest of the Italian dairy group.
“If we grant tariff preferences in this competitive environment, those countries most in need must reap the most benefits” – EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht describes the drivers behind cutting tariff breaks through the reform of its Generalised System of Preferences system.
“The average shopper only visits an Aldi or Lidl every other week – fresh food provides these two retailers with an incentive for customers to shop there more regularly.” – David Berry, Kantar Worldpanel Ireland’s commercial director, explains what Aldi and Lidl need to do to build market share.
