Elsevier Food International

Volume 4, No. 2 May 2001

Market Vision
Sir Peter Davis has been at the helm of Sainsbury since March last year, and one of his first moves was to re-think all targets set by the troubled UK retailer's former management. "My sale target is increasing the profitability of the group and restoring Sainsbury's share price," he says. To this end, he is focusing on food retailing on both sides of the Atlantic.

Sainsbury's Transatlantic Target

ECR
Cost-efficient optimisation of the supply chain is any food retailer's core priority, in a world where most goods are not only fast moving but also produce relatively low profit margins. Internet-based E-procurement can turn all kinds of possibilities into reality - and at the touch of a button.

The Global Supply Chain

Instore
The loyalty card is the single most effective way of influencing and evaluating today's consumer behaviour - of getting to know the customer as personally as possible. Those retailers that limit its application to a pricing instrument alone are missing a trick. It can be used in far more sophisticated ways to increase consumer loyalty, thereby ensuring a much higher return on investment.

Loyalty cards: revealing all

Country Profile
In 2000, total food retail sales in Australia and New Zealand were valued at US$ 26.7 billion. Worldwide, there are 15 retailers whose total 1999 sales exceed this number. Some of the largest of these may well be ready to expand their business into the southern hemisphere.

Australia and New Zealand: Expanding Down Under

Food Watch
How can top companies ensure not only that they attract the best possible staff, but that they actually manage to keep them? In this two-part feature, FMI's Jo Anne Sharlach begins by looking at the problems of recruiting and retaining executive staff. McKinsey & Company then goes on to look at the importance of motivating sales floor staff, and at some of the ways in which this can be achieved.

Motivating front line staff for bottom line results

Poland features most of the world's leading retailers, who in the corning years will battle for the top three positions in the capital intensive hypermarket sector. Once the dust has settled, who will be the winners? French retailers Ceant (Casino) and Carrefour stand a good chance. But what about UK retailer Tesco, or the anticipated newcomer from Germany, Kaufland?

Winners and Losers in Poland's Hypermarket Battle

Food Buying
Colin Dyer, chief executive of the World Wide Retail Exchange, has set his sights well beyond the traditional buyer-seller relationship. WWRE is not only about transactions, but about interactions too. And this exchange of information and know-how can only deepen the relationship between retailer and manufacturer.

From Transaction to Interaction

Retail Profile
The rule of thumb in international retailing is that you've got to be healthy in the home market to be successful abroad. If this retail wisdom holds true, Rewe is in trouble. After rapid domestic growth the German retailer expanded abroad to become Europe's fourth largest food retailer. But with a fierce price war in Germany - augmented by the arrival of Wal-Mart in 1997 - Rewe doesn't seem healthy enough to survive. So what does the future hold?

From Boom to Gloom

Fresh Foods
Milk has long been recognised as a vital source of vitamins and nutrients, but it seems that more and more of us are getting our supplies through milk products, rather than by simply drinking liquid white milk.

Who drinks most milk?