Elsevier Food International

Volume 6, No. 3 September 2003

Market Vision
Terry Leahy, Tesco's chief executive since 1997, oversees the UK's top supermarket chain and the world's leading on-line home shopping business. In Leahy's own words, Tesco attempts to pursue a 'virtuous circle' by strengthening its supply chain and focusing on customer relations and human resources development.

Tesco tracks a virtuous circle

Brand Vision
Alan G. Lafley, chairman of the board and president and CEO of Procter & Gamble, is often referred to as the man who revitalised this behemoth. P&G's financial performance in recent years supports this and P&G people acknowledge that the change happened since Lafley took over the helm. Lafley, however, stresses that he and his new leadership team elaborate on the work of his predecessors.

Injecting new life into a behemoth

EFI Special
Familiar names retain their ranking in this year's list of top global players in food retail, but even big companies like Wal-Mart and Carrefour are exercising caution in their cross-border strategies.

Rethinking growth strategies

ECR
With consumers becoming less tolerant of out-of-stock items, the retailer's problem with out-of-stock situations (OOS) validates the adage 'retail is detail.' And although technology provides solutions, experts agree that OOS will remain a chronic and costly issue.

Unravelling the Gordian knot

R&D
Aeroplanes intentionally flying into skyscrapers. Few would have thought this possible before 9 September 2001. After this date, the deliberate contamination of food and water supplies has become a real threat. Is the industry prepared for this threat? Some say it is not.

Food Security: Industry not prepared for 9.11 in food

Country Profile
Poland's fiercely competitive food retail market can only turn bloody as foreign retailers continue their aggressive push amid slower economic growth and tighter regulations. The next two years will be crucial as the retail boom in the mid-1990s turns into a fight where the weakest gets the most fatal bruises.

Poland's retail shakedown

Instore
In the years to come, technology will strongly impact store operations and shopping experiences.The question, however, is twofold: does the customer accept technology and can the retailer afford it.

Equipping the future store

Food Watch
Customer-friendliness does not occur in the vocabulary of hard discounters. However, as consumers increasingly watch their wallets, they are likely to visit discounters more frequently.

Discounters benefit from economic recession

In acquiring C Two-Network in Japan, UK retailer Tesco has again shown a shrewd ability to find a successful local company to acquire and to enter a major but difficult foreign market.

Tesco's shrewd move in Japan

Retail Profile
In search of growth opportunities beyond its domestic market Turkey, Migros Türk is looking further afield and is targeting quite unusual markets in search of an early entry advantage. But how promising is opening a retail store in Baghdad?

The early entry strategy of Migros Turk

Fresh Foods
When it comes to lamb and mutton, Australia and New Zealand easily top the list both in terms of production and consumption. New Zealanders are the world's leading consumers, closely followed by Australians.

Mutton matters Down Under