Elsevier Food International

Volume 11, No. 2 May 2008

Food watch
Sustainability has been thrown into the heart of the fire. Although it has been on the retailers’ backburner for many years it is now the hot topic at virtually all conferences and is a driving force not only for do-gooders but also for strategic business plans. However, it is not all plain sailing and many controversial issues will have to be overcome in the coming years.

Juggling corporate citizenship with business goals

Market vision
Dick Boer, president and CEO of Albert Heijn, describes how the Dutch supermarket chain was forced to reposition, which is did by listening to customers. It continues to introduce new store formats, new categories and new technologies to enhance shopping value, a strategy is paying off.

Price is a given: Shopping value is a must 

Store profile
Pick n Pay has been re-engineering itself and is now opening stores in ‘black’ areas in South Africa. Its new generation hypermarket in Soweto was selected by Planet Retail as the most innovative new concept in 2007. It had been a long time coming and was identified as "having the potential to change the face of retailing in Africa".

Pick n Pay, Soweto, South Africa

In store
Wine departments are a typical profiling segment for many supermarkets. Ambiance is key. A shop fitter must create within the supermarket an authentic mood where the customer feels at ease, yet interested, perhaps intrigued, by the surroundings - a harmonious, interactive, cosy atmosphere.

Practical issues of layout design & marketing: Veni, vidi, vino

With the new generation of feature-rich mobile phones and advanced telecommunications networks customers can self-scan the RFID chip on a grocery product, download the data at the checkout and even pay for products with the phone. Pilot schemes are underway although it may take a little longer before this technology becomes main-stream.

Mobile phones: The new electronic wallet

Food watch
Sustainability has been on the retailers’ backburner for many years but it is now a hot topic and driving force not only for do-gooders but also for strategic business plans. Companies are having to satisfy their increasingly ‘green’ customers and planning for future social and environmental legislation while at the same time keeping their shareholders happy.

Juggling corporate citizenship with business goals

Elsevier Food International Special
Focusing on healthier lifestyles has been the common factor in product development and key to success for the top ranking food companies. At the same time, as food shortages are causing food prices to rise, the big companies are consolidating in their core and high-growth sectors.

Top Food 100: Leading food groups under pressure

ECR
Failure to train employees who are new to category management is a missed opportunity. Not having the right products available on the shelf is costing the industry millions of dollars. But the tide is turning and many new recruits are reawakening to the benefits of category management. Numerous success stories prove the effectiveness of this system of sales and marketing.  

Gains still to be made in category management

Store profile
Pick n Pay's new generation hypermarket in Soweto opened with great excitement last September and was selected by Planet Retail as the most innovative new concept in 2007. It had been a long time coming and was identified as "having the potential to change the face of retailing in Africa".

Pick n Pay, Soweto, South Africa

Country profile
Australia’s splendid isolation has meant the retail sector has developed at a different pace to many other parts of the world – but change is coming, and coming fast.

Australia: Challenging times Down Under

Industry profile
Restructuring, raw material costs and a poor product mix all contributed to a disastrous performance by Hershey in 2007. But the company says it has learned from its mistakes and is preparing a new assault on America’s increasingly refined tastebuds.

Hershey goes back to basics

Food marketing
The introduction of Chip and PIN is now spreading across Europe. Dutch retailers have been using a bank card PIN system for several years and in 2005 British retailers introduced this technology for credit card payment security. This has resulted in a drop in credit card fraud practices, but also challenged retailers in terms of meeting credit card compliancy, a quick and smooth rollout of the system and minimising investment costs.

Chip and PIN tackles credit card fraud 

Real Estate
Green buildings may be good for the environment but they also need to take into account shopping value and the comfort of the shopper. Removing all the air-conditioning could reduce the quality of fresh produce as well as bring a loss in customers.

Green buildings in the balance 

Fresh Foods & Drink
A cold beer is a thing of beauty, and with the globalisation of the industry, there’s barely a corner of the planet where you can’t enjoy one. However, even with the remorseless spread of the beer industry and the development of brewing technology and equipment over the years, the process and essential ingredients – barley, hops, yeast and water – have remained largely the same.

Beer: simple, yet sophisticated, marketing