Senior food industry executives from companies including Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Asda have headed to the picturesque UK town of Windsor for this year’s Food and Drink Innovation Dialogue to discuss a variety of factors affecting innovation in our sector. Delegates have analysed the impact that issues including the economic downturn, ethical consumerism, the rivalry between brands and private label and the demand for clean-label products have had on NPD. Here are some of the more... ...Read more »

UK retailer Asda has extended its “price guarantee” to refund the difference to consumers if it is not 10% cheaper than its main rivals.Around 15,000 products listed by independent price checker mysupermarket.co.uk are included in the guarantee, which will be supported by a television and print advertising campaign to launch today. Asda’s previous guarantee, launched in April last year, refunded consumers with vouchers at 8% difference. However, the retailer said it wants to become... ...Read more »

Ajinomoto has defended its artificial sweetener product aspartame, of which the Japan-based food group is the largest supplier, and questioned the potential of natural sweetener stevia. Critics have long claimed that aspartame is associated with numerous health risks. Retailers, including the UK’s Marks and Spencer and South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings, have removed aspartame from their own-label lines in recent years. Meanwhile, Asda, the UK arm of Wal-Mart, has been embroiled in a... ...Read more »

UK retailer Asda said it is “working hard behind on the scenes” on plans for its Netto stores, as it awaits approval from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for the purchase.Asda paid GBP778m (US$1.24bn) for the 193 outlets in May this year and earlier this month it said it is currently working with the OFT, which is reportedly requiring the retailer to sell some 30 of the Netto stores. Reports on Friday (27 August) suggest that Asda has submitted planning applications to convert several... ...Read more »

Asda has struck a deal to buy the UK stores of discount chain Netto, as part of the Wal-Mart subsidiary’s bid to run smaller stores in the country.The GBP778m (US$1.13bn) will lead to the UK’s second-largest retailer converting Netto’s stores to Asda outlets and integrate them into a new supermarkets division for units smaller than 25,000 sq ft. Asda wants to run smaller stores in the UK and has said it sees much of the growth in the country’s grocery sector coming from smaller... ...Read more »

Retail giant Wal-Mart has posted a 5.9% increase in revenues, as strong international sales offset slower growth in the US.The company said yesterday (18 May) that first-quarter sales climbed to US$99.1bn. Sales from Wal-Mart’s international businesses, which takes in markets including the UK, China and Canada, climbed 21.4%. Overseas sales were up almost 9% on a constant-currency basis. Earlier today, Wal-Mart’s UK arm Asda reported that its total sales in the first quarter had grown... ...Read more »

The appointment of long-time Asda executive Andy Clarke as chief executive of the supermarket operator suggests that US parent Wal-Mart is seeking strategic continuity at its UK arm, despite recent admissions that the company’s sales growth is falling below expectations. Katy Humphries reports.Wal-Mart announced yesterday (11 May) that it has promoted Andy Clarke to the post of president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Clarke, formerly chief operating officer at the UK’s... ...Read more »

Last week Asda fired the final shot in the supermarket price wars with a worldwide first that harnesses the power of the internet to guarantee the lowest price to its shoppers. The Asda Price Guarantee is a cast-iron promise to shoppers that it cannot, and will not, be beaten on price. If shoppers can purchase a basket of eight or more comparable products cheaper elsewhere, the retailer will give them the difference, plus a penny more for good measure. The launch of the Asda Price Guarantee heralds... ...Read more »

* Asda aspires to be market leader in non-food, and clear #2 in food within five years * Chain of 100 Asda supermarkets (smaller food stores) and 150 Asda Living (non-food stores) planned * UK-wide rollout of its ‘Order Online, Collect in Store’ service completed * Asda to use global merchandising centers to further leverage Walmart’s global scale * Location of second Asda dedicated home shopping picking center unveiled in North London Wal-Mart outlined a number of ambitious plans... ...Read more »

The sales of certain ready meal lines in the UK are in “terminal decline” as more local consumers look to cook from scratch, retail giant Asda has claimed. Paul Kelly, Asda’s corporate affairs director, told a food conference in London that a growing number of UK shoppers were turning their backs on selected lines in favour of cooking from raw ingredients. Kelly said the economic downturn had led to more scratch cooking and argued that, despite concern over the levels of culinary... ...Read more »