Research & Analysis

GUATEMALA, Costa Rica, The Netherlands - Paiz Ahold, the 50/50 joint venture of food retailers La Fragua and Ahold in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, has signed an agreement with Costa Rican supermarket and hypermarket company CSU to form a new joint venture, bringing together all of their operations in the Central American region.

LONDON - Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain, has announced plans to expand its market for organic food to #1bn ($1.46 billion) within five years, the BBC reported. The company claims it is already the country's largest organic retailer.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commerce Department reported today that consumer spending dropped by 1.8 percent in September, following a modest 0.3 percent gain in August. This is the largest drop in more than 14 years, The Associated Press reported.

ROSWELL, Ga. - Harry's Farmers Market Inc. on Wednesday announced that it has completed the sale of its three mega-stores and related support facilities to Whole Foods Market Group Inc., as previously announced, for a purchase price of $35 million in cash. In addition, the company has changed its corporate name to Hurry Inc.

'You've got to push the envelope. The more you push, the more opportunities you'll find," says Jeff Noddle, president, CEO and COO of Supervalu. These days, Noddle, who took over the helm in June from long-time CEO Mike Wright, is pushing pretty hard, looking at opportunities outside Supervalu's traditional customer base —such as alternative formats, significant reductions in inventory, organic growth vs. acquisition, B2B initiatives, and a laundry list of other strategic issues.

MINNEAPOLIS - Food retailer and distributor Nash Finch Company today reported that net earnings rose 50 percent to $6.0 million for the third quarter ended October 6, 2001, compared to net earnings of $4.0 million reported for the third quarter of 2000.

Sara Lee Corp. today said net income fell almost 5 percent in its fiscal first quarter. Del Monte Foods Co. reported a slight loss in its earnings.

BOULDER, Colo. - Wild Oats Markets Inc., a leading national natural and organic foods retailer, today announced financial results for the third quarter and first nine months ended September 29, 2001.