More shaking up amongst the Men in Black who back in May, you will recall, announced that Masscash’s Jumbo Cash and Carry brand will soon be known as Jumbo Wholesale. This as step one in a move to bring all of the Masscash wholesale stores under a single brand. Step 2: merging the Jumbo and Cambridge businesses, thus bringing Masscash’s wholesale and retail businesses together, doubtless with a view to simplifying the business and achieving efficiencies in relentlessly tough times. They’re also putting some heavy hitters in place, with Kevin Vyvyan-Day stepping in as CEO of the division, Neville Dunn and Craig Surmon in charge of wholesale and retail operations respectively, and Bruce Cayzer in charge of merchandise. 

Comment: Tough times abound, with organisational changes happening across the board, from retailers to suppliers. The key is getting the right people in the right seats managing the right combination of trading brands. Just like that.

‘Seize the Moment’ was the theme of this year’s SPAR Convention, which we at Trade Intelligence had the privilege of attending last week. As always, SPAR’s culture is palpable, and the powerful impact that the ethos of family values has on the organisation, as it sits real at its heart, is directly linked to the success of this business model.There are two stories here though… this one is about culture at a macro level, and the impact of corporates getting it right. The other, a more operationally relevant SPAR convention report-back for Ti clients who fall within the SPAR supplier community. The latter will be distributed directly to Ti supplier clients. Read more here.

Comment: Our article says it all. Go on…have a read.

We always feared this day would come, and now it is upon us. One of the retailers has got involved in Bitcoin, and now we’re going to have to try to understand it – and, what’s worse, explain it. Doubtless as a way of potentially capturing a slice of the valuable hoodie-wearing misanthrope market, Pick n Pay has tested the use of crypto-currency Bitcoin for purchases in its head office canteen store, using a Bitcoin wallet app on the shopper’s phone to scan a QR code, upload the transaction onto a server in Macau, shoot it over for approval to a holding company in Nassau, then back via an encrypted darknet… where were we?

Comment: Bitcoin, and what it represents, is a heated debate amongst those in the know at the moment. It’s good PR to have cryptocurrency capabilities, but whether it is good business when there’s no gold standard and fluctuating currency, remains to be seen.

Anglovaal Industries Limited, a name we like to pronounce in the plummy tones of one on their third brandy at the Illovo Club, has released its results, and they’re pretty good, all things considered. Group revenue was up +8.2% to R13.18bn, with operating profit up a solid +10.7% to R2.39bn, reportedly assisted thither by effective management of selling and administrative expenses. Entyce Beverages grew revenue +9.8% to R3.76bn, while Snackworx grew +8.6% to R3.96bn, and I&J +8.8% to R2.36bn, all of them profitably, although parts of I&J might be up for sale or restructuring of some sort as AVI ponders what to do about the 2020 fishing rights allocation. Tangentially – because we know you appreciate this sort of thing – posh footwear brands Kurt Geiger and Spitz grew revenues by only +3.2% and +2% respectively, while sturdy, sensible Green Cross came in at +9.4%. 

Comment: Not bad eh? Think we might have that fourth brandy.

Unilever Global, you may or may not know, is in the middle of a massive marketing efficiency drive, reducing its ads by 30% and cutting back on the number of agencies it works with in order to save some €6billion in promoting the brands it holds dear. This is not going to stop Le Grand Bleu investing in other areas, however, oh, no, and foremost among these is innovation, driven out of a beardily-named hub called the Foundry, which sprang fully-formed into the world in 2014, wearing a fitted Lumberjack shirt and some vintage Japanese selvage jeans. And the Foundry’s next big idea is that corporates, like Unilever, should begin working in the same space as start-up businesses because, say Unilever, “start-ups are now widely recognised as invaluable sources of innovation, fuelling growth and providing pioneering business solutions.” 

Comment: New paradigm stuff, of which there is an encouraging amount about these days.

Rumblings from Down Under are that Solomon Lew, one of Australia’s shrewdest investors, has surreptitiously availed himself of 10% of the shares of Myers, a big department store and rival to David Jones, owned by South Africa’s own Woolies. He had pulled a similar stunt prior to the DJ acquisition, and some of our more reckless analysts are speculating that this may presage another takeover – perhaps even by Woolies, although why they’d want to entrench their challenging Aussie positon with a move like this beats us. Stay posted… 

Pharma giant Aspen have upped revenue +16% to R41.2bn for the FY through June, with HEPS up also +16%. Acquisitions of anaesthetics businesses from AstraZeneca and GSK helped, as did their entry into the Chinese anaesthetics market, and the positive performance of their business back here at home.

In June this year, German private-label discounter Lidl opened its first store in the US. By the time you open your bleary eyes next January 1, it could have almost 70 stores in a country which may have invented modern grocery retail but hasn’t done much to keep it fresh for the past couple of decades, except maybe Whole Foods. Lidl joins rival Aldi in the march on Manhattan a little late – Aldi already has 1,600-plus stores in place in the US, and is pushing for 2,500.

Retail futurist Howard Saunders was in town for the South African Council of Shopping Centres shindig, and he had words to say about the drive to artisanal food, waxing suitably biblical, “It’s David and Goliath time folks,” he thundered. “These big brands know that what’s eroding their sales is the artisan revolution. You tour the little factory, you see it being made, you taste it and you talk about it.” This ties in with what retailers need to do to keep the punters interested, he explains. The store has to become a place of experience, rather than a storage space. Trade Intelligence CEO Maryla Masojada agrees. Speaking at the recent Produce Market Association’s ‘Fresh Connections’ conference, she noted that every retailer was prioritising their fresh category – a category which now extends into areas like the deli, the butchery and the bakery – all parts of the store where experience is almost as important as the goods on offer. “Retailers are decreasing floor space for groceries and increasing shelf space for fresh produce,” she said. “When you walk into a store, the fresh produce is always in the front … This is what shoppers are after.” For a more detailed read, click here. 

Comment: The connection between fresh and artisanal is a powerful one.