The short version: Woolworths launches AI-powered food assistant
Just a couple of weeks after Pick n Pay introduced Penny, its AI-powered shopping companion on the asap! app, Woolworths has announced the imminent arrival of its own version of the concept, named “My Woolies Chef”. Also integrated into the Woolworths app, My Woolies Chef uses conversational AI to help customers find meal ideas and shop for ingredients. “The tool is designed to understand the context behind a request,” said Woolworths, and so users can ask it, for example, for a quick dinner idea using ingredients they already have, or a vegetarian meal for two, or even lunchbox ideas that can be prepared in advance. The app has been specifically designed to work within the Woolies food ecosystem and accesses 20 years’ worth of Taste Magazine recipes to generate its meal suggestions and solutions. The recipe ingredients can then be added directly to the Woolies Dash basket, to be delivered on-demand. “Our goal is to make technology truly useful by solving real customer problems. My Woolies Chef is a practical example of how AI can support customers in everyday moments, while enhancing the way they plan, shop and cook,” said Woolworths Group Data and AI Officer, Jose Rodrigues. My Woolies Chef will be rolled out to a limited number of customers for testing from September, in order for it to be made available to all app users come early 2027.

The short version: Amazon supports job creation through climate resilience project in Soweto
Amazon will be investing R24m to support a nature restoration project in Soweto that will also create hundreds of jobs, with a particular focus on training and empowering women to generate incomes for their families. The project involves restoring 130 hectares of the Klip River area, a critical water source for Jozi and surrounds, by removing solid waste and alien vegetation, and reintroducing indigenous species to stabilise the river banks and support local biodiversity. Four urban farms will also be established as part of the project, as well as 20 school clubs to extend opportunities to the broader community, and 20,000 trees will be planted in the neighbourhoods of Soweto. “With Amazon’s support, we’re helping [Soweto’s communities] restore the Klip River corridor, starting school clubs to foster the next generation of environmental stewards, and supporting local women with the tools and skills to build sustainable businesses,” said Amanda Gcanga from World Resources Institute, which together with other associations and institutions is partnering with Amazon on the project. “This project belongs to the people of Soweto — they will own it, operate it, and benefit from it for generations to come”. The project is being funded by Amazon’s ‘Right Now Climate Fund’, which was established in 2019 to support climate resilience and nature conservation in communities around the world. This is the fund’s first investment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The short version: Morrisons counters its counter decision | Sainsbury’s to sell only climate-friendly eggs | Walmart targets higher earners
In news from over the seas, Morrisons is bringing back its Market Street counters that it had decided to close last year. The idea of the counters was to recreate the feeling of a traditional British market stall, with butchery, bakery, fish and cake counters. Last year, the chain opted to close all of them, as well as some cafés, florists, and pharmacies, as the business believed that they were no longer profitable. But now, following customer complaints, the retailer is backtracking on its decision, having realised that the counters are an important “part of our DNA” and a real differentiator in the market. Though it is not clear how many, “a number” of the counters will be opened over the coming months, although there are currently no plans to reopen the cafés, florists, pharmacies.

Still in the UK, Sainsbury’s has announced that it will no longer be selling brown eggs and will only stock white ones, since, believe it or not, they are easier on climate change. An assessment carried out for Sainsbury’s has determined that white eggs have a 12.7% smaller carbon footprint than brown ones. How so? Well, because the breed of white-feathered chickens which lay white eggs lay them for longer, eat less feed, and are also more docile than the regular brown-feathered species, which means less pecking at each other and better flock health overall. Proof, yet again, that being kind to each other is just a better way of doing things.

We finish off with Walmart, which in the  US is moving away from its pure value-focused approach to retailing to attract high-income shoppers through its doors. The strategy has been playing out over the last couple of years and seems to be paying off, with the company reporting that it has drastically grown its market share in higher-earning households. It has done so by expanding its range of premium brands across fashion, beauty and home, introducing the likes of Caraway premium cookware, a premium Angus beef range and Gucci and Dior products in the beauty aisle. According to Moody’s Analytics, households earning in the top 20% now account for nearly 60% of all consumer spending, up from 50% in the 90s. And we all know that a company like Walmart is not going to sit back and watch such spending power go elsewhere.