Global round-up: restructures, private label and sustainability

The retail round-up follows trends globally across the industry and brings you highlights for the week commencing 18 August 2025. Here's what you need to know about developments from Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America.

Europe: retail alliances, Ahold Delhaize’s divesture, sustainability and REWE’s new beauty store

German RTG to join Concordis retail alliance

The newly formed alliance between Carrefour and Cooperative U has attracted the RTG (Retail Trade Group), consisting of eight German retailers. The RTG, whose members include retailers such as Globus, Rossmann and Bunting, is looking to improve its negotiation position with international brands.

Dan Butler, Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

The significance of retail alliances in the European grocery market continues to grow, with two new alliances due to start negotiations with suppliers in 2026. Existing alliances are also attracting new members, which could see regulators having a closer look at their operations and negotiating practices. Look out for our updated guide to European retail alliances in September 2025.

Ahold Delhaize to divest 87 stores in Romania

As part of the conditions tied to its acquisition of Profi earlier this year, Ahold Delhaize will be selling stores to local retailer Annabella in Romania. Of these, 82 stores operate under the Profi banner, while five are branded as Mega Image banner. The deal is expected to be concluded at the end of 2025.

Dan Butler, Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

The Romanian market is dominated by international retailers and has been subjected to increased consolidation. Following the acquisition, Annabella, a family run business that specialises in local products, will more than double its store network.

Kesko increases sustainability of its private label packaging

The retailer has updated its packaging policy with new objectives to improve the sustainability and recyclability of the packaging materials used for its Pirkka, Pirkka Parhaat and K-Menu ranges. Kesko will favour renewable materials such as paperboard, paper and corrugated cardboard. Packaging made from recycled plastic and paperboard will be increased.

Rachel Sibson, Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

Kesko continues to lead on sustainability. It ranks as the most sustainable grocery retailer in Europe’s 50 Most Sustainable Companies (Corporate Knights Europe 50 Ranking) and is the only company in the world to have made the Global 100 list every year. The retailer enables sustainable choices for shoppers by promoting change throughout the value chain, such as reducing food waste, focusing on packaging and creating new circular economy products.

Billa Plus opens first beauty zone

The supermarket banner of the REWE Group in Austria has added a beauty zone to the newly refurbished store in Amstetten, Lower Austria. The 200 sq m section of the store features over 9,000 SKUs across health and beauty categories, with an inviting, bright design. The store also features a “Billa Pflanzilla” section, with over 130 plant-based SKUs.

Michela Pearson, Insight Analyst’s view:

Health and beauty is a growth category for many retailers around the world, as they stay on top of social media trends and cater to more shopper missions. The REWE Group is leveraging the expertise it has gained from its drugstore banner Bipa and from its Billa Pflanzilla and REWE voll pflanzlich stores to provide a more complete offering in supermarkets, especially in areas where accessibility to specialist stores is lacking.

Asia-Pacific: JD.com’s acquisition, food waste tactic and private label expansion

JD.com acquires Kai Bo Supermarket to enter Hong Kong’s grocery market

The acquisition adds over 90 stores to JD.com’s footprint and supports its strategy to integrate physical retail with ecommerce. It strengthens the retailer’s position in the Greater Bay Area by combining its supply chain and tech capabilities with Kai Bo’s local reach to expand omnichannel operations.

Stephanie Leung, Insight Analyst’s view:

JD.com’s acquisition could reshape Hong Kong’s retail dynamics. For suppliers, JD’s entry could result in increased demand, faster distribution, and exposure to tech-driven retail operations. However, it may also bring pricing pressure and tighter delivery expectations. Local retailers, especially in the value segment, may also face pressure to upgrade operations and pricing strategies to compete.

FamilyMart Japan develops new tactic to reduce food waste

The Japanese retailer has reduced food waste through a new tactic that appeals to shopper’s emotions. FamilyMart introduced teary-eyed stickers on food products nearing expiry to encourage purchases before disposal. Following successful trials, the initiative is being rolled out across Japan in 2025. Trials have seen a five-percentage point increase in marked products compared with previous designs and are projected to cut annual food waste by 3,000 tonnes.

Jarred Neubronner, Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

This teary-eyed sticker initiative is both innovative and emotionally engaging, already contributing to a reduction in food waste. It also helps Japanese shoppers overcome the fear of being judged for purchasing products on discount, which is a concern in this culturally shy market.

Tops expands private label range in FairPrice supermarkets

My Choice, the top-tier private label brand from Tops in Thailand, is a hallmark of quality, offering a curated selection of premium ingredients and food products. Some of these products are now featured in dedicated bays in FairPrice stores in Singapore. A key highlight is My Choice Japanese melon, developed by a Thai farmer to achieve the highest standards in size, flavour and production quality. The melons have been further refined for distribution and received GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certification, ensuring safety for both growers and consumers.

Tan Soo Eng, Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

Private label is growing in popularity in many countries in Asia. While products offer a cheaper alternative to national brands, there is also a focus on innovation with local ingredients and local suppliers. My Choice private label by Tops generates extra revenue for the retailer through distribution in Thailand and in other countries like Singapore.

North America: Amazon’s same-day delivery expansion, partnership termination and US tariffs

Amazon launches same-day perishable grocery deliveries

Customers can order produce, dairy, meat, seafood, baked goods, and frozen foods at Amazon.com, alongside orders for non-food items, which can be combined for same for same-day delivery. This has been launched in over 1,000 cities and towns following a successful trial, with plans to extend the service to more than 2,300 locations by the end of the year. For Prime members, same-day delivery is free on orders over $25, or for a $2.99 fee under this threshold. Non-Prime customers can access the service for $12.99 per order, with no minimum order. Amazon described this as “one of [its] most significant grocery expansions”.

Oliver Butterworth, Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

This move strengthens Amazon’s position as a grocery retailer. It utilises its strengths in technology, as well as its extensive delivery network, which are “already optimised for speed and efficiency.” The high price point for non-Prime customers to use the service suggests Amazon is using this perk to encourage more non-subscribers to become Prime members. While the move increases competition against Walmart, Amazon has a lot of catching up to do. Walmart expects to offer delivery in three-hours or less to 95% of US households by the end of the year.

Target ends partnership with Ulta Beauty

The two businesses entered a partnership in 2021 and have since rolled out over 600 Ulta Beauty shop-in-shops in Target stores. Their partnership will continue until the end of their original agreement (August 2026). The split is said to allow both businesses to re-focus on ‘retail fundamentals’, following recent poor performance. Despite this dissolution, Rick Gomez, Target’s EVP and CCO, said the business remains committed to offering an experience “centered on an exciting mix of beauty brands with continuous newness, all at an unbeatable value.”

Oliver Butterworth, Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

Both businesses are facing challenges; Ulta Beauty lost market share for the first time in 2024, while Target has seen traffic decline throughout the first half of 2025. On IGD’s recent visits to Target, we have noticed obvious operational issues and understaffing, leading to poor availability and long checkout queues. While the Ulta Beauty concessions looked great and bolstered Target’s proprietary beauty offer, they had to be manned by Target staff. Some of the measures I’ve seen to avoid shrink, such as staff-monitored one-way and one-in-one-out systems, were inefficient from an operational standpoint, and negatively impacted the customer experience.

Metro Inc. sees tariff pressures mount as ‘Buy Canada’ sentiment softens

The Canadian retailer, Metro Inc. is facing growing cost pressures from suppliers, with approximately 20% of price increase requests linked to newly introduced tariffs. Around 3,000 SKUs have already been impacted, particularly in health and beauty, as US suppliers begin passing on costs tied to reciprocal trade measures.

Stewart Samuel, Director of Retail Futures’ view:

Tariff-related cost increases are beginning to flow through the supply chain, particularly from US vendors. Metro’s disciplined approach to negotiations and its ability to pivot toward private label and alternative sourcing will be critical in maintaining price competitiveness. As these price increases become more visible to consumers, the ‘Buy Canada’ trend may regain momentum, having recently shown signs of deceleration.

Mars boosts cocoa resilience in supply chain through biotechnology partnership

Mars has partnered with Pairwise, the biotechnology company behind CRISPR. CRISPR, a DNA-editing tool, enables manufacturers to enhance crop resilience to drought and disease. The partnership also grants Mars access to Pairwise’s Fulcrum platform – a rich database of plant traits and genetic information to support development. Cocoa will be the focus of this development with the aim to protect the future supply for one of the world's largest chocolate producers.

James Rothwell, Head of Supply Chain’s view:

Resilience is the objective with this announcement from Mars and is timely with the market. Earlier in the year, cocoa supply was flagged as a risk due to changes in legislation impacting payments to cocoa farmers from the EU compounded by increasing climate challenges and extreme weather events. Responding to ongoing environmental challenges, many governmental institutions from the European Parliament, Defra in the UK to USDA (US Dept of Agriculture) are all actively driving progression in biotechnology to bolster national food security.