Discount Retail Chain Lidl Latvia (owned by the German Schwarz Group) is actively carrying out the latest works for the installation of deposit machines and the application of all its store premises in order to start accepting beverage packaging from the population on February 1 next year. Lidl Latvia's total investment in the implementation of the beverage packaging acceptance, processing and further processing system already reaches 3.5 million euros. Automatic deposit acceptance machines will be located in all Lidl stores or in special annexes with a separate entrance. Taromats will accept all appropriately labeled beverage packages. Lidl Latvia has already signed a cooperation agreement with the Deposit Packaging Operator on further processing of beverage packaging delivered to Lidl stores. Lidl is currently the only retailer in Latvia that has purchased, installed and serviced Tomra vending machines. Lidl uses such an operating model internationally, which ensures full control over the successful operation of the deposit system in Lidl's stores and the introduction of a closed circulation model in the circulation of packaging. "The volume of PET bottles recycled in our neighboring country, Lithuania, increased from 34% to 92% in the two years since the introduction of the deposit system. This is an incalculable positive benefit for the environment and the quality of our daily lives. In Latvia, on the other hand, the last works in stores are still underway, so that Lidl's residents would have the first choice not only in everyday purchases, but also in handing over beverage packaging, ”says the company's representative Dana Hasana. Tarots will be easy to use in Lidl stores by handing over appropriately labeled PET bottles, aluminum cans and glass bottles. Taromats will automatically sort it all and prepare it for further processing. As taromats can accept up to 60 packing units per minute. Customers will be able to receive a refund of the deposit either in the form of a printed check, which is valid for further use in Lidl stores, or will receive cash upon presentation of the check at the cash desk. See here for more: https://www.db.lv/zinas/depozita-sistemas-ieviesana-lidl-investejis-ap-35-miljoniem-eiro-505559

Discount Retail Chain PENNY Romania (owned by the German REWE Group) has opened a standardized and modern warehouse in Filia and Dolj County, following an investment of 26 million euros. The warehouse has an area of ​​23,000 m 2 and a height of 13.7 m, an extended area for reception and dispatch with a height of 6.5 m and a space with a controlled temperature of 8,600 m 2. Construction work began in January and was completed in October earlier than expected. The warehouse, one of the most efficient within the REWE Group, has over 1,200 photovoltaic panels with an installed capacity of 650kWp, charging stations for electric cars and a centralized monitoring system for thermal and electrical consumption integrated into the central system in Vienna. At the same time, it serves about 50 stores, which means faster deliveries, fresher products and lower CO2 emissions. The construction was designed as a sustainable building, the construction materials used were EDP (Environmental Product Declarations) certified, and during the work the waste produced and fuel consumption were monitored. "We want to expand as efficiently as possible, and the Filiași warehouse is another step in this direction. In the last 7 years, Romania has been the fastest growing country within the REWE Group and I am proud of that. We want to keep this upward trend in the coming years and to reach our set goals until 2029 ", said Daniel Gross, CEO of PENNY Romania. The team that made the new warehouse An extensive team of over 130 people was called in to build the new warehouse, which was joined by Wincon and Oopy Arhitectura partners. "Any correct real estate development, commercial or industrial, focuses on the local community. I think that this balance is important between what a construction offers and what the community offers, and the new PENNY warehouse in Filiași is a good example, being at the same time a green construction, which uses resources efficiently. We are glad that we worked with PENNY on the realization of this first project and we look forward to the next ones", added Bogdan Irsik, General Manager of Wincon. "The design, the materials used, the fluidity between interior and exterior are key elements in carrying out a project of such magnitude. We are delighted that together with partners such as PENNY, with seriousness, professionalism and dedication, we can materialize beautiful projects, suitable for the specific needs in the retail field", said Octavia Floria Popeea, General Manager of Oopy Arhitectura. With the completion of this project, the retailer reached 301 stores and 4 warehouses in Romania. By 2029, PENNY aims to reach 600 stores and 6 warehouses in the country. By 2022, PENNY is continuing its accelerated expansion, with 35 stores planned to open. PENNY Romania PENNY is the successful concept of the German group REWE and one of the most active retailers in Romania, with the first store opened on the local market in 2005. The entire network is served by four logistics centers located in Ștefăneștii de Jos, Turda and Bacău and Filiași . Currently, the PENNY network in Romania consists of 301 stores nationwide and a dedicated team of over 5,500 employees. See here for more: https://www.retail-fmcg.ro/retail/penny-investitie-depozit-logistic-romania.html

Discount Retail Chain Aldi Spain (owned by the German Albrecht familiy) reaffirms itself as the national chain that grew the most in percentage terms in commercial area in 2021, according to data published by Retail Data, with 10.53% more commercial land compared to last year. This figure also represents one more point compared to the same data for 2020, which amounted to 10%, and which already positioned it as the leader in expansion at a percentage level, among national chains. The distribution chain closed 2021 with more than 390,000 m2 and a total of 357 supermarkets in the country, of which 40 were new openings. At a regional level, Andalusia was the region where it expanded its presence the most, with 11 openings and almost 10,000 more m2 of retail space. In total, its establishments currently total 91,901 square meters of sales room, which will increase with the forecast of new openings for this 2022. In this sense, Aldi maintains its expansion plan and has already announced that it plans to open nearly 50 new supermarkets throughout the Spanish territory. The openings will be concentrated in strategic areas for the company, such as the Community of Madrid, the Valencian Community, Catalonia and Andalusia, but, for the first time, they will also open in Asturias and, very especially, in the Canary Islands. In the island territory, the distribution chain plans up to 20 new openings over the next three years. Logistics Aldi Spain not only grows in commercial area, but also in logistics land. With the intention of facing the strong expansion plan of the chain in the country with the best guarantees, the company began in 2021 the expansion of the logistics platforms located in Masquefa (Barcelona) and Dos Hermanas (Seville), which is expected to end during this year. Aldi announced last year that it will also add a new warehouse of more than 31,000 m2 in Sagunto (Valencia) and is already working to complete the works of the first logistics center located in Agüimes (Gran Canaria) during the second half of 2022. This logistics center will have more than 26,000 m2 and will allow it to serve the establishments that will open in the island territory over the next few years. See here for more: https://www-eleconomista-es.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.eleconomista.es/retail/amp/11596709/Aldi-lidera-el-crecimiento-de-los-supermercados-con-casi-un-11-mas-de-superficie-comercial

Discount Variety Retail Chain Action (owned by 3i group) has chosen the Nou Center shopping center in Figueras (Gerona), owned by Carrefour Property, to open its first store in Spain. It is a low-cost Dutch chain of products for the home, fashion or accessories, among other categories, which is characterized by the rotation of more than two thirds of its assortment made up of some 1,500 products, as well as special promotions. Founded in 1993, the chain, which adds 150 new items a week, is present in nine European countries and has a total of more than 1,600 stores and approximately 50,000 employees. In 2011, the company was acquired by the investor 3i and has been gradually incorporating different markets, highlighting its arrival in Italy in 2021 or its landing in Prague in 2022 -as well as Spain-. “We always work as cost-conscious and as efficiently as possible. In this way, we buy a large quantity at once and, therefore, pay less. In addition, our stores with a simple and transparent approach are not located on the main shopping streets, which are usually very expensive, and we do not carry out expensive advertising campaigns either," they explain from the company, assuring that, despite the low prices, they do not "compromise " The quality of products. Its commitment to Spain will be strengthened with a second store, according to Diario de Sabadell. Specifically, the company plans to open a store on Calle Ferrer de Blanes in Sabadell on March 3, in a space of more than 1,000 square meters where a DIA supermarket was previously located. In this sense, on the Action website they make a call to find new spaces to install their establishments. Specifically, they are looking for existing or new locations in towns of 8,000 or more inhabitants with an area of ​​influence of around 30,000 people. The ideal area for the retailer would be about 1,000 square meters spread over a single floor and, if possible, with parking, with a minimum of 35 spaces. Among the possibilities, it also contemplates the opening of stores in shopping centers -hence its first store opening in Nou Center de Figueres-, having as its main requirement that it be an easily accessible location for its customers. Action is looking for workers in Spain To promote its expansion in the country, Action has opened more than 20 vacancies with profiles of store manager and store employees in different locations in Catalonia (Barcelona, ​​Figueres and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat). The company opened a total of 164 stores in 2020 in eight different countries. In addition, it renovated 54 stores and built two completely new distribution centers. Regarding employment, during that year it created more than 5,000 jobs, in addition to promoting the promotion of its employees. Action was recognized, among others, as 'Retailer of the Year' in Europe for three consecutive years. See here for more: https://www.revistainforetail.com/noticiadet/action-desembarca-en-espana/39a7f0b3f24fb5af6ccbb1e391cd9d7b

Discount Retail Chain Lidl Spain (owned by the German Schwarz Group) continues adding milestones in its growth in the Spanish market. The German company reached a market share of 7% in December, a figure achieved for the first time since its implementation in Spain, according to the latest data updated by Kantar Worldpanel, and which consolidates its growth path that has accelerated in the last two years. Specifically, the German discounter gained one tenth compared to the figure for November, enough to reach a level that in Spain had not been surpassed by three operators since the end of 2018. The discounter Dia crisis and its subsequent restructuring, with an important plan to close stores, has dropped its weight in the market above that 7% to around the current 5%. Lidl, which gave it the sorpasso after the strict confinement of March and April 2020 as the third operator in Spain, continues to open a gap and establish itself in that position, although still far from Carrefour, which remains at 9.3%, and still More from Mercadona. Of course, the leader of the sector left four tenths from November to December, going from 25% to 24.6%. In the last three years, Lidl has significantly accelerated its growth and its weight in the sector at a national level. At the beginning of 2019, its share reached 5%, and since then it has added two more points of share. As the Kantar data shows, it took five years to go from 3% to 5%. In these last three years, the company that Claus Grande directs in Spain has allocated close to 970 million in store openings, about 40 per year, and in new logistics centers . The last one that has begun to build is the one located in the Granada town of Escúzar, in which it will invest 85 million and which will begin operating in 2023. The share gain will continue over the next few years, while Lidl plans to open 150 stores by 2024, with which it will exceed 800 stores. The weight that the German operator has in the Spanish market is already greater than it has, for example, in the United Kingdom, and practically similar to that it has in France . There it exceeded 7% also in December and in the first weeks of January it reached 7.2%, according to data from Kantar itself. In the British market its share is 6.4%, being the sixth operator. In this case, it is below its great rival, Aldi, which is close to 8% there. In Spain, it continues to grow and approaches a 2% share. This year it plans to open 50 stores. See here for more: https://cincodias-elpais-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2022/01/12/companias/1642013379_192993.amp.html

Discount Retail Chain Aldi Spain (German family owned) will give a new boost to its growth in the Spanish market during 2022. The company, which closed 2021 with a total of 357 supermarkets open in the country, plans to undertake the opening of nearly 50 new establishments, which It will allow you to overcome the barrier of 400. That fifty openings will represent the highest level of openings that Aldi undertakes in a single year. There will be 10 more compared to those carried out during 2021. In 2020 it carried out 23 inaugurations and in 2019, 17. The novelty compared to other years will be the arrival in the Canary Islands and Asturias, where it will inaugurate its first premises. In the Canary Islands, it plans to do so in the second half of the year. There he also undertakes the construction of his first logistics platform, specifically in the Arinaga industrial estate, on the island of Gran Canaria. On the islands, Aldi aims to reach a figure of 20 supermarkets in the next three years. During 2022 it will also continue to open new supermarkets in other communities where it arrived for the first time last year, such as Galicia. “This 2022 we want to continue growing in a sustainable way, consolidating our presence in regions where many families already trust us, such as Andalusia, the Community of Madrid, Catalonia or the Valencian Community; and position ourselves as a reference purchase option in other regions such as the Canary Islands or Galicia”, explains Valentín Lumbreras, CEO of Aldi in Spain, in a statement. According to the company, most of the openings will take place in the Community of Madrid, the Valencian Community, Catalonia and Andalusia, with about half of that fifty, in addition to expanding its weight in the Balearic Islands or the Basque Country. "In accordance with the current rate of growth, the reinforcement of our logistics capacity and the rate of opening of supermarkets that we plan to maintain, our investment in Spain will continue to increase in the coming years and we will continue to generate new job opportunities," adds Lumbreras. In the accumulated until last September, Aldi had a market share in Spain of 1.4%, according to Kantar data, although it was the chain that had won a higher percentage of new customers. Specifically, it reached 29.1% of Spanish buyers, 2.7 points more than in the previous year. See here for more: https://cincodias-elpais-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2022/01/11/companias/1641896905_980533.amp.html

Discount Retail Chain Lidl's (owned by Schwarz Group) founder Dieter Schwarz is investing huge sums in his hometown of Heilbronn. He wants to lead it into the future as a city of knowledge and education. Construction is everywhere in Heilbronn. It feels like something new is emerging around every corner. Hardly anyone else has helped shape the cityscape of Heilbronn like Lidl founder Dieter Schwarz. A coding school, university and laboratories the company boss seems to be leaving his footprints everywhere. You hardly get to see the Lidl boss himself. Dieter Schwarz lives a secluded life, gives no official photos and does not appear in public. Nevertheless, it can be felt throughout Heilbronn. Lidl founder Dieter Schwarz: "Education is the raw material of the future" Dieter Schwarz wants to give something back to his home town of Heilbronn. Heilbronn is to become a kind of model location with the most modern educational and research facilities. The multi-billionaire invests a lot of money for this. The coding school "42" only opened in May 2021. As reported by Spiegel.de, the school belongs to the Paris Coding School. The French originally planned to establish a branch of their school in large cities such as Berlin or Stuttgart. Thanks to Dieter Schwarz, the choice fell on Heilbronn instead. The city is also known for its educational campus. In February 2010, construction began on a derelict commercial site in the city center. Today there are 16 modern buildings. The financial resources for this come from the Schwarz Foundation, which is financed from dividends from the two companies Lidl Foundation and Kaufland Foundation. "Education is the raw material of the future," said the Lidl founder at the time. Over the years, other educational institutions were added to the campus: the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), an offshoot of the Technical University of Munich, a Fraunhofer Institute and the Ferdinand Steinbeis Institute settled in Heilbronn. The Schwarz Group also uses the education campus to test Lidl and Kaufland stores without cashiers. Heilbronn is also to become the site for the state of Baden-Württemberg's artificial intelligence future park . Heilbronn does not have to worry about the financing, because according to information from Spiegel, Dieter Schwarz is also helping here. Dieter Schwarz Foundation to “support the region’s transformation process” Other German companies are also involved through their own foundations. But no one else is making such a strong change at a location as Dieter Schwarz in Heilbronn, reports Spiegel. At the same time, the billionaire's foundation is more than opaque. Thanks to the foundation form of his company, the Schwarz Group does not have to allow any co-determination of the employees and only publish limited business figures. The Dieter Schwarz Foundation itself does not disclose any figures and does not appear in any official ranking. Nevertheless, the good ambitions cannot be denied: Reinhold Geilsdörfer, head of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, names the goal of the foundation as "supporting the transformation process in the region". The city should become younger and more international. Already 95 percent of the students who started in Heilbronn in the winter semester are from abroad. That's exactly what you wanted, says the head of the foundation to Spiegel. Looks like Dieter Schwarz will continue to build the perfect city of the future. See here for more: https://www.bw24.de/baden-wuerttemberg/heilbronn-dieter-schwarz-lidl-umbau-bildung-bildungscampus-stadtumbau-kaufland-91198532.html

Discount Retail Chain Lidl Sverige (owned by the German Schwarz Group) and NIB have signed a ten-year loan of SEK 525 million (US$ 63 million) linked to key performance indicators (KPIs) on greenhouse gas emission and food waste reduction. Lidl Sverige is one of the sustainability frontrunners in the Nordic–Baltic grocery retail industry, having set a wide range of long-term environmental and social targets. Lidl Sverige is a subsidiary of the Germany-based Schwarz Group, which is Europe’s largest food retailer by turnover. The objective of NIB’s sustainability-loans is to create financial incentives for Lidl Sverige and to further strengthen the company’s climate and circular economy targets. NIB and Lidl Sverige have agreed three KPIs under the loan: 1) the reduction of hydrofluorocarbons in cooling equipment in all Lidl Sverige stores, warehouses and the company headquarters, 2) achieving fossil-free transport by increasing the share of renewable fuels in goods distribution and the number of electric cars in the company’s car fleet, and 3) reducing food waste in stores and warehouses. All three KPIs will be followed up annually and the long-term targets are to be achieved by end of February 2026. “NIB’s sustainability-linked loans are aligned with our customers’ corporate strategies and aim to catalyse the development of sustainable finance markets. This loan will support Lidl Sverige’s efforts to further improve their sustainability performance”, says André Küüsvek, NIB’s President & CEO. “This loan is another step forward for our sustainability work. We are growing and gaining market shares. This loan makes it possible for us to grow sustainable and shows the credibility of our sustainability work”, says Martin Kauffner, Chief Financial Officer at Lidl Sweden. Lidl Sverige currently has 203 stores and over 5,000 employees, with almost 6% share of the Swedish grocery market. The chain is part of the Germany-based Schwarz Group. NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. Lidl Sweden opened their first stores in September 2003 and the company has challenged the market in Sweden since start. Today, Lidl Sweden has over 5,000 employees and 203 stores in Sweden from Trelleborg in the south to Boden in the north. Lidl has three central warehouses located in Halmstad, Rosersberg and Örebro as well as four real estate offices located in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Örebro and Malmö. The head office is located in Barkarbystaden in Järfälla Municipality. See here for more: https://www.nib.int/releases/nib-agrees-sustainability-linked-loan-with-lidl-sverige

Discount Variety Retail Chain Poundland has acquired online discount retail business Poundshop.com for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes Poundshop.com’s intellectual property, its online platform, the picking and fulfilment operations in Wednesbury and its customer database. The acquisition is the latest step in the transformation of the discount retailer and will provide the infrastructure to enable a national roll-out of its own pilot ecommerce offering. Poundland plans to build on the experience of Poundshop.com to ramp up its own online operation, which has already begun in selected postcodes in Birmingham and Walsall and has now been extended across the Midlands and into South Yorkshire. Poundshop.com is the UK’s largest online-only value retailer with almost 400,000 customers across the UK and 65 colleagues at its distribution centre. The integration will be led by Poundland retail and transformation director Austin Cooke who will lead the day-to-day operation of Poundland’s online business and Poundshop.com chairman Steve Smith and chief executive officer Chris Maddox will act in an advisory capacity to smooth the acquisition. Poundland will also retain all of the current Poundshop.com colleagues. As a result of the acquisition, Poundland plans to expand its online offering, adding PEP&CO clothing and homewares and extending beyond the UK, offering a Dealz online service for The Republic of Ireland. "It’s great to warmly welcome the Poundshop.com team to Poundland,” Poundland managing director Barry Williams said. “This acquisition puts power and pace behind our aspirations to make our amazing products and value available to customers across the UK and Ireland, however they choose to shop.” See here for more: https://www.chargedretail.co.uk/2022/03/01/poundland-acquires-poundshop-com-to-accelerate-ecommerce-offering/

Discount Retail Chain Aldi (German family owned) is to make all its own-brand wipes plastic-free and biodegradable. The move will see Aldi’s full Mamia baby range, Lacura beauty lines and household wipes made from 100% biodegradable plant-based fibres by this summer, saving an estimated 7,000 tonnes of single-use plastic from landfill each year. “Moving to biodegradable wipes is another step forward in our commitment to reduce plastic across our ranges,” said Richard Gorman, Aldi plastics and packaging director. “It’s becoming increasingly important to our customers that their everyday products are environmentally-friendly, and we’re pleased that this move will help them on their journey.” Aldi’s own-label toilet wipes range is already plastic-free and has also been certified as Fine to Flush since 2020. The rest of its own-label wipes will now also become plastic-free. However, the latest lines making the switch will not be Fine to Flush certified and will instead carry a ‘do not flush’ warning on the packaging. The Fine to Flush certification scheme assesses whether wipes are both free of plastic and suitable for disposing in a toilet without fear of causing a sewer blockage. Wilko has been making all its own-label wipes from plastic-free plant fibres since 2020 but these are also not Fine to Flush certified. See here for more: https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/aldi/aldi-switches-all-own-label-wipes-to-plastic-free-and-biodegradable-materials/665308.article?utm_source=Daily%20News%20(The%20Grocer)&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022-03-08&c=&cid=DM996135&bid=1868412660

Discount Retail Chain Aldi Australia's (German family owned) Corner Store in North Sydney has debuted a first of a kind pizza-making robot vending machine, dubbed Pizzabot. The collaboration with Bondi startup Placer Robotics, will serve restaurant-grade pizzas in two minutes for a limited time. The vending machine is designed and manufactured in Australia. Huw Longman, director of Aldi Corner Store commented: “We understand our shoppers are motivated by quality, value and supporting local. With Pizzabot, we deliver great quality pizza and a unique experience, at the lowest price point.” The pizza bases are handmade and partially cooked in Bondi and topped with local ingredients and then chilled in the Pizzabot machine. The glass front of the machine will allow customers to look at the process of the pizza being cooked and packed by the robot. Pizzabot founder and MD, Matt Lipski said: “To ensure we’re bringing restaurant-quality gourmet pizzas to the Aldi Corner Store customers, we use the freshest, highest-quality ingredients. “Our custom oven, which reaches temperatures as high as a wood-fired oven with digital precision, guarantees the perfect crispness, taste and look of each slice, every time. Our vision was to give time-poor consumers restaurant grade pizza that is quick, delicious, healthy and affordable,” he added. See here for more: https://insidefmcg.com.au/2022/02/22/aldi-launches-robotic-pizza-vending-machine-pizzabot/

Discount Retail Chain Lidl UK (owned by the German Schwarz Group) has continued its rapid expansion as it has now become the sixth largest supermarket in the country for the very first time. The discounter has seen a rapid surge in sales recently which, according to new sales data, has seen the retailer overtake Co-op for the first ever time. Latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel market share data has revealed that the supermarket has seen a 6.1 percent growth, as rising inflation pushes shoppers towards discounted stores. In comparison, Co-op only increased by 5.7 percent. The recent rise in sales and addition of 1 million new customers has seen the supermarket on par with rival discounter Aldi for joint-fastest growing grocer. It comes after rising prices caused by the cost of living crisis has seen shoppers switch to budget retailers as they try to keep costs down. Lidl GB CEO Ryan McDonnell commented: “We are extremely proud that more customers are choosing to shop at Lidl. But it’s also not a surprise, because it has always been our firm belief that no one should have to pay a premium for good food. "This belief is at the core of everything we do, whether that’s keeping prices low or making our offer as accessible as possible through the opening of new stores. See here for more: https://www-dailyrecord-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/lidl-now-6th-largest-supermarket-26368051.amp