Germany: Aldi fires $3.4 billion shot in U.S. supermarket wars

One of the several Aldi's in Fort Lauderdale

German grocery chain Aldi Inc [ALDIEI.UL] said on Sunday it would invest $3.4 billion to expand its U.S. store base to 2,500 by 2022, raising the stakes for rivals caught in a price war.

Aldi operates 1,600 U.S. stores and earlier this year said it would add another 400 by the end of 2018 and spend $1.6 billion to remodel 1,300 of them.

The investment, which raises Aldi's capital expenditure to at least $5 billion so far this year, comes at a time of intense competition and disruption in the industry.

German rival Lidl will open the first of its 100 U.S. stores on June 15. In May, Lidl said it would price products up to 50 percent lower than rivals.

The furious pace of expansion by Aldi and Lidl is likely to further disrupt the U.S. grocery market, which has seen 18 bankruptcies since 2014. The two chains are also upending established UK grocers like Tesco Plc (TSCO.L) and Wal-Mart's UK arm, ASDA.

In May, Aldi Chief Executive Jason Hart told Reuters the chain intended to have prices at least 21 percent lower than rivals and would focus on adding in-house brands to win over price-sensitive customers.

"We're growing at a time when other retailers are struggling," Hart said in a statement. Hart added that Aldi's prices were also up to 50 percent lower than traditional grocery chains, a move that appeared to follow rival Lidl's announcement on prices

Read more: Aldi fires $3.4 billion shot in U.S. supermarket wars | Reuters

Processed Foods: Europe's growing horsemeat scandal: France says Dutch, Cypriot and Romanian companies involved

Europe's horsemeat scandal is spreading, as French consumer safety authorities say companies from Romania, Cyprus and the Netherlands were part of a supply chain that resulted in horsemeat being disguised as beef in frozen lasagna sold around the continent.

French companies were also part of the supply chain.

France's junior minister for consumer goods, Benoit Hamon, said Saturday an initial investigation shows that one of the French companies bought frozen meat from a Cypriot trader, who had received the meat from a Dutch food company. And that Dutch company had received the meat from a Romanian supplier.

Romanian authorities are investigating. Dutch authorities say they are ready to investigate if necessary.

Lasagna meals and burgers suspected of containing horse meat have been pulled from shelves in Britain, Ireland, Sweden and France.

Read more: Europe's growing horsemeat scandal: France says Dutch, Cypriot and Romanian companies involved | Fox News

Ireland - Food Contamination: Netherlands and Spain seen as source of contaminants

An investigation into the production of beef burgers containing horse meat is focusing on imported ingredients, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney has said.

Products from the Netherlands and Spain added to processed burgers “seem to be the source” of the horse meat contamination, Mr Coveney said today.

A study by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) found the presence of horse DNA in more than a third of the beef burger products it tested.

They were on sale in Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland. It found pig DNA in 85 per cent of burgers tested.

Read more: Netherlands and Spain seen as source of contaminants - The Irish Times - Wed, Jan 16, 2013

Food retailing in Europe | The Germans are coming

Economist.com:

"Food retailing in Europe
The Germans are coming

Aug 14th 2008 | PARIS
From The Economist print edition
Germany’s “hard discount” model of supermarket retailing is spreading in Europe

IT IS as far from the charming ideal of French farmers’ markets and small family-owned shops as you could imagine: strip lights glare down on a narrow range of products in ugly packaging, displayed in cardboard boxes piled on the floor and on low shelves. But sales are booming at the new Lidl discount supermarket in south-west Paris. Previously, the German chain stuck to the suburbs, where poorer folk live, says Fatouh Mourad, the store’s manager. But rising food prices and widespread concern about “pouvoir d’achat”, or purchasing power, in France, has given Lidl the confidence to push inside the city’s limits."