The Grocer – 17 August 2019

news wholesale & convenience

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The Co-op will open its
sixth franchised store –
its first in the north east

• in time for the new
  academic year.
  The 2,500 sq ft
  Newcastle University
  outlet will join two other
  university franchises, at
  Leeds, West Yorkshire
  and Kent. Three
  Costcutter stores also
  operate Co-op franchises.
  The Newcastle store
  will see the exist-
  ing students’ union
  unit extended and
  transformed.
  Newcastle University
  Students’ Union will
  run the shop, which
  will provide students
  with employment
  opportunities.
  It will sell the Co-op’s
  full range of fresh,
  healthy foods, extended
  vegan and free-from
  offerings and a range of
  Fairtrade products.

Co-op to open

franchised

store within

Newcastle Uni

Nisa launched a new

meal solution promotion

for its retailers this week.

Nisa’s Meal for Tonight

will run until 27 August.

The meal solutions will

include Old El Paso Eight

Supersoft Tortillas, Sliced

Green Jalapeños 215g and

Thick n’ Chunky Salsa

226g all on two for £3.

Key ingredients for

home cooking Italian

dishes will also be on

offer, including Co-op

British Mince Beef 500g

for £2.89, Napolina Short

Spaghetti 500g and

Napolina Fusilli 500g on

two for £2.

Themed PoS kits have

been made available to

retailers to help create in-

store theatre and encour-

age impulse purchases.

Nisa said almost 40%

of shoppers visited local

convenience stores for

meal inspiration and

purchased on impulse.

Nisa launches

new ‘Meal

for Tonight’

promotions

Lyndsey Cambridge

Buying group Confex has

signed its 28th member

so far this year as it looks

to mitigate the impact of

new breakaway group

the National Buying

Consortium.

NBC was unveiled

in May, led by former

Confex director David

Lunt, with 20 Confex

wholesalers. It is under-

stood these wholesalers

have a combined turno-

ver of about £150m.

Confex’s latest mem-

ber is Hove-based Crown

Beverages and the buy-

ing group said the com-

bined turnover of its new

members was £189m. It

also said its latest results

showed that sales of

products from its top 20

suppliers were up 8% in

Confex signs another

member as part of

‘aggressive’ strategy

the six months to June

this year, and in a state-

ment said it had “aggres-

sive plans to maintain

growth this year and

b e y o n d”.

Confex now has 240

members, with a com-

bined turnover of

£2.74bn.

“Confex growth is

being driven by the

food to go category,”

said chairman Martin

Williams. “New product

categories such as natu-

ral energy and protein

are being welcomed by

the Confex wholesaler,

giving them a point of

difference as the local

wholesaler of choice.

“The Confex whole-

saler has always been

focused on service and

so the diversification

of their product range

is symbiotic with their

customer demand.’’

Last week The Grocer

reported that NBC had

officially started trad-

ing with its first six mem-

bers, who are all former

Confex wholesalers. Lunt

said a further 20 Confex

wholesalers were serving

out their notice period

before moving across to

the new group.

Confex has 240 members,

with turnover of £2.74bn

The group will gain access

to specialist wine training

Spar has launched a
retailer wine club, offer-
ing members exclusive
deals to boost sales.
Thirty retailers have
been selected for the
club. They will be pro-
vided with access to spe-
cialist wine education
and training from Spar’s
Master of Wine Philippa
Carr. They have agreed
to stock Spar’s core wine
range and in return will
benefit from a number
of promotions and mar-
keting material, as well
as receiving invitations
to consumer wine trade
shows.

Spar kicks off new wine club

with first 30 retail members

Opportunities to attend

all-expenses paid, incen-

tive-driven trips to vine-

yards around the world

will also be available to

the select group.

Spar said it would sup-

port the retailers via ded-

icated WhatsApp and

Facebook groups, and a

monthly newsletter.

The Spar Wine Club

will re-open for new

membership applications

in 2020.

“I am thrilled to be

able to support Spar’s

wine club,” said Carr.

“This is a fantastic oppor-

tunity for independent

Spar retailers who are

serious about increas-

ing their wine sales. To

have so many passionate

retailers from Cornwall to

Inverness supporting the

growth of Spar branded

wines is something we

are really proud of.”

The UK convenience mar-

ket is poised to grow to

£48.2bn by 2024 – an

increase of £6.9bn – but

not before a period of

consolidation over the

next two years, IGD fore-

casts reveal.

Many new stores would

open, which would help

fuel a compound annual

growth rate of 3.1%, the

food industry research

and training charity said.

The forecast, how-

ever, assumes an orderly

Brexit as well as a moder-

ate growth scenario.

Patrick Mitchell-Fox,

senior business analyst

UK convenience to

grow £6.9bn by 2024

at the IGD, said key seg-

ments of the convenience

market – in particular co-

ops, other multiples and

symbols – would benefit

from strong store growth

again from 2021.

But the IGD expected

the next two years to

result in “relatively

muted” store develop-

ment across the sector.

“After a stronger 2018

• +3.2% – total conveni-
  ence sales are expected
  to grow by 2.6% in 2019,”
  said Mitchell-Fox.
  “This growth is being
  led by the co-operatives
  segment above all.”

NATIONWIDE SUPPORT

To have so many passionate retailers supporting the

growth of Spar branded wines is something we are

really proud of – Philippa Carr MW, Spar