As we look at the prospects for the year ahead, here are our five key areas of focus:   1. An expanding “better for you” market    A key way in which London's food-to-go landscape has evolved in the past year lies in the expansion of vegetable led specialists such as The Salad Project, atis, Urban Greens and Farmer Js. Quality, fresh, seasonality and variety underpin the amply filled bowls - or fieldtrays - that each of them serve. They’ve been expanding at pace over the past year - now...

We recently visited the new SuperValu concept in the expanding Dublin commuter town of Hansfield.    And it impressed. We met up with Gary McMahon, Musgrave’s Food Specialist, and explored how the 14,500 sq ft store is positioning itself as a forward-thinking food and drink destination. Here’s what we found:   1. Fresh at the Heart Fresh is the heartbeat of the store. Even before entering the store, floristry sets the tone. An impactful floristry selection by the entrance leads into the...

There’s a lot going on in grocery retail in South Africa right now, and it feels that a lot of the recent development has been spearheaded by Shoprite. It operates several different formats across the market, but perhaps the standout from an innovation perspective is Checkers. Its new look Checkers format is now well-established, and in fact has recently been flexed to fit within a smaller, neighbourhood style format in addition to the core supermarket format. For us, what stands out about...