By far the best daily news source for the Grocery / Food retail industry comes from Yahoo Finance. Best of all it's totally free.

 

A close second for daily news and information on the food retailing industry comes from Topix.net that offers stories on news and events in the industry from thousands of internet sources. Again, their content is totally free but where the stories link to other sites there is always the possibility of coming across subsription only sources.

 

Offering a wide variety of news and research from most sectors in food retail Just-food is a great resource but if you want full and detailed information you'll have to pay for their research reports. I haven't seen any of them myself and can't comment on their quality.

 

Lebensmittel Zeitung is a leading retail publication from Germany with a website that offers great information on the industry from around the world. Unfortunately most of the content is in German but navigating around is fairly easy and things like Google Language Tools do a pretty good job making things understandable.

For me they have been a great source for Ranking information of retail companies in Europe and more.

Even though the printed publication is all German, the sample copies I received seemed to be very comprehensive.

 

 

Another excellent site from Germany is from Ingo R Titze Research & Consulting encompassing all areas of retail including food. The information they provide and services offered are very thorough and informative. Well worth a visit.

" This website's aim is to provide you with highly relevant information on the German consumer products and retail market. As you will see, the German market is one of the most sophisticated in the world - with many interesting trends and challenges that most people would hardly expect. While Germany can be considered a saturated market on the one hand, it is always welcoming new products and innovations on the other hand. As Germany is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the question is usually not how to sell more, but how to sell better! "

For current news and events there is also a RSS News Feed with regular updates.

On a personal note Ingo has given me some great insights into the German market that I am very thankful for.

 

 

From Ukraine is the impressive All Retail site that offers great information on retail in that country and surrounding areas. I found it very helpful to find out who the retailers are in that region.

Once again, there is no English content so you will need to use something like Google Language Tools to translate the site for you. Though a little garbled, the translation is effective enough to allow you to check through the site.

 

 

The Coriolis Research firm from New Zealand offers a number of free research reports and case studies on many topics related to food retail. For example, Towards Private Label Success which they have kindly permitted me to host here.

They also offer consulting services and more for hire. Videos of Timothy Morris of Coriolis on news programs speaking on the industry are available on their site.

 

 

Euromonitor International is a well known research, analysis and consulting firm with offices in a number of countries that offer resources for many industries including food retailing.

As with most of these businesses the majority of the reports available through their website are not affordable to individuals ( like me ) but is a great source to know what is available for the businesses looking for information.

In the media Euromonitor is often quoted as being the source for quoted figures / information.

I have had communications with several of their freelance researchers and all have had great pride and confidence in their database and sources of information which translates well in their finished works.

 

 

Probably one of the largest and most respected research and consulting firms is Planet Retail who offer some very good free news and information from their site with most other things available for a fee that ranges from the reasonable to the totally unaffordable ( for individuals ).

In the past I have purchased a few of the less expensive reports on retailers in Canada ( Loblaws, Wal-mart and Sobeys ) but was disappointed in the content which I found to be repetitive and what could be easily found in the company annual reports and elsewhere.

On the other hand, when it comes to information on retailer rankings they are second to none and are the most quoted source in the international media by far.

It's a tough call as to how much value the information and reports they offer are overall given the limited access I've had to it. Buyer beware ?

 

 

In North America especially, Nielsen is considered THE source for market data, information and more for a number of industries including food retail.

Unfortunately they don't offer too much that is free on their many websites for their locations around the world. Formerly known as AC Nielsen, for years many well known manufacturers and retailers have turned to them for what they have to offer.

From what I have found in the operation of this website though is that they seem to have a degree of arrogance in their operations as multiple requests I've made for basic information on their Spaceman software for Space Management have gone unanswered. Somewhat poor customer service for a consumer based group ?

 

Provides food business reviews, comment and business information. It also provides market analysis reports from global suppliers of market research and industry analysis.

I have not seen their reports or analysis but recommend you visit their site for "by category" news and information that's very useful and informative.

 

In business for over 100 years is IGD who also have a large offering of reports, analysis and more for purchase from their site. Unfortunately there is virtually nothing that is free and most of what they have to offer is with businesses in mind so individuals likely wouldn't be able to afford their products. I know I can't.

Interestingly enough though is that technically they operate as a charity governed by the Charity Commission in the U.K.

 

In Australia the key source for information on the world of retailing is from Inside Retailing where they offer up to date information and resources covering many areas of the industry locally and internationally. Very informative.

 

 

Brand Loyalty organizes instore consumer loyalty promotions that increase the visit frequency, turnover and profitibility of the stores. Building customer relations through targeted measurable promotions that reward your loyal consumers. With offices around the world Brand Loyalty covers all continents.

I owe a very special thanks to Rob van Dalen from Brand Loyalty for his contributions of links to retailers added to this site over the years.

 

 

One of the best known and most respected publications focusing on Food Retail in North America is Supermarket News.

Their website provides a lot of good free information and rankings along with brief stories on the food retail news of the day.( Subsribe to their free daily e-mail news from the website for keeping up to date on the industry )

For a subscription fee the weekly publication is available in either print form or online. My complimentary subsription expired so I can't speak to any current issues, content or information but was always impressed with what they had offered before.

 

 

Another very good news and information source from the U.S. is Progressive Grocer Magazine that offers quite a lot of information to both subscribers and to visitors of their website.

Their publication is available in both print form and online to subscribers. For qualified individuals the subscription is free.

They are part of the research firm Nielsen ( Formerly AC Nielsen )

 

 

Broadly covering all of the retail industry their publication and website offers good all around news and information on the larger retail companies in food, drugs and more.

Free subscriptions to the printed publication are available to those who qualify. I haven't seen the magazine lately but was always impressed with its content before.

 

 

Covering all areas of food retailing Grocery Headquarters highlights most of the news and stories in their most recent volume of the publication available in digital form on their website.

Both the site and the magazine are very informative. If you are in the industry you may qualify for a free subscription to the printed version.

 

 

Perhaps the most disappointing website for all of the Food Retailing publications is the one for Canadian Grocer magazine which is unfortunate considering the printed magazine itself is very good and one I recommend.

Subscriptions to qualifying industry insiders is free. They also offer a variety of reports, information and directories available for purchase but out of range price wise for individuals like me.

 

 

If you are looking for information on warehouse businesses in food retailing along the lines of Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's Wholesale and more then Warehouse Club Focus magazine and HHC Publishing is where you should look.

In addition to their bi-weekly publication they also offer for sale industry guide books and more.

If you want to know or see more, visit their website and look for the Trial Subscription links. At one time I received a complimentary subscription and found each edition to be informative and insightful albeit brief though it may have grown in size and content in the time since my subscription expired.

 

Chain Store Age and Retailing Today are two separate publications ( and websites ) that offer a wealth of information on their websites both free and for purchase.

Best of all, there is a digital edition of Chain Store Age available to visitors free of charge. Check it out !

Both sites combined are recommended for what they have to offer and the amount of it.

 

The publication STORES from the National Retail Federation is one of the leading trade magazines on many aspects of the retail industry from merchandising to technology and loss prevention not to mention conferences, webinars and more.

Though their website doesn't offer a whole lot of free content their printed version and digital version of the publication is available free to qualifying subscribers.

Most importantly are the ranking reports available on the site free of charge. A great source of information.

 

 

The U.K. publication Retail Week covers most areas of retailing including food. There is a fair amount of free content on the website in the form of news and more.

The subscription fees to the printed publication are actually very reasonable with 50% discounts offered to students.

I can't speak to the printed magazine where I have only subscribed to the free e-mail newsletters they offer.

 

For information on the produce area of food retailing you can try Power-Produce. They have some free information, photos and links for that area of the industry on their site as well as offering consulting services and more.

 

Aimed at Key Account Management is Kamcity from the U.K. where you can find useful free news and information, subscribe to their newsletter or inquire about the services they offer.

The site is very useful for seeing the perspective of those doing business with retailers which these days isn't so easy.

 

Offering daily news stories they are a retail focused discussion forum for topics covering the world of retail and have a lot of useful free information available as well as more available for purchase.

 

Covering all major areas of retail they offer free news and information as well as reports and more for purchase.

The website is very thorough in providing information about what they offer and how they can help their business partners. Their database search tool could be very useful to you to help you find what you are looking for when you don't know exactly what that is. Check it out...

 

Focusing on the technology involved in the retail industry their site provides great information in key areas such as the growth of RFID and more. A little on the technical side but insightful just the same.

A good general information site on the food retail business in Canada for industry insiders with links to news, trade shows and more. A big feature is the Canadian Grand Prix New Product Awards.

 

Focusing on the overall retail industry in Canada their site offers a combination of free news and information along with areas reserved for members.

Their publication "Canadian Retailer" magazine is free to members of the council or available by paid subscription. Discounted student rates are also available.

 

 

A not for profit organization representing over 680 member companies etc. active in marketing produce in Canada that according to them are responsible for 90% of produce sales in Canada.

The website offers some great free information and links beyond their produce focus also.

 

A site from the government of Canada, CFIA is where to look for information on Food Safety, product recalls, government regulations and more in Canada with links to other similar agencies around the world.

Similar to the above with even more information is the U.S. site on Food Safety. These days it is essential information in the Food Retail World both for consumers and for the retailers.

 

Another Canadian Government site, Strategis from Industry Canada has a wealth of areas for finding information on businesses and industries in Canada including Trademark Data, Business Sector reports and a whole lot more.

Unfortunately the Canadian government is never too current on retail information but what is available is useful for background knowledge.

 

System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) is the Canadian version for EDGAR below that allows you to search for filings and more on Canadian publicly traded companies free of charge including annual reports, quarterly information and more.

 

The U.S. government Foreign Agriculture Service provides a wealth of information and reports free to visitors including the Retail Food Sector Attache reports located on this site. From there are links to the rest of the U.S. Department of Agriculture sites.

NOTE : For reports issued after March 18, 2009 there is a new link at FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE to find more recent information.

 

 

The site for the U.S. government Securities and Exchange Commission's archives also known as EDGAR, allows you to find corporate filings and more on U.S. and international publicly traded companies and more. For example, 10-k annual report filings, 8-k quarterly releases and more. EXCELLENT resource.

 

 

Not too far off in the future it is likely most retail products will have RFID ( Radio Frequency Identification ) tags to allow businesses to track products from manufacture to point of sale and as more sites pop up offering information on the developments, ones like this for the non profit organization EPCglobal will proove to be very useful.

So far this is one of the best ones with RFID information.

 

 

If you really want to see how food retailing can evolve and where the industry is heading the very best site to see is from Germany's METRO GROUP satellite website for their Future Store Initiative.

Being one of the largest retailers in the world Metro is providing amazing insights and information into this project that will potentially revolutionize retail globally. Free information all around including reports, links, video and more.

This website is a must to see !

 

 

Focusing on successful merchandising and active planning and follow through at retail, the In-Store Implementation Network offers great information on how and why retailers need to ensure execution from office to store level is a priority.

Though there isn't a whole lot of content on the site so far, their "White Papers" provide excellent insights.

 

 

To get a little specific, where my background includes time with Atlantic Wholesalers ( Loblaws owned ) and Lawton's Drug Stores ( Sobeys owned ) doing planograms I thought visitors to Food Retail World might like to see a sample of how planograms are made for shelf line ups that make it to the stores.

Of the many different versions of software available, Shelf Logic is one of only a few I am aware of who offers free trial versions downloadable from their website.

Coming soon to this site will be a page devoted to planogramming / planograms but in the meantime if you have any questions just e-mail at the link at the top of the page.

 

 

Quant is another planogram / space management software with a trial version available as a free download from their site.

In addition to that one of the features on the website is a Forum for space management / planogramming discussions that offers even more information and links in this realm of food retailing.