News and Trends

French frozen-food brand Picard will sell five bakery and pastry products in more than 150 Sainsbury’s stores across the UK from 26 October 2026. The listing puts the brand into the frozen aisles of a major supermarket group, and follows a separate online launch of 20 products on the Rohlik platform in central Europe. Picard announced the two partnerships within days of each other. It says it is present in 19 countries and grows outside its home market by working with established local retailers, with a selected range adapted to each market. Retail Times reported the Sainsbury’s listing on 14 October 2026 , and because the start date is 26 October, the products are not yet on shelf at the time of writing. The announcement gives no sales target and no investment figure for the UK. What goes on the shelves on 26 October The range has five lines: All-Butter Croissants , Mini Croissants , Mini Pains au Chocolat , Rustic Baguettes and Pastéis de Nata . According to the announcement, the b...

  Carrefour Belgium has developed a new autonomous micro-store concept, Carrefour BuyBye, in association with Reckon.AI, with the aim of tapping into opportunities beyond traditional retail. And this week it launched its third location, at the NATO SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) base is in Casteau, near Mons. This offers over 250 everyday essentials, including breakfast options with fresh fruits, lunch, dinner, and personal care items, available 24/7, and supplied by the team at Carrefour Market Casteau. With AI at the core, people can pick and go, with products being charged automatically. In a LInkedIn post, Ana Pinto, CEO at Reckon.ai, said: "Very proud of the incredible work of both teams, and it shows the growth and trust of big companies on our technology and team. Unattended has never been easier." Patent Reckon.ai has been granted a European patent that validates the uniqueness of its core technology powering AI driven smart cabinets. Pinto said thi...

  The Troissant is made from three mini-croissants assembled and topped with chocolate or caramel toppings. Since 1977, the Delineo group brand has been transforming its own emblem, the croissant, into a pastry that is more delicious than ever. It is not one but three mini-croissants that make up the brand new Troissant imagined by La Croissanterie. The puff pastry has been delicately twisted to give it a rounded shape, thus offering the consumer a new way of consuming the croissant, accompanied by gourmet toppings. For its first edition, the troissant is available in brownie flavor, with a caramel sauce or in caramel chouchou with chouchous and caramel as a bonus. Other variations are to come, La Croissanterie being determined to be the spearhead of creativity around Viennese pastries. "We are very proud of this innovation that reflects us. Le Troissant is part of the French baking tradition, closely linked to our origins and the sale of hot croissants in the 70s, and is also res...

  www.esmmagazine.com Carrefour, Europe's largest retailer has announced that it was buying the bankrupt specialist distributor Bio c'Bon for €60 million, as part of plans to revamp its  food  range and focus more on organic  food . The Paris commercial court validated Carrefour's offer for Bio c'Bon, which had been put under court-ordered restructuring, as it included a commitment to preserve more than 1,000 employees, almost the entire workforce, the Carrefour statement said. 'Specialised Distribution Network' 'Bio c'Bon has developed a very attractive specialised distribution network, combining a contemporary store concept and an offer adapted to urban centres in prime locations,' it said. The Bio c'Bon network of over 100 stores strengthens the specialised organic store division of Carrefour and follows the acquisition of So.bio in April 2019 and BioAzur in October 2020. The company has annual sales of €130 million. Under its five-year ...

Namnews, 22nd October 2020 Casino has formally launched its first autonomous store, with the unveiling of the Monoprix ‘BlackBox’ format. The 18 sq. m. outlet, located at the Monoprix head office in Clichy, stocks around 300 SKUs, mostly snacks, personal care items, and household goods. Interestingly, the store does not require an app to avail entry, with a credit card being enough to gain access. It also does not utilise tracking cameras such as those used by formats such as Amazon Go, but instead employs hypersensitive shelf scales to register items being picked up. According to LSA, which first reported the news, the store has been extensively tested by employees of Monoprix. The report cited Lorraine Gentin, deputy director of innovation and digital transformation at Groupe Casino, who said the launch is part of the group’s goal to “make the shopping experience more fluid”. However, the report also noted that there are some limitations to the system, as it cannot distinguish betwee...

A video here explains the concept (in French, but even without French you can get a good feel from this of how it works). It looks like weights/ scales determine which products a customer picks up rather than the camera-oriented model of Amazon Go, while entrance to the store is enabled via credit card pre-authorisation.  Source: Gavin Rothwell Daily Updates

Quoting French analyst sources, ESM reports that Drive purchases will be worth €9bn this year, up 35% from 2019. Leclerc remains the biggest player in the channel, and is expected to deliver nearly half of this €9bn total. More here . Drive remains the dominant aspect of online food shopping in France, significantly ahead of delivery.

  boulangerie-bakery.com La Fédération des Entreprises de Boulangerie-Pâtisserie ( FEB ) a commandé une étude réalisée par l’Ifop en février dernier, sur les usages et attitudes des Français vis-à-vis du pain .  D’après cette étude, nos compatriotes connaissent en moyenne 9,4 types de pain différents. La baguette , symbole de la France, est devenue un aliment indispensable de notre alimentation et reste le type de pain le plus connu (98 %) mais également le pain préféré des Français (59 %).  Le pain kebab et le bagel sont connus par environ 7 Français sur 10. Tandis que le pain suédois, le pain ciabatta et le pain pita par environ 6 Français sur 10.   Les pains dits les “plus traditionnels” en France sont logiquement les plus consommés et 4 types de pain font partis de la consommation régulière des Français : la baguette (le type de pain de très loin le plus consommé environ 4 fois par semaine), le pain/boule/pavé (même s’il est consommé par moins de Français...