Spar’s goal is to evolve into the UK’s biggest and best convenience retailer, delegates at the group’s conference in Cape Town were told this week.
UK MD Jerry Marwood said that Spar would have to reduce the cost of everything it did, sell more through a unique consumer proposition, behave like a big retailer yet drive loyalty among customers and
suppliers, and ensure it always had the best package for independent retail.
He also revealed that Spar’s ambition was to have as many as 5,000 stores - all operating to the highest standards.
With all the changes under way in the c-sector, Marwood said Spar had to change to exploit the opportunities that were now opening up. But he told delegates that meant they would have to “break the habits of a lifetime” as Spar looked to develop world-class retail solutions, cutting-edge innovation and much greater collaboration between retailers, wholesalers and suppliers.
“There’s no silver bullet. We need to be good at lots of things all at the same time,” Marwood added.
He said Spar had already started on its journey towards being the biggest and best with a raft of new initiatives - such as store improvement programmes, a core range initiative that would help it buy better and a major overhaul of the Spar brand.
The opening of Spar’s inbound consolidation centre - details of which we revealed last week - was also flagged up as a major initiative for the group. Marwood said it was another sign of how Spar was now thinking what would previously be unthinkable.
Despite putting pressure on the industry to reformulate food for the retail sector, the government is failing to ensure school meals meet the same standards.
Primary school meals contain more salt, fat and sugar than recommended by nutritionists, the Soil Association has revealed. An analysis of five typical dinners showed that during a school week, children would consume 40% more sodium, 28% more saturated fat and 20% more sugar than nutritionists recommend.
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