Perishable Pundit Jim Prevor is standing by his criticism of Tesco in the US.
He insists that Tesco has yet to prove the viability of the Fresh & Easy format across the Atlantic.
The US industry watcher had his views backed up by a report by independent consultant Willard Bishop - “Tesco Intelligence Report: Slow Start” - which claimed that Tesco’s Fresh & Easy concept is not succeeding with consumers.
Prevor wrote in his newsletter: “Here at the Pundit, we have our own unique intelligence network, and what happens is that virtually every day we receive calls and e-mails from around the industry on topics of current concern. Tesco being of great industry concern, we receive a lot of messages regarding Tesco. In fact, we are well in excess of 200 comments, most saying nothing more than that a given industry member - a wholesaler, a grower-shipper, a broker, a consultant, another retailer - was just in a Fresh & Easy and was reporting his or her perceptions.
“The vast majority of these comments contain a line similar to this: ‘It may just be the time of day or day of the week or perhaps just this particular store - but, there were practically no customers in the store.’
“One comment, two comments, ten comments - and it could be the time of the day, the day of the week or the particular store. But so many reports, from many stores on every day of the week and from a diverse mix of times of day, seem likely to indicate that sales are not strong.
“Several suppliers have also told us that orders are well below their expectations and at least some primary suppliers have thought the business not worth the trouble and stepped back into secondary supplier roles.
Tesco has always maintained that its move into the US was a launch, rather than a trial.
Prevor said he expects to see some major revamps to the Fresh & Easy Concept in the coming months.
Prevor gave a “very rough estimate” that a typical Fresh & Easy store is achieving only about 25 per cent of its initial projections, at about $50,000 a week.
However, the Willard Bishop report warns against assuming failure and notes that Wal-Mart, which competes against Tesco in the UK, has taken the launch seriously by opening an Express format of its own.
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