TOP NEWS
* Amazon.com Inc. will extend its Prime member discounts to 121 more Whole Foods Market Inc. stores in 12 U.S. states, including Northern California, Colorado and Texas, as well as all Whole Foods 365 stores in the country. The retail giant will give its members an additional 10% discount on sale items in stores. Meanwhile, Amazon's Indian unit expanded its app-based grocery service Amazon Now, which has also been rebranded as Prime Now. The updated service, available in Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad, will provide two-hour delivery exclusively to Amazon Prime members, in addition to same-day and next-day delivery options offered to all customers.
* Brown-Forman Corp. named Lawson Whiting as the new CEO of the company, effective Jan. 1, 2019, replacing Paul Varga, who is retiring at the end of 2018 but will remain on the drinks company's board. Whiting is the COO and executive vice president of Brown-Forman and previously held the role of chief brands and strategy officer.
FOOD RETAIL AND DISTRIBUTION
* Walmart Inc. has added real estate to the responsibilities of Mark Ibbotson, the company's executive vice president of U.S. central operations, effective June 2, Bloomberg reported, citing an internal memo. Ibbotson previously held senior roles at the retailer's U.K. subsidiary Asda Stores Ltd., which the company is now selling to rival J Sainsbury PLC. The change comes as JP Suarez, Walmart's current head of real estate, takes on the role of executive vice president and chief administration officer at the U.S. retailer's international division, the report said.
BEVERAGES
* Coca-Cola Co. said it would boost its investments in Argentina over the next three years, noting the "responsibility of the corporate sector in this transcendental moment for the country," Reuters reported. The beverage company said it would invest $1.2 billion in the Latin American nation from 2019 to 2021, up from $1 billion in the previous three years through 2018. The commitment comes amid Argentina's effort to stave off a depreciation of the peso and bring inflation under control.
* Diageo North America Inc., a unit of British alcoholic beverages company Diageo PLC appointed Lavanya Chandrashekar as its CFO, effective July 1. Chandrashekar, who joins from Mondelez International Inc., most recently held regional CFO posts in North America and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
PACKAGED FOODS
* Nestlé SA will reorganize its business in sub-Saharan Africa and shut down its regional head office by the end of July to ensure a "healthy growth." Starting Aug. 1, the central-west Africa region will become a key market for Nestlé as Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, now part of the equatorial Africa region, will become part of the central-west region. Nestlé will expand its southern African region to include the Horn of Africa and the southern, eastern and island clusters of equatorial Africa region, which will be headquartered in Johannesburg and renamed the eastern and southern African region.
* Ferrero SpA Indian unit said it is exploring the launch of 20 confectionery brands in the country that the Italian chocolate producer acquired from food giant Nestlé SA, Mint reported, citing Stefano Pelle, Ferrero India managing director. Although the confectionery company that makes Nutella is yet to finalize products it will roll out in India, Ferrero reportedly plans to increase its retail network to 1 million within 18 to 24 months. The company also said it will invest 20 billion rupees to make the country Ferrero's export facility that will supply its West Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia markets.
* Qatar's royal family, the House of Al Thani, acquired a controlling stake in Galler Chocolatiers as it plans to take over the company in the long term, Retail Detail reported, citing Belgian newspaper De Tijd. The ruling family's adviser, Joao De Gouveia, reportedly will become the new CEO of the Chaudfontaine, Belgium-based company, while Galler Founder Jean Galler will remain as the chocolate producer's creative director.
* Danish dairy group Arla Foods International A/S is set to slash about 350 jobs as a part of its three-year cost-cutting program announced earlier in 2018. Arla's head office in Aarhus, Denmark, along with the company's other European administrative offices, is expected to make 195 corporate support roles redundant, including functions in finance, legal and IT, human resources and corporate affairs. The international cooperative also will close its Llandyrnog, Wales, creamery operations and shut down packing facilities in Malpas, England, and Lockerbie, Scotland, as part of its plan to consolidate U.K. production, placing about 154 jobs at risk by 2018-end.
* Specialty food producer Premium Brands Holdings Corp. said Canada's Competition Bureau approved its acquisition of Concord Premium Meats Ltd. and that it completed its previously announced takeover of the Ontario-based protein products maker.
RESTAURANTS
* Some of Starbucks Corp. baristas expressed concerns over the racial bias education program that the coffee chain conducted during the afternoon of May 29, describing the training as "more performative than productive" and "a little forced," CNBC reported. Although some of the company's staff agree that the topics during the event were important to discuss, others reportedly felt that the training focused "solely on the divide between black and white" instead of all people of color.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
* Family-owned seed producer KWS Saat SE accepted the decision of the European Commission after it found German chemicals company BASF SE as the suitable buyer of Bayer AG's vegetable seed business, Reuters reported, citing a KWS spokesman. Bayer's seed business is part of the crop science segment that the pharmaceutical company needs to divest after it was granted conditional approval by the European Commission to acquire biotechnology company Monsanto Co. KWS renewed its offer to buy Bayer's vegetable seed business that operates under the Nunhems brand on May 29.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Japan will resume beef exports to Australia as part of an agreement signed by both countries, Reuters reported, citing a statement from Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Australia reportedly banned Japanese beef from entering the country since September 2001 after an outbreak in Japan of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease.
* Brazil's producers lost about 6.6 billion reais since the start of a nationwide protest over diesel prices in the country, Reuters reported, citing a statement from Brazilian farm lobby Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock. The group, which said the estimated loss only includes the impact on primary production, expects producers to take six months to one year to recover from the protests.
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The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, Hang Seng lost 1.40% to 30,056.79, while the Nikkei 225 fell 1.52% to 22,018.52.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 rose 0.26% to 7,652.56, and the Euronext 100 gained 0.07% to 1,053.60.
On the macro front
Reports due out today are MBA mortgage applications, ADP employment, retail inventories, wholesale inventories, international trade in goods, Redbook Index and Beige Book on current economic conditions.
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