Year: 2013

The year 2012 closed with the announcement that Tesco will probably exit its US business, Fresh & Easy. To our regular readers, the failure of Fresh & Easy will come as no surprise. But it is a surprise in this sense: When we initiated our analysis of Fresh & Easy, we were told, more than in any other situation, that Tesco would get it right. The more we pointed out that they got it wrong, the more we were assured that we were underestimating Tesco. The year 2013 gives us the opportunity to draw business lessons from the debacle in the hope that we may do business better ourselves. …

“Since my father retired from the business he was always being asked to make his Italian roast pork for special events,” said Mike Mastrocola, Jr. “With this demand in mind the family set out to create Italian roast pork for the marketplace.”  That marketplace turned out to be 28 Giant Food Store heat-and-eat departments, from King of Prussia to Willow Grove, where you can often find father and son, and Mike, Jr.’s wife Kathy Mastrocola, handing out samples of their intensely flavorful delicacy. …