Carrefour Teams Up With JIP Retail In Czechia
ESM - European Supermarket Magazine
The industry magazine for C-suite executives and procurement managers working in the European grocery retail sector.
Carrefour International Partnership has announced a collaboration with Czech Group JIP Retail as part of an expansion plan. The partnership will see JIP Retail offering a range of Carrefour-branded products at its stores in Czechia. "This new partnership with JIP Retail is a great opportunity to provide Czech customers with a powerful and competitive range of products to meet their daily needs. It is an additional milestone in Carrefour Group’s international strategy, with a strong development in Eastern Europe," Patrick Lasfargues, Carrefour International Partnership's executive director, said in a statement. The move will help JIP Retail add an affordable selection of products to its offering across both food and non-food categories, the retailer said. The products are expected to roll out across JIP Retail’s convenience network in 2024, the company said.
Spanish supermarket chain Eroski is intensifying its focus on private-label brands as a key strategy to compete with rivals Mercadona and Lidl. Eroski aims to appeal to value-conscious consumers by promoting its own brands, offering high-quality products at affordable prices, it said. The retailer's five private-label food brands – Eroski Basic, Eroski, Eroski Seleqtía, Eroski Natura, and Eroski Bio – are not only sold in Eroski stores but also in Vegalsa and Caprabo outlets in Galicia and Catalonia. In the most recent financial year, these private-label brands contributed to 34.8% of Eroski's food sales, achieving sales of 51% in fresh food. Eroski plans to boost the penetration of its private brands through investments in marketing, shelf-space optimisation, and collaboration with suppliers.
Italian retail cooperative, Gruppo VéGé is to focus on expanding its private-label offerings and invest in digitalisation in order to drive growth in 2024. The company expects to achieve a turnover of €13.78 billion in 2023, representing a 9.4% increase from the previous year, according to media reports. The company has projected further growth, to €14.48 billion, in 2024. The retailer plans to open 78 new outlets in 2024 alone, including five hypermarkets and 60 supermarkets. During the presentation of its new commercial and marketing plans for 2024 in Milan, Gruppo VéGé said it is leveraging promotional strategies to support sales during the current inflationary period, while also expanding its private-label product range to include 'first-price', mainstream, and premium options. The cooperative will also focus on strengthening its management control area and automating and digitising company processes.
Billa Bulgaria has seen significant growth in the first ten months of 2023, achieving a turnover of BGN 1.1 billion (€562 million), representing an increase of 15.8% compared to the same period in 2022. Announcing the figures during a press conference, CEO of Billa Bulgaria, Vigintas Shapokas, stressed that the growth is even more impressive when considering the expansion of the store network, with a reported growth of 12% when comparing the same number of stores. To support its continued growth, Billa Bulgaria plans to invest BGN 62 million (€32 million) this year, creating over 250 new jobs.
Groupe Casino has warned of likely 2023 losses for its core French business, due to a slower than expected turnaround at its hypermarkets business and the impact of investment costs. Casino estimated that its 2023 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) after leases would range between a loss of €78 million and a loss of €140 million. Casino had already reported last month a drop in its third quarter sales, as well as a cut to its full-year 2023 profit outlook. The company also finalised in October a deal to avert bankruptcy through a debt restructuring agreed with its main creditors, led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
Reader feedback:
Keith Barthelme on last week's news that Carrefour is set to return to Bulgaria after seven years:
"I visited Супермаркети Parkmart in Sofia in July, and it had a unique atmosphere compared to Lidl Bulgaria EOOD & Co. KD and Fantastico Group / Фантастико Груп. With Carrefour's potential rebranding, I'm intrigued by the strategic implications for merchandising and positioning. An interesting development in the Bulgarian retail landscape!"
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Just a small remark ESM - European Supermarket Magazine why is Czechia in Eastern Europe? Czechia lies in Central Europe and Prague is 150 km more in the West than Vienna! Is Austria in Eastern Europe?