Netherlands-based supermarket Hema has come up with an innovative way of boosting sales of its rapidly expanding line of fresh products. The chain has launched a ‘happy hour’ offering customers a 25 per cent discount on products including fresh meat, baked goods and fruits and vegetables during the final hour of trading each day.
A spokesperson for Hema said the aim of the strategy was to highlight the company’s expanding fresh offering as well as to reduce food wastage.
“Customers are still not sufficiently familiar with the fact that we offer fresh produce and one of our strategic goals is to focus on fresh and honest food that we want to make more accessible to people,” the spokesperson said.
Last month Hema appointed Andrew Jennings, formerly boss at Karstadt, as its new chairman as part of a wider overhaul of its management. The value retailer, which operates 538 stores in the Netherlands, is expanding its overseas presence, opening a number of stores in Belgium, Germany, France, the UK and Spain last year.
