Four retailers with combined 2013 sales of €88bn and an overall European market share of 6.7 per cent have announced a strategic cooperation in a bid to address the increasing internationalisation of food retailing, and ultimately offer lower prices to customers.
Colruyt of Belgium, Conad from Italy, Coop Switzerland and Germany's Rewe Group have launched the alliance under the name Core, which has been incorporated as a Belgian cooperative and is headquartered in Brussels.
In an announcement, the Core alliance revealed that it has appointed Rewe chief executive Alain Caparros as president, with Conad's Gianluigi Ferrari taking on the role of general manager.
'Core is designed to meet the growing competitive challenges in Europe and to address the increasing internationalisation of food retailing,' said Caparros.
'Through collective negotiations, we intend to offer more competitive prices to our customers,' he explained. 'At the same time, we will continue to build internationally strong partnerships with predominantly FMCG companies.
'With a consolidated and successful management, Core offers attractive growth perspectives for our suppliers.'
The Core board of directors will be made up of:
- Frans Colruyt and Christopher Dehandschutter (Colruyt Group)
- Francisco Pugliese and Mauro Lusetti (Conad)
- Joose Sutter and Philipp Wyss (Coop Switzerland)
- Alain Caparros and Manfred Esser (Rewe)
The new alliance is present in 18 countries, with a combined 20,000 outlets.
