Strong fruit and vegetable sales helped Lidl become the fastest growing supermarket chain in Spain for the first time in 2013, beating Mercadona into second place. The German discounter registered a 7.6 per cent sales growth compared with Mercadona’s 6.7 per cent.
Analysing the results of ‘Retail results and perspectives 2013’, César Valencoso, consumer insights director at Kantar Worldpanel, said food retailing was practically the only sector to have seen a rise in sales in the past 12 months. “The 2013 financial year has been the toughest since the crisis began,” he told Distribucionactualidad.com.
Packaged food sales rose by 2.2 per cent, while fresh produce sales grew by 0.8 per cent, the report showed.
Fresh produce accounted for almost 30 per cent of Lidl’s sales and 52.7 per cent of the growth registered last year. Other retailers who saw increased sales included Ahorramás (+3.3 per cent), Consum (+2.6 per cent), Dia (2.2 per cent) and Carrefour Hipermercados (+1 per cent). Among the biggest falls registered were Eroski Hipermercados (-9.6 per cent), El Arbol (-8.7 per cent) and Aldi (-2.9 per cent). Growth for 2014 is forecast to slow to 0.5 per cent. Valencoso said innovation
