The plan for the evolution of Audio Visual Enterprises (AVE), main shareholder of Retail and More, into a purely Food and Beverage group from 2025 is in full implementation, with the main strategy focusing on the tripartite: Carrefour, production and distribution.
Thomas Roubas, vice-president of the AVE group, said that the pursuit of Carrefour, the products and brand of which is managed by the company Retail & More, is to expand not only with new super stores in the coming years, but also to set up a production activity in the food processing sector, as well as to act as an intermediary for the distribution of Greek products in countries abroad where Carrefour operates.
Main goal
Focus is placed on acquisitions both in terms of strengthening the Carrefour network and acquiring food companies to produce private label codes for Carrefour for the domestic market as well as abroad. Categories such as cheese, yogurt and honey are particularly attractive for export. “PL Carrefour in spaghetti and rice is made in Greece, because it is advantageous due to lower transport costs. However, pasta is not a product to be sold abroad,” said Roubas.
Besides, the AVE Group has already entered into partnerships with important food and beverage companies, such as READY, a US company producing premium sports drinks, FERRO, a bakery production company, and INACHOS, a company located in Fthiotida producing Roumeli dairy products. With regard to the plan to strengthen the presence of the Carrefour brand in the domestic market, the goal is for the network to approach 70 points by the end of 2024.
Today Carrefour has 42 stores, of which 17 are corporate. In the next two months, 10 franchise points are about to open, and another 20 will follow by the end of 2024. The latest store acquisition concerns the Pigi supermarket in Pagrati, which has now become corporate on behalf of Carrefour.
The group’s target is “small and medium-sized retail”, since, as Roubas noted, “Carrefour is a start-up with a satisfactory liquidity profile. Greece is a mature market, with the Sklavenitis group having 35% of the market, two multinationals and two more large national players. It is not easy for Carrefour to take share from the big players. The aim is to take share from the small ones. Obviously, we will have to expand through acquisitions,” adding that “the small chains will be under a lot of pressure. Chains in tourist areas but also large cities of the territory with stores up to 1,000 square meters are under the microscope.”
Bulgaria
Retail and More is also making its “debut” on the Bulgarian market, with a store in Sofia. According to the plan, 22 franchise stores will open by September. In terms of performance, Carrefour closed 2023 with revenues of 4 million euros and loss-making results.
