Italian retail distributor Gruppo VéGé and Metro Italia have announced the formation of an alliance focused on the away-from-home consumer market.
The three-year alliance with Metro Italia will enable Gruppo VéGé to finally establish a presence in all regions of Italy and across all retail formats.
The agreement follows the recent arrival of two new members to the distribution group – supermarket operator Gruppo Bennet (with a presence in the Piedmont and Lombardy regions) and cash & carry Multicash (Abruzzo, Marche and Molise).
As a result, Gruppo VéGé started 2020 with 35 associated member and a projected turnover of around €10.9 billion, generated by a strong multi-channel and multi-brand sales network of 3,528 businesses.
Over the last five years, according to GNLC-Nielsen data, Gruppo VéGé has grown into the fifth largest player in the Italian market, with a 7% market share and a 2019 turnover of €7.5 billion. It is the market leader in Sicily, Campania and Basilicata.
Metro Presence
Metro Italia operates 49 outlets in 16 Italian regions, and generated sales of €1.73 billion in 2018/19, with a 1.4% growth in HoReCa sales compared to the previous year.
According to Tradelab data, Italy is the European leader for out-of-home consumption, which represents 34.3% of total food consumption, with a value of €84.3 billion in 2018.
The market comprises 320,000 consumption points including restaurants, bars, take-aways and a variety of other food outlets/
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
