Intermarché and Casino Group have announced the start of a new purchasing alliance, which will cover both food and non-food items and run for a period of five years.
The alliance comprises two units. The first, Auxo Achats Alimentaires, which is a central purchasing unit for food products, will be managed by Intermarché and is based in Massy, Paris.
Led by chairman Jean-Baptiste Berdeaux and chief executive Tristan Dupont, two Intermarché executives, the unit will negotiate purchasing terms on behalf of the two retailers for mass market consumer goods, excluding private label, agricultural goods and seafood, and national brand products from small or mid-sized companies.
Non-Food Purchasing
Separately, Auxo Achats Non-Alimentaires, a central purchasing unit for non-food products, will be managed by Casino Group. It will also be based in Massy, and cover negotiations with suppliers for technical products, stationery and textiles.
Auxo Achats Non-Alimentaires is chaired by Fabrice Soler, while its chief executive is Stéphane Cathelain, both of Casino Group.
Both units commenced operations on 1 September, and follow the two groups' initial announcement about the agreement back in April.
Global Retail Services
Outside France, Intermarché and Casino Group have created Global Retail Services, a joint organisation tasked with marketing international services to large industrial groups operating in their territories in Europe (France, Belgium, Portugal and Poland) and Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina).
Chaired alternately by Intermarché and Casino, Global Retail Services is based in Brussels.
Elsewhere, Casino Group and Intermarché have also created Infinity Advertising, a joint venture designed to market a retail media offering to food brands and their agents in France, outside of any purchasing negotiations, and in compliance with personal data protection rules and competition law.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
