In the UK, the Guardian is quoting a new Planet Retail report as saying “the company behind the Lidl supermarket chain is set to become western Europe’s biggest grocery retailer by 2018 as discounters become mainstream across the continent.”:
According to the story, the report predicts “that the privately owned Schwarz Group, which is controlled by a German multibillionaire and owns Lidl together with the Kaufland hypermarket chain, will overtake French group Carrefour and Tesco to generate sales of €80bn (£65bn) by 2018. Its current sales are around €65bn. The growth will be powered by Lidl and its fellow discounters heading into more high streets, listing more branded products and stocking more fresh food.”
It is anticipated that ” Lidl’s parent company grow at a rate of nearly 5% a year for the next five years. Rival group Aldi’s sales, says the report, will rise by 3.5% a year. In contrast mainstream supermarkets owned by groups like Carrefour, Tesco and Asda will increase sales by less than 2% a year. As a result, Aldi will also overtake Germany’s Metro Group to become western Europe’s fourth biggest grocer, just behind Tesco.”
Source: Morning NewsBeat, June 19, 2014
