Belgian supermarket operator Colruyt has confirmed that it is still considering a move into the Dutch market, but has no immediate plans to do so.
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The group’s chief financial officer Wim Biesemans had previously indicated to just-food that the company was potentially interested in the sale of Dutch chains Konmar and Edah by Laurus.
“We have been considering moving into the Danish market for the past five years,” he said. “This was the first concrete possibility to acquire a Danish retail chain and we looked into whether or not it would be viable for us.”
Now that the chains have been acquired by other groups, Colruyt is considering other means to enter the market. Speaking to Belgian daily L’Echo, Biesemans suggested that the group might set up shop in the Netherlands under its own banner. “It’s true that our model would be easy to adapt to the Netherlands, especially as we know the market there well,” he said.
Biesemans told just-food that Colruyt’s priority is to add value to the group – a decision is yet to be made regarding if, how or when the group will expand into the Netherlands.
