This week, Carrefour revealed plans to aggressively expand its Carrefour Express network in Poland through franchising, with a goal to open 200 outlets next year. Meanwhile, a rival in Poland, Portugal’s Jeronimo Martins, this week booked buoyant sales in the country for the third quarter of 2010. Here, we take a look at the Polish food retail industry with the help of IGD and from Datamonitor’s ‘Food Retail in Poland’ report.

  • Poland accounted for 3.9% of the value of Europe’s food retail sector in 2009 – over three times more than the Czech Republic. Russia’s share stands at 18.8%, according to Datamonitor. 
  • The Polish food retail industry grew by 8.2% in 2009 to reach a value of US$65.5bn, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6% for the period spanning 2005-2009. 
  • The top player in the Polish food retail industry is Jeronimo Martins’ Biedronka chain with 10.8% of the market, according to IGD Retail Analysis. Tesco takes the number two spot with a 6.1% share, closely followed by Carrefour with 6% of the market.
  • Datamonitor says that, by 2014, the Polish food retail industry is forecast to have a value of $94.8bn, which equates to a CAGR between 2009 and 2014 of 7.7%. 
  • Comparatively, the Russian and Czech industries will grow with CAGRs of 20.5% and 8.8% respectively, over the same period. 
  • In Poland, sales in convenience stores and gas stations proved the most lucrative for the food retail industry in 2009, with total revenues of $24.8bn, equivalent to 37.8% of the industry’s overall value. 
  • In comparison, hypermarkets, supermarkets, and discounters generated revenues of $24.7bn in 2009, equating to 37.7% of the industry’s aggregate revenues.
  • In Poland, small convenience stores provide the main channel for the food retail industry. However, there is a trend to consolidation with large chain supermarkets or hypermarkets wielding more power over smaller speciality, luxury or organic food outlets. 
  • Retailers in the Polish food retail industry range widely in size with large chain supermarkets or hypermarkets embodying far stronger forces than smaller speciality, luxury or organic food outlets whose grip on the industry is significant but currently limited. 
  • Competition is often fierce within Poland’s food retail industry. The lack of substantial switching costs for consumers places pressure on retailers to secure their custom and loyalty, and the close similarity of players increases rivalry as they attempt to differentiate themselves through products and price to attract customers.