Despar Italia plans to open at least 50 new outlets this year and renovate 36 stores.
The retailer will invest €95 million in this expansion and modernisation project, it said.
Despar Italia ended 2018 with a 3.5% annual growth in turnover to €3.5 billion, gaining a market share of 3.7%.
Private-Label Sales
In 2018, the retailer reported private-label sales of €334.5 million, up 7.7% from the previous year.
A total of 289 million private-label products were sold in 2018 and 251 SKUs were launched.
Sales in the category accounted for 19.2% of total sales. The retailer already offers more than 3,000 private-label SKUs across 13 different lines.
Exports
Despar Italia exported almost €10 million in branded products to Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Georgia, Russia, Albania, Malta, and Greece.
Last year, Despar Italia launched a project with the University of Parma to improve the quality of its products.
With the aim of aligning private-label products with healthier lifestyles, the retailer will reformulate ingredients for a large number of references.
It will include reduction of saturated fats, sugars and salt, adjusting portion sizes, and increasing fibre content.
Outlook
By 2025, the retailer aims to increase its share of private-label sales to 25% of its total sales.
In the period between 2019-2021, the development of private-label products will focus on the health and well-being of consumers and environmental sustainability.
With total sales of more than 740,000 square metres, Despar Italia has 1,244 active stores in 13 regions and 63 provinces in the country.
© 2019 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.
