Finland's S Group has announced that it is extending its purchasing agreement with Carrefour to include a range of internationally-branded products.
A number of other Nordic cooperative groups, including Coop Norway, Coop Sweden and Coop Denmark, are also involved in the purchasing agreement.
Earlier this year, S Group and Carrefour signed a cooperation agreement, involving the purchase of private label products. This has now been extended to also include international brands, in a move that will ultimately benefit the customer, said S Group's COO Arttu Laine.
International Purchasing Negotiations
"In international purchasing negotiations, our partners are the world's largest food giants, such as Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Unilever," said Laine.
"Alliance with one of the world's largest retailers and Nordic cooperative colleagues brings us more opportunities to deepen our cooperation with international food companies. The benefits of this will ultimately be reflected in the Finnish customer's lower receipts."
Maintaining Focus On Domestic Purchases
S Group said that the new cooperation agreement will not affect its purchase of domestic food products; rather it will focus on international purchasing only.
"We are constantly improving our supply of domestic and local food, this is what the customer expect from us," he said. "Some 80% of the food we sell is made in Finland and the same high level of domestic purchasing will be maintained in the future."
S Group's own brands include Kotimaista, Rainbow and Xtra. The retailer is in the process of renovating its store estate, to appeal more to modern consumer trends.
© 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.
