Italian retailer VéGé Group has signed a cooperation agreement with Dolcitalia, Italy’s confectionary sector leader with a 30 per cent market share and €290 million turnover.
Dolcitalia was founded 1993 by a group of entrepreneurs to allow for central purchasing for the wholesale distribution of confectionery products, impulse items and beverages for the traditional channel.
Its network consists of 170 affiliates that serve some 150,000 traditional retail outlets, including 89,000 bars and tobacconists. The remainder is within the normal trade, such as food shops, convenience stores, specialized retail and convenience stores, but also sports centers, gyms, retail fuel chains, cinemas and theme parks.
The agreement will benefit Dolcitalia in terms of the refinement of its internal management instruments, improvement of relations with affiliates and suppliers and also access to a wider assortment of goods. It will also enable the company to allocate more resources for the development of value-added services for the sector by automating data collection, as well as the digitization of some processes and strengthening communication.
For VéGé Group, the partnership will allow access to the know-how and contracts of a confectionary industry leader. In addition, it will enable possible synergies and mutual benefits of significant value.
The latest deal comes after partnership agreements signed in recent weeks by VéGé Group with local and regional retailers Bava, Colonial Sud, GiCap, Fratelli Arena and Multicedi. VéGé Group currently has 2,400 sales points and 31 partner companies.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.