SPAR concessionaire Despar Italia closed 2022 with €4.14 billion in sales (up 3.4% on 2021), of which 65% was generated by directly-owned stores and 35% by affiliated (+10.5%).
In terms of store banners, 38% of revenue was generated by EUROSPAR, medium-sized supermarkets ranging between 800-2,000 square metres; 35% by Despar, neighbourhood supermarkets of up to 800 square metres; and 27% by INTERSPAR, large supermarkets spanning more than 2,000 square metres).
However, the smaller stores were the ones that saw the highest growth, up 4.4% on 2021.
The main growth drivers were new store openings, refurbishments of existing stores and the constant development of the private-label offering.
Last year, Despar Italia opened 67 new stores and refurbished 53 existing stores.
It ended the year with 1,404 stores (418 directly-owned and 986 affiliated) in 17 Italian regions, for a total sales area of 823,108 square metres.
The grocery retailer strongly boosted its presence in the north, particularly in the Piedmont, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna regions, on top of the arrival in the strategically important region of Lombardy.
In southern Italy, it modernised several outlets, especially in Calabria and Apulia, in parallel to the overall strengthening of the network, including the islands.
Private Label
Despar Italia closed 2022 with private labels accounting for 21.4% of the total grocery sales, up 0.8% on 2021 and slightly above the private-label average in Italy of 21.2%.
Turnover at checkout from private-label products amounted to €886 million in 2022, registering an increase of 14.7% compared to 2021.
Last year, Despar Italia launched more than 200 new products and reformulated more than 350.
Currently, there are 16 Despar private-label lines with an assortment of more than 3,600 products, totalling more than 4,500 SKUs.
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The top performing product lines were Despar (+20.1%), Premium (+15.1%), Enjoy (+23.5%), Scelta Verde Eco,logico (+13.4%), Free From (+14.9%) and Veggie (+13.4%).
In 2023, Despar Italia plans to launch more than 250 new private-label products, including antibiotic free eggs, a range of protein products (drinks, puddings and mousses), a traditional pinsa and Christmas references.
According to general manager, Filippo Fabri, Despar Italia is targeting revenue growth of over 5% and the retailer will invest €95 million to expand its sales network.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
