Spain's Mercadona has celebrated the fifth anniversary of its first opening in Portugal, having invested around €1 billion in the country since its entry into the market.
Mercadona's first store in Portugal opened in Vila Nova de Gaia, Canidelo (Porto) on 2 July, 2019. Since then, the retailer has grown its store count to 50 outlets, while its workforce has grown to around 6,000 employees.
The retailer has also invested in logistics centres in Póvoa de Varzim, Porto, and Almeirim, Santarém, the latter of which will open later this year, representing an investment of over €250 million.
In addition to physical infrastructure, Mercadona has spent more than €3 billion on purchases from Portuguese suppliers since 2019 and generated sales exceeding €2.77 billion. It has paid approximately €370 million in taxes to the Portuguese state.
Moving Into Portugal
Mercadona's journey in Portugal began in 2016 with the creation of Irmãdona Supermercados, based in Vila Nova de Gaia, following which a co-innovation centre was developed in Matosinhos, in Porto in 2017 to tailor its products to the Portuguese market. By the time the first store opened in 2019, 1,000 new SKUs adapted to local preferences were available.
Expansion continued with openings in Lisbon and Setúbal in 2022, while further partnerships with Portuguese suppliers saw its Spanish customers able to avail of a range of locally-sourced products.
The retailer has also established a Social Action Plan that incorporates a food donation platform – over the past five years, the company has donated approximately 5,500 tonnes of food to social organisations across Portugal.
Integration Into The Market
Commenting on the milestone, Inês Santos, director of institutional relations at Mercadona in Portugal, emphasised the company's progress and ongoing efforts to integrate into the Portuguese market.
"Mercadona has made progress and learned a lot by entering the highly competitive Portuguese market," she said. "Today, we are proud to say that the effort we are making to adapt to the country is reflected in people's desire to have our supermarkets nearby, but we still have a lot to do to become the company we want to be in Portugal.
"These five years have proven to be a good start and a motivation to continue building a project of shared and sustainable growth that generates employment and wealth in the country, contributing to its economic development."
