Russian retailer Lenta has announced that it has signed an agreement of intent with Eurotorg LLC, which operates one of Belarus's largest retail chains, Euroopt.
Under the agreement, the two companies will look at the potential for joint procurement opportunities in food and non-food categories. It also includes private-label ranges, which could mean that Lenta will supply its own-label products to Euroopt and vice versa.
The companies have also agreed to develop marketing concepts and new product ranges together.
Lenta’s CEO, Jan Dunning, said of the new partnership, "We see Euroopt as our strategic partner and look forward to running collaborative projects, which will enable more efficient procurement by both companies and give an additional impetus to the development of Russian and Belarusian producers. This is a pioneering relationship in the CIS markets."
Andrey Zubkov, board chairman at Eurotorg LLC, added, "Our partnership with the federal retail chain Lenta is definitely a major milestone, both for our company and for Belarus in general, as this collaboration will enable our suppliers, [Belarusian] producers, to boost their exports to Russia. By joining our procurement efforts, we expect to be able to negotiate more attractive prices and pass on these benefits to our customers."
Lenta is the largest hypermarket chain in Russia.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
