Delhaize leaves EMD for AMS buying alliance

The Belgian international food retailer, Delhaize Group has announced that as of January 1, 2009 it will become a member of AMS, one of the largest buying alliances in Europe for private label products.  The AMS partnership currently includes 11 European retailers.

The AMS objective is to deliver the best possible quality products at the best possible price to its members. Until January 1st, Delhaize Group remains a partner of European Marketing Distribution (EMD), the European buying alliance it joined in 2001. Système U (France) will also be making the move to AMS. This means that EMD loses some €23 billion in sales power while AMS increases its buying clout from its €75 billion now, to €100 billion next year.

"As a partner of AMS, we will be able to improve our private label programs further and create economies of scale that will benefit the consumer," commented Renaud Cogels, Executive Vice President Delhaize Group, Chief Executive Officer Southeastern Europe and Asia and Head of Global Sourcing. "Private label products have become an increasingly important tool for differentiation and customer loyalty building… Today more than ever, they also present a welcome alternative to consumers which purchasing power is under pressure."

Delhaize Group has operations in seven countries on three continents. At the end of 2007, Delhaize Group’s sales network consisted of 2,545 stores with revenues amounting to €19 billion and a net profit of €410.1 million.