Jerónimo Martins sets hope on Poland

Portugal-based food retailer, Jerónimo Martins'  Biedronka unit in Poland delivering the bulk of the company's growth. Sales are expected to increase by 80% to €8 billion by 2010, from a reported €4.4 billion in 2006. In 2006, the company reported a like-for-like increase in sales of 11.6% and a total increase in sales, including new stores, of 27.3%. Jerónimo Martins has said it will open a further 130 stores per year.

Jerónimo Martins entered the Polish market in 1997, when it acquired the Biedronka discount chain, and now, thanks to its early entry, it has around 1,000 stores - by far the largest number of locations of any foreign retailer.

Jerónimo Martins Polish unit has contributed the bulk of its recent growth, benefiting significantly from a lack of competition from other global retailers, with most of its competition up until now coming from domestic operators. However, this looks set to change as both France-based Carrefour and UK-based Tesco have earmarked Poland as a target for their expansion plans. In July, Carrefour completed the acquisition of the Ahold store network in Poland, meaning it now operates almost 330 stores in the country.

Tesco's Polish subsidiary Tesco Polska, which last year acquired 144 Leader Price-branded discount stores from France's Casino Group announced plans to expand its network by 50 stores this year Jerónimo Martins growth may be put under more pressure than it has so far.