Carrefour in discount, own brand push against inflation

PARIS — French supermarket giant Carrefour announced plans Tuesday to expand its discount operations and own brand products as it continues to cut costs amid spiralling inflation.

The move comes as part of plans to slash costs by 4 billion euros (dollars) through to 2026 under a strategy which also sees a still unknown number of job cuts.

"We are speeding up our transformation to consolidate our model of sustainable growth," said chairman Alexandre Bompard in a statement, as the group also looks to expand its presence in e-commerce.

As it bears down on costs amid a cost-of-living crisis, Carrefour aims to lift own brand foodstuff sales to 40 per cent of total sales from a current 33 per cent.

Bompard, at the helm since 2017, is also set to launch in France the group's Brazilian discount chain Atacadao from the third quarter of next year, as well as further develop another low-cost brand Supeco, notably lifting its presence from 120 stores in Spain to 200 by 2026.

Supeco began operations in Senegal in 2019 and has since spread its wings to Ivory Coast and Morocco while also launching operations in Spain, Italy, Poland and Romania as well as Brazil.

Carrefour says it is stepping up commitment to local partner producers from a current 39,000 to 50,000 over the coming three years.

It will further expand its Potager City brand, which distributes online subscription-based extra-fresh and seasonal fruit.

The group sees itself as at the forefront of increasing locally-produced food transition to within 50 kilometres of sale points.

Shares in Carrefour were down 1.8 per cent at 16.26 euros in mid-morning trading in Paris, compared with a year high reached in May of 21.03 euros.

The group employs some 320,000 people in around 30 countries.