Delhaize Group Launches New Strategic Plan

Intends to achieve an additional €300m annual operating cost savings by 2012

Delhaize Group, a Belgian food retailer, has revealed a new strategic plan for the coming years focusing on accelerated growth, increased efficiencies and intra-group integration.

The company is planning to further increase its price competitiveness in all its markets, triple the number of store openings in the coming three years in its newer formats and operations compared to the years 2007-2009 and realize an additional €300m annual operating cost savings by 2012 to fund its price investments and other sales building initiatives, and support its profitability.

According to the company, under its 'New Game Plan', from 2010 more than 141,000 of its associates will share and live one common vision and set of values which will drive the attitude of each and every associate.

The company said that each of its banners is planning a new and more aggressive pricing strategy from the start of 2010 by benchmarking itself against the leading price competitor with, as a goal, to further narrow the gap.

The company said that by 2011, Delhaize Group’s Belgian and Greek operations will have nutritional labeling for their private brands’ assortments, in addition to the Guiding Stars labeling already present in Food Lion, Hannaford, Sweetbay and Bloom’s assortments.

In 2010, Delhaize Group plans to audit 100% of its private brand suppliers for food safety and compliance. Delhaize Group plans to use its new low cost supermarket formats Bottom Dollar Food (US) and Red Market (Europe) and its newer markets (Greece, Romania and Indonesia) as additional drivers to accelerate organic store growth. Over the next three years, it will triple the store openings generated by these newer operations to 250 (compared to 85 new stores in 2007-2009).

Pierre-Olivier Beckers, president and chief executive officer of Delhaize Group, said: “Today, Delhaize Group has a strong and proven building platform of leading brands and market shares, best-in-class industry profitability and a solid balance sheet. Now is the right time to capitalize on our strengths and further accelerate.

The goal of our 'New Game Plan' is to deliver value leadership in all our markets leading to superior revenue and profit growth and to make of Delhaize Group a more effective acquisition platform through additional synergies, shared knowledge and shared services.”