Albert Heijn big winner in the Netherlands, Jumbo loses again

For the fifth consecutive year, Albert Heijn gained market share in the Netherlands. Challenger Jumbo saw its share decline, Plus gained some ground, and hard discounters Aldi and Lidl stagnated (at best).

The Jan Linders factor

Albert Heijn raised its market share in the Netherlands from 36.7 % to 37.1 %, according to figures by market research firm Nielsen IQ. The market leader managed to gain market share for the fifth consecutive year. That gain was largely due to expansion: the retailer added 38 shops to its portfolio and now has 1,192 stores. A major factor was the acquisition of Jan Linders.

Runner-up Jumbo saw its market share fall from 21.4 % to 21.1 %, despite opening eleven additional stores. By the end of 2023, Jumbo had 696 supermarkets. At a great distance, Plus is the third supermarket chain in the country: it added 54 stores last year by converting Coop stores and now has 398 stores. Its market share rose from 6.8 % to 7.8 %.

Difficult year for hard discounters

Plus is a member of Superunie, an alliance that groups a lot of regional and family supermarket chains in the Netherlands. Due to the disappearance of Jan Linders, this group saw its number of stores fall from 1,645 to 1,571, but its market share increased slightly from 25.9 % to 26%. Pricefighters like Dirk and Nettorama performed strongly – but they do not disclose a separate market share.

Hard discounters had a tough year: they could not open additional branches last year. Lidl stagnated at a market share of 10.6 % with 438 stores, Aldi’s share dropped slightly from 5.4 % to 5.2 %, with 485 stores. In total, Dutch supermarkets achieved sales of 50.1 billion euros: a record, mainly courtesy of inflation.