Jumbo and Coop win in the Netherlands, Aldi and Lidl lose

Hard discounters lost market share in the Netherlands last year, which is remarkable. Market leader Albert Heijn remained stable, the big winner being Jumbo, partly thanks to acquisitions.

Adjusted figures

Lidl saw its market share in the Netherlands decline from 10.9% to 10.7%. For the retailer it is the first decline after years of continuous growth. Aldi ’s market share fell from 6.1% to 5.9%, despite the major renewal operations in the stores. This is evidenced by figures released by research agency Nielsen. Partly the decline is to be explained by a correction in the measurements, reports journal Distrifood: for the first time Nielsen could have real figures from Aldi instead of estimates. Apparently, the share of the chain has been overestimated so far. Nevertheless, the evolution is remarkable, because both Aldi and Lidl continue to grow strongly in most other European countries.
 

The big winner last year was Jumbo. The retailer was able to increase its market share from 19.2% to 21%, partly as a result of two major acquisitions: the retailer integrated stores of Emté (which was sold by Sligro Food Group) and of Agrimarkt, which was acquired last summer. At the beginning of this year Jumbo already reported a particularly substantial increase in turnover in 2019. The smaller chain Coop, which also acquired part of the Emté stores, was also able to grow: from 3.3% to 3.7%. Market leader Albert Heijn was able to defend its position in 2019 after a difficult year in 2018, as came to light earlier. With a share of 34.9%, the lead on the number two is still quite large.