Albert Heijn

Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn (Ahold Delhaize) has completed its new board of directors: on 1 September, Sonja Boelhouwer joins the board as new Director of Stores, succeeding Cees van Vliet.

Albert Heijn showed his latest innovation at a conference: a delivery robot. The aim is to extensively test the robot on the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven.

Due to the shift towards home delivery, traditional supermarkets will soon be in serious trouble, Nils Van Dam of Duval Union Consulting predicts. He estimates between 30 to 40 % of supermarkets will have to close in the coming decade, due to a lack of revenue.

The rise of cash-free stores is being opposed politically: certain American governments want to make it illegal to refuse cash, since not all customers can afford a credit card. What is the situation in the Benelux?

Albert Heijn has announced a fifth distribution centre for online orders. Home delivery is quickly becoming more popular at ah.nl, and so the new centre will constructed in Amsterdam, creating about 1000 jobs.

Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn will not leave Belgium, but rather double its number of stores. After the merger with Belgian chain Delhaize there was speculation that owner Ahold Delhaize would choose between its two chains, but instead they will both expand heavily in Belgium.

Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn has appointed two new directors. Deliveroo's Philip Padberg will head the chain's Dutch web shop, while Blokker's Rob Heesen takes control of convenience chain AH to go.