“Jumbo will not exit Belgium”

There is no question of Jumbo leaving Belgium, CEO Ton van Veen emphasises: sales in the Belgian stores are growing fast and candidate franchisees are coming forward. In the home market, however, a fresh focus on the chain’s core values is needed – as the world of sports will find out.

Growth in franchising

Van Veen responded to speculation that the Dutch supermarket chain might leave Belgium in an interview with Dutch trade magazine Distrifood. These rumours started spreading as expansion in Belgium was not as quick as expected, and was recently fuelled by the decision to close the Zonhoven store.

“We have looked at it thoroughly, and the outcome is a resounding reaffirmation of our strategy: we are going full steam ahead there”, the CEO said. “We have traction there. Existing shops there are growing very fast in sales, while stores that were still the pipeline are now starting to be built. We also see growth in franchising there in particular. Entrepreneurs in Belgium are also reporting to us.”

Back to basics

In the same interview, Van Veen emphatically denies that he joined Jumbo to get the company ready for sale. Indeed, rumours about that are circulating in the Netherlands, following some interesting management changes and the retailer’s decision to stop sports sponsorship. Belgian Colruyt and German Edeka were rumoured to be possible prospective buyers, but the CEO says those rumours are without merit.

He does admit that there is some dust on how Jumbo is perceived, as the chain loses market share in the Netherlands and saw its margins shrink. Van Veen thinks Jumbo needs to get back to basics, with sharper price positioning – although it does not want to start a price war – and clear choices in terms of quality, availability, service and sustainability. The retailer is therefore looking more critically at e-commerce and at sports sponsorship budgets.