Picnic wants to conquer France city by city

Dutch online supermarket Picnic is officially launching in France. After a test in Valenciennes under the pseudonym TocToc, the company is now going for a phased roll-out.

Two years of preparation

Picnic is now officially active in France, starting with the town of Valenciennes in the north of the country. Earlier, a limited test launch took place under the name TocToc, possibly to mislead the press, but now the Dutch company confirms its ambitions.
 

From now on, all inhabitants of Valenciennes can register via the French app and Picnic will start a phased rollout, which will be done city by city, just like in the Netherlands and Germany. “We have been preparing the launch in France for two years,” says co-founder of Picnic Michiel Muller. “Valenciennes is a typical Picnic city: it is home to many families who like to save time by having their groceries delivered at home.”

On billion turnover by 2021

At the moment, the online supermarket has around 20 delivery staff and 10 electric delivery vans in France, which can deliver to 60,000 households from a hub in Anzin. By the end of this year, the pure player will have about 50 delivery staff and an expected 30 trolleys. The motto “Meilleurs prix, livrés gratuit” will appear on the vans. Picnic says it will also focus on local products in its assortment.
 

At the beginning of May, German supermarket group Edeka increased its stake in Picnic, which was founded in 2015 in Amersfoort. The e-commerce player has been active in Germany since 2018 and today claims to have one million customers. This includes 650,000 customers in over 125 Dutch locations and 350,000 customers in some 40 German municipalities. In 2020, the turnover doubled to 500 million euros, and in 2021 Picnic aims for one billion euros.