Following its Whole Foods acquisition in the United States, Amazon is now planning on conquering the European food market. It has already contacted French and British supermarket chains; E.Leclerc is the first to confirm the attempts.
No positive feedback
According to French paper Le Monde, Amazon approached Casino, Intermarché and Système U in France and Morrisons in the United Kingdom. Acquisitions are possible, but a collaboration is also an option.
However, Amazon did not get any positive feedback. “It approached everyone, but failed to get any positive feedback”, an insider told De Tijd. “Amazon is talking to supermarket chains to tap into their purchase power, which it lacks itself. We also know our customers thanks to our stores. Amazon is clearly interested, but that does not mean the other companies are. Amazon is not our friend, because its goal is to devour us. We are not going to open the door and present the menu.”
Amazon is using a different tactic in the United Kingdom: it wants to open its own range of stores in London. For France, it is building a new distribution center, located in Paris. It will be its sixth, and largest, French distribution center. Amazon had already been linked to Carrefour, but it is not clear whether it actually approached the chain.
The entire food industry has been on edge since Amazon’s Whole Foods acquisition and this will definitely aggravate things. Even an anonymous tweet without any truth to it could suddenly become global news and influence the stock exchange, like the “rumour” about Ahold Delhaize’s Kroger acquisition yesterday.
