Three major French retail groups announce a purchasing alliance with a remarkably long duration: for up to ten years, Intermarché, Auchan and Casino will jointly negotiate with major brand manufacturers.
Partners retain independence
Last December, Intermarché and Auchan had already stated that they were in talks to set up a purchasing alliance for food and non-food. Now they are also including Casino, the group from which they acquired several hundred super- and hypermarkets earlier this year. The new alliance, which will immediately become the largest in France, aims to “maintain and develop long-term partnerships with the agricultural world and French industrial players”.
Intermarché will take the lead for negotiations with big brand producers such as Danone, Nestlé or Coca-Cola. The cooperation already established between Intermarché and Auchan for private label products will now also benefit Casino. In non-food, Auchan will negotiate with branded manufacturers for the three partners.
The three retailers stress that their cooperation will respect competition laws and regulations. Each of the partners will retain full independence in terms of commercial, pricing or promotional policies, and for the development of store networks. The French competition watchdog will still have to approve the alliance.
