Dutch foodservice wholesaler Sligro Food Group managed to raise its sales slightly in the first quarter of this year. In Belgium, sales fell again, but the number of new customers grew.
Consumers remain cautious
Last quarter, Sligro realised 652 million euros in sales, up 2.7 % from a year earlier. The company calls the growth “slightly positive”. In the Netherlands, sales rose 3.8 % to 554 million. Consumers remain reluctant to spend, so Sligro’s professional customers are also buying less volume. The wholesaler is attracting new customers, however.
In Belgium, sales fell by 3.2 % from to 98 million, due to fewer customers in delivery, especially in Antwerp. Lost customers are gradually returning and there is also an increase in new customers. Sales in the Sligro-M outlets – the cash-and-carry shops that the company acquired from Metro – rose from 31 to 37 million.
Sligro also noticed an increase in tobacco sales: with many Dutch retailers having already stopped selling tobacco in the run-up to the ban from 1 July, a chunk of sales is shifting to customers of the foodservice wholesaler. As a result, tobacco’s share of sales rose to 9.2 %. However, Sligro will also stop sales itself from 1 July, with an exception for contracts running until the end of 2024.
