Mercadona, the supermarket chain owned by Juan Roig, has increased purchases from Catalan suppliers by 14.7% in the last financial year. The brand acquired products worth 5,004 million euros in 2023, compared to 4,036 million a year earlier. The advance is due to the increase in the total volume of purchases to supply customer demand, as the company explained this Monday.
The supplier perimeter remains at 240, with more than 1,700 SMEs. Some of the Catalan companies that supply the 249 Mercadona stores in Catalonia, in addition to online sales, are Catafruit, Nufri, Molnar or Grupo Cooperativo Frutos de Poniente (Lleida), Fructícola Empordà and Girona Fruits or Cerima Cherries (Tarragona). In total, the supermarket chain purchased 46.4 million kilos of fruit in Catalonia in 2023. In the sausages section, companies such as Casa Tarradellas, Embutidos Monter, Noel or La Selva have served more than 122 million kilos of products to their businesses.
Pastisfred (Montblanc), Productos del Moianès, Eco Figs Frutos, Laboratorios Maverick (Ulldecona), You Cosmetics (Gavà), Wecolors (Vilassar de Dalt) or Saplex (Canovelles) are other of Mercadona’s main Catalan suppliers in segments such as pastries, cosmetics or household products.
The network of stores in the territory remains almost unchanged in terms of numbers, with 249 supermarkets at the end of 2023 (one less than in 2022), the majority of which (173) are located in Barcelona. And the chain’s strategy in the Catalan market does not focus on new openings – its expansion is already mature – but on the renovation of the stores to adapt them to its new model. To date, Mercadona has already transformed 197 stores since 2017, the year the store adaptation plan was launched. With this, it ensures that it saves 40% of energy costs.
This adaptation, as well as the improvement of its logistics network in Abrera, Sant Sadurní d’Anoia and Sant Esteve Sesrovires, has involved an investment of 75 million euros last year. In terms of stores, the company has opened six new supermarkets with the new model, of which two are net openings in the municipalities of Reus and Barberà del Vallès, and the remaining four are openings due to closures (that is, new stores that They replace the existing ones that did not adapt to the new standards of the chain) in Ripollet, Reus, Cambrils and Barcelona city. It has also renovated five businesses in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sant Cugat del Vallés, Ripoll and Barcelona city.
Although the number of establishments remains practically unchanged, Mercadona’s commercial area in Catalonia has grown, since the new stores are larger. The 249 supermarkets have a combined area of 374,281 square meters, 0.6% more than in 2022. The brand is thus the distribution chain with the largest commercial area in the autonomous community, with a 15.3% share. , according to data from Alimarket. In terms of surface area, it is followed by Condis (673 stores and 247,302 square meters) and the Bon Preu group (206 stores and 231,425 square meters).
In Spain as a whole, Mercadona has 1,632 supermarkets, of which 1,315 are efficient stores. The company carried out 44 openings, 49 closings and 24 renovations.
Mercadona’s growth in terms of commercial area last year also consolidates it as one of the first private employers in Catalonia. The company has a staff of 15,205 people, 590 more than a year ago (the minimum gross entry salary is 1,553 euros per month).