Mercadona starts on Tuesday to test the tastes, habits and preferences of consumers in the region and in Lisbon, in order to adapt the offer to local specifics and to continue the expansion project in Portugal at the second Co-Innovation Center in the country, where it has invested € 2.2 million.
Bread, fresh and baked goods have been identified from the outset as product categories that need to be more differentiated to operate compared to the north of the country and developments undertaken since 2017 by the Matosinhos Co-Innovation Center.
Working with local customers, which the company likes to call “bosses,” is always the primary tool for bringing the leading chain in the Spanish market closer to the region and defining a basket that spans five areas: food, beverages, personal care, house cleaning and pet grooming. …
Thus, with its entry into the Lisbon region, announced for 2022, the supermarket chain “implements a strategy of educating consumers who consume its products, listening to their comments and innovating with them”, and then shares information with its suppliers.
Mercadona, which opened its first supermarkets in the country in 2019, currently has 24 stores in the Porto, Braga, Aveiro and Viana do Castelo areas and has already opened 4 of the 9 stores planned for this year.
The Spanish network, led by Juan Roig, announced a € 150 million investment in Portugal this year, which is accompanied by the creation of an additional 600 jobs.
In 2020, Mercadona invested 113 million euros and opened 10 stores, ending the year with 20 supermarkets, sales of 186 million euros and 1,700 workers in the country.
At this stage, the company only announces the start of operations in the south that two of the first stores will be in Setubal and Montijo.
