German supermarket chains continue to make a special effort to open stores in Spain to continue gaining market share. So much Lidl How Aldi They are investing heavily to penetrate Spain and take a piece of the pie from other competitors in an environment of high inflation and skyrocketing food prices.

The first is already the third operator by quota, second only to Mercadona And Carrefourand plans to exceed 700 stores in 2024. And while it continues to open locations monthly, it appears to be doing so at a slower pace than in previous years, when it opened about 40 stores a year. Those responsible for Lidl see potential in the Spanish market to reach 900-1,000 stores, although they are shy about meeting deadlines.

As its corporate CEO in Spain, Ferran Figueras, explained earlier this week, the company currently has 670 stores. The company’s growth strategy envisages investments of between 250 and 300 million euros. The company plans to end the financial year in February with benefit as last year, with turnover expected to grow by double digits. Of course, inflation had a negative impact on its income statement. profitability drop by 15%.

For its part, Aldi announced the opening of 10 more new stores in December this year, with which it intends to achieve 430 stores in Spain in 2023. Unlike Lidl, it is not giving a forecast for 2024, although it does note that it has opened around 100 new outlets across the country in the past three years.

This December, Aldi will open new supermarkets in the municipalities of San Bartolome (Lanzarote), Ciutadella (Menorca), adding three stores in Granada, two more in Barcelona and another in Deltebre (Tarragona), which will complement the existing store. has already opened in Torrejon de Ardoz (Madrid) on December 1st and in Albox (Almeria) this Monday, December 4th.

The company currently operates 97 supermarkets in Andalusia, the region with the largest number of Aldi stores in the country. Operations in Catalonia will also be strengthened, with the company opening a total of eight new stores in the region in 2023.

For its part, the supermarket chain will continue to promote its presence in the islands. Canary Islandswhere he first arrived in July 2022. The expansion will also go through Balearic Islands with a new store in Ciutadella (Menorca). This year the company opened its first store in Menorca in the municipality of Mao and intends to continue to expand its presence in the coming years.

Lidl is careful. “We must be very selective, opportunities are generated in such a way that we cannot commit to a specific rate of store expansion. This doesn’t mean we stop running, but we have to be careful what we choose because our places have to be the best,” Figueres said last week.

His latest inauguration took place on Monday in Burgos. In recent years, Castile y Leon has played a prominent role in growth plans and now has 25 stores. In 2022, the company has already opened a store in Ponferrada and has also modernized and expanded another one in Benavente. The company recently acquired a plot of approximately 158,000 m2 in Villadangos del Páramo for the construction of a logistics platform.

Both companies belong to the so-called German discount supermarket model. Its share of private labels is significantly higher than that of other chains. And it was the inflationary context and high food prices that led to an increase in sales of the so-called “white label”.