DESPAR Italia released its 2019 annual results, recording sales of €3.6 billion, a growth of 3% year-on-year. Reporting a continued growth in the past years, the SPAR Brand firmly places itself among the top largest Italian retailers.

In 2019, SPAR Italy partners invested over €95 million in its retail store networks, expanding its footprint through new store openings and upgrading existing stores to the latest world class standards from SPAR. Upgrading SPAR retail stores to the latest industry standards is an important way to constantly provide customers with the highest service standards in modern stores, while introducing features that contribute towards environmental sustainability.

The buying turnover for DESPAR own brand also increased significantly in 2019, to €353.8 million, a +5.7% rise from 2018. This reflects the ongoing growth of own brand share out of total food sales, which attained 19.8%. The buying turnover for Own Brand products is estimated to be growing at 3% in 2020.

At the end of 2019, the six companies forming the DESPAR Italy consortium employed 13,000 people in total, including colleagues from SPAR retail stores, offices and distribution centres.

Expansion

The beginning of 2020 saw Gruppo 3A joining the DESPAR Italia consortium, adding an additional 149 stores to the 1,240 SPAR Italy store numbers from 2019, including directly owned and independently owned stores. Through this new partnership, the SPAR brand has expanded its retail footprint to the Italian regions of Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta.

Source: DESPAR Italia

Read more news from SPAR Italy.

About SPAR Italy

SPAR International first granted a licence for the operation of the SPAR Brand to SPAR Italy in 1959. The first store opened in the latter part of 1960 and with it, SPAR became the first partnership of retailers and wholesalers to operate in Italy. SPAR Italy, known locally as DESPAR Italia, licenses regional partners, all of whom work together to grow the brand across the country.

The DESPAR Partners operate stores under three formats: DESPAR Neighbourhood Supermarkets, EUROSPAR Supermarkets and INTERSPAR Hypermarkets. Many of the larger format stores are company-owned, reflecting the scale of investment required. While the majority of the company’s turnover is acquired through these larger format stores, the independently owned neighbourhood supermarkets remain a key part of the business.

To read the original  2019 Annual Report from DESPAR Italia, please click on the link below.