Carrefour brings the Gourmet concept in Romania | Progresiv
French retailer Carrefour brings to Romania the Gourmet premium concept, the first location to be opened in the AFI Brasov shopping center, a project worth over 120 million euros. 
The shopping center features Carrefour Market Gourmet as anchor, with an area of 6,500 sqm, of a total area of 45,000 sqm. The concept is distinguished by premium products based on a wide range of fresh and traditional products.
Within this format, consumers can find in-house pastries and "smoked on-the-spot" meat products. In addition, the store also includes a "healthy eating" area where shoppers can find organic products, foods for people suffering from diabetes, products for people with gluten or lactose intolerance, soy products or low-fat foods . The mix of products is completed with a wide range of cosmetics, clothing and seasonal products.
The Carrefour Gourmet concept is also present in Italy, Spain or Poland.
Earlier this year, Carrefour launched on the local market the Express Orange proximity stores concept, currently operating 12 commercial units under this banner. Regarding future plans for this format, the retailer's representatives said for Progresiv that "until the end of the Billa stores remodeling there will be two retail units under the Express Orange banner".
Currently, Carrefour owns stores in this format in Bucharest and Ilfov (4 units), Cluj (4), Sibiu (1), Botosani (1), Craiova (1) and Buzau (1). Of the 12 stores, four units operate in areas where Billa supermarkets previously operated.
T retailer also owns 32 Carrefour hypermarkets, 174 Market supermarkets, 44 Express stores, 10 Contact proximity stores, an online shopping platform www.carrefour-online.ro, 31 Billa stores and 6 Supeco units. In 2016, the French - through the four entities they operate - have accumulated a turnover of 8,388 billion lei and a profit of 129 million lei, according to the latest data reported to the Ministry of Finance.
At group level, Carrefour operates more than 7,000 stores in several formats, including Express, City, Contact, Montagne, Bio, Proxi, 8 à Huit. The retailer ended the financial year 2016 with sales of 85.7 billion euros, up by 3% over the previous year (in comparable terms), marking the fifth consecutive year of growth.
