Metro Italia to form an alliance focused on the away-from-home consumer market | Progresiv
Metro Italia and Italian retail distributor Gruppo VéGé have announced the formation of an alliance focused on the away-from-home consumer market. The three-year alliance with Metro Italia will enable Gruppo VéGé to finally establish a presence in all regions of Italy and across all retail formats. 
The agreement follows the recent arrival of two new members to the distribution group – supermarket operator Gruppo Bennet (with a presence in the Piedmont and Lombardy regions) and cash & carry Multicash (Abruzzo, Marche and Molise).
As a result, Gruppo VéGé started 2020 with 35 associated member and a projected turnover of around 10.9 billion euros, generated by a strong multi-channel and multi-brand sales chain of 3,528 businesses.
Over the last five years, according to GNLC-Nielsen data, Gruppo VéGé has grown into the fifth largest player in the Italian market, with a 7% market share and a 2019 turnover of 7.5 billion euros. It is the market leader in Sicily, Campania and Basilicata.
Metro Italia operates 49 outlets in 16 Italian regions, and generated sales of 1.73 billion euros in 2018/19, with a 1.4% growth in HoReCa sales compared to the previous year.
According to Tradelab data, Italy is the European leader for out-of-home consumption, which represents 34.3% of total food consumption, with a value of 84.3 billion euros in 2018.
The market comprises 320,000 consumption points including restaurants, bars, take-aways and a variety of other food outlets. (www.esmmagazine.com)
