REGION: Kaufland's Eastern Europe operations integrated into EMD | Progresiv
The Eastern European operations of Kaufland have been integrated into the EMD buying group, the second major operator to join the group in the past month. 
Commenting on the move, Philippe Gruyters, managing director of EMD, said, “With the integration of Kaufland’s Eastern European volume, EMD affirms its leading role among the purchasing and marketing alliances all over Europe.”
Kaufland follows UK retailer Asda, which joined EMD at the start of January.
Frank Hirnschal, board member at Kaufland with responsibility for commodity trade, private label and marketing said that the group was “strongly committed” to the EMD alliance.
“In Eastern European markets, we hold a strong position, which allows us to obtain substantial buying and marketing volumes,” he said. “As these volumes are now concentrated in the EMD negotiations, we are able to increase sales opportunities for our industrial partners in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. “We feel therefore confident that our cooperative partnership will enable us to obtain a higher and customer-oriented market penetration.” (www.esmmagazine.com)
