French retail giants Carrefour and Coopérative U have formed a new buying alliance in Europe, named Concordis.
This partnership, announced on July 7, aims to enhance “purchasing competitiveness of its partners by pooling volumes.”
Headquartered in Brussels, Concordis will focus on negotiating purchase prices and providing “international services,” according to the retailers. Moreover, it will actively engage with multinational suppliers of branded consumer goods in European markets where both Carrefour and Coopérative U operate.
Initially set to run for six years, the alliance will commence next year.
Notably, Concordis intends to welcome other European retailers, with preliminary discussions already underway.
Alexandre Bompard, chairman and CEO of Carrefour, stated: “Through this partnership, we are becoming the number one purchasing force in France – and equipping ourselves to become the leader at the European level.”
According to their joint statement, the alliance also aims to foster “fair and transparent relationships with suppliers, based on the mutual development of business plans and strong consideration for the overall balance of agri-food supply chains.”
Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Coopérative U, emphasized that the new alliance addresses “challenges of the French retail market.” He added, “It is built on a strong and ambitious partnership with Carrefour and is intended, in the long term, to welcome other European retail partners to further pool purchasing volumes.”
“With Concordis, we will enhance our competitiveness in support of our customers’ purchasing power,” he noted.
Carrefour and Coopérative U plan to notify the French Competition Authority about the partnership by the end of July, also seeking approval from their governing bodies.
As part of the alliance, both retailers intend to explore collaboration on private label products through “joint auctions on standard consumer goods,” while maintaining “full autonomy on their differentiated products.”
Carrefour operates a network of over 15,000 stores in more than 40 countries, supported by a workforce exceeding 300,000 employees. The group generated sales of €94.6bn ($111bn) in 2024.
In contrast, Coopérative U manages 1,800 stores, including Hyper U, Super U, U Express, and Utile. It employs over 75,000 people both in France and globally.
Carrefour has engaged in several buying alliances previously.
In 2022, Carrefour and Louis Delhaize ended their European buying alliance, with the latter subsequently partnering with Intermarché, part of the Les Mousquetaires group.
Additionally, Carrefour established a buying partnership with Tesco in 2018, which concluded in 2021. This “strategic alliance” involved “the joint purchasing of own-brand products and goods not for resale.”
