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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s biggest supermarket chain, Biedronka, which is owned by Portuguese conglomerate Jerónimo Martins, has opened its first outlet abroad, in neighbouring Slovakia.
The company, which operates over 3,600 discount stores in Poland, plans to open a further four locations in Slovakia this month and to operate at least 50 there by the end of 2026, the head of its Slovakian operations told news website WNP.
The new store, located in Miloslavov near Bratislava, closely resembles Biedronka shops in Poland, featuring the signature ladybird logo (“biedronka” means ladybird in Polish) and the Slovak slogan “Nízke ceny každý deň” (“Low prices every day”), mirroring the company’s Polish branding.
“Our priority is to offer Slovak customers fresh food of high quality and at the lowest prices,” said Maciej Łukowski, CEO of Biedronka’s Slovakian branch.
He added that Biedronka is also focusing on cooperation with Slovak suppliers, with whom it has developed several own brands. In preparation for the expansion, Biedronka also started requiring suppliers to its Polish stores to provide labelling in both Polish and Slovakian, reports WNP.
Ahead of the launch, Biedronka set up a distribution centre in Voderady, about 50 kilometres east of Bratislava. The centre employs 66 staff to manage logistics and is equipped to support up to 200 stores.
Biedronka was founded in 1995 and purchased by Jeronimo Martins two years later. In 2023, it overtook the state post office as Poland’s largest employer, with over 80,000 staff.
In 2023, Biedronka’s total revenue stood at 98.5 billion zloty (€23.6 billion), placing it well ahead of Poland’s second largest retail chain, German-owned Lidl, which had 33.9 billion zloty of revenue in Poland, according to retail news website DlaHandlu.
Lidl and Biedronka have been engaged in an often-bitter price war. Last year, Biedronka was fined over 500 million zloty for exploiting its market position to force suppliers to provide discounts on their products after delivery.
Biedronka – the Portuguese-owned supermarket chain that is Poland’s largest – has been fined over 500m zloty (€116m) for exploiting its market position to force suppliers to provide discounts on their products after delivery https://t.co/P5fwAAJtu4
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 18, 2024
A number of successful Polish-based companies and brands have begun looking to expand abroad.
Last year, Żabka, Poland’s largest convenience store chain, launched its first overseas location in Romania. Delivery giant InPost has grown rapidly, launching operations in the UK, France, Spain and Portugal.
Meanwhile, Polish mobile payment system BLIK has also moved into Slovakia while state energy giant Orlen has sought to expand its operations in other European countries.
Despite a slowing global economy, Polish businesses are continuing to expand abroad, as highlighted by Orlen and InPost's recent overseas acquisitions.
This has led to Poland's third consecutive year of outward foreign investment growth https://t.co/v37NczSwXt
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 8, 2024
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Biedronka press materials
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
