Auchan: a manufacturer’s guide to the retail giant’s strategy

Auchan Retail is on a mission. Through its 2032 ‘eat well and live better while preserving the planet’ mantra, it aims to grow the business while cultivating a more empathetic trading culture.

Operating in 12 countries, with over 2,350 points of sale and in excess of €32.3bn of global revenue, Auchan Retail is a big player in the global grocery universe.

Compared with some other retailing giants, however, Auchan isn’t the biggest and is a step down when compared to Carrefour, which boasts €80bn in sales over eight countries.

Though Auchan has a strong focus on local produce and health, and gives “priority to local produce that is good for the diet and for health”.

Also read → Working with Carrefour: What’s the retail giant’s strategy? As part of this drive, the business works to help its shoppers buy less but better, offering them “a responsible range of food and non-food products”.

“We protect their purchasing power while standing together with our suppliers – the farmers, first and foremost – by offering them profitable, fair collaborations. This means that they, in turn, can also live better,” a company statement reads.

Auchan Retail’s key commitmentsEating well: Tapping into the consumer demand for products that are healthier and better for the environment

Better sourcing: A focus on food and drink made and sold closer to its customers, for health and environmental reasons

Taste and authenticity: Respecting and celebrating regionality and the flavour and expertise of its suppliers

A four-point strategy also emphasises Auchan’s focus on environment.

The business has pumped significant resource into the decarbonisation of its value chain, with a focus on building an offer that is as free from carbon as possible.

Refrigeration across the estate is being gradually replaced to remove the use of harmful gases. It is also more closely measuring and steering away from greenhouse gas emissions, and its focus on more local sourcing is helping to reduce its carbon footprint.

Biodiversity also fits within this focus. It is making bigger moves to challenge suppliers to source with biodiversity and sustainability in mind, with a particular focus on forest, marine and soil ecosystems.

Territories Auchan Retail operates
France
Spain
Portugal
Italy
Poland
Hungary
Romania
Russia
Ukraine
Senegal
Tunisia
Africa

Auchan has also renewed its emphasis on eliminating food waste from its supply chains, while also helping customers to do the same.

This is done through supporting foodbanks, but employees within the business are also empowered to “exercise their creative skills” to repurpose foods that are still safe to eat and offer them in “new forms”.

Auchan Retail’s digital revolutionReducing plastic pollution is the final of the four focuses for Auchan Retail’s environmental ambitions. It is keen to shift the linear model of ‘extract, manufacture and throw out’ when it comes to plastics.

The business understands the need for plastics within the supply chain, but is leaning further into the drivers of the wound down 2020 European Plastics Pact to help make a dent in the 311m tonnes of global plastic pollution.

Now the business works with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation network to work towards offering 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging for its products.

Additionally, Auchan Retail is increasing its focus on digital and omnichannel retailing.

The business currently majors in bricks-and-mortar, with a portfolio of large hypermarkets, big supermarkets and smaller ‘ultra’ convenience stores.

Its digital and omnichannel approach currently extends to grocery delivery or click & collect. However, ongoing work is bolstering the business’s ‘personalised’ shopping experiences, while it is also developing its use of data to better serve customers’ needs.

Key takeaways for manufacturers:Local and sustainable – Auchan Retail is further focusing on products and produce with lower carbon footprints Packaging – suppliers and brands that can provide products with packaging that is recyclable, compostable or reusable will winDigital – as Auchan develops its use of data, brands and manufacturers with products that consumers can relate to, trust or aspire to will resonate