Among the big five European markets, two distinct patterns stand out:
🔹 Southern Europe: highly fragmented, with a mix of strong national champions and numerous regional players.
🔹 Northern Europe: a stark contrast, where the top 5 retailers control ~80% of FMCG sales.
The 10 FMCG Retailers that expanded their customer base the most in Europe
In the top 5 European markets, only 10 brick-and-mortar retailers selling FMCG managed to gain more than 1pt of penetration in 2024, meaning they got at least 1% more shoppers than in 2023.
But here’s what’s even more interesting:
Most of these retailers fall into two key categories:
Retailers that acquired competitor stores, largely driven by the recent ownership changes of Casino, Cora, and Match stores, which explains why so many French banners appear in the ranking.
Discount food and variety retail chains still have massive room for growth.
Take variety discounter Action in France as an example: this discounter attracted 3% of new French shoppers who hadn’t visited the banner a year ago.
Despite slowing inflation, this ranking highlights one key trend: European consumers are still prioritizing budget control more than ever.
Market research institute NielsenIQ consumer panels show, that the food retail landscape in EU5 remains largely stable, with Mercadona as the undisputed leader. Not only does it hold the #1 spot, but it has also continued to increase its penetration vs. 2023, a remarkable achievement in such a competitive market.
Mercadona as the undisputed leader. Not only does it hold the first spot, but it has also continued to increase its penetration vs. 2023, a remarkable achievement in such a competitive market.
Further three key trends emerge among the top European retailers:
again Discounters are gaining ground, 7 out of the top 20 are discount retailer.
The winning combination: multi-format presence & strong ecommerce – The retailers with the largest customer reach are often those excelling in both physical and digital channels. Their success comes from combining various store formats (convenience, supermarkets, hypermarkets) and can be reinforced with a strong online presence —like E.Leclerc or Tesco
Retail consolidation is accelerating 20 retailers in EU5 now attract over 60% of households in their country, reflecting the growing concentration of brick-and-mortar retail, a direct consequence of flat or declining FMCG volumes and the continued shift to online. That's particularly visible in France, Germany & the UK, whereas Italy remains quite fragmented
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