Mercadona Internationalises (finally!)

Mercadona is one of Valencia’s most successful and well-known companies. From humble beginnings in the village of Tavernes Blanques, just north of the city of Valencia, the Company has become Spain’s premier supermarket chain.

Nobody would ever accuse owner Juan Roig of recklessness, at least not to his face, and so when it comes to taking the plunge and internationalising the brand, the organisation is being careful and starting with a modest incursion into neighbouring Portugal.

In 2019 the chain, along with its familiar slogan ‘Always Cheap Prices’ and its own brands such as Hacendado, set up shop in the Portuguese town of Canidelo (Vila Nova de Gaia) and plans to continue in Gondomar, Matosinhos and with two more in Vila Nova de Gaia, all of which are located around Porto. The Company is also creating a logistics centre at Póvoa de Varzim, also near Porto.

Mercadona now has 81,000 employees and 1,614 as well as providing work for numerous suppliers. Always keeping ahead of the times, Mercadona was the first Spanish company to use barcodes in its stores. The company offers permanent training to its employees, who are paid above the average wages for the sector and the company has the quaint habit of referring to its customers as ‘the boss’.

The company was founded in 1977 by Francisco Roig Ballester and his wife, Trinidad Alfonso Mocholi. It started as a small butcher’s shop and in 1981, together with his siblings Fernando, Trinidad and Amparo, Juan Roig, the current CEO and majority shareholder, and his wife bought Mercadona.

Rumours that the company is planning the launching of a subsidiary company called Mercahome have been discretely denied by a company spokesperson.