PROFILE B Y E L E N A S U L L I VA N
JUMBO SUPERMARKTEN Building on Innovation and Sustainability Jumbo Supermarkten, founded in 1979, with headquarters in Veghel, Netherlands, is part of the privately-owned Van Eerd Group which was established in 1921. The second largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, Jumbo entered the Belgium market in 2019. Jumbo has grown over the past few years, with the acquisition of several Dutch brands such as La Place, C1000 and Emté. The company now operates over 680 locations with more than 85,000 employees. The supermarket chain also has 444 pick-up points for online orders and 522 home delivery service locations. Jumbo’s sales have also grown, according to Statista.com, Jumbo’s turnover almost doubled from 2012 to 2020, increasing to about 9.6 billion euros by 2020. The retailer’s market share also grew and reported 21 percent of the market share in 2019. Jumbo boasts a robust private label range under the ‘Jumbo’ name, which was introduced in 2008. With over 9,000 private label SKUs, the line includes groceries, desserts, and wines, just to name a few. The company places confidence in its consumers’ opinions which led it to set up a test lab to enable consumers to taste new products and provide feedback.
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GLOBAL RETAIL BRANDS / MAY 2021
Continuous innovation is also important to the retailer and in 2017, looking to create innovative products, Jumbo set up the Jumbo Innovation Lab to develop new and healthy food items in collaboration with suppliers and product developers. According to the company, this collaboration resulted in products including different flavoured single-serve oatmeal, kale burgers, and pumpkin balls to name a few. The retailer continues to roll out on-trend private labels, including in recent years, additional SKUs to its Vegetarian line, Veggie Chef and a range of Asian inspired meals As well as most recently, a new premium line called Jumbo Gourmets, which includes high quality fresh meats and fish. Additionally, in mid-2020, Jumbo announced several private label initiatives to grow its already strong and varied portfolio. In recent years health and wellness have become increasingly popular to consumers and Jumbo has leaned into this trend with its private label offerings. The retailer has been focusing on new healthier products and revamping its existing products to remove unhealthy ingredients. For example, Jumbo recently rolled out a successor to the Veggie Chef line, called Lekker Veggie, which included 42 different products including a plant-based schnitzel and falafel and a “first-to-market” plant-based stew. Continuing with the health trend, Jumbo has been reducing sugar and salt from many of its existing products. According to the retailer, it expects to reduce sugar by 4,000kg and salt by 3,000kg annually.
