"Mercadona is more than a challenge," admits Lidl Portugal

SErgio Ramos was entrusted to reporters in Lisbon during a press conference during which the consulting firm KPMG presented a study of the socio-economic impact of the supermarket chain Lidl on the Portuguese market.

"Mercadona is more of a challenge than we will have been, but the expectations are good," said the director, who pointed out that the retail sector in Portugal "is very competitive", but that the company is already used.

"Entering a competitor will not change our strategy," he said, noting that this "has already been defined for many years."

"We like to work with challenges," said the finance manager of Lidl Portugal, which entered the Portuguese market in 1995.

On the chain's business until June, Sérgio Ramos said "this is fine, according to the plan" and even "better than last year", which means that Lidl Portugal is "growing".

Regarding the second half, he said that "the expectations are good" despite the entry of Mercadona in early July.

He admitted that the supermarket chain could open new stores, but has not advanced the number, suggesting that the strategy would go through the redevelopment of existing stores.

"The country is covered in terms of capillarity, we are going to have new stores, but the goal is also the modernization of the stores," he added.

Sérgio Ramos has also not advanced any figures on brand investment in Portugal for this year.

According to the study presented today, between 2014 and 2018, Lidl generated more than 9,000 million euros of wealth in Portugal, thus contributing to the direct, indirect and induced creation of over 46 000 jobs.

Last year, the company contribution amounted to 2,120 million euros, which represents 1% of Portuguese gross domestic product (GDP).