Coop is prepared for new challenges

CO-OP Hungary CEO László Murányi summarises the state of play at Coop: ‘Despite economic recession Coop managed to hold on to its market position. In 2010 Coop Group celebrated the 15th anniversary of establishing the retail chain and the 5th birthday of the ‘Coop Rally for quality food products from Hungary.’ Coop Group has nearly 700 franchise partners and in 2010 Coop Group’s turnover was HUF 510 billion, employing 32,000 people. The group’s wholesale system supplies nearly 5,000 stores, from which 3,000 are part of the Coop chain. Four million consumers go shopping to Coop stores every week. Coop Group signed contracts with 350 suppliers and sells about 6,500 items, from which 90 percent are food products. Private labels represent 25-30 percent of sales, import products are around 10-15 percent. In the autumn of 2010 we started refurbishing Coop stores and establishing new store categories with a budget of HUF 3 billion. About 3,000 stores will be modernised by 31 December 2012. The new store categories will be Coop super, Coop abc and Coop mini. In Coop super stores the usage of the group’s integrated IT system is obligatory, just like the acceptance of loyalty cards and creating an exhibition bakery. Our plan is to have 1 million registered Coop loyalty card holders by the end of 2012. Coop Group is a gold level sponsor of Hungarian Olympic sports. In 2010 we earmarked significant sums to support the victims of flood and red sludge.