They were expanding relentlessly last year too

How many more large floor space stores can the Hungarian market provide for? I have been asked this question several times recently by the heads of FMCG companies. My answer was that the concentration process of food retail was not over yet. Last year Aldi was expanding most rapidly at a 25-percent rate; the number of Tesco supermarkets grew by 21 percent and that of Tesco hypermarkets rose by 14 percent from 2009. Lidl and Penny Market also kept growing, by 11 and 5 percent, respectively. Another important trend was multi-channel operation, just think of the expansion of Tesco supermarkets and Tesco Express stores. In Hungary slightly less than half of general food stores belong to any of the chains and 80 percent of independent stores have a floor space smaller than 50 m². Weak players will be forced to leave the market because of changing consumption habits and shopper expectations.