Mercadona is the name of a Spanish chain of family-owned supermarkets that in 2009 made it onto Forbes’ list of the world’s most reputable companies. Forgoing excessive, glossy packaging and offering permanent contracts to all of its staff, Mercadona has led the way in Spanish retail innovation, now with over 1,600 stores and 85,000 employees. Despite relying mostly on word of mouth – it rarely advertises, preferring to spend the money on developing sustainability measures – by 2013, it had captured 13.5 per cent of the Spanish retail food market, always while trying to put social causes at the heart of its ethos. In 1982, it was the first Spanish company to start using barcodes in its stores. In 1986, it introduced a Mercadona credit card and has led the way in automated distribution as it has grown, sometimes via large acquisitions. Beginning life as a butcher’s shop in a village outside Valencia, it was first established by Francisco Roig and his wife Trinidad in 1977. In 1981, their son Juan, together with three of his siblings, bought his parents’ share in the business, which at that stage was approximately 2400 sq. m of retail space. Since then, with Juan as Chairman and CEO, the Mercadona brand has undergone a revolution, emerging almost forty years later with around €22 billion in annual turnover.
- Family name: Roig family
- Sector: Consumer Products & Retail
- Founded: 1977
- Founder: Francisco Roig and his wife Trinidad
- Country: Spain
- Company headquarters: Spain
- Revenue: 20.7
- Employees: 75,000
- Website: mercadona.es
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