Tesco and Carrefour today said they had decided not to extend their purchasing alliance beyond the end of this year.
The two supermarkets set up a three-year strategic alliance to buy together in 2018 and today said it would come to an end on December 31 2021, as originally agreed – rather than being extended.
In a statement, Tesco says: “Over the last three years, Tesco and Carrefour have benefited from a number of joint buying opportunities across food and general merchandising categories, enabling access to new suppliers, new sources and new products. Moving forward, both companies have agreed they will continue this work independently and focus on their own opportunities, building on the experience and progress made during the alliance period.”
The alliance was initially planned to cover the companies’ relationship with global suppliers, including buying own brand products and goods that are not for resale. Each also worked with supplier partners locally.
At the time, the then Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis said: By working together and making the most of our collective product experience and sourcing capability, we will be able to serve our customers even better, further improving choice, quality and value.”
But last year it was reported that the French competition authorities had imposed strict conditions on the buying alliance that meant fruit and vegetables could not be bought together along with goods where Carrefour has a market share of more than 15%.
Tesco is an Elite retailer in RXUK Top500 research.
