trust

A magnetic looking blue ice cream that tastes like marshmallows? Sweet! But containing no artificial colourings or flavour enhancers? This children’s favourite dessert is just an example of the major change we introduced to all our Pingo Doce Private Brand assortment. If you are wondering how we did it, know that the blue colour actually comes from spirulina, a superfood algae.

Trust our food

Product reformulation achieved by Pingo Doce – along with all our Companies – is a complex and demanding process, unprecedented in the Portuguese market, and done product by product. The main challenge is to identify and incorporate natural ingredients that can fully replace the missing element, without compromising on taste and texture.

Only such rigour could ensure that the product’s sensory results would be among the best in class. In 2023, more than 1,300 Pingo Doce Private Brand food products had no flavour enhancers or artificial colourings in their formulas.

In Poland, 98% of Biedronka’s Private Brand products were free of artificial colourings and 97% free of flavour enhancers in 2023. And there are no artificial colourings or flavour enhancers in specialised perishables from the bakery and pastry, meat, fish and fruit and vegetables categories, including packaged and prepared products. In Colombia, Ara achieved a ratio of 95% of products free of artificial colourings and 96% without flavour enhancers.

These achievements help us fulfil one of our main goals: to promote health through food, while ensuring customers trust our food even more – we are always improving the nutritional formulas of our ranges so that we can offer food that is as natural and healthy as possible.

Here are some other examples: the Go Active brand, available in Poland and in Portugal, offers several choices for people looking for food that fits an active lifestyle. And what about organic, vegetarian, vegan, lactose-free or gluten-free options? The choice is increasingly wider.

Trust our prices

In 2023, as the retail markets in Poland and Colombia retracted, our banners have managed to increase sales and gain market share by providing the best value for money proposition.

We introduced tools that allowed us to get closer to our customers and adapt promotions to their expectations. Taking advantage of the growing appetite for gamification and the use of loyalty apps, Biedronka launched Shakeomat and Pingo Doce launched Poupa Shaker, two relevant drivers of commercial dynamic that aim at addressing the needs and preferences of each customer, based on their shopping habits. One shake a day gives customers a new – and different – promotion straight away.

Trust our banners

Proximity to our customers is a defining feature of our business. In addition to our pricing strategy, we are committed to ensuring a shopping experience that differentiates us and keeps customers coming back to our stores.

On top of the refurbishment strategy in place, Biedronka has been continuously investing in adding meat and delicatessen counters to its stores. By the end of 2023, more than a thousand stores had already this differentiating service.

In Portugal, Pingo Doce accelerated the modernisation of its store network to capitalise on its strengths. By the end of the year, there were 190 Comida Fresca restaurants – challenging the leadership for the largest restaurant operator in the country – and the two central kitchens were certified for environmental management.

Recheio invested 35 million euros on the refurbishment of its stores in Viseu and Portimão, while strengthening its distribution infrastructure, and significantly expanding the operations area of the Recheio Masterchef platform in Lisbon.

In Colombia, Ara celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023. From the first stores and distribution centre opened in 2013 to a network of nearly 1,300 stores, our commitment to the country and the Colombian consumers is more than clear: we have invested 1,000 million euros in this first decade.