Albert Heijn

Parent Company: Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V.

Brand Value: US$ 965 Mil.

Headquarter City: Zaandam

Category: Retail

Year formed: 1887

Albert Heijn Sr. founded his eponymous grocery in 1887 in a tiny storefront; nowadays, Albert Heijn is the largest food retailer in the Netherlands, with around 890 stores (including 80 to-go stores) and a market share of around 35 percent. Albert Heijn is known for its focus on gourmet products and innovation, which allows Albert Heijn to charge more premium prices than its competition. The chain has long driven food and service trends, and has popularized products such as wine and refrigerators. Albert Heijn was also the first Dutch supermarket to offer online grocery shopping – which proved major strength when COVID-19 increased the relevance of this offering dramatically. Albert Heijn also mastered “branded content” before that was a term of art; the chain’s food magazine, Allerhande, is the Netherlands’ best-read magazine. With the arrival of AH’s new CEO Marit van Egmond, Albert Heijn has also strengthened its position on
“fresh” with a greater emphasis on fruits and vegetables; this has included a recently opened training center where employees are trained to become “Masters in fresh.” Albert Heijn has also started experimenting with “naked” fruit and vegetables to reduce plastic waste, and has instituted “dynamic digital discount price tags” to reduce wastage: the closer a product is to its expiry date, the higher the discount. This all resonates well with their corporate purpose to “Eat well. Save time. Live better.” Shares of parent company Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. are primarily traded on Euronext Amsterdam.

Responsibility index: 133