Leading food and beverage retailers of Europe 2021, based on revenue

In 2021, the German based Schwarz Group was the leading food and beverage retailer from Europe and generated approximately 153.75 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. The second largest retailer was also Germany-based. Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Ko. oHG ranked second with about 121 billion dollars in revenue. It is important to note that numbers for Carrefour S.A. was not included in the ranking on the request of the company.

The German discounters

Aldi and Lidl are currently the most important players on the European market. The Schwarz Gruppe operates the discounter Lidl and the retailer Kaufland. However, on the German market the discounter is by far the more important part of the company’s portfolio. Lidl also made a notable entry on the market in the United Kingdom. While Schwarz and Aldi may be the biggest retail companies in Europe, at home in Germany, they only rank 3rd and 4th respectively.

The UK market

The U.K. market leader Tesco generated 81.35 billion British pounds in revenue overall in 2019. At home in the UK the company generated some 52.9 billion British pounds in the 2019/2020 financial year. However, the company witnessed a decline of its market share for multiple years in a row, while the share of the German discounters grew. Lidl and Aldi have seen a sizable sales growth in the same period. In Aldi’s case, the German discounter has often seen sales growth into the double digits.