Conad is investing 2.5 billion: focus on health, pet shops and restaurants

Conad is setting out a new growth strategy. Having closed 2025 with a turnover of €21.72 billion – up 3.83 per cent – and net assets of just under €4 billion, the group has drawn up a three-year investment plan worth €2.5 billion, which it will present to the financial community this morning. These resources are earmarked for new store openings, the modernisation of retail outlets, logistics, digital initiatives and, above all, diversification. The aim is twofold: to strengthen Conad’s leadership in areas where it is already strong and to accelerate growth where margins are higher. “In 2025, we have demonstrated that growth in a complex environment is possible, provided we have a clear vision of where we want to go,” explains Francesco Avanzini, Conad’s managing director. The figures provide a solid foundation: a market share of 14.86 per cent, over 75,000 employees and a network of more than 3,700 outlets, 125 of which opened last year. The first half of 2026 confirms a trajectory of moderate growth in the core business, with volumes holding steady and turnover rising slightly. “We are in a new normal,” says Avanzini, with consumption “fairly static” and growth estimates of around 4 per cent per annum for the next three years, “which should take us to a turnover of 28 billion in 2028, net of any acquisitions.”

The double-digit growth figures of twenty years ago are now a thing of the past. That is why, for Conad too, the game is no longer played solely on the traditional grocery shopping trolley. The plan does indeed include new store openings, particularly in the north of the country, with the aim of expanding into areas where the group has historically had a limited presence; but it is a fact that demographic trends are reshaping the consumption landscape: smaller households, more single-person households, and an ageing population.

“The pie is still 100, but the slices are being redistributed,” Avanzini sums up. That is why the company is also looking elsewhere. The growing focus on health, pet care and out-of-home consumption is opening up markets that were previously marginal for large-scale retail. “Parapharmacies, pet shops, catering, petrol stations and digital services” are the areas seeing the greatest expansion, confirms the managing director. Today, these markets are worth a total of around one billion for Conad: still a small figure compared to the total of 21.7 billion, but with growth rates far more dynamic than those of traditional consumer goods. The specialised network is already a visible part of the strategy: pet shops now number around 200 outlets; there are a further 200 parapharmacies; and around 60 petrol stations. “Health, wellbeing and pets: these are needs that our customers are asking us to address,” observes Avanzini. It is a diversification that does not replace the core business, but complements it.

The plan also devotes considerable space to digital initiatives. Online grocery shopping in Italia remains at around 5 per cent, and does not seem set to change much from there, but for Conad, ‘digital’ is not limited to e-commerce alone. ‘We want to offer a range of digital shopping options, from physical products to services and experiences, so that customers feel increasingly connected to us.’ And so there is scope for services, ranging from travel agencies to the sale of insurance products. The other key driver is the private label, which has now become a core business pillar. For Conad, this accounts for 33.8 per cent of sales and is worth 6.5 billion, up 5.7 per cent. Avanzini shows no intention of backing down in the face of criticism from branded manufacturers, who see private labels as encroaching on their territory. He responds with the figures: ‘Behind private-label products lies a highly virtuous economic system.’ According to the analyses cited by the group, Conad contributes 17.8 billion to Italia’s GDP; hundreds of suppliers, largely Italian SMEs with medium- to long-term business plans, work on the private-label range.

“It is not a model that runs counter to the world of industry, but a system that certifies the value of the retailer’s brand,” says Avanzini. The issue will remain a hot topic, not least because private labels are shifting the balance between manufacturers and retailers. But Conad is taking a European perspective on the matter: in Italia, private labels still lag behind countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Germany, where in many cases they account for over 50 per cent of the market. Private labels are, moreover, evolving in Italy. Originally created for specific pricing strategies, they have now expanded to include premium, organic, health-focused, regional and ‘free-from’ ranges that are outperforming the basic ranges – a sign that the challenge has truly shifted to the ability to understand consumer trends.