Lidl, a leader in Romania, while Kaufland strengthens challenger position

The German group Schwarz, present in Romania by means of Lidl and Kaufland companies, continues to lead. According to the latest result report, the food retail market is leading at local level by means f discounter and hipermarket stores, according to a Profit.ro analysis.   With businesses of 24 billion lei for 2024, on the rise by 10% against the previous year, the German discounter Lidl remains a leader of the local retail market for the 4th year in a row.   In the 15 years of existence in Romania, Lidl expanded to 365 stores until the end of 2024. The company continued with the extension process in 2025, planning to inaugurate 25 stores.   After an increase by 6% of the business figure in 2024, to 19.6 billion lei, Kaufland Romania – part of Schwarz group- is consilidating its challenger position in the food retail market. Although it is still at a considerable distance to the market leader, Kaufland ranks second in the top of the biggest players of the local food retail, being the only competitor able to get closer to Lidl performances. Kaufland opened the first store in the local market in 2005, in Bucharest. Since then it has continued to grow , with an average of 10-15 stores per year.   A t the end of 2024, Kaufland operated 187 hypermarkets in Romania and had in plan to continue expansion. Today, Kaufland has 181 stores at national level, being the largest network of hypermarkets in the country.   Now, the net proft of Kaufland exceeds 1 billion lei, after having a 33% advance in 2024, compared to about 865 million lei in 2023. Kaufland's net profit recovered after three years of drops. Kaufland is one of the largest retail companies in Europe, with over 1,550 stores in 8 countries, over 155,000 employees and a network of 191 stores in Romania.   Differences between the two formats – discounter in the case of Lidl and hypermarket in that of Kaufland – create distinct growth dynamics, but also consolidates the position of Schwarz group as retail food leader. By entering the market and the expansion model redefined the modern retail in Romania by two players of the same German group, Schwarz, but with different approaches: Lidl is the promoter of the discount model, while Kaufland is the adept of the hypermarket model, according to Termene.ro.