Romanian retail chain Profi and the local subsidiary of French group Auchan announced a partnership for negotiations, with the declared purpose of improving the bargaining power of the two networks "to the advantage of end consumers."

The companies claim that the project "was designed based on similar partnerships in more mature retail markets and complies with legal requirements to protect competition" and explained that the ultimate goal of the arrangement is to get better prices for customers.

"In order to obtain more favourable conditions [prices] for our customers, we consider it appropriate to use our cumulative volumes in negotiations with suppliers with very high turnovers. It is a normal development for two retailers to combine their purchasing volumes to create forms of alliances that allow them to compete even more effectively with the large food retail chains and ensure better prices for customers, especially in this inflationary conjuncture," said Gaëtan Pacton, Profi's general manager. 

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Profi)