Plusfresc faces the new academic year with a plan to continue growing in Catalonia, especially in Lleida, where it was founded and has consolidated its market leadership with a 21.6% share. The supermarket chain specializing in fresh products has a total of 85 establishments, of which more than 75% are located in its home province.
Despite this leadership, the family business also wants to continue strengthening itself in the rest of the territory, with a focus on Barcelona city, where it has 6 stores, employing some 130 workers. This figure will grow to 9 points of sale in the next three years, with the forecast of opening one new one per year, according to its general director, Francisco González. It is expected that they will concentrate in the neighborhoods where Plusfresc is already present in the Catalan capital, basically, in the upper area.
The expansion plan of the Lleida chain for the next three years will be financed with its own resources and will have a total budget of 15 million euros. The bulk will be absorbed by new openings, which will also be made on the Tarragona coast. The company will allocate between 10.5 and 12 million euros to the new premises, which will mean the hiring of 180 workers. The rest of the investment will be used to renovate current establishments.
One of the Plusfresc supermarkets that has already been renovated is the one at Via Augusta 188, the first one the chain had in Barcelona, inaugurated in 2014. The investment undertaken has been equated to the cost of an opening. With an area of 1,200 square meters, the premises have been reformulated, concentrating fresh products on the upper floor, and new services have been added, such as the possibility of making purchases by scanning product barcodes with a mobile phone, a process known as Scan & Go. For now, this service costs 1.5 euros, which is returned with a discount voucher.
The Via Augusta store has also incorporated an oven in the fishmonger that allows customers to take fish and seafood ready for consumption ---for the same price---; a space with bulk products, such as nuts, cereals, rice, and legumes; a creamery with more than 300 cheese references, or a wine cellar that has a specialized advisor. All these innovations have been previously tested in the Sunka store that Plusfresc has in Lleida, where the chain tests new ways of presenting products and shopping.
Plusfresc recorded a turnover, excluding VAT, of 184.5 million euros in 2021. For this year, it foresees moderate growth, taking into account the inflationary crisis. The chain rejects proposals such as a basic food basket for 30 euros.