business

It doesn’t cure anything and your business is diluted in Spain

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The homeopathy has received a hard blow today from the Spanish health authorities, and more specifically the AEMPS itself, by pointing out in a devastating report that homeopathy has no effectiveness proven when it comes to treating different ailments, despite the fact that they promise something completely different. Something that can mean a great fall for a business that has invoiced millions of euros and all thanks to the scientific evidence that is increasingly clear regarding the null effects that these ‘treatments’ have. A lot of weight behind. The history of homeopathy in Spain has been written for years based on regulatory purges, but the latest Health analysis leaves no room for doubt. Based on 64 systematic reviews From scientific studies published since 2009, the national body has ruled that these products They provide no real benefitdifferent diseases such as, for example, depression, autoimmune diseases or even dermatological diseases. And as we see, it is not something new, since the scientific community has been warning for years that the supposed improvements reported by some patients with homeopathy are explained by three factors: the placebo effect, the evolution of the disease itself and the unreliability of the studies on which its operation was based. A tug of war. In fact, science tells us that, when clinical trials are carried out with great rigor and with the appropriate research methods, the difference between administering a homeopathic product and a simple sugar cube is statistically null. But the mental effect of taking a pill that promises an almost miraculous effect when it comes to curing an illness plays an important role in making us think that it really improves us. The real danger. A priori, taking a homeopathic product does not have too many dangers for the patient, since they do almost nothing in the body. But the problem is that the use of homeopathy encourages the abandonment or delay of medical treatments with proven evidence, such as, for example, an antidepressant in major depression. Failure to follow the most appropriate treatment has fatal consequences, especially if we are talking about serious diseases where time is a super important factor. Furthermore, the AEMPS and various medical reviews have documented very serious adverse effects due to this lack of real medical care, such as abortions or deaths. Although the most serious may be in the field of oncology, where the use of these alternative therapies such as seawater has been shown to directly increase the risk of mortality as patients reject conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. A free fall. Today, this market moves around 30 million euros annually in our country, representing 0.5% of total pharmaceutical sales. Here the great giant of the sector is Boiron, which controls 90% of the market and is seeing its empire falter, since, although its products are still present in thousands of pharmacies, sales they haven’t stopped fallinggoing from billing 20.6 million euros in 2016 to only 14.6 million in 2024. Recalls from the market. The purge in pharmacies has been relentless, since following EU directives that require efficiency tests to authorize medications, the AEMPS has already withdrawn 66 injectable products in 2019 and another 314 in 2024. But as of today the Ministry of Health has recalled more than 1,000 homeopathic products. The 976 that have managed to survive and remain registered have done so under a “simplified registry.” This is an ‘escape system’ in the law, since here they are considered harmless products, but they are strictly prohibited from including any therapeutic indication or promise of cure on their packaging. In this way, no homeopathic product can have the promise of curing a disease in Spain. In Xataka | Millions of Spaniards consume benzodiazepines to sleep at night. They don’t know it’s poisoned candy

that your “Ibiza” is not only for vacations, but for business

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In the 1980s, a small fishing village in southern China called Shenzhen was chosen for an economic experiment that, in just three decades, transformed into a megacity of more than ten million inhabitants and in one of the largest technological centers on the planet. The bet, which at the time seemed risky and almost improvised, would end up redefining the way in which China uses its territory to test ideas that then scale to the rest of the country. An experiment that the logic of the 80s. The truth is that China has been using special economic zones as opening laboratories for decades, but what is happening now in Hainan supposes a leap of scale difficult to compare (and imagine) with any previous attempt. The reason? Unlike those industrial enclaves of the late 20th century, the current project is not limited to a city or an industrial estate, but encompasses an entire island converted on economic platform. The decision to separate its customs regime from the rest of the country marks a turning point, because it transforms Hainan into a different door access to the Chinese market. It is, in essence, the reactivation of the model that drove China’s growth in the 80s, but taken to a much more ambitious hyperbolic dimension and with a global objective. From tourist destination to global economic node. They told in an extensive report in the Financial Times part of its history. For years, Hainan was known primarily as a tropical destination within China, linked more to domestic tourism than to the country’s grand economic strategy. That role has been changing rapidly with a combination of tax incentives, selective deregulation and facilities for foreign investment that seek to attract companies from all over the world. The elimination of tariffs on most products and the possibility of re-exporting goods to the rest of China without taxes after adding local value are tools designed to stimulate the industry. At the same time, the island is positioned as a more flexible environment than the rest of the country, even allowing more open access to the internet in specific areas, which reinforces its attractiveness for technological and financial sectors. Satellite view of the island The great planetary bet. The core of the project is clear and not hidden: turning Hainan into the largest free trade port of the world, an objective that redefines its role within the Chinese and global economy. There is no doubt, to achieve this, Beijing has introduced some of the policies most advanced in the country in terms of openness, including reduced tax rates and fewer restrictions on foreign investment in the equation. In this way, the project not only seeks to attract capital, but also reorganize supply chainsfacilitating a model in which production, transformation and export are concentrated on the island. This strategy aims to position Hainan as a key node between China and Southeast Asiafunctioning as a platform for the entry and exit of goods in a more competitive environment. Between rivalry and alliance with Hong Kong. Impossible to ignore it. Hainan’s transformation does not occur in a vacuum, but in direct relationship with other major economic centers in the region, especially Hong Kong. The curious thing here is that, far from considering itself solely as a competitor, the official discourse is committed to a hybrid relationship in which both economies complement each other. In this way, Hainan aims to take advantage of the experience of Hong Kong in finance, talent and legal services, while offering space to industrialize projects and expand production chains. In that sense, recalled the Times that the proposed model (orders in Hong Kong, production in Hainan and global sales) reflects an integration strategy that, at the same time, introduces direct competition in key areas such as taxation or investment attraction. Doubts, limits and the great unknown. Despite the ambition of the project, not all analysts are convinced of its long-term viability. The island location, the distance from the Chinese industrial core and the infrastructure limitations pose significant challenges to attract capital-intensive industries. Furthermore, the current international context, with a lower foreign interest in investing in China, adds uncertainty about its real capacity to become a great global magnet. However, even with these doubts, the movement reveals a clear intention: while the international focus is distributed in other scenarios, China is activating one of its more ambitious experiments in decades, nothing less than trying to turn a tropical island into a centerpiece of its global economic strategy. Image | 江上清风1961, NASA In Xataka | Hainan, the Benidorm of China with touches of science fiction In Xataka | While the world looked at Iran, China has seized an island in the Pacific without a single shot. And now he is militarizing it

Amazon Web Services is such a profitable business that its CEO is already thinking about something more ambitious: competing with NVIDIA

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Andy Jassy is the CEO of Amazon and an advocate of artificial intelligence to the point that he expects AI to transform the company’s workforce in the coming years. It makes sense that he is the captain of a liner that has turned to the AI ​​business, since before succeeding Bezos, he came from leading Amazon Web Services. And in his last letter annual to shareholders, Jassy leaves several notes that give us clues about the future of the company. It plans to compete against NVIDIA and SpaceX. And they have 200 billion dollars to invest. The photo. The company is going like a rocket. amazon hill 2025 at 717,000 million dollars, exceeding by 12% the 638,000 million of the previous year. Operating income increased by 17% to 80,000 million and, for its part, AWS cloud business it also worked well, achieving 24% year-on-year in the last quarter. They have done so, according to Jassy, ​​without being able to meet the demands of some clients due to the current situation of the data centers, but even so, they are more than happy. Burning pasta. And those good vibes are going to reach Amazon to invest some 200,000 million dollars in the coming months. The CEO has commented that “they are not going to invest that amount in 2026 following a hunch,” also pointing out that they are not going to be conservative in their bets and that what they are looking for is to lead the artificial intelligence business. HE wait that 50,000 of those millions will end up in the pockets of an OpenAI that will need a boost after the NVIDIA “sit-in”he Sora’s closure and Disney’s withdrawal of investment. Those 200 billion will be concentrated on AI infrastructure, a bet on the future that can add pressure to margins in the short term, but from which they expect a lot.or when the business starts operating. For its part, OpenAI is going to invest 100 billion in AWS over the next eight years. The chickens that enter by those that leave, like almost everything in this AI market. business engine. What business? Well… the one with the chips. Amazon is one of the companies (like Goal, tesla or one’s own OpenAI) that buys from NVIDIA, but that also you are developing your own solution. There are three proper names: Graviton, Trainium and Nitro, training and inference chips (depending on the case) whose business is growing at triple digits year-on-year. Specifically Trainium, which is the chip used to train some of the company’s models, can “save tens of billions of dollars a year.” But it’s not just about saving money by having the chip made at home and do not depend on NVIDIA prices and market competition: it is about not depend on NVIDIA itself at all. The NVIDIA Garden. We have already explained on more than one occasion how NVIDIA is the engine of the artificial intelligence business. Not only do they have the hardware that powers the data centers of the main AI players, but they have the money to invest in both established companies and, above all, in the startups that can define the future of the sector. And Jassy aims, directly, to become a hardware rival, one that competes with NVIDIA, AMD and even with the reborn Intel. According to the CEO, if Amazon were to sell its chip on the open market, it could represent a market of about $50 billion annually, more than double its current chip market. It would still be well below some of its rivals, but it could sell its hardware in conjunction with its AWS software. It would be by selling that “complete AI package” where Amazon would be strong against its rivals. Amazon’s Starlink. Wanting to step on the hose of the strong hardware trio is not the only field in which Jassy wants to play. We already know that Bezos, founder of Amazon, has its space businessbut in parallel, the own Amazon is deploying its Kuiper project. It is its own constellation of satellites in low orbit for broadband Internet that aims to be direct competition to SpaceX and Elon Musk’s Starlink. The deployment began in 2025 with a modest 27 satellites, but this 2026 They want to launch another 3,200. In the end, as all mega-companies want, Amazon seeks to be ubiquitous and permeate absolutely every millimeter of the business. Now, although its capacity in AWS is indisputable, competing against NVIDIA is a big deal. Jensen Huang’s company is TSMC’s first customer -the great global factory-, has deployed very aggressively and intelligently in the AI ​​segment, creating a network that is difficult to replicate and, in addition, has ensured itself to be the main customer of Samsung and SK Hynixthe companies leading high bandwidth memory without which AI cannot take off. Image | Amazon (edited) In Xataka | If you think the internet was much better before AI, congratulations: they have created an extension for you

Prepared food already represents a business of 3,000 million for Mercadona. And that is a problem for McDonald’s and Burger King

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The proverb says that a picture is worth a thousand words. The success of the so-called ‘merchants’ Supermarkets that are hybridizing to become places where you can buy and consume already cooked dishes are not only measured in images and words. It can also be followed with something much more forceful: figures. One of the most resounding he just left her Mercadona. Throughout 2025, the Valencian chain had a turnover of around 700 million euros in Spain through its section ‘Ready to eat’. If we expand the focus to include its pre-cooked offering (refrigerated, trays…) the joint business volume in Spain and Portugal amounts to 3,000 million euros. What has happened? We have just obtained data that helps us better understand how the ‘Ready to Eat’ section is working for Mercadona. According to the information advanced by Food RetailIn 2025, the Valencian chain invoiced 700 million euros in Spain through this channel. Perhaps it seems like a discreet figure when compared to its global sales, which were close to 39.8 billion in Spain, but it is interesting for two big reasons. First, because the ‘Ready to Eat’ section is young. It was not launched until 2018. Since then Mercadona has been expanding it throughout its network (in 2025 it reached 210 new supermarkets) until it was present, at the end of last year, in 1,469 points of sale from Spain and Portugal. The second reason is that in reality ‘Ready to eat’ is only one of the multiple channels that allow Mercadona to capitalize on the growing demand for already cooked food. If the entire business and its turnover in Spain and Portugal are taken into account, the level of income is much higher. How much do you earn then? In total, if we count both the business generated by the ‘Ready to eat’ section and the sale of pre-cooked food (creams, packaged chicken or refrigerated pizza, for example), Mercadona entered around 3 billion of euros in Spain and Portugal. Not only does it represent just over 7% of the company’s global turnover, it also shows a growth of 20%, which confirms the potential of that line of business. The figure helps to understand Mercadona’s commercial strategy, which has been betting on the ‘Ready to eat’ section for years (in 2025 it implemented it in 250 new super) and in recent months it has redoubled its bet, adding to its offer of dishes and desserts a new service of freshly ground coffee. The cooked food sections also play a decisive role in the so-called ‘Store 9’the new establishment format that the company wants to implement in its network. Does the data matter that much? It is certainly striking. FRS contributes another brushstroke which helps to understand to what extent the sale of pre-cooked or ready-to-eat food has grown in Mercadona. The 3,000 million euros registered in Spain and Portugal in 2025 far exceed McDonald’s annual sales in Spain (around 2 billion euros) or Burger King (others 1.5 billion). In fact, it almost equals the sum of both subsidiaries. It’s not surprising at all. Mercadona has conquered 20% of the entire food and beverage business (in value share) and ships a large part of the hamburgers with buns sold in Spain. According to the Numerator signatureis behind approximately 10.2% of consumption occasions. They are just nine points lower than the national market leader McDonald’s (19.5%). Does it only happen with Mercadona? At all. The chain stands out for its considerable market share, but it is not the only one seeking to benefit from the growing demand for already cooked food. In February, the consulting firm NielsenIQ estimated that “prepared and ready-to-eat food solutions” are growing at a rate of more than 10% in supermarkets and hypermarkets, which is in turn shaping a billion-dollar business. “Right now this segment represents a total of about 3.7 billion,” explains Nacho Biedmatechnician of the consulting firm, in an interview with elDiario. There are analysts who calculate that the distribution sector (which includes supermarkets) already monopolizes 23% of what we spend on food outside the home. Why this change? Because consumer habits are not immutable. We do not eat the same, nor in the same way nor in the same places as our grandparents. And our grandchildren probably have different habits too. I predicted it last year Juan Roig, predicting that in the middle of this century Spanish homes will no longer have kitchens, so supermarkets will become more than just the place where we buy food to fill our refrigerators: they will be our great reference in food. Beyond these changes at the domestic level, sections like ‘Ready to Eat’ play a great role. They offer customers variety, agility and, above all, rates that traditional bars can hardly match. Prepared meals from supermarkets are in a way the successors of a ‘menu of the day’ that has been in crisis for yearssuffocated by rising prices. More and more people stop going to the corner restaurant to spend 14 euros in a menu of first, second and dessert that will take you 45 minutes to consume. He goes to an Alcampo, Carrefour or Mercadona, buys a couple of dishes for 10 euros and devours them in less than half an hour in the dining room located in the supermarket itself. Many people even take cooked food to devour at home. Images | Mercadona Via | FRS In Xataka | Very few national supermarkets are resisting Mercadona: regional chains like Froiz are

Each new AI model is the best ever until the next one arrives. Anthropic and OpenAI have turned that into a business

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It doesn’t matter what technological product we are talking about, because both the product and how it is sold to you matters. And here making promises and generating expectations is the classic strategy. The next processor is going to be more powerful, the next smartphone is going to take better photos… and of course, the next AI model is going to be (much) better. We are seeing that message constantly in the AI ​​segment, but now it is going further. Anthropic and a curious leak. A group of security researchers they detected a few days ago 3,000 unpublished documents in an accessible Anthropic database. They included a draft of the blog entry that corresponded to the theoretical launch of their next AI model. The striking thing is not so much the filtration itself (whether intentional or not), but what those documents reveal. Mythos goes beyond mere evolution. Or at least that’s what that leaked draft seems to reveal. It describes a model called Claude Mythos—also called Capybara—which would not be a simple improvement on Claude Opus, but would be a level above it. The document says that this model is “bigger and smarter than our Opus models, which until now were the most powerful.” Anthropic signs up for hype. According to this leak, the benchmark scores would be notably higher than those of Opus 4.6 in programming, reasoning and cybersecurity. At Anthropic have ended up confirming the existence of this development, and have described it as “a level change” and “the most capable model we have created to date.” It’s not too surprising a phrase, because it’s basically the same thing they’ve been saying about every new model they’ve released. And even they are scared. In fact, what is surprising in that draft is not the message that it is better, but the warnings that accompany that future presentation. Thus, Anthropic describes Mythos as “currently far ahead of any other AI model in cybersecurity capabilities.” In fact, they warn that this may be the beginning of “an imminent wave of models that can exploit vulnerabilities in ways that far exceed the efforts of the defenders.” Or what is the same: Mythos could be a extraordinary tool for cyber attackers. The actual launch plan is to first offer Mythos to cybersecurity organizations to prepare. We will see if that gives an advantage, if Mythos meets expectations. OpenAI also makes a move. Both Anthropic and OpenAI have been moving in parallel for some time, and now they have done so again. At OpenAI they are preparing their new AI model, codenamed “Spud” (“potato”). Hardly anything is known about him beyond the fact that his pre-training phase has been completed. More relevant is that this model appears just when At OpenAI they have decided to be less OpenAI and more Anthropic. They have abandoned Sora and they are redirecting resources to regain ground where they are losing it. That is, in companies. But the count is not infinite.. These days, users of Claude’s $100 and $200 per month plans began to notice how they used up their limits and token quotas in less than an hour during their work hours. What is happening is that Anthropic is training more powerful but much more expensive models to use and that makes it difficult to serve them. Demand is growing faster than the efficiency improvements that are coming, so according to some analysts, AI companies are adjusting those quotas and in a sense making Their models behave as if they were “dumber” to save. It’s something we’ve seen in the past. hedonic adaptation. The psychologists called hedonic adaptation to the phenomenon by which humans quickly become accustomed to any level of experience, good or bad, and return to our starting emotional state. When applied to AI, this phenomenon explains that this model that seemed miraculous to us six months ago today seems slow and limited, and what six months ago seemed like science fiction is today the minimum we ask of companies. Anthropic and OpenAI have not invented the concept, but they have integrated it into their roadmaps like other technology companies in the past. We mentioned it before: they not only sell what they have today, but (more importantly) what they will have tomorrow. Mythos will be brutal and very expensive. Anthropic’s draft warns that Mythos will be “very expensive to serve and will be very expensive for our customers.” That points to two possibilities. The first is that only users of the Max plans can access some consultations with this model. The second, that a subscription appears even more expensive than that 200 dollars a month so we can leverage Mythos with more leeway. We already had a free AI, a basic paid AI and a high-end paid AI. Now we will also have super high-end AI. In Xataka | The hard landing of OpenAI: after years at the forefront, it is discovering that AI is not won only with memes and hype

There is a Basque company that is making a fortune with an unexpected business: ripening bananas from the Canary Islands

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100 million euros of turnover ripening bananas. It is the objective of Musanorte, a company with Canarian roots and headquarters in Vizcaya that has turned a niche as specific and far from the focus as the controlled ripening of fruit into an economic engine for the Orozko region. Your task is not to grow, but what happens after the harvest. In their facilities, the Canarian banana arrives green and comes out ready to eat. Controlled maturation. What Musanorte does with bananas is a process that much of the fruit goes through that we see in supermarkets. So that the bananas arrive at the stores at their peak, with that bright yellow tone without darkening, they are placed in chambers in which the temperature and ethylene is applied to them. Ethylene is what is known as maturation hormone and it is released by vegetables naturally. By adding it artificially, the process is accelerated. The company. Musanorte is a subsidiary of Mercamusa, a company dedicated to the marketing of fruit that also has a ripening plant in Alicante. In 2017, Mercamusa was purchased by Eurobananaa Canarian company that sought to eliminate intermediaries and thus better control quality while saving costs. Production takes place in the Canary Islands and the peninsular offices are dedicated to ripening and packaging. Capacity and investment. With more than 21 ripening chambers and two packaging lines, Musanorte has the capacity to manage 40,000 tons of bananas per yearwhich are added to the 30,000 tons of capacity of the Alicante plant. The Musanorte plant has been operational since 2020, but it was not until recently that it received an investment of 24 million euros that has allowed it to increase its capacity. They hope to reach 100 million euros in turnover and also have announced the creation of 100 new jobs in the region. The banana crisis. In 2025 the price of Canary Islands bananas skyrocketed, reaching 7 euros per kilo. In September we talked about the crisis that the banana production sector was going through: Producing them cost more than what the farmers, who survived thanks to aid from the European Union, ended up receiving. The situation has improved, but not enoughand currently production costs remain very highwhich strains the profitability of producers. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | Neither patting nor waving them in the air: the science of choosing a good melon in the supermarket

suffocate your business model

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If we limit ourselves to the average gasoline prices in Spain, the measures imposed by the Government have eased the pockets of the Spanish people a little. That, at least, is what the portal says. dieselgasolina.com which collects the prices of all the gas stations in our country. However, the full photograph does not tell us this. There seem to be nuances. And one of them has the low-cost gas stations at odds with the big oil companies. A meeting with the CNMC. It is the information that brings Populi Voicewho assure that the National Association of Automatic Service Stations (AESAE) will meet with the CNMC to express their complaints about the policies of Repsol and Moeve when applying aggressive discounts on the purchase of fuel. According to the newspaper, this association is in favor of filing a formal complaint because they understand that their discounts are only intended to harm their business. In Xataka We have contacted this association but at the time of writing this article we have not received a response. What has happened? On March 20, 2026, The Government reduced VAT on fuel from 21% to 10%. This has caused an immediate drop in the price of about 30 cents on average, according to figures collected by the portal. dieselgasoline. All in all, both diesel and gasoline remain well above the prices we found on March 1, when the Iran War had just begun. Then, the price of gasoline was 1.495 euros/liter and today it is 1.584 euros/liter. Diesel is the most affected fuel. From the 1,447 euros/liter registered at the beginning of the month, it is today at 1,783 euros/liter, even above 98 gasoline. Repsol and Moeve tighten. In this context, Repsol and Moeve have taken the opportunity to launch aggressive discount campaigns that, of course, are not available to everyone since they rely on their loyalty cards and multi-energy programs to catch the consumer with more attractive prices. Repsol relies on Waylet to put on the table discounts of up to 40 cents/liter. With the card, the discounts are 10 cents/liter but these are doubled if we have the electricity contracted with Repsol. And they reach 40 cents/liter if we have also taken out home or car insurance. Moeve uses a very similar strategy. Using its alliance with Naturgythe company offers discounts of 20 cents/liter with each report if we have also contracted electricity or gas. And we will also have six cents/kWh refueled with each electric car recharge. These figures grow if we have also contracted other services and even the consumption of our home with plates. In that case, the discount reaches 60 cents/liter and 15 cents/kWh with each electric recharge. Low cost companies complain. These discounts are not being seen well by low-cost companies. These types of companies He already pointed out to the Government in the early days of the Ukrainian War that subsidy of 20 cents/liter of the State put its business model at risk. But, also, they pointed out to the big oil companies as architects of a staging with its discounts that compromised its economic viability. Therefore, according to Populi Voicethese companies will file a formal complaint with the CNMC against a pricing policy that they consider abusive. They are not the only ones, FACUA also denounces that service stations are absorbing state aid with the VAT reduction. Already in 2022 The CNMC verified that the discounts applied were quickly absorbed by the oil companies. In Xataka We have contacted the Spanish Fuel Industry Association, who defend that their members, including Moeve and Repsol, “have always taken the side of consumers in times of crisis such as the years of Covid-19, the War in Ukraine or in this case.” Same story (more or less). Those 2022 complaints seemed founded, as time has shown. It’s only been a few months since The CNMC fined more than 20 million euros in penalties to Repsol for applying discounts during fuel purchase subsidies four years ago. According to Competition, the company launched a two-direction strategy. It offered extra discounts of five cents/liter to professionals and, at the same time, raised the sales price of its fuel to independent service stations. The objective was to narrow their profit margin while offering itself as a company with more attractive prices than the competition. A question of margins. Big oil companies have an obvious advantage in times of crisis. As has been seen with the 2022 discounts and is seen right now, they are companies that can play with their profit margins with greater ease than low-cost companies. First because they have a dominant position with more establishments in the market, second because they buy a greater amount of fuel. Low cost companies can offer more attractive prices in normal circumstances but they are more sensitive to crises if we are talking about an increase in the price of the product. This is because their purchases are smaller and more frequent, so they live adrift from the price of oil, reflecting the rise in price before large companies. And, obviously, they suffer much more when these companies apply aggressive discounts since their profit margins are narrower but their room for maneuver is also smaller since, as we say, they cannot make large purchases that lower the price for a few days, no matter how few. Photo | Repsol and Ballenoil In Xataka | Finding the cheapest gas station in your area is very simple thanks to this very powerful tool

Mercadona wanted to find out in Portugal if its business formula works outside of Spain. You already have the answer

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Your bet on the white labelthe short assortment, ready-to-eat foods and territorial expansion has allowed Mercadona to gain almost 30% of the Spanish market, far surpassing its competitors in the retail. That’s nothing new. What is curious is that this same bet seems to be giving good results also in Portugal, a country in which the chain premiered in 2019 with a first store in Vila Nova de Gaia. Since then the Valencian company not only he got sixth in your expansion lusa, has also expanded its business quota. And it doesn’t seem to be going bad at all. Beyond Spain. The percentage may vary depending on the period or region being analyzed, but for some time now studies on retail show that Mercadona is (by far) the chain that takes the largest part of the distribution business in Spain. In January, the consulting firm Nielsen presented a report on “mass consumption” that it assigns to Juan Roig’s chain 29.5% of the marketwell above direct competitors such as Carrefour, Lidl or DIA. This footprint is explained by a strategy that dates back (at least) to the end of the 80s, when the Valencian company made the leap to Madrid. On the other side of ‘la Raya’, however, its history is much more recent. Mercadona did not put its head into the Portuguese market until 2016when it decided to bet on its internationalization, and its first store in the neighboring country is even more recent: a 18,000 m2 supermarket in Vila Nova de Gaia opened in 2019. Chain Distribution share in Portugal (2024) Distribution share in Portugal (2025) Continent 26.6% 27.5% Pingo Doce 21.7% 21.7% Lidl 13% 12.9% Mercadona 7.0% 7.2% Intermarché 6.6% 6.4% Auchan 4.4% 5.3% aldi 2.7% 2.9% Miniprice 23% 0.8% Leclerc 0.8% 0.8% And how is it going there? We knew that the company was expanding for Portugal, which in 2024 achieved a positive net result and that in 2025 its profit in the neighboring country amounted to 26 million of euros; What we have just discovered is that this data is largely explained by its share of business. The Economist just published a report from Worldpanel by Numerator (formerly Kantar) that shows that the Valencian chain has established itself in the ‘TOP 5’ of the most important firms in the Portuguese distribution sector. A percentage: 7.2%. To be more precise, in 2025 its quota rose to 7.2%two percentage points more than in 2024. It is a much lower percentage than in Spain, but it draws attention when analyzed in its context. First, because Mercadona has gained that 7.2% gap in just five years, a time in which it has overtaken firms such as Intermarché, Auchan or Aldi. Second, because it is already the fourth distribution chain in terms of business footprint. It is only surpassed by Lidl (12.9%) and above all Pingo Doce (21.7%) and Continente (27.5%), the undisputed leaders of the retail in the neighboring country. Gaining weight. Mercadona has not only increased its share of the pie in the Portuguese business. It has also expanded its territorial footprint. And clearly. When it opened its first store, in the summer of 2019, the firm has already advanced that its landing did not only include the supermarket in the Porto area, it also contemplated a logistics block, offices and plans to open nine other stores that year. In his last annual reportpresented just a few weeks ago, Mercadona specifies that it closed 2025 with 69 stores, 7,500 employees and a turnover of 2,092 million euros in Portugal, which contributed to closing the year in green. If nothing goes wrong, the company plans launch another five super soon. “Since 2019, the company has invested a cumulative total of 1,230 million euros and, in this second year in which it registered a positive result in the country, it achieved a net profit of 26 million,” explains. According to his calculations, he already monopolizes 3.5% share in total sales area in Portugal. Are they all advantages? Not at all. If Mercadona has managed to establish its business share in Portugal, it has been largely thanks to its investment, the opening of new stores and the creation of a ambitious logistics block in Santarém. However, the Worldpanel by Numerator data that confirms its growth also reflects that it will not be easy if it wants to continue growing. The Valencian firm has Lidl ahead of it, but above all Pingo Doce and Continenttwo chains with decades of history and a very wide presence in Portugal. Between them they add up hundreds and hundreds of points of sale spread across the country and a market share that the old Kantar figure at 49.2%. Images | Continent and Mercadona Via | elEconomista.es In Xataka | Mercadona and the rest of the supermarkets have realized something worrying: they spend a million dollars on printing paper

Verdeliss’s latest challenge reminds us that impossible challenges are huge business

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Before we get into the matter, let me ask you an indiscreet question: What did you do between seven in the afternoon on Wednesday and the same time on Thursday? Most likely several things, including eating, sleeping, and stretching your legs. Of all of them Estefanía Unzu, better known by her alias ‘Verdeliss’he only did the last one. And in an unorthodox way. During 24 hours the influencer He dedicated himself to running on a treadmill installed behind a shop window in Madrid. It is the umpteenth proof of two trends that they walk run hand in hand: business and the fever generated by impossible challenges, a field that Verdeliss know well. What has happened? If in the last few hours you have stopped by the Decathlon store in Nuevos Ministerios (Orense Street, Madrid) it is quite likely that you have been surprised. On Wednesday the 25th at 7:01 p.m. in its window you could see a treadmill with a runner taking strides. At 2:00 a.m. the image was identical. And at 6:59 p.m. on Thursday the 26th, the same thing happened. The surprising thing is that during all that time (the 24 hours from 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday) the person who ran on the treadmill was always the same: Verdeliss. His balance: 24 hours of walking and more than 250 km. Why did he do it? Advertising. The challenge is part of the campaign orchestrated by Decathlon to promote the sneakers Kipride Maxof Kiprunthe brand with which the French chain aspires to expand its space in the growing business athletics and amateur running. In fact, the company has been in charge of giving visibility to the Verdeliss challenge on its networks, with videos, photos, interviews with passers-by and of course to the influencer herselfwho before starting to run assured that his objective is to test his limits. The underlying purpose: to take advantage of the challenge to give notoriety to the new Decathlin sneakers and provide them with a place in a hypercompetitive market, in which large multinationals such as Adidas or Nike work in different price ranges and frequently launch promotions. Kiprin introduced the Kipride Max ago just a monthpromote them as daily training shoes “designed to offer the brand’s most cushioned and comfortable ride.” Why Verdeliss? Because of his public profile. Runners there are many. Influencers, too. Estefanía Unizo Ripoll (‘Verdeliss’) has however managed to gain notable fame. And it has done so with two ingredients: an unconventional profile and a commitment to extreme challenges like Decathlon. The influencer Navarre has 40 years, eight children and combines his love for extreme sports with his businesswoman facet and media figure (he reached go through Big Brother). Since he joined YouTube in 2008, his profile has also changed: from basically publishing family content he has turned towards extreme sports. If his name sounds familiar to you even if you don’t follow current events running maybe it’s because in 2025 he went for it World Marathon Challengea test that consists of seven marathons in seven days and different continents. And that is just one of the challenges he has conquered. Another is the national championship 100 km on the road. Why is it important? Because Decathlon’s challenge not only tells us about it. It also tells us a lot about the fever (and business) generated around impossible challenges. People like to explore (or see how others explore) physical limits, whether climbing skyscrapersjumping from heart attack distances either swimming and running enormous distances with hardly any breaks. Behind many of these initiatives there are sponsorships (also campaigns with a more or less solidarity approach) and above all a huge media exposure for those who star in them. Verdeliss, for example, adds some 1.6 million of followers on Instagram and others 2.1 million on YouTube. The organization of extreme events also opens a business avenue: without going any further, participating in the World Marathon Challenge requires paying tens of thousands of euros. With yesterday’s campaign, Decathlon manages to position itself in a hypercompetitive market and the influencer (beyond the promotional agreement itself) feeds her image as an athlete capable of conquering extraordinary challenges, traveling 255 km in 24 hours. In the background there is another debate: to what extent facing challenges like this pushes the body to its limits. In the past Unzu herself has recognized having done “savages” and who does not seek to be “exemplary.” In fact, he even warns his followers: “Don’t do this in your house.” Images |Decathlon (IG) and Verdeliss In Xataka | The Winter Olympics leave Italy with a debt of 7.8 million dollars. Not to organize them, to win them

Mercadona suppliers have invested 1.7 billion euros. That gives you an idea of ​​what a huge business it has become.

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when you want present your model Mercadona’s business strategy usually cites five pillars: “the boss” (the word used to refer to customers), its staff, society and capital. The fifth is his wide network of suppliers. That the Valencian chain includes them on that list is no coincidence. If it has managed to lead the sector until it has gained a business share that is already close to 30%, it is thanks largely to its bet on white labela wide catalog of articles impossible to articulate without a “industrial cluster” with 2,100 suppliers. As Mercadona grows they do it too, but that link is not free. In order not to lose step, they are forced to invest millions. One figure: 1.7 billion. The data has revealed it Expansion. Last year, Mercadona suppliers made investments in Spain and Portugal worth 1.7 billion euros. The figure is not only interesting for its volume, it is also interesting when put into perspective: it represents 31% more than the previous year, when the sum of investments amounted to 1,300 million. If compared to 2023, when ‘only’ 500 million euros were mobilized, the increase in investment is much greater, close to 240%. Of course, not all suppliers have spent the same nor do all the projects in which they have invested have to be 100% focused on Mercadona, although it is true that the chain is the main client of some of its suppliers. Who has invested the most? Mercadona has not yet presented its 2025 report, but we do have that of the previous yearwhich details the suppliers that mobilized the most investment and generated the most employment. At the head was Casa Tarradellas, which supplies Mercadona with ready-made pizzas and fuets for the Hacendado brand. In 2024 the Catalan company invested 104 million to build two new factories, dryers and production lines. The published data by Expansion show that in 2025 it once again led investment in the Mercadona supplier ecosystem, with the mobilization of 117.6 million. At the beginning of last year the firm presented a new mill for wheat flour in Gurb (Barcelona) that required 25 million of euros and throughout the year it also promoted a storage center of species. In 2024 Casa Tarradellas achieved increase 12% its profits to reach 38.4 million euros, consolidating the positive trend already registered in 2023. The result was largely possible due to the increase in income. An investment cluster. The list The greatest investment effort is completed by companies such as Vall Companys (70 million euros), Incarlopsa, Avinatur, Essity and Cañigueral, all four with investments close to 60 million, Covap (42.5 million) and Entrepinares (27 million). Names such as Familia Martínez, Huevos Guillén (50) and Elaborados Naturales (40) also stand out. Not all of that money has had to be allocated to projects focused on supplying Mercadona, but a review of the reports deposited in the Commercial Registry reveals that the supermarket chain has become the main client of its suppliers. In some cases the company founded by Roig actually represents more than 50% of all his income. “Joint planning”. The data is interesting because it does not only tell us about the resources that Mercadona suppliers have dedicated to strengthening their infrastructure and productivity. It also suggests that these companies are forced to make this effort to keep up with the Valencian chain, which in 2024 increased its turnover by 9%, to exceed the 38.8 billion euros. Looking ahead to 2025, it expected to continue growing and reach 40.1 billion. Although Mercadona has not yet presented its report for the past year, we do have studies that show that it has achieved increase your quota of business, moving away from rivals such as Carrefour or Lidl. As its sales grow and its catalog of private labels and ready-to-eat foods triumphs, the Valencian firm needs to rely on its “industrial cluster” of suppliers. Hence the urgency for them to strengthen their production capacity. “These investments are possible thanks to trust and joint planning,” they explain from Mercadona when remembering the 1.7 billion mobilized. Investment… and something more. That these companies are willing to dedicate millions and millions of euros to modernize their facilities, gain production capacity or expand is explained by a very simple reason: keeping up with the Valencian chain has become quite a lucrative business. Recently Five Days he wondered how the companies that supply it with products are doing and, after investigating the Commercial Registry, it found out that in 2024 the 20 main suppliers of the chain increased their sales figures by 18% to exceed 12,000 million euros. In total, aggregate profits grew by 5%, exceeding 360 million. Curiously (or not) at the top in billing volume were Casa Tarradellas, Incarlopsa, J García Carrión and Covap, with sales increases ranging from 12 to 29% between 2022 and 2024. Images | Mercadona and Wikipedia In Xataka | Mercadona and the rest of the supermarkets have realized something worrying: they spend a million dollars on printing paper

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