Mercadona

Mercadona has grown so much in Spain that for the US it is no longer just a supermarket chain: it is a “cultural phenomenon”

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The US Government has noticed a growing “cultural phenomenon” in Spain, one especially interesting for its exporting companies and which comes accompanied by millionaire turnover figures. What phenomenon is that? Mercadona. Literally. In your report Retail Foods Annualthe US Department of Agriculture dedicates special attention to Juan Roig’s company and slips that its weight in the retail It already transcends the limits of the retail sector. He even theorizes about the formula for his success. Under the spotlight of Donald Trump. It is not strange that Mercadona makes headlines. After all, it has become a crucial piece of the retail Spanish. Your market share in the sector around 30% (in some regions already exceeds that percentage), far above other competitors such as Carrefour, IFA or Lidl, and has been expanding for the country. What is much less common is for the Valencian retail chain to make headlines because it has caught the attention of US officials, which is exactly what has just happened. Table extracted from the report of the US Department of Agriculture. Attention, USA exporters. Mercadona is cited at least seven times in a report 10 pages published a few days ago by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), a document designed primarily for exporters from the country interested in the Spanish market. In it, the Washington technicians review the billing figures of Juan Roig’s firm, highlight its high weight in the sector (well above competitors such as Carrefour, Lidl, DIA or Eroski) and reflect on the keys to its commercial success. To be more precise, USDA recalls that last year Mercadona recorded sales worth an estimated $34.5 billion. The figure does not exactly match the disclosed by the company, but it is more than double that of Grupo Carrefour (12,000) and well above other well-established chains in the country, such as Lidl (7,500), DIA (6,150), Eroski (5,800) or Alcampo (5,500). “Mercadona occupies first place in the food retail sector in Spain, with sales almost three times higher than those of its second closest competitor,” check the reportwhich theorizes about the bet that has given the chain a market share of almost 30%. The formula for success. USDA highlights two features of the Valencian company. First, its Spanish food offering. Second, its strategic commitment to retail brands, especially Hacendado. “Private labels are very popular in Spain, driven by consumer attention to prices and quality. According to a study by the Aldi chain, Spanish households allocate 44% of their purchasing budget to private label products,” collect the reportwhich goes so far as to refer to the company as a “cultural phenomenon.” Is it something new? No. Washington is not the first to focus on the Valencian chain’s commitment to its own brands. A report from Kandar presented in 2024 by Promarca already pointed out the clear increase in distributor brands in Spanish supermarkets, a general trend that was accentuated in the case of Mercadona. Its external brand offering was cut by 45% between 2018 and 2023, while the value share of white label products reached 74.5%. Other sector reports have highlighted the same idea in recent months: Mercadona’s growing commitment to its brands. Added to this strategy are others deployed by the firm, such as the interest for foods already cooked and ready to eat. Roig himself has recognized openly that he is convinced that mid century Kitchens will disappear from Spanish homes, so people will eat prepared dishes. It is so sure of this that Mercadona has been betting on its section for years. “Ready to eat”. X-raying the sector. Beyond Mercadona, the report from USDA reveals some reflections on the food distribution sector in Spain. Its technicians are struck by, for example, the pace of opening of new stores (244 only between January and April of this year), the promotion of self-service stores and regional super chains (key piece of the national sector) or “the growing popularity” of healthy and convenience products. “Consumers are combining physical and online channels, favoring digital platforms for larger purchases and in-person purchases of fresh products. Retail strategies focus on efficiency, AI technologies, personalization and healthy products,” he comments. the USDA studywhich draws attention to the high “fragmentation” of retail trade and the concentration of the food sector, with Mercadona leading the way. Images | Mercadona, Gage Skidmore (Flickr) and USDA In Xataka | The shadow companies that are making gold with Mercadona: the silent success of Familia Martínez or Profand

Mercadona has become the queen of Spanish food. And in the process it is making gold for some suppliers

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The forecast was shocking. So much so that it generated a considerable stir. In spring, during the presentation of Mercadona’s annual report, Juan Roig predicted that in a matter of 25 years, kitchens will disappear from homes because people will eat outside the home or eat ready-to-eat dishes. That conviction (which Roig preaches since at least 2019), added to the commitment to white label and local stores, has turned Mercadona into a heavy weight of the retail sector, with a market share that is close to 30%. Not only that. By the way, the Valencian firm is making gold from a few companies that have become allies of its food strategy. One figure: 150 million. Its name may not tell you much, but if you shop frequently at Mercadona (for food) it is quite likely that you have tried the products of Martinez Family. The company is made up of Embutidos Martínez, Platos Tradicionales, Cinco Tenedores and La Pila Food and is a key supplier to Mercadona, basically in its prepared food offering. The group (Also of Valencian origin) manufactures lasagna, gratins and roasts. So far nothing exceptional. The curious thing is that recently Familia Martínez revealed which will invest a whopping 150 million euros between this and next year to reinforce the Platos Tradicionales facilities and keep up with Mercadona. To be more precise, he wants a larger surface area for barbecues, for which he will gain 20,000 m2 in Buñol; and provide a 3,500 m2 logistics center in Torrent, a space for distribution and storage with capacity for 1,000 pallets. Why is it important? For several reasons. The main one is what it reveals to us about both Familia Martínez and Mercadona. And in turn what that tells us about consumer trends. The commitment of the Valencian supplier coincides with the growth of the offer of ready meals and the so-called “fifth range“, processed, cooked and packaged foods. As a reference, the Spanish Association of Prepared Dish Manufacturers (Asefapre) calculates that the consumption of its products rose 6.6% last year in Spanish homes. “These investments are not just figures, they are a sample of our commitment to accompany the growth of our great client,” confirm the CEO of Familia Martínez, Raúl Martin Calvo. And in Mercadona (around 85% of your business) the bet is clear. Juan Roig’s chain takes years expanding its “ready to eat” section, with foods already prepared for consumption. The last annual report from Mercadona shows that in 2024 the service was available in 1,200 stores in Spain and 60 in Portugal, an expansion that “has not stopped growing”. Is it a special case? Familia Martínez is not the only one that is growing thanks largely to Mercadona’s tailwinds. The Country posted this saturday an article about Ozturk Quebapa firm based in Toledo, founded in 2015 and specialized in the production of kebab and meat products. Again, its name may not sound familiar to you, but if you like the traditional Turkish meat that Mercadona sells, you have probably tasted its creations. Ozturk is a supplier for the Hacendado brand for a few years. Its history predates the pact with the Valencian chain, but as they admit in Ozturk “with Mercadona everything changes.” The company saw its activity increase and acquired a second plant. Now it also sells to countries such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Finland and France. According to precise The Countrylast year it had a turnover of close to 64 million and its forecasts are to exceed 75 this year, a scenario that does not seem unattainable if one takes into account that it reached 37.8 in the first semester. Add and continue of names. Familia Martínez or Ozturk are examples of companies that are growing driven by Mercadona’s strategy in food, but not the only ones. The sushi offer of the Valencian chain gave wings for example to the Norwegian Leroy Seafood Group. In May Info Retail informed that its subsidiary Leroy Processing Spain It closed 2024 with a turnover of 122.5 million euros and its objective is to reach 160 in 2025, with a growth of 30%. The firm landed in Spain more than a decade ago and began making sushi and Japanese food long before 2021, but even so Mercadona has played a strategic role the last few years. Profand, Panamar and Tarradellas. Three other relevant names in Mercadona’s food supply. The first, the Galician fishing company Profand, is an integrated supplier to the Valencian supermarket chain, which has helped it market a whopping 78 million trays of fish throughout last year, with a growth of 13%. The signature itself stood out that nuance in a statement in which he celebrated having overcome the 1 billion of cash. In 2023 Panamar too saw rebound its turnover after becoming a supplier of bread to the Valencian chain and Tarradellas House wave Estiu refrigerator They have found in it a valuable pillar. Everyone benefits from the formula that is driving the Roig chain: its ability to gain market share in a sector highly disputedthe commitment to white label and local stores and the conviction that domestic kitchens actually have the years counted. Images | Mercadona In Xataka | Action supermarkets have gone from being unknown to conquering half of Europe. In Spain they will not have it easy

The ChatGPT Atlas agent made my purchase at Mercadona and now I have a pantry full of garlic

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a week ago I tried the new ChatGPT Atlasthe new OpenAI browser and, although it has a lot to improve, it seemed like a threat to Google’s dominance with Chrome. Today I put it to the test again, this time with a Plus subscription, and I wanted to check if agent mode is capable of hmake the purchase at Mercadona. Posing the situation It was the first time I used ChatGPT for something like this and I didn’t want to just give you a list. of the purchase, so first I asked him for ideas to make healthy recipes that are delicious. He offered me several options and when I decided on one of them, I activated agent mode and asked him to buy the ingredients at Mercadona. We have already talked about AI browsers are vulnerable to prompt injection attacks and OpenAI knows it. Before starting, a message appeared alerting me that using agent mode carries risks and I could use it with or without the session logged in. In my case I have chosen the logged in session because I wanted to see it work more easily, but as a precaution I have first deleted my payment details on the Mercadona website. Making the purchase Once the risks have been accepted, agent mode has been activated and the mouse has started to move through the Mercadona website interface. The sidebar shows the model’s entire thought and decision-making process while buying the ingredients to make a chickpea curry. In the video you can see the entire purchase process. The agent has been making decisions when he has found several items to choose from. For example, the recipe required an onion, but decided that it was more practical to buy a 1kg package. However, when choosing spinach, he decided that a package of baby spinach was better than the large package that is much cheaper. When he finished choosing ingredients he asked me to check it and I asked him to change the spinach. He has done it without question. The process has stopped when it has run into an insurmountable obstacle: it only had 10.28 euros and the minimum order on the Mercadona website is 50 euros, so I asked it to also include the ingredients of another of the recipes that it had suggested to me at the beginning, one for baked salmon. Since that one didn’t reach the minimum order either, I told him that I wanted to make it for four people and please don’t give me frozen salmon, but fresh ones. The agent adjusted the quantities and changed the salmon for a fresh one, but it still didn’t reach 50 euros, so I asked for something more creative.: to look for the most viral Mercadona products recently and add them to the basket. The purchase is made for you, but there is a problem When he was done, it was time to check the basket. I found that I had added garlic and also purple garlic. The normal garlic was fine, but the purple ones? I have reviewed the chain of thought and he was confused looking for purple onion. Mercadona calls it “red onion” and the agent has decided that it was better to add purple garlic because the color matched, even though they were a different ingredient. Regarding the viral products, I have chosen an advent calendar with makeup, smoked raclette cheese, cookie nougat and pistachio cake. The total amount was 66 eurosit is true that I have not expressly told you to adjust to 50 euros, but it seems to me that you have gone a little overboard. The agent has taken control of the browser and done exactly what he wanted: make the purchase for me. However, there is a problem and that is It’s very slow. I haven’t helped much either. Not having anticipated that there was a minimum order and the additional requests that I have been making, such as changing the quantities or choosing products by itself, has made it even slower. In total he has been thinking for almost 15 minutes, but if we take into account only the first part of the purchase for the chickpea curry, it has taken 2:14 minutes. More than two minutes to add eight items to cart. All the time I had the feeling that I would already have the order finished and paid for. Regarding reliability, I have to say that He has made fewer mistakes than I expected, but it is still necessary to check what you have added to the basket at the end because you can sneak in some garlic instead of onions, and I already have enough garlic in the pantry. Much more practical in other scenarios One of the use scenarios that OpenAI gave in the presentation of its new browser was precisely to make the purchase. After trying it, it is clear to me that the ChatGPT Atlas agent mode has a lot of potential, but not for making the purchase, that’s why I have tried another scenario where it can be much more useful: organize a trip. I asked him to find places for me to go on a getaway over the December long weekend, that were less than 2 hours by car from Valencia, with a specific budget and to look for them on Booking and Airbnb. In six minutes he gave me options for two different destinationsorganized in a table with price per night and highlights. Once I have decided, I only had to give him the personal information to complete the reservation. To organize a trip it is practical. Making the purchase is simply adding things to the cart, a much more mechanical process that we can do manually in a very short time. If we also encounter obstacles such as the minimum order or we are not completely clear about what we want, we end up losing more time than gaining it. Where the agent does offer more … Read more

Chinese hypermarkets are in crisis and have found the solution: follow the Mercadona model

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The golden age of Chinese hypermarkets is coming to an end. With the economy stepping on the brake, these mastodons are in a tighten and desperately seek new formulas to hook consumers who look more at the pocket. In this new panorama, the solution seems to be betting on the strategy that Mercadona dominates perfectly for years. What’s happening. The great Chinese supermarkets are having You would be difficult to survive. In recent years, Carrefour has closed more than 140 stores, Tesco has disappeared and last year the main leading hypermarkets had Important losses. With The economy in decelerationChinese consumers are more cautious when spending and that is causing the main chains to change their strategy drastically, as reported in Bloomberg. The Mercadona model. Many neighborhood stores and more white brands, this is how some Chinese giants are adapting to this new era. The own brands were not usual in China, but currently they take more and more space in the halls of the main chains. In addition, they are beginning to change their store strategy, favoring the proximity of smaller stores instead of hypermarket that forces us to move by car and plan a larger purchase. Adapt or die. Chinese hypermarket chains are transforming with smaller formats and their own brands. Walmart, with its stores proximity to Lo Carrefour Express and its MarketSide brand, is a good example of this trend. The Wumart Group has launched Six stores with discounts in Beijing and FreeShyppo, from Alibaba, already has more than 300 stores under its cheap chaopa brand. Approximately 60% of the products found in these stores are white brands. This strategy responds to the search for savings and convenience by the consumer. The Pangdonglai case. It is a Henan supermarket that has achieved viral success. Its strategy is based on exceptional customer service, good treatment of unique employees and services such as ticket offices with dog water and personalized preparation of the purchase basket. But the main secret of their success is that they have placed their profit margin in 30%, which allows them to keep low prices all the time, without having to resort to specific promotions. Despite having been born in a smaller city, its model is so influential that Yonghui Superstores, the fourth chain of China, is reforming its stores following its example. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | The US studied what would happen if it enters war with China. Now he has started a career desperate to double missiles

The Mercadona Crusade against Home Kitchen is working. The question is what nutritional cost we are accepting it

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In the last eight months, Mercadona has won seven more tenths in market share and already reaches 27.3%. It is a real barbarity that reaffirms it in the lead and moves it away from its closest competition: Carrefour. But the most striking is not that. The most striking thing is that, According to the dataeverything is because The crusade against the future of the kitchen at home Juan Roig is paying off. We knew that the world has been quitting for decades, what we didn’t know is that this was going to go so fast. What we do not know, in fact, is what consequences all this has in the medium term. Are we putting the foxes to monitor the chicken coop? A future, but now. Because, although Media Spain threw himself on Roig when he assured “in the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens”, the truth is that right now more than eight million Spaniards resort to the prepared dishes of the supermarket. In fact, Statistics tell us data That, in the last decades, home cuisine had been in clear decline. Millennials “ate 30% more often in restaurants than any other generation; when they cooked, they spent less time (one hour less than the X generation) and, when they bought, they opted more by prepared meals, pasta and sweets than the rest.” They are USAs, but We can find similar trends in all western countries. There was a small change with pandemic, but things They seem to be returning to their channel. 17 kilos per head. That is The amount of prepared dishes they consumedon average, the Spaniards in 2024. 6.6% more compared to the previous year. And in these data we do not take into account that The tendency not only “translates In a greater offer of prepared dishes, but also in a simplification of fresh products, destined to reduce the time we dedicate to the kitchen. “ The reasons are clear and understandable: According to Kantar consultancy“comfort, lack of time and the increasingly elaborate and healthy proposals by supermarkets” are the factors behind this change. But this is true? I refer, specifically, to “healthy proposals.” And not with respect to traditional precooked dishes, which that (a priori) is evident. But, with respect to the general diet of consumers. That is: this movement is improving our diet or not? The question is pertinent. Above all, because we have the problem of ultra -processed. It is increasingly evident (Ylgreat studies confirm this) that there is a “positive correlation between the consumption of these foods and A list of up to 32 health problems ranging from cardiovascular mortality to depression. “ We talk about an increase of about 50% in the risk of death related to cardiovascular problems, a similar increase in the risk of anxiety and “common” mental health problems, and a 12% increase in the probability of developing type 2 diabetes. Even more The data show An increase of 21% in the risk of death for any cause and one between 40 and 66% of the risk of death by heart attack. The invasion of the defendants. In 2010, ultraprocessed food represented 31.7% of the Spanish diet and 80.4% of all added sugars. That is, the weight of the processed food in our diet tripled between 1990 and 2010 (from 11% to 31.7%). In parallel, the weight of added sugars has gone from 8.4% of our daily energy intake at 13%. It is a serious problem and becoming aware of it has made, as we said, the products are healthier than before. But the emergence of these pre -cooked dishes much more attractive, convenient and accessible raises doubts. Are we facing a new phase of that trend? Will our diet worse? Answers are missing. It is soon to see how all this is affecting (and will affect) the food of citizens. Do not forget that, as we often repeat, not all processed foods They suppose a health risk. But what the historical experience tells us is that we cannot leave everything in the hands of the companies in the sector: without an ambitious regulation and a committed public opinion, the situation can become against us. It is, it seems, the ideal moment to use this boom in favor of public health. Then it will be much more difficult. Image | JJ Melero In Xataka | Juan Roig believes that cooking at home has no future. There are eight million Spaniards who are already giving the right

Mercadona has been filled with gels and shampoos that mimic luxury products: the silent revolution of supermarkets

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A light texture cream and minimalist container that could go through a Sephora launch, a Bombonera type bag that Remember Loewe or Jacquemusand a colony whose aroma evokes Carolina Herrera or Issey Miyake perfumes. All this coexists, at reduced prices, in the same place where fried and softening potatoes are sold: the supermarket. Between clonations or inspirations – not to open the legal melon – you can find global cosmetics and perfumery trends, including Korean skincareas well as viral accessories in a daily and massive context. A phenomenon that arouses passions on social networks and that, in Spain, has Mercadona as one of its main protagonists. Imitation as a strategy. According to Business InsiderMercadona, through its own Deliplus brand, accurately mimics makeup products and personal care of firms such as Mac, Benefit, L’Oréal or Urban Decay, with containers and textures that remind the original but at prices that rarely exceed six euros. Among the best known examples are the Maxi Volume mask (inspired by L’Oréal), the silicone base similar to Benefit or Illuminator and Coloretes that refer directly to The Balm and Nars. The formula works thanks to the massive distribution and indirect marketing that generate users and influencers by viralizing findings such as bath gel with amber and vetiver for 1.50 euros, described by the confidential as “a gel that smells of gods” and compared to high -end perfumes. In Xataka A feeling is growing in Europe and Canada: Boicote "National" The hole that leaves inaccessible luxury. This “corridor luxury” blooms at a time when traditional luxury has become more expensive until its clientele concentrated in the richest 1%. According to the avant -gardethe average price of luxury products has risen 25% since 2019, displacing the aspirational consumer that previously saved to buy a perfume or accessory. Today, more than 40% of the sales of many brands come from that 1% of greater purchasing power. The consequence of all this is a market hole that fill legal imitations, inspired products and, in the illegal field, falsifications. According to the countrydigital copies trade has exploded with apps and channels in Telegram, where young people buy and exhibit replicas without complexes. 54% of the B buyers see with good eyes that others carry falsifications, and 37% admit that it carries or carry them. In this panorama, legal clones such as those of Mercadona are positioned as an “safe” alternative, although they are part of the same conversation about value, authenticity and saturation. The origin of luxury by hand. The mixture of luxury references and daily consumption is not new, but in the last decade it has been normalized and even turned into a statement of style. The figure of the “luxury choni” – who combines gold logos with basic garments and low cost makeup – has permeated in artists such as Bad Gyal, capable of dressing in Versace and Use Mercadona Profiler. Also Rosalia, in its beginnings, sang in Aute Cuture: “In the Palace and in the Chinese”, encapsulating the coexistence of two consumption universes in the same aesthetic identity. This symbolic cross has found fertile ground in cosmetics, where the price does not always determine social recognition. An effective clone can grant the same symbolic capital as a luxury product, especially when social networks amplify the finding. The era of “dupe”. In networks like Tiktok, the term Dupe It has become a generational flag. Vogue Business has documented How gene generation has stopped hiding that uses imitations: finding and showing them is a source of pride. Brands such as Mcobeauty in Australia have grown thanks to this movement, while firms like Charlotte Tilbury have launched campaigns to claim their “original formula” and differentiate themselves from copies. In other markets, the line between inspiration and copy has been tested in court. According to Vogue BusinessBenefit’s demand against Elf Cosmetics for a mask similar to his Roller Lash failed: justice considered that packaging and components differ enough not to confuse the consumer. On the other hand, Mercadona does not fight on that forehead: its strategy is to identify and produce quickly, benefiting that in Spain, as in many markets, copying formulas or aesthetics without violating patents is perfectly legal. Beyond beauty: edible luxury. This phenomenon is not limited to cosmetics. According to Delishgeneration Z is moving aspirational consumption to food. In the United States, chains like Erewhon sell $ 20 with superfood and collaborations of Celebritieswhich are both a well -being product and a content for social networks. Logic is similar: to make daily consumption (makeup, breakfast, hydrate) into an act of visible and replicable status. Luxury is no longer alone in marble boutiques: it is in the glass Take Awayin the design bottle of design and, in Spain, in the supermarket perfume line. The debate: democratize or dilute. He Dupe It can be understood as democratization: put aesthetic and sensory codes available to a few people. But it can also dilute the value of the original and its promise of exclusivity. Marc Chaya, CEO of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, warned in Vogue Business: “Duping is a serious matter … some serve to remind brands that cannot abuse the price, but others flood the market without providing utility or purpose.” For the consumer, the dilemma is different: pay for history and prestige or for the effect and similarity. For brands, the question is how to maintain relevance when desire is satisfied with cheaper alternatives. {“videoid”: “x85k87i”, “autoplay”: fals, “title”: “Black Friday: how to know if an online store is reliable ️ Buy with internet security”, “Tag”: “”, “Duration”: “562”} Cart as a global showcase. It is not about replacing the traditional luxury experience, but about appropriating its symbols in times of inflation, precariousness and digitalized consumption. The “hall luxury” is a symptom of an era where the barriers between high range and mass consumption are increasingly diffuse. And there, in that hall where glamor coexists with the softener, a new chapter is being written in the history of consumption: one where a … Read more

Going to the hairdresser or putting bracelets is not enough for Mercadona to dismiss you

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An employee who had been working as a manager in Mercadona for more than twenty years had to face a complicated situation when, in August 2023, he began A medical leave For anxiety. While it is true that there are certain activities that a person on a medical leave should not do, the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León has had to remind Mercadona to go to the hairdresser or get bracelets is not sufficient reason for A disciplinary dismissal. Spied on the super. As detailed In the sentencethe farewell employee worked as a manager in a Mercadona de León supermarket since 2001. In 2023, she took a medical leave for anxiety. After a few months, Mercadona hired A private detective agency To monitor their daily activities while he was ongoing. In the report, the detectives recorded that the worker had gone to the hairdresser, wore bracelets and rings, spoke on the phone and had even made purchases in a Lidl supermarket of cleaning products and detergents. Farewell by allergic? At all times, the company had linked all these activities with an alleged allergyTo metals such as nickel and chromium, present on the bracelets, in smartphones, in elements of the hair washing area, etc., as well as chemicals present in cleaning products. According to the allegations of the company “it has superior respiratory tract hypersensitivity by general immune irritative reaction due to awareness of irritating agents present in the work environment.” The daily activities of the employee, so normal to anyone, were interpreted by the company as a “lack of will to take care” and a reason for Unjustified extension of its temporal disability. According to the company, the use of jewelry and contact with chrome surfaces were “behavior incompatible with their healing process.” So the company declared “that the employee was acting in bad faith” and that “she had lost her trust”, so he applied a disciplinary dismissal. At this point, it should be remembered that the reason for the medical leave It was for anxiety. The judicial reaction: it has anxiety, not allergy. The Social Court No. 1 of León initially gave the reason to Mercadona, but the employee appealed the sentence and raised it to the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León (TSJCyL), which corrected the company’s performance strongly. The court criticized that they were considered “activities that compromise the healing” completely everyday actions such as going to the hairdressing, carrying bracelets or making the purchase. In addition, the ruling highlighted the contradiction between the diagnosis of anxiety that justified the decrease and argumentation of the dismissal focused on reasons related to respiratory pathologies caused by supposed chemical sensitivity. TSJCyL: One More Thing. The TSJCyl judgment not only declared the disciplinary dismissal inadmissible, but declared it void, considering that it occurred in a clearly repressive context. The worker had denounced deficiencies in the prevention of occupational hazards before her medical decline. Therefore, a violation was evidenced to the right to non -discrimination due to disability and compensation guaranteethat is, the right not to suffer from Exercise labor rightsinterpreting the dismissal of the employee as a revenge that had nothing to do with her medical recovery. The sentence. The Superior Court has dismissed the decision of the Social Court No. 1 of León that in the first instance gave the reason to Mercadona, and goes on to condemn the company to readmit to the worker in your job and with the same conditions and pay for back salaries from the discharge of temporary disability after dismissal, at a rate of 2,089.58 euros per month. In addition, you must pay compensation of 7,500 euros for damages. In Xataka | 55,245 euros for eating a sandwich and a beer: Mercadona must compensate an employee for unfair dismissal Image | Wikimedia Commons (LBM1948), Unspash (Farhad Ibrahimzade)

We have been at Roig Arena, the stadium that the owner of Mercadona will open in Valencia. If you don’t have more screens it is because they can’t

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He already owns The most successful supermarket chain in the countryhas a foundation known for the Valencia Marathon Sponsorshiphas Your own startup accelerator And it is even owner of a basketball team. He only lacked the stadium. We talk, of course, Juan Roig. The owner of Mercadona has been embarked on the construction of the pavilion that bears his name and will be the new home of Valencia Basket, in addition to a space for concerts and shows. We have been visiting the works and if we had to summarize it in a word we are clear: screens. 1,700 square meters of screens, to be exact. The eye. Before entering we find a screen giving us welcome. They call it “the eye” and measures 10 meters high by 48 wide. Like the other screens, it has installed it LG that tells us the challenge that has meant such a large panel, resistant to the outside and also looks when the sun affects it. It is on the northwest facade of the enclosure and just at the time that there will be many events (about seven or eight in the afternoon) the sun will be putting on. This screen we have not been able to see it on because they were still installing it, so we cannot judge how it looks. Visuals will be projected in it to announce which event or game will have that day. Screens inside and out The videomarker. Within the sand is the jewel of the crown: a videomarker with 250 square meters of surface that, according to LG, has the highest resolution in Europe. It is in the center of the pavilion and forms four screens, but as it has the rounded edges and the image they project is continuous, it gives the feeling that it is a single panel that wraps the entire structure. In addition, in the inner face there are two more screens in which information will be seen from the basketball matches that are held. More screens. There is no thing left, the interior of the Roig Arena is literally lined on screens (see the first photo). There is a kind of band that they call ‘Ribbon LED’ that surrounds the stadium and separates the lower stand from the superior. And there is even more. Inside is also the largest videowall in Europe, with an area of 500 square meters. Both the Videowall and the Ribbon and the videomarker do have seen them on and has surprised us with the sharpness and luminosity. Folded and deployed bleachers Two ages. The enclosure has a particularity and that is that the capacity is variable. You can house 15,600 people in Basket mode and up to 20,000 in concert mode. This is achieved with a retractable bleachers system in the first level. In a basketball game they will be deployed, creating one more level of seats that extend to the edge of the field, while in the concerts they will fold them so that they are hidden on the sides and the track is larger. Investment. The idea of making a new pavilion for Valencia Basket years ruminating And finally Juan Roig confirmed that he would build an enclosure with a capacity for about 15,000 people. In 2018 He traveled to Berlin to know the Berlin Arenastadium in which the project was inspired, and the works began in 2020. The total investment in the enclosure will be, according to its general director, more than 300 million euros And there is already date for its inauguration: on September 6. Basket and more. In addition to being the new home of the Valencian team, which leaves the mythical (but quite outdated) La Fonteta PavilionRoig Arena was also conceived as a space for concerts and shows. In fact, although it does not open until September, they already have confirmed concerts for all next year, Many of them with Sold Out. Images | Xataka, Roig Arena In Xataka | Juan Roig believes that cooking at home has no future. There are eight million Spaniards who are already giving the right

There is a Granada cooperative demonstrating that the opposite model to Mercadona also works: Covir will

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The large supermarket chains have market share and penetration – or in An extraordinarily high profit margin for your sector-, but there are alternative models that without appearing at the top of those rankings, they are also successful in their own parameters. Covirán is a good case study: it is sustaining in Spain and Portugal, building an empire of proximity. Why is it important. Covirán represents the alternative approach to the dominant distribution model. Your growth strategy (rural, cooperative) goes against nature of a sector used to consolidation. This Granadina cooperative closed 2024 with revenues of 1,846 million euros (everything that is sold in all stores operating under its teaching), and with 617 million business figure of the gripo (which really invoices as a company). The negative reading is that it was just 0.13% more than in 2023. The positive reading is that the flat figure tells another story: it is changing its business model while conquering more territories. Its benefit was 2.34 million euros over 617 million. 0.38% that sounds low because it is, but that allows you to get benefit, unlike older groups such as

Juan Roig, president of Mercadona

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If someone put in the center of any city to ask passersby the name of the first business leader who came to mind, surely in their answers would appear names such as Amancio Ortega, Ana Botín, Florentino Pérez or Juan Roig. A similar exercise is what the corporate reputation consultant Merco has been doing in her Corporate and leaders business monitorcreating an annual ranking of leaders and companies with a better reputation. In the 2025 edition, the president of Mercadona appears as the best valued businessman in Spain. Juan Roig, the immutable It cannot be said that Juan Roig was surprised to lead this ranking. The president of Mercadona has been in this position for seven years, since in 2019 the founder of Mercadona dismissed Pablo Isla, at that time CEO of Inditex. This recognition of leadership is the result of the decisions that Roig has taken at the head of the supermarket chain that is transforming the Classic Supermarket Concepttowards a model in which Prima the profitabilitythe offer of New ways to consume its products and commitment to Mercadona digitalization. Beyond the immovable Juan Roig, in the list of improved leaders valued we find a greater female presence than previous years. The second position is occupied by Ana Botín, president of Banco Santander, followed closely by Amancio Ortega that, although it is true that he does not occupy an executive position or inditex or in Pontegadeahis leadership continues to be one of The best valued. Fourth, although a little further away, we find Marta Ortega, now leads with very good results The textile empire founded by his father. Close the Top 5 of this listing Ignacio Sánchez Galán, president of Iberdrola who asserts his two decades at the head of the energy to occupy this position. Leaders and their companies Although leadership influences largely the reputation of companies, there is not always a direct coincidence between the best valued leader and the best positioned company. An example of this is found in the RANKING OF BEST VALUED COMPANIES In Spain in 2025. This list is not headed by the Mercadona de Juan Roig as expected, but is Inditex, led by Marta Ortega that occupies fourth place in terms of better valued leaders. However, Mercadona occupies a very honorable second place on that list. Something similar happens with Banco Santander that, although it is true that its president occupies second place in leadership, we must go down to the ninth position of companies best valued in Spain to find Banco Santander. Inditex has monopolized the first position of that list for almost a decade thanks to Your successful modelwith the only exception of 2022. In that year, Mercadona dismissed Ortega’s textile, to lose the first position again the following year. The Top 10 of companies is completed by the Social Group Once, Repsol, Iberdrola, Coca-Cola, BBVA, CaixaBank and Mapfre. In Xataka | The list of the richest people in Spain in 2025: many changes in the figures, but not in the protagonists Image | Flikr (Informa Board), Gtres

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