The first ever SPAR China Congress kicked off in Weihai, in the Shangdong Peninsula yesterday. The three-day long Congress is being attended by SPAR International Board members, SPAR colleagues from across China and international retail experts as well as guest speakers and strategic partners.
The Congress gives SPAR China Partners the opportunity to share best practice with each other and international SPAR Partners. Also in attendance are Graham O’Connor, Chairman of SPAR International & SPAR South Africa; Peter Blakemore, Chairman of A F Blakemore UK, Tobias Wasmuht, Managing Director of SPAR International, Paul Klotz, Chairman of SPAR Italy and Knut Johansson, Chairman of SPAR Norway. Over 200 delegates representing more than ten nationalities are gathered in the city.
Delegates will visit a number of SPAR stores and the food production centre in Weihai, which offers a unique opportunity to see the rapid expansion of retail formats and instore product offerings which are inherent to the market.
Since entering China in 2004, SPAR now has a presence in the provinces of Shandong, Guangdong, Shanxi & Inner Mongolia, Beijing (city), Sichuan, Henan and Hebei and a central office located in Shanghai. SPAR China has adhered to the brand philosophy of freshness, choice, value and service, focusing on the development of the SPAR Hypermarket, SPAR Supermarket, SPAR Neighbourhood and SPAR Express formats.
Great support has been received from many of the SPAR Partners around the world during the development of the strong SPAR operation in China which has continued to show excellent results year-on-year and is ranked fifth amongst global SPAR Partners in turnover terms reporting €1.9 billion in the 2015 results. Investment continues not only in retail with 360 stores trading today, but also supply chain expansion across all of the regions in which SPAR trades.
“We seek to grow and expand in unity with all our SPAR Partners by sharing our resources and knowledge, ‘Better Together’, just like the theme of the SPAR China Congress. The success of the Congress will help drive the booming growth of our partners and the retail market in China,” said Yoep Man, SPAR China Managing Director.
A SPAR International Board meeting is also taking place this week in Weihai, enabling the Board of Directors to meet with the Partners from SPAR China and to at see first-hand the development of the brand in this high potential market.