As the custodian of the SPAR brand, SPAR International in Amsterdam
functions as a platform for the exchange of ideas and information
between the SPAR organisations world wide. These objectives support
the SPAR International Mission statement:
- To ensure that SPAR remains the world's largest supermarket
chain.
- To build SPAR as a global brand.
To achieve these two statements we
use our key strength which is the unique partnership of retailers
and wholesalers at local, national and international levels. By
working together we achieve our goals.
In support of this co-operation
SPAR International provides its members with services as the
exchange of know-how, standardisation projects, buying services,
private label development, marketing activities and brand
protection. In addition we also organise a series of congresses and
seminars on an annual basis.
To communicate our services we use our intranet www.sparconnect.com,
Contact International Magazine and various newsletters.
The Winning
strategies
To support our Mission Statement we designed The Winning
Strategies. These six strategies give us a clear focus on and
provide the basis or our past and future success. Each individual
strategy plays an important role in enabling SPAR to deliver value
to all our stakeholders and in combination all six strategies will
ensure the sustained growth of the SPAR business for the next
decade.
1 Driving Value
Our retail strategy is to have a strongly focussed price
aggressive policy. The base for this strategy is a powerful
promotional programme, an extensive SPAR private label range and a
price aggressive discount range.
2. Driving
Expansion
A key component of our winning strategy is expansion. We
need to continue to invest in the redevelopment and expansion of
our store portfolios. Besides expending in Africa, our key focus is
on the large developing markets of China, India and Russia.
3. Developing the SPAR Retail
Formats
Our multi-format strategy has driven growth and
increased market share. We will continue to focus on renewing the
formats in terms of layout and design to make sure we adopt and
integrate the best international practice into all our
stores.
4. Improving the Efficiency of
Operations
To ensure we have the highest level of efficiency at the
heart of offering real value to our customers, SPAR countries have
invested in developing state-of-the-art Distribution Centres. SPAR
members are constantly expanding and upgrading their warehouses to
ensure they operate at maximum efficiency and lowest costs in the
food retail supply chain.
5. Growing
Sustainably
Sustainability remains a key strategy for the worldwide
SPAR organisation. The SPAR approach to sustainability has moved
from informal to formal, recognising how serious sustainability is
to our customers.
6. Keeping to our Core
Values
The basis of SPAR is partnership at all levels of our
organization; local, national and international.
All our activities are underpinned
by our core values of the free exchange of knowledge and
information. This enables our members to learn from their more
experienced colleagues. The exchange of knowledge and information
is a competitive advantage of SPAR and it enables us to quickly
implement best practice throughout the SPAR world.