Food retailing is changing. The trends of the last 50 years are being challenged and in some cases even reversed.

• In the UK superstores are losing market share

• In France, the fastest growing sectors are convenience stores

• In Germany the hard discounters are retrenching, even though in many other countries, notably the UK, they are gaining market share

• In Spain there has also been a move to smaller supermarkets, but here it has been driven by a desire to save money by shopping more on an as needs basis. Mercadona has been the biggest beneficiary, but it is looking under threat from the discounters

• Online is growing, but still takes only a small share of sales, even in the most developed country, the UK.

Naturally the older formats are fighting back. Superstores are reconsidering their retail proposition. Hard discounters are gaining a new lease of life by widening their range and improving their fresh and chilled offer.

That also means that the lines between formats are becoming blurred.

But, ultimately, the key to successful food retailing in future will be the same as ever – to understand what customers really want and to be the best at delivering it. We think that the over-riding consideration is value for money, but that is a vague term coving not just quality and price, but range, service and everything else that goes into making a food retailer an attractive place to shop.

The main focus of this report is the five major European countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Together they account for around 60% of all European retail sales (excluding Russia). But in the European summary we include summary data about the other leading markets in Europe, together with details about the top 50 leading food retailers across all Europe. More information about smaller countries can be found in Mintel’s European Retail Handbook aand in the European Retail Rankings - December 2015..

Our consumer spending figures for food, beverages and tobacco follow the COICOP category definitions.

Note that consumer spending figures stated are for retail purchases only, and exclude foodservice spending, such as through bars, hotels and restaurants. Tobacco is the exception to this rule.

The COICOP category definitions are set out below.

Our sector sales are based on SIC 2007 definitions – the core sector is the grocers – or “non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating”.

All retailers’ sales figures are quoted excluding VAT (sales tax), unless specifically stated otherwise.

In our European reports, all retail sector sales are quoted excluding VAT, unless specifically stated otherwise. In our UK report, retail sales data includes VAT.

Consumer spending data is quoted including VAT, unless specifically stated otherwise.

Operating profit is trading profit after normal operating costs and depreciation, but before interest, goodwill amortisation and exceptional items.

Pre-tax profit is calculated after all costs, including exceptionals, interest, and non-cash charges such as amortisation, but before tax.

Note that there can be a number of reasons why tables do not sum exactly:

• Rounding errors

• Currency conversions if original data for different subsidiaries was in different currencies (companies often provide information in local currencies)

• VAT (sales tax) – if original data was provided gross (including sales tax), we have extracted VAT at the relevant rates for countries concerned and at the estimated appropriate rates depending on product categories sold

• Information on all subsidiaries is not always available. As a result in some cases we have an entry for the parent company, and subsidiary information on only one part of the business.

Conversion from local currencies to euros is carried out at the average rate ruling during the year.

All countries in Europe levy sales tax on the value added tax basis.