“The discounter segment in Italy is a crowded space, with domestic operators Eurospin and MD vying with Lidl and latecomer Aldi for sales and several of the leading supermarket chains, who have their own discounter fascias. Nonetheless, with Italians’ historic desire for low prices and good value, something which has been accentuated by the current cost of living crisis, it is also the fastest growing sector of the grocery market. Penny’s ambition to grow its market share by two percentage points might seem modest but, in the circumstances, at least sounds realistic. If anything, given the competition for suitable sites and that it has only opened around 25 stores in the past two years, growing from its current total of 420 to 500 by 2025 may be a stretch and it will either have to ramp up its rate of openings or turn to acquisitions of smaller chains to reach its target. For more information on the discounter segment and the grocery retailing market, see Supermarkets – Italy, 2022.”