Mercadona’s purchases from Alicante suppliers exceeded 927 million in 2024

Mercadona, a company that provides both physical and online supermarkets, “maintains ongoing collaboration with specialist suppliers and inter-suppliers” in the areas where it operates, “a relationship model based on trust that contributes to the growth of the local economy.” In Alicante, Mercadona’s local purchases will total €927 million in 2024, an increase of nearly 10% over the previous year.

Among the purchases from product suppliers, key specialists in Mercadona’s strategy of offering a robust, high-quality assortment that meets the expectations of its “Bosses” (as it internally refers to its customers), are the 7,380 tonnes of lemons purchased in the 2024 campaign, nearly 7% more; the 6,730 tonnes of table grapes, a 20% increase; and the 730 tonnes of loquats, 6% more than in the previous season. All of this data demonstrate Mercadona’s strong commitment to the Alicante agri-food sector.

“Mercadona’s investment in Alicante has also been a constant in 2024, amounting to 30 million euros, which have been allocated to improving the store network and implementing the new Ready to Eat section,” according to a statement from the corporation.

In terms of store network improvements, the company has opened a new store in Cocentaina (which resulted in the closure of another in the same municipality due to its failure to meet the company’s quality standards) and renovated six others, bringing the total number of efficient supermarkets in the province to 82 by the end of 2024.

Furthermore, by the end of last year, 77 stores had a ready-to-eat section, which featured roughly 40 items ranging from starters and appetisers like croquettes and Russian salad to main courses like rice dishes, spaghetti, hamburgers, and sandwiches. In accordance with Mercadona’s environmental plan, this area offers a substantial portion of its dishes in natural packaging, such as sugarcane (a compostable material) or cardboard.

At the same time, Mercadona has extended its commitment to secure, quality employment for another year by adding 159 new jobs in Alicante, increasing its total workforce to 6,161. The company not only guarantees a salary above the industry average (the minimum gross starting salary is €1,685 per month, rising to €2,280 per month with more than four years of seniority), but it also encourages the personal and professional development of its team, whose example and leadership contribute to the project’s ongoing success.

And, as part of its Social Action Plan, Mercadona provided more than 1,340 tonnes of basic necessities to the 50 organisations with whom it interacts in the province of Alicante alone during the last year through various programmes.

Shared growth

Every choice at Mercadona is guided by a commitment to quality, including the selection of the 2,100 specialist suppliers and inter-suppliers with whom it works, demonstrating a strong commitment to the Spanish agricultural sector. To that end, Mercadona is strengthening relations with critical Spanish agri-food industries, such as agriculture, cattle, fishing, and aquaculture, demonstrating its commitment to stability, planning, forward-thinking vision, purchasing security, and specialisation.

The company also relies on the labour and leadership of 14,000 non-commercial and service suppliers, including over 400 carriers, to form an ecosystem that, through transparency, communication, and trust, fosters growth in the places it does business. Proof of it’s success is that Mercadona’s purchases in Spain will total €29 billion in 2024, an 8% rise over the previous year. In this sense, Spanish suppliers play an important part in Mercadona’s assembly line, as their collaboration allows the company to continue pushing and solidifying a shared growth initiative.