Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. Stock

Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. engages in the operation of retail food stores primarily in the United States and Europe.

In the United States, the company’s subsidiaries operate supermarkets under the Food Lion, Hannaford, Stop & Shop, Giant and Martin’s brands. In the Netherlands, the company operates under the Albert Heijn brand. In Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the company operates stores under the Delhaize and Albert Heijn brands. In Central and Southeastern Europe, the company operates under the Albert brand in the Czech Republic; the Alfa Beta (Alfa Beta Vassilopoulos S.A.) and ENA brands in Greece; the Mega Image (Mega Image S.R.L.) brand in Romania; and the Maxi and Tempo brands in Serbia.

In addition to supermarkets, the company or its subsidiaries operate a range of other formats (such as its Etos (Etos B.V.) drugstores and Gall & Gall (Gall & Gall B.V.) wine and liquor stores in the Netherlands and its hypermarkets in the Czech Republic and Serbia), and continues to expand its e-commerce options (bol.com (bol.com B.V.) and Albert Heijn Online in the Netherlands, delhaize.be in Belgium, and Peapod and Hannaford To-Go in the United States) to serve the needs of different communities and to give customers various shopping alternatives.

Segments

The company’s retail operations are presented in five segments: Ahold USA; Delhaize America; the Netherlands; Belgium; and Central and Southeastern Europe. In addition, Other Retail, consisting of the company’s unconsolidated joint ventures JMR - Gestão de Empresas de Retalho, SGPS, S.A. (JMR) and P.T. Lion Super Indo, LLC (Super Indo); and the company’s Global Support Office, are presented separately. All segments sell a range of perishable and non-perishable food and non-food consumer products.

Ahold USA segment

This segment’s operations are organized into four divisions: Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York Metro, Giant Landover and Giant Carlisle. Ahold USA stores are owner-operated (no franchise locations) and are located on the East Coast of the United States. Ahold USA also includes Peapod, an online grocery shopping and delivery service in the United States, which in addition to the country’s East Coast, is also active in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

As of January 1, 2017, Ahold USA subsidiaries operated a total of 776 supermarkets and 210 pick-up points in the United States. Ahold USA subsidiaries also operated 229 gas stations in the United States, the majority of which were located in the Giant Carlisle and Stop & Shop New England market areas.

Stop & Shop: Stop & Shop is a supermarket brand in the northeastern United States. Stop & Shop is divided into two divisions, Stop & Shop New York Metro, with 200 stores in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey; and Stop & Shop New England, with 217 stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, each as of January 1, 2017. The Stop & Shop divisions operate superstores, which are larger than typical supermarkets, some of which include gas stations, full-service pharmacies and conventional supermarkets.

Giant Landover: Giant Landover operates supermarkets and superstores under the brand name Giant in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia. As of January 1, 2017, Giant Landover operated 168 stores.

Giant Carlisle: The Giant Carlisle stores operate under the brand names, Giant and Martin’s. The Giant Carlisle stores are located in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia. Giant Carlisle operates both superstores and supermarkets. As of January 1, 2017, Giant Carlisle operated 191 stores.

E-commerce

The company owns Peapod, an online grocery service. Peapod works in partnership with Ahold USA subsidiaries’ U.S.-based supermarkets to provide online home shopping and grocery delivery and operates pick-up points primarily adjacent to grocery stores. Peapod serves customers in 12 states and in the District of Columbia.

Own Brands

Ahold USA subsidiaries’ supermarkets sell different own-brand products in their food and non-food assortments. For example, customers could buy food products under the company’s own brands, such as the Stop & Shop and Giant brand, Nature’s Promise organic brand, Simply Enjoy artisan food and the Guaranteed Value line with bottom dollar prices. Customers could also find non-food products under its own brands, including Care One health and beauty care, Companion pet food and accessories, Smart Living household essentials, Etos European cosmetics, and Always My Baby.

Delhaize America segment

This segment is organized into two subsidiary brands, Food Lion and Hannaford. Delhaize America’s stores are subsidiary-operated (no franchise locations) and are located on the East Coast of the United States. As of January 1, 2017, Delhaize America subsidiaries operated 1,214 supermarkets and 34 pick-up points in the United States.

Food Lion Inc. (Food Lion)

Delhaize Group NV/SA (Delhaize) owns Food Lion, a food retailer operating 22 stores. In 2016, Food Lion continued with its ‘Easy, Fresh & Affordable... You Can Count on Food Lion Every Day’ strategy, relaunching 142 stores in the Charlotte, North Carolina market after remodeling during the year. Food Lion operated 1,033 stores in 10 southeastern U.S. states as of January 1, 2017.

Hannaford Bros. Co (Hannaford)

Delhaize owns Hannaford, a supermarket chain in the northeastern United States, present in five states. Hannaford operated 181 supermarkets as of January 1, 2017. Majority stores have full-service pharmacies.

E-commerce

Hannaford To-Go’s click-and-collect service was expanded in 2016, and as of January 1, 2017, Hannaford had a total of 34 To-Go sites.

Own Brands

Food Lion and Hannaford both sell a range of own-brand products in their food and non-food assortments. Food Lion sells Food Lion brand, Nature’s Place, Home 360, Cha Ching, Healthy Access and Taste of Inspirations. Hannaford offers the Hannaford, Taste of Inspirations, Nature’s Place, Healthy Accents and Home 360 own brands. Nature’s Place brand is committed to sustainable fisheries and forests, with packaging.

The Netherlands segment

This segment operates various retail brands in the country. The company’s Albert Heijn brand is a supermarket and online food retailer with the majority of its business in the Netherlands. The company also operates drugstores in the country under the Etos brand, wine and liquor stores under the Gall & Gall brand, and an online shopping site for general merchandise at bol.com. The company’s net sales in the Netherlands consist of sales to consumers and to franchise stores. Franchise stores operate under the same format as the company-operated stores.

Albert Heijn

As of January 1, 2017, Albert Heijn had 1,011 stores located in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. The stores are in three principal formats, such as neighborhood grocery stores, larger Albert Heijn XL supermarkets, and Albert Heijn to go convenience stores. The average sales area of Albert Heijn’s own-operated stores is approximately 1,360 square meters. Albert Heijn also offers online shopping for delivery and operates pick-up points for its customers’ convenience.

Specialty Stores

The company owns Etos, a drugstore chain in the Netherlands offering customers a selection of health and beauty, body care, and baby care products. As of January 1, 2017, Etos operated 547 stores in the Netherlands.

The company also operates wine and liquor stores through its Gall & Gall brand. As of January 1, 2017, there were 605 Gall & Gall stores in the Netherlands.

E-commerce

In addition to offering online shopping through its retail food and specialty stores, Ahold (Koninklijke Ahold N.V. and its consolidated entities) owns bol.com, an online retailer of general merchandise that operates in the Netherlands and Belgium. Bol.com has expanded its offerings to include approximately 14 million products. Bol.com also launched Plaza, an online marketplace that gives customers access to products from other retailers through its Website.

In addition to bol.com’s online business, this segment offers groceries for home delivery and pickup through ah.nl. As of January 1, 2017, ah.nl operated a total of 54 pick-up points.

Own Brands

Albert Heijn supermarkets offer customers the AH own-brand line, which includes the sub-brands Excellent, Biologisch (organic) and Basic. AH Excellent includes products, such as real Belgian chocolate, artisan cookies and premium olive oil.

Belgium segment

This segment’s store network in Belgium and Luxembourg consists of various brands, depending on the specialty, the store size and whether the store is company-operated or affiliated (stores with a Delhaize brand that are operated by independent third parties to whom the company sells its products at wholesale prices).

Supermarkets

As of January 1, 2017, there were 135 company-operated supermarkets under the Delhaize ‘Le Lion’/Delhaize ‘De Leeuw’ brand in Belgium and Luxembourg; and 231 affiliated supermarkets under the AD Delhaize brand in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Proximity Stores

As of January 1, 2017, the company’s network of smaller conveniently located stores in Belgium and Luxembourg consisted of 399 locations in total, with 248 Proxy stores and 151 Shop & Go stores. Proxy Delhaize and Shop & Go are affiliated stores. Majority Shop & Go stores are located in Q8 gas stations and address customer expectations regarding proximity, convenience, speed and longer operating hours.

E-commerce

Delhaize.be, the company’s grocery home delivery brand in Belgium, sells food products to customers who order online or by phone. In 2009, Delhaize Belgium launched delhaize.be, allowing customers to order their groceries online and pick them up at their local store. As of January 1, 2017, 117 Delhaize stores had pick-up points.

Own Brands

The company’s Delhaize Belgium supermarkets offer customers the Delhaize, Care, 365, Eco, Bio and Taste of Inspirations own brands. The Bio brand offers a range of certified organic products.

Central and Southeastern Europe segment

This segment operates supermarkets and compact hypermarkets under Czech brand, Albert. These stores offer a range of food and non-food products. As of January 1, 2017, the company had a total of 330 stores in the Czech Republic.

As of January 1, 2017, the company operated 1,638 stores in Central and Southeastern Europe, of which 103 were compact hypers located in the Czech Republic and Serbia.

E-commerce

In 2015, the company’s Greek business launched an online sales channel, AB Click2Shop, and Mega Image started to offer online grocery shopping in Romania. Serbia added its Maxi online shopping experience in 2014. This segment operated 69 pick-up points as of January 1, 2017.

Own Brands

The company’s own-brand lines in Central and Southeastern Europe include both food (fresh and grocery) and non-food assortments.

Albert in the Czech Republic offers two own-brand lines, such as Albert and AH Basic. Under the Albert line of products, there are various sub-categories, including Bio, Free From, Veggie and Excellent, all offering products at lower prices than national brands.

The company’s Greek business offers the AB brand, Delhaize 365 and Care own brands. The AB brand is divided into sub-categories, including Close To Greek Land, Choice, Classic Range and Think Bio.

The company’s Romanian business has developed various own brands addressing different customer expectations, including Gusturi romanesti (traditional, local Romanian products and flavors), Mega Apetit (ready-made meals targeting customers with fast-paced lifestyles), Care, Delhaize, La Boucher, ECO and Bio own brands.

The company’s Serbian stores offer customers the Premia, Care, Home, Taste of Inspirations, 365, Bio and From Our Land own brands. Approximately 75% of Maxi’s own-brand products come from local producers.

Joint Ventures

In addition to its consolidated subsidiaries, the company holds interests in food retail operations through its investments in joint ventures. As of January 1, 2017, the company held interests in two material joint ventures:

JMR, a joint venture with Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A. (Jerónimo Martins). JMR owns Pingo Doce, a major supermarket chain, with 415 stores as of January 1, 2017. Under the terms of the joint venture agreement, the company is a 49% partner and Jerónimo Martins is a 51% partner in JMR, and the company shares equal voting power with Jerónimo Martins.

Super Indo, a joint venture with the Salim Group, 51% of which was acquired by Delhaize. Super Indo operated 140 of its own supermarkets and 1 franchise store as of January 1, 2017.

Supplier Relationships

The company purchases its merchandise from various suppliers, as well as through two European supplier purchase alliances, Coopernic and AMS.

Seasonality

The company’s retail businesses experience an increase in net sales in the fourth quarter of each year (year ending December 2016), primarily as a result of the holiday season. Results are also impacted by changes in weather patterns. For example, store sales of subsidiaries of the company in the U.S. are positively impacted by inclement winter weather, which typically results in increased sales prior to expected snow storms, while adverse winter weather in the Netherlands results in increased online sales.

Government Regulations

Money order and wire transfer services offered by the company’s subsidiaries’ stores are subject to regulations promulgated under the USA Patriot Act, which is administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The company’s respective subsidiaries’ pharmacy operations are subject to federal, state and local regulations and licensing requirements, including state pharmacy boards, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement regulations and third-party insurance regulations, as well as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

The company and its respective subsidiaries’ premises are inspected annually by federal and/or state authorities. These facilities are also subject to inspections and regulations issued pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act by the U.S. Department of Labor, which require the company and its respective subsidiaries to comply with certain manufacturing, health and safety standards to protect its employees from accidents and to establish hazard communication programs to transmit information about the hazards of certain chemicals present in certain products it distributes.

The company and its respective subsidiaries’ store operations and real estate operations are subject to zoning, environmental and building regulations, as well as laws that prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of disability, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other laws relating to accessibility and the removal of barriers.

Significant Events

In November 2018, Ahold Delhaize announced that it is partnering with Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands to expand the company's Artificial Intelligence for Retail (AIR) Lab. The expansion comprises a robotics research program and test site for developing innovations in the retail industry. By expanding its focus to robotics, AIRLab Delft would further drive innovations for daily business while building more knowledge of the intersection among retail, AI and robotics.

In September 2019, AholdDelhaize announced a strategic partnership with Hanshow Technology to introduce digital in-store applications for its European brands. As a first step in this collaboration, the brands would deploy Hanshow’s electronic shelf labels across their store networks. In addition, Ahold Delhaize and Hanshow would set up a Joint Innovation Lab to develop new in-store functions and capabilities. AholdDelhaize and Hanshow started collaborating in 2018 with electronic shelf labels in stores at Delhaize Belgium and Albert Heijn in the Netherlands.

History

The company was founded in 1887. It was formerly known as Koninklijke Ahold N.V. and changed its name to Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. in 2016.