THE SN LIST: TOP 25 WORLDWIDE FOOD RETAILERS

Rank, Company: Headquarters; Top Executive; Net Sales In Billions; Number Of Stores; Countries of Operation

ong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Korea, U.K., U.S.

2 Carrefour: France; Jose Luis Duran; 90.3; 11,080

Argentina, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, French Polynesia, Greece, Guadeloupe, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Martinique, Mexico, New Caledonia, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates

3 Metro Group: Germany; Hans-Joachim Korber; 70.1; 2,562

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, U.K., Vietnam

4 Ahold: Netherlands; Anders C. Moberg; 64.6; 7,078

Costa Rica, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, U.S.

5 Tesco: U.K.; Terry Leahy; 62.2; 2,391

China, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Slovakia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, U.K.

6 Kroger: U.S.; David B. Dillon; 56.4; 3,790

U.S.

7 Rewe: Germany; Achim Egner; 50.7; 13,433

Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine

8 Costco: U.S.; James Sinegal; 47.1; 441.

Canada, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Taiwan, U.K., U.S

9 ITM (Intermarche): France; Michel Pattou; 44.0 e; 10,753

Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Spain

10 Schwarz Group: Germany; Gunter Fergen; 42.6 e; 6,627

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, U.K.

11 Aldi: Germany; Theo Albrecht; 41.9 e; 7,435

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, U.K., U.S.

12 Albertsons: U.S.; Larry Johnston; 39.9; 2,525

U.S.

13 AEON: Japan; Motoya Okada; 38.8; 9,956

Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, U.K., U.S.

14 Walgreens: U.S.; David W. Bernauer; 37.5; 4,585

Puerto Rico, U.S.

15 Auchan: France; Gerard Mulliez; 37.2; 2,835

Angola, Argentina, China, France, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Taiwan

16 Safeway: U.S.; Steven A. Burd; 35.8; 1,908

Canada, Mexico, U.S.

17 Ito-Yokado: Japan; Sakae Isaka; 33.5; 19,752

Australia, Canada, China, Guam, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Turkey, U.S.

18 Leclerc: France; Edouard Leclerc; 32.8 e; 552

France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain

19 Edeka: Germany; Alfons Frenk; 31.8 e; 1,305

Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Russia

20 Sainsbury: U.K.; Justin King; 29.9; 743

U.K.

21 Tengelmann: Germany; Karl-Erivan W. Haub; 29.8 e; 7,617

Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, U.S.

22 Casino: France; Jean-Charles Naouri; 28.8; 9,019

Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Comoros, France, Lebanon, Madagascar, Martinique, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Poland, Reunion, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Uruguay, U.S., Venezuela, Vietnam

23 Coles Myer: Australia; John Fletcher; 23.7; 2,683

Australia, New Zealand

24 Morrisons: U.K.; Ken Morrison; 22.5; 559

U.K.

25 Delhaize Group: Belgium; Pierre-Olivier Beckers; 22.3; 2,579

Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia, U.S.

Source: M M Planet Retail ; www.planetretail.net, SN research

e=estimate. Sales figures are for the latest financial year. Companies included must have a third of their sales from food. Information taken from company documents unless otherwise indicated.

Notes: Wal-Mart Stores' figures includes Seiyu and Seiyu joint ventures. Carrefour sold its Japan and Mexico operations in 2005; has a franchise agreement in Norway. ITM sold its German operations to Edeka in 2005. Ito-Yokado has 7-Eleven stores in Denmark, Norway, Singapore, South Korea and Sweden. Tengelmann sold its China operations in 2005. Casino announced franchise deals in Switzerland. Delhaize Group plans to sell its Slovakia operations to Rewe in 2005.