TOP 25 WORLDWIDE FOOD RETAILERS

Rank: Company; Headquarters; Top Executive; Sales in Billions; Number Of Stores; Countries of Operation

ca, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom, United States

2) Carrefour: France; JosT Luis Duran; 92.6; 12,179

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

3) Tesco: U.K.; Terry Leahy; 69.6; 2,365

China, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Slovakia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom

4) Metro Group: Germany; Hans-Joachim K÷rber; 69.3; 2,458

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vietnam

5) Kroger: U.S.; David B. Dillon; 60.6; 3,726

United States

6) Ahold: Netherlands; Anders Moberg; 55.3; 6,422

Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, United States

7) Costco: U.S.; James Sinegal; 52.9; 460

Canada, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States

8) Rewe: Germany; Achim Egner; 51.8; 11,242

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

9) Schwarz Group: Germany; Klaus Gehrig; 45.8 e; 7,299

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

10) Aldi: Germany; Hartmuth Wiesemann; 45.0 e; 7,788

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

11) Walgreens: U.S.; David W. Bernauer; 42.2; 4,953

Puerto Rico, United States

12) Auchan: France; GTrard Mulliez; 41.8; 2,686

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

13) Edeka: Germany; Alfons Frenk; 41.3 e; 19,001

Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Russia

14) Albertsons: U.S.; Larry Johnston; 40.4; 2,541

United States

15) AEON: Japan; Motoya Okada; 40.2; 10,132

Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

16) Safeway (USA):U.S.; Steven A. Burd; 38.4; 1,914

Canada, Mexico, United States

17) ITM (IntermarchT): France; Michel Pattou; 37.7; 3,932

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

18) Leclerc: France; Michel-Edouard Leclerc; 35.4; 581

France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain

19) Seven & I: Japan; Toshifumi Suzuki; 35.3; 21,136

Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United States

20) Tengelmann: Germany; Karl-Erivan W. Haub; 29.8 e; 7,730

Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United States

21) Sainsbury: U.K.; Justin King; 29.2; 808

United Kingdom

22) Casino: France; Jean-Charles Naouri; 28.3; 9,388

Argentina, Bahrain, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Comoros, France, Guadeloupe, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, Madagascar, Martinique, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Poland, Reunion, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam

23) Woolworths (AUS): Australia; Roger Corbett; 28.0 e; 2,744

Australia, New Zealand

24) Coles Myer: Australia; John Fletcher; 27.9; 2,775

Australia, New Zealand

25) Delhaize Group: Belgium; Pierre-Olivier Beckers; 23.1; 2,637

Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Romania, United States

e= estimate. Carrefour: Includes franchises; in 2005, sold Japan, Mexico operations, split with franchise partner Norges Gruppen in Norway; in 2006, will exit Czech R. and Slovakia (agreed in 2005 to asset swap with Tesco, pending approval), plans to sell S. Korean operation, enter Algeria. Tesco: Exiting Taiwan, entering U.S., 2007. Metro: Held 40.5% stake in Praktiker DIY, 2005; sales, stores and countries exclude Praktiker; entry planned for Pakistan. Ahold: 2005 market exits from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua. Costco: Exploring entry in Australia. Rewe: Sold French, Swiss retail operations, 2005; focusing on food service. Schwartz Group: Entry expected in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine. Aldi: Entry expected in Greece, Hungary, Poland, New Zealand, Portugal. Edeka: Acquired ITM's German operations, 2005; withdrawal from Czech R., 2006. Albertsons: Sale pending to SuperValu, investment consortium, 2006. Safeway USA: Stores include Mexican chain Casa Ley. Auchan: Exited Argentina, 2005; entry in Romania planned, 2006. ITM: Exited Germany, 2005. Seven & I: Stores exclude franchises in Europe, Hong Kong, S. Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand; plans to franchise stores in Germany. Tengelmann: Left Canada, late 2005, and China. Casino: Planned 2006 entry in Czech R.; 2005, opened stores in UAE (franchise partnership with Fu-Com), Latvia, Lithuania (with IKI), Switzerland (with Magro) and Leader Price operations in Togo, Cameroon, Belgium, etc., through acquisition of stake in Geimex. Woolworths: Entry into India imminent.

Source: Planet Retail (see box on Page 20)