“When one restaurateur closes, another usually opens”

One major challenge in the industry is inflation, which has hit customers from the catering and hotel industries hard in recent months and years. “We are noticing lower purchasing power,” says Guillon-Verne, who previously Metro Hungary and Metro Croatia has directed.

23 percent of sales from own brands

But this doesn’t just have negative effects for Metro: Due to rising prices, significantly more customers are now turning to the wholesale chain’s own brands because they are cheaper than branded products.

“The growth accelerated significantly,” says Guillon-Verne. Meanwhile, 23 percent of total sales came from own brands, and in the pure catering sector even more than 30 percent. For comparison: just four years ago the share of sales was 13 percent.

Boom in convenience products

High personnel costs and a shortage of skilled workers have also been a burden on the hospitality industry for some time. That’s why more and more restaurateurs are turning to so-called convenience food. These are prepared foods for quicker processing in the kitchen, such as ready-made mixtures for sauces or already peeled and cut vegetables. Guillon-Verne also notices this in increasing sales figures in this segment.

Metro advertises the products to its customers with the time savings they bring. A restaurateur who buys a kilogram of pre-peeled garlic in a jar can save up to an hour of working time.

Overall, Guillon-Verne finds the restaurant industry to be a “very tough industry.” He is repeatedly informed by customers that they are closing their restaurant. But the Metro managing director remains optimistic: “The good thing is that when one restaurateur closes, another usually opens.”

Delivery by helicopter

Since the wholesale chain AGM (previously at Rewe) was finally taken over in April 2024, the company operates 16 wholesale stores and three depots.

Guillon-Verne is proud to be able to cover the entire country and says that in September Metro even delivered deliveries by helicopter to restaurants that were difficult to reach in the Alps.

The managing director does not want to open new locations. Instead, Metro wants to offer an online shop from 2027 in addition to “cash-and-carry” and delivery. The web shop called Metro Market According to Guillon-Verne, it is already working successfully in Germany, Italy and France.

Millions in investment due to one-way deposit

The existing branches are currently preparing for the introduction of the disposable deposit for beverage packaging from January 2025. Own take-back machines are installed there for large customers, each of which requires up to 60 square meters of space.

The machines, which are visually reminiscent of large washing machines, can accept and process up to 100 bottles or cans at the same time. They are comparable to small waste disposal plants and their purchase, together with the structural measures in the branches, represents an investment worth millions, says Guillon-Verne.