Kesko Food is renewing its K-market concept
Kesko Food is testing a new K-market concept which places the emphasis on ease of shopping. The first K-market conforming to the new concept will be opened in Rusko, near Turku tomorrow. The new K-market will increasingly focus on offering easy food solutions to inhabitants of the neighbourhood. Key aspects of the pilot operation include growing the proportion of own brands from the present 15 percent to about 30 percent, increasing self-service and offering a comprehensive selection of ready-to-eat items.
The new concept will be tested at first in some K-markets. The experience gained will be used to refine the model and to gradually reform the entire K-market chain during the next few years.
Kesko Food's own brands are the cornerstone of the new K-market's selection. Their estimated share of the sales will be about 30 percent, compared with the K-markets' traditional average of 15 percent. The new K-market offer about 3,500 products, of which over 1,100 represent the Pirkka range and over 200 the low-priced Euro Shopper range. Private labels also include Rico for fruit and Costa Rica for coffee.
The emphasis is on ready-to-eat foods and fresh bread, and products that make cooking easier are also favoured. At the beginning of the week, the focus is on fast-to-cook meals, while ingredients for more festive foods play a more prominent role on weekends.
The visual appearance of a store based on self-service is simple: clear grouping of products is of major importance. Shopping is made easy with proper store furnishings, visible signs and clear price labelling. The store also has a special aisle for private labels, and long opening hours facilitate shopping.
With this concept reform Kesko Food responds to the competition at the grocery market. The company aims to increase its market share with different chain concepts that serve different customer needs. In this field, the K-markets operate as food stores close to customers, focusing now increasingly on easy and fast food solutions and constantly low prices. The purpose is also to lower planning and implementation costs of new store premises and to improve the efficiency of store area with the help of the new, uniform K-market model.
The K-market network extending throughout Finland consists of 335outlets. In 2003 the chain's sales totalled about 1.1 billion euros. Kesko Food's other store chains in Finland consist of K-citymarkets, K-supermarkets, K-extras and K-pikkolos. In addition, Kesko Food has tested Cassa discount stores in 11 locations during this year.
Further information:
Vice President Eija Jantunen, Neighbourhood Chain Unit, tel. +358 1053 22080 or +358 500 600346
