Brussels, Oct 14 - Belgian discount supermarket chain Colruyt will focus on expanding its activities in France and in Belgium before looking further afield, newspapers De Tijd and De Standaard reported on Wednesday.
Colruyt has 40 of its own stores in France and is aiming to open at least another five supermarkets a year, Belgian daily De Standaard said.
The group recently opened its first supermarket in Paris, but will not expand its activities in that region further before 2011. Instead, it will continue to focus on eastern France, De Standaard said.
In Belgium, the group is aiming to increase its market share from a current 23 percent, newspaper De Tijd said.
"A market share of 30 percent is not unimaginable," De Tijd quoted Chief Executive Jef Colruyt as saying.
Colruyt also plans further investments in its foodservice business, which delivers food and other items to schools, hospitals, companies and public bodies.
"We have the potential to grow from fifth place to third place in that market," Dries Colpaert, who runs the group's French activities, told De Tijd.
He added that there were acquisition opportunities in the fresh foods business in particular.
"We will certainly have to grow at the expense of competitors as the foodservice market is saturated. But we are succeeding in doing that," Colpaert told De Tijd.