Cencosud Details Expansion Plans for The Fresh Market

Amid the announcement of its second quarter financial results, which included a 12.9% increase in revenue, Cencosud shared details about its future growth plans for The Fresh Market, as well as how the grocer has contributed to its recent success.

During Q2, Cencosud reached $4.5 million in sales, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. Net income increased 163% year over year to $179 million, while adjusted EBITDA grew 17.2% compared to the second quarter of 2022.

[Read more: "The Fresh Market Rolls Out All Things Pumpkin in August"]

According to Cencosud, the sales increase and adjusted EBITDA growth are mainly due to the successful consolidation of The Fresh Market in the U.S. and GIGA Atacado in Brazil. The company also experienced an increase in market share of its supermarkets in Chile and Brazil.

"During the second quarter of 2023, and despite a challenging macroeconomic environment in Latin America and the United States, Cencosud continued to generate positive results by achieving revenue and EBITDA margin growth,” said Matías Videla, CEO of Cencosud. “This reflects the sustained resilience of the company's core businesses and the solid performance in terms of profitability in countries such as Chile, Argentina and Peru, which again achieved double-digit EBITDA margins."

The Fresh Market has now been under Cencosud’s ownership for one year, with Videla sharing that in those 12 months, The Fresh Market has contributed with an adjusted EBITDA of $210 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.4% to its parent company's consolidated result, exceeding estimates.

Videla also shared that The Fresh Market opened its first new store since being acquired during Q2, as well as Cencosud’s plans to add 22 additional stores over the next 24 months. Its location in Carmel, Ind., welcomed shoppers in May and features traditional grocery departments like produce, meat, seafood, bakery, gourmet cheese, prepared foods and wine, along with a center store culinary kitchen called The Square.

According to a local media report, The Fresh Market recently filed paperwork in Louisville, Ky., to revamp a former Barnes & Noble bookstore into a grocery store. Located at 4055 Summit Plaza Drive, the site is within the Paddock Shops development. The grocer, which has not released information on this potential store, runs a nearby location in Louisville at 1805 Rudy Lane and has another operation in Lexington, Ky.

Greensboro, N.C.-based The Fresh Market operates 160 stores in 22 states. The Fresh Market is No. 76 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.