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Vision & Strategy

Vision & Strategy

Our vision
and strategy

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We offer the best food and convenience concepts based on: an in-depth understanding of customers and formats, operational excellence, ongoing innovation and agility as well as optimal value creation.
Five strategic objectives for the next five years

Five strategic pillars

Growth, efficiency, innovation, performance-oriented culture, sustainability.

In 2019, Valora communicated its strategy until 2025, which it is consistently pursuing, for the entire Group and its Retail and Food Service divisions in order to move closer to its vision of having the best food and convenience concepts. The strategy is based on five strategic pillars:

  • Growth
  • Efficiency
  • Innovation
  • Performance oriented culture
  • Sustainability

Growth

  • Expansion of the sales outlet network
    Valora wants to further expand its network of sales outlets. The main focus in Retail will be on the convenience formats such as avec and ServiceStore DB, as well as k kiosk and cigo where Valora also sees growth potential. Growth in Food Service will be principally through BackWerk, especially with new locations in the Netherlands plus shop-in-shop presence (clip-ins). Selective expansion is planned for the other formats. In addition, Valora is open to suitable acquisition opportunities in its core business of foodvenience.

  • Increasing the offering’s attractiveness
    The expansion of the higher-margin food category, especially fresh products, will play a major part in optimising the current range. Regional, vegetarian and vegan or also fair trade and organic offerings are growing in importance. In addition, Valora aims to further expand its range of digital and other services. Tobacco is still a major frequency and profit contributor, whereby alternative products are also promising.

  • Stronger position as a promotion platform
    In addition to expanding its own product range, Valora aims to further consolidate its position as a preferred marketing platform. The direct customer contact in the Valora formats allows partner companies to present their products and strengthen their brand value, notable examples being promotions for food, tobacco products and press articles.

  • Expansion of market position with pretzels
    In its B2B business, Valora aims to exploit the integrated value chain for pretzel production and build on its strong market position. The Food Service division’s main expansion focus is on the two biggest global pretzel markets, i.e. Germany and the US.

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Growth
Efficiency

Efficiency

  • Strengthening vertical integration
    Thanks to own brands such as ok.– or Caffè Spettacolo and Valora’s in-house pretzel production, vertical integration is a key competitive advantage. Valora wants to exploit this strength even more and increase the proportion of own brands in its overall product mix. At the same time, Valora aims to establish an even stronger market position when marketing its own brands.

  • More efficiency to improve profitability
    Valora does not rely solely on growth, profitability is also essential to ensure the sustainability of its business model. Processes are improved through automation, retail analytics and efficient working procedures. Enhanced cooperation within the Group enables know-how transfer across borders, formats and topics.

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Innovation

Innovation

  • New food and technology concepts
    Valora aims to access new income sources through innovation in order to remain competitive. The Group’s objective is to launch fresh food and further new concepts and products. Valora also uses new technologies to develop software-based solutions for customers, its own operations and the organisation. In so doing, Valora aims to offer its customers convenience not only in terms of its products, but also in terms of the shopping experience. It takes more than courage to pursue this innovative course, speed and agility are also very important. Valora relies on internal expertise and is expanding its in-house skill set for food and technological development. It also welcomes innovation from industrial partners and offers them, through its sales outlet network, a platform so it can work with them to pioneer new foodvenience market models.

Valora Digital Annual Report

Performance-oriented culture

Performance-oriented culture

  • More entrepreneurship, customer focus and employer appeal
    Valora relies on entrepreneurial operators and motivated staff to implement its strategy. It plans to further expand the agency or franchise model. Valora wants to offer its staff an open and dynamic working environment in which they can progress consistently. Valora’s objective is to build on employees’ strengths, nurture their talent and en-able them to take the initiative and implement ideas with vigour. Valora will not just recruit people with the necessary professional skills, but also those who are compatible with the company’s culture. As a result, Valora will sustainably enhance its appeal as an employer.

Valora Career Annual Report

Sustainability

  • For people and the environment
    Stakeholders rightly expect Valora to contribute to sustainable development as a responsible company. Valora pursues a comprehensive approach to sustainability – based on the three action areas of People, Planet and Products – and is careful with its resources. The priority is fair employment conditions for all employees in the network and the promotion of talent and careers. Valora wants to offer attractive prospects and to become a great place to work for everybody. Valora also implements measures to avoid food waste, reduce energy consumption and protect the climate. Finally, Valora aspires to offer environmentally friendly, fair products and healthy alternatives while also paying attention to the issue of sustainable packaging.

Sustainability Annual Report Sustainability Report

Sustainability

Our priorities

«The foodvenience business will also remain attractive in future. Accordingly, Valora is investing in the future. Food remains the main driver of our growth.»
«The foodvenience business will also remain attractive in future. Accordingly, Valora is investing in the future. Food remains the main driver of our growth.»

Michael Mueller, CEO of the Valora Group

«With innovative creations such as products with plant-based meat substitutes, we will continue to take current food trends into account and further expand our product range.»
«With innovative creations such as products with plant-based meat substitutes, we will continue to take current food trends into account and further expand our product range.»

Thomas Eisele, CEO of Valora Food Service

«Our customers are delighted with our new concepts – not only the appealing design but also the broad range of fresh food products and innovative services.»
«Our customers are delighted with our new concepts – not only the appealing design but also the broad range of fresh food products and innovative services.»

Roger Vogt, CEO of Valora Retail

Our objectives

Valora has set itself ambitious but realistic operational targets:

In 2019, the Valora Group adopted a new corporate strategy and long-term operating targets until 2025 on the basis of the 2018 results: These targets remain valid. Nonetheless, Valora is expecting that the COVID-19 crisis which started in February and March 2020 will lead to the targets being reached 18 to 24 months later than originally planned.

2-3
% per year: External sales
0.5
percentage points per year on average: Gross profit margin
0.2
percentage points per year on average: EBIT margin
7
% per year on average: Earnings per share (without extraordinary effects)
Trends

Trends

Three social macrotrends determine what Valora customers need:

Mobility, the changing lifestyles and rapid growth of digitalisation in everyday life. As a clearly positioned foodvenience provider, Valora systematically aligns its business and offering with these trends and their resulting customer needs. Valora is where its customers want it to be, providing them with what they want whenever they want it.

  • Mobility
    Society is becoming ever more mobile. People are permanently on the move – by road, rail or air. The boundary between private life and work, city and countryside is becoming blurred. However, daily needs are constant and must be met, even when on the move.

  • Lifestyle
    Lifestyles have shifted. A growingnumber of people live in smallerhouseholds or alone. People aremore flexible with their dailyroutine and are more likely to eatoutside the home, at differenttimes of day, quickly consumingsmaller meals or snacks.

  • Digitalisation
    Meanwhile digitalisation hastouched all areas of life. Peopleare always connected through theirsmartphones wherever they maybe. The opportunities presentedby new technologies fundamentallyredefine the customer relationshipand shopping experience byopening up new options.

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