Tough program for future growth and profitability
- In Europe, Royal Ahold introduced two new Albert Heijn supermarket formats during 2002: ‘Albert Heijn XL’ and ‘AH to go’ in the Netherlands.
- Etos health and beauty care stores, already a market leader in the Netherlands, open in Sweden.
- For the group, the year started strong with growth in net earnings and sales. However after announcing a second quarter loss, Ahold President & CEO Cees van der Hoeven closed the year declaring a "tough program for future growth and profitability". It would be focused on portfolio rationalization and debt reduction.
Expansion had been continuing in Central and South America where Ahold, La Fragua and CSU completed a new joint venture, realizing a regional store network with sales of USD 1.3 billion.
Ahold also consolidated its interests in its Chilean partner Santa Isabel S.A. by acquiring outstanding shares and assumed full control of its former Latin American joint venture company Disco Ahold International Holdings.
The Ahold company, U.S. Foodservice made two key acquisitions during the year: Allen Foods, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri, along with some of Kansas City-based Lady Baltimore Foods, Inc.
In 2002, Ahold also opened a new financial center, Ahold Finance Group Suisse, in Geneva, Switzerland.