This page offers a print-and-go summary of our business. For more information, go to the relevant section on this site, or see our Annual Report for 2008.
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Company Profile
Ahold is an international group of quality supermarkets based in the United States and Europe. We provide an easy, convenient and appealing shopping experience through continuous customer focus. We are committed to offering our customers the best value, the highest quality and healthy choices, while building value for our shareholders.
Our strong retail brands ensure we are optimally placed to answer our customers’ local needs. At the same time, our brands benefit from group synergies that allow us to operate in a simple, responsible and efficient way.
Our people love being in the food business and they make the difference as we strive to be the leader in all our markets. Our aim is to continuously grow, in part by innovating products, services and store formats.
Our vision
Our customers want shopping to be an efficient, pleasant and relaxed experience. They place a high priority on value for money, they care about food safety and responsibly produced food, and they also want convenience, service, a relevant selection and guidance so that they can feel good about the choices they make. Life is about making choices.
Our mission
We make it easy for our customers to choose the best – for themselves and the people they care about. We do this through our strong local brands and by putting the customer at the heart of every decision. We strive to stand out from the competition by providing the best products in a relevant range, the best quality, the best prices, and the best choices for a healthy lifestyle – all in the simplest way possible.
Ahold's strategy for profitable growth
Ahold announced a series of changes in its European and US businesses in November 2009 to create a strong platform for future growth.
The reorganization in both continents delineates the responsibility for running operations, supporting the operations, and business development. The changes will ensure a sharper focus on local customer needs, provide efficient and effective support functions in each continent, and a more robust approach to business development. The changes will further simplify and standardize processes and structure to ensure the company can integrate acquisitions more easily, as it pursues its strategy for profitable growth.
Dick Boer, the COO for Ahold Europe, member of the Corporate Executive Board, and CEO of Ahold Netherlands, continues to be responsible for all European activities and has appointed Sander van der Laan to head Albert Heijn as its new general manager. Van der Laan will return to the Netherlands from his current role at Giant-Carlisle in the United States to start in January 2010.
Lawrence Benjamin, the COO for Ahold USA and member of the Corporate Executive Board, continues to be responsible for all US operations and has appointed Carl Schlicker as CEO of four newly reorganized US Divisions - Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop Metro New York, Giant-Landover and Giant-Carlisle.
Commenting on the global reorganization, Ahold’s CEO John Rishton said "The changes we have announced today build a strong platform for future growth. We are further simplifying and streamlining our businesses and will be able to provide even greater focus on our customers. The changes will also allow Dick Boer and Larry Benjamin to devote more time to growth opportunities in existing and new markets.”
Previous strategy announcements
On November 6 2006 we announced our plans and financial targets resulting from our Retail Review, which began in May the same year. The plans announced are designed to accelerate identical sales growth, improve profit returns and strengthen the company’s foundation for future expansion, creating additional value for its shareholders.
Highlights:
- Divest U.S. Foodservice
- Appoint European Chief Operating Officer and U.S. Chief Operating Officer
- Reduce operating costs by EUR 500 million by end 2009
- Cut Corporate Center costs by 50% by end 2008
- Divest Tops and retail operations in Poland and Slovakia
- Sell holding in Jerónimo Martins Retail
- Implement brand improvement and value repositioning
- Reaffirm targets as retail net sales growth of 5% and retail operating margin of 5%
- Return approximately EUR 2 billion to shareholders and reduce debt by approximately EUR 2 billion, following divestments
The new plans focus on Ahold’s core retail businesses in the United States and Europe, the continued roll-out of value repositioning programs, and the reduction of operating costs by EUR 500 million by end 2009. The company has also announced the appointment of new Chief Operating Officers in the United States and Europe to lead its restructured continental organizations. Read more about our strategy for profitable growth
Financial Information
Key figures
Historical price lookup
Address and contact info
Piet Heinkade 167 - 173
1019 GM Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)20 509 51 00
Fax: +31 (0)20 509 51 10
Supervisory Board
- René Dahan (Chairman)
- Tom de Swaan (Vice-Chairman)
- Karen M.A. de Segundo
- Derk C. Doijer
- Stephanie M. Shern
- Judith Sprieser
- Mark McGrath
- Ben Noteboom
Corporate Executive Board
- John Rishton, Chief Executive Officer
- Kimberly Ross, Chief Financial Officer
- Dick Boer, Chief Operating Officer, Ahold Europe
- Lawrence Benjamin, Chief Operating Officer Ahold USA
Acting board member:
- Lodewijk Hijmans van den Bergh, Chief Corporate Governance Counsel
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