Supermarket chains Nettorama and Boni merging

Supermarket chains Nettorama and Boni announced on Friday their decision to merge, with the new entity operating under the name Nettorama, NOS reported. As a result of this merger, the Boni brand will no longer be present in the market.

Boni currently operates 51 stores, while Nettorama has 32 stores. The combined workforce of both chains amounts to 6,800 employees. None of the store staff will face job losses due to the merger, as the stores are spread across different locations in the Netherlands. However, there will be some job reductions at the headquarters over time.

Over the next few years, the Boni supermarkets will be turned into Nettorama stores. One of the main reasons cited by Boni for this merger is the pursuit of economies of scale. "In the current market conditions, scale enlargement is necessary to continue serving customers at the lowest prices and to remain an attractive employer," stated Boni's director Bouke van der Wal in a press release about the merger.

The merger's final approval still depends on the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets and Boni's Works Council.

The number of supermarket chains has declined in recent years in the Netherlands. In 2021, Plus and Coop supermarket chains merged under the name Plus, while supermarket Deen was acquired by Albert Heijn, Vomar, and DekaMarkt. In December 2022, most stores of the supermarket chain Jan Linders, which has branches mainly in the south of the country, were converted into Albert Heijn stores.