Spanish supermarket president Juan Roig has warned that Spanish institutions and businesses fail to treat Portugal as an equal economic partner.
Addressing more than 1,500 industry executives at the 40th Congress of the Association of Manufacturers and Distributors, held in Valencia at the pavilion bearing his name on October 22 and 23 of last year, the Mercadona chief criticized the cultural and economic divide that traditionally shapes Spanish attitudes toward Portugal.
Roig said Spain had not looked at Portugal as an equal and argued that Spanish organizations do not treat the Portuguese people as they deserve. He added that Spanish companies frequently make the mistake of viewing the Portuguese consumer market as a secondary extension of their domestic market rather than developing a dedicated strategy tailored to local culture and consumption habits.
Mercadona is Spain's largest grocery retail chain, founded in 1977 as part of Grupo Carnicas Roig. Headquartered in Valencia, the company dominates the domestic supermarket sector and operates an extensive retail and logistics network across the Iberian Peninsula.
The AECOC congress, which brings together leaders from across the Spanish manufacturing and distribution industries, provided the backdrop for Roig to call for a fundamental shift in bilateral commercial relations. He urged business leaders to replace historical complacency with mutual respect and genuine equality between the two consumer markets.
Expansion across Portugal
The retailer launched its international expansion into Portugal in 2019, leveraging geographic and historical ties across the peninsula. It opened its first Portuguese supermarket in Canidelo, a parish in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia near Porto, in July 2019.
Since that initial opening, the company has accumulated an investment of more than 1.38 billion euros in Portuguese territory, according to figures published on the chain's Portuguese website. The capital investment has established a dedicated local logistics network, expanded the store footprint to 76 supermarkets across Portugal, and created more than 6,000 direct jobs.
Roig said it was a point of pride for him to open stores in Portugal, noting that his decision seven years ago to enter the Portuguese distribution and food sector aimed to help reshape bilateral ties. He said he wants the group's consolidation in Portugal to serve both as a corporate growth driver and as a normalizing force for Iberian relations based on mutual respect.
Adapting to local consumers
To tailor its product range to local tastes, Mercadona operates two specialized co-innovation centers in Portugal, located in Matosinhos in the northern region and in the capital city of Lisbon. Staff at these facilities study Portuguese consumer habits to adapt the product catalog to local preferences.
The Portuguese strategy reflects the company's broader effort to continuously evolve its retail business model. In Spain, Mercadona has rolled out new store designs such as its Tienda 9 layout while expanding specialized sections dedicated to prepared, ready-to-eat meals.
