GROS, the retail king of the Eternal City

Based in the city of Rome, GROS is a sectorial leader with a sales network consisting of around 170 outlets. Stores vary in terms of size and range, from small neighbourhood shops to hypermarket formats. The group’s turnover totalled about €2.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to be higher this year.

The key role of fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables are a central part of the GROS business strategy. As the retailer’s logo declares, they are “masters of fresh food.” In fact, the fresh produce section is located at the entrance of nearly all GROS stores, welcoming customers with an image of freshness and good value. The share of fruit and vegetable sales, depending on the size of the store, ranges from 12-16% of overall sales.

Large assortment of grapes and apples

This time of the year is important as it marks the start of all the typical autumn production campaigns and therefore requires careful management of the range to ensure a constant supply of all the new products. “At this key point in the grape season, we are dedicating a large sales space to allow a wide range of all the varieties available, which includes local Lazio grapes such as the black and white pizzutello varieties from the Nettuno area, as well as the various seedless varieties conquering the market. In the apple segment, we are managing the transition from the old crop to the new one, which began at the end of August,” said Giancarlo Amitrano, chief fruit and vegetable buyer.

In this sector, we are expanding our range to include all the varieties available, dedicating ample space to the various club varieties entering the market, which requires careful management.

Branding partnership with Selex

In terms of its private label brands, GROS is part of one of the largest retail groups in Italy: “On the brand front, we are members of the Selex group with whom we develop projects through the Consilia brand. In fruit and vegetables, our range extends from convenience items right up to premium lines, including high-quality PDO and PGI products. Another brand that we particularly care about, as it accurately conveys our group’s strong local imprint, is “Vicini a te”, whose logo can be found on many products from Lazio to indicate they are zero-kilometre or a regional tradition,” said Amitrano.

Growing organic segment

Finally, in the organic segment, GROS is growing exponentially to meet the constantly increasing demand: “We have a wide range of organics and zero-residue items in our assortment. But we realise that we have not yet reached our full potential in this area due to a series of local factors,” said Amitrano.