EasyGroup to launch budget supermarket in UK

Published Aug 5, 2013

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London - EasyGroup chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou said on Sunday he planned to open a low-cost food retail business in Britain, easyFoodstore, aimed at undercutting prices at German discount grocers Aldi and Lidl.

The founder of budget carrier easyJet said the project was a “low risk experiment” to be run out of a pilot store in south London.

“There is a gap in the food retail market - a niche below some of the current budget operators such as Aldi and Lidl,” he said in a statement.

Set to offer basic, no-brand-name, packet and tinned foods at lower prices, easyFoodstore could be rolled out on a wider basis from 2014 onwards, Stelios said.

EasyGroup, Stelios' private investment vehicle, operates its “easy” brand in several sectors including travel, leisure and hospitality.

Listed by Forbes as the third most wealthy Cypriot billionaire, Stelios is easyJet's largest single shareholder despite being at odds with the airline since he quit its board in 2010. - Reuters

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