Eurofood: Casino hooks up with Shell

French supermarket group Casino has signed up to a joint venture with Anglo-Dutch petrol group Shell to provide forecourt grocery outlets under the Select card fascia. Products sold with the Casino brand are prominent on the shelves of Shell's existing service stations in France, but the St. Etienne-based group said it was not simply going to act as a wholesaler, but was getting involved in the merchandising and marketing.

The aim of the alliance is to increase the number of customers patronising forecourt shops. Jacques Saint-Olive, head of sales for Shell France, said that the outlets were not top-up shops, but should be viewed as neighbourhood convenience stores. The first change resulting from the venture would be the inclusion of fresh products in the Select Cafe assortment. The agreement with Casino is expected to push prices down by as much as 40%, which should allow the forecourt outlets to compete more effectively with rival stores in their vicinity.

END TO LIAISON WITH PROMODES

It appears, indeed, that consumers in the catchments served by the initial three pilot outlets in Pads, Grenoble and Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, have been won over. Since the new concept was launched, the three outlets have reported sales up between 55% and 80%. Building on this success, the concept and range of Casino products will be rolled out at a further 60 petrol stations by the end of next year. The agreement with Casino has put an end to Shell's partnership with Prodium, the subsidiary of French retailer Promodes responsible for neighbourhood business.