Planting a flag on the inflation crisis

Dutch multinational retail and wholesale holding company Ahold Delhaize, which operates the Stop & Shop, Giant, Food Lion, and Hannaford brands in the U.S., is coming off a strong second quarter that saw group net sales increase 4.3% year-over-year and comparable sales excluding gas rise 3.6%.Net consumer online sales improved 9.3% vs. Q2 2022 and the underlying operating margin was 4.1% with a modest decline in the U.S. Ecommerce penetration in the U.S. reached 8.1% during the first half of the year.Ahold Delhaize now expects free cash flow in the range of $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion and is holding onto its 2023 projections of an underlying margin greater than 4%.But success this year has gone beyond the numbers for Ahold Delhaize, and Supermarket News Senior Editor Bill Wilson was able to check in with company CEO Frans Muller to talk about everything from inflation to store operations.In this episode you will hear about:Ahold Delhaize’s private label brandMuller’s take on inflation moving forwardThe store’s omnichannel strategyU.S. business outlook for the rest of 2023Labor challengesSustainabilityPlans for store expansion and upgrades<br/>Take a listen.