The World's Largest Grocery Store Chains

Kroger
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The world's largest supermarket chain is U.S.-based Kroger Co., with $119.0 billion in retail revenue in fiscal year (FY) 2017. Kroger is also the third-largest retail company in the world based on revenue, behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp., according to the "Global Powers of Retailing 2019." The annual report on retailers worldwide is produced by accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

Here are the top 10 supermarket, or grocery store, chains in the world, with their rank among all retailers in the list, country of origin, and FY 2017 retail revenue, in billions.

  1. Kroger Co., 3, U.S., $119.0
  2. Ahold Delhaize, 11, Netherlands, $72.31
  3. Albertsons Companies, Inc., 15, U.S., $59.9
  4. Edeka Group, 17, Germany, $57.51
  5. REWE Combine, 19, Germany, $49.71
  6. Wesfarmers Ltd., 21, Australia, $48.8
  7. Woolsworth Ltd., 22, Australia, $42.9
  8. Publix Super Markets, Inc., 31, U.S., $34.8
  9. Intermarché, 33, France, $31.91,2
  10. H.E. Butt Grocery Co., 38, U.S., $24.62

1Includes both wholesale and retail sales.
2Estimated.

Methodology

The revenue figures excluded wholesale sales unless otherwise noted. Revenues for companies that are not required to report figures publicly were estimated. Each company's fiscal year ended, at the latest, in June 2018.

Companies whose dominant store format was hypermarket—a combination grocery-department store—or a warehouse club store (such as Costco) were categorized separately from supermarkets.

Revenues of non-U.S. companies were converted to U.S. dollars using the average daily exchange rate for each company's fiscal year.

Top U.S. Grocery Store Chains

Here are all 17 of the supermarket, or grocery store, chains based in the U.S. that made it into the ranking. The first number is their place among the top 250 retailers. Their FY 2017 retail revenue, in billions, is also provided.

  • 3. Kroger Co., $119.0
  • 15. Albertsons Companies, Inc., $59.9
  • 31. Publix Super Markets, Inc. $34.8
  • 38. H.E. Butt Grocery Co., $24.62
  • 58. Whole Foods Market, Inc., $16.0
  • 102. Hy-vee, Inc., $10.0
  • 107. Southeastern Grocers, LLC, $9.52
  • 115. Giant Eagle, Inc., $8.91,2
  • 118. Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., $8.7
  • 146. WinCo Foods LLC, $7.02
  • 195. Demoulas Super Markets, Inc., $5.02
  • 199. Defense Commissary Agency, $4.9
  • 210. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., $4.7
  • 218. Save Mart Companies, $4.52
  • 222. Stater Bros. Holdings Inc., $4.32
  • 240. Ingles Markets, Inc., $3.9
  • 250. Golub Corp., $3.7

1Includes both wholesale and retail sales.
2Estimated.

Fastest 50

Two of the top 10 grocery chains worldwide, Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize, as well as Sprouts from the top U.S. supermarkets list, were included in the report's ranking of the 50 fastest-growing retailers. This ranking was based on the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in retail revenues from FY 2012 to FY 2017.

Albertsons was the fastest-growing, with a CAGR of 74.4 percent. The report said much of that increase came from two large acquisitions in 2013 and 2015, respectively: the repurchase of assets from SUPERVALU that had been acquired from Albertsons' predecessor company in 2006 and the purchase of Safeway, Inc.

Sprouts was the 19th-fastest-growing retailer, with a CAGR of 21.0 percent, and Ahold Delhaize was 41st, with a CAGR of 13.8 percent.