Kaufland

German multinational hypermarket chain owned by Schwarz Group

Kaufland is a German hypermarket chain, part of the Schwarz Gruppe which also owns Lidl. The hypermarket directly translates to English as "buy land." It opened its first store in 1984 in Neckarsulm and quickly expanded to become a major chain in what was formerly West Germany. It operates over 1,500 stores in Germany, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova.

The history of Kaufland began when Joseph Schwarz entered the Südfrüchte Großhandlung Lidl & Co. company as a shareholder in 1930, which was then renamed Lidl & Schwarz KG. The company expanded its range from fruit to a food and goods wholesaler for the Heilbronn Franken region. During World War II, along with the city of Heilbronn, the company was destroyed and needed rebuilding. Within ten years, the company was rebuilt and, in 1954, moved into its own property in Heilbronn in addition to joining the A & O retail chain (today: Markant). With Handels und Fruchthof Heilbronn GmbH the first regional warehouse was opened in northern Württemberg. In 1964, the company expanded its range of products by opening a meat department. and in 1977 at the same place a hypermarket of the same name was established. Following the US self service market structure, a 1000 m² facility was opened, with an employee base of 70 individuals. After the death of Joseph Schwarz in 1977 his son Dieter Schwarz took over the management of the company. In 1998, the first department store outside of Germany was established in Kladno, the Czech Republic. In January 2010, it was announced that Karl Lupus GmbH & Co. KG was cleared by antitrust authorities to sell their 12 stores of the famila Handels Betriebe GmbH & Co. KG Rhein Neckar and the Cash & Carry Markt Lupus Food Service with 1,400 employees to Kaufland. In January 2010, the Kaufland group had purchased all five Schleckerland drug stores in Ehingen, Geislingen, Tempe, Neu Ulm, Schwäbisch Gmünd and all but the Neu Ulm store had been converted to the Kaufland brand by then. The local Schleckerland was closed down because Kaufland was already present in Neu Ulm. From 2011 onward, all Handelshof stores were to be gradually be converted to the Kaufland brand and to be partly rebuilt and enlarged. In November 2016, Kaufland's parent company applied for Kaufland trademarks in Australia. In September 2019, Kaufland announced plans to open 20 stores in Australia. In January 2020, Kaufland announced it was abandoning its expansion plans for Australia, two years after buying its first store and six months after starting work on its distribution centre. It had invested about 310 million euro and hired over 200 staff members but never opened a store. The first stores were originally expected to open in 2019 but the launch date had been pushed back to 2021. On 26 September 2019, the first two Moldovan stores were opened in the capital city of Chișinău. Construction of the fourth Moldovan store started on 23 July 2020, in the southern city of Comrat. The beginning of construction at the fifth Moldovan store in the city of Ungheni was announced on 6 October 2020. In 2021, the company announced its 2030 decarbonisation strategy, in partnership with DHL maritime transport. The strategy explained plans to produce 80 percent less carbon dioxide by the year 2030 by saving 12,000 tons of CO2 each year, with the use of sustainable marine fuel in all maritime transport of Kaufland products.

With an inventory averaging 30,000 items, Kaufland provides a diverse selection of food and goods for daily needs. Alongside products from various manufacturer brands, Kaufland also offers its own brands, including Kaufland Mobile among others. Since 1994, Kaufland has operated its own bakeries. Kaufland expanded its product range to include Demeter products starting from November 2018, catering to consumers seeking organic and biodynamic options. The company maintains its own meat processing facilities located in Möckmühl, Osterfeld, Heilbronn, and Heiligenstadt, as well as in Říčany, Czechia. These facilities enable Kaufland to oversee the production process and maintain high standards of quality across its meat products.