Kaufland

What Kaufland does

Kaufland is the hypermarket retail division of the Schwarz Group, legally organized as Kaufland Stiftung & Co. KG and headquartered in Neckarsulm, Germany. The company operates hypermarket-format stores across eleven European countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia) and generates revenue through consumer goods sales alongside Shopzone commercial-space leasing at store locations. The legal entity is represented by Frank Schumann and Thorsten Sauter.

The business is supported by a digital supplier-collaboration platform centered on the Business Partner Portal (BPP). The BPP integrates several enterprise systems: NEO (workflow-supported Product Lifecycle Management for private label development), Markant-powered digital product data management, EDI based on the GS1 EANCOM standard for orders, delivery notes, and invoices (with WebEDI Portal and SELF-EDI.SCHWARZ as onboarding paths for smaller suppliers), Adobe Sign for digital signature workflows, and Osapiens for EU Deforestation Regulation compliance data collection. Sustainability is a documented operating framework rather than an external positioning layer, including LkSG (German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act) compliance framework effective January 1, 2023, Science Based Targets initiative FLAG and E&I commitments, Alliance for Water Stewardship membership since 2023, and the Schwarz Group REset Resources circular-economy strategy with targets such as 50% of private label bananas under living-wage criteria by end of 2025 and 15% absolute reduction of virgin material in own-brand packaging by 2030.

Kaufland serves two customer segments: a mass end-consumer base shopping the hypermarket stores, and a supplier/business-partner base that is onboarded through the BPP. Go-to-market is sales-led via physical retail and supported by digital B2B channels for suppliers. Pricing is not publicly disclosed at the consumer product level, and BPP services and EDI connections are provided to suppliers as part of collaboration rather than as separately priced offerings. The company is private with no public ticker, wholly part of the family-owned Schwarz Group, and has no disclosed funding rounds or mergers and acquisitions activity in the input.

Name

Kaufland

Legal name

Kaufland Stiftung & Co. KG

Website

https://kaufland.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kaufland is a German hypermarket retailer operating 11 European countries under the Schwarz Group. It sells consumer goods through physical stores and operates a Business Partner Portal ecosystem (NEO PLM, Markant-powered product data, GS1 EANCOM EDI, Adobe Sign, Osapiens compliance) that onboards and manages a distributed supplier base.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hypermarket Retail

NAICS

Grocery and Convenience Retailers (4451), General Merchandise Retailers (455), Food and Beverage Retailers (445)

SIC

Retail-Variety Stores (5331), Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141)

akta.pro primary industry

B2B Marketplaces & Wholesale Platforms (BPAMAGAD)

Keywords

• Hypermarket retail
• Grocery retail
• Private label products
• Supplier collaboration portal
• Sustainable retail

Headquarters

HQ city

Neckarsulm

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales: Revenue generated through sale of consumer goods across hypermarket format stores in multiple European countries. Includes both national brand products and private label merchandise.
2. Real Estate Leasing: Kaufland offers commercial space leasing through its Shopzone concept for concessionaires in store locations, as referenced in the Real Estate Newsletter subscription options.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Kaufland operates a network of hypermarket retail stores across 11 European countries, selling food and consumer goods including national brand and private label products. The company also provides a Business Partner Portal (BPP) for B2B supplier collaboration, offering product lifecycle management (NEO), electronic data interchange (EDI), digital product data management, and digital signature workflows.

Product overview

Kaufland operates a B2B platform ecosystem centered on its Business Partner Portal (BPP), which provides suppliers with tools for collaboration across multiple functional areas. The core platform is supplemented by NEO (Product Lifecycle Management) for private label product development, a Product Data Management system powered by Markant for digital data interchange, EDI solutions for electronic document exchange, and Adobe Sign for digital signatures. Additional modules cover sustainability requirements including EUDR compliance, LkSG supply chain due diligence, and the REset Resources circular economy strategy. The company also operates country-specific portals for Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Republic of Moldova.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NEO: Workflow-supported Product Lifecycle Management System for developing private label products with business partners.
• REset Resources

Products and services

• Kaufland Hypermarket Retail Stores Physical hypermarket stores operating under the Kaufland brand across Germany, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia, selling a wide assortment of food and consumer goods including national brands and private label products.
• Business Partner Portal (BPP) Central digital portal providing business partners and suppliers with access to all information, tools, and workflows needed for collaboration with Kaufland, including product data management, EDI connectivity, sustainability requirements, and digital signature processes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Improved productivity and reduced time-to-market through NEO workflow-supported product lifecycle management
• +4 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023AWS is a global membership collaboration comprising businesses, NGOs, and public sector entities promoting responsible use of water resources along value chains. Kaufland has been a member since 2023.
• Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Kaufland, as part of Schwarz Group commitment to SBTi since 2020, has set ambitious climate targets to limit global warming in line with Paris Climate Agreement goals, including greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2034 and 2050.
• MarkantcoreTechnology or IntegrationMarkant operates a platform for digital product data interchange connecting suppliers and retailers. Kaufland uses Markant expertise to ensure smooth product data management for business partners, providing a centralized platform for master data, product images, and documents.
• Adobe SigncoreTechnology or IntegrationAdobe Sign enables automatic approval and multi-party digital signature processes for business documents between Kaufland and its business partners. Supports contract signing workflows with 2-factor authentication.
• OsapienscoreTechnology or IntegrationOsapiens platform used for EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) compliance data collection, including HS codes and Intrastat data. Onboarding process temporarily paused pending EUDR simplification phase.
• PreZerocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPreZero is the environmental service provider of Schwarz Group covering full spectrum of environmental services including waste management, recycling, and sustainability consultation. Provides digital packaging optimization platform SPOT for recyclability assessment and life cycle assessments.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lidl: Sister company under the Schwarz Group; operates a discount supermarket/grocery model across Europe. Directly comparable in geographic footprint, parent group backing, and digital supplier integration infrastructure, though Lidl is more discount-positioned versus Kaufland's hypermarket positioning.
• Tesco: UK-headquartered multinational grocer with hypermarket/superstore formats. Comparable in scale, private label strategy, and supplier collaboration maturity, particularly in Central European markets.
• Edeka: Germany's largest supermarket cooperative. Directly competes with Kaufland in the German grocery market and represents a comparable full-line grocery retail model with strong private label portfolios.
• Auchan Retail: French hypermarket and supermarket operator with significant Central and Eastern European presence. Comparable hypermarket-format operator competing in overlapping CEE markets with Kaufland.
• Rewe Group: German retail conglomerate operating full-line supermarkets and discount stores (Penny). Competes with Kaufland across multiple European countries with similar grocery and private label offerings.
• Carrefour: Global hypermarket and grocery operator with strong European presence. Directly comparable as a hypermarket-format competitor with overlapping B2B supplier collaboration needs and omnichannel grocery ambitions.
• Netto Marken-Discount: German discount grocery chain affiliated with the Edeka Group. Comparable as a value-positioned grocery retailer in the German and broader European market, directly competing on price-sensitive shoppers adjacent to Kaufland's footprint.
• Aldi: European discount grocery leader with hard-discount store formats. Competes head-to-head with Kaufland for value-conscious shoppers across Germany, Poland, Romania, and other shared markets, making it the closest format competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Metro AG: German-headquartered wholesale/cash-and-carry and food service distributor. Comparable as a European B2B and HoReCa-facing retail platform, though focused on trade customers rather than end consumers.
• Walmart: Global hypermarket incumbent and the archetype for large-format grocery retail. Comparable in hypermarket operating model, private label scale, and supplier collaboration infrastructure, though not directly overlapping geographically with Kaufland's European footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kaufland-international

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kaufland