Carlos Mario Giraldo, ex-director general of Grupo Éxito, explains why the chosen cadence should not be pursued by D1 and Ara and apostatized by experience formats. The opinion of Andrea Meneghini CEO of Food Retail Italia, who collaborates with all cases of Latam's hard discounters
In an interview with Portafolio, recorded by RedMas on October 7, 2026, Carlos Mario Giraldo, who became the general director of Grupo Éxito on June 30, 2026, described the disruption that confronted the company ahead of the advance of the discounters in Colombia: “Demasiadas brands on the market… Do we focus on… or do we look at the discount store and discover our traditional formats?”.
The response from Éxito was clear: “We decided on the path to innovation”, with formats such as Éxito Wow and Carulla Fresh Market, which stand out for the experience, the fresh products and the different surprises. Giraldo also recorded the weight of the digital channel, which represents more than 14% of the group's sales in Colombia.
The dilemma is answered in all countries. In Chile, Tottus said that “we are not discounters”; in Mexico, Soriana and Chedraui performed with Tiendas 3B and Bodega Aurrera; In Ecuador, Corporación Favorita created its own discount store (B-Sí) to choose from. There are three possible paths: competing in price, differing or holding both formats within the same group. What Giraldo makes clear is that trying two things with the same brand weakens the traditional format.
Differentiation is not enough: the European experience
According to Andrea Meneghini, CEO of Food Retail Italia, differentiation is necessary but not sufficient. "The discount stores in Latin America are growing, but their objective, now, is to conquer all the markets of the traditional channel, of the car services and of the neighborhood stores. As a consequence, the supermarkets of the mass retail market that fall in the history searched by the discounters have obviously resulted in perjudicados,” he explains.
"In my opinion, the difference is important, as the managers of South America have explained and how they are doing, but it is not sufficient. And the numbers demonstrate it: in Europe the problem has been going on for 15 years, first in England and then in the rest of the continent. The responses have been distinct, but they all have a minimum common denominator: positioning their own brand, or a part of it, quiz the entry level area or the mainstream area, in price levels sought after or lower than the discount stores”.
In practice, according to Meneghini, "over 5.000, 6.000 or 8.000 references, according to the format, it would be about taking 300 or 400 references and waging war on the discount stores with them, sacrificing margin. I haven't seen this happen in Latin America yet. qualitative differentiation, which is necessary, the solution does not start only from the top, but also from below.
