Bro, pour yourself a coffee and sit down, because I've got news that'll make you realize the battle for our cheese is hotter than ever! Listen up: Ahold Delhaize, the guys behind Mega Image and Profi, have become the biggest food retailers in Romania in 2025. Ice cold, they pulled in combined net sales of 26.7 billion lei, leaving Lidl in second place with 26.6 billion. The difference is like a loaf of bread, bro, but still... Mioara, when she heard, told me: 'See, man, that's where our money goes, not to those Germans!'
Now, let's get into the details, because I don't miss a thing. Mega Image SRL, with Mega Image and Shop&Go in its portfolio, reported sales of 12.25 billion lei, up 15.8% from last year. Net profit rose to 124.84 million lei, up 6.7%. You might not believe it, but it's true: employees dropped slightly from 10,317 to 10,171, even though they opened eight new stores, reaching 1,001 units. Of these, 556 are Shop&Go, operated on a partnership basis, not franchise - meaning they're still pulling the strings, bro. Wait till you hear what's next.
Profi Rom Food, which they bought in January 2025, brought in net sales of 14.4 billion lei in the same year, compared to 14.1 in 2024. And just like that, on March 31, 2026, they merged: Mega Image SRL absorbed Profi. Now that's checkmate, bro! What more can I say about Mioara, who's been shopping at Lidl for years, but now she's eyeing the Mega around the corner with suspicion. 'Hey, did you see?' she says, 'At Mega they reduced the oil, but at Lidl the coffee is cheaper. Come on, they won't catch me!'
So Ahold Delhaize is now the market leader, with Lidl on its tail (26.6 billion), Kaufland with 20.9 billion (+7%), and Carrefour, which hasn't published its data yet. Mega Image also overtook Metro, which stayed in fifth place with 11.9 billion lei (+5.3%). The Dutch-Belgian group now has over 1,000 stores under each brand, competing in number with LaDoiPași, Metro's franchise. And so, while the guys at Fane's terrace argue over who's bigger, I'll buy my bread and ham from whichever store I want, but I'll stay Romanian. Now I'm off to tell Mioara that Ahold Delhaize won - maybe she'll let me grab a soda from Mega instead of cola from Lidl!
