Exports have been, over the years, a highly relevant issue for the work carried out by Lidl Portugal. The impact on the country’s economy has been constant, promoting the quality of national products across borders, creating jobs and developing small and medium-sized businesses.
To present the impact experienced in 2023, Lidl Portugal met with the press on June 26 at Casa do Draw in Lisbon. “We will present the overall impact that our export axis had on the Portuguese economy during 2023. It is one of our main levers of action in the Portuguese market and also one of the main reasons for pride that we have in Portugal, to help the national economy to be able to bring the best that we have produced nationally to the 29 markets where national products are present in our stores throughout Europe,” began Bruno Pereira, Purchasing Manager of Lidl Portugal, highlighting: “It really is an extraordinary year. None of this would be possible without our partnership with national producers, in fact they are the ones who make it possible. They are our source of pride and those who manage to bring everything we do well to all of Europe.”
In 2023, the brand boosted the sales of more than 100 national suppliers, exporting more than a hundred different types of items to “29 countries where we serve as a facilitator for the export of national products. The three main markets are Spain, France and Germany. We are very proud to support this entire network of local partners to be able to export and have a more solid business, not only based on the national market, but also on the international one,” added Bruno Pereira.
After Bruno Pereira’s opening speech, it was time to hand over the portfolio to Pedro Silva, Head of Consulting at Forvis Mazars, the consultant responsible for the study. “In line with what Lidl has used in recent years, the main objective here is, on the one hand, to make clear to everyone what this issue of exports means and to facilitate Lidl Portugal’s exports, along with what its network is and, in fact, in technical terms, how this generation of wealth and job creation that Bruno was talking about was achieved.
And then, a very important fact: in addition to these economic and social data in terms of wealth and employment generation, we also have what is the improvement of the business fabric itself in Portugal, which we like to highlight. Because this also allows these same companies to have other types of capabilities in terms of challenges not only in Portugal, but also internationally,” he began explaining, and added: “What are we talking about here? Lidl, in Portugal, its role is to facilitate this export role, that is, we are talking about direct business between these entities, between these suppliers, and the destination countries. What Lidl ends up facilitating is entry into these markets. It assumes a leading role in this opening of channels and guarantees a set of quality principles that lead these producers to comply with standards not only mandatory by the European Union and other entities, but fundamentally of quality to differentiate themselves in the market.”
In this way, and over the last few years, Lidl Portugal has been following this evolution, always focusing on two crucial factors: the socio-economic impact in Portugal and the impact on the business fabric itself.
Regarding the methodology, Pedro Silva also clarifies that in “methodological terms, the way this work is done is to understand that for every euro that each of these suppliers sells in these markets, wealth is generated in Portugal, whether it is economic wealth or job creation due to the need to create jobs, or through contributions to different sectors of society. The work developed allows us to understand not only the direct impact, in economic terms and job creation, but also to analyse the indirect and induced impact on the different sectors of the economy.”
The results spoke for themselves and there was no doubt at the end of this presentation. The importance of the work carried out so far has been a huge success and there is a desire to continue. In what is a winning association, we hope that, in the future, the numbers will continue to surprise, year after year, always highlighting the best that is done in Portugal.
Source: Observadora
