About

One of the largest corporate groups throughout the Iberian Peninsula, Jerónimo Martins boasts almost 100,000 employees and revenue numbering in the billions of euros. Primarily operating in grocery/food distribution, Jerónimo Martins operates a number of well-known stores, including Pingo Doce supermarkets in Portugal and the Biedronka chain of budget grocery stores focused on Poland. In Portugal, the company’s corporate model places high value on joint ventures and cooperation with other large global operators, with the legal team at the company proving itself indispensable for these complex and high-stakes operations. Among other issues, streamlining and coordinating working practices as well as clearly outlining shared strategy and vision can be particularly tricky, especially on the scale in which Jerónimo Martins undertakes its business. An example of their successful use of this model is their joint venture with Ahold Delhaize for the Pingo Doce chain of Supermarkets as it was, until 2016, their joint venture with the consumer goods titan Unilever to create Jerónimo Martins Unilever, an initiative to manufacture and distribute a range of Unilever’s global brands domestically
in Portugal. The company also has ambitious plans for expansion, which provide further challenges for the legal team. In 2011, they established themselves in Colombia, following the successful consolidation of their food distribution operations in Poland, and expansion efforts here continue, and in September 2016 they went further, establishing a presence in the capital Bogotá for the first time.