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“There is a prediction that half of the large grocers in Europe will be gone in the next 10 years,” said James Bacos, managing partner in retail at Oliver Wyman Germany. “That is huge structural change …There is no real worldwide consolidation (in grocery retail) — but there is going to be.”

Between 2003 to 2013, Lidl and Aldi grew to 20,000 stores from 8,000, he noted.

“They have changed the game. They have caused price deflation for the last 15 years and they will continue to do so. No market has been immune.”

In Germany, the two now have 50 per cent market share in groceries. In the U.K., their same-store sales are growing at a staggering rate of 30 per cent.

Europe is instructive because much like Europe, Canada has started to reach the saturation point in terms of traditional grocery store growth, said Fred Thomas-Dupuis, partner in retail at Oliver Wyman Canada.

“When disruption happens at that particular life stage, it can be difficult to manage, because you don’t have expansion from new store openings that you can use to camouflage your core state.”

Senior grocery executives in the U.S. have begun paying attention to the European discount threat, he said, because Aldi has 1,500 stores in the U.S. and now accounts for about four per cent of market share.

“They will come to Canada in due course,” Thomas-Dupuis said. Lidl, the largest grocer in Europe, has opened stores in 28 different markets and they have proven to operate well in very diverse markets.