Even after four years in Flanders, we continue to associate Jumbo mainly with Wout van Aert and co. Why is it so difficult for the Dutch supermarket that claims to be innovative to get off the ground here? CEO Ton van Veen (53) and Belgian director Peter Isaac (56) had imagined the entry into the Belgian market quite differently, they readily admit. “We probably shouldn’t have said that we were going for more than a hundred stores.” The new CEO immediately tightened Jumbo’s strategy: “Tastes between Dutch and Flemish differ.” An exclusive interview.
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INTERVIEW. Jumbo executives admit: entry into Flanders did not go as expected, “but Jumbo will become the new Flemish ‘Colhaize’”
