ZAANDAM, The Netherlands, Dec. 13, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Ahold (NYSE:AHO), the food retail and foodservice company, has been named U.S. Mass Retailer of the Year. The recognition comes from the prominent American trade publication MMR, Mass Market Retailers. The award will be presented to the President and CEO Cees Van der Hoeven and his U.S. management team at a ceremony in New York City, January 16, 2002.
Ahold exceeds critical performance criteria
Ahold and Cees van der Hoeven are recognized for the way they meet the performance criteria for mass retailers. These include customer satisfaction, financial results, industry leadership, innovation, business strategy and corporate behavior in the field of social responsibility.
Innovative strategy meets customer needs
"This is a very prestigious award in which we at MMR take great pride in bestowing," said David Pinto, editor of MMR. "It goes annually to that mass retailing executive who, in our collective assessment, has most successfully led and represented his company. In 2001, no mass retailing executive anywhere in the world more closely fit those criteria than Cees van der Hoeven and Ahold. Though times aren't easy, Ahold continues to meet individual customer needs, excels with constant innovation and, judging by its ongoing strong performance, is highly successful in implementing its solid strategy. For its successes Ahold draws admiration from across the country. We are delighted to have Cees come to New York City to accept the award."
Previous winners of the award for U.S. mass retailer are Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart and Fred Meyer.
Comment by Ahold President Cees van der Hoeven
In a reaction Cees van der Hoeven said that he sees the recognition as a reward to the entire company. "We just delivered our 23rd consecutive quarter of double digit earnings per share growth and reconfirmed Ahold's full-year 2001 outlook. Our company stays on track and we continue to deliver on our promises. This recognition is directly related to the quality of our 450,000 associates worldwide, who make sure that our customers return to our stores every week and that new ones are attracted. Our associates are the motor behind our considerable organic growth. It is a pleasure to lead this company and to meet our targets year after year."
Background
Ahold is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AHO. Ahold stock is also traded in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Zurich, Switzerland. The company has worldwide 2001 sales of over USD 60 billion generated in 28 countries. Each week the company services approximately 40 million individual customers and their families, approximately half of them in the U.S. The company employs worldwide over 450,000 associates, of which approximately 200,000 work in the United States.
Ahold USA now a USD 43 billion food retail and foodservice operation
In the United States, its largest market, Ahold owns and operates six prominent supermarket companies under the names of Tops, Stop & Shop, Giant (Carlisle), Giant (Landover), BI-LO and Bruno's. Together the U.S. food retail companies operate 1,600 supermarkets with annualized sales totaling approximately USD 24 billion. In addition, Ahold owns the rapidly-growing American food service companies U.S. Foodservice, PYA/Monarch and Alliant Foodservice. The foodservice companies look after the food needs of the out-of-home consumption markets, including restaurants, hotels, schools, company cafeterias, government facilities and the diversified health care sector, in which Alliant plays a prominent role and offers unique expertise. Ahold annualized foodservice sales in the U.S. total approximately USD 19 billion. Together with sales from the retail activities, this makes Ahold USA a USD 43 billion operation.
This Ahold press release contains "forward-looking statements." Actual results may differ from such statements as they may have been influenced by factors beyond the company's ability to control, as more fully discussed in the company's annual report.