Terno refurbished its supermarket into Kraj. (source: Courtesy of Terno)
The Slovak retail sector has been changing with a greater stress on freshness and local products. For now the latest retail chain riding the wave of changes is Terno. In early March it re-opened a refurbished supermarket with the brand new Kraj concept, meaning “region” in English, in Bratislava’s borough of Devínska Nová Ves. It combines a traditional supermarket with a shop selling healthy products and another with local Slovak products.
“The new concept reflects trends in the Slovak as well as global market,” said Stanislav Čajka, Terno’s general director. “Shoppers search more often for quality foods whose origin and ingredients they can check.”
New concept
Terno worked on the new concept for more than one year. Firstly, they conducted a survey among Slovaks about their shopping habits and what shop shelves are missing.
“The survey showed that current retail does not fulfil the needs of all customers, especially among mothers as well as young progressive people with higher requirements on food quality,” said Čajka, adding that for these clients the fairness of foods is of key importance and that they expect quality without compromises as well as transparent access to information about products.
The result is a new concept standing on three pillars. It offers basic foods commonly bought in supermarkets for reasonable prices, products from regional producers, either Slovak or foreign ones, and an extensive assortment of special healthy products. The latter includes bio products, products for those suffering from diabetes, vegetarians, vegans or products for those suffering from various food intolerances.
“Kraj will provide comprehensive shopping under one roof for the whole family at reasonable prices,” said Zuzana Cseriová, executive director of Terno, adding that Terno invested €1.5 million alone in its 1,250 m2 supermarket in Devínska Nová Ves.
Regional products
In the Kraj store shoppers will find products by large food producers like Rajo, Tatrakon and Novofruct as well as smaller ones like Bognár, Knižka and Gašparík in the case of meat products or Salaš Pružina for dairy products. Kraj also sells instant oatmeal from Stamina Food, homemade cakes from Fertucha and jams from Votabo.
