19 Mar 2018 --- French supermarket Carrefour has announced that it was buying a majority stake in Quitoque, French start-up company that delivers meal kits to homes, as part of plans to beef up its e-commerce platform.

Financial terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.
Alexandre Bompard, who took over as Carrefour’s CEO in July, is overhauling the group’s business as well as expand online retail in the face of competition from Amazon.

Bompard announced in January plans to invest €2.8 billion (US$3.45 billion) in digital commerce by 2022, six times its current investment, as Carrefour plays catch-up in online food retail.

Following the transaction, Quitoque will continue to be managed by its co-founders, Carrefour said. “At the crossroads of digital and food, Quitoque will enable us to strengthen our position in the Foodtech industry to provide an omnichannel response to new consumer habits through the combination of proximity, convenience and quality,” said Marie Cheval, executive director for customers, services and digital transformation at Carrefour.

Through a subscription system, Quitoque offers healthy dishes to be prepared at home with local, organic and seasonal products.

Quitoque co-founder Etienne Boix said: “This transaction confirms the relevance of our model and will enable us to capitalize on Carrefour’s strengths to accelerate our omnichannel development.”

Founded in 2014, it focuses on foods of French origin. Last year the start-up, which has 60 employees, delivered nearly 3 million meal kits in France.