Egyptian media is reporting that Italian retailer CRAI has signed an agreement to bring the CRAI format or products to Egypt. The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of GRG Group. The move would mark its third market outside Italy, after Malta and Switzerland (CRAI has also been present in Albania).

Trendtype has not yet seen this information reported more widely. Egyptian media also refers to an agreement with a company called “Sopria Holding”, which we cannot find on any Italian company register. The Egyptian partner is GRG Group.

CRAI has more than 2,270 neighbourhood supermarkets in Italy. In addition to the CRAI-branded supermarkets, there are also “CRAI Markets” on forecourts and motorway service areas. In Egypt it would compete with a long tail of domestic supermarket chains, as well as Turkish discounter Bim.

Its expansion in Italy would mark another coup for the Egyptian government, which has been seeking to transform the supply chain in the country by inviting investment from foreign retailers and manufacturers. In this case, it reportedly follows months of conferences and talks between government agencies and investors in Italy and Egypt.