REWE entry could increase concentration in Austria’s food market
Friday 18th September 2026 on 13:15 in
Austria
A possible entry by REWE into Tyrolean food retailer MPreis could further concentrate Austria’s food market, ORF reported. Tyrol is currently an exception in the country’s grocery sector because MPreis limits the dominant position of Spar, REWE, Hofer and Lidl.
The four supermarket groups held a combined 94.3 percent of Austria’s market in 2025, according to NielsenIQ data. In Tyrol, their combined share was about 71 percent, according to the Federal Competition Authority. MPreis’s significant position in the province is mainly due to REWE’s weaker presence there. In 2022, REWE had 75 branches in Tyrol, compared with 214 for MPreis.
A possible REWE investment in MPreis could change that. REWE, which has a stronger presence in eastern Austria, would expand further into the west. It remains unclear whether the Federal Competition Authority would approve such a deal.
Spar was Austria’s leading supermarket group in 2025, with a 36.2 percent market share, according to NielsenIQ. REWE, excluding Bipa, held 32.4 percent. Hofer and Lidl together accounted for 25.7 percent.
Speculation about a possible investment by REWE, the parent company of Billa, in MPreis has continued. The newspaper Der Standard reported that a deal could take place as early as September, but MPreis denied that claim to the Austrian Press Agency. The Tyrolean retailer said it generally did not comment on ongoing talks, possible partners, ownership models or the content of confidential negotiations.
Der Standard also reported that the discussions could involve a majority stake by REWE. The deal would extend beyond MPreis’s roughly 270 stores to include its meat and bakery production businesses. According to the report, REWE’s partners had already been instructed to supply more raw materials to western Austria, while REWE was considering having some of its private-label products manufactured in Tyrol.
Christof Kastner, deputy head of Austria’s food retail sector, criticised the prospect of further concentration. He said it would be a serious blow to market diversity and warned that shifting MPreis’s purchasing operations to REWE could severely disadvantage medium-sized suppliers. “The market power in purchasing is brutal,” Kastner said.