Overview
Continente is Portugal's leading supermarket chain, with more than 400 stores and a large online business at continente.pt. Besides groceries, its online shop includes a marketplace with non-food products such as electronics, home, beauty, baby and pet. For a brand that wants to reach Portuguese households, Continente is the country's most important retailer.
Who is behind Continente
Continente belongs to MC, the food and health retail business of the Portuguese group Sonae, controlled by the Azevedo family. Continente celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2025. That year its sales grew 10% to EUR 7.1 billion, with growth in comparable stores and 13 new stores, and it gained market share in Portuguese food retail. MC as a whole had EUR 8.9 billion in sales, including health and beauty chains such as Wells. Continente plans to open around 20 stores a year and reach close to 500 hypermarkets and supermarkets by 2030.
What the shopper sees
Shoppers use Continente's stores, its online shop and the Cartão Continente loyalty card, one of the best-known loyalty programmes in Portugal. Continente's own brand makes up about a third of its sales. Sonae has highlighted the continued expansion of the Continente marketplace as part of its growth.
How brands can work with Continente
- As a supplier to Continente's stores and online shop, mainly for food, household and personal care products.
- As a marketplace seller on continente.pt, for non-food categories that extend Continente's own range.
A brand considering Continente should be ready with:
- Portuguese product content and labelling.
- Delivery and returns to customers in Portugal for marketplace orders.
- Competitive pricing, since Continente competes strongly on value and promotions.
- EU product compliance for each category.
Why Continente matters for brands
Continente reaches a very large share of Portuguese households every week, and its marketplace adds a growing online channel in a market with few large local marketplaces.
How eBrands looks at Continente
eBrands works with brands on marketplaces and retail channels across Europe and North America. If you are thinking about Portugal and want to see how Continente could sit alongside the channels you already use, we are happy to talk it through.
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