Pingo Doce (Sweet Drop in English) is one of the largest supermarket operators in Portugal, with 482 stores as of 2023, placing it just behind Continente which is the largest food retailer in the country.[1][2]
It is owned by the Portuguese company Jerónimo Martins and the Dutch-based Ahold Delhaize. Since 1992, Pingo Doce has been operated as a joint venture by Jerónimo Martins, in which it holds 51% and the Dutch retail chain Ahold Delhaize 49%.[3] In the 1990s, Jerónimo Martins acquired Brazilian supermarket chain Sé Supermercados, which became the Brazilian equivalent of Pingo Doce. In Poland, since 1997 the group has operated Biedronka, the country's largest food retail chain. In the early 2000s, Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição / Grupo Pão de Açúcar, bought out Sé, rebranding its stores as Pão de Açúcar and CompreBem.[4]