Jeronimo Martins to Start Operations in Colombia’s Eje Cafetero

(Bloomberg) Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA (JMT), Portugal’s biggest retailer, said it will start operations in Colombia in that country’s coffee-producing Eje Cafetero region, a company spokeswoman said.

“Our operation will start in Eje Cafetero,” Rita Fragoso said in a phone interview yesterday.

Jeronimo Martins, owner of the Pingo Doce supermarket chain in Portugal and Poland’s leading discount-store operator, Biedronka, reiterated on Dec. 11 a plan to open 30 to 40 stores in Colombia next year and invest 400 million euros in the Southern American country through 2015.