Poland’s largest convenience chain Żabka reaches 100 stores in Romania

Poland’s largest convenience chain, Żabka, has opened its 100th store in Romania, one year after launching the brand there under the name Froo.

Froo’s rollout followed Żabka’s early 2024 acquisition of a majority stake in Romanian distributor DRIM Daniel Distribuţie FMCG. The move marked the firm’s re-entry into foreign markets, with Romania serving as a testing ground for replicating its Polish success.

Since then, the company has opened Froo stores at a steady pace – around one every three days – in cities such as Bucharest, Pitești and Constanța.

The outlets are typically located in residential neighbourhoods or on busy streets and offer a mix of groceries, ready-made meals, and hot food and coffee through a dedicated “Froo Bistro”. Most products are sourced from Romanian suppliers.

Like Żabka’s model in Poland, Froo stores are run under a franchise system, where local shop owners operate their own businesses under the Froo brand. Some locations are new, while others were previously independent shops.

Anna Grabowska, Żabka’s vice president and head of its international operations, said the milestone reflects the company’s long-term intentions in the Romanian market. “This is just the beginning,” she said. “We are learning from local consumers and laying the groundwork for a long-term presence in Romania.”

According to the firm, more than 80% of Froo products come from Romanian producers, aligning the brand with local tastes. Since its launch, the chain has sold over one million hot dogs and 600,000 cups of coffee, the company said in a statement.

Żabka – which means “little frog” in Polish – operates over 11,600 stores in Poland, run by more than 10,000 franchisees.

The company previously had a presence in the Czech Republic. Żabka entered the Czech market in 2008 under its then-owner, Penta Investments, and by 2010 had opened around 100 stores, with plans to add another 250 over the next three years.

However, the expansion did not go as planned. In 2011, Penta sold its Polish Żabka business to Mid Europa Partners, while the Czech Żabka stores were acquired by Tesco, marking the end of the brand’s presence there, according to industry news website Wiadomości Handlowe.

In recent years, Żabka has rapidly expanded and diversified. In 2021, the company, which has been owned by Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners since 2017, claimed that almost a third of Poland’s population lived within 300 metres of a Żabka store.

In 2023, it became Europe’s largest operator of autonomous, cashierless stores with its Żabka Nano format, which uses cameras to detect purchases and charge customers automatically.

Żabka made its stock market debut in October 2024, listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange with an IPO valued at 6.45 billion zloty (€1.5 billion), making it the fourth largest in the exchange’s history. As of mid-2025, its market value remains stable at 21.37 billion zloty (€5 billion).

Alongside its rapid growth, Żabka has also faced some criticism in Poland for its treatment of franchisees and for exploiting a legal loophole allowing it to operate on Sundays despite a trading ban introduced by the Polish government.

Żabka is one of several major Polish brands now looking beyond the domestic market. Biedronka, Poland’s largest supermarket chain – owned by Portuguese group Jerónimo Martins – recently opened its first store abroad, in neighbouring Slovakia.

Other Polish firms are also expanding internationally. InPost, the parcel locker and delivery giant, now operates in the UK, France, Spain and Portugal. Mobile payment system BLIK has launched in Slovakia, while state-run energy group Orlen has been increasing its footprint across Europe.

Main image credit: Żabka Polska / LinkedIn