Everything started in 1999, when, in the Wielkopolska region, the first store under the Supermarket Dino brand opened its doors.

In 2002, to support the growth of our store chain, our first distribution centre was created in Krotoszyn. In subsequent years it has been successively expanded.

In 2003, the Dino chain successfully established capital ties with the Agro-Rydzyna meat plant, which had been supplying our stores with fresh meat since the very beginning of our chain’s existence. This way we have secured supplies of fresh, high quality meat and sausages for our continually developing Dino store chain.

In 2004-2009, after trying out various development possibilities, Dino’s management noticed a potential for expansion of mid-sized supermarkets in small and medium-sized towns, and on the outskirts of large cities. As a result, in that period we were able to successfully continue expanding our chain around our distribution centre in the Wielkopolska region, at a rate of about a dozen new stores per year.

In 2010, PEF VI, managed by Enterprise Investors, indirectly acquired a 49% interest in Dino, becoming (until 2017, when Company debuted on Warsaw Stock Exchange) a strategic minority investor. The capital for development we gained this way became a catalyst for dynamic growth in subsequent years. We entered the year 2011, in which we transformed into a joint-stock company, owning 111 stores.

In 2013, in order to assist the economic development of central Poland, we opened our second distribution centre, this time leased, in Piotrków Trybunalski. In the meantime, the number of our stores had exceeded 300, and at the end of the year it reached 324, which means that in 2011-2013 our chain grew at the average rate of 43% annually.

In the years 2014-2015 we increased the pace of our development. At the end of 2015 we had 511 stores, located in 12 out of 16 polish provinces. Almost in a blink of an eye, from a purely regional player we transformed ourselves into the second fastest-growing, in terms of both the number of stores, and sales revenues, food-retail chain in Poland. This was possible thanks to our unwavering belief that fresh food, including meats and sausages sold from behind a traditional counter, are, and will continue to be, the most important items on the everyday shopping lists of Poles. To make this freshness possible, practically from the very beginning we have built our stores close to whre our customers live, with medium-sized floor plans so shopping can be done quickly and comfortably.

In 2016, throughout the year, every third day on average we opened a new Dino-branded store somewhere in Poland. Each location has been very carefully chosen by our experienced staff so that the stores are easy to reach for our customers, and also at reasonable distances from our distribution centres so we can supply the stores daily with fresh, inexpensive products. At the same time, the number of employees, working for us at the headquarters, in the warehouses, and at the stores, has grown to approximately 10 thousand. The store chain itself has grown to over 600 stores, and also our presence in the north of the country is becoming stronger. The way north has been opened for us by our third distribution centre, in Jastrowie near Piła, which became operational in July 2016.

In 2017 we opened 147 new stores while we ended the year with a network numbering 775 stores. We have a well-tested and fine-tuned growth strategy allowing more and more residents of Poland to think about Dino as the store to do their daily shopping.

In the same year shares of the “DINO POLSKA” S.A. debuted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. From that moment several million Poles, through mutual funds and open-end pension funds, individual investors and reputable international institutions have been the co-owners of Dino Polska. Following the IPO Dino Polska continues to be a company predominantly owned by Polish capital.

In 2018-2020 we opened 202, 243 and 255 new stores, respectively. At the end of 2020 we had 1,473 stores and nearly 26 thousand employees.

Customers warmly welcomed the Dino stores opened in their vicinity. We are confident our store’s attractive format aligned to evolving market trends and Poles’ needs was the major contributing factor: it gave customers the possibility of doing their shopping conveniently and comfortably at attractive prices close to their places of residence while offering them a large selection of fresh products.

In 2018 we opened our fourth distribution center (in Rzeszotary in Lower Silesia). In 2020 we opened our fifth distribution center in Łobez (Western Pomerania) to facilitate further expansion.

In 2019 we started to install solar panels on the rooftops of Dino stores. This is one of our key projects in our environmental policy for our stores to generate environmentally-friendly solar power.

Motivated by the robust reception of the new Dino stores we accelerated the pace of the Dino network rollout in 2021-2022. Nearly every day we opened a new store in Poland. In 2021 we launched 343 new stores and in 2022 we opened 344 new stores. Every new Dino store is outfitted with its own PV installation to generate solar power, and we are steadily upgrading existing stores with PV installations. At the end of 2022 we had 1,701 PV installations with a total capacity of 63.5MW, giving us the ongoing ability to reduce our environmental impact.

During these two years we increased our headcount by 11.5 thousand persons to 37.4 thousand employees. In 2021 we launched two more distribution centers: one in Sierpc (Mazovia) and one in Sieroniowice (Opole) to ensure the timely delivery and full accessibility of foodstuffs in Dino stores. In 2022 we kicked off the construction of our eighth distribution center in the community of Kaliska in Kujawy Pomerania.