Iceland makes announcement on Tesco Express and Sainsbury's Local style mini-supermarkets

has made a major announcement which will come as a boost to loyal shoppers. The frozen food , which operates more than 900 stores across the UK, has revealed it will expand its number of convience stores. The company plans to "more than double" the number of Iceland Local stores it has in the country, which is currently around 30 that are run by partners, including Greens Retail, EG on The Move, and SGN.

Major supermarkets, such as (Tesco Express) and (Sainsbury's Local) are leading the way when it comes to conviences stores, with them operating 2,094 and 820 respectively. However, Iceland is also planning on moving further into the space. Iceland's head of international and partnerships Justin Addison told that over the next two months, it will reach "60 going on 70" local stores if its pipeline of potential partnerships launches on time.

The local format was initially launched in April 2023. The first store opened at a petrol forecourt in Wolverhampton, in partnership with SGN Retail, and it was later revealed that the local stores would replace Iceland's Swift stores, with all five of those closing later that same year.

Mr Addison said. "We had a go with Swift and managing convenience ourselves. However, we soon realised that it wasn't going to work as we don't have the specialist knowledge within the business when it comes to convenience stores. But what we can be is very capable partners to lots of different convenience businesses."

The latest expansion comes as the company also works to expand internationally working with more global partners. Iceland recently launched its first store in China last month, with the international and partnerships head believing that the country could be Iceland's biggest export market.

New partnerships with supermarkets in Australia, the Middle East, Korea, Scandinavia, and Turkey are also on the horizon for the supermarket.

In addition to expanding local stores across the UK, there are talks of the company supplying a major UK retailer. However, it was not disclosed which.

Besides more partnership deals, Iceland is also set on expanding its network of company-run stores, aiming to double its Food Warehouse mark, which is the company's main avenue of growth.