Grupo Mateus is a retail food network in Brazil, classified as the largest retail chain with 100% national capital. The group has a wide presence in the market, with supermarket retail, wholesale, cash-and-carry, appliances, bakery, furniture, portioning, and slicing center.
Currently, the brand is among the largest in the country and the largest in the Northeast and North. The group's operations are carried out through 1,750 wholesale sales representatives, serving nearly 20,000 points of sale. In the North and Northeast regions, Grupo Mateus has representatives with 54 stores.
In total, the group has a structure of:
Grupo Mateus also has brands such as Mix Atacarejo, Eletro Mateus, Supermercado Mateus, and Camiño Supermercados. In addition, the group also has an e-commerce platform, as well as the Mateus App, a discount application. For customers, cards are available, such as MateusCard and Crednosso, with various payment conditions.
Regarding products, Grupo Mateus has Distribution Centers in Maranhão, Piauí, and Pará, which also supply small and medium entrepreneurs in the Northeast and North regions through Armazém Mateus. The products distributed are mostly domestic and imported.
With the new directions of the economy, technology and online shopping have grown considerably, Grupo Mateus launched the Super – Market of the Future platform. On the platform, customers can choose various products that are delivered through two systems, delivery or the drive-thru system at the store itself.
In addition, Grupo Mateus created It Happens, which is currently called Pulse. With this operation, the group develops and manages logistics software, used especially in the company's activities. Furthermore, the company has 180 programmers for modules for HR, as well as e-commerce, inventory, sales, accounting, infrastructure, and company management.
The history of Grupo Mateus began when Ilson Mateus decided to open a small grocery store in Balsas, a city in southern Maranhão, in 1986. Ilson initially worked as a gold miner. After realizing that mining was not what he expected, he also worked in buying and selling glass bottles.
Ilson's second job was the starting point for the creation of Grupo Mateus, transforming it into what we know today. While working in buying and selling glass bottles, Ilson noticed a high demand for basic products from migrants living in Balsas.
Thus, in 1986, Ilson decided to open the grocery store as a way to contribute to the local trade. Sales prospered at first, as the people living there had no options for buying basic products.
With the growth of the business, the grocery store soon transformed into a Warehouse. A few years later, in 1997, the Group was already selling appliances through the creation of EletroMateus. It didn't take long for the Group, with its expansion, to seek new ways to grow.
Thus, with the arrival of the 2000s, the first store of the Group was inaugurated in Imperatriz – the second largest city in Maranhão. Two years later, it was time to open a store in Santa Inês. The inauguration of the second store served as a strategy for the company to finally enter the market of the state capital.
By 2003, Grupo Mateus inaugurated two stores in São Luís, and over the years, the number only increased. In 2007, the Group created Bumba Meu Pão as a way to diversify its business. Bumba Meu Pão is a company specialized in the production of snacks, sweets, and bread.
Also in 2007, the cash-and-carry segment was created within the company through the Mix Atacarejo stores. Soon after, in 2009, the Group opened a Supermarket in Maranhão.
In 2011, Grupo Mateus took a big step by establishing a financial partnership with Bradesco to create the Grupo Mateus credit card, the MateusCard. In the same year, ULMA – Universidade de Líderes do Mateus – was created to specialize in training managers for leadership positions within the Group.
The following year, in 2012, Grupo Mateus expanded its operations in Pará by opening new stores. In 2013, 4 new stores were inaugurated in Maranhão. By 2014, the Group invested in production and logistics by creating new ways to enhance production.
In 2016, the Canto do Chef website was created, the first online business of Grupo Mateus, specializing in sales to restaurants, snack bars, and eateries. In the same year, the Group invested in the prime segment.
By 2019, Grupo Mateus created the Mateus App and the e-commerce Mateus Online, marking the beginning of the company's digital expansion. Finally, in 2020, the Group went public on the stock exchange and achieved two significant milestones in the history of the Stock Exchange: the largest IPO of a company in the Northeast and the largest public offering of shares in 2020.
