The Edeka Group is the largest German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

 corporation

Corporation

A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

, currently holding a market share of 26%. Founded in 1898, it consists today of several cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

s of independent supermarkets all operating under the umbrella organisation Edeka Zentrale AG & Co KG, with headquarters in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

. There are approximately 4,100 stores with the Edeka nameplate that range from small corner stores to hypermarket

Hypermarket

In commerce, a hypermarket is a superstore combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full groceries lines and general merchandise...

s. On November 16, 2007, Edeka reached an agreement with Tengelmann (known for A&P in the US) to purchase a 70% majority stake in Tengelmann's Plus discounter store division.
The cooperative was founded in 1898 as the E.d.K. (Einkaufsgenossenschaft der Kolonialwarenhändler).