Daily, one of Georgia’s leading grocery retail groups, opened its first branded supermarket outside Georgia in Tashkent on 31 March 2025. The opening marked an important step in the company’s international expansion-and offers a useful example of how a Georgian consumer brand can approach a new market.
The Expansion Started Before the Daily Sign Appeared
Daily did not enter Uzbekistan by building a retail network from zero. In December 2024, Daily Group acquired a controlling stake in the Bi1 supermarket chain from France’s Schiever Group.
That acquisition provided an existing operating platform: locations, employees, suppliers, customers and practical market knowledge. Several months later, the first Daily-branded supermarket opened in Tashkent as the network’s 34th store in the city.
The sequence matters. Daily combined acquisition, local operating infrastructure and subsequent brand development rather than relying only on a greenfield launch.
Acquisition as a Market-Entry Strategy
International expansion can take many forms-partnerships, joint ventures, franchising, acquisitions or new operations. An acquisition can reduce some of the uncertainty of entering an unfamiliar consumer market because the incoming company gains access to infrastructure and knowledge that would otherwise take time to build.
For Daily, the next stage was to translate that local operating presence into its own consumer identity.
Acquire local presence → understand the market → introduce the brand → build the network → scale.
Why Uzbekistan?
Uzbekistan offers Georgian retailers access to a substantially larger consumer market. For successful companies that have already built scale at home, that creates an important strategic question: where can the next stage of growth come from?
Daily’s move shows one possible answer—regional expansion into a market where local infrastructure can support a broader growth strategy.
An Opportunity Beyond Daily
The story may also matter to Georgian producers. A Georgian-controlled retail network in Uzbekistan could potentially create new channels for food, beverage and FMCG brands seeking access to Uzbek consumers.
Whether that potential develops will depend on Daily’s sourcing and commercial strategy. But the possibility makes the expansion relevant beyond a single company.
For other Georgian businesses, the lesson is clear: market entry does not always have to start from zero. The right local platform can provide infrastructure, knowledge and speed—while branding and localisation remain a separate stage of the expansion process.
From Local Presence to Brand Development
The first Daily-branded supermarket represents a second stage of the expansion. Market entry created the operating presence; brand development begins building recognition around Daily itself.
For consumer-facing businesses, that distinction is important. Infrastructure, suppliers and locations make operations possible, but customers still need to understand and trust the brand. Daily’s approach therefore shows how international expansion can evolve in stages rather than through one opening day.
It also underlines the importance of localisation. Even when a company enters through an existing network, it still needs to understand local consumer behaviour, operating conditions and competitive dynamics before deciding how quickly to scale its own identity across the market.
LOCAL SUCCESS. REGIONAL AMBITION.
Sources: BM.GE Daily Opens Its First Supermarket in Tashkent / Why Daily Chose Uzbekistan for International Expansion