Debuting in Bucharest at the beginning of May, the company, which is the largest convenience store chain in Central and Eastern Europe, says it now hopes to have 200 stores in the country by the end of the year.

This is in addition to the 10,000-plus it already has in Poland.

The store in Romania will operate under the brand name Froo and is in a pilot phase of what the firm calls a “friends*&family” formula, meaning it is only available to a certain group of test customers.

The company told the Romanian news website Economica: “The first step is to open several test locations, one of which has been operating since the beginning of May in Bucharest.

“This solution will allow us to respond even better to the expectations of consumers in the local market, as well as to test the facilities in the store.”

“The further pace of development of the network in Romania will depend on the result of the test phase.”

The move into Romania comes after earlier this year the company took over a majority stake in the family-run distribution firm DRIM Daniel Distribuţie FMCG worth €103.8 million.

Żabka has experienced rapid growth over the last few years, with last year seeing the opening of its 10,000th store.

According to the company, in 2012, almost a third of Poland’s population lived within 300 meters of a Żabka store.