Safeway, the US supermarket group, said on Thursday it expects to expand its Blackhawk gift card subsidiary this year to Germany, France and Australia, as it seeks to capitalise internationally on a retail concept that has thrived in the US.

The retailer launched Blackhawk in 2001 as a stand-alone subsidiary to sell gift cards in its own supermarket network. It is now the largest third party supplier of gift cards in the US and Canada, selling cards in more than 63,000 locations including at rival supermarkets and drug stores.