ANALYSIS

Discounters Aldi and Lidl have motored at their fastest in more than two years as resurgent inflation helped the UK’S food retailing sector to its best performance in more than three years.

The two German-owned supermarket groups reached a joint record market share of 12 per cent as inflation put an extra £27 on the grocery bills of households over the past 12 weeks, Kantar Worldpanel figures showed yesterday.

Aldi and Lidl’s joint sales rose almost 20 per cent year-onyear as 62 per cent of the UK population shopped in either of them over the past three months, up from 58 per cent.

Aldi sales lifted 19.8 per cent, while Lidl was up 18.3 per cent. Iceland also grew well ahead of the market, increasing sales by 8.6 per cent and attracting 380,000 more shoppers to boost its share to 2.2 per cent.

Overall sales grew 3.8 per cent year on year, the market’s best performance since September 2013. Kantar Worldpanel said all 10 UK supermarket groups saw sales increase, boosted by higher prices as inflation continues.

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“Consumers are starting to feel the pinch, with the average household spending an additional £27 on groceries during the past 12 weeks”

CHRIS HAYWARD, KANTAR

Chris Hayward, consumer specialist at Kantar, said: “The big four have collectively grown by 1.6 per cent overall, while Aldi and Lidl together grew at their fastest rate since January 2015.

“Consumers are starting to feel the pinch as prices continue to rise, with the average household spending an additional £27 on groceries during the past 12 weeks.

“That may not seem like much, but if inflation continues at its current rate over the course of a year, that would mean an extra £119 spent on groceries per household.”

He added that the “rapid growth” of Aldi and Lidl was not just about inflation but “also the effect of more of the UK population shopping in their stores more often, as they both continue a programme of store openings”.

Both discounters had also developed very successful own-label lines, Hayward said. “These played well to customers’ desire for value, while also encouraging them to trade up to more expensive