Beating the big guns at own game

ANALYSIS

BY GRAHAM HISCOTT THEY’VE got more stores than Morrisons and triggered Tesco into launching a new chain to compete.

Aldi, along with Lidl, have provided a trolley load of trouble for Britain’s supermarket giants.

By stocking far fewer product lines and keeping costs to a minimum, they are beating the big guns at their own game.

Their Special Buys aisle – with their eclectic range of goods – is a bargain hunters dream come true.

Aldi are now Britain’s fifth biggest grocers, even if they are some way behind Morrisons. However, their rate of store openings is set to slow. Plus their lack of a fully fledged online grocery arm could prove an issue.

For now, Aldi are showing there is demand for bricks and mortar stores. And as they grow their posh food ranges, as well as cutting prices, it is proving a recipe for success. BY GRAHAM HISCOTT BUDGET supermarket Aldi aim to open more than 400 stores by 2025 – creating another 20,000 jobs.

The discount chain are targeting “strategic” towns where there is no Aldi presence.

The German giants arrived in 1990 and have 789 branches.

The firm previously said they wanted to have 1000 branches by 2022, and yesterday set out plans to open 130 over the next two years. But they went further by setting a target to have 1200 UK outlets by the end of 2025.

The aim will pile pressure on Britain’s Big Four supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – who have lost trade to Aldi and Lidl.

The pair account for nearly £14 in every £100 spent in grocers. Aldi’s market share jumped from four to 6.8 per cent at the end of last year. It has since grown to 7.6 per cent. Aldi claimed they attracted another 1.1million customers in 2017, who shopped at least once in their stores last year.

They also announced sales in the UK and Ireland combined surged 16.4 per cent to £10.2billion.

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “The revolution in British grocery

Giles Hurley shows no sign of slowing. Savvy customers know they can save with Aldi thanks to great quality products at lower prices.” Tesco have announced plans to take on the discounters by launching a budget chain called Jack’s. But Hurley said: “It will be a real struggle for a more complex supermarket to successfully imitate our model.” Meanwhile, he said Aldi have been considering stockpiling food as part of Brexit preparations but he added: “Based on storage and shelf life, that would be very challenging.”

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has said the Government are making plans to secure food supply in the event of no deal.

Aldi says they already source around 77 per cent of their products from the UK.