DISCOUNTER STEPS UP SCOTTISH FOCUS

LOCAL SOURCING: ALDI

ALDI STEPS UP LOCAL SOURCING FOCUS IN SCOTLAND

ALDI IS INCREASING ITS FOCUS ON LOCAL SOURCED PRODUCTS IN SCOTLAND WITH A WAVE OF NEWACTIVITY TO LURE CUSTOMERS AND SUPPORT SCOTTISH PRODUCERS.

The discounters have long had a firm focus on locally, regionally and nationally sourced products – particularly in Scotland where provenance is of great interest to shoppers – but Aldi is raising its game with a wave of new initiatives designed to highlight to shoppers the extensive range of Scottish products available in its 95 stores in Scotland.

A new campaign sees the retailer focus on its Christmas range for 2020 which includes a star-studded line up of award-winning Scottish produce, from Specially Selected Aberdeen Angus Steak to Chilli & Ginger Infused Scottish Salmon.

2020 has been a good year for Aldi’s Scottish food and drink range, achieving 24 accolades from a variety of renowned Scottish and UK food and drinks awards, which celebrate the quality of local supermarket produce.

Aldi is letting its customer know that the festive period is the perfect time to enjoy some of Aldi’s best Scottish food and drink products.

Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director at Aldi Scotland said: “This year we thank all of our local suppliers who have worked tirelessly throughout an extremely challenging year to produce and deliver the best food and drink products Scotland has to offer. I hope our customers across Scotland have a great Christmas and thoroughly enjoy Aldi’s array of festive drinks, meals and treats.”

The company also announced that it is rolling out cardboard packaging across its entire beef steak range in all 95 Scottish stores. The new packaging is being introduced on all 12 of the supermarket’s beef steak products from this month and will save approximately 80 tonnes of plastic a year in Scotland. Aldi is the biggest retailer of Scottish origin beef [Kantar Worldpanel, 6 Sep 2020].

The move follows a successful trial in stores across parts of Wales, as well as the North West and South East of England. The cardboard packaging is recyclable, once the protective film has been removed, and is sourced from sustainably-managed forests.

Aldi is the biggest retailer of Scottish origin beef and regularly tops NFU Scotland’s ‘shelf watch’ surveys, which means customers are guaranteed to find the highest quality, locally sourced meat all year round at Aldi stores in Scotland.

Last month, Aldi rolled out flow wrap packaging across its entire Glen Lochy block cheddar range, reducing plastic waste by 50% to save an estimated 13 tonnes of plastic a year in Scotland.

Finally, the company has teamed up with three top Scottish chefs to inspire people to try its range of Scotch Galloway Beef joints this Christmas by showing customers how to re-create restaurant quality festive feasts using each of the joints from the comfort of their own home.

Each joint is being showcased in three video recipe guides created by renowned chefs Chris Walker, owner of the Selkirk Arms Hotel in Kirkcudbright; 2019 Masterchef finalist Jilly McCord; and Craig Wilson, owner of Eat on the Green in Aberdeenshire. The videos will premiere on Aldi Scotland’s Facebook page this weekend.

Based in Dumfries & Galloway – the home of the Galloway breed – chef Chris Walker (pictured) has developed a recipe using the Scotch Galloway Beef Sirloin Joint, which he serves with a hazelnut, mushroom and mustard crust and a mushroom and Port wine jus.

Nicolson concluded: “Scotch Galloway Beef is of the highest quality, and we wanted to show customers exactly how some of Scotland’s top chefs would cook it this Christmas.”