UK’s most popular supermarket committing to UK suppliers

ALDI UK AND IRELAND I PROFILE

Aldi Stores Ltd, Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket, with over 950 stores and 38,000 employees – and growing – is dedicated to increasing its British supplier base. Aldi has announced plans to increase the amount of food and drink it buys from British suppliers by £3.5 billion a year by the end of 2025, recruiting over 100 additional British suppliers in 2022. The supermarket will not be beaten on price, consistently wins awards for quality, treats suppliers with respect and strives to support customers, society, and the environment. Profile by Phil Nicholls.

Giles Hurley, CEO, Aldi UK and Ireland

From multi-billion pound pledges into the UK’s supply chain, to delivering on strong recycling commitments – all whilst opening 100 stores across the UK in the next two years – supermarket chain Aldi is balancing growth with environmental responsibility.

Aldi works hard to reduce its environmental impact and ensure that products are packaged sustainably, reducing the volumes of plastic used and ensuring all materials used are easy to recycle. All of Aldi’s back-of-store plastic waste is recycled and turned into our bags for life. Made from 100% recycled plastic, the bags can be reused many times, then recycled again.

Aldi announced its first plastic and packaging pledges in March 2018, updating them in July 2020, making the pledges even more ambitious. All black plastic, PVC and Expanded Polystyrene have been successfully removed from Aldi Core Range Food products. An impressive 92% of Aldi’s own-label packaging is recyclable, reusable or home compostable. The supermarket tested exciting initiatives in this area throughout 2021 to help Aldi achieve the pledged goal of 100%.

ALDI UK AND IRELAND I PROFILE

In 2020, Aldi removed over lids from fresh cream, big pot yogurts and ready to drink coffee products, removing 34 million pieces of plastic from circulation. The same year, Aldi changed the transport packaging for fresh meat products, switching to reusable crates instead of cardboard boxes and plastic wrap, saving 5,800 tonnes. Indeed, all of Aldi’s core range primary packaging is from a certified source or contains a minimum of 70% recycled content.

Since April 2021, Aldi has trialled ambient product refills in stores and continually works to reduce the amounts of plastic and packaging used on products. Notable successes include moving the fresh steak range to cardboard trays, an 88% plastic reduction per pack and equivalent to a massive 1,132 tonnes per year waste saving.

Also, Aldi removed 2 million pieces of throwaway plastic from the 2022 Easter confectionery range.

“We know that our customers are passionate about the environment,” acknowledged Richard Gorman, Plastics and Packaging Director at Aldi UK, “and these changes to our Easter range are a great example of how we are helping them eliminate unnecessary plastic. We’re committed to playing our part to protect the environment, and its changes like this that can make all the difference.”

Greening the transport fleet

In April 2022, Aldi announced a programme adding green technology to its delivery fleet. The all-electric refrigerated trailer converts kinetic energy into electricity to power the on-board batteries as the wheels turn, meaning products are kept cool whilst reducing energy consumption and minimising environmental impact. Liz Fox, Corporate Responsibility Director at Aldi UK, explained: “We want to do as much as possible to reduce our environmental impact. That’s why we have been carbon neutral since January 2019 and use energy from renewable sources.

“This latest step forms part of this commitment. We already have effective energy efficiency systems in place and are pleased to be taking this one step further by trialling the latest technology within our transport fleet.”

All new Aldi trailers will be fitted with solar mats to help power them, as well as track the solar energy and CO2 savings they create. These projects form part of Aldi’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions in its entire lorry fleet. The supermarket is also currently trialling more environmental fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).

Britain’s number one

Aldi’s sustainable business model is clearly a big hit with UK shoppers as the latest YouGov survey awarded Aldi the coveted status of the nation’s favourite supermarket. Aldi achieved a topranked 100% Fame rating and 79% popularity amongst all adults. Aldi was also most popular among the Millennials demographic, but only sixth most popular with Generation X and Baby Boomers.

An independent price comparison by trade magazine The Grocer may offer one reason for the YouGov results: The Grocer study found that the UK’s so called ‘Big Four’ supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – were on average 19% more expensive than Aldi. Richard Thornton, Communications Director at Aldi, said: “With so many costs rising right now, customers want to know

they can still afford to treat themselves to high-quality food and drink without breaking the bank.

“Aldi is the only supermarket to offer that unbeatable combination of great quality products at low prices. We believe that’s why British shoppers have, once again, voted us the nation’s favourite.”

However, Aldi is not resting on its laurels as growth continues steadily at the supermarket. In the year ending 31st December 2020, Aldi posted a turnover of £13.5 billion, up 10.18% from the previous year.

Giles Hurley, CEO for Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Whilst 2020 was an extremely challenging year, our 41,000 colleagues stepped up when it mattered most – their dedication to the communities they serve has been nothing short of remarkable. Despite some of the most difficult conditions our sector has ever seen, our people underlined the strength, success, and spirit of our business.”

Alongside the sales growth, Aldi embarked on a nationwide program of store expansion, targeting 100 new stores over the next two years. Aldi pledges to invest £1.3 billion by 2023 to grow the retail estate. The supermarket has a list of target towns across the country, as it searches for sites large enough to accommodate a 20,000 sqft store and around 100 dedicated parking spaces, preferably on a prominent main road with good visibility and access.

“Our focus is on expanding our store estate, making sure Aldi is accessible to as many new shoppers across the country as possible,” Richard Thornton, Communications Director at Aldi UK explained. “Looking ahead, we are excited to provide millions of new customers with access to Aldi’s award-winning quality and unbeatable value as we create even more places and more ways to shop with us.”

Stars in their aisles

To service the expanding range of stores, Aldi is focused on increasing its British supplier base.

“As well as delivering record sales,” Mr Hurley outlined, “we continued to invest for growth, deploying over £600 million in

ALDI UK AND IRELAND I PROFILE

stores and distribution centres across the UK. This helped to create thousands of much-needed jobs and support for British farmers and manufacturers.”

One example of this effect is the 2021 Grow With Aldi competition, which was won by Penrhos Gin, a craft gin distillery in Hertfordshire. The prize was a record 18,000 bottle order for the company as Aldi stocked this small British supplier in over 950 Aldi stores nationwide. This dedicated support for British business is a trademark feature of the supermarket chain.

Aldi has invested an extra £1.6 billion with British suppliers since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. This figure includes £125 million more spent with British meat, poultry and dairy farmers as the supermarket sourced 100% of its core range of fresh meat, eggs, butter, milk, and cream from British suppliers.

“We were the fastest-growing supermarket in the UK in 2021,” Mr Hurley said, “and that has only been possible by working closely, over long periods, with hundreds of British suppliers.

“As we continue to grow, opening new stores across the UK, we are determined to ensure that the vast majority of our grocery products continue to come from British suppliers, just as they do now.”

Aldi announced plans to increase the amount of food and drink it buys from British suppliers by £3.5 billion a year by the end of 2025, recruiting over 100 additional British suppliers in 2022. The new Grow with Aldi programme, launched in February 2022, will offer another company the chance to enjoy the sudden growth experienced by Penrhos Gin last year.

Aldi spent £9 billion with British companies in 2021. The supermarket opens on average one new store a week, further increasing the number of opportunities for British suppliers to provide products for Aldi’s seasonal product ranges and Specialbuys, as well as permanent listings. Aldi was ranked the best-performing supermarket for compliance with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice for seven consecutive years, underlining its commitment to maintaining fair, predictable, and sustainable prices within its supply chain.

One business who benefitted from Aldi’s investment in British suppliers is Cuoco, a family-owned biscuit maker in Yeovil, Somerset. Cuoco’s luxury Chocolate Caramel Thins were named as The Quality Food Award’s 2021 Christmas product of the year.

“Our partnership with Aldi kept us very busy in the run up to Christmas,” said Liam Pithers, MD & Creative Director at Cuoco, “The growing partnership is allowing us to bring even more local staff on board and the majority of our ingredients are sourced via local suppliers.

“We’re working hard to develop even more exciting new flavours, sustainable packaging formats and products, and hope to extend our Exquisite Specially Selected range with Aldi even further in the years to come.”

Aldi is driving forward to be a fairer, greener and healthier supermarket, to simply be better every day. Aldi believes that everyone should have access to fresh, healthy, affordable food: it’s a right, not a privilege. n

“We were the fastest-growing supermarket in the UK in 2021”