Aldi’s £3.5bn for British suppliers
PLUS 100 NEW STORES AND 4,000 JOBS
BUDGET supermarket Aldi has announced an extra £3.5billion-ayear boost for British suppliers.
The German-owned chain said it would up the amount of food and drink it buys from UK producers by that amount by 2025.
Aldi currently spends more than £8billion a year with British suppliers.
The new commitment comes as Aldi prepares to ramp up an expansion, which will see it open 100 stores – about one a week – over the next two years.
The firm has already announced plans to invest £500million in new and sprucedup stores, distribution centres and its supply chain in 2021, which will create over 4000 jobs.
Data from industry experts Kantar showed Aldi’s sales grew by seven per cent to £2.37billion in the 12 weeks to the end of November.
Its market share stands at 7.7 per cent, above rival Lidl’s 6.2 per cent, with Morrisons – the smallest of Britain’s Big Four grocers – at 10.3 per cent. Giles Hurley, boss of Aldi UK, said: “We are expecting significant sales growth in 2021 as we open new stores and bring Aldi to more locations across the UK.
“With the vast majority of our grocery products coming from British suppliers, our growth will lead to additional jobs and investment in our UK supply chain.”
Aldi also confirmed it was extending immediate payment terms for small suppliers introduced at the start of the coronavirus pandemic until the end of 2021, which will benefit more than 1000 British firms.