Bargain hunters flocking to Aldi and Lidl as grocery prices soar
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Bargain hunters flock to Aldi and Lidl while food prices are rising fastest
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Shoppers flock to Aldi and Lidl as food prices rise at the fastest rate on record.
The German discount supermarkets attract huge numbers of customers who want to reduce the cost of a weekly store.
Figures from data consultant Kantar showed that inflation in supermarkets was 13.9 percent in the three months to October, equating to an additional £643 a year on bills for the average household.
Cheaper alternatives: German discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl get huge numbers of customers who want to reduce the cost of a weekly store
That was the largest increase since registration began in 2008.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said the rising cost of living is “hit people hard at the registers.”
He said: ‘Consumers are looking for ways to manage budgets and avoid paying more for their groceries.’
And the numbers showed a massive shift to cheaper supermarkets, with Aldi and Lidl’s sales growing more than four times faster than any other major grocer.
Aldi’s sales in the three months to 2 October were 20.7 percent higher than the same period last year, at £2.8 billion.
At Lidl, the UK’s fastest growing grocer, sales rose 20.9 per cent to £2.2 billion.
It means that the discounters, which entered the UK in the 1990s, now collectively dominate 16.4 percent of the UK supermarket market – more than Sainsbury’s or Asda.
Tesco is by far the largest grocer, at a massive 27 percent, and is fighting to keep prices low to prevent shoppers from losing out to Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi has widened its lead over Morrisons, who pushed it from its long-held spot in the British grocer’s ‘Big Four’ last month. Aldi’s market share is 9.3 percent, compared to Morrisons’ 9 percent.
The Bradford-based grocer saw its problems worsen in the three months to October as it was the only major supermarket other than upmarket Waitrose to lose sales. Sales at Morrisons fell 3.9 percent to £2.7 billion.
It is the latest blow to the company, which has struggled since it fell to private equity last year.
Morrisons was the fourth largest supermarket after Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco since it acquired Safeway in 2004.
Asda, which has also struggled since its acquisition by the billionaire Issa brothers in 2020, saw the strongest revenue growth of the traditional quartet.
Sales rose 4.5 percent to £4.1 billion, boosted by the success of the Just Essentials range.
It attracted 417,000 customers more than in the same period last year.