Analysis shows Aldi has overtaken Asda to become Britain’s third largest supermarket.
It is the latest blow for the grocer, which has lost market share to Aldi and fellow discounter Lidl since a £6.8 billion takeover led by the Issa brothers left it with huge debts.
Co-owner Mohsin Issa has promised to make Asda Britain’s second largest food retailer again, after Sainsbury’s.
But data from NIQ shows Asda’s growth is stagnating, with sales up just 0.8 percent in the past 12 weeks – the weakest performance of any major food retailer.
A closer look at the figures shows that its market share is now lagging behind that of Aldi. Asda accounted for 11.7 percent of the supermarket market, compared to Aldi’s 12.2 percent in the 12 weeks to March 23.
Sign of the times: in 20 years, Aldi has come from nowhere and now takes £1 out of every £4.50 spent at UK supermarket checkouts
The news comes as Asda delays the publication of its annual results. They were due last month but aren’t expected for a few weeks, sources say. No reason has been given.
In 20 years, the German discounters have come from nowhere and now take £1 of every £4.50 spent at the checkout of British supermarkets.
Former Lidl UK boss Ronny Gottschlich has said he expects the discounters’ combined share to surpass that of market leader Tesco ‘by 2027 at the latest’. But Tesco has proven resilient and has increased its supermarket market share to 26 per cent, according to NIQ figures.
The company is expected to post strong results this week, with analysts forecasting group profit – including international business and cash-and-carry company Booker – of £2.9 billion, up from £2.6 billion last year.
Turnover is expected to have risen to around £69 billion, up from £57.7 billion last time.
Aldi, which has more than 1,000 stores in Britain, will open a further 35 stores this year but its pace of expansion has slowed recently.
Shore Capital’s Clive Black said Aldi’s growth was ‘unsustainable’, while Asda’s trading momentum was ‘worrying’.
Asda said other sector data, such as that from Kantar, shows the sector continues to have an edge over Aldi. And a source close to the company said: ‘Market share data ebbs and flows, with gains and declines for supermarkets every year.’