Aldi sales up 25% amid crunch

Budget supermarket Aldi said today it saw sales rise by a quarter last year as the credit crunch sent well-heeled consumers looking for bargains.

The German chain’s sales across the UK and Ireland were up 24.8% to £2.15bn (€2.37bn) in 2008, while it expanded from 416 to 457 stores.

Aldi UK maintained the sales rise during December following a sales rise of 22.2% on the previous year.

It did not reveal its sales growth excluding the new stores, but the figures still indicate a strong performance against the general economic gloom, with market leader Tesco reporting its worst Christmas in almost 20 years.

Paul Foley, managing director of Aldi UK, told the Financial Times half of his customer base now came from the wealthier ABC1 social category, up from a fifth seven years ago.

The credit crunch had played a part, he said, but the traction would have taken place “with or without the economic situation”.

He said: “Consumers are trying something new but it is also the style and the quality of the offer that is attractive.”

The chain’s market share remains relatively small – 3.2% in November against 2.7% in the same month the previous year, according to market researchers TNS - but other retailers have taken note of its tactics, introducing discount ranges.

Aldi was founded in 1946 by German brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht, who named their company Albrecht Discount – Aldi for short – and opened its first UK store in Birmingham in 1990.

The supermarket says it makes savings by simplifying the shopping experience and stripping out unnecessary expenses.

It stocks only 1,000 lines with little duplication of products to cut costs related to buying, supplying and product development.