Aldi sign

Aldi and Lidl, the German discount retailers, have taken record-high shares of the UK grocery market, according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel.

Overall market figures showed a 3.6 per cent year-on-year increase in total sales, with Aldi claiming a 3.3 per cent market share after sales growth of 15 per cent in the 12 weeks to 17 April.

Lidl accounted for 2.6 per cent of the total market after a similar upturn in sales (14.7 per cent).

Kantar reported the growth was driven by a sharp rise in spending by existing customers.

Waitrose, a high-end grocer, showed the next highest growth rate at 7.7 per cent, with Morrisons (4 per cent) ahead of Sainsburys (3.3 per cent), Tesco (3.2 per cent) and Asda {2.2 per cent) among the big four market leaders.