Aldi saw its sales grow 35.7 per cent to £5.3 billion in 2013.
Like-for-like sales were up 30 per cent, meanwhile, driving pre-tax profits up 65.2 per cent to £261m.
The retailer's UK bosses, Matthew Barnes and Roman Heini, told The Daily Telegraph that the German retailer had emerged as the new “consumer champion”, that it is benefiting from a “lack of trust” in traditional supermarkets, and that its sales have actually been boosted by the price war among the 'big four' retailers.
The news comes as Sainsbury’s is expected to post a fall in like-for-like sales on Wednesday (1 October), while Tesco is reeling from a trio of profit warnings and the discovery of a £250m black hole in its accounts.
Barnes told the Telegraph: “As the price war has begun, our sales, market share and growth have accelerated.Customers have become so much more sceptical since the recession about the grocery market in terms of value, transparency, and special offers.
“They have been bamboozled by a price reduction from a very high level to a low level, and yet that low level is still more expensive than Aldi.
“I think that has enabled us to stand out as a bit of a shining light. You can call us a consumer champion in that respect. Customers have come to see Aldi as a business they can trust, potentially in a market where there is very much a lack of trust.”
According to the newspaper, Aldi is attracting one million more customers than a year ago. The average customer is also buying more items, with Aldi recording an average basket size of 16.9 items, ahead of 16.6 at Tesco, but behind 18.8 at Asda.
Despite this increase, the average amount spent at Aldi is £18.99 - still 22 per cent less than the £24.37 average spend at Tesco.
