The discounter is set to spend £34 million on British fruit and veg as it prepares for its biggest Easter sales yet
Aldi is gearing up to spend approximately £34 million on British fruit and vegetables as it prepares for its best Easter performance yet in terms of food sales.
The UK’s four largest supermarket is predicting huge sales increases on food and drink during the week of Easter, and is gearing up to more than three million British potatoes, 1.65 million carrots and 500,000 parsnips.
Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK, said: “Shoppers have started to think about Easter even earlier this year, with items from our Easter range flying off the shelves already.
“There are more British-sourced delights than ever for Aldi shoppers to enjoy,” she added.
In related news, Aldi UK this week revealed it is looking for locations across London to build new stores.
The move is part of a £500 million investment to bring more stores within the M25.
Aldi is looking to open another 100 stores across the central and greater London area which would create around 3,500 new jobs.
To help identify sites, property agents are being offered a finder’s fee of either 1.5 per cent of a freehold price or 10 per cent of the first year’s rent for leasehold sites, for recommending a previously unknown site.
Aldi is looking for locations big enough for its standard 20,000 sq ft stores, which need around 100 dedicated parking spaces, preferably on a prominent main road and with good visibility and access.
In addition, the supermarket says it is also on the lookout for sites to accommodate its Aldi Local store format, which are around 5,000 sq ft in size.
Jonathan Neale, managing director of national real estate at Aldi UK, said: “We want to make high quality, affordable food accessible to all, but there are still many areas in the capital that don’t have access to an Aldi and, as a result, too many people have to make do with big prices at the traditional supermarkets.
“The locations we’ve identified are places where there is demand for our stores and we are committed to continue investing until we can bring our quality products and unbeatable prices to as many people as possible.”
The UK’s fourth largest supermarket recently announced a long-term plan to operate 1,500 stores across the UK – with a particular interest in sites within the M25 due to the strong demand for Aldi in the capital.
