Aldi UK has dethroned Waitrose as the winner of the Best Supermarket category at the prestigious Drinks Retailing Awards 2016, DailyMail.co.uk reports.
It also claimed the awards Multiple Wine Retailer of the Year, and Drinks Buying Team of the Year.
Waitrose the award for champagne retailing, and Sainsbury’s and Morrisons won the prizes for supermarket retailing of beer and spirits respectively.
Martin Greene, the editor of Off Licence News, which organises the awards, said "Victory for Aldi at the Drinks Retailing Awards is indicative of the changing face of the UK retail market. Aldi has been winning praise from across the industry for winning over shoppers with a sharp, focused drinks range that has a clear pricing system. Its shelves are easy to shop, void of dozens of half-price deals and full of value-for-money gems that have taken international competitions by storm.
"It is growing sales faster than any retailer in the land, followed closely by Lidl. These retailers have sent the big four grocers into a panic, leading them to cut their ranges and abandon a pricing strategy reliant on money-off deals. Aldi and Lidl are constantly eating away at the market share of the big four, and at the other end of the market Waitrose is going from strength to strength, suggesting shoppers like everyday low prices on offer at Aldi and Lidl but are also happy to splash out on quality drinks at Waitrose, leaving the middle of the market squeezed."
He also added, "The Drinks Retailing Awards’ judging process is known to be the most rigorous in the industry, and it was a very close call, with Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose all excelling. We are already looking forward to battle lines being drawn for next year’s awards. We know the major grocers will come out swinging in 2016, and it will be fascinating to see how the market develops in the next 12 months."
Waitrose had won the top prize for wine retailing five times consecutively before this year.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
