Aldi UK’s CEO, Giles Hurley, has said that the retailer will continue to "benchmark" leading brands in the development of its private-label products, trade publication The Grocer has reported.
Hurley's comments follow on from the discounter facing numerous legal challenges over design infringement, most notably from Marks & Spencer.
The Grocer reported Hurley as saying that said Aldi will continue to offer alternatives to market-leading products at a reduced price.
“I don’t think there’s anything we need to avoid," he told the publication. “Sometimes it’s big brands, sometimes it’s exclusive own-label products. We’re most focused on what our customers want, not what other retailers say.”
Read More: Hands Off Colin The Caterpillar, Marks & Spencer Warns Aldi
Growing Its Store Portfolio
By 2025, Aldi UK aims to have a total of 1,200 stores. In 2022, the company invested £700 million (€788.1 million) and is planning to invest £600 million (€675.5 million) in 2023.
In February, the discounter said that it plans to expand its store estate in London by almost doubling its current 60 stores. Despite the high demand, Aldi is underrepresented in the capital, which is partly due to the scarcity of suitable sites.
To address this issue, Aldi UK is providing property agents with a finder's fee of either 1.5% of the freehold price or 10% of the first year's rent for leasehold sites to assist them in identifying potential sites that were previously unknown.
Aldi currently holds a market share of 9.9% in the UK, the latest data from Kantar revealed.
Read More: Discounters Surge As Grocery Price Inflation Hits 17.5% In UK: Kantar
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Private Label news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
