Aldi and Lidl pile more pressure on big four

Discount grocers Aldi and Lidl have continued to grow at the expense of the “big four” chains, the latest snapshot of spending habits suggests.

Jools Holland features in Aldis Christmas advertising campaign. Both Aldi and Lidl sales advanced

The German duo now command a record 8.6 per cent slice of the supermarket sector, which eked out overall growth of just 0.1 per cent in the 12 weeks to 7 December. Sales at Aldi soared by 22.3 per cent against a year ago, while Lidl saw an 18.3 per cent surge.

Figures from Kantar Worldpanel showed troubled market leader Tesco saw its sales fall by 2.7 per cent, its best performance since June.

Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s also suffered declines, but upmarket grocer Waitrose enjoyed a 6 per cent rise in sales, extending a run of growth dating back to February 2009

Fraser McKevitt of Kantar said: “Cheaper groceries are an early Christmas present for shoppers, saving them £182 million in the past 12 weeks but this puts pressure on the supermarkets. We expect grocery deflation to continue well into 2015 as the price war rumbles on.”

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