Lidl hails record Christmas as shoppers snap up lobster

Budget supermarket Lidl notched up record takings over the Christmas period after a surge in lobster sales.
Lidl reported a 10% rise in sales for December. Picture: Kimberley PowellLidl reported a 10% rise in sales for December. Picture: Kimberley Powell
Lidl reported a 10% rise in sales for December. Picture: Kimberley Powell

The German chain said sales increased 10 per cent over December, its best festive sales performance. It did not disclose like-for-like figures for the period, a more widely used industry measure of performance.

The figures come after rival Aldi posted a 15 per cent rise in sales for December.

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Lidl said customers lapped up festive favourites, helping sales of carrots, parsnips, sprouts and potatoes surge 60 per cent.

A Twitter campaign saw the price of the supermarket’s luxury lobster drop to £2.99, resulting in 40,000 sales in one day. Turkey sales increased by 40 per cent following an advertising campaign.

Chief executive Christian Härtnagel said: “It’s incredibly encouraging that, during this highly competitive time, we have achieved our most successful festive trading period ever. “We are unwaveringly committed to helping customers save as much money as possible.

“We also remain fully committed to our ongoing expansion plans, which will see the opening of up to 50 new stores next year, along with two new regional distribution centres, creating thousands of new jobs up and down the country.”

Morrisons yesterday reported its strongest festive sales performance for seven years, while fellow “big four” grocer Sainsbury’s today warned that the market remains “very competitive” as it saw like-for-like sales edge 0.1 per cent higher over its Christmas quarter. Sector giant Tesco will give a trading update tomorrow.