Aldi commits to buying British

Supermarket Aldi has announced that it plans to increase the amount of food and drink which it buys from British suppliers by £3.5bn a year within the next five years on the back of its expansion across the UK.

Aldi is expanding its stores across the UK and has pledged to buy more British produce.

A spokesperson for the NFU said that it was positive news that Aldi was making further commitments to invest in the UK supply chain, and the pledge would help British food and farming businesses to grow: “Aldi is already a big supporter of British agriculture, spending over £8 billion with British suppliers in 2019 and sourcing core ranges of fresh meat, milk and eggs from Britain.”

Giles Hurley, chief executive officer at Aldi UK, said that the company was expecting significant sales growth in 2021 as new stores opened across the UK.

He said that with the company set to invest £500m in new and upgraded stores, distribution centres and its supply chain in 2021, over 4,000 jobs would be created along with new opportunities for British food and drink producers: “With the vast majority of our grocery products now coming from British suppliers, our growth will lead to additional jobs and investment in our UK supply chain.”

He also confirmed that the immediate payment terms for small suppliers - which were introduced at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic - would be extended until the end of 2021, a move which would see the supermarket continue to process payments for the 1,000-plus suppliers with an annual turnover of less than £1m with Aldi as soon as they were submitted.