Margaret Canning
Today at 06:24
Discount supermarket Aldi has said it’s “open to exploring opportunities” in Northern Ireland after marking 25 years in the Republic.
The German-owned business has built up successful trading over the border and in Great Britain, but has not yet committed to opening any stores in Northern Ireland.
However, with a strong presence in the Republic of 162 stores in total, many NI residents are familiar with its offering.
Asked about any future plans north of the border, a spokesperson for the Republic operation said: “We are very proud of Aldi’s popularity among NI shoppers.
“While there are no current plans for a new store in this area, we look forward to exploring new opportunities in Northern Ireland in the future.”
Lidl, which is also owned by a German parent company, has established a successful business on both sides of the border.
In NI, it has 42 stores and recently reported record turnover for the year of £496m. It is now the fourth-biggest supermarket here, behind Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda.
Convenience retailers also have a strong presence in the Northern Ireland market.
Independent brands Centra, Mace and SuperValu are owned by Musgrave Group, while Spar, Eurospar and Vivoxtra are owned by Henderson Group.
Neil Johnston, chief executive of the NI Retail Consortium, said Northern Ireland’s grocery market was replete with big players.
“NI has a very strong, competitive market with Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Iceland, Co-op, M&S and Lidl all providing unique offerings.
“In addition, we have a wide range of smaller retailers supported by Hendersons and the Musgrave group.
“The intense competition between these companies ensures that consumers have a broad range of products and great value for money.
“UK food prices are amongst the lowest in Europe due to this competition. All the companies currently operating in NI have invested heavily over many years, they employ thousands of people and many of them buy millions of pounds on Northern Ireland produce to sell here, in Great Britain and the Republic.”
He said Aldi’s strong presence and distribution chain in Great Britain and the Republic could make it relatively straightforward to set up here.
“Aldi has proved themselves to be a strong player in both Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and we would expect that they would be add to the competitive mix in Northern Ireland.”
Announcing further expansion in Co Kildare last week, Aldi said its presence in the Republic had grown from two stores in 1999 to 162 in 2024, with it investing €2bn over the period.
In September, its operation in Great Britain said it would step up expansion there after more than trebling its pre-tax profits.
Pre-tax profits for 2023 reached £536.7m, up from £152.6m in 2022. Sales at Aldi UK increased by £2.4bn to £17.9bn. In the Republic, it published its financial results this month, showing turnover growth of 3.4% to €2bn (£1.7bn). However, profits more than halved to €17.1m (£14.3m).
by pickneyboy3000
6 comments
More competition has to be good. NI had some of the highest grocery prices in Europe until the English supermarkets came in in the late 90s.
Then Lidl came and gave an even cheaper option.
Aldi in England is as good as Lidl for the middle aisle, and also gets good beers and wines. But the groceries are less distinctive than Lidl. You don’t get the bratwurst, hams, pickles, cheeses that give Lidl its distinctive character.
Too late…waaaay too late. Not gonna happen. This market is far too small for two discounters to co-exist.
Aldi is far superior to lidl. I hope they do open some stores here.
Yes!!! Please let it happen. We head down to Dundalk for a wee aldi shop on occasion. Nice to have variety , and also gives us a chance to stock up on nice tayto
Why does it feel like this quote didn’t need to warrant a whole article and was just a throwaway comment from their twitter account, similar to the stock responses Krispy Kreme gives when asked about NI openings? “No current plans but WaTcH tHiS sPaCe!!”
I won’t hold my breath, though I really wish we did have Aldi here too
Aldi were meant to go into where Lidl is in Enniskillen years ago but there was a fall out and they pulled the pin last minute and stopped any talk of rolling out stores in NI.
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