Aldi has enjoyed its best-ever Christmas in the UK, with sales in the four weeks to 24th December topping £1bn for the first time – an increase of 7.9% compared to the same trading period of the previous year.
The supermarket’s strong festive performance was driven by a surge in demand for beers, wine and spirits, premium Specially Selected products and fresh British meat.
Total sales in the beers, wine and spirits category increased by 9.2% year-on-year, with sales of sparkling wine increasing by more than 14%, as customers toasted the festive period with Aldi’s award-winning range of Champagne and Prosecco.
Other stand out categories included premium Specially Selected and fresh British meat, with year-on-year sales growth of almost 8% in both areas. Customers enjoyed a fantastic range of festive favourites with products such as Aldi’s Specially Selected Exquisite Bronze Turkey and Specially Selected British Beef Roasting Joint proving particularly popular.
During the run up to Christmas, Aldi also sold 55 million mince pies, 22 million pigs in blankets and more than 2 million Christmas puddings.
Giles Hurley, CEO of Aldi UK, said: “More customers than ever before shopped with us this Christmas because they knew Aldi offered unbeatable value on premium products and the lowest prices on festive essentials.
“Although we saw strong growth across all key categories, sales of our premium Specially Selected range surpassed expectations, as customers snapped up these products for a fraction of the price they would have paid elsewhere.”
Independent research published by industry trade publication Marketing Week showed Aldi’s Christmas advert, featuring Kevin the Carrot and Robbie Williams, to be the most effective Christmas advert following a survey of 3,000 consumers.
Aldi once again ran its Christmas Food Donations campaign to donate unsold fresh food to local charities after its stores closed on Christmas Eve.
More than 500 charities across the UK were matched with a local Aldi store and received a food donation, including fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and fish, and bread. The total volume of food donated was equivalent to over 440,000 meals.
Aldi currently has 874 stores and remains on target to achieve its long-term target of 1,200 stores by 2025. Its share of the UK grocery market currently stands at 8.0%, having increased by 0.4% during the last 12 months.
ENDS
*Christmas trading covers the 4-week period from 27.11.19 to 24.12.19.
For more information, please contact the Aldi Press Office on:
T: 0161 235 0300 or aldi@citypress.co.uk