Aldi invested €1.1b with Irish food and drink companies in 2022
Aldi will continue to prioritise low prices through its discount strategy in 2023, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact customers
Print8 March 2023
In its annual Aldi National Economic Impact Report published, the company said it paid almost €160 million in wages and salaries and opened six new stores across Ireland in 2022.
The report is a summary of Aldi’s total investment in Ireland in 2022, in addition to details of its contribution since it established operations in Ireland almost 24 years ago. In a foreword to the report, group managing director, Niall O’Connor said that Aldi continues to perform well in Ireland and the appetite to steer global group investment to Ireland is strong, with significant investment planned in 2023 and beyond. Aldi will continue to prioritise low prices through its discount strategy in 2023, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact customers.
The report includes details of Aldi’s contribution to the national and local economy, including investment in its product offering, its team, and the people and the communities the retailer serves.
Support for suppliers
In 2022, Aldi sourced €1.1 billion of locally produced food and drink from Irish suppliers. In total, Aldi partnered with over 330 Irish producers throughout the year, including long-term relationships with Twomey’s Bakery, ABP Cahir and Mulrines of Donegal. The retailer announced significant new deals with suppliers, including a €9 million contract with Wicklow-based NutriQuick, a deal worth €10 million with Sorrento Pizza from Dublin, and a €100 million deal with Kilkenny based potato producers Iverk Produce.
Last year, Aldi began working with 15 new suppliers for the first time, including Sibly Foods and Builín Blasta, opening opportunities for Irish companies to stock their local produce on the shelves of one of Ireland’s leading retailers.
A €7.5 million deal with Dublin-based confectioners Broderick’s gave the company the opportunity to stock their goods in 300 of Aldi’s 2,200-strong US store network for the first time.
The retailer has invested over €8 million in its ‘Grow with Aldi’ programme to date, which has been running since 2018 and offers Irish small and medium sized businesses the chance to develop their brand. Previous winners include Velo Coffee and Cookie Dó who now supply Aldi’s network of stores across Ireland. In recognition of its dedication to its supplier network, Aldi was voted ‘Ireland’s Best Supporter of Local Suppliers’ at the Checkout National Grocery Retail Awards 2022 for the second consecutive year.
New stores
Last year, Aldi opened six new stores in Caherciveen, Clonakilty, Ballina, Ardee, Tuam and Mountbellew, increasing its footprint to 155 across the country. Aldi also invested almost €15 million in rebuilding and revamping its existing stores in Killarney, Clonmel and Wexford Town in 2022, with an additional five Aldi stores receiving Project Fresh makeovers. The retailer welcomed over 83%* of all grocery shoppers in Ireland through its stores over the year.
Regionally, Aldi invested almost €16 million in Munster, while it committed to a dedicated West of Ireland expansion plan, which will see the retailer invest €63 million and create more than 140 new full-time jobs across Connacht over 2022 and 2023. The retailer also confirmed plans last year to expand its store network in Dublin with a €73 million investment in 11 new stores over the next five years, the first of which will open shortly in Adamstown.
Job creation
Last month, the retailer announced an additional 360 new positions, which will bring Aldi’s total employee numbers in Ireland past 5,000 people. Aldi also announced the adoption of the new ‘Living Wage’ recommendation of €13.85, from 1 February, becoming the first Irish supermarket to adopt and pay the Living Wage in 2023. Aldi’s Economic Impact Report confirms a spend by the retailer of almost €160 million on wages in 2022.
Charitable contributions
Aldi’s stores support the work of multiple charities across Ireland at a local level. Each store is part of Aldi’s food waste reduction programme, with Aldi stores having donated over 2.6 million meals through FoodCloud to local charities in 2022. Aldi recently pledged to eliminate 60 tonnes of food waste in 2023, in support of the Government’s National Food Waste Prevention Roadmap.
Each store is also part of Aldi’s Community Grants network, with over €535,000 donated to local charities and good causes through the programme to date. Over 160 local charity branches benefitted from the Community Grants programme in 2022, with Cork-based charities benefiting the most, seeing a total of 24 local Cork charities receiving a total fund of €13,500.
In addition to donating to local charities, Aldi also supports local communities through its tree planting initiative, with a commitment to planting 1 million native Irish woodland trees across Ireland by 2025. By the end of 2022, Aldi had planted over 540,000 trees.
To date, Aldi has raised over €1 million for Barnardos, including a donation of €33,000 of Christmas vouchers in December 2022. Aldi has pledged an additional €1 million to support vulnerable children and families across Ireland over the next two years.
“Our national Economic Impact Report highlights the continuing positive impact our stores are having, not only in Ireland as a whole, but also across the communities that we operate in,” said Niall O’Connor, group managing director, Aldi Ireland. “We take great pride in working together with our local suppliers to bring quality, affordable products to our customers. People who shop in Aldi know that they will never have to choose between quality, healthy food, and price, and we are committed to offering the best value of any supermarket.
“We know this is increasingly important during a trying cost-of-living crisis and continue to be very aware of its impact. We are committed to helping our customers weather this storm and will continue to shield and protect them with low prices, starting with even bigger discounts over the coming year.
“This crisis also affects our suppliers, many of whom have seen their input costs rise as a result. Our continued investment with our valued supply partners allows them in turn to invest in their businesses and their people, and we’re delighted to announce that we spent over €1.1 billion sourcing locally produced food and drink from Irish suppliers in 2022.
“We are also immensely proud of the work we do with our charity partners. Many local charities have also availed of our support through our FoodCloud partnership, through which we have donated 2.6 million meals to date, and our Community Grants initiative, which saw us donate over €80,000 to worthy causes in 2022.
“Last year, we announced the continuation of our partnership with children’s charity Barnardos. Together with our customers we have raised over €1 million and are committed to raising a further €1 million over 2023 and 2024.”
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