Aldi has called on other major UK supermarkets to collaborate in the fight against period poverty and improve access to free period products. The retailer made the appeal in a social media post directed at its competitors.
Since March 2025, every Aldi store has offered free pads and tampons in customer and staff toilets, with no questions asked. The supermarket has also partnered with menstrual equity charities Bloody Good Period and Freedom4Girls, donating one million period products to help people in need.
Aldi's appeal to competitors
In a post on its Facebook page, Aldi addressed Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons, Marks and Spencer, Lidl GB, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Partners directly, saying: "Hey Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Marks and Spencer, Lidl GB, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Partners, it's us again."
The post continued: "We'd love it if we could join forces to fight period poverty. 1 in 10 people in the UK can't afford period products, that's unfair and we need to do better. Finally, something we can all work together on."
Aldi highlighted its ongoing work with Freedom4Girls to provide free tampons and pads in its customer and colleague toilets, adding: "In addition to this we've given away over a million period products to those in need and donated a million of our own to charities across the country. Helping people get on with their day even if they've been caught short."
Existing schemes and public response
The post concluded with: "No codewords, no barriers to access, no loyalty card. Let's make a difference together. If there's one thing we can all agree on it's this. Aldi Admin."
Morrisons is currently the only other UK supermarket running its own period poverty scheme, providing free period products through its nationwide "Package for Sandy" initiative.
The appeal attracted a significant number of responses from people across the UK praising Aldi for championing the cause. One person commented: "This is great! Can you please all also agree on hunger poverty? The inflation on food is making it difficult for working people to feed their families." Another said: "You guys are the Jedi Knights of social media using the force for good." A third added: "Absolutely 100%. We offer free period products at work. It should be absolutely mandatory."
