Aldi has posted record UK sales of £15.5bn for 2022, up nearly £2bn on the previous year, as the discount retailer attracted an extra one million customers amid the cost of living crisis.
The German-owned chain said profits tripled to £179m from £60m a year earlier, when margins were hit by Covid-related investments. Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, noted that shoppers had changed habits due to higher living costs, with fewer trips, more own-label products, and switching supermarkets for better value.
Aldi now holds 10.1% of the UK grocery market, overtaking Morrisons to become the fourth-largest grocer. The company plans to invest over £1.4bn in the UK over the next two years, opening 18 new stores this year and a further 500 in the longer term, creating 6,000 new jobs.
The retailer has already invested more than £350m this year in price cuts on 650 products, with further reductions planned before Christmas as food price inflation eases. Aldi sells about 2,000 products per store, a fraction of the range offered by rivals like Tesco, but has benefited from consumers seeking value.
