Aldi's billion-pound boost for British businesses

The figure includes an extra £125m spent with British meat, poultry and dairy farmers as the supermarket sourced 100 per cent of its core range of fresh meat, eggs, butter, milk and cream from British suppliers.

Aldi has reaffirmed its promise to prioritise home-grown suppliers as it works towards its commitment, made a year ago, to spend an additional £3.5bn a year with British businesses by the end of 2025.

The grocery chain said that the pledge will help hundreds more small British businesses to grow with Aldi and invest in the future with confidence.

Giles Hurley, chief executive at Aldi UK, said: “We were the fastest-growing supermarket in the UK in 2021 and that has only been possible by working closely, over long periods, with hundreds of British suppliers.

“As we continue to grow, opening new stores across the UK, we are determined to ensure that the vast majority of our grocery products continue to come from British suppliers, just as they do now.”

Last summer Aldi launched a supplier development programme, “Grow with Aldi”, offering British spirits producers the chance to see their product sold in Aldi stores across the country. The winner was fruit farmers turned craft gin distillery, Penrhos Gin, which saw its bottles stocked in over 900 Aldi stores and as well as online.

Aldi, which is the UK’s fifth biggest supermarket, is also creating 2,000 UK jobs during 2022 as it aims to open an average of one new store a week to satisfy growing demand.

It is also investing in its colleagues. From next month, all store colleagues will be paid a minimum of £10.10 an hour nationally, or £11.55 for those inside the M25, "ensuring Aldi remains the best paying UK supermarket".