Aldi is a large international discount food retailer operating in nine countries worldwide. The company entered the Irish retail market in 1999 and currently has a total of 64 stores with plans to open a further 12 stores during the remainder of 2009. The company's headquarters and distribution facilities are located in Naas, County Kildare. A new distribution facility that will service its southern operations is planned for Mitchelstown, County Cork, with an expected completion date in early 2011.
Aldi is committed to sourcing as much of its offering as possible from within Ireland. In the past three years it has built a dedicated Irish buying department of 20 professionals and developed relationships with around 70 Irish suppliers and manufacturers. The buying department works closely with Bord Bia in this regard and in April 2008 held a series of well-attended seminars for existing and prospective suppliers to develop relationships further.
Currently, over 40% of groceries sold in Aldi Stores (Ireland) are sourced within the State and we envisage this rising in the coming years. Aldi's commitment to Irish products is based on its interest in playing an active role in the economy in which it operates. Equally, we find that customers have a certain expectation with regard to the taste and appearance of certain products that can only come from Irish producers. This is particularly important in the fresh meat and dairy categories where they demand the reassurance of quality and traceability that comes from purchasing Irish products.
All of Aldi's fresh beef, fresh pork, fresh lamb and fresh poultry is Irish, Bord Bia approved and fully traceable to the farm. All of the eggs sold in Aldi are from Bord Bia scheme Irish farms. Among the other Irish products sold in Aldi are crisps, cakes, tea and coffee, yoghurt, flour, butter and dairy spreads, cooked meats, breakfast meats, chocolates, biscuits, spirits and beer, cheese, pet food, soft drinks, including spring water, fruit and vegetables, wherever possible, and sandwiches. A total of 95% of these products are sold under Aldi's exclusive brands.
Opportunities also exist for Irish products to be sold in Aldi's international businesses and we would expect this to increase in the coming years. Currently, products from Irish suppliers are sold in Aldi's United Kingdom, United States and Australian businesses.
Aldi's focus is on selling high-quality goods at the lowest possible price. It offers a limited, high quality product range of approximately 900 lines at prices of up to 30% below the market average. In 2008, Aldi was included for the first time in surveys by the National Consumer Agency which found, for a selected basket of shopping, price differences of up to 40% between Aldi and the established competition.
Aldi achieves its low prices primarily through offering a limited range of high-quality goods and delivering efficiencies at every level of its business operation. Rather than having a wide range of each type of product, Aldi tends to offer just one of each but puts tremendous effort into ensuring this product is of the highest quality and will appeal to the vast majority of customers.
Aldi does not seek to be the cheapest in the market at the expense of quality. In public debate and consumer surveys, price is sometimes the primary focus and Aldi would welcome more recognition and measurement of quality and nutritional value at great value prices.
As a relatively new and growing entrant to the Irish market, and with its business model, Aldi is obviously highly supportive of the concept of competition in the marketplace. Aldi is committed to providing best value to its customers through offering the best quality products at the lowest possible prices.
Aldi intends to bring its offering and further competition to consumers throughout Ireland and its overall aim is to have an Aldi store within easy reach of everyone in the country, or at least one store in most medium-sized towns.
Aldi believes that competition is vital for a healthy retail sector and a continuation of Government policy encouraging competition among industry players and choice awareness among consumers will be beneficial for retailers and customers alike.