LONDON (Reuters) -Aldi UK, the British arm of the German discount supermarket group, said its sales increased 3.4% in the four weeks to Dec. 24 year-on-year to top 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion), with shoppers trading-up to its premium own-label products.
Britain’s fourth largest grocer after Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda said on Monday sales of its premium ‘Specially Selected’ range jumped by 12% compared with the same period in 2023.
Aldi UK also highlighted that it sold 350,000 fresh British turkeys, over 400 tonnes of British beef, almost 3 million British Brussels sprouts and 50 million mince pies.
The discounter, owned by Germany’s Aldi Sud, and rival discounter Lidl GB, have expanded rapidly over the past two decades, transforming the British supermarket scene and forcing traditional players to compete more aggressively on price.
Last week, Lidl GB reported a 7% rise in sales over the four-week Christmas period.
Aldi UK’s sales growth did, however, slow in 2024.
The most recent industry data published Dec. 10 showed Aldi UK’s sales rose 2.1% over the 12 weeks to Dec. 1 year-on-year, with its market share unchanged at 10.3%.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s are due to report on Christmas trading on Thursday and Friday respectively.
($1 = 0.8037 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Kate Holton)