Aldi (stylised as ALDI[6]) (German pronunciation: [ˈaldiː]ⓘ) is the common company brand name of two Germanmultinational family-owned discount supermarketchains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries.[7][8] The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when they took over their mother's store in Essen. The business was split into two separate groups in 1960, that later became Aldi Nord (initially Northern West Germany), headquartered in Essen, and Aldi Süd (initially Southern West Germany), headquartered in neighbouring Mülheim.[9][10]
In 1962, they introduced the name Aldi (a syllabic abbreviation for Albrecht Diskont).[11] In Germany, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have been financially and legally separate since 1966, although both divisions' names may appear as if they were a single enterprise with certain store brands or when negotiating with contractor companies. The formal business name of Aldi Nord is Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co., while the formal business name of Aldi Süd is ALDI SÜD Dienstleistungs-SE & Co. Each company is owned and operated independently, but they do have contractual business with one another.[12]
Aldi's German operations consist of Aldi Nord's 35 individual regional companies with about 2,200 stores in western, northern, and eastern Germany, and Aldi Süd's 32 regional companies with 2,000 stores in western and southern Germany.[13] Internationally, Aldi Nord operates in Belgium, Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain, while Aldi Süd operates in Australia, Austria, China, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. In Austria and Slovenia, Aldi operates stores under the Hofer brand. Aldi Nord also owns the Trader Joe's grocery chain in the United States which operates separately from the group.[14][15] Aldi Süd owns the Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarket chains in the southern United States.[16]
Aldi is the chief competitor of the German discount chain Lidl in several markets.[17]
History
Albrecht grocery store in Essen-Schonnebeck, 1958Aldi grocery store in Memmingen, c. 1968Aldi's original store at Huestraße 89 in Essen, pictured in September 2006. This location closed in 2020.[18]
In 1913, Karl and Theo Albrecht's mother opened a small store in a suburb of Essen, Germany.[15] Their father was employed as a miner and, after asthma forced him to quit said job, later found work as a baker's assistant. Karl and Theo were born in 1920 and 1922 respectively.[19] Theo Albrecht completed an apprenticeship in his mother's store, while Karl Albrecht worked in a delicatessen.[according to whom?]
Karl Albrecht took over a food shop formerly run by F. W. Judt and later served in the German Army during World War II. In 1945, the brothers took over their mother's business and soon opened another retail outlet nearby.[15] By 1950, the Albrecht brothers owned 13 stores in the Ruhr Valley.[20]
The brothers' idea was to subtract the legal maximum rebate of 3% before sale. The market leaders at the time, which often were co-operatives, required their customers to collect rebate stamps and to send them at regular intervals to reclaim their money. The Albrecht brothers also rigorously removed merchandise that did not sell from their shelves, cutting costs by neither advertising nor selling fresh produce and keeping the size of their retail outlets small.[15] By 1960, there were 300 stores in Germany.[19]
Split
The brothers split the company in 1960, reportedly over a dispute about whether they should sell cigarettes. Karl believed they would attract shoplifters while his brother, Theo, did not. This led to Theo running Aldi Nord, and Karl running Aldi Süd.[21] At the time, they jointly owned 300 shops.[22] Journalist Martin Kuhna, however, questioned said reason for the split in an article published by the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) in September 2009, where he suspected that the real reason for the split lay in the vastly differing management styles of the brothers.[23] In 1962, they introduced the name Aldi—short for Albrecht-Diskont, which translates into English as 'Albrecht Discount', which became their formal corporate name in 1975.[24] Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have been financially and legally separate since 1966.[22]
The individual groups were originally owned and managed jointly by the brothers.[25] After the death of Theo's son Berthold, Aldi Nord continues to be controlled by the Albrecht family through its Markus, Lukas and Jakobus foundations, which hold a combined 80.5 per cent of the company's issued capital.[26]
International expansion
Aldi started to expand internationally in 1967, when Aldi Süd acquired the grocery chain Hofer in Austria.[27] Aldi Nord opened its first stores abroad in the Netherlands in 1973,[28] and other countries followed. In 1976, Aldi Süd opened its first store in the United States in Iowa,[a][30][31] and, in 1979, Aldi Nord acquired Trader Joe's.[15]
After German reunification and the fall of the Iron Curtain, Aldi experienced a rapid expansion. The brothers retired as CEOs in 1993. Control of the companies was placed in the hands of private family foundations, the Siepmann Foundation (Aldi Süd) and the Markus, Jakobus and Lukas Foundation (Aldi Nord, Trader Joe's).[8]
Acquisition of Winn-Dixie and Harveys
In August 2023, Aldi Süd acquired Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket in the US, including approximately 400 stores across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.[32] On March 7, 2024, Aldi Süd closed the Southeastern Grocers acquisition[33] and announced it would open 800 new US stores by the end of 2028, with some being Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores converted to the Aldi format.[34]
Business organization
Germany
Aldi in Germany
The Aldi Nord group currently consists of 35 independent regional branches with approximately 2,500 stores. Aldi Süd is made up of 24 companies with 2,000 stores. The border between their territories is commonly known as the Aldi-Äquator (lit.'Aldi equator')[35][36] and runs from the Rhine via Mülheim an der Ruhr, Wermelskirchen, Marburg, Siegen, and Gießen east to just north of Fulda.
The former East Germany is served by Aldi Nord, except for one Aldi Süd in Sonneberg, Thuringia, whose regional office is in Bavaria. The regional branches are organised as limited partnerships, with a regional manager for each branch who reports directly to the head office in Essen (Aldi Nord) or Mülheim an der Ruhr (Aldi Süd).[citation needed]
Internationally
Distribution of Aldi in Europe as of June 2018:
Aldi Nord
Aldi Süd
The Aldi group operates over 12,000 stores worldwide. Aldi Nord is responsible for its stores in Northern Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. Aldi Nord also owns the Trader Joe's grocery chain in the United States which operates separately from the group.[14] Aldi Süd's responsibilities are for Southern Germany, Australia, China, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States and through Austrian subsidiary Hofer AG in Austria, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland.[37][38]
In Austria and Slovenia Aldi Süd operates their stores under the Hofer brand. Aldi Süd's first Swiss store opened in 2005, and it has operated in Hungary since 2007. Aldi Süd had invested an estimated €800m ($1bn; £670m) in Greece from November 2008 until pulling out in December 2010.[39]
While Aldi Nord has renamed its Dutch and Belgian subsidiaries Combi and Lansa to the Aldi Markt/Aldi Marché brand, Aldi Süd tries to maintain a regional appearance, branding its stores Aldi Süd in Germany, Aldi Suisse in Switzerland, and Hofer in Austria and Slovenia.[40]
Aldi launched in Great Britain on 5 April 1990, when it opened its first store there in Stechford, Birmingham, using the wholly owned English registered company of Aldi Stores Limited. In October 2013, Aldi opened its 300th store in Great Britain.[41] By 2017, Aldi had over 600 stores there and was opening them at a rate of more than one a week.[42] In January 2022, Aldi launched its Shop&Go concept in Greenwich, London.[43] In September 2022 Aldi overtook Morrisons to become Britain's 4th largest supermarket, with a 9.3% market share.[44] In September 2023, Aldi opened its 1,000th location in the UK and shared its plan to open another 500 as a long-term goal.[45]
Aldi entered the Irish market in 1999. In November 2024, its 163rd store in Ireland opened in Tullamore (County Offaly).[46]
Aldi opened its first Australian store in Sydney in 2001, and has grown rapidly since, maintaining a 12.6% market share as of early 2016.[47][48] It has yet, as of 2024[update], to open any stores in the state of Tasmania and in Northern Territory.[49] Financial website Canstar rated Australia's supermarkets based on the feedback of 2,897 consumers who had visited one in the past month with Aldi coming out on top.[50] By August 2019, there were 540 Aldi stores in Australia. Aldi had approximately 11 percent share of the Australian grocery market in 2018.[51][52]
Aldi Süd expanded to the United States under the Aldi banner, having expanded throughout the Eastern and Midwestern US.[53] Aldi Süd revealed expansion plans in 2015, and expanded into the Southern California market, where Aldi Nord's Trader Joe's is based.[54] Reports in August 2019, stated that the company was in the process of using a $3.4 billion investment in order to expand to 2,500 stores in the country by the end of 2022. It also invested an extra $1.6 billion to renovate 1,300 of its US stores.[55]
By October 2024, there were 2,428 Aldi Süd stores in 39 US states.[56] Groceries ordered on-line could be delivered to homes in the areas covered by 95 percent of stores in the US, provided in conjunction with Instacart.[57] In March 2024, Aldi said that it is planning to invest over 9 billion dollars and open 800 new stores in the United States until end 2028.[16]
Aldi Süd opened its first 10 stores in Italy in March 2018.[58] In the first year of operation, 51 outlets were opened. By October 2019, there were 66 stores in northern Italy.[59] At that time, the company was planning to open 80 new stores in the country as well as a distribution centre in Landriano.[60]
In mid-2019, Aldi Süd opened two small, upscale, stores in Shanghai. Two more were opened in late-2019.[61][62] This is the first of a planned one hundred such locations in the city.[63]
In December 2020, Aldi bought 545 supermarkets and three warehouses of Leader Price and another 2 Casino supermarkets in France for €717 million from Casino Group.[64] The transaction is part of Aldi's plan to catch up with Lidl in France.[65]
In December 2022, Aldi Nord issued a press release stating that Aldi is withdrawing from Denmark[66] after 45 years of operations there. 114 of the chain's total of 188 stores will be taken over by Norwegian competitor Rema 1000.[67][68] In August 2023, it was announced the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority had approved the Rema 1000 acquisition.[69]
In August 2018, Aldi Nord announced plans to expand its product selection by offering more organic, fresh and easy-to-prepare meals. Aldi also aims to expand to about 2,500 stores in the United States by 2022.[needs update][74][75] On 18 September 2018, Aldi announced its intent to offer grocery delivery in the United States. Aldi began testing grocery delivery in 2017 in select cities such as Atlanta, Georgia, and Chicago, Illinois.[76]
In-store layout
Aldi stores are noted as examples of so-called no-frills stores that often display a variety of items at discount prices, specializing in staple items, such as food, beverages, toilet paper, sanitary articles, and other inexpensive household items. Many of its products are own brands, with the number of other brands usually limited to a maximum of two for a given item.[citation needed]
Aldi mainly sells exclusively produced, custom-branded products, often very similar to and produced by major brands,[77] with brand names including Grandessa, Happy Farms, Millville, Simply Nature, Clancy's, and Fit & Active.[citation needed]
Branded products carried include Haribo in Germany, Knoppers in Belgium, France, and the United States, Marmite and Branston Pickle in Great Britain, and Vegemite and Milo in Australia. Unlike most shops, Aldi does not accept manufacturers' coupons, although some US stores successfully experimented with store coupons.[citation needed]
In addition to its standard assortment, Aldi has weekly special offers,[78] some of them on more expensive products such as electronics, tools, appliances, or computers. Discount items can include clothing, toys, flowers and gifts. Special offers have limits on quantities, and are for one week. Aldi's early computer offers in Germany, such as a Commodore 64 in 1987, resulted in those products selling out in a few hours.[79]
In many of its US locations, Aldi has "Aldi Finds" aisles placed in the center of their stores that feature random specialty items marked down in price, which has been nicknamed the "aisle of shame".[80][81]
Aldi is the largest wine retailer in Germany.[82] Many Australian stores now sell alcoholic beverages. Some US stores also sell alcoholic beverages, mainly beer and wine, where permitted by local and state laws.
In March 2019, Aldi Süd launched smaller-format stores in the UK called Aldi Local, with the first store in Balham, south London. The store has slightly fewer products than a regular Aldi, a preference for fresh products, two sizes of baskets rather than trolleys, and lacks the notable "middle aisle" of weekly offers.[83]
Electric vehicle charging station on the wall of Aldi in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland
Advertising policy
In the United States, it advertises in newspapers and on television, as well as print ads distributed in stores, and via the Internet.[citation needed]
In the United Kingdom and in Ireland, print and television ads have appeared since May 2005. In 2016 Aldi began producing a series of Christmas adverts to rival John Lewis' featuring a carrot named Kevin. In 2024, Aldi partnered with British television channel Channel 4 to sponsor its food programming strands.[85][86]
In Australia, television advertising is common and the current ads are listed on the Australian website.[87]
In Belgium, print, radio and television ads started appearing in late 2017. These ads were based on the positive results of taste-tests where the chain pitted its own products against common name-brand products.
Logos and branding
Variant of Aldi Süd Logo used internationally from 2006 until March 2017Wordmark variant of Aldi Nord logo used since 2016
The two stores Nord and Süd have distinct logos with Nord displaying the entire 'A' for Aldi. Süd unveiled a logo in 1982 which displays half an "A".. In 2006, Aldi Süd modified the logo slightly and then in March 2017, unveiled a new logo which removed the blue box line around the artistic 'A' and revealed a more rounded, 3D look for the logo as well as a new font for the word 'ALDI', further differentiating it from the Aldi Nord logo which had shared the same font for the brand until then.[88][89]
Sustainability
Between 2012 and 2019, Aldi's UK operations became "carbon neutral", with investments in solar, green energy, energy efficiency and offsets reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 53 per cent per square meter of sales floor.[90] On 4 March 2020, Aldi announced that all its suppliers must utilize recyclable, reusable, or compostable packaging by 2025.[91] In January 2024, the company announced plans to eliminate plastic bags from its 2,300 US stores. Cloth bags would still be available for customer use. It also said it would aim to use natural refrigerants in its US stores by the end of 2035. Other grocery retailers were making similar moves at the time of the announcement.[92][93]
Reputation
In the United Kingdom, Aldi has won Supermarket of the Year two years in a row (2012/13),[94] and in 2013, Aldi won the Grocer of the Year Award.[95] In February 2015, Aldi narrowly lost to Waitrose for the title of Supermarket of the Year 2015. In April 2015, Aldi overtook Waitrose to become the United Kingdom's sixth-largest supermarket chain.[96]
In February 2017, Aldi overtook the Co-op to become the United Kingdom's fifth largest supermarket chain.[97] In May 2017, Aldi lost out to Marks & Spencer for the title of Supermarket of the Year 2017, published by the magazine Which?.[98] According to 2019 research, nearly two-thirds of households in the UK visit an Aldi or Lidl branch at least once every 12 weeks.[99]
In the United States, due to the relatively low staffing of Aldi locations compared to other supermarket chains, Aldi has a reputation of starting employees out at significantly higher than minimum wage, unusual among American supermarkets.[100][101]
In Ireland, Aldi has been accused of a "lack of corporate responsibility" to their farmer suppliers by the Irish Farmers' Association.[102]
Aldi was named 2018 "Retailer of the Year" by Supermarket News.[103]
Australian trucking giant Scott's Refrigerated Logistics was plunged into receivership and liquidation in March 2023 after going into voluntary administration that February. This sparked protests from the Transport Workers' Union who put the blame on Aldi Australia for increasing strains on the company[104] during the last few years of shortages and inflation.
Subsidiaries and joint ventures
Subsidiaries include the mobile network operator "Aldi Talk", the alcoholic drink brand "Aldi Alcohol", and petrol station retailer "Diskont". Home appliance and multimedia products are labeled under different names, mostly manufactured by Medion.[105][106][107][108]
Aldi sells low cost alcohol from its alcohol stores. Until March 2016, Aldi had an alcohol website serving the east coast of Australia. This has now been closed down, citing it wishes to focus on expanding the supermarket chain across Australia. In November 2019, Aldi announced same-day beer and wine delivery via a partnership with Instacart in the US.[111]
Diskont
In Austria through its subsidiary Hofer, Aldi has a joint venture with the local petrol retailer OMV Downstream GmbH, to create some no frillspetrol stations called Diskont.[112] The 85 stations in Austria are on or near the stores, providing self-serveunleaded or diesel fuel by card-operated pumps. These have been in operation since 2009.
Aldi Insurance
Aldi launched Aldi Insurance in Australia in June 2024. The company provides home and contents insurance, car insurance and landlord’s insurance backed by Honey Insurance and RACQ Insurance.[113]
Notes
^Aldi purchased Iowa's Benner Tea chain and opened its first United States store in Iowa in 1976.[29]
^"ImpressumArchived 30 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine" Aldi Nord. Retrieved on 14 February 2011. "Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG Eckenbergstraße 16 45307 Essen."
^"ImpressumArchived 23 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine." Aldi Süd. Retrieved on 14 February 2011. "Burgstraße 37 45476 Mülheim an der Ruhr Amtsgericht Duisburg HRA 8577."
^ ab"Über uns". aldi-nord.de (in German). Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
_001.jpg)
.jpg)
