Ireland news

In this regularly updated article, we summarise the latest responses to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from discounters in the UK; Latest update Monday 6th April Aldi The elderly and most vulnerable will have exclusive access to stores for 30 minutes browsing time before they open, from Monday to Saturday. They can then purchase items as the stores open to the general public B...

Niall O'Connor has been appointed the new managing director of Aldi Ireland, according to The Irish Times. Twenty years experience at the discounter Source: LinkedIn Niall O'Connor has worked at Aldi since 2000, holding various positions such as store operations director and managing director. For the seven months prior to this he has been group managi...

In this article we round up the latest initiatives from Aldi and Lidl UK and Ireland to address the challenges created by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.  Latest update Friday 3rd April. Aldi Implemnted a one person, one trolley rule in a bid to encourag all customers to try and reduce the number of family members they bring with them into stores Through its partnership with N...

Aldi is fast tracking its payments to over 200 of its smallest suppliers in Ireland, thanks to a new five-day payment regime that has been put in place. Up to €1million worth of goods annually The new payment terms, which will become effective by the end of March, will remain in place throughout the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. They will apply to businesses that supply the retailer with...

In a unique venture Lidl is looking to open its first pub, in a new store in Belfast, Ireland, according to The Irish News. We look at this in more detail and consider the future evolution of Lidl stores.  What will it look like? Lidl has submitted a planning application to turn part of its new store in Dundonald, Belfast into an off-licence and public house, with a bar and seating area. ...

Just Eat, the online food delivery company, will launch an aerial drone delivery trial in Ireland.  The company has partnered with drone delivery company Manna Drone Delivery for the trial which is set to take place in Dublin in March 2020.  How it works Manna claim to be the world’s first aviation-grade B2B drone delivery ‘as-a-service’ platform.  It will pilot its airborne logistics platf...

SPAR South Africa said group sales rose 5.4% to ZAR39.79 bn (US$2.67 bn) as part of a trading update covering the 18 weeks to 31 January 2020. The group noted it had been a ‘ challenging start to the year ’, with a relatively weak position across all the markets in which it operates. Growth driven by core business SPAR said its operations Southern Africa saw sales growth of 4.9%, with its c...

Ireland's leading convenience retailer Centra achieved sales of €1.7bn (£1.4bn) in 2019, showing strong growth of 4% on 2018. Updated proposition continuing to deliver growth Centra's success continues to be driven by its brand repositioning that began in 2016. The retailer aimed to redefine the traditional convenience store experience to be more healthy, with a more innovative offering. Th...

Aldi Ireland has announced it will be running its 'Grow with Aldi' supplier development programme for the third year in a row, in 2020. So far the retailer has invested €1.5m in this initiative over three years, in association with Bord Bia. We look at what this means for Irish suppliers in more detail. Source: Aldi Ireland What? The 'Grow with Aldi'...

Despite growth slowing in the lead up to Christmas, sales in the Irish grocery market reached over €1bn in December for the first time on record, according to Kantar. Overall market sales growth was 1.5% in the 12 weeks to December 29th. Discounters lead the way Aldi was the strongest performer of the festive season, with sales +6.3%. Lidl reached its highest ever market share in the period...