Aldi has once again spread the festive cheer across Edinburgh and the Lothians as the supermarket donated 5,325 meals to people in need this Christmas Eve.
Aldi, which has 14 stores across Edinburgh and the Lothians, has paired up eight stores with local charities and food banks to make the most of the quality unsold fresh food after stores closed on 24th December 2019.
Around 440,000 meals were donated across the country, including almost 48,000 from Aldi stores in Scotland, with more than 500 UK charities benefitting from the initiative in total.
This follows on from the successful partnership between Aldi and Neighbourly, a community engagement platform that links businesses to key charitable organisations.
The initiative was rolled out to all UK stores earlier this year and Aldi has now paired up 95% with local good causes, that are now collecting surplus food up to five days a week, all year round. The partnership began in April 2019 and has helped Aldi donate over 4 million meals, exceeding their target for the year.
Fritz Walleczek, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at Aldi UK, said: “By donating fresh food such as bread, fruit, vegetables and meat we’ve been able to support charities in providing warm and healthy festive meals this Christmas season.
“The feedback has been overwhelming and we’re delighted that we’ve been able to go above and beyond with our donations once again this year, and reach over 500 charities across the UK.”
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Aldi opening its first store in Scotland and the 10th anniversary of the creation of its dedicated Scottish Buying Department.
The supermarket was recently crowned Scottish Sourcing Business of the Year at the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards, recognised for its strong relationships with over 90 local suppliers and commitment to increasing its range of Scottish products from 400 to over 450 by the end of 2020.
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