Tag: Aldi

‘Berry’ good news as Aldi’s first Scottish strawberries hit the shelves

Punnets of the first Scottish strawberries of the season are making their way to Aldi stores across Scotland today, making spring that bit sweeter.

Aldi’s first pick Scottish strawberries were grown by Tim Stockwell at Barnsmuir Farm in Fife for Angus Soft Fruits, which supplies Aldi stores across Scotland with fresh berries from 18 other growers based across Tayside and Fife, the heart of the traditional Scottish berry growing region.

Tim commented: “It is exciting to be sending the first Scottish strawberries of the season to Aldi as we celebrate the new harvest.

“As with countless other businesses, we too are facing difficulties as a result of the coronavirus lockdown, but we’re all pulling together and this year more than ever, it certainly feels like a real achievement to be able to supply Aldi customers with the first punnets from this year’s first crop of Scottish strawberries.”

Aldi is committed to supporting its Scottish suppliers and has been working with Angus Soft Fruits to ensure Scottish-grown strawberries will be readily available in stores this spring and summer.

Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director, Aldi Scotland said: “The arrival of the Scottish strawberry season is always welcomed by our customers, and we’re pleased to be the first supermarket to offer Scottish strawberries this year.

“In the current climate it is more important than ever for us to support our network of Scottish suppliers, who work day in, day out to deliver top quality produce for our customers. We know that times are hard, but with Scottish strawberries renowned for their taste and quality, we hope the arrival of the first crop will bring some happiness and the early taste of summer to our customers.”

 Aldi stores in Scotland will be stocking first pick Scottish strawberries from today (Wednesday 15th April), with availability increasing throughout spring.

Aldi takes the lid off

Aldi is removing all plastic lids on its own-label fresh and cultured cream products and ready-to-drink coffee products, as part of its ongoing campaign to reduce single-use plastics.

From March, Scotland’s fourth largest volume retailer will stock these products without unnecessary plastic lids in its 91 Scottish stores.

This initiative will remove over three million pieces of single-use plastic from the market.

In addition to this, Aldi will trial the removal of plastic lids from its large Greek-style flavoured yogurt pots in England and Wales. If successful, this will be rolled out across all 500g yogurt pots, eliminating a further 34 million pieces of plastic across the UK.

These moves are the supermarket’s latest steps to scrap unnecessary plastic as it works towards reducing plastic packaging by 25% by the end of 2023.

Fritz Walleczek, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at Aldi, said: “We are committed to cutting the amount of plastic that Aldi and our customers use, particularly unnecessary, single-use plastic like secondary lids.

“Every step like this brings us closer to our target of reducing the amount of plastic we use in packaging by 25%.”

Aldi is on track to have all own-label packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2022. Since 2018, it has removed more than 2,200 tonnes of plastic and replaced almost 3,000 tonnes of unrecyclable material with recyclable alternatives.

For several years Aldi has led the way with local sourcing and the retailer has built strong relationships with over 90 Scottish suppliers.

Last year, the supermarket was crowned Scottish Sourcing Business of the Year at the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards. To aid Aldi’s expanding footprint in Scotland, the supermarket has invested in a new £25 million freezer and chill facility in Bathgate, which will be operational in spring this year.

Aldi invests over £10,000 in local sports clubs

Twenty sports clubs across the Lothians and the Scottish Borders have benefitted from a share of £10,000 from Aldi as part of the supermarket’s Scottish Sport Fund.

Aldi’s Scottish Sport Fund is an initiative that aims to help people of all ages take part in physical activity within their local communities by giving clubs the chance to secure up to £500 funding. Since launching in 2016, over 394 clubs across Scotland have benefitted from a funding boost of more than £190,000, helping to improve community access to sports across the country.

Last year, sports clubs such as Watsonians Ladies Rugby, Bathgate Amateur Swim Club, Lennel Lawn Tennis Club and Leith Community Archers each received £500 from Aldi’s Scottish Sport Fund. Applications were submitted from across the Lothians and the Scottish Borders and a judging panel from Aldi was given the tough job of reviewing the submissions and selecting the beneficiaries.

Leith Community Archers, a charity run by local volunteers that promotes sport recreation and community bonding through archery, has used their funding to purchase new bows that have been specially modified for wheelchair users.

George Fyvie, a volunteer at Leith Community Archers, said: “Several of our members are wheelchair users, and until recently we only had one modified bow available to use. Thanks to Aldi’s Scottish Sport Fund, we now have three new, specially made bows, meaning more of our members can take part.

“Aldi’s Scottish Sport Fund is a fantastic initiative and an incredibly valuable source of funding for clubs like ours that rely on donations and volunteers. On behalf of everyone at Leith Community Archers, I’d like to thank Aldi for their support.”

Aldi’s Scottish Sport Fund is open to any sporting organisation in Scotland that meets the application criteria, from rugby clubs to after school groups and everything in between. Groups can apply for funding for a wide range of purposes, including new strips and equipment or facility fees and coaching.

Meanwhile, four schools across Scotland each recently won £20,000 to spend on new equipment as part of the supermarket’s Kits For Schools initiative, which aims to provide pupils with a range of exciting new sporting opportunities ahead of Tokyo 2020.

Richard Holloway, Regional Managing Director for Aldi Scotland, said: “Aldi’s Scottish Sport Fund is part of our wider commitment to help cultivate a healthier, happier Scotland whilst encouraging people to lead more active lifestyles in the long run.

“It’s extremely heartening to see the difference the funding can make to clubs such as Leith Community Archers, and in turn improve the lives of people in their local communities.

“There are so many fantastic sports initiatives across the country, many of which are run by volunteers, and we hope to be able to help even more of them as we look ahead to re-launching the fund for its fifth year.”

Aldi’s Scottish Sport Fund is part of the retailer’s wider commitment to help cultivate a healthier Scotland, including weekly Super 6 fruit and veg deals, a pledge to reduce salt levels in products in line with Government targets, and replacing confectionery, chocolate and sweets at tills with dried fruit, nuts and water.

For more information about Aldi’s Scottish Sport Fund please visit: www.aldi.co.uk/scottishsportfund

Aldi addresses the haggis with Simon Howie this Burns Night

Aldi customers can now pick up their Burns Night favourites produced by one Scotland’s top meat suppliers, Simon Howie, in all 91 stores across Scotland. Continue reading Aldi addresses the haggis with Simon Howie this Burns Night

Aldi to open new store in Leith

Aldi has revealed plans to open six new stores in Scotland this year as part of their scontinued investment and expansion across the UK – and one of them’s in Leith.

The new stores scheduled to open over the next 12 months will be Crown Street in Glasgow, Commercial Street in Edinburgh, Rigg Street in Stewarton, Houstoun Road in Livingston, Gallowgate in Parkhead, and Gateside Commercial Park in Haddington.

It comes as Aldi announces its £25 million storage and chill facility in Bathgate will be fully operational by the end of April.

The store openings and new chill facility will create an additional 200 jobs, taking the total number of staff employed by the retailer in Scotland to 2800 by the end of 2020.

Aldi’s Project Fresh programme will also continue next year and will see investment in a further six store upgrades offering customers an enhanced shopping experience.

Last year marked the 25th anniversary of Aldi opening its first store in Scotland and the 10th anniversary of the creation of its dedicated Scottish Buying Department. As part of the supermarket’s anniversary celebrations, Aldi became Kiltwalk’s official ‘Supermarket Partner’ for 2019. The retailer has confirmed it will continue to support Kiltwalk in 2020 fuelling thousands of Kiltwalkers across all four events in Scotland.

Richard Holloway, Regional Managing Director for Scotland said: “This is an exciting time for Aldi as we look ahead to 2020 and plan for the next 25 years in Scotland.

“Our new state-of-the-art storage and chill facility will be fully operational by the end of April, which will aid our expansion across Scotland while allowing us to increase the range of Scottish products available on our shelves.

“For several years Aldi has led the way with local sourcing, and we see Scotland as a key area of growth for the business. We’re proud to have reached our ambition to stock over 450 Scottish products significantly ahead of our target of the end of 2020, and we will continue to work in partnership with our local suppliers to increase this to over 500 locally sourced products in the next two years.

“With six new stores planned for next year and a further six being refreshed and upgraded, we’re looking forward to serving even more local communities and expanding our market share even further.

“We’re also very much looking forward to continuing our relationship with Kiltwalk and fuelling even more Kiltwalkers next year. It’s been fantastic to be involved with such an ambitious and forward-thinking charity and we’re looking forward to supplying our energy boosting snacks to participants at next year’s events.

“Hopefully Kevin the Carrot will make an appearance again as well!”

In May 2019, Aldi was crowned Scottish Sourcing Business of the Year at the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards, demonstrating the supermarket’s commitment to its Scottish suppliers and to offering the finest quality, locally sourced produce at everyday low prices.

Edinburgh and Lothians Aldi stores to trial reusable bags for loose fruit and veg

Aldi stores in Edinburgh and the Lothians are to trial reusable bags for loose fruit and vegetables in an effort to cut single-use plastics.

From the end of November, more than 14 stores across Edinburgh and the Lothians will offer the bags as a more sustainable alternative to single-use plastic. Continue reading Edinburgh and Lothians Aldi stores to trial reusable bags for loose fruit and veg

Aldi stores across Edinburgh embrace the season of giving this Christmas

Aldi is embracing the season of goodwill once again this year, and is calling on charities and community groups across Edinburgh and the Lothians to register so that they can collect food donations this Christmas Eve. Continue reading Aldi stores across Edinburgh embrace the season of giving this Christmas