Tag: food and drink

Pay boost for Aldi staff

  • New minimum hourly rates for Store Assistants of £9.55 nationally, rising to £10.57  
  • All Scottish store colleagues to receive hourly pay increases 
  • New minimum hourly pay exceeds the Living Wage Foundation’s latest recommended pay rates  
  • Aldi is one of the only supermarkets to offer paid breaks, which means its colleagues remain the best-paid in the sector 
  • Aldi is recruiting for 335 new store colleagues in Scotland in 2021   

Aldi has recognised the amazing contribution of its store colleagues by giving them a New Year’s pay rise and increasing its minimum hourly rates from 1 February 2021.  

All of Aldi’s  1,500 Scottish Store Assistant colleagues will benefit from the pay rise, with Aldi paying a minimum hourly rate of £9.55, up from £9.40.  

The new rates of pay are also boosted by the fact Aldi is still one of the only UK supermarkets to pay for breaks taken during shifts, which means Aldi colleagues remain the best-paid in the sector. When paid breaks are included, Aldi’s minimum hourly pay rate for store colleagues, based on an average six-hour shift, will be £10.11*. 

These changes mean that Aldi store colleagues across Scotland will earn a minimum of £0.83 more per hour than the current National Living Wage.  

The pay rise follows bonuses that were awarded to store colleagues in April and December 2020, in recognition of their efforts throughout the pandemic. 

Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer, Aldi UK and Ireland said: “I want to express my sincere thanks to every single Aldi colleague, who stepped up when it mattered and helped us succeed in our most important mission of all – feeding the nation.

“That is down to our people. Their outstanding efforts have ensured that our customers continue to have access to fresh affordable food, every single day. It has never been more important to ensure that our colleagues are rewarded fully for their immense contribution during a challenging period for everyone.” 

This year will see Aldi open its 100th Scottish store in Scotland. Currently, the retailer has 96 Scottish stores stocking some of the finest and best value locally sourced food and drink. 

This year it will invest a further £20 million in four new stores, which include Hermiston Gait in Edinburgh, Thornybank Industrial Estate in Dalkeith, Portlethen Retail Park in Aberdeen and J24 Retail Park in Govan, while a new store in Gateside Commerce Park, Haddington will open to replace the existing store. 

To support this growth, Aldi is recruiting 335 store-level positions in Scotland this year. For the latest vacancies, please visit https://www.aldirecruitment.co.uk/.  

Aldi launches Iron Brew jelly babies as part of next top product search

  • Range also includes Vegan broccoli and cauliflower crisps perfect for Veganuary and naturally sweetened soda from iconic Scottish company, Bon Accord 
  • All products available as Specialbuys while stocks last 

Aldi has launched a range of delicious new products that have been developed and manufactured in Scotland following the supermarket’s search for the country’s Next Top Product.  

Working in partnership with Scotland Food & Drink, Aldi’s search to uncover exciting new products was relaunched early last year as part of the supermarket’s support of local suppliers and their commitment to increase the range of Scottish products sold in store.   

Previous winners and now long-term suppliers of Aldi include Inverness-based Cobbs Bakery and Orkney’s Argo’s bakery. After winning the competition for their Orkney Caramel Shortbread, Argo’s Bakery went on to win Own Label Product of the Year at the 2017 Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards and Bakery Product of the Year at the 2018 Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards. 

Fans of Scotland’s other national drink can pick up a pack of Iron Brew flavoured Jelly Babies (99p, 200g), developed by Greenock-based Golden Casket.

Health-conscious consumers trying Veganuary can pick up a packet of broccoli crisps (69p, 22g / £1.29, 78g) with Cheese or Sour Cream & Chive from Aldi’s new Fife-based supplier, Grower’s Garden. Available in snack size, or as a sharing bag, these are made using their own farm-fresh vegetables grown in the East of Scotland.  These gluten-free and vegan-friendly crisps are broccoli like you have never had it before!  

Or why not try Aldi’s new gluten-free and vegan-friendly Cauliflower Crisps in snackable or shareable bags (69p, 22g / £1.29, 80g). Created by Kilmarnock-based Nudie Snacks using wonky looking cauliflowers that would otherwise not be used, customers can choose from Cheese & Caramelised Onion or Katsu Curry flavour. 

To wash everything down Aldi customers can now choose from a range of naturally sweetened soft drinks from iconic Scottish company, Bon Accord. 

Founded in Arbroath in 1903, Bon Accord was a much-loved brand across Scotland until it closed its operations in 2000. After 16 years, the Great-Great-Granddaughter of one of its founders reimagined the brand and brought it back with a range of juices that have been naturally sweetened with coconut nectar and real fruit juice.

Choose from Cream Soda, Rhubarb Soda, Pink Grapefruit Soda, or Ginger Beer (£1.29, 275ml). 

Also launched this week is a range of Scottish Savoury Biscuits baked to perfection by Turriff-based supplier, McKenzie Biscuits.

These light savoury biscuits are made from a unique and award-winning recipe developed by the McKenzie family at their bakery in North East Scotland, and customers can choose from two delicious flavours: Plain, or Rosemary. Or why not try their Oat & Honey Biscuits (99p, 150g), perfect with a cup of tea on a cold January afternoon.  

For anyone with a sweet tooth there’s new Confectious Fudge flavoured with Strawberry and Lemonade Gin (£1.29, 150g) created by Aldi’s long-term supplier, Aldomak. 

Scotland Food & Drink Chief Executive James Withers commented: “It’s great to see these fantastic new products from some exceptional Scottish companies launching in Aldi today.

“Last year was incredibly tough for the food and drink industry and 2021 will continue to be challenging, so I’d encourage everyone to look out for these outstanding new products when they next visit their local Aldi and help support these incredible suppliers.”  

Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director, Aldi Scotland, said: “We’re committed to supporting independent Scottish suppliers and bringing their quality products to our stores.

“It was a privilege to judge Aldi’s Next Top Product search last year and I’m excited that our customers in Scotland can now try these delicious new products, knowing that they are backing Scottish suppliers when they shop at Aldi.” 

Aldi’s ‘Next Top Products’ are now available from all 96 Scottish stores while stocks last. You can find your nearest Aldi store here. 

Aldi stores to offer 75% price reductions before stores close

Shoppers hunting for the best deals often head to Aldi to pay as little as possible for their weekly shop – but the supermarket is now making groceries even more affordable. 

All of Aldi’s 912 UK stores will soon mark down perishable products such as bread, meat and fruit and vegetables by 75% before stores close on their last day of life.  

Aldi currently reduces the price of some products on their best-before or use-by dates, but is now offering bigger discounts, which are marked with a red sticker.  

The move will give savvy customers a bargain while cutting waste, as Aldi works towards a target of halving food waste by 2030.  

The time that items are reduced will vary by store, and all products will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi, said: “Aldi is already known for its low prices, but these discounts will help some shoppers to cut their grocery bills even further – all while helping us reduce food waste. 

“Customers should look out for the red stickers when shopping at Aldi, but shoppers need to be quick as I’m sure the products will prove popular.” 

Lidl by Lidl: German discounter is cheapest supermarket of 2020

Lidl has narrowly beaten Aldi to be named the cheapest supermarket of 2020, according to Which? analysis.

The consumer champion tracked the price of 45 popular branded and own-label products such as Hovis bread, Knorr stock cubes and free-range eggs in eight major supermarkets for at least 100 days between January and December 2020. 

In a year when saving money became more important than ever for many households, Which? calculated the average price of each item over the year and the total average cost of all 45 items in the trolley. Lidl was the cheapest, with the basket costing £42.67 on average. 

Aldi, where the same basket of items cost £43.01 on average, was the second cheapest – with just 34p separating the German rivals

In recent years, Aldi and Lidl have significantly grown their market share in the UK, but this is the first time they have been included in Which?’s annual study, which now includes own-label items as well as branded ones.

Asda was the third-cheapest supermarket with the same basket of items costing £48.71 on average, however this is still over £5 more than Aldi and Lidl. 

Waitrose was the most expensive supermarket in 2020. The average cost of the 45 items on Which?’s shopping list was £68.69, around 60 per cent (£26.02) more than a similar shop at Lidl. 

Which? found there were stark price differences between popular own-label products at Waitrose and Lidl. For example, Waitrose’s own-label cooked and peeled cold water prawns would set customers back £4.60 on average, however the equivalent at Lidl only cost £1.99. 

Waitrose’s own-label six pack of very large free-range eggs would cost customers £2.47 on average, whereas a similar product is almost half the price – £1.27 – at Lidl. 

Ocado was the second most expensive supermarket of 2020 (£66.83), while Sainsbury’s was the third-priciest retailer (£56.38). Asda (£48.71), Morrisons (£53.61) and Tesco (£53.30), as well as the discounters, all came in cheaper.

The pandemic caused a huge upheaval for supermarkets in 2020, as they had to adapt quickly to supply issues caused by panic buying, staff absences in stores and further up the supply chain, and expanding online delivery services. 

Neither Aldi nor Lidl offer a full delivery service and would have struggled to compete with supermarkets who ramped up their delivery service at the start of the pandemic, however Aldi offered food parcels for home delivery to help vulnerable people get essential goods. 

Natalie Hitchins, Head of Home Products and Services at Which?, said: ““Many households have been under financial pressure due to the pandemic, so getting value for money on their weekly shop has become more important than ever.

“Our analysis shows that customers do not have pay over the odds for their groceries. 

“Customers looking to save money this new year and cut down on the cost of their weekly shop should consider shopping around for the best prices.”

SupermarketAverage cost of trolley (45 items)
Lidl£42.67
Aldi£43.01
Asda£48.71
Tesco£53.30
Morrisons£53.61
Sainsbury’s£56.38
Ocado£66.83
Waitrose£68.69

Which? also conducts a monthly price analysis for all the major supermarkets. In 2020 Aldi was the cheapest supermarket for six out of the eight months it was included in the price analysis, whereas Lidl was the cheapest supermarket twice.

However, Lidl narrowly beat Aldi to be crowned cheapest supermarket of the year as the methodologies differed. For the monthly price analysis, Which? tracks the price of a range of products, which vary each month, and uses an average to find the cheapest supermarket for the month.

To determine the cheapest supermarket of the year, Which? tracked a selection of 45 items available for at least 100 days in 2020 and added the individual averages.

Morrisons to pay £10 per hour

– All supermarket colleagues to receive at least £10 an hour from April –

– First major UK supermarket to reach key pay milestone – 

Morrisons is today announcing a new pay deal for its store colleagues, becoming the first UK supermarket group to guarantee pay of at least £10 an hour.

The new deal will start in April and will mean a significant pay increase for nearly 96,000 Morrisons colleagues. For the majority of colleagues the pay increase is approximately 9%. 

Morrisons minimum hourly pay currently stands at £9.20 an hour***. Today’s announcement means that since 2015, Morrisons pay has increased by over 46%. 

Three quarters of the costs of the increase will be met by direct payroll investment and a quarter by changing the discretionary annual colleague bonus scheme. Having listened hard to colleagues, they said they would prefer to have a guaranteed amount in their hourly rate and receive it more regularly. So, the annual budget for the discretionary bonus scheme is being rolled into colleagues’ hourly rate, which is paid every four weeks. 

David Potts, Morrisons CEO, said: “It’s great to be able to say that in the UK from April this year, if you work at Morrisons supermarkets, you will earn at least £10 an hour. It’s a symbolic and important milestone that represents another step in rewarding the incredibly important work that our colleagues do up and down the country. 

“Over the last year we have seen renewed and widespread appreciation in the UK for our colleagues who have had an incredibly tough 2020, working tirelessly so Britain could eat well and shop safely throughout the pandemic. Morrisons colleagues have earned their status as key workers, and this pay increase, many times over.” 

Joanne McGuinness, Usdaw National Officer, said: “The new consolidated hourly rate is now the leading rate of the major supermarkets, which is paid every hour and removes the uncertainty of a bonus payment.

“It is a big step forward, shows that Morrisons is prepared to invest in the staff to help grow the business and I hope that the deal is supported by our members in the ballot. 

“It’s been a tough time for food retail staff who have worked throughout the pandemic in difficult circumstances. They provide the essential service of keeping the nation fed and deserve our support, respect and appreciation. Most of all they deserve decent pay and this offer is a welcome boost.” 

The pay deal announced today is subject to a ballot opening on 27 January 2021. 

Morrisons makes more Click & Collect slots available to help customers during lockdown

– Click & Collect slots now available from 447 Morrisons stores across the UK –

– Up to 37,000 slots available every day

– Slots available to book now nationwide for collection tomorrow

Morrisons is expanding its Click & Collect service to 447 stores across the UK to help feed the nation during the third national lockdown. 

At the start of March 2020, there were just 14 Morrisons stores offering the Click & Collect service, growing to 280 in the second lockdown in November. Now, Morrisons has extended the service even further to help customers during the latest January lockdown, with 447 stores now fulfilling Click & Collect orders across the country.

Morrisons’ Click & Collect service allows customers to complete a Morrisons.com order online and then collect from a store, without an additional delivery charge and contact-free, at a time that suits them best.

Since the first lockdown, Morrisons has introduced lots of new ways to help customers shop, including:

  • Its Doorstep Delivery service for elderly and vulnerable customers wishing to place a next day delivery order.  Anyone  wishing to use the service should call 0345 611 6111 and select option 5
  • Same-day deliveries with Amazon and Deliveroo for quick and convenient shopping
  • A selection of Food Boxes available online, which will be delivered next day if ordered before 3pm

Morrisons is also offering 10% discounts on shopping to key workers, which include NHS, Teachers and Blue Light Card holders. There is also an NHS shopping hour which takes place at 6am – 7am, Monday to Saturday to make it easier for the nation’s key workers to do their shopping. 

Miles Foster, Morrisons Online Operations Director said: “We are doing everything we can to increase the amount of home delivery slots available but we recognise that the slots get snapped up quickly in lockdown. Click & Collect is an excellent alternative and is proving really popular with customers.

“Since the first lockdown we have expanded our Click & Collect service significantly and it is now available from 447 of our stores across the country.  We have slots available now nationwide so our customers can get the groceries they need in a contact-free and convenient way.”  

For more information visit: www.morrisons.co.uk.

Help is at Hand: Local Pantry opening hours update

Due to the pandemic restrictions the main North Edinburgh Arts venue will remain closed, but the NEA Pantry (in the old Co-op building on Pennywell Road) is open today from 10-2pm for new members, resuming usual hours from next Wednesday 13 January.

FRESH START PANTRY

New opening hours for Fresh Start Pantry on Ferry Road Drive

If you need help or advice, please call our North Edinburgh phoneline on 0131 356 0220 and we will help or signpost to who can!

GRANTON:HUB PANTRY

The first pantry of the New Year took place yesterday (Wednesday 6th January) from 11 – 12pm.

The pantry will continue to run on Wednesday’s on a fortnightly basis – next one will be Wednesday 20 January.

Thank you for the produce supplied by FareShareRoyal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Edinburgh Food for Good/Refugee Community Kitchen.

For more information contact community@grantonhub.org

There’s also daily food support from Leith-based Empty Kitchens Full Hearts:

An update from Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Simon Roberts

With tighter restrictions and national lockdowns back in place, I want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to keep you and our colleagues safe when you shop with us (writes Sainsbury’s Chief Executive SIMON ROBERTS).

Everyone must wear a mask in our stores

Keeping you and our colleagues safe is our absolute priority and we are looking again at all of our safety measures in stores.

We continue to limit the number of people in our shops at any one time and we have greeters outside every supermarket to help with this.

We are also asking all customers to please wear a mask and to shop alone. This will help us limit the number of people shopping at any one time and help everyone shop and work safely.

We’ll also have posters and tannoy messages making it really clear that everyone must wear a mask, unless you have an exemption.

Convenience stores will also have colleagues at the store entrances to help customers and manage numbers. All our stores have hand sanitising stations available for you to use at the entrance and please be assured our colleagues continue to regularly clean trolleys and baskets.

Ramping up online capacity

As people are being asked to stay at home, more people want to shop online and we’re doing everything we can to support you with this. We have increased slots from 340,000 last March to over 800,000 per week now and we’re doing everything we can to increase that number, across both home delivery and click and collect. We continue to give elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers priority access to these slots.

Please shop for others and only buy what you need

We have good availability of products in our stores and online and we have new stock arriving from our suppliers every day. You can still feel confident that you can find what you need at Sainsbury’s and if we all continue to buy just what we need, there will be enough food for everyone.

It’s been really heartening to see so many of you and our colleagues doing what you can to help elderly and vulnerable people in your communities. With clinically extremely vulnerable people required to shield once again in many areas, I would like to encourage everyone to please shop for others if you can. Our Volunteer Shopping Card can help you do this without needing to use cash.

Supporting our communities

With your help, our ‘Help Brighten a Million Christmases’ campaign raised nearly £6 million for over 800 local charitable partners as well as Comic Relief and FareShare. Thank you for all of your support and donations.

To continue to support our communities as we head into this third lockdown, I’m pleased to let you know that we’re creating another £1 million local community fund for all our stores to donate to charities and other good causes in their local area over the coming months.

We are also continuing to support the government’s free school meal vouchers scheme, helping children who qualify for free school meals have access to these meals while schools are closed.

I want to thank all of our colleagues who continue to deal with these challenges that affect their everyday lives while also carrying out a vital role in helping to feed the nation. Thank you too for helping us to keep you and our colleagues safe.

As always, if there is anything you think we could be doing better please let me know.

Best wishes

Simon

Morrisons Hogmanay

Morrisons is slashing the price of selected premium scotch whiskies in its Scotland stores to help customers celebrate Hogmanay at home.

From Boxing Day, selected bottles of Glenmorangie, Highland Park, Glenlivet and Laphroaig will be just £20 each in Morrisons, saving customers up to £16 a bottle.

Charles de Villers champagne is also half price and Sorso prosecco has a third off.

The deals are available in Morrisons 60 stores across Scotland until New Year’s Eve.