Aldi overtakes Morrisons to become the UK’s fourth largest supermarket
Aldi has overtaken Morrisons to become the fourth-largest UK supermarket for the first time, according to data from research firm Kantar.
Discounters are grabbing more market share as shoppers take steps to manage their budgets, Kantar said.
Food prices are rising quickly as energy and fuel costs soar, and the war in Ukraine squeezes grain production and pushes up fertiliser costs.
Kantar said food price inflation hit a record 12.4% in August. Inflation in the UK has been rising at its fastest rate for 40 years as food prices climb with living costs eating into household budgets.
“It seems there’s no end in sight to grocery inflation as the rate at which food and drink prices are increasing continues to accelerate,” said Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt.
“Shoppers are taking steps to manage their budgets including broadening the range of stores they visit, with the discount grocers benefiting.”
Shoppers are taking steps to manage their budgets amid a squeeze on household income brought about by rising inflation and higher energy prices.
Aldi UK & Ireland CEO Giles Hurley said: “Shoppers are prioritising value like never before and voting with their feet by choosing Aldi over full price traditional supermarkets. “We are doing everything we can to make food shopping as affordable as possible for millions of households… without compromising on quality.”
Aldi UK and Ireland chief executive Giles Hurley said shoppers were “voting with their feet by choosing Aldi over full price traditional supermarkets”.
Kantar said Aldi’s sales rose by almost a fifth in the 12 weeks to 4 September compared with a year earlier, giving it a market share of 9.3%.
Meanwhile, Morrisons’ sales dropped by 4.1% over the same period, with its market share falling to 9.1%. Morrisons said market share was “partly a function of new store openings”.
“Although Morrisons has not put on any significant new space for a while, some competitors are still opening many new stores,” it said. However, it added that “customers don’t really care about market share statistics – they care about value, quality, provenance and service and that is where our focus is going to remain.”
Mr McKevitt said: “Back at the start of the 2010s, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons together accounted for over three quarters of the sector but that traditional big four is no more.
“The discounters have seen dramatic sales increases in recent months, bringing more and more customers through their doors.”
He said Aldi had consistently been opening stores, and that 14.2 million people had shopped at the grocer in the past three months.
Aldi and Lidl have been expanding and growing their market share in the UK over the past decade.
The UK’s biggest supermarkets:
1 – Tesco (26.9% market share)
2 – Sainsbury’s (14.6%)
3 – Asda (14.1%)
4 – Aldi (9.3%)
5 – Morrisons (9.1%)
6 – Lidl (7.1%)
7 – Co-op (6.5%)
8 – Waitrose (4.7%)
9 – Iceland (2.4%)
10 – Ocado (1.7%)
Source: Kantar
Data relates to the 12 weeks to 4 September 2022
