Best Christmas ever for Aldi as sales top £1.6bn

Aldi has reported its “best Christmas ever” due to the sales of more than £1.6 billion in the four weeks to Christmas Eve, thanks in part to shoppers trading up to its premium range.

According to numbers released by the supermarket, the total sales for the crucial holiday period increased by 3.4 per cent year-on-year, helped by a 12 per cent increase in sales of its Specially Selected own-label products.

Although this year’s growth was slower than the 8 per cent reported in Christmas 2023, the German discounter still achieved a record-breaking holiday season for the second consecutive year.

Aldi said it sold 350,000 turkeys, more than 400 tonnes of beef, and almost 3m Brussels sprouts, as well as 50m mince pies and about 25m pigs in blankets over the festive period.

The final quarter of the year, often referred to as the “golden quarter” in retail, saw households splurge on festive food and gifts.

Aldi noted that Monday, 23 December 2024, was its busiest trading day ever, with 3 million shoppers flocking to stores.

Rival chain Lidl last week reported similar results with record Christmas sales of more than £1bn. Lidl sales rose by 7 per cent for the period.

Aldi, with more than 45,000 staff across 1,020 stores, overtook Morrisons in 2022 to become the fourth largest grocer by market share, and it now has 10.3 per cent of UK spending, according to data company Kantar.

Aldi UK chief executive Giles Hurley said, “Our offering of outstanding quality British products at unbeatable prices was a winning combination yet again this Christmas as customers wanted to celebrate in style after an uncertain year, but with more challenges ahead, they wanted to do it without breaking the bank.”

“We couldn’t have done any of this without the unwavering dedication of all our amazing colleagues and I want to thank each and every member of Team Aldi for serving our customers so well this Christmas.

“As we look ahead to the new year, which for many will mean the prospect of living costs rising again, many families will be nervous about what 2025 holds.

“Against this background, our mission remains clear: we will not only remain the UK’s lowest-priced supermarket, but we will ensure the price gap between ourselves and the traditional full-price supermarkets is as big as ever.”