Aldi has brought a global sourcing division into talks with some UK suppliers in a move intended to drive efficiencies of scale.
Aldi Global Sourcing, based in Salzburg, Austria, takes the lead on procurement of products sold in more than one country by the discounter, with tinned and dried pulses among examples from the UK.
The aim is to give suppliers bigger volume sales while letting Aldi pass lower prices on to shoppers. It also means savings for suppliers, including through harmonised product and packaging specifications across markets, potentially making it easier for them to increase production capacity, according to Aldi.
Aldi Global Sourcing was created in 2019 but has grown and partnered more closely with individual country buying functions – including in the UK – over time. It has a satellite office in Verona, reflecting the volume of products procured in Italy for Aldi across markets, such as pasta and oil.
According to Aldi, individual country buying teams, including the UK’s, continue to procure the overwhelming majority of products for themselves. They also retain responsibility for category and range management, ensuring the offer is right for the individual country, even where Aldi Global Sourcing has led on procurement.
It means suppliers dealing with Aldi Global Sourcing still have “the visibility and partnership they are used to with the UK buying team”, according to a spokesman.
However, it has led to claims Aldi could be at risk of diluting the simplicity which suppliers have come to value in working with it in the UK, where a tailored approach has helped it repeatedly top the GSCOP annual supplier survey while maintaining good availability through industry-wide challenges.
“When you are buying a category there needs to be one voice, not two,” said Ged Futter, director of The Retail Mind, which trains suppliers on GSCOP.
Futter also questioned “whether the Salzburg buyers are trained on GSCOP”.
An Aldi spokesman said: “Approximately three-quarters of Aldi UK’s sales are from British suppliers and we expect to be spending an additional £3.5bn a year with domestic suppliers by 2025. Buying decisions and supplier relationships will continue to be managed from the UK, in partnership with the Aldi Global Sourcing team when relevant.”
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