It's business as usual at Aldi - but a bit faster

Who’s up for the cup? Our Grocer Cup shortlist features lots of new faces, as well as some familiar ones, and is full of inspiring tales based on heroic leadership, dramatic turnarounds, steady but impressive growth, transformational deals and canny tie-ups. It’s a great read and a huge honour to win – the list of former winners reads like a who’s who of grocery – with a huge trophy to match (handed out at the IGD Awards in October), so don’t forget to vote! The deadline is 9 September.

One name you won’t find on the Grocer Cup list, for obvious reasons, is new Aldi boss Giles Hurley. So we’ve interviewed him instead. He’s very much a chip off the Aldi block, almost indistinguishable from his predecessor, Matthew Barnes, in terms of smarts, focus and charm – the main difference being he talks a bit faster.

And that’s the message that comes out loud and clear from the interview: that it’s very much business as usual at Aldi – but if anything, a bit faster. Which in light of all the changes and cuts and job losses its rivals are making, is almost insulting but at the same time a testament to the power of Aldi’s model and culture, as well as its confidence and resolve.

Aldi’s latest guest appearance in this week’s Grocer 33 underlines the point. Aldi was cheapest on 32 of the 33 items, and while Asda closed the gap a smidge to 11%, it was 23.4% cheaper than Tesco. That must be depressing given Tesco’s efforts to address its EDLP credentials via new discounter lines (its ads this week were almost a parody in boasting that its family favourites for £3.68 isn’t even a promotion).

Meanwhile, Aldi’s move to increase the number of days for which its Specially Selected Aberdeen Angus steaks are dry-aged to an industry-leading 36 days is another reminder that the model has moved on from being simply bargain basement fare from faraway places. That mix of British premium quality with astonishing value is rattling a lot of cages. No wonder Waitrose is resetting its range. It must think different and stay ahead of Aldi and the pack.