Discounters sourcing insignificant quantities' from Irish suppliers says RGDATA Aldi/Lidl sourcing probe urged by independents The independent grocers' body in the Irish Republic, RGDATA, has called for a government probe into the food sourcing policies of discounters Aldi and Lidl, now significant players in the country's E8bn Irish grocery market. Director general Ailish Forde claimed that some of the retailers operating in the market were sourcing "insignificant quantities" of goods locally. She cited a recent full-page national newspaper promotion by Lidl in which, she maintained, just two of the products listed came from Irish suppliers. "Some of the food chains operating here display an à la carte approach to doing business in Ireland," she said. "They seem unprepared to give any real support to Irish suppliers." In just two years, the German chains have each built a network of about 20 stores across the Irish Republic, with several more planned. They now hold a 5% share of the Irish market between them, but have had a series of confrontations with farmers over the price and stocking of local supplies. Aldi, in a statement, said it would spend E76m this year on products from Irish-based suppliers for its stores in both the Republic and Britain, and promised that as it opened more stores, its annual Irish spend would increase. But Forde pointed out that in the year 2000, Aldi had claimed it would spend E63m on Irish-sourced goods. "An increase of E13m over two years is insignificant, given the scale of Aldi's operations in Ireland," she said. Aldi has been given the go-ahead for a new store in Clonmel, Co Tipperary but has had an application for another Dublin outlet rejected. {{NEWS }}

Topics