Aldi now fifth-largest supermarket in the UK

Aldi is climbing the ranks in the United Kingdom. The chain, highly regarded for its own brands, is now the fifth-largest supermarket in the UK, according to Kantar Worldpanel.

The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published for the 12 weeks ending Jan. 29, report that Aldi’s sales climbed 12.4 percent year on year and that the retailer increased its market share by 0.6 percentage to move into fifth place.

“Just a decade ago Aldi was the UK’s 10th-largest food retailer, accounting for less than 2 percent of the grocery market,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel. “Since then the grocer has grown rapidly, climbing the rankings by an impressive five places to hold a 6.2 percent market share. Underpinned by an extensive program of store openings, the past quarter has seen Aldi attract 826,000 more shoppers than during the same period last year.”

McKevitt said that despite being overtaken by Aldi, UK food retailer Co-op posted a 2 percent sales increase, which was well ahead of the market. A significant own-label sales increase of 7 percent was behind Co-op’s strong performance.

Kantar Worldpanel reported that the market continues to grow faster than it did in 2016, with supermarket sales up 1.7 percent on last year: eight of the nine major retailers saw positive sales growth during the past 12 weeks.

“Meanwhile rising prices, which we saw at Christmas for the first time since 2014, have continued into the new year, with like-for-like inflation on a basket of everyday groceries climbing to 0.7 percent,” McKevitt said.

Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons hold the top four spots in the UK. Morrisons was the fastest-growing UK retailer within the top four, increasing its market share for the first time since June 2015 with a sales uplift of 1.9 percent year on year. Although growth came from across the store, premium own label was a bright spot with sales up 35 percent.