Aldi has launched 11 brand new stores that most customers won’t be able to visit. These secret stores will have discounted prices, and there are 11 of them around the country. Aldi is one of the cheapest supermarkets in the UK, and shoppers are well-used to Aldi’s lower prices compared to its competitor supermarkets in the UK. There are more than 1,000 Aldi stores in the UK, dotted across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
However, there is only a handful of these discount Aldi stores, and they are dedicated to only a selection of shoppers. These shops aim to reduce food waste by selling products that are perfectly safe to consume but cannot be offered in the main shop at discounted prices. The stores have been opened as part of Aldi’s plan to become more eco-friendly, having recently announced its goal to cut waste by 90% by 2030 compared to 2017 levels. Unfortunately, most customers will never see the inside of one of these discount stores.
That is because Aldi’s new discount stores are only available to employees of the supermarket in Britain. They will be located at Aldi’s 11 distribution centres in the UK.
These are:
- Bathgate
- Darlington
- Bolton
- Goldthorpe
- Neston
- Sawley
- Atherstone
- Cardiff
- Swindon
- Chelmsford
- Sheppey
“The colleague shop is another example of how we’re working to cut food waste across our operations,” said Luke Emery, national sustainability director at Aldi UK.
“It’s a practical initiative that benefits both colleagues and the environment, and we’re pleased to extend it nationwide following a successful pilot.”
Aldi hopes that the scheme will stop around 240 tonnes of food from going to waste each year. This comes after the scheme was trialled in one Aldi distribution centre, proving itself successful enough for a nationwide rollout.
Aldi will also introduce “reduction zones” in its supermarkets across the UK to help customers find items that have been discounted. This resembles other initiatives in the UK, such as Company Shop, which offers discounts of up to 60% for employees of the NHS, emergency services, armed forces and charities.