Aldi is hungry for a 10 per cent share of the grocery market
It's a tough time for supermarkets, but as the price war between the Big Four rages on, Aldi's UK chief executive says he is aiming to take a 10 per cent share in the grocery market.
Speaking to Morning Wire, Matthew Barnes, Aldi's chief executive in UK and Ireland Matthew Barnes said: "We will have 10 per cent market share.
"We are investing £100m in reducing prices and reducing prices on 25 per cent of products."
Discount retailers hit record market share, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel earlier this month. Aldi hit a 6.1 per cent share of the market; Lidl and Aldi's combined share was recorded as 10.5 per cent.
Almost three fifths of Britons (58 per cent) visited one of the two big discounters in the past three months, Kantar Worldpanel said.
The Big Four are facing an erosion of their margins as Aldi and Lidl expand in the UK. Barnes said "there is a lot" of denial in the supermarket industry over margins, saying supermarkets in Europe are used to low margins – and that the UK companies are set to follow suit, under pressure from the discounters.
Today, HSBC sparked a sell-off in supermarket shares after it said Asda is likely to reposition on price, putting Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons in an even more precarious position.
Barnes was not convinced Asda's prices could become a threat to Aldi, however, saying: "We won't let that happen. We have cast iron credentials on price.
"We don't think about our competition – we are a challenger brand."