Brits buy 50m Aldi mince pies as budget grocer hails ‘best Christmas ever’
Aldi has recorded its best festive season ever in 2024, with sales topping £1.6bn in the month before Christmas.
Sales at the grocer grew 3.4 per cent year on year, while its seasonal offering rose 10 per cent and its premium range jumped by 12 per cent compared to 2023.
Aldi UK’s chief executive officer, Giles Hurley attributed its success to “drop[ping] hundreds of prices last year” as part of an “ongoing mission to make outstanding quality, affordable food accessible to everyone”.
“Our offering of outstanding quality British products at unbeatable prices was a winning combination yet again this Christmas as customers wanted to celebrate in style after an uncertain year.”
Aldi remained the UK’s cheapest supermarket for the fourth year running in 2024, charging £100.29 on average for a shopping list of 56 branded and own-label groceries in December.
Its Christmas dinner was ranked as the UK’s most affordable, at £32.04 compared to a national average of £49.33.
Shoppers bought around 50 million mince pies and around 25 million British pigs in blankets over the festive period.
Aldi also saw strong sales of British products over the festive season, with a record 350,000 fresh British turkeys sold, more than 400 tonnes of British beef, and almost 3 million British Brussels sprouts.
The German-owned company’s success has seen it eating into rivals’ market share: Aldi is set to near third-largest grocer Asda’s market share by 2027 and could overtake it by 2028, GlobalData has found.
Giles Hurley added: “As we look ahead to the new year, which for many will mean the prospect of living costs rising again, many families will be nervous about what 2025 holds.
“Against this background, our mission remains clear: we will not only remain the UK’s lowest-priced supermarket, but we will ensure the price gap between ourselves and the traditional full-price supermarkets is as big as ever.