Aldi says no plans to enter NZ
The promotion of Tom Daunt as the Aldi Australasia chief executive led to suggestions the German discount retailer could be expanding to New Zealand. Aldi incorporated companies in New Zealand when it came to Australia more than a decade ago.
But a company spokeswoman said while Aldi was planning to extend to new markets including Western Australia and South Australia, it had "no immediate plans to enter the New Zealand market".
Its June submission to the government's competition review states that an estimated 4.2 million people shop with it in an average four-week period and it employs 8000 people across its 340 stores, five distribution centres and logistics supply chain. But its comment that its "annual turnover in Australia now exceeds A$5 billion and it is estimated to account for around 10 per cent of the grocery market on the eastern seaboard" comes from a report by researchers Roy Morgan.
Aldi has said its key points of difference include a "substantially smaller store footprint (1300 to 1600 square metres); a substantially lower number of product lines (around 1350); shorter opening hours; fewer truck deliveries (typically 3-5 per day) and a truck vehicle fleet that is owned and operated by Aldi".
It has regularly complained about planning laws curbing its growth.
Grant O'Brien, the chief executive of supermarket giant Woolworths, recently said that 95 per cent of Aldi's range was private label, compared with his company's 10 per cent.
Source: stuff.co.nz
