Discount supermarket chain Aldi has today called for more Australian suppliers as they continue to make inroads in the Australian marketplace.

Group Managing Director, Michael Kloeters, said the German-owned retailer needed a broad range of Australian suppliers to cater to an expanding range of products and existing product lines.

“We are looking for suppliers that can meet our required volumes and importantly, are as passionate about high quality goods as we are,” he said.

Growth has been stimulated since the release of the ACCC’s Grocery Inquiry, which highlighted Aldi as the chain with the lowest prices and suggested the retailer had made a major impact on competition in the eastern states. With consumers keen to cut costs and the advertising copy basically written for them by the Grocery Choice price monitoring website, the company has been able to expand along the eastern coast. And the proliferation of stores is anticipated to maintain a constant pace over coming years.

“We are growing by at least 25 new stores a year and are committed to building long term relationships with our suppliers, many of whom have enjoyed growth and success as we have expanded,” Mr Kloeters advised.

Aldi reported a desire to source local goods, with a high percentage of its products already coming from Australia – 100 per cent of fresh meat, 97 per cent of dairy and 95 per cent of the fruit and vegetables sold are locally sourced.

Mr Kloeters added that size was no barrier to supplying Aldi. “Some of our suppliers are niche boutique manufacturers, while others have much larger operations and produce some of Australia’s leading household brands,” he noted.

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