Aldi spent €12 million with Donegal food and drink producers last year

Aldi Ireland have announced that it paid €4.5 million in wages and salaries last year, while welcoming 2 million customer visits to its Donegal stores.

In 2022, Aldi sourced €12 million of locally produced food and drink from Donegal based suppliers. Aldi partners with seven Donegal producers, including long-term relationships with Donegal Rapeseed Co, and P Mulrine and Sons.

Last year, Aldi began working with 15 new Irish suppliers for the first time, opening opportunities for local companies to stock their local produce on the shelves of one of Ireland’s leading retailers. Operating six stores in Donegal, Aldi employs 138 full time staff in the county. All available job opportunities in County Donegal can be found on the Aldi Recruitment website.

Aldi’s stores support multiple charities across Donegal at a local level. Each store is part of Aldi’s food waste reduction programme, with Aldi’s Donegal stores having donated over 40,000 meals through FoodCloud to local charities. Each store is also part of Aldis Community Grants network with RNLI Lough Swilly Lifeboat Station and Donegal Hospice some of the many charities who availed of a €500 bursary grant in 2022.

In addition to donating to local charities, Aldi also supports local communities through its tree planting initiative, with a commitment to planting 1 million native Irish woodland trees across Ireland by 2025. To date, Aldi has planted over 540,000 trees across the country.

Commenting Niall O’Connor, Group Managing Director, ALDI Ireland said: “Our goal is to make a positive impact in every local community that our stores serve. Our operations and stores contribute to businesses, communities and families right across Donegal.

"We take great pride in working together with our local suppliers to bring quality, affordable products to our customers. People who shop in ALDI know that they will never have to choose between quality, healthy food, and price, and we are committed to offering the best value of any supermarket.

"We know this is increasingly important during a trying cost-of-living crisis and continue to be very aware of its impact. We are committed to helping our customers weather this storm and will continue to shield and protect them with low prices, starting with even bigger discounts over the coming year.

"This crisis also affects our suppliers, many of whom have seen their input costs rise as a result. Our continued investment with our valued supply partners allows them in turn to invest in their businesses and their people, and we’re delighted to announce that we spent over €12 million sourcing locally produced food and drink from Donegal suppliers in 2022, while investing €32 million in the county since opening our first Donegal store in Letterkenny in 2000.”