The discounter aims for its operations in the UK and Ireland to be net carbon neutral by 2019.

Investing in environmental and efficient solutions

Aldi is taking a multi-pronged approach to reducing its environmental impact, including alternative energy sources and reducing resource usage. This work delivers on Aldi's commitment to the Courtauld 2025 initiative to reduce waste, reduce greenhouse gases and improve water stewardship.

Key activities include:

• Energy optimisation: every Aldi store has an energy management system to monitor and control energy consumption
• Renewable energy sources: Aldi has installed 388 solar panel systems in around a third of its stores and all its regional distribution centres, and 100% of electricity used is from renewable energy sources
• Equipment: the business has invested £20m upgrading equipment such as fridges and freezers in order to increase energy efficiency. More stores are also using heat recovered from fridges, chillers and freezers, further reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions
• Lighting: LED lighting saves each store almost five tonnes of carbon each year
• Transport: activities to reduce fuel consumption include lighter, more aerodynamic vehicles, investment in fuel management, and investing in efficient route planning

Combined, these actions have contributed to reducing Aldi's carbon footprint by over 30% in this time period.  In addition, the discounter will work with ClimatePartner to purchase carbon credits to offset emissions.

Future-proofing

Aldi's MD for corporate responsibility Fritz Walleczek said "we are continually reviewing our operations to reduce emissions and be kinder to the environment, while also future proofing our growing store portfolio for many years to come."

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Following the launch of a pilot partnership with Instacart to offer grocery home delivery last year, Aldi is extending the service to additional locations.

Expanding the service to a major market

Last year, Aldi launched the service in Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles, providing shoppers with the opportunity to have their orders delivered in as little as one hour. The service is being expanded to shoppers across Chicagoland, Northwest Indiana and Rockford. This is a major market for Aldi, with almost 200 stores in the area.

Several retailers partnering with Instacart

The launch of the pilot grocery ecommerce service last year was the first for a hard discounter in the US. While several different ecommerce models have emerged in the market, several retailers have partnered with Instacart for home delivery, enabling them to build a presence at a relatively fast pace in the channel. Albertsons, Publix and Wegmans have all announced new initiatives with the company over the last 12 months. The channel continues to see increased investment as retailers scale up their presence as they seek to capitalise on a market which is set to double in scale by 2022.

Aldi investing $5bn in US operations

This initiative comes as Aldi undertakes a $5bn investment program in the US. In addition to investing $3.4bn to extend its network to 2,500 stores by the end of 2022, it is also investing $1.6bn in remodelling 1,300 stores by 2020. Partnering with Instacart will potentially help the retailer to reach new customer groups and gain share in the fast-evolving ecommerce channel. Recently it announced a pilot program to open up to ten stores in partnership with Kohl's, a clothing and homewares retailer in the US.

Discount retailing as a disruptive force

The discount channel has received a significant amount of attention over the last nine months in the US. In addition to Aldi’s investment plans, Lidl has opened its first stores in the market. This has led to intensifying price competition and new private brand initiatives from several major retailers. With Aldi also moving into ecommerce, it could start to impact two of the fastest growing channels in the US.

Aldi is set to boost its relationships with local suppliers via a new small-scale supplier scheme.

Increased local range

Aldi is offering small food and drink businesses in Scotland the chance to secure space on the shelves of its 78 stores across Scotland with the roll out of its new supplier development scheme.

The move follows Aldi’s announcement in May, in which the retailer unveiled plans to increase its Scottish product range by 14%, from 350 SKUs to more than 400 SKUS over a two year period.

The new scheme will place emphasis on Scottish provenance, with products included in the programme to be labelled with a Saint Andrew’s Cross.

Nurturing small-scale suppliers

Aldi will offer small businesses that meet the programme’s criteria subsidised costs, as well as assistance throughout the process from its Quality Assurance team. There’s no cap on the number of companies that can join the scheme.