Aldi stores won more titles than any other retailer in Ireland at the international 2014 Great Taste Awards in London, picking up 35 awards.
Aldi’s product range has now won a total of 177 Great Taste Awards.
Many of Aldi’s Great Taste Award winning products are sourced from industry-leading Irish suppliers and producers. Winning Irish sourced products include Aldi’s O’Shea’s Traditional Irish Pale Ale, produced by The Carlow Brewing Company, which received two gold stars, Aldi’s Specially Selected Single Origin Ethiopian Coffee, produced by Bewley’s, which also received two gold stars and Aldi’s Specially Selected Irish Angus Fillet Steaks, produced by ABP Cahir, which received a gold star.
Commenting on the success, Aldi Ireland’s Group Buying Director Rob Farrell said: “The Great Taste Awards are the definitive independent accreditation of quality and offer absolute confidence to the customer that the product they are buying comes with a seal of approval purely based upon its fantastic taste. We are delighted that so many of our Irish suppliers have once again picked up awards. We are continuously introducing new and exciting Irish sourced products and engaging more and more Irish suppliers.”
Dubbed the ‘Foodie Oscars’, the Great Taste Awards are a hallmark of excellence and the largest and most trusted awards scheme for speciality fine food and drink. Over 10,000 food and drink products were blind tasted this year, with the winners chosen by a panel of over 400 experts, including top chefs, cookery writers, food critics, restaurateurs and fine food retailers following a rigorous judging process.
According to Aldi, it has tripled its annual spend on Irish products over the past five years. Since 2008 Aldi has almost doubled the number of Irish suppliers it works with. Over 50% of Aldi’s supplier spend is with Irish suppliers, producers and manufacturers. All of Aldi’s fresh meats, fresh poultry, eggs, bread, flour and many of its teas, coffees, soft drinks, waters and snacks come from leading Irish suppliers.