Aldi has today (Wednesday, August 8) announced that over 70 new Irish products, produced by 38 Irish food and drinks suppliers, will be listed in its 132 stores nationwide.

This announcement comes as part of an Aldi ‘Specialbuys’ Irish food promotion kicking off on Thursday, August 23.

The 38 producers – working across a diverse range of categories – won a place on the ‘Grow with Aldi’ supplier development programme, which has been developed in partnership with Bord Bia.

Participants in the programme receive tailored mentoring and access to “bespoke workshops” with Aldi buyers and Bord Bia technical experts, which will aim to teach them the skills to help grow and develop their respective products and businesses.

Aldi is investing €500,000 in the programme this year.

The programme has been designed to help Irish food and drink businesses, which are small to medium in size, secure a retail listing with a national retailer.

Five of the successful products will now be given the opportunity to win a contract to be sold in Aldi’s Irish stores year-round.

A total of 230 suppliers applied to take part in the programme, entering over 600 products. Applicants were invited to attend a special Aldi Immersion Day with Bord Bia to pitch their products and meet existing Aldi suppliers.

Extensive product sampling followed, with judges selecting the 38 suppliers to take part in the ‘Specialbuys’ Irish food promotion.

Of the 71 products supplied by 38 suppliers, eight have recently won awards at the Great Taste Awards 2018.

‘Fantastic response’

Commenting on the supplier programme, Giles Hurley – CEO of Aldi UK and Ireland – said: “We experienced a fantastic response to the programme, receiving hundreds of entries from small and medium-sized producers across the country.

“71 exceptional products have made it through to the final selection to take part in our ‘Specialbuys’ Irish food promotion. The selected products represent the very best that Ireland’s vibrant food industry has to offer.

The ‘Grow with Aldi’ programme represents the next step in our continuing commitment to buying Irish.

Aldi currently works with 175 Irish suppliers and reportedly spent over €700 million with them last year.