UNITED KINGDOM —Aldi is preparing a £900 million investment programme in the UK for 2027, combining the development of 40 new stores with further expansion of its distribution network. The retailer currently operates 1,092 UK stores and has a longer-term target of reaching 1,500 locations.
The expansion is being accompanied by a wider supply-chain commitment. Aldi plans to have at least 50% of its products covered by long-term agreements with suppliers by 2027. The retailer spent £14 billion with British suppliers in 2025, while around 80% of its sales were sourced from British suppliers. Fresh beef, pork and poultry sold through its everyday range are fully sourced from British farms.
For the retail and food supply chain, longer-term purchasing arrangements can provide producers and manufacturers with greater visibility over demand and support investment in domestic production capacity. The store programme also creates additional distribution and logistics requirements as Aldi extends its physical footprint across UK communities.
Aldi has also allocated £340 million during the current year to reduce prices across more than 1,000 products and plans further reductions ahead of Christmas. This approach has implications for competition across the UK grocery sector, particularly as retailers balance pricing strategies with rising operating, labour and infrastructure costs.
The investment follows a year of higher sales but limited profit growth. Aldi UK turnover rose 5% to £19 billion for the 12 months ended December 31, 2025, while operating profit was £432.9 million, compared with £435.5 million a year earlier. The operating margin narrowed to 2.3% from 2.4%.
Aldi is a discount supermarket operator with an established UK store network and supply base spanning domestic food producers and international suppliers. Its combination of physical expansion, distribution investment, pricing measures and longer-term sourcing agreements indicates a strategy centred on increasing store coverage while maintaining supply-chain capacity and cost competitiveness.
