Will Aldi eat the big boys’ lunch?

The cost of living crisis is driving consumers away from well-known but expensive brands, writes James Moore. Which is why the bosses of cut-price, own-brand supermarket Aldi are claiming our shopping habits ‘have changed for good’… so are the food and drink giants doomed?

The own-label products Aldi specialises in have grown more popular in recent times (PA)

Are high-priced, expensively packaged brands doomed?

The head of Aldi UK, the supermarket chain which has disrupted the UK market and many others in Europe via a model built on aggressive pricing but limited choice, started the week by noisily trumpeting: “Shopping habits have changed for good!”

Giles Hurley, the German outfit’s UK boss, said sales of own brand products (which Aldi majors on) were growing at “twice the rate” of branded goods and predicted that this will continue.