Coronavirus: Aldi partners with Deliveroo for online orders

Oscar Williams-Grut
·Senior City Correspondent, Yahoo Finance UK
Updated ·2 min read
An Aldi store in Marsh Lane Bootle, Liverpool. Aldi has said it plans to more than double its store numbers in London as it moves forward with plans to open more smaller Aldi Local outlets. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
An Aldi store in Marsh Lane Bootle, Liverpool, England. (Peter Byrne/PA via Getty Images)

German discount supermarket Aldi has teamed with food delivery service Deliveroo to offer online grocery ordering in the UK for the first time.

Aldi said on Monday it would trial home delivery from its Daleside Road store in Nottingham from today and would expand the trial to the East Midlands from June if successful.

Customers can chose from 150 essential items, such as bread and milk, which will be picked by Aldi workers in-store then delivered by Deliveroo drivers.

Aldi, Britain’s fifth biggest supermarket, said the trial was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left many people self-isolating at home. Aldi has already launched “food parcels” of essential items that vulnerable customers and those self-isolating could order online.

“We hope the new trial with Deliveroo will provide more customers with access to great quality, affordable food at Aldi,” said Giles Hurley, chief executive officer of Aldi UK & Ireland.

“This is a new and exciting venture for Aldi and we will be constantly reviewing how we can best serve our customers and continue to provide them with the high quality products they are used to in store.”

If successful, Aldi said it hoped to roll out its partnership with Deliveroo nationwide by the end of 2020.

“At Deliveroo, we are doing everything we can to make sure that people get the food they need and want during this unprecedented time,” said Ajay Lakhwani, vice president of new business at Deliveroo.

“We are pleased to partner with Aldi and deliver even more choice to our customers as they continue to keep safe at home.”

Last month, Deliveroo signed similar grocery deals with Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) and Morrisons (MRW.L), while the on-demand delivery app also has a pre-existing deal with supermarket Co-op.

The pandemic has caused huge disruption for supermarkets, which have been forced to put in place strict new safety rules that limit the number of people who can go in any one time.