Aldi Chief Giles Hurley Accuses Rivals of 'Duping' Customers

Aldi's UK chief executive Giles Hurley has accused rival supermarket chains of running loyalty discounts that start with "unrealistically high prices" and then drop — a practice he says is designed to "dupe customers".

Hurley, whose company reported a 5% rise in sales to £19bn for 2025 from 2024, made the remarks as the German-owned discounter outlined a £900m investment programme including 40 new UK stores next year. It is the only major supermarket chain in Britain that does not operate a loyalty scheme.

"Promotions can supplement every day low prices when they're meaningful, when they're real and when they show realistic reductions," Hurley said. "However, when promotions start with unrealistically high prices – and come down to prices which aren't that competitive and dupe customers – we would view that as loyalty that isn't supportive, that isn't transparent and doesn't help customers plan and budget."

His comments put him at odds with the UK's competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority investigated supermarket loyalty pricing schemes in 2024 and concluded that shoppers "almost always make a genuine saving".

A distraction from pressure at home?

Not everyone accepts Hurley's framing. Ged Futter, a former Asda buyer and now a retail consultant, told the BBC the comments were "a distraction from the fact is that Aldi is under pressure in the UK".

Futter said Aldi was "on a meteoric rise until about two years ago" but that it is "now growing behind the main supermarket pack".

"The price gap isn't as clear as it once was," he added.

The financial results lend some support to that reading. While sales climbed 5%, operating profits fell slightly over the same period. Aldi attributed the decline to higher staff pay as well as investments in infrastructure and prices.

Hurley has made similar comments on discount schemes before. He has repeatedly positioned Aldi's model — no loyalty card, no gimmicks — as the antidote to what he sees as opaque promotion-driven pricing at the big four chains.

"We are the only retailer where the price of your weekly shop is actually cheaper this summer than last summer," he said. The business, he added, was focused on "everyday low prices, not short-lived offers that disappear the following week".

£340m in price cuts and 40 new stores

Aldi said it had spent £340m this year on cutting prices. Alongside the 40 planned store openings, the chain said it would expand long-term agreements with British suppliers.

Hurley also waded into food security policy. He said recent droughts and global events had exposed vulnerabilities in food supply chains, and argued that boosting domestic production should be a national strategic priority. That, he said, would help reduce the UK's exposure to shocks that can push up food prices.

He insisted the business was still attracting new customers despite fierce competition across the sector. The question now is whether Aldi can convert a £900m bet on new stores and British suppliers into renewed momentum, after two years in which — on Futter's reading — it has trailed the pace of the main supermarket pack.