ALDI Ireland has announced details of its continued significant contribution to Galway’s economy and the impact of its charity partnerships across the county. In its annual ALDI Economic Impact Report published today, the company said it paid €7.5 million in wages and salaries last year and opened two new stores in Tuam and Mountbellew.
In 2022, ALDI sourced €20 million of locally produced food and drink from Galway based suppliers. ALDI partners with 11 local Galway producers, including key relationships with Sean Loughnane and Arrabawn Dairies. Last year, ALDI began working with 15 new Irish suppliers for the first time, opening opportunities for local companies to stock their local produce on the shelves of one of Ireland’s leading retailers.
Operating 11 stores in Galway, ALDI employs over 230 full time staff in the county. All available job opportunities in County Galway can be found on the ALDI Recruitment website.
A total of 45 new jobs were created in ALDI’s new Tuam and Mountbellew stores in 2022. These new store openings form part of ALDI’s dedicated West of Ireland expansion programme which will see the company invest over €63 million and create 140 new full-time jobs and 350 construction jobs across Connacht over the next two years.
ALDI’s stores support multiple charities across Galway at a local level. Each store is part of ALDI’s food waste reduction programme, with ALDI’s Galway stores having donated over 74,000 meals through FoodCloud to local charities. Each store is also part of ALDI’s Community Grants network with East Galway and Midlands Cancer Support and Voices for Down Syndrome Galway just some of the local charities that availed of the €500 bursary grant in 2022.
In addition to donating to local charities, ALDI also supports local communities through its tree planting initiative, with a commitment to planting 1 million native Irish woodland trees across Ireland by 2025. To date, ALDI has planted over 540,000 trees across the country. ALDI has planted 35,000 trees across County Galway.
About the report
The ALDI Economic Impact Report includes detail of ALDI’s contribution to the national and local economy, including investment in its product offering, its team and the communities the retailer serves.
In 2022, ALDI sourced €1.1 billion of locally produced food and drink from Irish suppliers. In total, ALDI partnered with over 330 Irish producers throughout the year and began working with 15 new suppliers for the first time, including Builín Blasta, Elite Home Products and Athlone Confectionary.
ALDI opened six new stores in Caherciveen, Clonakilty, Ballina, Ardee, Tuam and Mountbellew, increasing its footprint to 155 across the country.
Last month, the retailer announced an additional 360 new positions, which will bring ALDI’s total employee numbers in Ireland past 5,000 people. ALDI also announced the adoption of the new ‘Living Wage’ recommendation of €13.85, from 1 February, becoming the first Irish supermarket to do so. ALDI’s Economic Impact Report confirms a spend by the retailer of almost €160 million on wages in 2022.
Commenting Niall O’Connor, Group Managing Director, ALDI Ireland said: “Our goal is to make a positive impact in every local community that our stores serve. Our operations and stores contribute to businesses, communities, and families right across Galway.
“We take great pride in working together with our local suppliers to bring quality, affordable products to our customers. People who shop in ALDI know that they will never have to choose between quality, healthy food, and price, and we are committed to offering the best value of any supermarket.
“We know this is increasingly important during a trying cost-of-living crisis and continue to be very aware of its impact. We are committed to helping our customers weather this storm and will continue to shield and protect them with low prices, starting with even bigger discounts over the coming year.
“This crisis also affects our suppliers, many of whom have seen their input costs rise as a result. Our continued investment with our valued supply partners allows them in turn to invest in their businesses and their people, and we’re delighted to announce that we spent over €20 million sourcing locally produced food and drink from Galway suppliers in 2022, while investing over €42 million in the county since opening our first Galway store in West City Centre Retail Park in 2000,” he concluded.
