Co-op MD defends Aldi price match launch: ‘Our members need it’
Co-op Food managing director Matt Hood has defended the convenience retailer’s decision to launch an Aldi price match scheme, despite rival grocers having scaled back on the offer.
As of tomorrow (26 March), Co-op will be matching Aldi prices on over 100 everyday essentials, with the campaign being the biggest of its kind in convenience stores, according to the retailer.
While Asda axed its Aldi and Lidl price match in January, and Tesco and Sainsbury’s trimmed the number of products included in their campaigns, Hood said Co-op’s decision to launch the offer came at a time when “members need it most”.
Posting to LinkedIn today, the Co-op MD said: “Many people have asked me: Why now? How are you affording this? Aren’t others stopping it? These are all fair questions—ones we’ve carefully considered before making this bold move for convenience.
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“The reality is, we’re doing this now because our members—who own our business—need it most. With inflation on the horizon, driven by factors like national insurance, EPR charges, and broader market conditions, we want to act now to support our customers.”
The latest price commitment takes the retailer’s investment into lowering prices to almost £170million over the last two years.
Hood said this latest push is “simply the next step in our commitment to delivering convenience without compromise”.
“Our customers still want to shop conveniently, and with time as precious as ever, we’re focused on offering not just quality but also value—bringing the benefits of a big shop to a small shop.”
However, he added that Co-op’s quality and sourcing standards would not be compromised.
The campaign, which promises to match products including select fresh fruit, milk, eggs and bread to Aldi’s prices for members, is also the first of its kind to be available on quick commerce platforms including Shop.coop, Deliveroo and Uber Eats.