Aldi to roll out major change in UK stores after successful trial

Customers have welcomed the changes (Picture: Getty Images)

Aldi will continue to roll out its refill stations in a ‘small number’ of UK stores this month following a successful trial in its Solihull store.

Known for being one of the UK’s cheapest supermarkets, Aldi is also even becoming more sustainable. As before, the refill stations are expected to take the form of a pre-filled vessel that can be easily transferred across the shop floor.

This means that customers will still have the option of either filling a paper bag, buying a reusable container from Aldi, or filling up a container they brought from home.

The vessels themselves have a life cycle of at least 60 uses. When emptied, these dispensers are collected, cleaned, and sent back to food manufacturers for refilling and redistribution across supermarkets.

Customers can get pasta and rice for as little as 75p at the refill stations.

The refill stations have been a big hit. (Picture: Aldi/Green Retail World)

The Refill Coalition confirmed to The Grocer that the new trial is set to take place over the next six months. The exact number of stores hasn’t been announced just yet.

Helen Clements, director at GoUnpackaged, told The Grocer that the trial has exceeded selling expectations, explaining that there were no reports of equipment failure.

‘That is massive because typically in these refill trials equipment fails. And if the equipment isn’t working for the day, customers will be unlikely to make the effort again,’ she explained.

Aldi has made a couple of huge changes in recent weeks inside stores to make your shopping experience even faster.

The surprise origin of Aldi’s name

People are only just starting to find out how Aldi got its name.

The Albrecht family started what would become Aldi back in 1946. Back then, the store was named Albrecht, and when their mother Anna retired, brothers Theo and Karl Albrecht took over the west German store.

You probably don’t know the meaning behind Aldi’s name (Picture: Getty Images)

But how did it go from Albrecht to Aldi? Well, the Aldi name comes from the first two letters from the family’s surname, and the German word for discount (Diskont).

From 1962 onwards, the brand was officially called Albrecht-Diskont, which was then shortened Aldi.

At Aldi’s Greenwich branch in South London, you’ll know that the store is already check-out free.

Customers have to download the Aldi Shop&Go app on their phones and can then complete their shop without scanning a single item or going through a checkout.

A pasta and rice refill station (Picture: Aldi/Green Retail World)

But now, instead of downloading the app, shoppers can now tap their contactless debit or credit card, or their phones, to enter the store.

Aldi said this new, super-quick payment option, would make shopping at the store ‘quicker and easier for customers’.

And that’s not all. Another surprise for Aldi customers came last month when shoppers were stunned to discover that the price signs in the supermarket are not made of paper. They’re actually mini screens that use similar technology to that of the Amazon Kindle.

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