German chain Aldi has overtaken Morrisons as Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer.
The Bradford-based retailer was loaded with debt when US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice bought it in a controversial £10billion deal last year.
Shoppers worried about the cost-of-living crisis have been switching in droves to Aldi and its no-frills rival Lidl.
Making a connection: Shoppers worried about the cost-of-living crisis have been switching in droves to Aldi and its no-frills rival Lidl
The German-owned discounters have gained £2.3 billion of annual sales from Morrisons and other supermarkets, according to market researcher Kantar.
Aldi and Lidl are taking sales from Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, which is co-owned by private equity firm TDR Capital and the Issa brothers.
But it is Morrisons whose market share is falling fastest.
According to Kantar, Aldi’s share leapt to 9.2 per cent in the four weeks to August 7, overtaking Morrisons’, which slumped to 9.0 per cent Aldi and Lidl offer a limited range of own-label goods and are opening hundreds of stores.