21 March 2021
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Aldi has announced details of its continued significant contribution to County Cork’s economy and the impact of its charity partnerships across the county. The German brand has produced a an Economic Impact Report for Cork (PDF file)
In 2020, Aldi sourced €68.5M of locally produced food and drink from Cork based suppliers. Aldi partners with 33 County Cork producers. Last year it began working with three Cork suppliers for the first time, including Walls Honest Chips, Saturday Pizzas and Bó Rua Farm.
Aldi will boost its annual national spend on Irish food and drink by 17.5% in 2021 to €1BN, with further opportunities available to County Cork suppliers. Operating 23 stores in County Cork, Aldi employs 1,000 full time staff, spending €30M on wages annually. It is seeking to recruit 120 new employees for its County Cork stores this year. Opportunities available include 118 permanent positions.
Aldi’s stores support multiple charities across County Cork at a local level. Each store is part of Aldi’s food waste reduction programme, with Aldi’s County Cork stores having donated over 311,000 meals through FoodCloud to local charities.
Each store is also part of Aldi’s Community Grants network, with COPE Foundation, Marymount Hospice and Cork Association for Autism some of the many local charities that have availed of the €500 bursary grant in recent years.
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 County Cork.”
“We have invested €221M in our County Cork stores over the last number of years, while we sourced €68.5M of locally produced food and drink from County Cork based suppliers last year. Multiple local charities have also availed of our support through our FoodCloud partnership and Community Grants initiative.”
