There is some indication that Irish suppliers considering doing business with the German supermarket chain Aldi were "leaned on" by other indigenous retailers, the Oireachtas joint committee on enterprise & small business heard yesterday.
In a presentation to the committee, Mr Trevor Coates, managing director of Aldi Stores in the UK and Ireland, said he did not know to what extent suppliers had been pressurised.
He said one third of 50 indigenous suppliers contacted by Aldi to present suitable products for consideration for possible contracts had so far failed to respond. Of the two thirds who had responded, half had been seen by company representatives. Mr Coates said it was Aldi policy to source as much product from the country of operation as possible and representatives from Aldi had recently met Bord Bia towards this end. A meeting with Enterprise Ireland will explore further sourcing opportunities in the Republic, he said.
Aldi came under pressure from the Irish Farmers' Association when it opened its two stores in Ballincolig, Co Cork, and Dublin last year. The IFA was unhappy that the company was sourcing milk from Northern Ireland rather than the Republic.
Aldi has traded with suppliers from the Republic for a number of years and the value of this trade will be some £90 million by the end of this year, according to the company.
A breakdown of this shows that £22 million is from suppliers in the Republic, £17 million from Northern Ireland and £50 million from Irish-owned companies with UK operations. Mr Coates said Aldi plans to open a further 4-6 stores in 2000, subject to concluding land acquisitions and building consent. Asked how Aldi could provide prices on average 30 per cent cheaper than other retailers, Mr Coates said lower overheads and employing up to one third less staff
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