British supermarkets were once an established social ecosystem: Waitrose and Marks & Spencer catered for the wealthy, Asda for the hard up, and Tesco and Sainsbury’s for everyone in between. In the early 1990s, German discount stores Lidl and Aldi arrived in Britain, catering mostly for those who couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. On Tuesday Lidl overtook Waitrose to become Britain’s seventh largest grocer. This bodes well for the health of the British food industry, as do some of the methods Aldi and Lidl use to save money. Just as the British customer makes the case for value, supermarkets may downgrade.

Source: The Guardian August 22, 2017 18:11 UTC