Arrival of Aldi sparks war on food prices

An all out supermarket war is now on the cards in Cavan town with the opening of the expansive new Aldi store at Dublin Road last Thursday morning. There is no doubt that Aldi and Lidl are going head to head in the battle to win over the shoppers. It's also anticipated that Dunnes, Tesco and Super Valu will also step up to the plate as the competition hots up in earnest to retain and win over consumers in Cavan town and its environs. The drive for market share is intensified further by competition across the border as the euro has strengthened against sterling in the past month. As Aldi opened its doors in Cavan for the first time with much fanfare, Lidl hosted its own Cavan festival and offered fruit and veg last Thursday at half price to retain its customers. Not to be outdone, Lidl also had games, a raffle, a bouncy castle, face painting and free doughnuts and hot dogs. Meanwhile, the arrival of Aldi to Cavan marks the German discounter's 71st store in the country and it has created 15 new jobs in the town. The Aldi publicity machine tells us that the store provides a top quality grocery offering at the lowest prices and typically 30% cheaper than the market. Over 40% of the groceries sold at Aldi are now sourced from Irish suppliers and this includes fresh beef, pork, lamb, poultry together with eggs, spring water, soft drinks, cakes, yogurts and artisan cheeses. Local suppliers include the Cootehill based Carleton Cake Company Ltd and they supply Aldi with luxury bites and squares. Some of the yogurts on display won gold medals at the Irish Food Fair recently and an Irish Cheddar cheese in stock also won gold. Shoppers' views Sean McInerney told The Anglo-Celt that he purchased a 19" flat screen TV for €189.99 and he said the opening up of Aldi will bring more competition to Cavan town. "Shoppers were going to the North last year and it will be nice to see business being kept in Cavan town this year," he said. People will now be going from shop to shop in Cavan to see what the prices are like. Eve Ford from Killeshandra said it was her first time in Aldi and she was impressed. "I think it is a lovely shop and they have a really good range of products. I definitely will come back to shop here again. I like the payout and the wide range of items and the fish look good. There are things here that you would not see in the ordinary supermarkets, which is nice too." Yvonne Jennings from Killinkere said anytime she is back in Cavan she will certainly pop into the Aldi store. Marcin Wuvarczyk from Polland who has been living in Cavan for five years said he used to shop in Aldi in Germany. "I think it is a good store and will provide big competition for the other stores in Cavan because the prices here are really down. It is good to see Aldi coming to Cavan because people were going to shop in Asda, and now Aldi will provide big competition to them." Johnny Cronin from Cavan town said he was impressed with the store. "I bought some ham and cabbage and you can't get anymore Irish than that. There is good value here and their spring water is very cheap." Maureen Chambers said she had shopped before in Aldi in Dundalk and was impressed by what she had seen in the new Cavan store. "I love Aldi, and the meat here looks lovely. I will come back to shop here every week or at least every two weeks. The vegetables in Aldi are always top class."