Aldi local

Aldi is trialling on-demand grocery home delivery in the UK for the first time in partnership with Deliveroo.

The discounter this week began offering a rapid-delivery service from its Daleside Road store in Nottingham, with plans to extend the trial to a further seven stores across the East Midlands in June.

Customers will be able to order from over 150 Aldi products through the Deliveroo app. These will be picked and packed by Aldi staff in-store, for delivery via Deliveroo’s network of riders.

Aldi will initially offer a range of essential items, such as bread, milk and fresh produce to be delivered to customers’ doorsteps in as little as 30 minutes.

The new on-demand service has been introduced to offer customers greater flexibility and access to affordable Aldi groceries, and to support people across the country who are self-isolating due to Covid-19, according to the retailer.

If successful, the rapid-delivery service could roll out to further Aldi stores by the end of 2020.

The trials follow Aldi’s recent move into online food parcels, which were introduced to help self-isolating and vulnerable customers.

Aldi UK & Ireland chief executive Giles Hurley said: “We hope the new trial with Deliveroo will provide more customers with access to great-quality, affordable food at Aldi.

“This is a new and exciting venture for Aldi and we will be constantly reviewing how we can best serve our customers and continue to provide them with the high quality products they are used to in store.”

Ajay Lakhwani, vice president of new business at Deliveroo said: “At Deliveroo, we are doing everything we can to make sure that people get the food they need and want during this unprecedented time. We are pleased to partner with Aldi and deliver even more choice to our customers as they continue to keep safe at home.”