Aldi’s fresh move

Posted by Andrea Hogan on 20th March 2017

Aldi Australia is taking steps to broaden its fresh produce offering by moving to a centralised buying model.

The move has seen it advertise for three Fresh Produce Buying Managers to work out of its Australian head office in Minchinbury, Sydney.

An Aldi spokesperson told Australian Food News that while Aldi has been evolving its produce offering, there is further opportunity for it to improve by moving to a centralised buying model.

“While this will allow us to streamline our buying processes and leverage our expertise, we will continue to work with local produce growers within each state, to ensure the freshest possible fruit and vegetables at the best price,” the Aldi spokesperson said.

The new model will be rolled out in 2017 with Aldi saying it will further improve its strategic relationships with suppliers.

“The move supports our overall commitment to forging sustainable relationships with suppliers that allow us to bring high-quality and competitively priced groceries to shoppers,” Aldi’s spokesperson said.

Currently, 91 per cent of all of Aldi Australia’s fresh fruit and vegetables are Australian grown. Aldi says it only sources products from overseas when it cannot be found locally and that this will not change under the new model.

“We look forward to helping our customers experience Aldi’s expanding fresh produce offering and showing them just how much they can save on high-quality Australian grown fruit and vegetables,” the Aldi spokesperson said.

What Aldi wants from its Fresh Produce Buying Managers

The advertisement for the Fresh Produce Buying Managers, placed on LinkedIn, says Aldi is looking for people who have at least five years’ fresh produce experience, along with strong negotiation skills.

Candidates should have a Bachelor’s degree and must demonstrate the capacity to help the Buying Director in all areas of fresh produce to develop the profitability of the business.

The evolution of Aldi’s fresh produce

The decision to move to a centralised buying model comes after a AUSVEG study, published in January 2017, found Australian’s think Aldi’s fresh produce has improved in value, quality and choice.

AUSVEG, a representative organisation for the Australian produce industry, said their study found most now think Aldi’s fresh produce is equal in value to that offered by Woolworths.

Advertisement for the jobs also come at a time when Amazon is also advertising for its fresh produce and general grocery delivery service, AmazonFresh.

Amazon is currently looking for a Brisbane-based software engineer to work on AmazonFresh. It is speculated AmazonFresh will be launching in Australia in 2017 but no announcement has been made yet.

 

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