Aldi has overtaken Asda on food and drink sales in a fresh blow for the British supermarket chain’s turnaround plan.
The German discounter has nudged ahead of Asda thanks to higher sales of fresh poultry, fish, eggs and fruit in recent weeks, according to figures from Kantar seen by The Telegraph.
According to the data, Aldi accounted for 10.6pc of food and drink sales across all supermarkets in the 12 weeks to March 23 – beating Asda’s market share, which slipped from 10.5pc to 10.4pc.
Aldi previously had a 10.1pc market share for 12 weeks to February 23 before the increase.
The figures, which are distributed privately to supermarkets, do not include sales of alcohol, toiletries, household goods or beauty items. Including these, Asda is still the third largest grocer, behind Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
However, it will be seen as a sign that Aldi is gaining on Asda after years of declines at the British supermarket in the wake of its 2021 private equity takeover.
Before it was purchased by TDR Capital and the Issa brothers, Asda held a 14.8pc share of the grocery market.
Aldi, meanwhile, has been winning over shoppers because of its low prices. It previously overtook Morrisons as the fourth largest grocer in September 2022.
In the unpublished figures from Kantar, Morrisons slipped further down the rankings on food and drink sales.
Morrisons sold less food and drink than Lidl in the period, with the German discounter holding a 7.7pc share across supermarkets compared to Morrisons’ 7.6pc.
The latest figures come as Allan Leighton, Asda’s new chairman, seeks to kickstart a turnaround of the supermarket.
Last month, he said the plans would include a “substantive and well-backed programme of investment” in stores, which would allow Asda to slash prices and boost availability of products.
Asda said the spending plans would result in a “material reduction” in profitability, although declined to say exactly how much it would be spending.
Mr Leighton has admitted that the company had a lot of ground to make up, saying turnaround efforts would take years.
“I could get the sales up tomorrow by doing a load of promotions – but that is not the answer,” he said.
Asda is focusing on improving sales volumes again, which is expected to mean its market share may decline further. This is because it plans to sell items at lower prices than rivals.
Earlier this year, Asda announced the return of its “Rollback” scheme, which was used to drive an upswing in sales in the mid-1990s when Mr Leighton was last in charge at the supermarket.
A spokesman for Asda said the Kantar data was “highly selective and does not include key grocery categories such as alcoholic drinks, pet food, laundry, household products and toiletries”.