ALDI's figures show “relentless pursuit” of grocery market

German retailer ALDI doubled its pre-tax profit in Australia to more than $260 million in four years to 2014.

In a submission to the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance, the retailer, which does not normally release sales or profit figures, said its sales grew from $3.14 billion in the 2010 calendar year through to just under $5 billion in the 2013 calendar year.

The Senate submission, made by ALDI CEO Thomas Daunt, showed the company's pre-tax profit more than doubled over the same period from $121 million in 2010 to $261 million four years later.

The figures show ALDI's revenue and profit climbing strongly each year. ALDI has expanded rapidly to establish a network of 373 stores in Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria. The company now employs around 9000 people.

It recently announced plans to open up to 20 new stores in South Australia and Western Australia.

A Forbes article calling the control label retail operator a “menace” was published in the US earlier this year.

“Through a relentless pursuit of perfecting its own store brands portfolio and unique shopping experience, ALDI has become more than a nuisance – it is a major force on the verge of changing the grocery retailing landscape,” the author stated.

“From a consumer packaged goods (CPG) company perspective it is easy to understand why. The German chain [sells] primarily, if not entirely, its own privately branded knockoffs of established foods. ALDI’s retail strategy has combined a control label National Brand Equivalent (NBE) portfolio with an equally impressive deletion of conventional supermarket services.”

Last month, it was reported that rival German retailer Lidl, which has annual global sales of $128 billion, had applied in Australia for a wide range of home brand trademarks.