New Aldi Chief looks to internationalise purchases

Aldi Nord is reorganising its purchasing management, looking to join forces across the border. A Lidl veteran was called in to help with the process.

Cross-border

On 1 July, Alexander Lauer will become Aldi Nord’s Chief Procurement Officer. Lauer worked for rival Lidl until 2020, but will now take over from Jürgen Schwall, Lebensmittel Zeitung reports.

Schwall recently concluded his career at Aldi – which lasted more than thirty years – with a thorough reorganisation of the purchasing structures. He merged category management and purchasing, while the discounter wants to source up to 80 % of its range internationally. Today, just half of all products are sourced centrally through its Essen headquarters. The private label portfolio has also been rationalised considerably in the past few years, reducing Aldi Nord’s number of private label brands from 500 to just 60.

Lauer’s task will be to further boost the private brands (accounting for 90 % of the range) and bundle them internationally, following the example of Lidl and other competitors. To catch up, Aldi plans more international promotions and expand the private brand range with specific additions to the standard range.