Unexpected change at the top at Aldi Nord

Unexpectedly, CEO Torsten Hufnagel is leaving Aldi Nord after 28 years. He will be succeeded by Nicolás de Lope, who has had a long career at the discounter, including as director in Poland, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Experienced manager

Torsten Hufnagel’s departure at the end of the year comes as a surprise: the manager is leaving the company for personal reasons and by mutual agreement, the discounter reports. Under Hufnagel’s leadership, Aldi has taken important steps in recent years in the areas of IT and logistics, streamlining its own brand range and accelerating its international expansion.

His successor, 52-year-old Nicolás de Lope, is an experienced manager who has been with the company since 2014 and is considered a confidant of Hufnagel. De Lope was CEO of Aldi Netherlands for a year and a half, before which he led the discounter in Poland. He later became responsible for the German operations and has been on the board of Aldi Nord since 2023.