Today ALDI celebrates its five-year anniversary in Western Australia, looking back at the positive contribution it has made and reaffirming its commitment to the state, highlighting it has every intention of continuing to be an integral part of the fabric that makes up Western Australian communities.
On this day five years ago, ALDI opened the first four Western Australian stores at Kwinana, Belmont Forum, The Square Mirrabooka and Lakeside Joondalup and began its journey of providing Western Australians with high quality and affordable groceries as well as rewarding retail career opportunities.
Fast forward to June 2021 and ALDI has grown to operate 47 stores around the state, with plans to open another six stores over the next two years including in Karrinyup next month, as part of the new-look Karrinyup Shopping Centre, and in Willetton, Clarkson and Albany from early next year.
As ALDI has expanded across the western seaboard, it has continued to recruit more locals.
“We currently employ more than 830 Western Australians in our stores and Jandakot-based head office and distribution centre, providing industry leading salaries and five weeks annual leave. Our positive impact extends beyond our store footprint as we source locally where possible supporting local business communities. We currently partner with 80 Western Australian businesses such as Delroy Orchards, Key Produce and Turkish Bakeries who grow and produce our avocados, tomatoes and Turkish bread,” said Caroline MacPhail, Managing Director, Western Australia.
ALDI supports the local communities in which it operates and last year its Western Australian stores donated more than 1.3 million meals to charity partners including OzHarvest, Foodbank, Halo Team Inc, Rainbow Church Food Ministry, Ellenbrook Community Collective and the Champion Centre in Byford, Armadale and Camillo.
One of ALDI’s core values is Responsibility and it is on track to achieve its goal of fully powering the business utilising renewable electricity. By 2025 the business will have reduced its plastics and packaging by 25 per cent across own-brand products and be sending absolutely zero waste to landfill.
ALDI’s expansion in Western Australia supports its total contribution to the Australian economy. PricewaterhouseCoopers calculated that in 20 years of operation ALDI has contributed $30.2 billion to the economy as a result of new and upgraded stores, local business partnerships and jobs.
“I’m proud of ALDI’s contribution to Western Australia whether it’s driving down grocery prices or providing jobs for locals across diverse communities. We have come a long way since opening our first few stores back in 2016 and we are excited to continue our expansion into new locations such as Albany, providing access to high-quality groceries at incredibly low prices for more Western Australians,” added Caroline.