Mark Jones discusses proposed land agreement rules for Aldi and Lidl in The Grocer

Mark Jones, partner and head of the food and drink team at Gordons, has been featured in The Grocer discussing how Aldi and Lidl could be brought under the strict governance of the Groceries Market Investigation (Controlled Land) Order 2010.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally ruled that Aldi and Lidl should be subject to the same land agreement rules that govern Britain’s largest supermarket chains.

The order, which already applies to Asda, Co‑op, Marks and Spencer (M&S), Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose, is designed to stop ‘Large Grocery Retailers’ (LGRs) from putting clauses in land agreements that make it harder for competitors to open nearby.

Commenting on the CMA’s proposal that the order should also apply to Aldi and Lidl, Mark said: “Given the ascent of Aldi and Lidl since the order was introduced in 2010, going from a combined five per cent market share to 21 per cent today, there have been loud and frequent calls from the other major grocers for Aldi and Lidl to be subject to the same restrictions they are.”

He explains that Aldi and Lidl were excluded from the order on the basis that they operated smaller stores and carried ‘significantly’ fewer products.

However, Aldi and Lidl now carry around six times the number of products they used to sell, according to the CMA, and operate much larger stores.

“That doesn’t mean Aldi and Lidl will take this lying down. They still sell about 30 per cent fewer products than M&S, about 50 per cent fewer than a Co-op or Tesco and 75 per cent fewer than an Asda at comparably sized stores,” he says.

“If Aldi and Lidl do become subject to the order, they could seek to persuade a court they still sell ‘significantly’ fewer products than their competitors.

“I suspect they would lose that fight, but it doesn’t mean they won’t try.”

You can read Mark’s comments in The Grocer article here.

Find out more about Gordons’ expertise in food and drink here.