Lidl Ireland has announced that it is set to reduce the price of 500 products, which will come in to effect in January 2020.
The price reduction was announced following the recent opening of the company’s new €100 million distribution centre in Newbridge, Co Kildare, which has the capacity to serve Lidl’s network of 90 stores in the Leinster area.
"First and foremost, this new distribution centre is good news for our customers," said J.P. Scally, managing director of Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The state-of-the-art facility, which represents the single largest investment made by Lidl in Ireland since 2000, is spearheading even greater efficiencies, which the supermarket is giving back to customers in the form of cost savings, the retailer outlined.
Increased Capacity
The discount retailer highlighted that the new distribution centre’s increased capacity means it can store 49 million products through the streamlining of operations.
"By increasing our storage capacity and streamlining our supply chains we will achieve even higher levels of efficiencies and in turn deliver considerable savings to shoppers across the country," Scally added.
"That means lower prices on the same quality produce, and more money back in our customers’ pockets."
Over 60% of these products will come from Lidl’s 225-strong network of Irish suppliers.
This follows a price reduction on over 250 products in the past six months.
New Jobs
The construction of the new development saw up to 2,000 construction jobs created during the construction phase, followed by the creation of a further 100 new full-time roles on completion.
These new full-time positions are in addition to the 250 permanent staff who will move over from Lidl’s existing distribution centre.
Living Wage
Earlier this month Lidl announced that 800 of it's 4,300 employees across Ireland are set to get a pay increase.
The change that will be implemented at the beginning of the company’s new financial year in March 2020, will benefit 15% of its employees across Ireland, while all other staff currently earn in excess of the new Living Wage, the group said.
The German retailer said that it will match the latest Living Wage of €12.30 per hour for its staff, which is a 40 cent increase from the current €11.90.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
