Discount Retail Chain KIWI (owned by Norgesgruppen) is in the top 3 of the most positively mentioned brands in 2022, among 250 Norwegian brands. Using six different image parameters, YouGov prepares a global and a Norwegian ranking of brands that perform particularly well each year. The Norwegian top 10 list is made up of brands with Norwegian or Nordic origin. Discounter KIWI takes third place in YouGov's survey of which brands Norwegians have the best impression of. KIWI CEO Jan Paul Bjørkøy is very pleased with the podium position. 'It is of course very proud to be named the third most positively discussed brand in Norway, and to have the honor of being on the top 10 list for the fifth time in a row. This indicates that people have confidence in our healthy, green concept, our low prices and our clever and positive employees. I would like to thank the customers for their trust and the employees for their efforts,' says Bjørkøy. The top 10 list of positive reviews for 2022 looks like this: YouGov's top 10 list of brands: 1. Vipps 2. NRK TV 3. Kiwi 4. FINN.no 5. Tine 6. Clas Ohlson 7. Samsung 8. IKEA 9. Freia 10. Guild Discounter KIWI was ranked third in YouGov's top 10 list of brands. The ranking follows the index score of YouGov's Brandindex, which measures the average of the parameters quality, general impression, value for money, recommendation, reputation and customer satisfaction. What is YouGov? YouGov is a British analysis and consulting company that works internationally. Every day, YouGov interviews 100 people in Norway to ask about their perceptions of 250 different brands. The public's responses make up YouGov's annual buzz rankings - a list of the most positive 'buzz' - and are based on what the public has read in newspapers, heard from friends, rumours, marketing and advertising. See here for more: https://kiwi.no/Informasjon/norges-tredje-mest-positivt-omtalte-merkevare/ #smartdiscount #kiwi #norway #ranking #drc #discounter #discountretailk #discountretailconsulting #consultancy #brand

Discount Retail Chain Lidl GB (owned by the German Schwarz Group) is set to overtake Morrisons as the UK’s fifth largest grocer, as an extra 770,000 shoppers flocked through its doors in the last month. CEO of the German discounter, Ryan McDonnell, declared that the firm has the “momentum” to surpass its more established rival, adding that there was still “a lot of work to be done.” The comments come as Lidl said it had taken £58million worth of spending in the past month alone from the former big 4 grocers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. The discounter is picking up hordes of shoppers who are conscious of keeping grocery bills down as the cost-of-living crisis continues to spiral. Lidl and its rival German discounter Aldi have been the fastest-growing grocers in the UK this year, welcoming more customers as they switch from major retailers and increasing their share of the market. This trend has been accelerated by the soaring cost-of-living, with the pair seeing annual sales growth of around 20 per cent. Retail analyst Richard Hyman said it is now a matter of “when, not if” Lidl surpasses Morrisons. He said: “Lidl will gain shoppers at a faster rate than they have for a while because people will continue trading down,” adding that Lidl could overtake Morrisons in as little as 18 months. The news comes as sales at the sixth largest supermarket in the UK edged up 1.5% to £7.8 billion, a 13% rise against a two-year comparison, while full year profits soared by more than 300%. See here for more: https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2022/11/17/lidl-profits-customers/ #smartdiscount #discountfoodretail #discounter #discount #foodretail #retail #drc #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #consulting #consultancy #lidl #uk #growth

Discount Non Food Retail Chain Action (owned by PE i3 Group) is continuing its development in France. The bar of 700 stores in France was crossed by Action. The 700th unit was opened in Chalette sur Loing in Loiret. This opening has encouraged the creation of around twenty local jobs. More precisely, the counter is now 703 stores in France and 2,193 in Europe. Founded in 1993, the Action discounter is present in ten European countries. “France is our first market,” recalled Wouter de Backer, Managing Director of Action France at the LSA Commercial Strategies congress held on October 4, 2022. Here are the figures presented by Action during this LSA Congress on October 4, 2022. See here for more: https://www.lsa-conso.fr/action-passe-le-cap-des-700-magasins-en-france,424936?preview=11

There’s no question sales of private-label brands are soaring right now, fuelled by double-digit food inflation as shoppers trade down and away from premium products, looking for lower-priced options. “With rising costs, sticker shock forced consumers to prioritize value over brand name more than ever before,” Michael Della Penna, chief strategy officer for consumer-intelligence firm InMarket, said in an email to WGB. “Even older generations with higher household incomes switched to private-label brands to account for the stark increase in prices across categories like grocery and packaged goods.” But some categories are seeing more private-label spend than others. Currently, more than 70% of all money spent on poultry, meat and seafood is going to private-label brands, InMarket found in a survey that compared private-label spending with comparable brand name products from January through September. Private-label spending on dairy products exceeds 73% of the category as a whole. At the same time, though, hoppers are more loyal to their favorite beverage and snack brands and are less likely to buy private-label brands in those categories, InMarket found. “Products across the beverage and snack categories are cheaper compared to that of meat or poultry, so consumers are more comfortable paying a slightly higher price for their favorite soda brand,” Della Penna said. WGB editors racked up plenty of steps on the sprawling floor of this week’s Private Label Trade Show in Chicago, which drew more than 2,400 exhibitors. Plant-based items It seemed almost impossible to walk more than a couple of feet without encountering a vegan-friendly private-label item. They spanned grocery segments. We saw (and, in many cases, tasted) dairy-free cream cheese, pasta packed with chickpea protein, and vegan pastry pockets filled with vegan meat in a package adorned with the tagline, “I can’t believe it’s not vegan.” There was a wide variety of plant-based milk alternatives, meat-free deli meat and much more. Often, a product’s claims of being plant-based went hand-in-hand with its sustainability attributes (another huge trend). Honey Sales for the condiment, marinade and dressing category are expected to reach $2.9 billion by 2024, charting growth of more than 5% since 2020, according to Mintel research. Could honey be added to this category? Honey seemed to be a popular item at the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) show. WGB spotted several varieties, including a creamy Spanish honey and some “hot honey,” no doubt to add some spice to a sweet recipe. According to U.K.-based The Honey Association, honey is both a “classic and a fashionable ingredient,” appropriate for staples like salad dressings and barbecue sauces, as well as fusion foods and inventive desserts. Pasta We noted private-label pasta options down nearly every aisle, featuring noodles of all shapes and sizes. Organic, gluten-free and vegan. There was even Disney-themed pasta, kids’ pasta and baby pasta in teddy bear and space shapes. The abundance was understandable. Pasta was one of the most popular food staples during the pandemic, and one of the many items that consumers stocked up on, leaving shelves empty in some places. Consumers believe pasta to be an easy-to-store, healthy, easy-to-cook, sustainable food, according to the International Pasta Organization (IPO). Nine out of 10 Americans were eating it in 2020, and across the world, families consume it weekly, and in some cases, daily. World pasta consumption increased by more than 1 million tons and exceeded 17 million tons during the pandemic, IPO said. Wines and spirits The PLMA Show floor was filled with private label wines and spirits, as grocery retailers continue to seek the better margins these brands can bring. The show floor included an entire area dedicated to alcoholic beverages. Grocery retailers are continuing to make their wine department more profitable, Matthew Long, national sales manager for PAMPA Beverages, an international wine group with origins in the Argentinean wine industry, told WGB on the show floor. “Retailers are trying to compete with national brands and that is what private labels allow them to do, sometimes even better quality at lower price point and higher margins.” The private-label wine trend has been building for several years, Long said. “Over time, some retailers are so successful with their private brands and ability to select quality wines that consumers begin to trust them and prefer the private label, with Aldi and Costco as good examples.” Products in the spotlight on the trade show floor included an oak barrel-aged Spanish wine; single-serve Chilean reserve wine in a can; and natural wine with no added sulfites. Sustainability Consumer demand is pushing retailers to sell environmentally sustainable items, a growing trend evident from the show floor. We saw environmentally friendly plasticware packaged in cardboard rather than see-through plastic, enough eco-friendly tote bags to carry the world’s belongings and a whole host of compostable straws, plates, produce bags and much more. When it comes to private label, though, a big question remains: Will consumers still flock to the products once inflation subsides or will they return to their national-brand favorites? How those products are positioned and sold to consumers will play a big role in their sustained growth, InMarket’s Della Penna said. The pandemic has taught manufacturers and retailers alike a lot about consumer shopping behavior. “As consumers become increasingly less price conscious and as gas prices subside, spending on private-label products looks to be returning to normal levels,” Della Penna said. “It’s critical to tap the learnings and leverage ongoing economic pressures to drive visits, trial and purchase of private-label offerings to increase loyalty over the long term.” See here for more: https://www.winsightgrocerybusiness.com/products/private-label-huge-right-now-here-are-trendiest-categories

Discount Retail Chain Lidl GB (owned by the German Schwarz Group) full-year profits more than quadrupled as it continues to win spend from the traditional supermarkets. Pre-tax profits for Lidl’s British business surged to £41.1 million from £9.8 million last year to 28 February and EBIT jumped 80% to £79 million in what it said was its third consecutive year of “positive growth”. The discounter’s sales edged up 1.5% to £7.8 billion, however, this is 13% upon a two-year comparison. Lidl, which claimed that 60% of British householders now shop at its stores, said shoppers had switched £58 million to Lidl in the last month alone as they seek bigger savings as it vowed to provide customers the lowest prices this Christmas. Lidl GB CEO Ryan McDonnell said: “Our business model is built for the long term and I’m incredibly proud of our continued growth in recent months, which builds on our strong performance across 2021. “During this time, we’ve made further investments across all areas of our business, building even more stores and distribution centres, hiring more colleagues, increasing pay rates, investing in our British supplier base and contributing to the communities we operate in.” Lidl said customers were shopping earlier for festive food with party food sales up 21% and panettone revenue up 8%. The retailer said shoppers were flocking to its stores for British produce as it claimed to be “over-trading” in British meat, poultry and eggs. Investing in staff and customers McDonnell pointed out that Lidl had invested in its staff over the year, raising hourly pay twice. He said: “As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, we are more focused than ever on supporting our colleagues, our customers and the communities we serve. “This year alone we have invested £50m raising hourly pay rates making us the highest paying retailer, we’ve donated 5m meals, and we’re serving over 770,000 more customers a week compared to last year. “As a discount supermarket, we are in the best possible position to support people through these challenging times, and it’s our absolute priority that we continue to do so.” Lidl continues to push ahead with store expansion and invested £653 million on land and fixed assets, 31% more than last year. The discount grocery retailer opened 50 stores, two new distribution centres in Luton and Belvedere, and a new head office in Tolworth. It also completed its £100 million Get Fresh Programme, optimised store layouts and created space for more fresh, British produce. The grocer has pledged to increase sales of healthy and healthier products to at least 85% of total sales by 2025. See here for more: https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2022/11/lidl-profits-quadruple/

Discount Non food Retail Chain Pepco (owned by WSE listed Pepco Group) will soon open its 3,000th store in the German capital. It is the fourth Pepco branch in Germany and the second in Berlin. Launched in Poland over 20 years ago, Pepco is one of the fastest growing retailers with 3,000 stores in 17 countries. The opening in the new "The Playce" is a special milestone. The day before, Pepco invites partners and the press to a small pre-opening event in the new store in the basement of "The Playce", the former Potsdamer Platz Arkaden, and presents the store concept, the management team and the cooperation with SOS Children's Villages. "With the location at Potsdamer Platz, we are not only gaining a new group of customers, but also new neighbors and partners for various joint projects," says Patrick Steiger, Operations Manager at Pepco Germany. Together with Manuela Gräber, Head of Expansion Germany, and colleagues from all over Europe, he will introduce Pepco, guide them through the new store and hand over a check to "SOS Children's Villages". In addition to the ongoing commitment to NGO facilities, children and young people from the Berlin facility are invited to shop at Pepco for free after the shop has opened at Potsdamer Platz. The store manager of the new branch, Danijela Pervan, is originally from Croatia, where she started as a cashier at Pepco in 2018. The pre-opening event begins on November 30, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. in front of the new branch in the basement of "The Playce" on Potsdamer Platz. In addition to the opportunity to visit the store before it opens, Aleksandr Cikaidze, Retail Director, as well as Patrick Steiger and Manuela Gräber from Pepco are available for questions and interviews. Snacks and drinks are also provided, including the first mulled wine of the season. Pepco makes fashion affordable for families and at home On an area of ​​around 700 square meters, the 3,000. From December 1, 2022, the Pepco store will offer a wide and constantly changing range of decorative items, household items, gift items, toys and fashion for the whole family. As in all other branches in 17 European countries, attention is paid to good quality and this is offered at discounter prices. A good style of clothing and a cozy home are also possible with a small budget, an important signal to customers, especially in times of skyrocketing energy costs, high inflation and the threat of recession. The Christmas range is already on the shelves for the opening. PEPCO Germany GmbH Pepco is a European retailer that offers clothing for the whole family and household products. Apart from Germany, Pepco stores are represented in 16 countries: Austria, Italy, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. The Pepco Group is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Poland under the ticker symbol PCO. The group's activities extend beyond the territory of Europe, in particular those of its vertically integrated procurement operation PGS with its strategically positioned offices in South and East Asia. See here for more: https://berliner-lokalnachrichten.de/berlin/3-000-pepco-store-eroeffnet-am-potsdamer-platz-bezahlbare-waren-fuer-die-ganze-familie/37949/

Discount Non-food Retail Chain Action (owned by 3i group) sees that consumers buy much more at their stores due to the high inflation, as consumers pay even more attention to the price. And the higher energy prices are also beneficial for the chain, because households buy more electric heaters and slippers, for example. In the first nine months of the year, consumers across Europe bought no less than EUR 6.1 billion (US$ 6.1Bn) worth of goods from Action. That is 27 percent more than the 4.8 billion euros (US$ 4.8Bn) in the same period a year earlier. By paying close attention to costs, the chain was able to increase its profit before deduction of interest, taxes and depreciation by 35 percent to more than 1 billion euros. 'Concept fits great in this day and age' Retail expert Fred Rutgers is not surprised that Action is growing so fast. "It's a concept that fits great in this day and age." According to him, people find it more difficult to make ends meet and therefore want to save money. "In addition, Action is getting an increasingly better offer," said Rutgers. Due to the large turnover, they have great purchasing power, he says, "and that makes brands bend their knees to supply Action after all. Action benefits from that." Action also responds well to the emotions of consumers, says Rutgers. Customers almost come out with their message as if they were holding a trophy. "Look what a world deal I have scored. That gives people a good feeling. I think Action will continue to grow strongly for the time being." Detergent, toilet paper, candles and throws "We see an increase in daily groceries such as detergent, soap, toilet paper and kitchen rolls that is up to 30 percent higher than in previous years," CEO Hajir Hajji said of sales growth in the year so far. Due to the high energy prices, electric heaters, candles, throws, slippers and batteries are also flying out the door. Ten countries Incidentally, it is no longer just the Dutch who buy from Action. There are now 2,178 stores with 'Action' on the front in a number of European countries. Since the opening of the 2000th store at the beginning of this year, that number has increased by 178. Action wants to increase the number of stores much further. Now at least the opening of another 32 stores in the near future is certain. There are now more than 400 branches in the Netherlands. And in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and Spain there are a total of 1800. Due to the success of Action, the retail chain is worth a lot of money. British 3i has increased the value of its 52.7 percent stake in Action from nearly £7.1 billion to more than £8.6 billion. This means that Action as a whole was valued at 18.6 billion euros at the end of September. That is 20 percent more than at the end of March. This made an investment in Action much more rewarding than an investment in shares. The AEX actually fell by more than 11 percent between the end of March and the end of September. Action is now worth more than listed companies such as ABN Amro, Philips, ASMI or NN. Pay raise Action employees benefit from the smooth running of the business. They will receive a 10% increase in wages next year. Of this, 8 percent is structural and 2 percent is non-recurring. This means that this one-off wage increase will no longer apply in 2024, unless new agreements are made about this later. Employees will receive a one-off payment next month. For Dutch employees, this is 350 euros net (US$350). Sustainable cotton and wood For some people Action had the image of cheap stuff that is not so durable. But Action wants to change that. For example, it wants to sell only products made from sustainable cotton processed cotton by the end of next year. That is two years earlier than originally planned. And in 2024 it only wants products that contain fully sustainable wood. That is a year earlier than previously thought. See here for more: https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/economie/bedrijven/artikel/5345817/action-retail-detailhandel-omzet-inflatie-energie

Discount Retail Chain Aldi Nord (German family owned) wants to buy its own and Aldi Süd's main mineralwater supplier 'Altmühltaler Mineralbrunnen'. It is a bang for the Altmühlstadt: One of the largest employers in the city, the mineral water producer Altmühltaler Mineralbrunnen, is bought by the Aldi Nord group of companies. Aldi Nord announced this in a press release. Specifically, this involves the two production sites in Treuchtlingen and Breuna. The corresponding contract was signed in the late evening of November 8, according to Aldi's announcement. We're talking about expansion As the new owner, Aldi Nord would like to continue investing in the modern locations and expand the production and bottling of mineral water and other beverages. “The Altmühltaler Mineralbrunnen Group has been one of our most important suppliers of mineral water and soft drinks for many years. Accordingly, the offer of the family-run company convinced us in an overall tight market," says Jürgen Schwall, Chief Purchasing Officer of the Aldi Nord group. With the takeover, the discount chain also wants to strengthen its role as a reliable basic supplier. "The acquisition of the companies with production sites in Treuchtlingen and Breuna gives us the opportunity to maintain production capacities for one of the most important food items in Germany in the long term. This means we can continue to offer our customers high-quality mineral water at the best possible prices in the future,” says Schwall. Aldi already produces its own coffee and tea and now also gets its own water production facilities. This is in line with the developments at its main competitor Lidl which setup the Schwarz Produktion division with the own production of its private label bread, soft-drinks, coffee, nuts, ice-cream, pasta's and chocolate. "Jobs are secured" Aldi Nord is also making initial statements about the future of the 400 employees who work in Treuchtlingen and Breuna. "With the continuation of business at the two locations in Treuchtlingen and Breuna, the jobs of the employees in administration and production will also be secured," it says. The completion of the purchase of Altmühltaler is still subject to the usual approval by the Federal Cartel Office and should take place at the beginning of next year. Nothing is known about the purchase price, confidentiality was agreed. See here for more: https://www.nordbayern.de/region/gunzenhausen/paukenschlag-aldi-nord-will-treuchtlinger-konzern-altmuhltaler-mineralbrunnen-kaufen-1.12702435

Żabka Polska's (owned by Luxembourg based CVC Capital Partners), the largest convenience store network in Poland with more than 8,000 stores, Adam Manikowski, managing director of Żabka Polska, spoke during the Food Market and Trade Forum, about why discounters are not competition for the convenience store chain. Despite rising prices and inflation, Żabka is implementing its strategy and opening new stores. Although Polish customers are increasingly switching to discount stores and looking for cheaper goods, Adam Manikowski says that they are not competition for Żabka. Żabka Polska on the market situation 'We do not compete with discounters, we have a completely different purchasing mission. If you look at the results of the retail chains, they do not indicate a crisis. We have turmoil on the market, which is best evidenced by the fact that most economists were unable to predict the level of inflation', said the representative of Żabka. 'Consumer sentiment is at its lowest level, even worse than during the pandemic. But we listen to customers a lot, we do a lot of research. We can see that our clients value their time. Even though we have times of inflation, less money is available. But when we look at the entire Żabka group, all our activities are aimed at helping customers gain and save time. And for this customers want to pay' Manikowski summarized the current situation on the market. Żabka invests in technologies Adam Manikowski also said that Żabka invests a lot in technologies, which is why it has a broader picture of the market. 'We can analyze the so-called big data. We are able to manage 2.5 thousand planograms. If we know that all initiatives related to social responsibility are important to the client, we take care of them. So we created a very extensive ESG strategy and put it into practice.' See here for more: https://www.dlahandlu.pl/detal-hurt/zabka-na-frsih-dyskonty-nie-sa-dla-nas-konkurencja,112756.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dlahandlu.pl

The Schwarz Group (owner of discounter LIDL, supermarket chain Kaufland, Schwarz (Food) Production and recycler Pre-Zero) strives to optimize its business processes in the entire digital area. This affects all four divisions of the company, including the online shops of Lidl and Kaufland, as well as the loyalty systems. The newer areas such as cloud stackit and cyber security are also to be improved. This modernization and optimization is intended to ensure better interlocking between digital strategy development, further development and close cooperation in the implementation of IT operations. The two areas are called Schwarz Digital and Schwarz IT KG and are headed by two professional managers. On the one hand from Christian Müller, CEO Schwarz IT Chief Information Officer. Rolf Schumann leads the other area in the position of CEO Schwarz Digital and Chief Digital Officer. Both work closely together in the two areas in order to be able to react faster and more efficiently. There are a total of around 7,000 employees in the IT department, 4,000 of them at Schwarz IT and 3,000 at Schwarz Digital. Schwarz Group: Accelerating business processes is paramount. Schwarz's main goal is to advance all business processes, including abroad. This includes, among other things, the expansion of personalized customer approaches and the acceleration of "artificial and business intelligence" in the form of "machine learning". "Machine Learning" is a sub-area of ​​artificial intelligence that enables systems to learn and improve automatically from experiences (data). It is currently still the case that the two different omnichannel loyalty systems from Lidl Plus and Kaufland K-Card run with different basic IT systems. It should also be part of the new business strategy to sell IT systems that have previously only been used for the company itself as a service to other companies. This would then affect the development of retail media services, the cloud platform StackIT (since 2018) and also the 500 million euro purchase of the IT security company XM Cyber. The StackIT platform is now also being advertised for external companies as a secure system. More security in the event of cyber attacks. The XM Cyber ​​program was also initially only used for the Schwarz Group in order to be better protected against hacker attacks. The Schwarz Group and the Israeli IT security company XM Cyber ​​agreed on a close partnership at the end of last year. With this partnership, the Schwarz Group has armed itself for future challenges in IT security. This also opened up new growth opportunities for XM Cyber. Because of the recent increase in cyber attacks, security in retail is playing an increasingly important role in the progress of digitization. XM Cyber ​​not only wants to ward off hacker attacks in the future, but also secures systems where the malware is already present in the system. This security product should now also be available for external companies. See here for more: https://www.supermarkt-inside.de/schwarz-gruppe-treib-die-digitalisierung/

Discount Retail Chain FILE Turkey (owned by BIM) opened its last store in Çanakkale, File increased the number of provinces in which it operates to 24 with new investments in Denizli and Isparta this year. The number of File's soft discount stores in the Marmara Region increased to 155 with the store opened in Park Olive Shopping Centre in Çanakkale. The second region with the highest number of File stores was Central Anatolia with 20 stores. Adding Isparta and Denizli to its portfolio this year, the number of regions where File operates has reached 5 and the number of provinces has reached 24. Discount File, which is the supermarket concept investment of hard discounter BİM, one of Turkey's well-established retail brands, opens stores in the range of one thousand to one thousand 500 square metres as standard. The company uses Harras as its own private label brand in food products, Actisoft in cleaning and household auxiliary products, and Daycare brands in cosmetics and personal care products. File has a standard growth target of minimum 30 new stores every year. See here for more: https://www.ortakalan.org/gonderi/file-has-reached-197-stores/52527

Discount Retail Chain Lidl GB (owned by the German Schwarz Group) is following in the footsteps of Sainsbury's, Aldi and Waitrose by swapping their green milk caps for clear ones. By permanently replacing the green-coloured caps on bottle of semi-skimmed and organic fresh milk, the discount supermarket is the latest retailer to make the move to more easily recyclable clear ones, according to 'The Grocer'. The company said the move, carried out in partnership with its milk supplier Müller after a trial in September, will allow 60 tonnes of recycled high-density polythene to be turned into food-grade packaging in the form of milk bottles. Scott Davey, Lidl's senior buying director, said: "We remain committed to supporting our customers in helping them make more sustainable shopping decisions on a daily basis. "Customer feedback during the trial was overwhelmingly positive and we are thrilled to be making this change permanent across Lidl stores. In addition, this move will help us achieve our goal of making more of the plastic we use circular and fit to be repurposed time and time again." Similar moves by Sainsbury's, Aldi and Waitrose sparked confusion among customers adjusting to the change. One Twitter user said: "@AldiUK who on Earth thought it was a good idea to make the plastic milk tops clear?? Just spent 25 mins looking for it! It was already on!" Another tweeted: "Why the hell they changed the blue or green top for milk bottles to clear one it doing my head, I keep thinking the top is off when making a breakfast or tea/coffee. Anyone doing the same ??" Responding to one customer, Waitrose said: "Coloured milk bottle tops could not be recycled. The change was made so the clear bottle tops can be recycled. You can still select the milk you like by looking at the colour on the label." Richard Gorman, plastics and packaging director at Aldi, which announced it was scrapping green caps in an attempt to reduce plastic waste, said: "We know it's becoming increasingly important to our customers that their everyday products are environmentally-friendly, and we are constantly reviewing ways to become a more sustainable supermarket. By trialling clear milk caps we are making our milk bottles easier to recycle, so they can be turned back into new packaging." Lidl's wrap resource management sector specialist, Adam Herriott, said: "Changing the caps to a natural/non-pigmented HDPE will enable them to be recycled with the bottle and go back into food-grade applications, therefore able to be recycled multiple times into high-grade, high-value materials and products." See here for more: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/lidl-announces-big-change-milk-25383922