The Competition and Markets Authority set out Aldi Lidl CMA large grocery rules on Thursday, provisionally deciding to extend the Controlled Land Order to Aldi and Lidl. The change would place them under the same land rules as Britain’s biggest supermarket chains.
Juliette Enser, the CMA executive director for competition enforcement, said the new rules will “help level the playing field and make sure shoppers get the best choice of products and prices in their area”. The regulator said Aldi and Lidl will be treated as large grocery retailers because of their rapid expansion in recent years.
Controlled Land Order
The Controlled Land Order is the rule that stops the largest supermarket groups from using land arrangements to block rivals from opening nearby stores. Aldi and Lidl were excluded when the order was set up because they were classed as limited assortment discounters, but the CMA said that no longer fits the way they compete.
Under the revised approach, Lidl and Aldi would join Asda, Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose in being blocked from using the land laws to gain an advantage over rivals. The practical effect is straightforward: site deals that once helped them limit local competition would no longer fall outside the order.
Morrisons, Waitrose and Iceland
Morrisons, Waitrose and Iceland wrote to the CMA with concerns that Lidl and Aldi are preparing to expand further in the UK. They pointed to plans for 1,500 stores each, and Iceland said the existing rules allowed the two discounters to “deploy problematic land arrangements […] at scale and in a way that could have a material adverse impact on competition for groceries across the UK market”. Iceland also said they “now each exert a significant and compelling degree of competitive influence in the UK grocery market”.
Morrisons told the CMA that Aldi and Lidl “publicly market their product range as being suitable for a full weekly shop” and said they pose “intense competition” even in categories they say are weaker. A Waitrose spokesperson said it had seen “first hand” Lidl’s use of the land order to “restrict the ability of other grocery retailers to open new stores and shield Lidl from local competition”, and said the CMA should impose its rulings as soon as possible.
Aldi and Lidl expansion
Aldi and Lidl pushed back in August, saying the crackdown would not slow their plans to expand rapidly in the UK. An Aldi spokesperson said the company remains firmly committed to opening hundreds of new stores across the country, bringing its value and quality to more customers.
The CMA has not said when the provisional decision will become final, so the immediate change is procedural rather than operational. For now, rivals have a formal route to keep pressing their case, while Aldi and Lidl keep expanding under a rule set that now treats them as large grocery retailers rather than small discounters.
