Lidl has overtaken Morrisons to become the fifth-largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, driven by demand for its low-cost products.
According to company figures based on Worldpanel by Numerator retail data, Lidl’s market share rose to 8.6% in the 12 weeks ending May 17, surpassing Morrisons , which fell to 8.3%.
Twenty-five years ago, Lidl held just 1.4% of the British food market.
Discount stores are reshaping the supermarket landscape
This development confirms Morrisons’ gradual decline in the face of low-cost chains. Aldi—Lidl’s rival chain—had already displaced Morrisons from fourth place in 2022.
Discount stores have radically transformed the British food retail sector over the past 30 years, attracting increasingly price-sensitive consumers.
Aldi now holds a 10.8% market share, while Tesco remains in first place with 28.2%, ahead of Sainsbury’s and Asda.
Lidl currently has approximately 1,000 stores in the UK and continues to expand, attracting new customers thanks to its low prices, private-label products that rival major brands, and the quality awards it has received.
Pressure and Restructuring at Morrisons
In contrast, Morrisons is in a phase of retrenchment. The company is closing cafes, butcher shops, and fishmongers in certain stores, scaling back a feature that set it apart from the competition.
CEO Rami Baitieh, former head of Carrefour France, has been attempting to restructure the Morrisons chain since late 2023, although his strategy has sparked internal backlash and executive departures.
Morrisons faced intense criticism when it backed away from its commitment to source exclusively British beef, while expanding the availability of cheaper Australian beef.
The company was acquired in 2021 by the American private equity fund Clayton, Dubilier & Rice through a leveraged buyout.
Founded in 1899 as an egg and butter stall in northern England, Morrisons continues to produce about half of the fresh products it sells, maintaining its own slaughterhouses and meat processing facilities—a factor that makes it difficult to keep prices low.
Food inflation eases
Food inflation in Britain fell to 3.1% in the four weeks ending May 17, down from 3.8% a month earlier, according to Worldpanel.
At the same time, consumers are increasingly turning to sales, with spending on discounted products rising by 9.5% year-over-year, compared with just a 0.1% increase in purchases of products at regular prices.