While Aldi is best known for its middle aisle, there’s one other section of the store that shoppers often flip out over.
We’re talking, of course, about the in-store bakery, which customers on social media say is ‘amazing’ and ‘a holy place’ – with some even going as far as to claim it rivals high street favourite Greggs.
And it seems the Aldi Bakery is only going to get better, as the discount retailer has announced plans to upgrade all its supermarkets, with a particular focus on improving the in-store bakeries.
The business is going to be splashing a whopping £67million to upgrade its stores across the UK this year, and in addition to improving the bakery section, they’ll also be making changes to health and beauty, as well as the fridges in the chilled aisle, where they’ll be upgrading the units to reduce carbon emissions (equivalent to heating over 6,500 homes).
This is all part of the ‘second phase’ of Aldi’s store enhancement programme, which the company has been working on since 2017. The retailer has spent almost £600million on updates as part of the ‘first phase’, which is nearly complete.
These initial updates were intended to create a better shopping experience for customers and included making more space for fresh, chilled, and food-to-go ranges, creating simpler layouts, as well as improving fixtures and adding energy efficient LED lighting.
Speaking about the changes, Jonathan Neale, the managing director of National Real Estate at Aldi UK, said: ‘Aldi’s £67m investment is a major step forward in our commitment to delivering an even better shopping experience for our customers across Britain.
‘Building on the success of our previous upgrades, we’re enhancing store layouts as part of our dedication to providing customers with more sustainable stores, convenience and an improved shopping experience nationwide.’
If this weren’t enough, Aldi is also investing approximately £650 million in new store openings across Britain in 2025, with locations including Fulham Broadway in London, Billericay in Essex, and Cheadle in Stoke-on-Trent.
It’s not clear yet what specific changes are being made to the bakery section in Aldi, although Metro has contacted the retailer for further comment.
Many will likely be hoping that the upgrades involve adding in-store bakeries to all of the retailer’s shops in the UK – of which there are currently more than 1,000. This is because only some of the supermarkets have bakeries, while others only offer pre-packaged baked goods.
On TikTok, a few shoppers have been stunned to learn Aldi had its own bakery, saying it was ‘revolutionary’ and ‘about time’.
A few also couldn’t help but compare it to Lidl’s in-store bakery, which is so popular its won awards over the years, even being crowned as the ‘UK’s favourite’ in April 2024.
This accolade came hot off the heels of it being awarded the British Baker Retailer of the Year in 2023, with shoppers especially loving the supermarket’s All Butter Croissant, with 122 selling every single minute.
If baked goods aren’t your thing, don’t fret as Aldi also has plenty of other treats in-store. The retailer recently launched a new product that’s a UK first – and got fans of 90s sitcom Friends talking.
ChoViva is a cocoa-free chocolate alternative from Germany, and it’s made its debut in Aldi, as part of the bargain retailer’s Easter range. The product is said to look and taste like the real thing, but instead of being made from cocoa as is traditional, it’s been formed in a more sustainable way using fermented oats and sunflower seeds, as well as sugar, vegetable fat, skimmed milk powder and emulsifiers.
ChoViva features in Aldi’s Dairyfine Peanut Butter Mini Eggs (£1.49 for 90g), offering a cocoa-free version of the sweet treat, and shoppers online can’t help but compare it to the Mockolate product featured in Friends.
On Reddit, u/100ProofPixel asked: ‘I can’t be the only person that went straight to Mockolate?’
Similarly, on TikTok @heymacksarrow said: ‘It’s giving that time Monica had to recipe test for fake chocolate.’
Aldi also recently caused a stir with its Dairyfine Curious Inventions bar, which comes in white or milk chocolate and is filled with popping candy and cherry jellies, has been transformed into a £3.99 egg for the Spring season.It went viral online as the original chocolate bar has long been compared to a Cadbury favourite – the Marvellous Creations, which is strikingly similar, but made with either Cadbury White or Dairy Milk chocolate.
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