A new supermarket chain that will rival Aldi and Lidl's cheap prices, alongside other supermarkets like Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, will be opening in the UK this summer. The supermarket chain is set to launch in June of this year.
The chain is called Motatos, and is different to the 'Russian Lidl' which opened up earlier this year. Motatos promises cut prices by offering surplus food from wholesalers.
We don’t know exactly what items will be sold yet, or at what prices, but the discounter has promised "well-known products that would otherwise risk ending up in landfill”, according to The Grocer. This includes items that are no longer being sold on shelves due to changes in packaging, seasonal changes or short best before dates.
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Motatos is said to have already established partnerships with several distributors including Wholegood and Pricecheck ahead of its UK launch. The supermarket is known as Matsmart across Europe and was first established in 2014 in Sweden.
The company now has stores in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Germany, where it sells large pack goods, drinks, snacks, household, pets and beauty products. Deliveries are made by third party logistics companies, typically taking between one and three working days, with the cost of shipping depending on the size of orders.
UK country manager Christabel Biella told The Grocer: “UK shoppers are incredibly passionate about sustainability but they need easy and cost-effective ways to make sustainable choices that often come with a hefty price tag. That is why I’m so excited to join Motatos, especially at this point in its development following incredible success in other European markets.”
News of another discount supermarket in the UK comes after Russian supermarket chain Mere - known as the "Russian Lidl" - announced it was closing its first UK store following the invasion of Ukraine. The discounter has also reportedly paused plans to open more shops.
The retailer, which trades as Svetofor in Russia, branded itself as being cheaper than any other store - and said its products cost 30% less than Aldi and Lidl. It opened its first UK store in Preston in August 2021 but hasn't opened any more branches since.
Mere had planned several more UK store openings by this spring and wanted to open 300 stores here eventually - including two in Wales, in Mold and Caldicot, and another in Castleford in the north of England. The business had even teased more store openings in January this year, saying it would bring “a much better and improved offer for our customers than at the beginning”.
