Lidl takes Grocer of the Year in glittering Grocer Gold Awards 2025

Lidl won the Grocer of the Year title at The Grocer Gold Awards 2025, hosted at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Throughout 2024, Lidl grew sales by 17% to £11bn and profits to £221m. And it’s kept up the momentum into 2025 with a store refurbishment programme, which saw more than 100 stores refreshed. It’s also built on Lidl Plus, with 80% more customers taking advantage of the discounts the digital loyalty app offers.

“Lidl was the one notable exception in 2024 when the growth of the discount sector slowed,” said Adam Leyland, The Grocer’s editor-in-chief and chair of the judging panel. “It was the fastest-growing bricks & mortar supermarket for the entirety of 2024.

Tesco CEO Ken Murphy was awarded the Grocer Cup. Dating back to 1923, this trophy is given to an individual who’s made an outstanding contribution to the industry, both in the past year and throughout their career. Murphy’s predecessors at Tesco to have won the award include Dave Lewis and Terry Leahy.

Murphy said: “We don’t see ourselves as the biggest retailer. We try and see ourselves as the leader. And we believe leadership comes with a set of obligations and responsibilities. One of them is to lead by example and to try to do the right thing, particularly when it matters to our customers and to our colleagues.”

Tesco also took Britain’s Favourite Supermarket for the 11th consecutive year. The UK’s biggest retailer came out top of NIQ’s Homescan survey of more than 12,000 households. It also nudged its way into the top three retailers when it came to perception on price, behind the two discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Discounter ambition

Aldi took Employer of the Year (Retailer), winning for the third time in four years. “Aldi seems to set the bar higher every year with what they do for their colleagues,” said one judge. “They take it seriously at all levels and for all grades.” Its Specially Selected range also took Own Label Range of the Year. Judges praised it for focusing on quality while other grocers continued to fight on price. It helped Aldi to become the third-biggest player in the UK’s premium own-label space, with 13.6% value share and 1,000 new products.

Good news came for Asda when Shaun Parker took Store Manager of the Year. Parker, who manages Asda Boldon, was praised by the judging panel for his energy, ambition and “approachable” shop floor-first leadership style.

Asda also took the Grocer 33 Price Award, while Waitrose took two Grocer 33 Awards, for availability and customer service.

The Iceland Food Club scooped Social Impact Initiative of the Year. In 2024, Iceland expanded on the programme to help low-income families to afford food, diverting them away from payday lenders or loan sharks. The entry showed that 74% of Food Club users had moved away from high-cost credit thanks to the initiative.

Also tackling food poverty was healthy kids’ meal brand Little Dish, winner of Consumer Initiative of the Year. It partnered with food charity The Felix Project on a ‘Buy One, Give One’ programme to help one in four working Londoners to be able to afford to feed their families. One judge said: “Over half a million meals going to people in need – and plans to double this in 2025…What’s not to love about this fantastic initiative?”

Suppliers in the spotlight

Warburtons won Supplier of The Year after achieving retail sales of more than £1bn in 2024 following investment and innovation. Among its many achievements leading to its win is a robust and reliable supply chain: it is committed to over 99% order fulfilment, guaranteeing timely deliveries, minimised disruptions, and consistent stock availability to the 19,000 stores to which it delivers each day.

Mackle Petfoods took Employer of the Year (Supplier). The petfood manufacturer, located in rural Northern Ireland, worked with schools and universities to raise awareness, increase training  and boost apprenticeships. It became the first large food manufacturer in Northern Ireland to introduce the real living wage.

The Waste Not Want Not Award went to the Beyond Belief Brewing Co. The Hertfordshire-based beer company has created a patented process that extracts fermentable sugars from any pre-processed carbohydrates. Those sugars are then used to replace 50% of the base malt of each beer produced.

Plenish took Soft Drinks Brand of the Year, while Brothers Cider was named Drinks Brand of the Year. Doritos won Food Brand of the Year following a £290m reformulation of the brand resulting in PepsiCo’s new, non-HFSS Doritos. It also teamed up with A Minecraft Movie in early 2025. Doritos had set the “gold standard” for how brands could work with retailers effectively, one judge said.

‘Queen of Beans’ Amelia Christie-Miller, the founder of Bold Bean Co, was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year. Under her leadership, Bold Bean Co’s range of jarred beans has significantly expanded. In 2024, it generated £7.5m in revenue, representing a £5m jump in its third full year of trading. The judges applauded her for Bold Bean’s “capital-efficient business model” and her “really clear vision for both the category and her brand”.