Aldi has announced a major £1billion move that will be welcome news to British farmers. The German supermarket giant, which has more than 1,050 stores across the UK, has committed to investing £1.1billion over five years into British egg production to further strengthen and support its domestic supply chain.

Aldi says it sells more than 1,500 tonnes of British eggs every week, equivalent to around 2.5 million packs, sourced from poultry farms across the UK. The investment is underpinned by newly established five-year long-term agreements (LTAs) with the supermarket chain’s egg suppliers, running to the end of the decade.

Aldi says the agreements “provide farmers with greater financial certainty, enabling long-term investment in efficiency, infrastructure and animal welfare”.

Aldi is the second-largest retailer in the country for free-range egg volume.

Julie Ashfield, chief commercial officer at Aldi UK, said: “Our egg supply depends on British farmers, and we want to give them the certainty they need to plan ahead.

“By working closely with our suppliers through long-term agreements, we’re able to provide the stability and confidence they need to continue investing in their farms, while ensuring our customers have access to high-quality, British eggs every day.”

Daniel Fairbun, chief executive officer at L J Fairburn & Son, one of Aldi’s major egg suppliers, added: “The long-term nature of Aldi’s agreements gives us the certainty to invest and keep improving how we produce British eggs.

“That confidence also helps us plan year after year to meet customer demand.”

The announcement builds on Aldi’s wider commitment to long-term partnerships with British growers. The supermarket has already increased the number of long-term agreements in place with UK produce and horticulture suppliers earlier this year.

Aldi is aiming to secure at least 50% of its domestic produce supply through long-term agreements by the end of 2027, providing greater certainty for growers and supporting more resilient supply chains.

Hosts can sweep the boards this Christmas by wowing guests with artisanal cheeses crafted by maker and distiller Charles Martell & Son whose pungent creation Stinking Bishop is a sure way to liven up festive gatherings by delighting many and deterring others. Washed in perry, a fermented juice from a special pear variety grown on the Gloucestershire-based business’s Hunts Court Farm, the Bishop’s delicate creamy texture and nutty hints are in spectacular contrast to its pong.

Its historic name, referencing a native pear and a bad tempered local, still finds fame having featured in Wallace & Gromit’s The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. But while that’s all marketing gold, Royal Warrant holder Martell’s production of seven other cheeses and four spirits is extraordinary too, collectively embodying powerful themes of heritage, survival, environmental protection and revolution. In the latter’s case that’s being part of the artisan-led transformation of the UK into a premium cheesemaker respected the world over.

Building the business from a rundown property in 1972 and in 2010 starting spirits production after discovering a 17^th century distilling house, Martell has reinvented the farm with a herd of Gloucester cows its stars. Less critically endangered than they were but still at risk, Martell’s original motivations were to save the breed by making cheese and encourage others to stock them. Today the cheeses use their milk and that produced by other local farms minimising transport impacts and helping other enterprises.

The company’s triumphant Single Gloucester, now awarded Protected Designation of Origin status, can be only made on Gloucestershire farms with a herd of Old Gloucester cows. Martell has also revived the full fat hard Double Gloucester cheese that died out and remains tricky to make. Pastures are no-till, a practice that conserves soil structure increasing biodiversity and 87 bird species now visit. “Being mindful of our environment is in our DNA, we were planting hedges and heritage varieties of apple, peak and plum when everyone else was ripping them out,” says Martell.

Hulla Baloo is the latest cheese, a zesty, full fat semi soft blue good in sauces and salads. Among the others chopped nettles coat the rind of its May Hill Green adding an enigmatic flavour and Slack-ma-Girdle, which takes its name from a local apple, is delicate and lemony.

With a £600,000 turnover forecast for 2026/27 the operation has a team of seven and sells to cheese wholesalers and retailers nationwide as well as being distributed in 32 countries including Ukraine.

“Now the distillery needs to catch up,” says Martell who, as a satisfied farmer, is a rarer thing these days. “We get support for our orchards,  our product names arouse interest in customers of all ages, we’ve been unbelievably lucky and are always culturally opportunistic, looking at ideas for the next 300 years.” www.charlesmartell.com