The report undertaken by DKM Economic Consultants – The Economic Impacts of Lidl’s Operations in the Republic of Ireland – has found that Lidl’s capital investment programme in Ireland to date, combined with its ongoing operations, has been and continues to be a major contributor to the Irish economy, the retailer said in a statement.

Purchases from Irish suppliers have grown year-on-year and in 2015 a total of €539m was sourced from 180 Irish food suppliers. Of this, €152m worth of Irish-sourced goods was purchased by Lidl for sale in its store network overseas, which accounted for 1.4% of total Irish food and drinks exports in 2015. This export activity added €97m to Ireland’s GDP, according to DKM.

JP Scally, managing director at Lidl in Ireland, said: “We are delighted that our relationship with Irish suppliers continues to grow, not only in purchasing produce worth €387m for sale in our Irish stores, but also in supporting some of our 180 large and small Irish suppliers open up new export markets where over €150m of Irish produce is supplied to Lidl stores in 18 countries across Europe.” Scally added that the company “looks forward to growing this in the years to come”.

DKM also referenced that, unlike other forms of foreign direct investment, Lidl’s activities are widely spread around the country, much of it in smaller towns where alternative employment opportunities can be limited, especially in recent years.

Below-cost selling

The publication of the report follows farmer protests last month in which Lidl and its competitor Aldi were singled out for slashing the price of fresh produce below the cost of production.

Lidl said at the time that it was making up for the difference in the price it pays to producers, but the IFA argued that the practice devalued the produce in the eyes of consumers and other buyers.

Lidl has had the strongest sales growth of supermarket chains in Ireland so far this year, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel market analysis.