Supermarket giants welcome crackdown on Aldi and Lidl

Supermarket giants, including Waitrose and Morrisons, have welcomed the competition watchdog’s decision to crack down on Aldi and Lidl.  Lidl and Aldi are currently excluded from a law which bans the UK’s biggest supermarket chains from engaging in so-called landblocking . Top grocers have already warned that the existing rules allowed the two German discounters to use a problematic loophole to block rivals from opening nearby. However, the competition regulator is now set to force the two grocers to comply.  The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday confirmed its provisional decision to extend the Controlled Land Order to cover Aldi and Lidl. The pair had previously been excluded from the rules because they were classed as limited assortment discounters”. But the CMA has said it will now categorise the two firms as “large grocery retailers” because of their rapid expansion in recent years.  Lidl and Aldi will join Asda, Co-op, Marks Spencer, Morriso