Odd Lots · Friday, July 3, 2026
Aldi's Chief Commercial Officer, Scott Patton, detailed the company's direct-from-grower supply chain strategy, which aims for efficiency and quality. By partnering with growers years in advance, Aldi ensures specific varieties are cultivated for their stores, allowing for rapid transit from harvest to distribution centers and often to stores the next day.
“And that's a prime example of how we buy a bit differently. So we have over twenty six hundred locations. So what does that mean is we can't just buy from the local market. We start with the grower.”
“It really starts probably three to four years in advance in partnering with these growers. We go to the fields, we try their varieties, they're all sampled out, and we decide as a company which varieties do we want them to grow for us.”
“From there they start growing. We have the contracts and they grow specific plots dedicated to our business. So of course we have the harvest. It goes straight from the grower into our distribution facilities and then to our stores often the next day.”