Eleven local food and drink companies made €58 million selling to Aldi last year.
The supermarket chain spent €51.4 million buying from Kilkenny producers like Callan Bacon, Iverk Produce and Mileeven in 2020.
They also bought €5.6 million worth of products from Carlow businesses like Codd Mushrooms, Seerys and Sunshine Juice.
The retailer says it’s also expecting to create 22 new local jobs by hiring new staff for its shops around Carlow and Kilkenny this year.
Aldi already employs 70 full-time staff in Carlow and 96 in Kilkenny, spending about €10 million on wages across the two counties.
Under its waste reduction programme, 34,000 meals from Carlow and 35,00 from Kilkenny were donated to local charities through FoodCloud.
While the Aldi Community Grants Network’s €500 bursary grants have been gifted to groupings including Éist Cancer Support Centre Carlow, My Canine Companion, 2nd Carlow Bagenalstown Scout Group, Amber Women’s Refuge, Larc Childcare and South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association.
