The credit crunch is turning into a sales boom for some of Britain’s biggest discount supermarkets.

Figures out yesterday showed that Aldi, the German-owned no-frills supermarket chain, has registered sales growth of 20 per cent over the past four weeks while its rival Lidl has enjoyed a 14.9 per cent rise.

Iceland, the frozen-food supermarket chain, has experienced a 15.2 per cent increase in business.

Experts said that this was the latest sign that more shoppers than ever before were looking for a bargain as food price inflation pushed up the cost of the weekly shop. Richard Hyman, strategic adviser for Deloitte, said: “Clearly value has gone up the agenda for large numbers of consumers, particularly those on lower incomes.”

The figures from TNS, the market research consultancy, added fresh signs that the trend towards value is being replicated among the big four grocers. In the four weeks to June 15, Wm Morrison reported sales growth of 10.2 per cent, compared with 7.9 per cent for Asda, 6.3 per cent for Tesco and 4.3 per cent for J Sainsbury.

Sainsbury’s growth in food sales was understood to be at least three times less than Asda and Morrisons over the four-week period.

The figures mark another blow for Sainsbury’s, which last week reported the lowest first-quarter sales growth out of the big four. The Times revealed yesterday that Richard Jones, its head of general merchandise, was defecting to Tesco.

Shares in Sainsbury’s yesterday fell by 10½p, or 3 per cent, to 314¾p. Morrisons rose ¼p to 269½p.

Aldi’s success in the UK comes at the same time as it battles tougher trading in its home country. Sales by the group, owned by two brothers, Theo and Karl Albrecht, are thought to have dropped by 1.5 per cent to £21.3 billion last year.

The notoriously secretive chain opened its first UK store in 1990 and now runs more than 300. It is preparing its first marketing campaign in the UK for seven years, featuring olives and wine, in an attempt to draw in more well-heeled customers.

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