ALDI IS on the march, gaining increasing traction in the middle-class market as its embarks on a €350 million drive to open 35 new stores here in the next three years, writes Arthur Beesley.

Having avoided television adverts, its first Irish TV campaign next year will bring new prominence.

From a standing start in 1999, when it entered the Irish market at the height of the boom, the chain will have 76 stores by the end of its first decade here next winter. If that's behind the target of 100 stores mooted when the firm arrived here around the same time as its German counterpart Lidl, it is poised to be a big beneficiary of the recession.

This trend is already reflected in figures provided by Aldi itself, which cite a 20 per cent rise in sales since the start of the year. With economic conditions worsening since the summer, the year-on-year rise climbed to 23 per cent in October.

Such an increase comes as the sale of the Irish-owned Superquinn chain proceeds, and not long after a fresh bout of speculation about the future intentions of Dunnes Stores' owners. Times are tough in the retail business, but not, it seems, for Aldi.

Still, the firm insists its current expansion drive was long in gestation and was not planned to capitalise on the hardier economic climate. "We reckon we've reached a kind of maturity point in the market here," says Paul Foley, head of Aldi's Irish and British operations.

"We're at the tipping point where customers who were . . . habitual customers of other supermarkets have tried us and been impressed, or customers who have believed previously that socially they didn't need to shop with us - it didn't represent the band of people that they sat around a dinner table with - have been motivated to try it."

He won't say how much the average shopper spends, but says the outlay is rising. Previously seen as a cut-price haven for consumers with small budgets, the chain is winning more favour among shoppers with more cash.

"Our increase is in customers at the top end of the social spectrum, the ABC1s and C2s, we've got a greater increase in those."

If the "rip-off Ireland" debate didn't significantly alter consumer behaviour, it seems the economic chill has. Still, Mr Foley say Aldi's growth reflects efforts to appeal to Irish consumers. "We've seen products that in the early days were sourced from central Europe or even the UK being replaced by Irish products and it's been a lot more successful. The taste profile is more appropriate. Yoghurts in Ireland are different to how they taste elsewhere. They're more creamy. They are a little bit sweeter. The taste profile is what people have grown up with."

More than 40 per cent of stock sold here is now sourced locally. Bewleys supply tea and coffee, flour comes from Odlum's, crisps from Tayto-owner Largo, meat from Larry Goodman and bottled water from the Gleeson Group, owner of the Tipperary brand.

These products are carried under Aldi's range of own-label brands. Mr Foley says consumers are becoming more and more confident in the offering. "It takes three or four visits before you are confident to try everything."

Faced with the inevitable question as to whether lower prices mean lower quality, Aldi insists it can afford a high-quality offering at low prices because of its low-cost business model.

The average store has only 15 staff, considerably less than other chains, and each outlet carries only 900 products, while other chains carry thousands.

The stock is sold from pallets, cutting costs by avoiding the need to stock shelves. In an era of limitless choice, Aldi offers only one tomato ketchup brand, one brand of milk and single brands for virtually everything else.

However, when it comes to making ends meet, it seems more and more shoppers are converting to the German way.