New Aldi supermarket opens in Croydon

The supermarket, which officially opened its doors on Thursday (September 23), sits on Purley Way where 35 new employees plus Manager Andrew Fleming are now employed.

Fleming welcomed Team GB gold medallist Alex Danson-Bennett for the opening, who gave away free bags of fresh fruit and vegetables as part of the retail giant's "Get Set to Eat Fresh" campaign, which Aldi said has "inspired" over 1.9 million school children aged 5-14 years to "learn more about the benefits of cooking fresh, healthy food with their families".

The gold medallist from the Rio 2016 Olympics focused on the benefits of eating healthy food and the importance of exercise and believing in yourself.

"I’ve had a fantastic time opening the new Aldi store here in Croydon. It was an honour to officially open the store and welcome customers inside for the first time," she said. "It was great to speak with the children at Kingsley Primary Academy about the importance of eating healthily and how it can be fun to plan and prepare meals as a family. Hopefully, I’ve also managed to inspire the pupils to keep active and try different sports."

Fleming was similarly enthused by the occasion.

"It’s been a wonderful morning here at the opening of Aldi Croydon. It was lovely to welcome our new customers into store, and I look forward to meeting more of the community in the coming weeks," he said.

A recent study looking at children's diets in the UK indicated their importance to general wellbeing, with those kids who eat more fruit and vegetables found to have better mental health.

Professor Ailsa Welch told the Guardian that "only around a quarter of secondary-school children and 28 per cent of primary-school children" ate the recommended five portions of fruit and veg per day.

According to the Felix Project, one in three children in the UK (4.1 million kids) live in poverty, including 600,000 children in London, and 2.5 million of those live in "food insecure households".