The previous head of Aldi in Australia is moving up to the top of the discounter.
Dusseldorf The discounter Aldi Süd gets a new co-boss. Tom Daunt, the company’s previous head of Australia, will switch to the Executive Board of Aldi Süd KG in Salzburg on May 1st, the top management body of the discounter. He will manage the company together with CFO Thomas Ziegler.
However, it is already clear that the 51-year-old will leave his post again in the foreseeable future. The company announced that Daunt had been appointed to the Executive Board for “at least three years”. He will then return to his previous position as Australia CEO.
Daunt has made a career at various foreign stations at Aldi Süd. He joined the company in 1998 at the age of 25. In 2010 he switched to managing the national company of the discounter in Australia, and in 2014 he became CEO there. From there he also supported the market launch of Aldi in China.
Daunt’s predecessor, Matthew Barnes, had held his post for less than three years. In May 2020, at the age of 45, the Brit was promoted to co-head of Aldi Süd together with Ziegler. This was to initiate the generational change.
The boss at the time, Norbert Podschlapp, and another member of the top committee, Michael Kloeters, retired. But earlier this year, Barnes surprisingly left the discounter – after 26 years with the company – and went back to his native UK.
Aldi’s strategy in e-commerce unclear
Challenging tasks await Daunt at the head of Aldi Süd. So he has to bring new impetus to the cooperation with the sister company Aldi Nord. The two companies have decided to work more closely together in many areas, from purchasing to marketing. According to reports, this project had recently stalled somewhat.
Another important question is how important online trading at Aldi should be in the future. Two years ago, Daunt emphasized in an interview with the Australian media that e-commerce will be part of Aldi’s future. He did not reveal any details at the time.
But last summer he stopped the online sale of promotional items in Australia that had started in the meantime. According to company sources, Aldi is planning a food delivery service in Germany.
>> Read here: These are Aldi’s plans for an online shop for fresh groceries
The discounter also wants to reorganize the management of the business on the home market. The previous head of Germany, Stefan Kopp, is scheduled to return to his family in Australia in the first half of 2025 and become Group Managing Director at Aldi Australia. He is succeeded as head of Germany by Swen Gallina, the previous head of international IT.
More: After an agreement in the family dispute, Aldi Nord gets a CEO for the first time