Aldi is turning off lights in its UK stores to try to save customers money

• Aldi UK will be turning off lights across all of its store locations this month.
• The change is intended to keep prices low and reduce the chain's carbon footprint.

Jarring grocery store lighting that is reminiscent of a trip to the dentist may soon be a thing of the past in the UK.

Discount supermarket Aldi will be reducing the number of lights it has turned on across all of its stores in the UK this month in an effort to maintain affordable pricing by cutting energy bills and lower the company's carbon footprint, The Telegraph reported.

"Through measures like this we're able to make our stores even more sustainable and maintain our position as the UK's lowest-priced supermarket," the company told The Telegraph.

The move follows a trial earlier this year, in which the discount retailer tried turning off some lights in four stores, according to The Telegraph.

The decision is indicative of the company's ethos, which involves maintaining low prices through efficient frugality — relying on its own brand of products, rotating limited-time items, and keeping its stores relatively small, are all tactics Aldi uses to keep both costs and prices low.

A spokesperson from Aldi UK told The Telegraph that the decision coincides with the introduction of more energy-efficient lighting to its locations, which aim to "reduce our energy consumption by around 10%, whilst maintaining an excellent in store experience for our customers."

Globally, prices for groceries are rising: In the US, prices for food to be consumed at home rose 7.1% from April 2022 to 2023, according to data from the US bureau of labor statistics. Meanwhile the cost of food and beverages in the EU — including bread, cereals, meat, and dairy products — has gone up by 15% from April 2022 to 2023, according to the European Central Bank. And in the UK, prices for food have gone up more than 19% in April compared to the same month last year, according to government stats.

Initially founded in West Germany, Aldi has since expanded outside of its founding country to the tune of more than 12,000 stores across the US, UK, France, and Australia. It has been the fastest growing grocer in the US for the past three years.

Meanwhile, at the end of May, Aldi dropped pricing on more than 250 items throughout the US.

Cutting down on energy costs is not exactly new in Europe, as energy prices have risen due to the war in Ukraine.

Around 800 bakeries in Germany went dark in September 2022, while still serving customers, to protest rising power cost. A handful of European countries, like Austria, Portugal, Denmark, and Germany, put out guidelines over restricted Christmas-light use this past holiday season.

Update: June 13, 2023 — This story was updated to clarify the lights aren't being turned off in Aldi's US stores.