Magazine: 'I am proud of the last ten years’

Tibor Székács has been a member of the ALDI Hungary team since 2006 and in the last seven years he was working as the company’s managing director. From 2017 he will continue working for ALDI in Austria, as the GMD of the Hofer group that incorporates five ALDI countries.

T. M.: – You didn’t start your retail career at ALDI. Why did you switch in 2006?

– In 1993 I started out as regional sales manager of Plus Élelmiszer Diszkont Kft. In 2006 it was a great professional challenge to join the ALDI Hungary team, to build the store network from scratch. I am proud of the last ten years, we managed to prove that ALDI has a place in the Hungarian market.

T. M.: – What are you the most proud of from the last ten years?

– It was an important milestone when we built our own, 53,000m² logistic centre in Biatorbágy. Our first stores opened in Hungary in April 2008. In the last decade we created more than 2,000 jobs and opened our 100th store only six years after the first. We are reliable partners of numerous Hungarian suppliers and we keep expanding our product selection.

T. M.: – It isn’t always easy offering consumers high-level products and services as the market keeps changing…

– We need to make sure that our customers feel nothing or very little from these market changes. In the last few years we introduced services and launched campaigns that increased consumer satisfaction, e.g. each ALDI store got its own bakery, we set up Coolboxes with convenience foods next to the bakery sections, in 2014 shopping baskets appeared in stores and newsstands were set up in the cash register zone. I could also mention our money back guarantee, cutting pork product prices by 22 percent at the beginning of 2016 or being the among first to reopen on Sundays after the ban on Sunday trading was scrapped.

T. M.: – Two-digit sales growth and the expansion of the store network indicate that ALDI is on the right track. How big do you plan to become? What is the network size that the logistic centre in Biatorbágy is able to serve?

– In 2014 ALDI Hungary’s net sales were HUF 90 billion and in 2015 we managed to surpass this by 20 percent with HUF 108 billion. In the first half of 2016 we opened 6 new stores and in the next two years we plan to open 20 more. Our logistic centre in Biatorbágy will be able to supply these stores with products. In the medium and long term we think Hungary’s ALDI network will consist of 200-250 stores.

T. M.: – This dynamic expansion also means you have to recruit new workers. How difficult is it to find people with the necessary skills? What differentiates ALDI from competitors in this respect?

– In the last 14 years we recruited more than 300 new workers. I would like to emphasise that ALDI Hungary isn’t only a reliable partner of our customers and suppliers, but also of our present and future employees. Hungary is responsible for the IT support of 7 ALDI countries, therefore we will have to add at least 20 new members to our IT team. We believe in long-term relationships and we are very proud of the fact that many of our workers have been with us from the beginning. ALDI Hungary also started a training programme for secondary school students: those who do their traineeship in our stores can already learn what and how we do at school. We offer a job to the best ones and our goal is to have as many ALDI-trained workers serving our customers as possible. This year more than 60 students spend their practical training periods at ALDI.

T. M.: – How did your relationship with suppliers develop in the last few years?

– We try to enter into long-term partnerships with suppliers. Through these ALDI Hungary contributes to several thousand people and many Hungarian enterprises making a living. Nearly 100 percent of the milk we sell is Hungarian and the fresh meat almost exclusively comes from Hungarian farmers.

T. M.: – What are your goals and what challenges are waiting for you in 2017?

– As of January 2017 the Hofer group’s management will change. After 40 years Friedhelm Dold retires and two new people will join president-CEO Günter Helm: Michael Kronegger, the managing director of ALDI Slovenia and myself. This means that I will be working in Sattledt as Hofer group’s CEO who is responsible for Hungary, Switzerland and Austria, and the group’s HR, IT and administrative tasks..

T. M.: – Who will be the head of ALDI Hungary?

– From January 2017 Bernhard Haider will be the managing director of ALDI Hungary. He has been in the ranks of Hofer since 2004; in the last six years he was the managing director of the centre in Stockerau, overseeing the work of 1,500 Hofer employees and more than 70 stores. (x)

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