Discount supermarket Aldi has announced that it will be trialling sensory-friendly shopping hours in selec stores.

Aldi will be trialling sensory-friendly shopping hours “almost 100 stores” in the UK between August and the end of October 2023.

Stores across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire will be offering a “quieter shopping experience” every Tuesday between the hours of 6pm and 8:30pm.

If successful, Aldi has said that the sensory-friendly shopping hours will be rolled out in all of Aldi’s UK stores. Some of the changes being made for the trial quiet-hours include stopping tannoy announcements and quieter till scan sounds as well as signposting of the allocated times to all customers.

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• Mike Clark and Giuseppe Tosto of Bio-Rad explain how the company’s new ID Check Speciation Solution battles against mislabelling serious cases of food fraud.
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“Our new sensory-friendly shopping hours aim to help those who prefer a quieter shopping experience or struggle with noisy environments,” said Vicky Metcalf, Diversity and Inclusion Director at Aldi UK.

“We are committed to ensuring we are as accessible and inclusive as possible – both for shoppers and colleagues – and we look forward to receiving customer feedback on this trial to help inform our approach on a national level.”

As a way of supporting its customers, Aldi has said that it “recognises the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower” to help support customers and colleagues with non-visible disabilities. It has also explained that supermarket colleagues have also undergone training around hidden disabilities and the Sunflower symbol, something it says means that they can offer additional assistance to those who may require it.