Scottish craft beers and ciders will be added to the drinks aisle of a Lidl store after it was granted permission to expand its range.
The discount supermarket chain asked East Lothian Council’s licensing board to allow it to expand the size of its alcohol section by one per cent at its Olivebank store, Musselburgh.
The chain said that the move was part of its ongoing Get Fresh expansion programme for stores.
And it said that the expanded aisle would be used to sell the craft drinks from Scotland.
Lidl’s application was approved by the board this week and comes just two months after it successfully applied to expand the alcohol sales in its Prestonpans store.
Applying to expand in Musselburgh, Lidl said that the increase would take its normal percentage of store given over to alcohol from 4.2 per cent to 5.2 per cent, it traditionally goes up around an additional one per cent during the festive season.
The chain pointed out that the amount of shelves given over to alcohol in its stores remained half of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets, which stocked up to 12 per cent of their shelves with alcohol.
Asking the board to approve the expansion, Lidl said that it would bring the store into line with expansions across Scotland.
The chain came under fire from Prestonpans Community Council when it applied to expand in the East Lothian town, with the group’s objection asking what Lidl did for the community.
However, at the time, ward councillor Lachlan Bruce highlighted Lidl’s work supporting local community initiatives, including food donations to the Pennypit Trust.
In applying for the expansion in Musselburgh, Lidl highlighted its work in the local community providing unused food through a Neighbourly scheme which partners with the Hollies Day Centre and Stoneyhill Afterschool Club in the town and Tranent Salvation Army.
The board approved the expansion unanimously.
