Middle-aisle mayhem: how Aldi and Lidl changed British shoppers

Air fryers, skiwear, hot tubs, kayaks - you never know what you'll find in the discount supermarkets. But you can be sure the keenly priced, limited-time-only products will lead to a scrum

I am waiting outside an Aldi in south London at 6.45am. Through the window, I eye my prize. He glints at me from a basket placed tantalisingly close to the entrance. Kevin the Carrot, the limited-edition soft toy released by Aldi once a year, is part of the discount supermarket's Christmas promotion. Such is the demand for Aldi's Kevin drop that the toys routinely sell on eBay for triple the retail price. This year, Kevin is golden, his belly straining against the metallic fabric like a wrestler's bespandexed torso.

I text Jayne McGibbon Peberdy, a 39-year-old law student and Kevin collector. She has been waiting outside her local Aldi in Greenock since 4.30am. She sends me a photo of a steaming vacuum flask. In 2019, Peberdy witnessed a stampede for Kevins. The following year, they had to get the police to the shop, because a grown man tried to steal a Kevin out of the hands of a four-year-old," she says.