Fife couple’s 2000-mile drive to Aldi store in Europe just to get a favourite product

Helen McLaughlin, from Burntisland, was the runner-up in a competition run by the discount supermarket to find its top fans. The 76-year-old impressed the judges after revealing she and her husband, Graham, had celebrated their silver wedding anniversary by travelling more than 2,000 miles to visit her favourite Aldi store.

The duo drove to Nurnberg in Germany because it sold a specific coconut chocolate that she wanted to try again. Aldi judges were so amazed with Helen’s story that it bagged her a £100 voucher to stock up on all her favourite products and treats.

The competition saw more than 600 people apply, with Helen overtaking the competition with her story to secure the runners’ up position.

Helen said: “I’m absolutely over the moon to have been chosen as a runner up. When I said I wanted to go back to my favourite Aldi store for our silver anniversary, Graham could hardly say no. We did the round trip by car and although 2,077 miles is quite a distance to travel, it was completely worth it. I can’t thank Aldi enough for the voucher – we’ll be spending it on all our favourite treats.”

Richard Thornton, communications director at Aldi, said: “We know how passionate our shoppers are about Aldi and we wanted to find a way to give something back to Aldi’s biggest fans. We were blown away by the creativity and enthusiasm in all of the entries and wanted to recognise amazing stories like Helen’s by offering her a voucher to spend in store.”

Aldi launched its Superfan Card to celebrate its most loyal customer and offer them the chance to have a year’s worth of groceries covered.