Aldi customers complain about 'fights' and crowds as Kevin the Carrot toy goes on sale

Shoppers report ‘pushing and shoving’ in shops

Aldi customers have been complaining about having to “fight” their way through the store to get their hands on the popular Kevin the Carrot toys, which went on sale today.

The toys, which are now thought to have sold out, depict the famous character from Aldi’s Christmas campaign, which has starred Kevin the Carrot for four years running.

According to tweets, people started queueing to get their hands on one of the metre-long cuddly toys in the early hours this morning, but many left empty-handed due to its popularity.

“Well that was an experience,” wrote one person. “Adults pushing and shoving for plush toys. I got a sprout and tomato though, after queueing since 6.30am.”

Another described the shop they visited as a “war zone”.

One person said there had been “a lot of pushing and shoving” in Aldi’s Andover store this morning, “so much so my other half was pushed by four different people,” they claimed before describing the scene as “an absolute mosh pit”.

Meanwhile, many others shared photographs of long queues outside the stores.

One user uploaded a photo from earlier this morning showing a long queue outside their local Aldi.

Several customers said they failed to purchase one of the carrots because by the time they were able to access the store, they had sold out.

Not everyone was left empty-handed, though, with one mother tweeting about her successful purchases for her daughter.

“Mission accomplished,” she wrote, explaining that she managed to purchase a Kevin toy in addition to another toy that resembles one of the other characters featured in the Christmas campaign. “Out of all the things you remember as a child Matilda, I hope you remember we got up super early to go and stand in the cold queueing for ages to get Kevin and Katie.”

Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK said: “Our colleagues opened the doors at 8am this morning and were met with an unprecedented number of customers looking to get their hands on Kevin the Carrot toys and his other friends, including Russell Sprout.

“We know our Kevin the Carrot soft toys and merchandise are incredibly popular with our customers and this year we increased the amount on offer.

“To give as many Kevin fans as possible the chance to buy the range, we have limited purchases to two soft toys per customer, but as with all of our Specialbuys products, once they’re gone, they’re gone.”