Dieter Brandes, born in Hamburg in 1941, holds a degree in business administration (University of Hamburg).

He was Managing Director and member of the Board of Directors of ALDI Nord, Essen, for many years. Following his time at ALDI, Dieter Brandes was Managing Director of various retail companies. Brandes has been working as a consultant for strategy and organization since 1993.
From 1995 Dieter Brandes built up the Turkish hard discount company BIM, which today is the leading grocery retail chain in Turkey, listed on the Istanbul stock exchange.

He is the author of the bestseller Konsequent einfach. Die ALDI-Erfolgsstory, which was published by Campus in 1998.