Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We love Aldi stores too. A new larger store recently opened here in N VA (Chantilly, VA) area and the service/managers are great.
I don't buy meats from Aldi (or other stores) since we have a farm and produce our own meats/produce/dairy, etc. However, the Special Buys are good, canned goods, baking items, snacks, steak sauce, spices, and other products.
I read online on an Aldi blog that P&G makes Aldi's HE liquid detergent and that is the same formula as Tide HE liquid, Aldi's generic cereals are made by Post and General Mills, Hunt's makes Aldi's ketchup, and Libby's makes some of their canned vegetables/canned fruit. If you Google Aldi "knock-off" brands, you will probably find confirmation of this. That is one way that Aldi keeps some of their prices so low, I believe.
Of course, German items and candies are imported too. Their breads, cookies, chips, etc. are also good.
We shop at Aldi on a weekly basis, but we can't do all our grocery shopping there. So we make two stops, but they are close by, so it is not out of our way. You have to do price comparisons, but we have found the quality of most of their stuff to be pretty darn good and usually you can save some cash. Some items we prefer over major brand name items. We buy mostly staple items, like milk, eggs, cereal etc., and some produce. In our store, there is usually a cashier and either a manager on the floor or another employee out on the floor. It can get pretty busy and sometimes they have to open up two lanes for checking out. I've noticed that their business has picked up significantly within the past year or two. There are definitely savings that make the stop worth your time.
Personally, I avoided Aldi like the plague for years.
One day, my wife called me and asked me to buy a box pf saltines. I generally don't buy them. I went to the local Jewel and found them at $2.49 for the store brand. That seemed really expensive so I passed and drove down the street at Aldi and found them at $0.90.
Over the last ten years, their selection has been a lot better. In many cases, they are carrying a lot of products similar to Trader Joe's. The quality has also improved.
I am familiar with Aldi from my college years in Scotland and my travels in Germany.
Interesting factoids:
~They are a global chain with origins in Germany.
~They do in fact have their items manufactured by major brand names we all know
~They aren't always the cheapest, but they often offer some steals.
~In the US, there tends to a greater quality variation between stores than in other countries
~Aldi is in fact 2 different corporations, Aldi Nord (Aldi North) and Aldi Süd (Aldi South) each at one time run by one of the two brothers. Aldi Süd is the more "international" of the two, operating Aldi stores in the US, Australia, Slovenia, the UK etc
~Aldi Nord owns Trader Joe's.
I myself didn't care for certain "prepared" items like pasta sauces, but I did use them for mayo, German meats, some frozen goods, butter, bagged salad, salt/spices, produce, and Haribo gummies.
If Aldi doesn't deliver on quality (and sometimes they don't, admittedly), then that is where Trader Joe's comes in. Many of my fellow Americans with me in Scotland (most of us were from NY, NJ, and CA) had their world's rocked when I told them that that ghetto grocery store in the poorer part of town owned Trader Joe's.
OMG you have Aldi stores also out there in the US ? don't buy there , ot's low quality , it reminds me of Soviet Bloc State -owned outlets. Or when extreme capitalism closes the gap with communism ont the back of poor consumers who believe they make a good deal because Aldi is 2% cheaper than Walmart : slightly cheaper but VERY LOW QUALITY !
OMG you have Aldi stores also out there in the US ? don't buy there , ot's low quality , it reminds me of Soviet Bloc State -owned outlets. Or when extreme capitalism closes the gap with communism ont the back of poor consumers who believe they make a good deal because Aldi is 2% cheaper than Walmart : slightly cheaper but VERY LOW QUALITY !
I could not disagree more. I put off going to ALDI for at least a year after one was built here because I thought it would just be another low-quality discount store. Then I decided to try it one day and I was hooked! I have found ALDI to have EXCELLENT QUALITY on the items I purchase (posted earlier in this thread) Only the beef, chicken and baked goods have I found lacking. Otherwise the price and quality can't be beat. I shop first at ALDI every single week.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
