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I was raised on generics. My mom didn't clip coupons...she bought generic. Pretty much ALWAYS, no matter what store she shopped at.
Every now and then, she would buy a generic that we didn't really like. We'd still all eat it until it was gone, and in the future, she'd either buy the generic of the same product from another store or would sometimes spring for the name brand.
I think some people are unnecessarily snobby about certain things or just have preconceived notions about what generics are like (like my husband was when I first married him, since my MIL has always and still always buy name brand everything, even though she's now living off of social security and food stamps...but I eventually turned my hubby to the "other side" and have seen him try to convince my stubborn MIL to try the much cheaper generic stuff...but nope)
I think some generic brands aren't as good. Overall, though, I would say that most generics are just as good. Those that aren't are very close. And I'm not just talking about Aldi. My experiences at Aldi have been similar to any grocery store....mostly good, some is so-so, haven't experienced anything that was bad yet.
There is a new Aldi's Distribution Center being built in Buckeye, AZ, but no word so far as to when any local Phoenix area stores will open. I have read that potential sites are being scouted and they may possibly open in 2020. I am hoping it will be sooner than that, and that there will be one close by.
I really liked the simplicity of it's smaller size.
There is a new Aldi's Distribution Center being built in Buckeye, AZ, but no word so far as to when any local Phoenix area stores will open. I have read that potential sites are being scouted and they may possibly open in 2020. I am hoping it will be sooner than that, and that there will be one close by.
I really liked the simplicity of it's smaller size.
Actually, the newer stores are about 25% larger than the traditional Aldi stores so they can accommodate a wider selection of fresh produce, including organics. Their new California stores are a MAJOR upgrade to their Midwestern stores (outside of some of the new Chicagoland stores).
I remember reading a statistic once somewhere that stated that 90 percent of American households bought store brands, and that stat wouldn't surprise me at all.
I know some people who refused to buy private label products at all, but often, when they found they had to spend their own money rather than someone else's, or they had to be more careful with their own, the store brands started creeping in.
I think the stat came from A&P, which by that time had rebadged its store brand as "America's Choice" to reflect the fact that the company owned several other chains not bearing the A&P name.
IMO, America's Choice had the most consistent quality of any store brand I've bought; its products were never less than good, and many were the equal or better of their national brand counterparts.
Supervalu's private label, Essential Everyday, takes top honors now, IMO. Supervalu must agree: I've seen coupons for Essential Everyday products in newspaper coupon circulars. The regular supermarket I shop at carried it until its owner bought into the Wakefern Food Corporation co-operative (ShopRite, a powerhouse chain of independently owned supermarkets that operates in the Mid-Atlantic region; headquarters are in New Jersey, the state where it was founded in 1946. The chain this guy owned, The Fresh Grocer, operates in the Philadelphia area, and other ShopRite owners can open stores under that name now).
ShopRite private label products are hit or miss. Canned foods, juices and juice drinks are as good as the national brands; saltine crackers, worse, for instance.
So far, I've had good experiences with the private label products I've bought at Aldi, especially anything dairy save that French onion dip, which tasted like it had added ingredients; I checked the label, and sure enough, it did. Lunch meats have been fine, as have the few canned goods I've bought.
I'm going to put on my nitpicking grammarian's hat for a minute, though, to comment on the use of the word "generic" to describe these products.
Having lived through the "generic" grocery craze of the Whip Inflation Now years (the mid-1970s), I can tell you that private label products and generic products were, and are, different.
The supermarkets that sold generics sold products in cans with plain white labels with little or no decoration and just the name of the product on the package: "peas," "corn," "paper towels," and so on. Unlike the branded private label products, these were very much inconsistent in quality: you'd find broken peas in the canned peas, for instance. Nor did these have quality guarantees - something you'll find on every private label product out there. If you don't like the private label product you bought for any reason, you can return it to the store for a refund or a replacement (though I don't think stores will take back partly consumed products for refunds, only replacements). You couldn't take these generic products back.
Aldi is the only chain I know of that offers a double guarantee on its private label products: if you return one, they'll replace it and give you your money back. I'd say that's a sign of confidence in their quality.
(Aldi, by the way, does have a lower-priced line that mimics the generics: it's called "Daily Basics." The products are sold in packages with white labels, red lettering, and maybe a picture of the product. I'll look to see if the double guarantee is on those items as well.)
Putting a brand on a product, even if it's your own, is usually a sign that you are confident enough in its quality to stand behind it.
This post began in 2014 and I do not see anything of the mention of the changes Aldi's have gone through. They removed additives, dyes and now offer more organic products. My friends son is allergic to dyes especially yellow. If he eats for example "doritos" he will go into an uncontrollable rage. If he eats the Aldi's Nacho's which are similar he has no problems what so ever. Many of their products are colored with fruit and vegetables vs traditional dyes. I personally find their store brands as equal or sometimes even better than name brands. It depends on what you get. It is comparable to Trader Joe's.
This post began in 2014 and I do not see anything of the mention of the changes Aldi's have gone through. They removed additives, dyes and now offer more organic products. My friends son is allergic to dyes especially yellow. If he eats for example "doritos" he will go into an uncontrollable rage. If he eats the Aldi's Nacho's which are similar he has no problems what so ever. Many of their products are colored with fruit and vegetables vs traditional dyes. I personally find their store brands as equal or sometimes even better than name brands. It depends on what you get. It is comparable to Trader Joe's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flamingo13
Hard for me to compare the two stores.
Second comment first: Which two stores? Trader Joe's and Aldi? If so, read on for my response to the first comment.
Now to the first comment: It should perhaps come as no surprise that Aldi "is comparable to Trader Joe's," for Aldi owns Trader Joe's. However, it's not the same Aldi that owns the US stores operating under that name. Karl and Theo Albrecht, two brothers who opened their first deep-discount, limited-selection grocery store in (West) Germany in 1946, split their company in two in 1960. In Germany, one company operates in its northern half and the other in its southern half; they are known therefore as Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd. ("Aldi" is a concatenation of the words "Albrecht Diskont" - "Albrecht Discount.")
Aldi Nord owns the U.S. Trader Joe's chain. The Aldi stores are owned by Aldi Süd.
Both follow a 100-percent-private-label, limited-selection, deep-discount business model. The difference is that Trader Joe's specializes in natural, specialty and gourmet foods, while Aldi aims at the broad middle and lower parts of the market. With the recent upgrading of Aldi's product line and the introduction to its stores of a line of specialty food products under the "Specially Selected" brand, the two chains now overlap somewhat in terms of what they offer the shopper.
I do not have a Trader Joe's close to me and I am going only by what I read about how that Aldi's are comparable. However their products are very good and they do offer way more quality than they once did. If a person hasn't been in an Aldi's in a few years, and you want to save some money, I think you should check it out. They also have "special buys" that are name brand products. I am a true Aldi fan!
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