Aldi's Supermarkets Coming To The Valley,Building A Warehouse on 303/Indian School Rd.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by jimj

One has to wonder given today's conglomerates and acquisitions exactly how many different pasta,cereal,canned veggie manufacturers/canners/suppliers there really are or, is it as I've thought for quite a while just expensive "first tier" labeled stuff wearing a cheap private label?

Has anyone ever researched to see if Aldi/Aldi's private label supplier names have ever been "leaked"?

A couple of points.

Who produces ALDI product is a trade secret. When people are hired at ALDI, they sign a confidentiality agreement which covers all of the trade secrets including the vendors. Vendors sign something very similar. I have asked employees over the years but to no avail.

Sometimes, you can tell who produces a product is mt the packaging. For example, the Canadian baker Dare uses a proprietary design on their product's packaging that I occasionally see on a couple of the cookie products at Aldi. I have compared the two on a couple of products and they are nearly identical.


You are correct about the consolidation in the production of consumer products. For example, if you purchase marshmallows, there is one company that produces several name brands and at least 60 private label brands. I do not believe that they have 65 different formulas. There are a number of other categories where there is a single or very small number of suppliers. For example, ever note that nearly all of the pineapple juice is imported from the Philippines and that all the private label packaging is identical in form to the Dole brand. That is NO coincidence

Why are there no changes in packaging other than the private labels? Very simple. It is cost. They want to use the same design packaging so that the automation works regardless of the product that they are producing. That way, they can switch things around with little or no downtime.

[DetroitN8V]

Not directly related, but I once read that Costco’s Kirkland Canadian Whisky is actually Crown Royal and their Vodka is Grey Goose. I’m not sure how much truth there is to that, but I would believe it. I can confirm that the Kirkland craft beer case is made by Gordon Biersch’s producer and it’s equally terrible.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Not directly related, but I once read that Costco’s Kirkland Canadian Whisky is actually Crown Royal and their Vodka is Grey Goose. I’m not sure how much truth there is to that, but I would believe it. I can confirm that the Kirkland craft beer case is made by Gordon Biersch’s producer and it’s equally terrible.

I was told by an employee that the Kirkland premium Vodka was made in the OLD Grey Goose facility. The true test is your own taste buds. I'm impressed with the Kirkland taste. So I buy it.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

I was told by an employee that the Kirkland premium Vodka was made in the OLD Grey Goose facility. The true test is your own taste buds. I'm impressed with the Kirkland taste. So I buy it.

If most people only knew how Vodka is made and the difference between "premium" and "off label" brands. In my younger days I worked at Heublein Co Distillery, the makers of Smirnoff etc. The difference between "premium" and lesser Vodkas is really not all that much.
They all start out from the same bulk rail car of 190 proof pure grain alcohol. I used to draw "sample pints" from the rail car whenever we had a party to go to.

[skydude24]

I just listened to this podcast regarding premium vodkas:

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2...he-vodka-proof

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by skydude24

I just listened to this podcast regarding premium vodkas:

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2...he-vodka-proof

I haven't listened to this yet, but before discovering Costco's dirt cheap, giant bottle of "premium" vodka, Sobieski was my go-to and seemed to be favored by those in the know. And it too was cheap. Given that vodka is essentially tasteless, I don't know that many could tell Chopin, Kettle, Goose, Belvedere, Tito's etc. from my $10 bottle of Sobieski.

[motormaker]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

I haven't listened to this yet, but before discovering Costco's dirt cheap, giant bottle of "premium" vodka, Sobieski was my go-to and seemed to be favored by those in the know. And it too was cheap. Given that vodka is essentially tasteless, I don't know that many could tell Chopin, Kettle, Goose, Belvedere, Tito's etc. from my $10 bottle of Sobieski.

I too like Costco's vodka and whisky, but I have a problem with the heavy bottles.

[ElleTea]

Back to topic, please.

[lukas1973]

Originally Posted by jimj

Hope you're not lumping me in to the "slam,insult or marginalize" crowd. I've not been in an Aldi/Aldi's store and so looked for information on them on the 'net.
As I'd said before, when they put a store in an area that I frequent I will certainly check 'em out.
Given our location driving to Goodyear just to shop at one store doesn't make fiscal sense.

One thing I do know for sure, there are only so many companies that bottle dairy products or box eggs so even if they're private labeled you're getting a quality product, though when it comes to milk each producer/bottler tastes different and can cook/bake different from the others (Safeway vs Walmart vs Kroger/Fry's vs Winco) so there's that I guess.

One has to wonder given today's conglomerates and acquisitions exactly how many different pasta,cereal,canned veggie manufacturers/canners/suppliers there really are or, is it as I've thought for quite a while just expensive "first tier" labeled stuff wearing a cheap private label?

Has anyone ever researched to see if Aldi/Aldi's private label supplier names have ever been "leaked"?

In Germany it's completely normal that Aldi and Lidl disclose the name of the manufacturer of their private label products. The name of the manufacturer is normally stated on the packaging. Upscale grocery chains prefer to label their private label products with "produced for XYZ". I try to avoid to buy such products.

Sometimes Aldi and Lidl are not allowed to label the true manufacturer of their private label products. They try to hide a well known manufacturer by using the name of a subsidiary firm. The only purpose of such subsidiaries is to hide the well known manufacturer.

Some examples:

On most chocolate and hard candy products from Aldi Süd you will find:

WIHA GmbH - Postfach 1565 D-33780 Halle (Westf.) - Made in Germany

Halle (Westf.) is a small town in North Rhine-Westphalia. The city is well known for the August Storck KG, the largest confectionery manufacturer in Germany.


The "Doppelkekse" (sandwich cookies) from Lidl are from:

Flämische Keksfabrik GmbH, Arnoldstraße 62, 47906 Kempen

Kempen, also located in North Rhine-Westphalia is well known for the "Prinzenrolle" factory. In 1955 Edouard de Beukelaer built the cookie factory "Flämische Keksfabrik E. de Beukelaer" in Kempen. The name of the company today is Griesson - de Beukelaer, headquartered in the small town of Polch.

If you buy sandwich cookies from Aldi, they will be labeled with "Coverna GmbH, Otto-Hahn-Str., 56751 Polch". The manufacturer is Griesson - de Beukelaer, but they are not produced in their Polch factory, but in their cookie factory in Kempen. Produced in the same factory as the well known name brand Prinzenrolle and the cookies you can get at Lidl.
But all these cookies doesn't taste the same.


When it comes to dairy and meat products, every product has to be labeled by EU law with a specific number that identifies the plant, where the product was produced. Hence, it's not possible to hide the manufacturer of such private label products.


Overall Aldi and Lidl purchase most of their private label food products from family owned medium sized manufacturers, that operate on very small profit margins. Most of them were smaller name brand manufacturers some decades ago. The marketing for name brand products is very expensive. Often too expensive for such small companies, so they decided to focus on the manufacturing of private label products. With the rise of discounters and private label food products, these companies went from small manufacturers to medium sized manufacturers.

It doesn't matter whether a product is produced by a well known name brand manufacturer or an unknown private label manufacturer. Paying a higher price doesn't mean that you get a better product. Name brand products are often better than private label products from upscale grocery chains, but just mediocre compared to private label products from Aldi or Lidl.

I often prefer to buy food products from private label manufacturers over those from multinational corporations. In most cases buying private label goods means that I know exactly where the product was made. That's mostly not the case if I buy products from multinational corporations. Multinational corporations often relocate the manufacturing to low wage countries to maximize profits. Whereas family onwed medium sized private label manufacturers stick to the place where the company was founded.

[anitak1982]

I like the way Aldi’s products taste. The prices help my bottom line. Don’t care who manufactures it. It tastes good and it’s economical. Win win