I just came back from Germany, where there are Aldi's on every corner! Personally I think it's nice because things are cheap and that's always a good thing for a broke college student! They also have some healthy food (at least in Germany) that you can't find in other stores.
I love Aldi! I would have gone broke feeding my kids and their friends when they were teenagers without it! I have never tried anything there that wasn't as good and many times better than name brand! Even the teenagers liked it...and that is saying A LOT!
Now my kids are on their own and that is where they shop to make their dollars strech...and there are some things that they go there for specifically because they either don't carry it in the grocery store...or they just like the Aldi brand better.
Never had any complaints about the cleanliness of the store either. Cleaner than alot of Krogars I have been to.
The only complaints I ever had is that they often don't have enough checkers so the line can get a bit long at peak times. They don't carry everything so you still may have to go to another grocery store to finish off your list and they don't always have the same products that you purchased last week and really liked.
I LOVE Aldis! There frozen Talapia is great and $3.99 for a 16 oz bag. I always get super good deals and if you're crafty you can save even more. I learned that if you go the day before a holiday they are closed they will mark many things down such as meat and dairy products. The day before Memorial Day I got Yogurt Smoothies for $0.75 a 4 pack (normally $2.49), angel food cake also $0.75 (normally $1.49), hamburger buns for $0.50 (regular $0.75). I got some other things too but cannot remember off the top of my head. My only wish is that they'd carry low fat cheese and sour cream. You also can't beat the price of cereal, at $1.89 for most varities. Low fat salad dressing are always $0.99.
I heart Aldi's! I am doing most of our shopping there nowadays. I don't buy produce there usually, because I prefer the farmer's market, and I get our milk from a local dairy, but mostly everything else is from Aldi's. Everything I have tried has been great and I love their fat free plain yogurt better than any other I've tried.
Hubby and I also love Aldi's. The few times we've had a concern with something (like a mustard bottle without a seal. It wasn't a big concern to us, stuff happens in the factory or someone shopping could have removed it. Because of Aldi's double money back guarantee they gave us the choice of twice our money back, two jars of mustard or one of each. We took the mustard, just to make it easy - and a clerk immediately took the whole box that our defective mustard had come in and removed it from the shelves. Saying they'd check the whole box over for other missing seals, and assured us they wouldn't sell it unless the whole box checked out ok.
We buy a lot of stuff there, but as for produce only onions, potatoes, and celery. We can get better selection and cheaper prices in other grocery stores, but Aldi is our first stop every month.
Do they have any name brand food there? We have one that is new where I live, but haven't tried it yet. Do they have organic food?
They don't have name brands, but the company that makes Campbell's soup also cans for Aldi's if that tells you anything. Same batch of soup, different labels.
I like the cereal, the produce & the frozen salmon fillets. I hate the clientele (Who brings 4 kids grocery shopping, kids who are old enough to know better than to run & scream around a store? The woman who has to take the bag of chicken wings out of the freezer case, let 5-7 wings fall out onto the floor & then put it back without telling anyone, that's who!!!). Also the cashier gave me a dirty look when I was unemployed & paid for my groceries with a food stamp card.
Also they don't have anything reduced sodium, so no I don't shop there much anymore. Farmer's market for produce now, anyway.
It may vary from location to location, because our Aldi carries alot of name brands, although the name brand products sometimes come and go (probably depends on whether they can get a good deal on them or not). Although we've found that the Aldi brands are nearly always at least as good as the name brand equivalent, and are usually better. Their Fit & Active brand is especially good.
^^Yeah the thing about labeling is: it's just a label. Our dairy here in town, Golden Guernsey, also bottles milk for Deerfield Farms. So when you're buying a gallon of Deerfield Farms milk at the Walgreens, it's really golden Guernsey. This information has my mother at the Walgreens once a week.
Aldi is a German chain and they came to Switzerland a couple years ago. THe Swiss were not entirely happy about that. Here in Switzerland there are only two major supermarket chains and food prices are very high. But food quality is very high too, so really I should say prices are fair because you do get what you pay for. Aldi in Germany is known for poor quality food, but the Swiss Aldi has adapted to the Swiss market expectations. They sell mostly Swiss milk products and offer quite a few organic choices, but at lower prices. My problem with them is that you never know what they'll have because their inventory seems to change often or they don't always make sure to restock their regular items. So, I always have to go to Aldi and somewhere else. Fortunately for me there's an Aldi next door to my regular, reliable supermarket so it's not a big hassle.
I love Aldi's. Here's a lits of this that I buy every week:
Fit n Active Soy milk 1.29
Fit n Active egg substitute 1.89
Fit n Active pepperoni pockets(like Hot Pockets) 1.79
Fit n Active popcorn 1.49
Fit n Active chicke broth .49
Although they have long lines, the cashiers are very efficient. A pet peeve of mine when I shop at Aldi's are people who get in line with a hand full of items and expect you to let them ahead of you. On one visit, I let three people ahead of me which did a disservice to the person behind me. What really burns me up is when the cashier let people ahead of you who only have a few items. On average, the lenght of time in line is shorter than standing a regular grocery store becuase one they do not pack your bags an dsecond, the cashiers get people through the line so quickly.
I love aldis, I shop on a very tight budget that normalll would only allow us one meal a day, but now that ive incorporated aldis into the mix with our regular grocery store (krogers...i miss giant eagle) we get a lot more food to last us through out the month. It also helps that its a 5 min walk from my house considering I have no vehicle. I also like their fit and active brand i get there carmel rice cakes to take to school with me. And just bought their coffee creamer yesterday which should help my a ton considering i go through a lot of calories with just my coffee creamer each day.
I love shopping at Aldi. There was one nearby when we lived in NC. Unfortunatly, they do not have them here in Texas. Closest is in Oklahoma I think. Sure wish they would come here. There were several items of their Fit & Active brand that I liked. They had some 0 calorie bottles of drink ~ Lemonade and Cranberry that I used regularly. Also they had a product like the Hot Pockets (I liked the chicken and broccoli) even better than the Hot Pockets ~ the bread around it was softer.
I shop at Aldi's for everything but my meat. I don't find they have that much selection. My hubby is very picky about the meat we eat. Also, we are fans of angel hair pasta and they only carry one kind. Other than that I'm a big Aldis shopper.
It's funny hearing that they are owned by same company as Trader Joes. Because we have millions of Aldi's all over town, but no TJs. Hmmm...?
For stock up items you can't beat it. We feed 7 of us here and Aldi has drastically helped our food budget. Our produce here is hit and miss but sometimes it's doable. But for most staples we won't buy anywhere else. And like many of you, their Fit and Active products are great!
Farmer's market for produce now, anyway.
