Do any of you shop there? We have some near us and I'm going to go there this week. What I would like to know is if they carry any light/fat free items. There is another store that we have called Price Rite that operates just like ALDI (quarters for the carts, bring your own bags, large aisles of things) and they don't have light or fat free items.

Also, how often do you go there and what percentage of your groceries do you buy there?

Thanks!

they have a whole line called FIT and ACTIVE.... I love Aldis!

Fit and Active is iffy--- they LABEL it healthy, but if you're a calorie counter like me WHOA- watch out! Like their blue corn tortilla chips--- tons of calories in there! Just b/c it's blue corn doesn't mean it's healthy!!!

I find that if I'm searching for light stuff, Aldis doesn't usually cut it. (except for the Fat Free refried beans--- super tasty!) I buy a lot of staples there but then go to Tops or Wegmans for my light stuff.

I love Aldi's too. The Fit&Active Line is great. I always buy my milk, eggs, some of my produce there. The prices are really great.
I never really thought about the percentage though. I would say approximately 1/2 of my groceries are purchased at Aldi's, I buy meat from a butcher's shop, and I shop at 2 or 3 other grocers.

I don't buy a lot at aldi on a regular basis

but 1.25 for a dozen eggs
1.99 for a gallon of milk good prices

you can get frozen fruit
you can get old fashioned oats
you can get flash frozen chicken breasts

(as a South Beacher I seek whole foods more than worry about calories and there are things I don't get from the fit and active line due to white flour/sugar/bad fats)

I recently discovered Aldi's and am a big fan. I would say over the last month I've transitioned to buying about 75% of my groceries there. I also shop at the Farmer's Market and a local butcher and creamery, so it's been a few weeks since I've even been in one of my old "regular" grocery stores.
I am South Beach also, and I was happy to find that I can get lots of things there that fill the bill. I always read labels because for my plan it's important to know if there are added sugars, refined flours, hydrogenated fats and other nasties hiding in there. Everything of their label that I've tried has been really good or acceptable quality. I always get their turkey bacon, lowfat dairy products, bags of frozen fish filets, chicken breasts, turkey mignons. They have NSA fudgesicles, sugar-free popsicles, "breakfast" ham (also known as Canadian bacon, very lowfat. One week I was in there and they had their ground sirloin/93% on sale for $2/59, so I loaded up. Frozen veggies, fruit, and juices. I was happy to find enchilada sauce there that had no added sugars, and I've been hunting for that in the grocery stores for months.

oh their SALSA is NSA and is great comes in mild and medium in a large jar for 1.29 or something like that.

Aldis is generally our first stop for groceries. Walmart can be as cheap or cheaper, but there's a greater risk of distraction purchases ending up in the car. We generally avoid Aldi's fresh produce for the most part, because there are cheaper and better sources of produce in our area (in the summer, Farmer's Markets are our first choice for produce).

We love Aldi ~ there was one right up the street when we lived in NC. Down here in Houston, there aren't any, and we sure do miss them. We usually got our produce there and other stuff too. We would try there first, then go to Walmart and the other places to get the rest of the stuff.

I haven't tried them but keep meaning too and have been curious about them. There was an article in the paper a couple of days ago about a woman who feeds a family of 5 on $350 a month so it caught my attention...I WANTED to know how, lol. She shoped at Aldi's and while I knew about it it's not in a convenient location so I forget about it. Definitely will have to make note and check it out when I buy groceries next week, and compare.

I would never shop there because the first time I went it was the first of the month and all the people who had food cards and social security were there and it was a mad house. I kind of forgot about it and some one mentioned the fish selection and so I go there on a regular basis. Produce: Most of it is cheaper, but notice you must use it quickly. Dairy: Cheaper, but I'm like you and have to shop for my lifestyle and don't find that a lot of the Lite n' Fit stuff really dosen't fall into what I can use. The staples are a lot cheaper. There is a website called Aldi.com that has a menu planner on it that both my DD use. I usually can find the red, green, yellow peppers for 1.99 and there are 3.99 a pound at our local groceries. I looked at the sugars on there Lite n' Fit protein bars and they definitely are not for me.

Thanks gals. I don't have much to buy on this trip since I am traveling a lot next week for work, but I am going to go tonight, check it out, and report back in the morning

I miss Wegmans so bad...

I never shop at Aldi's. I don't know why. I just always question the food's origin. But, technically, I could question the origin of the food at Price Chopper (where I'm subjected to shop up here where there are no Wegmans). Who knows where any of the food we buy has been. Just the weird name brands make me skittish. I feel like I'm shopping in Mexico or something.

Aldi is a german company, and it's an extremely reputable company. Some of the packaged products are actually German products, from Germany, but in my experience, most are US products - check the labels. The Fit and Active "Crystal Light" has the exact same style of label as Walmart's version, so I suspect they are made in the same plant.

Many of Aldi's products are the same name brands you find in any grocery store. The "weird" brands are generally Aldi store brands, and they stand behind the quality so much that they have a double your money back guarantee (not just of the store brands, of anything you buy in the store). If you take anything back because you don't like it or have a problem with the quality, they will give you two replacement products, one product and your money back, or two products. We took back a jar of mustard because the seal was missing. We just wanted a new jar, and we even admitted that we weren't completely sure that one of us hadn't opened the jar and decided not to use it, but we didn't want to take any chances. The clerk (not even the manager) asked how we wanted the refund, and we just took two mustards. She also looked at the lot number (or whatever) on the jar we brought back, and immediately went to the shelves, looked on the boxes of product and pulled the box with the matching number. She told us they also had a "no chances" policy and that they manager would decide what to do with the product, most likely just discard the whole box. Or they might inspect all of the jars and if even one had a missing safety seal, they'd throw out the whole box.

Yeah, I wouldn't be worried about Aldi's quality.

Also, as for the first of the month and Wednesdays (SSDI pay out days for those with automatic deposit), they're easy enough to avoid. The clerks are very friendly (in every Aldi's I've ever been in, maybe because they let the clerks sit down) and will tell you when their slowest days and times are.

I absolutely LOVE Aldi.

As far as store brands/generic brands go...a canned green bean, is a canned green bean. The same rules and regulations apply to all food factories here in the US, so the only difference is the label. It is no different than buying a Kroger store brand, or Wal-Mart generic. Why would I pay 25 cents more for a can of them, because the label says "Del Monte" on it? Does Del Monte do something so spectacularly different to their beans, making them better than ordinary beans?

I noticed something a couple of years ago. I happened to be looking at a can of baby formula-a generic store brand. It peaked my curiosity, so whenever I was out shopping, I checked on something. I noticed that the Wal-Mart store brand, CVS store brand, Walgreens store brand, and Kroger store brand are all made by the SAME facility. The only difference is the label. I would suspect that it is this way for a LOT of generic items.

Aldi is wonderful. Canned goods for 39 cents, a gallon of milk for $2.89-when it is often well over $3 in other stores now. There are MANY healthy items there-frozen chicken breasts, bagged salad, frozen fruit, bran flakes, and so on. It makes a HUGE difference when you are saving 10 cents up to a dollar on each item. HUGE difference.

I just bought a package of fresh bing cherries there for $2.99 a pound-they are averaging $3.99-$4.99 a pound at Kroger and Wal-Mart.

The quality is just fine...their store brands (Fit N Active, Bon Italia, etc.) are no different than "Sams Choice" at Wal-Mart...