To begin my little series on Aldi here is some background on the store. Primarily a grocery store, Aldi is a European company based in Germany. Aldi has been operating in Europe for some time, but is fairly new to the U.S. The same company owns Trader Joe's, and many in the U.S. are familiar with their wonderful (and thoughtful - no high fructose corn syrup!) assortment of foodstuffs. Aldi (like Trader Joe's) concentrates on food, and also sells cleaning products (laundry and dish detergent), paper products (plates, toilet tissue etc.) and personal items (shampoo, soap, body lotion, feminine hygiene etc.)but Aldi also has weekly specials that have run from slow cookers to men's work boots to 400 thread count sheets (at $35!!)in the 3 years I have been shopping there.
I am an informed consumer,a foodie, a label reader who eats well and I love this store. The prices are very low and this is not because of inferior product but the structure of the entire process. For example, at Aldi there is only one brand of saltine cracker. This is the Aldi brand and the crackers are of the highest quality (obviously outsourced from a major producer as Aldi is not a food manufacturer). Offering only the Aldi house brand means lower prices. I have done my grocery shopping almost exclusively at Aldi for years, have never been disappointed in the food and love the savings! Before Aldi I shopped at 2 markets that are considered very nice - and I don't miss them at all.
Be aware that you need a quarter to unlock a shopping cart, but you will be refunded when you return the cart to the corral. At Aldi you bag your own groceries($avings!) but here's my tip on that: grab a few banana boxes while shopping (they are sturdy and have handles built in) and keep them in the trunk of your vehicle. After checkout - which is super fast, they are timed on this - take your cart to your car and unload (no bags!) sorting as you go. When you get home it's sort of like an old movie: groceries delivered in a box AND the stuff is sorted for putting away. Go on try the fresh mozzarella, dark chocolate bars or the chibatta bread and tell me this is 'generic, inferior' food. I dare you.
Do not be afraid of Aldi.
Disclaimer: I am not employed by or paid by or anything by Aldi. I am just a foodie on a budget who is happy that they are in my heighborhood.
And now they have begun shelving their Lacura line of cosmetics - which I will review in this series.
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2 comments:
Wow. You may have just changed my life. I always dismissed Aldi (call me snobby) because I always came it across it on frugal websited by people who didn't love food as much as me. But coming from a fellow "foodie" your review means I will be going there this week. Thank you so much for opening my eyes to this. I am on a super tight budget, but love good food.
Kristi,
I await your review. If you have any specific foods that you'd like my opinion on, please let me know.
Their grapefruit is usually outstanding, they have a nice variety of cereal (with kids this can be a good snack) - one we love has freeze dried blueberries and strawberries in it, and their wines are worth trying - at under $4 bottle the Winking Owl is a very drinkable bottle (to my taste anyway) and you can't beat the price. I never cared for Two Buck Chuck (at Trader Joes) but this is not that same wine. I could go on and on....but I can't wait to hear what you think, but I think you'll like it!
La
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