We have become regular ALDI shoppers because of the consistently low prices for very good quality products. For those who aren't familiar with this name, it is a company based in Germany and has been around Europe for quite a while. While many people are put off because of their warehouse style of display and no bags or credit cards, as our economy becomes more and more tenuous, these "inconveniences" will not be quite so distasteful.
Yesterday on the Clark Howard radio talk show, he was discussing this very topic and put numbers with it. He said that ALDI is across the board 20% lower in their prices than the big discount grocery stores we are accustomed to. Their house brand of double stuffed chocolate cookies were selected 100% of the time over the name brand ones in a blind taste test. If there's one anywhere near you, you might want to give it a try.
By Sandy from Elon, NC
Editor's Note: Here is a link to Aldi's, if you want to check to see if there is one in your area.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
We have a new grocery chain in our area. The prices are very good, for instance eggs for 49 cents a dozen. However, the brand names of canned goods and such are not familiar to me. Does anyone shop at ALDI? And can you suggest which brands compare to the House-Brands at the other grocery chains? Thanks.
By Barbara Petty from East TN
I have an Aldi in the same town where I do my grocery shopping, and we decided to try it the other week for a change of pace. All I can say (and maybe not every store is like this) is yuck. The cream of chicken soup had a burnt taste, even in the microwave. The grapes had mold, and some other veggies had little bugs on them. The only things that were ok were milk and cheese- the block kind, not sliced.
We lived in Texas and the Save A Lot was in a low income
area and wasn't that clean. In Kansas where we lived we loved it. Maybe it depends on the manager I don't know.Some
of the brands I like some I don't. You just have to try a can of this and that until you know what you like. we have
bought the cheaper brands of canned vegetables and they work good for most of them. Just give it a try. The meat department in our Aldis is great. Grandma Bess
Although I have not been shopping At Aldi very long, (2-3 months), I have been very pleased with the quality of the foods I have bought. The Fit'n Trim products are excellent. All the frozen goods, veggies,meats, link sausages, wine, dairy products...virtually everything I can think of has been good, and has saved us substancially on our grocery bill.
Here in Indiana Aldi's are wonderful! The bread is always fresher than any other regular grocery store. We have bought their canned vegetables and fruits for years and they have the best prices around. I am sure there are a few things that are not as good as a name brand but you will find that true with any generics. Eggs, milk and butter are just as good as any name brand but at a much better price. Happy shopping!
I love Aldi's. Some of there things are not that great, but most are. Plus, you get the double your money back if you do not like an item. Their prices are out of site. I can feed my family of 4 for 80 a week.
Barbara, you are sooo lucky to have an Aldi's near you. They are a German store and I shopped there when I lived in Minnesota. I like the idea that you have to 'pay' to borrow a shopping cart and get your money back when you return it. I hope the Aldi store will move west and eventually hit California, where I now live. I remember being a 'pick and choose' mom when I shopped there, but there were many things that I really loved to buy there and saved a bunch of money.
I've shopped at Aldis for over 20 years, and am extremely pleased. Several different companies can for them under the Aldi label. For example, I bought their salad dressing for years and we loved it. Then suddenly, it tasted different and I quit using it. After a while, we retried it, and it was the original recipe again. All the stores I've gone to have been very clean and I've never had any trouble with bugs.
I shop there on occasion, and should do it more, they just aren't close enough to me. Just an FYI, they have a TON of recipes on their website. You can save them to your cookbook, and even to your shopping list.
I've been shopping at ALDI for years and LOVE th store. Our local store is ALWAYS clean, even better than the grocery store. I like the canned fruit and veggies and boy, what a bargain. The prices on butter always beat the grocery store and the veggies always are nice and fresh. I also bought a steamer pan there(stainless steel) that I love and use all the time. I would have paid much more in a dept. store for that. My ALDI experience is always good.
Excellent prices, excellent products. The brand name on the canned vegetables, fruits etc. is the Aldi band name. All of their products, produce, cheese, eggs, canned tomato products, especially the stewed tomatoes are in most cases, better than what you would buy in a regular grocery store.
Linda :o)
I LOVE Aldi's! I have been shopping there for the past 15 years. It is a great place for fresh produce (the only thing I never buy is bananas or potatoes - I have not had the best luck)! You can not beat their prices! I buy their yogurt, olive oil, snacks, canned goods (I rarely buy canned goods anywhere else), I even like their laundry detergent. I try to go and stock up every couple of months and hit them up a couple times a month for the produce. I have not bought any meat, but the frozen fruits and veggies are great!
I love Aldi's. Our store is very clean, stock people are helpful. I always buy their candy bars - they are delicious, from Germany or Austria. Eggs are cheap and fresh ditto with butter. I buy all tomato canned products for chili, stew etc. Don't know about quality of canned fruit. Also always buy powdered skim milk; used to be very cheap but recently has doubled in price (small box is now what the big box (which they don't carry anymore) was. A friend from Germany came here to study and was thrilled they had a store near Baylor U in Texas.
My Aldi's is just far enough away that it isn't all that convenient so I just don't get there as often as I'd like. I've been pleased with many things there and how I feel is I'm willing to try something once and try it out. Hey, if we don't like it, I don't have to buy it again. The produce is always good and an exceptionally low price. I have paid .99 for 3 large green peppers to make stuffed peppers with and you can't beat it. Dairy products are every bit as good as in a regular grocery store but cheaper. Bread is good and cheap. Ours has fresh meats now but I've only bought ground chuck but it was good. Some of the frozen items are very good. It's a no frills kind of store where you "rent" a cart for a quarter and bring your own bags and bag your stuff but I never mind for the savings. Oh and some of the snack items are a real good buy if you go through a lot of chips and such. A large bag of pretzels for a buck and they are really good. My kids aren't picky so I can buy those brands that they've never heard of and they don't care. I really like their chili beans by the way....the Mexican style chili beans. I think their brand of canned goods is Happy Harvest. Give it a try!
I have been shopping a Aldi's for a couple of years now and I love it. The store is always clean and the produce is always fresh and you can't beat the prices. Our family loves Mamma Cosi's brand spaghetti sauce (my husband says it tastes better than Ragu or Prego)and pizza (I can't keep enough pizzas in the freezer for my teen and her friends). All of the food is good with the exception of the macaroni and cheese (cheese powder doesn't mix well)but because I have 4 kids and we usually use 2 boxes we mix a box of Aldi's with Kraft Macaroni and cheese. I figure what I buy is about a 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost I would have paid if I would have went to Cub or Rainbow. There are three stores in my area but each of them is a hair less than 10 miles away so I try to time my shopping to when I am in their neighborhood.
Responding to LuvMyFurKids, the store where you shopped may be poorly managed as I have never had any problems with the quality of the produce or other foods at the Aldi stores in my area. If you shop at another Aldi location, you will probably have a better experience. You may also want to take advantage of Aldi's double money back guarantee and return any products that are not satisfactory.
When our kids were small we traveled to Indiana to Aldi for groceries. The store was neat, clean and prices were worth the drive! Now we have Aldi within 10 miles of us,but we shop Save-a Lot, cause its so much cleaner and we are always satisfied with our purchases. Aldi produce at our store is usualy very poor. They may give double the money back but I hate taking things back no matter what it is. Plus now we are older my husband is laid off and we do all our running for the week in one trip. But I will say our Aldis is always busy!
Where in Fort Worth, Texas is a Aldi's food store located?
Nancy from Fort Worth, TX
www.aldifoods.com/
I checked their website and didn't find Aldi Foods in your area as yet.
Marge from NY
I lived in Irving then McKinney for 3 years and never found an Aldi, but I've heard that Save A Lot is owned by Aldi and I know we had them in Irving and I think McKinney too, you might want to see about that store. I like Aldi a lot better myself, but they're prices were very cheap, cheaper than most of the other stores in TX. If you want a good value you might want to check out the .99 stores they even have a refridgerated section and I always found bargains there. Hope that helps.
They are building an Alidi's in Saginaw to be open this Jan.
They said they would open one here last yr in Hurst , but for some reason it never open. Terry
There is one at Mccart + Sycamore School Rd in Fort worth and one at sh183 + Green Oaks in White Settlement, Euless at Plano + Richardson. Not sure if open yet, my company is subcontractor for some of the work with the stores.
From what I can tell, the first Aldi's is set to open in March of 2010 in Carrollton. The location is right behind the KFC on the corner of Frankford and Old Denton rd. The address is 3044 Old Denton Rd, Carrollton.
I am looking for nearest location of a Aldi's store in. I am in Mitchellville, Maryland.
Priscilla
there site is http://www.aldi.com go there click on location and they will tell you the stores closet to you. I live a hour from our closet one but at there prices i still think its worth it. Lori
I live about 15 miles from one, and I shop there all the time. I get about 75% of my groceries from there. It is silly to pay $2.00 for a loaf of bread when I can buy it for about .60. Other savings are great, too. I buy very few things from 'regular' food stores. I spent about $80 at Aldis and came home with a ton of food. At a 'regular' food store, I doubt I'd have brought five bags home.
The closest stores to you that I know of are: Hyattsville (it's on Hamilton Street off of Queen's Chapel). Another one is on Marlboro Pike in District Heights area. If you go toward Baltimore at all there is one in Glen Burnie also.
Where is an Aldi's that is close to Huntsville, Alabama?
Aretha from Huntsville, AL
There is one in Florence, Alabama. www.aldi.com has a store locator and you might be able to find a store closer.
Good luck. They certainly have wonderful prices for your basic grocery needs.
I did a Google search, and the closest Aldi to Huntsville is in Florence, Alabama. The address is 411 Cox Creek Parkway, Florence, AL 35630. The website said it is about 60 miles away.
There is one in Decatur, AL that recently opened.
It's in Plum Tree Center on the Beltline(Highway 67). Travel from Huntsville on 565 toward Decatur. Where 565 ends take Interstate 65 South toward Birmingham and then take the Decatur/Priceville exit toward Decatur which puts you on Hwy 67. The store is about 4 or 5 miles from the exit. Hope this helps.
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