ALDI brand products vs name brand?

[asiancivicmaniac]

I go there for the olive oil and the chocolates. It's located in a not-so-good area and the type of customers show. And there's usually only one cashier at any given time and 4-6 customers in line at any given time. I tried a take-and-bake pizza from there once and it didn't taste that good. But I think I have more of an issue with the shopping experience than the actual products.

We have a grocery store chain here called Publix and it usually cost more but the shopping experience is almost always pleasant. The house brand from there are usually good. Add to it that they're decent employers so I would rather shop there.

 

[GT Mike]

Some things are fine, but it's not a convenient place for me to go. My parents shop there frequently, and my mom told me to never buy ground beef there. She did once, and it was like a "tube of suet". That's fine since I'd never think about buying ground beef in an opaque tube. I'm picky about my meats anyway, and only get good quality beef from one or two places.

They have some unusual things I've never seen anywhere else, such as jalapeno flavored potatoes (awesome), and other oddities.

My favorite "stock up" grocery store is Woodman's. Employee owned, and it's beyond the size of your typical supermarket... "Megamarket" would probably be an appropriate description. Sometimes there's so much diversity it breeds confusion. For example, rather than having a dozen or so different brands of frozen pizza, they've probably got nearly 50. It slows down your shopping time since you're almost forced to investigate the brands you've never heard of before. I buy lots of Asian foods there, since the selection is incredible compared to local markets. They've got instant pho, which is very good, as well as about half an aisle devoted to various types of Ramen and other instant noodles. Prices are much cheaper than the supermarkets around me, so it's worth the 20 mile drive to go there maybe once a month to stock up on essentials.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: GT Mike

My favorite "stock up" grocery store is Woodman's. Employee owned, and it's beyond the size of your typical supermarket... "Megamarket" would probably be an appropriate description. Sometimes there's so much diversity it breeds confusion. For example, rather than having a dozen or so different brands of frozen pizza, they've probably got nearly 50. It slows down your shopping time since you're almost forced to investigate the brands you've never heard of before. I buy lots of Asian foods there, since the selection is incredible compared to local markets. They've got instant pho, which is very good, as well as about half an aisle devoted to various types of Ramen and other instant noodles. Prices are much cheaper than the supermarkets around me, so it's worth the 20 mile drive to go there maybe once a month to stock up on essentials.


That sounds awesome

 

[DrinkDuff77]

We love Aldi's! If you go there for the first time unprepared (no quarter, try to pay with a credit card, expecting them to bag, etc) it can be kind of a hassel. 95% of their stuff is great but occasionally we'll find something we don't care for. I've totally converted my mother-in-law too. She used to be kind of snobby towards it but now she's a bigger fan than I am.

 

[Vikas]

I am little surprised that Aldi showed up across from Harris Teeter; I thought HT is one of the fancier super market i.e. completely different clientele! We have neither in our area, so I really don't have much knowledge.

 

[Spazdog]

I like Aldi.

One of the coffee varieties is packaged specifically for Aldi by German company Dallmayr. Not the premium Dallmayr stuff but pretty good low acid German style coffee.

They don't carry 1% milk and that's a bummer. The wife and I don't mind skim at all but the kiddo calls it "water milk".

Canned produce is canned produce. I honestly can't tell the difference between a can of Green Giant green beans and a can of Happy Harvest green beans

Someone told me the produce is sourced from the region it's marketed in when possible.

The kiddo and I make a frozen pizza about once a week. The Mama Cozzi's cheese pizza makes a good starting point and we can veggie and meat it up ourselves.

$1.79 French Bread Pizzas are utilized at lunch here at work at least once a week when I am trapped in the office for lunch. Half the price or less than Stouffer's and just as miserable.

I think their baby-back ribs are from Denmark. (All of Chili's Baby Back Ribs are from Denmark as well.) They've turned out excellent every time.

 

[dishdude]

I have found 95% of their stuff to be very good quality, sometimes at half the price of name brand. My only real issue with their store is that a lot of it is junk food! I do like their coffee and some other random items. They are owned by the same company as Trader Joes.

Don't confuse Aldi's Kirkwood products with Costco's Kirkland brand. The only similarity is the first four letters.