Aldi Fruits and Veggies

beyondjupiter

Does anyone else shop here?

They are crazy cheap for their fruits and veggies. I recently went and got a pint of strawberries for .99 cents, an 8 oz container of mushrooms for $1, a bag of spinach for $1. However, I seem to notice they go bad VERY quickly! I got this stuff on Tuesday and the I just checked the mushrooms, they have like disintegrated, very watery and mushy. I went to use the strawberries and they are all soft and getting spots on them. My spinach at the bottom is already wilting and getting watery. Anyone else have this problem? I can buy produce at Walmart, Sweetbay (Hannaford), or Publix and it lasts twice as long if not longer.

What gives?

meghan6867

I always get my produce at Aldis and I'll admit I've had bad luck every now and then, but that happens everywhere.

So.... it might be the store... or it might of been fluke? If it happens again consider shopping somehere else.

Pearsquared

I've had hits and misses, sometimes within the same shopping trip. My strawberries went bad very quickly, but my pears were quite good. My blackberries were a bit mushy, but I didn't mind because I was mushing them onto my waffles anyway.

DeeDiddyGee

Aldi and Price Rite sell there stuff cheap because the items are closer to their expiration dates than the "bigger" stores. For fruits and veggies, you'll have to shop more frequently than the big stores -- but the savings makes it worth it!

morkiemama

Aldi and Price Rite sell there stuff cheap because the items are closer to their expiration dates than the "bigger" stores. For fruits and veggies, you'll have to shop more frequently than the big stores -- but the savings makes it worth it!

This. The items are just closer to expiration, so you have to use them faster.

pamperedlinny

Aldi and Price Rite sell there stuff cheap because the items are closer to their expiration dates than the "bigger" stores. For fruits and veggies, you'll have to shop more frequently than the big stores -- but the savings makes it worth it!

I do a lot of shopping at Aldi & Save-A-Lot and I've just found if I'm not planning to use it within a few days I'll go back for it. But given the price I don't like going anywhere else..... I mean at Save-A-Lot I can get a bunch of fresh cilantro for 50 cents.

Heaven71

Does anyone else shop here?

They are crazy cheap for their fruits and veggies. I recently went and got a pint of strawberries for .99 cents, an 8 oz container of mushrooms for $1, a bag of spinach for $1. However, I seem to notice they go bad VERY quickly! I got this stuff on Tuesday and the I just checked the mushrooms, they have like disintegrated, very watery and mushy. I went to use the strawberries and they are all soft and getting spots on them. My spinach at the bottom is already wilting and getting watery. Anyone else have this problem? I can buy produce at Walmart, Sweetbay (Hannaford), or Publix and it lasts twice as long if not longer.

What gives?

You get what you pay for BUT, I like discount foods if they are to be eaten immediately or red tagged meats, I will freeze. We bought a freezer just for discounted meats.

LaceyAnderson

I buy nearly all my groceries at Aldi. Tips for buying produce there:

1. Go to the busiest Aldi store you can. I usually shop at a really busy store where I live, but sometimes I go to a slower store near my work. The produce at the slower store never lasts as long. I think it's because of the lower turnover.
2. Be selective. I used to get embarrassed about picking through the peppers to find the firmest ones or moving a box of strawberries to get to the fresher ones underneath, but after throwing away a lot of rotten produce, I decided it's worth it.
3. Buy a smaller variety of produce on a weekly basis. I used to buy three kinds of berries, plus apples, oranges, pineapples, cantaloupe, etc. Now I just buy one type of berry and one or two other fruits in a week. By the time I get sick of one thing, I rotate to another, and everything gets eaten more quickly because there's less to choose from.

I hope this helps. Happy shopping!

Tiffy_Pea

I shop at Aldi all the time, and don't have a problem with their produce. I've found that on the rare occassion that I do have an issue, it was because of the way I was storing it or cleaning it. Once I changed my methods, I haven't had a problem.

Xenophonica

I usually only have this problem with the lettuces and berries, and my aldi's isn't great for bananas. By now I've figured out what I need to get from Aldi and what I need to go to other stores for

cdjs77

I shop there as well, it's a hit or miss. However, there's definitely something weird about fresh foods in the US. In the US I usually shopped for a week or two and I can't remember a time when my fruits and vegetables went bad in my refrigerator. However, here in Switzerland, I find the fruits and vegetables from the major supermarkets go bad at about the same rate as the ones from Aldi.

roxylola

Their produce does spoil pretty quickly but it's so cheap, I just go more often and buy less!

k8blujay2

I don't shop there, just because I'm not a fan of their products in general. BUT a friend of mine shops there and she said she wasn't a fan of Aldi's produce, because like you said it just doesn't last very long at all, then she started to wash it in 10 parts water 1 part vinager and it lasts a lot longer.

momzeeee

Love Aldi produce-except for their bananas. For some reason if they're not already yellow, they will NOT ripen. Drives me bonkers lol. Otherwise I've had a great experience with their produce, both fresh and frozen

beyondjupiter

Okay, thank you guys! My Aldi is a good 20 minutes away or more so it is hard to justify the gas to go multiple times a week. Especially when there are other grocery stores within a few minutes from me. I guess I will have to weigh the pros and cons. So far the green peppers, cucumbers, apples, and other stuff are fine. Just the spinach, strawberries, and mushrooms were bad. The bananas have already started "turning" but I can freeze those for smoothies later.

lavonnelrausch

I visit Aldi's pretty frequently as there is one on my way home. But sometimes I will take there ad and match the produce they have on sale at my local walmart so I can get everything in one trip. Check with your walmart to see if they will ad match aldi's produce.

GrendlStig

I shop at Aldi all the time! They keep everything in super cold storage (near freezing) for lord knows how long. And a cashier told me that it's all distributed out of Illinois, regardless of whether those strawberries would be closer being directly shipped from Florida to North Carolina. So the produce is closer to expiration date by the time it gets to the store. But things move super quickly off the shelves here in Charlotte, NC. I find their apples and oranges, spinach and romaine hearts are better than my local chain grocery stores. There is another store called Compare Foods in my area that I love. It caters to the Latino community primarily and there is fabulous variety - and cheap, cheap prices! For instance, a bunch of cilantro (which I put in my ReBoot juice) at the other store is 2.99/bunch and at Compare you get 3 big bunches for 99 cents! If you're in an area that has a "world" foods market/grocery, look there and see if they have better produce prices or just a change from run-of-the-mill boring produce. Asian apple/pears and pomegranates don't cost as much there!!! I try to buy organic when I can, so I have a Costco membership that helps a bit with that. But I think eating more fruits and veggies PERIOD is better than chips and cookies!

Kimmer2011

I love Aldi, but I frequently make an extra stop for fruit & veg at the produce market half a mile further down the road after I've done my basic shopping. That said, sometimes I just don't have the time or energy to make that extra stop, and there is a lot of fresh produce at Aldi that I do get. Yes, sometimes it spoils more quickly than I expect, but I try to get stuff I'm going to use up pretty quickly. I've had the same problem at other stores, too.