Aldi's helps me eat healthy and save money

We are able to get about 3/4 of our groceries at Aldi. Good stuff, good prices. We save a bunch on things like cereal (check out the high protein, high fiber all natural cereal...yummy), oatmeal, beans and produce when it's good/in season. Oh, the chicken is way cheaper than our other grocery stores - frozen breasts and whole chickens and the fresh cuts.

My main problem that I have with Aldi (and it's becoming more prevalent in other stores too) is that the meats that are such a "great deal" are actually "enchanced" with broth/"solution." What this means is they plump up your meats by injecting them with salt water. If you're ok with that, you may as well buy a flavor injector, get your meats elsewhere and inject your own salt water.. store brand gallons of water are cheap and tap is even cheaper.. salt is cheap.. flavor injectors are cheap.. paying $1/pound of water is not cheap

I noticed this too (when I was going there 10 years ago and not nearly as concerned with nutruents)- the meats they had them were 'added salt water, enhanced solutions', etc... I was hoping after 10 years, that may have changes.

I've been thinking about shopping there but I'm terrified that the reason they are cheaper is because they are more processed, have more anti-biotics, have more pesticides, or are just overall crap compared to foods at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. I want to shop there, but first I need to know why they can undercut their competitors by 20% when they are essentially giving the same products.

Visit their website the exact reasons should be found there, but I know that they don't have plastic/paper bags, you have to bring your own or use boxes from the packaging. They don't lose money on lost grocery carts because you have to use a quarter to get one out of the line. They have all the products stacked in their shipping boxes to form the aisles. And they don't have to pay for the brand name advertising since its mostly all their own brands.

Aldis is owned by the same company as trader joes...

The reason it's cheaper is they don't have to hire extra people to take care of carts or bagging, don't have to buy bags, they buy in bulk! They don't accept credit cards and limit the types of items they sell.

where do you all live? i thought they were only in missouri and illinois...I live in Missouri and shop there!

theres one in council bluffs iowa.

I used to shop at Aldi when I was in college and loved it. One recently opened where I live now, and I went there hoping to find the same quality of food and prices but was very disappointed. I couldn't find much I wanted to buy, and most things weren't that much cheaper than the regular grocery store. I don't know if Aldi is just not as good as it used to be or if it varies from location to location.

The closest one to me is over 200 miles away. :grumble:

I'm always looking for stores with great produce.

I love Aldi! There are a few items I wish they carried that they don't, but overall they are a great place to stock up on basics. I don't always get their meats, but only because I shop a lot of manager's specials and sales at the other grocery stores. The Aldis here have much better customer service than their competitors too. Plus I usually am shopping with my 6 year old so it is SO much quicker to get through their smaller store!

I love Aldi's!!!!! There is one opening up in a few months that is a bit more local to me and I can't wait!!!!!

Thanks for the post! We have one around the corner and I'm interested in checking it out now! :happy:

I've been thinking about shopping there but I'm terrified that the reason they are cheaper is because they are more processed, have more anti-biotics, have more pesticides, or are just overall crap compared to foods at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. I want to shop there, but first I need to know why they can undercut their competitors by 20% when they are essentially giving the same products.

I personally don't like Aldi because I buy very little processed snack foods and I don't find their meats and produce to be of good quality. Aldi and Trader Joe's are owned by the same company.

I believe they can sell things cheaper for a few reasons. First, there is rarely more than 2 people working in the store I go to. So, they aren't having to pay a lot of employees. Also, you pay 25 cents for your cart (if you want one...and you get it back when you put the cart up), so they don't have the liability of carts hitting cars, etc. If you want a grocery sack, you have to pay for it. They are cheap though and you can reuse them over and over...or you can just take your own cloth bag or whatever you want to put your things in. So, that saves them money too. I have shopped at Aldi's several times. They have great fruit and vegetables - always fresh. They also have a Fit N Active line that really has good low fat items. I've only tried one thing that I didn't like in that line. I don't buy everything there as I am kind of picky about laundry detergent, toilet paper, etc., but I highly recommend the produce!!

They have reasonable priced nuts of all kinds too. Very good quality.

Our Aldi (Indiana) is well stocked and always clean.

I've been thinking about shopping there but I'm terrified that the reason they are cheaper is because they are more processed, have more anti-biotics, have more pesticides, or are just overall crap compared to foods at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. I want to shop there, but first I need to know why they can undercut their competitors by 20% when they are essentially giving the same products.

They do this by making their employees work /ridiculously!/ hard and only having 2-3 employees at a time in a busy store. I know from experience because my hubby works in one. The products are really good and we do alot of shopping there, but I buy my meat from a local butcher.

We are trying Aldi's for the first time tomorrow xx

Beware there is a lot of junk but the good stuff is mixed in. Keep looking, you will find it.