# Anybody Buy from and Aldi's?



## rabbithutch (Sep 13, 2012)

(Not sure if this is the right place for this thread, but here goes.)

We are getting a new supermarket next month.  I noticed a few days ago that remodeling construction has started.  I know only what I remember from the announcement in our local paper some weeks back.  The store is a new outlet in a German-based chain called Aldi's.  From their press release propaganda they will be the lowest priced seller in the area for the items they carry.  Sometimes that means a good deal for the consumer and sometimes it means they are schlepping inferior products.  Time will tell I guess.  The press release said that they keep overhead down by pushing many functions back on the consumer.  For example, they don't provide bags (neither does Sam's Club).  I'm not sure what else it might mean.

Do any of you have this chain in your area?  

Do you ever shop there?  

Do they have good prices and good products?


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## diggingdogfarm (Sep 13, 2012)

I hate Aldi!
If you like food that's of good quality, Aldi isn't the place to shop!
Almost everything they sell is garbage, IMHO!

~Martin


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## jkc64 (Sep 13, 2012)

I don't shop there but I have been a few of them. They only carry 1 of anything. 1 type of corn, 1 type beans...... all brands I've never seen. I have some relatives that swear by them but I am too much of a brand shopper and I like a selection. Just my .02

John


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## jrod62 (Sep 13, 2012)

My wife goes there for the fruit and bread. Eggs vegetables
fruit cheaper and we like the bread better then wally-world bread.
our Aldi parking lots sucks. Not big enough.


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## diggingdogfarm (Sep 13, 2012)

A little more on Aldi....
My neighbor is a shut in, and I've taken her there a few times to shop, below is what I've noticed.
I wouldn't mention the word Aldi anywhere near her anymore....LOL
She had very bad luck with Aldi stuff over the holidays. (a couple years ago)
She baked a ham from there that literally turned into a cinder because, I think, it had too much added sugar. She actually baked it 25 degrees less than what was recommended because it started to turn black early on, she's no cooking novice and I know that her oven is properly calibrated because she bakes cakes all the time for extra income and always uses an oven thermometer.
She was making something with their cottage cheese that required heating the cottage cheese, it all turned to liquid!!! 
Oh, and she bought dog biscuits there that were full of little black bugs...all this between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Anyway...

Carbon Monoxide treated fresh meat!

Underweight eggs with the occasional bloody yolk!

Un-graded solution soaked frozen chickens!

Xanathan gum thickened cottage cheese!

Chinese frozen fish!

All around crappy low quality food products!!

The general merchandise they sell is ALL Chinese garbage!!!!

The sugar is inferior beet sugar, the flour is inferior as well.

The sour cream was runny,the runniest I've ever seen.

The ham is LOADED with sugar - the equivalent of of almost 1 and 2/3 tablespoons of sugar per pound.

In the produce section, the cauliflower and onions were covered with aspergillus niger (black mold).

Package sizes are often not standard - Frozen broccoli at Aldi is .99 for 12 ounces while the frozen broccoli at the predominant grocery store in this area is .99 for 16 ounces - tricking many people who don't watch package sizes closely into thinking they're getting a better deal.

Many of the frozen foods are freezer burned, or loaded with ice crystals!

Yet, there are many folks who swear by it!!! I don't get it!!!


~Martin


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## jrod62 (Sep 13, 2012)

Great !! Now I won't be able to eat eggs from Aldi without thinking about bloody eggs again !! Thanks Martin :biggrin:
Of course at wally-world I have gotten bad ribs and chicken from them.


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## damon555 (Sep 13, 2012)

I've accompanied my mother to Adli's a few times and there was nothing at all wrong with her store. Everything was neat, organized and cheap. We've purchased several spiral cut honey baked hams there that have made for excellent holiday meals. She purchases other things there too....cereal, crackers, milk and seasonal fruits and vegetables that have been just fine. I'm not sure if any of their other products are inferior as what we got was all just fine.

Don't take our word for it.....check it out for yourself. We have one near where we live but it's on the other side of town so it's not cost effective to go there......They only take cash, checks or debit cards and don't supply bags.


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## diggingdogfarm (Sep 13, 2012)

jrod62 said:


> Of course at wally-world I have gotten bad ribs and chicken from them.



I don't shop there either! LOL


~Martin


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## roller (Sep 13, 2012)

Never heard of it...


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## laynlow200 (Sep 13, 2012)

I shop there and enjoy it.  Don't forget to bring a quarter to get a shopping cart and bring your own bags.   I don't buy meats and stuff, but the milk is priced good and I get a lot of boxed stuff form there.   Mac and Cheese, chips, snacks.   They also have big sizes of paprika for $1.00 and other spices.  Oh and they have bacon wrapped 5oz steaks for 2.00 or so.


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## pbjohnsen (Sep 13, 2012)

The company also owns Trader Joes. No brand names and no one will tell you where the stuff comes from.

Curly


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## thomas phillips (Sep 13, 2012)

I shopped at an Aldi's once....and I will never shop there again. Everything was crap and tasted like it too!


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## billebouy (Sep 13, 2012)

pbjohnsen said:


> The company also owns Trader Joes. No brand names and no one will tell you where the stuff comes from.
> 
> Curly


We had an Aldi's open up around here, went once to look around, didn't see anything I wanted, never went back.

I've shopped at Trader Joe's when I visited out West, love the place.

Go figure...


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## roadboss (Sep 13, 2012)

We have them by me and I will not shop there.  It's all about cheap,cheap, cheap.  Not quality.  Sometime cheap is expensive. I wont shop at Wally World either.  Thats just on principal.


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## rondewriver (Sep 13, 2012)

I have always loved Aldi's. Nothing but good luck there.


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## missed-em (Sep 14, 2012)

Shop at Aldi's monthly and happy w/ the results.  Many strang brands and lables but found most to be comparable to store brands elswhere.  Good produce.  As w/ any store, know your prices and compare!  Bring bags and a quarter.


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## uncle_lar (Sep 14, 2012)

Aldi is good for some things. milk, snacks box goods, fresh produce in season is good at time.

I dont buy meat, fish etc, there. I have my local butchers for things like that. there are good deals there, but just like anywhere

you ahve to be an educated smart shopper.


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## atio (Sep 14, 2012)

Cut our weekly food bill for a family of four from around 150 to 60 by shopping at Aldi's.  Only thing we bought there that was not good was a couple steaks.  They were not spoiled or anything, but they were 90% gristle.  Other than that everything has been great


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## woodcutter (Sep 14, 2012)

I stop at Aldi's once in while just to buy the excellent chocolates they carry. Nothing else interests me Aldi's.


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## arnie (Sep 14, 2012)

We have shopped at Aldi’s for many years and have not experienced any of the problems Martin has had.

Bare in mind they are a low cost provider no frills store.

You most likely will have to supplement you grocery shopping with another store.

They do not provide a choice in products.

They have their own store brand and many are produced in Iowa or Illinois.

They will limit their stock to what moves well in the area.

Fresh fruit, fresh produce, cheeses, eggs and dairy products are of good quality and very reasonably priced, as well as many frozen entrees.

We do not buy much meat at Aldi’s for the most part because I don’t feel it is competitively priced, although our Aldi’s does carry bacon wrapped filets at a decent price that are really good.       

As uncle_lar said just like anywhere else you have to be an educated shopper.

Doing the bulk of our grocery shopping at Aldi’s has cut our grocery bill on average by 50%


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## ryanma (Sep 14, 2012)

Aldi's is a store meant for value, low price, basically offering the lowest prices on what ever they can get their hand on.  This can be good and bad. I have only been there twice, most recently yesterday.  If you have the time, I would just READ the food product packages.. and you can learn just about everything you need that way.  Spent about half an hour yesterday on my day off just looking around and learning. 

You shouldn't go there for "quality" food, but sometimes you may be happy with a good find.  Yesterday I bought a 1lb bag of flounder fillets for $3.99.  But after reading this thread and checking my packaging I know the flounder is wild caught from China.  I would have liked native flounder instead, but if you have $5 for dinner, it works.  I would say this was a good find. 

No baggers, no one paid to collect carts in the lot, not much for interior design, seemed under staffed.  All these things equate into saved money and lower prices.  If you find a few items that are up to par for your quality then Aldi's is a good store for you, I will go again!

1 lb 24-20 count  frozen shrimp $6.50 (prolly from China though)


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## oldschoolbbq (Nov 19, 2012)

Hutch, hello stranger.
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






We shop at an Aldi's here in oihO. The dry goods , canned food , Dairy , Cheeses and breads are OK... However their Meat Sux...Oh, some of the frozen stuff is ---O.K.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





, but the fresh meat like Hamburger, Ribs , Steaks and such are PooPoo  ,  with a Capital "P"  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





But that's just M.O.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





.

Have fun and ...

P.S. PM.....


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## diggingdogfarm (Nov 19, 2012)

RyanMA said:


> You shouldn't go there (Aldi) for "quality" food,



Wiser words have never been spoken!!!!!! :biggrin:


~Martin


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## kryinggame (Nov 19, 2012)

This is an interesting thread because I thought Aldi's was only here in North Carolina.  Aldi's is a discount store--you really can't expect them to see quality food.  I'll admit, I do purchase some things from them but I will never buy meat, "fresh" fruit and vegtables from them ever again.  I bought a pork loin from them over the Summer. After 1 bite, I threw the entire loin in the garbage.  My mom bought some hot dogs from them and got violently sick afterwards.  You really have to inspect their vegtables closely because they often sell (at least the few Aldi's that I've been to) old vegtables. For example, over the Summer, they were selling cherry tomatoes and blueberries  . Fresh, these fruits should have a sweet smell to them.  Aldi's has no smell to them. And the skin on the tomatoes usually looked old.

I don't play around when it comes to something that's going into my mouth.  Please becareful with meat, food that you purchase.  It doesn't make sense to risk your health just to save a buck.


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## diggingdogfarm (Nov 19, 2012)

kryinggame said:


> Aldi's is a discount store--you really can't expect to see quality food.



That's not what Aldi says!!! LOL







Impressively High Quality?

Too funny!!! LOL


~Martin


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## big casino (Nov 19, 2012)

Wow I am surprised at these reviews...

We couldn't wait for an Aldi to open near us, we buy a lot of our canned veggies and frozen veggies there (if we don't have our own) and have no complaints about the quality, but we did notice that when we bought things like frozen broccoli it was mostly ALL florets, and what little stems there were (which I like BTW) where all tender and not woody, better than any we ever bought of birdseye or other name brands, I have recently bought there oatmeal and I think it is even better than quaker brand (most popular around here) there sides like those flavored noodle packs you know like angle hair pasta in a garlic herb sauce... more flavor than any name brand we ever had yet again,  we like there boxed mac and cheese better than Kraft, and they also have a cheese sauce one like valveeta brand  which we like better too, and this is a four person family, and we have all agreed on this,

I have never bought any meat there cause it is usually frozen and I like to buy my meat fresh, altho the chicken products they carry there are usually tyson,

we rarely buy things like doritos and chips but yet again no problem with there quality, also their knock off cold cereals have all been just as good as name brand

What I was told b4 about Aldi is they distribute their own products, eliminating the middlemen in the whole procedure, which is what I was told keeps the price low, I think they also have their own trucking, "dark horse"  trucking, one of their main distributors is about 8 or 10 miles from my house

I just looked through our pantry for their products from canned foods to boxed Mac and Cheese all made in Batavia IL. which If I am not mistaken was where all of the "generic" products big in the late 70's early 80's were made and distributed

a few nights ago  we had  breaded fish fillets, broccoli, and a noodle side dish from there and when we tallied it all up we fed 4 people for a little more than $5.00 and we all though it was good

Sorry bout all of your bad experiences but here in western Pa we love Aldi!....


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## doctord1955 (Nov 19, 2012)

never had a problem with Aldis.  Buy lots of canned and bagged food there!


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## kathrynn (Nov 19, 2012)

My neighbor goes there all the time for produce. I haven't but know several folks who love the place. Publix is my fav. Aldi's here is cash or debit only. Keeps me away....check writer or CCard User.


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## custom99 (Nov 19, 2012)

We have one 1/4 mile from home and dont shop there. No name brands scare us. We have been in them but not impressed.


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## billmc40 (Nov 19, 2012)

We have an Aldis here. Some things we like some we don't. Thier spirial hams are good.

BillMc


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## diggingdogfarm (Dec 2, 2012)

DiggingDogFarm said:


> A little more on Aldi....
> My neighbor is a shut in, and I've taken her there a few times to shop, below is what I've noticed.
> I wouldn't mention the word Aldi anywhere near her anymore....LOL
> She had very bad luck with Aldi stuff over the holidays. (a couple years ago)
> ...



I forgot to mention the Cornish game hens that she (my neighbor) got there, they weren't cleaned or bled out properly (they still had the esophagus, trachea, crop and lungs in them) and the sardines had a disgusting roe the texture of sand!!!! Yuck! 


~Martin


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## maxwasatch (Dec 2, 2012)

rabbithutch said:


> Do any of you have this chain in your area?
> Do you ever shop there?
> Do they have good prices and good products?


So jealous. 

I wish we had one in my area. I got hooked on it when I lived in Missouri and was a poor single grad student. Had been there occasionally before when I lived in the dorms in undergrad, but really didn't try everything (meat, produce) till I lived in a house full of guys and we grilled 3-5 times a week.

 Nearly every grocery trip until I moved back to Colorado was there. They don't have a lot of selection (almost like a poor man's Costco - only one option for each item, not packed in bulk, but cheap enough that you buy in bulk quantities). 

I would spend about 1/3-1/2 of what I did at the supermarket. Still had to go to a bigger store for specialty items, but not all that often. Never had anything that was rotten or made us sick. Sometimes a tube of saltines would have come unglued, but it was still cheaper even if you only got 3 tubes rather than 4 out of a box. 

Aldi's is the only thing we miss from Missouri. Whenever we go out there to visit family we load up on canned goods. Just spent $80 at Thanksgiving. My mother-in-law thought it was the funniest thing ever. She doesn't shop there much because they used to many years ago when fresh items were a bit iffy. Saved about $100 compared to prices out here. 

I would just stick with the simpler items. More seasoned and processed stuff (ie - cookies) can taste significantly different that the "normal" stuff. I probably would not do meat or produce anymore since I buy meat directly from the source and have a garden.

Name brand stuff is usually approaching the sell-by date, so just keep an eye on it.

Make sure to bring a quarter for the carts and bags. They take cash, debit, and Discover. They tend to "break-into" new markets through extremely low income areas, so generally best to try it first in the daylight. :)

You are very blessed.

(My wife missed it so much we considered trying to open one here so that we could shop there more than 2x a year!)


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## workman215 (Dec 2, 2012)

I haven't seen one here in southern CA, but there's one in Bartlesville , OK.  I would shop at a couple times a year to stock up on canned goods and dry goods.  Like the others have said it's their own private label stuff but we didn't have a problem with that.  I did notice a few extra stems in the green beans compared to the name brand but other than that no complaints.


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## dward51 (Dec 2, 2012)

We have them all over the place near Atlanta.  I agree with the comments that some items are better than others, but there are a lot of items we have found taste the same as the local Kroger and Publix products.  I have not tried their "fresh" meats, as I did not really like the look of them.  But they do have some decent frozen products.  It's sort of hit and miss until you figure out what tastes good vs what just does not.  After that you can save a good bit by shopping there, but if it was the only store in town I would be very unhappy.

My take is Aldi is good for some items and not good for others.  But we do shop there regularly.


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## big casino (Dec 9, 2012)

DiggingDogFarm said:


> I forgot to mention the Cornish game hens that she (my neighbor) got there, they weren't cleaned or bled out properly (they still had the esophagus, trachea, crop and lungs in them) and the sardines had a disgusting roe the texture of sand!!!! Yuck!
> ~Martin


Thats weird Martin every  kind of chicken or hens I ever bought there in my area has been tyson products, the same you would get at any store


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## humdinger (Dec 9, 2012)

Based on the comments I've read, it sounds like the quality factor at Aldi is highly regionalized. We've had them in michigan since around 2005 and the overall experience had been good. To echo other posts, use aldi to stock up on your pantry and baking supplies. Also milk eggs creamer etc. are very competitively priced on a weekly basis. It's great for stocking up on party snacks too. Just be sure to go when you have an hour to investigate, there are a lot of good things, but some stuff is junk (avoid the meat and produce). Either way you look at it, it feels good to cash out with your cart almost full and the bill is only $45!


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## gotarace (Dec 9, 2012)

We have one in the area and i rarely shop there. Once a year i stop for cashews for cashew brittle my wife makes around this time of the year and i haven't found a better price on nuts than Aldi's. Their mixed nuts are very reasonably priced and i have used them for smoked nuts many times with great success. I have bought the dollar a bag chips there and thought the round tortilla chips a great deal. Can't say i have tried the meat or canned goods but after the reviews i may stay away from the meat and try a few of the canned goods. Maybe the next time i stop i will spend a little time looking around a bit more and see what Aldi's has to offer.


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