-- Is Aldi really that good of a deal?

[Simply Red]

We have this week off - this will be my last NFT thread.

I went to Aldi to grab a handful of things, they're definitely not yet all organic (not sure when that is supposed to happen) - but yeah - I basically got the following for $35

- sour cream

- 2.5 lbs of ground beef - formed like burgers - they were out of regular (bulk) packages.

-5 envelopes of taco seasoning

- pack of shredded cheddar

-12 pack of off-brand orange soda

- one onion

- two small tomatoes

- one head of iceberg lettuce

- one package of chocolate chip cookies (very good i might add)

- 1 lb of fair trade dark roast coffee

- 16 ounce container of half and half

- one package of soft-taco size flour torts.


I guess one would see the true savings if they were buying hundreds of dollars of groceries for a family. But I didn't see it as much different than going to Publix or Kroger and buying their off-brands.


Advantages:
most everything tastes pretty good, even the ground beef.
fair prices
single onion w/ the potatoes - not charged and left w/ it.
cookies were really good!
going all organic soon??

Disadvantages:
lack of finding an employee when you have a question.
out of ground beef (bulk) - in their defense we have an ice storm coming...
they only sell onions in huge bags, not individually - luckily i found a loose one.
coffee is meh in flavor.
no bags, nor boxes to use. (again i get it, it's to save costs on your bill)
not yet all organic.

I'll be back but never for my main groceries.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by eDave

Food City is the equivalent here in Phoenix. I wouldn't step foot in there at any savings. Worse than Walmart.

I don't think it is the equivalent. Maybe you're thinking of it in terms of "value chain", but Aldi does a pretty good job. They are owned by a couple German bros. Aldi actually owns Trader Joe. They seem to be investing more here in the US than they ever did in the 90's, and have vowed to go all organic banning all pesticides.

Not everything is good, but there is a lot that is just as good as anywhere else, and of same or similar quality.

I'd never shop at Wal-Mart. F that place. Nasty.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Aldi has some pre-packaged chicken salad that is legit. Cranberry almond or somesuch, but it's very good and cheap. Won't buy meat there and really don't every shop at one, but I can see the draw.

Their snack food is just fine if you're getting munchies.

Yup. This chicken salad with some off their croissants.

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by aturnis

I don't think it is the equivalent. Maybe you're thinking of it in terms of "value chain", but Aldi does a pretty good job. They are owned by a couple German bros. Aldi actually owns Trader Joe. They seem to be investing more here in the US than they ever did in the 90's, and have vowed to go all organic banning all pesticides.

Not everything is good, but there is a lot that is just as good as anywhere else, and of same or similar quality.

I'd never shop at Wal-Mart. F that place. Nasty.

I hate Walmart so much.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

I'm weird about meat too - if it adds any consolation or comfort, their ground beef graded out fine w/ me, it was closely inspected while cooking and eating.

I'm super iffy about cheap meat too. They did have a supplier provide them with horse meat. http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/aldi.asp

Not cool.

[Titty Meat]

I gave her a whole gram and she said she wanna liiiiick it off my hannnnd

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by RunKC

I had a bad experience there before when I tried their milk and it was bad 2 days after I purchased it despite an expiration date that was much later then when it actually expired.

Having said that, I won't buy milk and eggs or meat, but I like to purchase some things from Aldi:

-brown sugar
-spices
-condiments
-canned foods
-chips
-frozen fruit
-bread

You just gotta be picky about what you want

Bad deal on the milk, but I've had it happen before with brand milk. That's why when in doubt, I use this: http://whereismymilkfrom.com/


http://whereismymilkfrom.com/

[Fat Elvis]

Originally Posted by GloucesterChief

Aldi has some very good products.

Chocolate. Particularly the German.
Bratwursts from Germany. Their regular sausages are pretty good too.
Eggs.
Butter.
Chorizo.
Speciality cheeses.
Iced gingerbread cookies.
Flounder.

Best chocolate around. Seriously impressed, especially for the money.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

understood

Aldi north and Aldi south. I might be the idiot here...

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by 58-4ever

I found worms in a package of Aldi grapes. I'll never go back.

I have reservations about the grapes. They're from Chile, and I have a weird thing about my food and borders.

Gotta inspect produce, but if you do, you shouldn't have a problem.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by ScareCrowe

I'd argue that the trick is to skip Adli's altogether & go to a real store that provides carts & bags & actually pays employees to run more than one checkout line. My time is worth more than I save IMO.

Those are actually cost cutting measures.

They allow for cheap prices without compromising much on the quality of items and employees.

The items generally speak for themselves, but like any other store brand, there are duds.

The way I understand it, each store only employs a shockingly low number of employees, but here in Iowa, paid $16-18/hr ten years ago. I'd imagine it's still good pay.

I prefer that over the Wal-Mart model any day.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

no worries mate, I'll be rich again soon, somehow.

Baller on a budget.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Rooster

It has gotten a lot better than years back. I also believe it can be very regional in regards to what there is and how fresh it is. You are right though 9 times out of 10 it is perfect.

One thing that is kinda of cool is that they will occasionally get authentic German sausages and mustards that you can not buy anywhere else. If you like that kind of food.

They get senf in there? Love German mustards. Stuff is amazingly good.

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by aturnis

I'm super iffy about cheap meat too. They did have a supplier provide them with horse meat. http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/aldi.asp

Not cool.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

When it comes time for old Nellie the glue factory no longer needs horses as hyde glue is almost unheard of now with synthetics. So Nellie goes to the butcher where from what I have read Canada is like the 6th highest consumer of horse meat France is way up there along with Belgium and of course asian and eastern block countries . Surprisingly Italy is the #1 consumer or was once though my guess the Chinese restaurants in USA would eclipse all if fully documented

[srvy]

I remember growing up in the sixties we had a burger joint nearby called Rays Big Burger on Vivion Rd. He had to close down for a month and rumor was he was serving horse meat. I ate a lot of burgers there.