Aldi and Trader Joes
- Thread starter Bobber
- Start date
Two things I can't do: go to yard sales and shop at Aldo
Reminds me of some bad bad times as a kid
Trader Joe's just sells a bunch of off brand items like Aldi, but is nice to people. I stay away from that joint too. Too much like Aldi.
I try to buy as much local produce as possible, but I won't say if it's organic or with extra Roundup for flavor
Reminds me of some bad bad times as a kid
Trader Joe's just sells a bunch of off brand items like Aldi, but is nice to people. I stay away from that joint too. Too much like Aldi.
I try to buy as much local produce as possible, but I won't say if it's organic or with extra Roundup for flavor
Good for dairy, eggs, bread, most condiments, baking goods.
I don't believe in produce.
Most meat there is too fatty for me, hard to beat Fareway.
I don't like their canned foods as much, as least the few canned foods that I eat. Real Spaghettio's forever and always <3.
I don't believe in produce.
Most meat there is too fatty for me, hard to beat Fareway.
I don't like their canned foods as much, as least the few canned foods that I eat. Real Spaghettio's forever and always <3.
I get my milk at Aldi. For a while they had their gallons for $1.89. They upped it to 2.29 but that is still over $1 cheaper than anywhere else.
Produce at ALDI is sketchy usually, especially fruit. Great place for essentials like bread, milk, eggs, butter, etc. Also good for most shelf stable products, as they are usually the same thing as (or equivalent to) national brand, just in the ALDI packaging.
Now that the Wal-Mart stores near me are upgrading to Supercenters, I probably won't go to ALDI very much anymore though.
In Florida the nearest Aldi is 45 minutes away. I miss it when I'm there. It just seems easier to go in there and get groceries than park in that 75 Acre lot at Walmart and push my cart 3 times farther. I still make an Aldi run about once a month when I'm there. Their mushroom flavored spaghetti sauce is really good.
My produce belief system is more agnostic.
I work for a company that runs an Aldi type model for their retail business. Almost every canned good labeled as the company brand is produced by a name brand, like all store brand tomato products are Hunts products. On the opposite of that if you buy jarred "fresh" produce at a farmers market type store, the majority of is just canned produce dumped in a jar and given a nicer label. It's crazy how much food is sold as fresh, organic or homemade that comes from a place that could only be described as a factory.
I work for a company that runs an Aldi type model for their retail business. Almost every canned good labeled as the company brand is produced by a name brand, like all store brand tomato products are Hunts products. On the opposite of that if you buy jarred "fresh" produce at a farmers market type store, the majority of is just canned produce dumped in a jar and given a nicer label. It's crazy how much food is sold as fresh, organic or homemade that comes from a place that could only be described as a factory.
Call me a snob but I can't buy practically anything at Aldi, it's all frozen, processed or canned with heavy syrups and I don't eat that way. I have one a block away and I've tried to save money by shopping there and just feel it's poor quality at best and I'd classify much of it as unhealthy.
I don't care about brands at all, I care about my food being as fresh and as chemical free as possible. There's a new Chicago/Milwaukee grocery chain growing real fast (Mariano's) and I get their store-brand stuff because it's nearly as cheap as Aldi yet it has no artificial ingredients, for example the peanut butter says "ingredients: peanuts" while most competitors look like a complex chemistry project. This place is closing down big traditional chains left and right because many people want natural food now without paying a ridiculous price like Whole Foods.
I don't care about brands at all, I care about my food being as fresh and as chemical free as possible. There's a new Chicago/Milwaukee grocery chain growing real fast (Mariano's) and I get their store-brand stuff because it's nearly as cheap as Aldi yet it has no artificial ingredients, for example the peanut butter says "ingredients: peanuts" while most competitors look like a complex chemistry project. This place is closing down big traditional chains left and right because many people want natural food now without paying a ridiculous price like Whole Foods.
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The vast majority of ALL chain grocery stores in America are this way. I don't think Aldi claims to be different in that regard.
EDIT: forgot to add that I've heard good things about this Mariano's, and that they are/might be taking over some of the Dominick's stores in the area. Which would be good, because Dominick's is the most expensive store I've ever seen.
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Umm...in Muscatine, Aldi's went into a former Sun Mart, somewhere around '76. Not sure just where the very first one is supposed to have been...
I don't want to get into food wars here, but the bolded part is 100% false. ConAgra Foods (Hunts) does not currently make any store branded canned tomato products, and to my knowledge, never has.
You should know that every grocery retailer uses that model, because their really isn't an alternative. You either get the brand name company to make the same product (or a similar version) for you, or you get one of their competitors to do it. It's not like HyVee, Kroger, Winn Dixie, Wal Mart, Target, etc. own their own food processing facilities.
Hunts might not do store brand for grocery store chains, but they do it for the food distributor I work for. My comptrolling eyes see all.
What an educational thread. There's a new Aldi being built in Iowa City. We usually go to Fareway but might do some Aldi shopping. I too have negative associations from my childhood. Some questions: you have to bring your own boxes/bags, right? And you have to check the carts out with a quarter or something?
Help me understand your definition of "Factory" as it pertains to food and whether this is good or bad?
Yes, you use a quarter to unlock a cart, if you need one. You get the quarter back when you lock the cart back up. You can either bring your own bags/boxes, or buy bags at the checkout counter, they have paper and plastic ones. Or you can usually snag a box or three somewhere in the store as most items are in displayable cases and many times get left on the shelves by shoppers.
I know we've gone off topic here (I know, shocking for CF), but are you talking about foodservice?
