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It is no secret that my favorite place to grocery shop is ALDI. I spend a good amount of time in there while creating my Aldi meal plans. Along the way, I’ve picked up some secret tips that you probably don’t know about. In this blog post I am sharing my top secrets you don’t know about ALDI.
13 Secrets That You Don’t know about Aldi:
This simple store makes shopping such an easy experience. Although I have my choice of superstores, warehouse clubs, and farmer’s markets (seasonally) in my area, Aldi has become my go-to for my weekly shopping trips.
What Is Unique about Aldi?
1.) They locally source certain products.
My local store uses a local milk provider (Byrne Dairy), and much of the produce is sourced from local farms. Why is this important? I know my perishables are fresher and buying them means I am also supporting farms and employees near my community. Plus, I don’t have to spend my Saturdays wandering around farmers’ markets; I can just go to Aldi!
2.) The average Aldi store has 6-8 employees.
They pay their employees significantly higher than the national average and by working only 20 hours a week, they give their employees full health insurance. Even still, Aldi’s prices are competitive with larger stores and sometimes lower!
3.) There are multiple bar codes on every product.
How is this a benefit? When the cashier scans the item, it scans the first time. Have you ever wondered how they can cash you out so fast? This is why. Next time you are in an Aldi, count how many barcodes are on your products, the average item has up to five bar codes on it.
I pulled out a package of Aldi butter today to check, and it had FIVE bar codes!
What Should I Know Before Shopping at Aldi?
4.) You have to bring your own bags to Aldi and bag your own groceries.
This is just one of the ways that they keep costs down, and make it an efficient place to shop (and work). You can purchase their Aldi bags for $0.10 a piece for plastic or $0.06 for paper. I typically just keep my bags in the back of my van, that way I always have them on hand.
5.) The boxes that store the items at Aldi are specifically designed for their store.
They can easily rip off the top of the box and place it on the shelf, making it quick and easy to stock the shelves. The boxes also match the packaging on the actual product, making it easy for you to identify when you are doing your shopping.
If you’ve forgotten your Aldi bags, you can always find an empty box and use that to bring your groceries home in.
6.) That strange yellow hook in the front of their shopping carts
New Aldi shoppers sometimes wonder what this is for. The answer: to hold your reusable bags – genius! You can also hook multiple carts together using the hook, perfect for large families.
7.) They have specially designed produce signs.
Instead of switching the sign every week, they only switch out the prices. You can see that the black tags are the only ones that are changed, this helps the employees run the store efficiently.
8.) Many of their store brand items are actually name-brand items.
I’ve heard that their Kirkwood Chicken is actually Tyson chicken, just under a different package. The Kirkwood Gluten-Free Chicken nuggets are the same exact ones that I buy under the Wegmans brand. The Wegmans brand is $2.00 more per bag.
What Should I NOT buy from Aldi?
9.) Aldi will discount their bread items 5 days before the item expires.
Simply look on the package for the expiration date, if it is expiring in six days and it is nearing the end of the day, wait until tomorrow to get it at a deep discount.
10.) You don’t need to reach into the back of the rack for the dairy.
The refrigerated items are stocked from behind the racks. We buy from the front of the shelf, and the shelf replenishes itself. This makes it easy for us to buy the newest items, and for the stock to never go bad.
Is Shopping at Aldi Worth It?
Oh my – this is a resounding “YES!” from me!
11.) Aldi has a HUGE selection of Gluten-free and Organic foods.
Their natural/organic line is called Simply Natural and their gluten-free foods are under the live gFree line.
12.) Aldi’s offers a double-back guarantee.
They also call this a “twice as nice” guarantee. Whatever you want to name it, this is a fantastic deal and it shows how confident they are in their products. If you don’t like an item, you can bring it back, get it replaced, AND get your money back!
13.) You can feed your family on under $100 per week at Aldi.
I am proof! I have a family of 6 and we eat for under $100 per week at Aldi. Don’t believe me – check out my Aldi meal plans where I teach you how to buy a month’s worth of dinners for under $150.00. There are 12 meal plans available – you can check them all out here.
There are so many secrets you don’t know about Aldi, I probably could have made this post even longer! I hope you get the idea that this is a fantastic place to shop as well as a few insider tips. Here are a few more super-secret ways to save even more at Aldi. And, if you are looking for some ideas on what to cook once you bring all the groceries home, you can check out my free meal plan download and create 10 amazing meals for less than $80 (that’s almost 2 weeks of dinners for the price of ONE meal at a restaurant!)
Looking for more Aldi posts – check out these similar posts:
- Check out my four Aldi meal plans – 20 dinners for under $150
- How Cooking with an Aldi Meal Plan will Save You Thousands a Year
- 30 Must-buy items at Aldi
- Why is Aldi so cheap?
- Which store is cheaper? Aldi vs. Walmart – an in-depth look
- 5 Helpful Tips for shopping at Aldi
- 10 Things I Learned from Being a 10-Year Aldi Shopper
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