Anxiety-inducing bagging, understocked shelves, and shopping carts that'll cost you. Aldi's got cheap prices and a focus on speed — but there are plenty of red flags you should also know about.
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00:00Anxiety-inducing bagging, understocked shelves, and shopping carts that'll cost you. Aldi's got
00:06cheap prices and a focus on speed, but there are plenty of red flags you should also know about.
00:11It's your first time at Aldi, and you walk down the aisles searching for Pepsi or Cap'n Crunch,
00:16only to come up empty-handed. What gives? Well, one thing about Aldi is that you'll find almost
00:21no brand-name products. Occasionally, there might be a special on a brand you know and love,
00:26but most products seem to be from manufacturers you've never heard of,
00:29like Benton's and Simply Nature. But there's a reason why you'll almost never see name
00:33brands at Aldi. The supermarket chain primarily sells its own private-label products.
00:37But if you think off-label equals off-quality, think again.
00:42These are products that were made by Aldi, or made for Aldi by various food manufacturers
00:46and sold under one of its private-label food brands. It might seem like this means there's
00:50no consistent quality, or that the products will all be low-quality budget alternatives
00:54to the real deal, but this isn't the case. Aldi private-label products are rigorously
00:58tested against similar products to ensure their quality. And there's another bonus to
01:02the private-label products — they're cheaper. Aldi is the one commissioning the products,
01:06so it can afford to sell them for less. It also saves space on the shop floor because
01:10only one type of Dijon mustard or salted chips needs to be displayed,
01:13rather than offerings from 10 different brands.
01:16The Aldi fine section is better known as the middle aisle, or the aisle of shame. It's that
01:20aisle where you can pick up everything from waffle makers, to foot spas, to drills, all at
01:25a discount price. The trouble is, its offerings can be inconsistent. You might see something you
01:30want in Aldi's weekly ads and turn up to your local store, only to be disappointed that it's
01:34nowhere in sight. These middle aisle bargains aren't guaranteed, and some can be downright
01:38hard to snap up. There's also an ideal time to shop for certain products. They're stocked in
01:42stores on Wednesdays, so that's usually the best time to find the most popular items.
01:46Aldi Fines has a big following online, and people often go and stock up on multiple of
01:51the same item, although there are buying limits for popular ones. It should also be noted that
01:55availability can vary by region. Some stores might not receive a huge number of certain items,
01:59or they might get none at all.
02:01Aldi isn't like any old supermarket. It's all about speed and productivity,
02:05and that extends to the checkout line.
02:07"...Aldi is all about simplicity and ruthless efficiency. It's substance over style."
02:14This means some customers aren't prepared for Aldi's bagging protocols,
02:17which can hold up the line — or can leave you feeling confused if you're the one who's
02:21unprepared. While some grocery stores have grocery baggers or, at the very least,
02:25you can pack your own bags at the register, this isn't the case at Aldi.
02:28The checkout area is designed so you can park your cart right up close to the cashier,
02:32who scans items rapidly and loads them straight into your cart. After paying,
02:36you take the cart over to the packing area to fill up your bags.
02:38Then there's the bags themselves. In some supermarkets, you can get your groceries
02:42bagged in paper for free. But Aldi doesn't have free grocery bags,
02:45so if you come without a reusable bag, you're going to have to pay.
02:49When you show up to a grocery store, you don't expect to need cash to use the carts.
02:53But unfortunately, that's not the case at Aldi. Few things are free at this budget supermarket.
02:57And while you don't have to pay to use the carts, you do need a quarter as a kind of deposit.
03:02This leaves many customers scrounging around for change,
03:04digging into pockets, and checking between car seats.
03:07"...You can't spare a quarter?"
03:08When you get to the row of carts, they're all chained together in a line,
03:11and inserting a quarter releases the one at the end. When you're done shopping and have loaded
03:15your groceries into your car, you return your cart, chain it back up, and the quarter you inserted is
03:20released. If you don't carry cash these days, you can buy tokens that do the same job.
03:24The reason why Aldi makes customers pay to use its carts isn't because it thinks that
03:28a quarter will stop someone from stealing a cart. Rather, it's to encourage people to
03:32return them to the designated spots. This way, they don't end up littering the parking lot,
03:36and the store doesn't need to employ a member of staff just to wrangle them.
03:39The seafood at Aldi may be a red flag in and of itself. More and more of us are thinking
03:44carefully about where our food comes from, and this grocery chain isn't hitting high standards
03:48as far as its sourcing. Greenpeace found problems with the way Aldi sources its seafood,
03:52in particular the canned tuna, which the organization says isn't fished in a sustainable
03:56way. What's more, Aldi's SeaQueen brand of seafood may have indirectly funded the North Korean
04:01government and its nuclear weapons program. The brand was dealing with fisheries that regularly
04:05employ North Korean workers to cut costs, around 70 percent of whose salary goes to the North
04:10Korean state. But worse yet, these workers are subjected to awful conditions. Aldi did ultimately
04:15cut these ties after learning the truth. Sometimes you'll head to Aldi and find the
04:19shelves understocked, especially in the Aldi fine section. This can make your shopping trip
04:24seem like a wasted opportunity, but the day of the week you shop at Aldi can make a big difference
04:28to your options. It's frustrating, though, as you may end up planning your shopping trips around
04:32Aldi's schedule rather than your own. Wednesday is the smartest day of the week to shop at Aldi.
04:37That's when the new offers in the weekly ad roll around, so if you head there on Tuesdays,
04:41you might find the shelves looking a bit bare, especially in the special offers aisle. That said,
04:45it can vary slightly store to store. Some have products out first thing on Wednesday,
04:50others a bit later, and some even start putting them out on Tuesday night,
04:53so it can take a bit of trial and error to work out how things go down where you live.
04:57You may find an Aldi product that you can't get enough of and buy it every time you go
05:01shopping there. Then, suddenly, it's gone. It can be frustrating, but Aldi's product
05:06availability changes with the seasons and varies by store, so there's no guarantee your favorites
05:10will always be in stock. Some Aldi products are seasonal, like pumpkin products in fall
05:15or Christmas cookies around the holidays. That said, it's easier to come to terms with
05:19the fact that these won't always be available, though with any luck, they'll be back next year.
05:23The more unpredictable thing is that product availability varies between stores. If a
05:27certain item sells badly, it might disappear from your local store but still be sold at the
05:32Aldi two towns over, which is pretty annoying. We all love getting something for nothing,
05:37which is why coupons are so great.
05:38Hold on, I got a coupon for that.
05:42It was in the paper this morning.
05:44Aldi doesn't do coupons. It also doesn't have any kind of reward system for its regular customers.
05:49This might seem stingy, but there's a good reason for it. By foregoing reward programs and coupons,
05:54Aldi can provide incredible value to all its shoppers. Its prices are consistently lower than
05:58other supermarkets, and the only way it can do this is by cutting costs elsewhere,
06:02so coupons and reward cards are some of the things on the chopping block.
06:06For some people, a trip to Aldi is like a day out. You can gleefully stroll the aisles and get
06:11excited while checking out all the new products and seasonal offerings, but for others, a trip
06:15to Aldi is anxiety-inducing. If this is your experience, you're not alone. A lot of people
06:19feel anxious while shopping at Aldi, which is why so many people avoid it altogether.
06:23There are plenty of factors that play into Aldi anxiety. For one,
06:26there's the fact that you need a quarter to use one of their carts. Plus, the stores aren't
06:30necessarily well-organized, so finding everything on your list can feel like an ordeal. And without
06:35music playing, you might hear the chatter from other shoppers echoing around. It's enough to
06:39make even the calmest person go into a tailspin. If you want to get over your Aldi anxiety,
06:43start slowly. Go on small trips there at first and maybe bring a friend for moral support. Maybe
06:48someone who loves Aldi and can help you find things. But if you decide Aldi just isn't for
06:52you, that's okay, too.