Generally Speaking, ALDI Sucks. I Don't See The Big Deal

What's so great about ALDI?

Their food is limited in variety, not great quality and no cheaper than other supermarkets specials.

The special buys are usually for no name poorly made garbage……… no the ALDI version of Le Creuset pot is not better idiot.

Yet so many comments in posts on here attract people spruiking cheap Aldi versions of premium items. "Hey guy, I know your Snap On tool set is great and all, BuT wAiT tIlL yOu TrY tHe AlDi VeRsIoN!!!!"

I added generally speaking to my title as I do go in to buy the cheeseburger sauce when it comes on the food special. Otherwise its yuck and full of peasants.

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ALDI
ALDI

Comments

  • +2

    Dustin Martin effects to the fans.

    • It's funny watching regular sloppy Joes think they are punching down on Dusty.

  • +133

    Will you actually engage and discuss with people on these provocative posts or just ignore people like your others?

      • +56

        Oh my god, RT didn't engage or discuss on the call-out comment either. Dude is doing a speedrun!

      • +6

        How do I know you are not a peasant hired by Coles or Woolworths to make this post? Or even Aldi to see what people think about their brand and if they will defend it? Advertising and Surveys are taking over Social media these days, so I won't be surprised. Always need to think for yourself.

    • It's alright, this clause.

      I Don't See The Big Deal

    • +42

      OP is about 99% correct

      Aldi is no longer cheaper with most items.
      In fact some prices are now more expensive and thier price increases have been much greater than the other supermarkets

      Aldi's logistics and perishable foods control is terrible - watch out for "out of date: fresh food items.
      Aldi has by far the most out of stock items in the present environment.

      Quality for some tems is better but for most its worse

      The special buys are just CRAP!
      They are cheap throw away items with no service backup and no spare parts

      And they have the WORST SERVICE of any supermarket
      They wait till queue is 10 deep before opening another register.
      There is no service desk so any issues just hold up the one or 2 registers that are open.

      As Aldi's advertising says. they are "different" but not better

      • +3

        i love using the self checkout where most of the special items doesn't scan and i have to get the cashier (who has people 10 deep) over to fix the error

        • +4

          Yeh because Coles and Woolies never has issues at self checkout. s/

        • +6

          They always have someone manning the self serve area.

          • -1

            @Pinchy: Yes they always have one person manning the 10 'self service' checkouts

        • +3

          wait you guys have self checkout?

          • +1

            @casho: Down in Canberra recently and yes they have self checkouts. First time I had seen one at an Aldi's. (from Western Sydney)
            FYI the one staff member manning the self serve checkout was excellent, and I had a super smooth run through……

      • +5

        I hate scanning stuff myself. I am not getting any savings from scanning stuff myself and colesworth are just increasing profits by saving money on labour. I'll go to aldi just because of this marketed 'convenience' from the big two.

        • i used to do this but nowadays colesworth mostly have just one or maybe two registers open full of large trolleys so you are more or less "obliged" to go through self checkout

          aldi isnt so convenient for me these days i used to make bigger savings there but it wasnt so obvious a few months ago

        • +1

          Creative people know how to save on self-scanning.

      • +15

        Everything I buy at Aldi is 50c - $1 cheaper than coles/Woolworths..

        Cheese, meat, bread, frozen stuff, chocolate and snacks are all definitely cheaper.

        My local Aldi always has fresh fruit and veg.
        Also has self serve so the lines aren’t 10 deep.

        Some of their special buys are good. Only when you need something. I have snow gear and a bike jacket are still great years later

      • well, that is very true since after Woolworths started 10% discount to grocer every month with mobile or insurance purchase with Woolworths. I stopped going to Aldi and Coles for grocery. There are though few items which are not cheaper then Coles or Woollies but still better quality at same or lower price in Aldi and I do buy them like their value dishwashing liquid or clothes washing liquid or powder.

        their special are no longer cheaper either but i still buy them as sometime they are value compared to other Aussie stores and obviously i don't expect to use their after service as most product works for 12 months at-least for me.

    • Also the Dick Smith effect. He hates Germans, his middle name is : wait for it: HAROLD !!!

  • +52

    Attention seeking much?

    • +2

      🤫 let them play…. it’s entertaining for us “peasants”

  • The chocolate meal replacement shakes are actually pretty tasty. I haven't found any other brand which are as good. That's the only Aldi product I think is better than alternatives.

    • +1

      Have you seen how much sugar is in them?

    • I lost 8kgs from not shopping at Aldi. Aldi's "good stuff" is the junk food you don't actually need to eat.

  • +11

    Forget Aldi.. DJ is the one to watch atm
    Plus you'll avoid the peasants.

    • -4

      The Love Honey Advent Calendar is still full price though.

      • Thanks for the tip!

        Could you check out the Aldi equivalent when next dipping your pickle in the burger sauce?

    • +4

      Online & delivered purchases only to avoid every peasant, domestic violence-abuser/wife attacker, Costco shopping neighbour, supermarket security guard, etc

    • +12

      Ewww you shop at DJ’s??

      I get all my groceries flown over from Harrods

      • That processed junk will be the end of you!

  • +47

    Flag this under 'troll' and let it rest, people.

  • +47

    Imagine thinking you are the main character calling everyone peasants but in reality you just an NPCs that no one wants to talk to.

    • -7

      wtf are you talking about?

    • You've just described a conscious mind, besides I'm the only character

      • Do you get to the Cloud District very often? Oh, what am I saying, of course you don't

  • +11

    Seems an easy resolution; don't go there.

    • A pointless and irrelevant post. Seems an easy resolution; stop posting.

  • +15

    The one thing I find Aldi bad for is fruit. For some reason it rots very quickly compared to Coles or Woolies.

    • +11

      Aldi perishables are always closer to their expiry date. Meat, milk, juice. Its always seems 50% or less time to expiry than Coles or Woolworths.

      • +1

        There milk doesn’t last as long once opened

  • +5

    Cult of Aldi, only shop there for cheese, go to watch the peasants trawl through the weekly special buys

  • Sadly as a Blues supporter, I agree with OP…

    • -4

      Hey guy, the Blues are on the up, come a long way since the days your best players were Angwin and Deluca.

      • +2

        Simple the peasants must live nearby - move 😀

  • +27

    I do all my shopping there, except when I need dry yeast, as they do not stock this item.

    Most of their products are cheaper than Coles and Woolworths, and of the same or better quality. Their nappies and baby food are great. Tissues good, coffee pods, milk, cheese, chocolate, garlic bread, mince, chicken breast, cleaning products, white vinegar, dry pasta, canned fruit and vegetables, bread, brioche buns, bagels, frozen vegetables, frozen meats and fish. Their fake Nutella is delicious, Berry jams, snacks bars etc are excellent.

    All their products are naturally coloured and flavoured, so there is no issue.

    I don't think you actually tried very hard. Maybe only buy their food for a month and see.

    • +1

      Berry jams

      This is actually the main reason I don't shop at Aldi. Their jam tastes awful. Like plastic and sugar. And they only have one brand (or at least they did when I tried it ten+ years ago) so you can't even try a different brand. I don't want to have to visit multiple shops to get my groceries so that experience meant no more Aldi.

      • +7

        Maybe give it a go now. Very good. Have actual chunks of strawberries

        • Ok maybe I will!

          • +3

            @Quantumcat: Its the ones in glass jars btw, around $2.5 if I remember correctly.

            • @pformag: Agreed. The good jam is a clone of Bonne Maman, even the jar and lids are interchangeable.

      • Expensive jam for you then, by the time you pay extra for every other item in your trolley.

        • -1

          Aldi isn't really much cheaper. And their veggies and meat often aren't good

          • +3

            @Quantumcat: We prefer aldi meat to coles and Woolies lol. We buy the half price stuff from coles and Woolies and everything else from aldi

            • @Count Shagula: Yep. If prefer to buy meat at the butcher, but if I'm in need of some when they're closed, I'd choose Aldi over Colesworth. Aldi scotch fillet is usually pretty good.

            • @Count Shagula: coles has the worst meat and their fruit is usually pretty bad (super unripe or damaged)

      • Their Strawberry jam, which is made in Belgium, is great. Not as good as Barker's or Bonne Maman but it's less than half the price.

    • -3

      But tell us about their Kool-Aid! I see youve been dri king a lot of it.

    • You forgot garlic dip. It's so good. Aldis has a higher % of garlic than the other brands.
      One of the more fancy looking brands is mostly mashed potato ☹️

    • and of the same or better quality

      Eh, debatable. I do think they have some great unique snacks and certain items (dry/canned/frozen) goods are fine.
      But their fruit/veg selection is not always fresh and not always cheaper.
      Chicken isn't free range. Fish options left a lot to be desired. Mince is usually ok.

      I've tried buying Aldi alternatives of certain brands that I like and it's just… no comparison really.
      Like sure it's cheaper but I wouldn't say the quality is the same or better. The taste is definitely not as good.

      I usually end up doing a partial shop at Aldi and get the rest of my stuff from Woolies.

  • +6

    The European cheese and chocolate are great from Aldi! Agree regarding the other items though

    • +3

      Yeah I do like the European chocolate taste, it's so different

      • +2

        Aldi chocolate is made in Germany and it's pretty good

    • +2

      Correct. The chocolate bars are from Poland and taste better than any Cadbury bar.

      • OOOhhh - thems fighting words! Put 'em up!

        • +15

          Cadbury are masters at marketing, they have moved a lot of production off shore and substituted cocoa with vegetable fats, then add extra sugar to cover the bad taste. They treat the Australian consumer like a fool, yet Australians remain loyal.

          When you buy chocolate look at the % cocoa solids

  • -5

    Never liked Aldi. Find them expensive to be honest, and markdowns are garbage. At least Colesworth have proper markdowns over 90% off if you go at the right time..

    • +1

      I agree that their markdowns are disappointing compared to Coles and Woolworths. The only other thing I don't like is the constant register opening and closing… the store is busy, just leave it open!

      • +1

        Yeah they should do it like the other 2, and never open a new register.

  • +3

    Many items like their Moser Roth Dark Sea Salt Chocolate Blocks & Moser Roth Milk Chocolate Blocks are tasty, but they have some awful products too, ie…
    The Multipack chips taste like they have been sprayed with weird chemicals, the vegetables look questionable…

    The mascots 'Al' and 'Di' are really cheesy and unappealing.

    …and it's always the luck of the draw if they have enough registers open, and although the staff scan pretty quick, I dread going in for a product or two in case I am stuck in checkout hell.

    Also, even if my reused Aldi shopping bag is totally crumpled and falling apart they try to charge for a bag as they think I just took it from the shelf…

    I rate them 7.5 out of 10 rubber chickens.

  • -2

    OK, non boomer

  • +7

    OMG ! Every-time I throw a trolly into a creek I lose $1.
    Much easier to vandalize the local Woolies….

    • +1

      'trolley'

      • +7

        Cart! Pheasant!

        • +3

          You mean peasant, lol.

          • +2

            @Heaps for Cheaps: Wait, were not talking about wild birds fot hunting? Aldi doesn't stock them? So much for theor middle aisles…

          • +1

            @Heaps for Cheaps: What is the name of a female pheasant?
            Hen

            Poor rural person:
            England: Peasant

            US: Redneck

            Australia: Feral…….

      • no free fruit for BOQ customers?

        • +1

          Being a BOQ customer makes you salty.

  • +28

    Otherwise its yuck and full of peasants.

    You might want to get off that high horse of yours, champ

    I do go in to buy the cheeseburger sauce when it comes on the food special

    So, by your definition, doesn't that make you a peasant?

    • True nobility, champing a peasant.

    • Come on peeps, 3 more likes and I'll get a badge hahaha

  • +19

    Could so easily be a SlavOz alt account

    • +10

      Has ALDI gone WOKE?!

  • +4

    I thought all the POV's shopped at Colesworth, so could save an extra 20c on their Winfields.

  • +19

    Aldi shopper here.

    Otherwise its yuck and full of peasants

    At least this peasant knows the difference between it's and its.

  • +5

    It's SlavOz 3rd cousin from SA

    • +3

      Hey Cousin! Let’s go bowling.

    • +1

      …so, his mum?

  • +3

    It’s not about living as a peasant, but is about the pleasure the excitement of getting it cheaper than elsewhere.

    My experience, One thing fun about ALDI is their weekly catalogue. It’s full of surprises. Yes not all suits, but at least there’s another option, be it cheaper or more useful. Memorable stuffs I got from them: $99 dyson look-a-like vacuum, $49 shower caddy acrylic I got for $25, casalife smart RGB led lights for $7.99 each as clearance items….

    Though somehow I support local for fruits and fresh vegetables. But for frozen stuffs ALDI is not comparable, cheapest in market.e.

    Best of all is 60 days refund policy, provided in resale-able condition I suppose.

    • +2

      They're selling suits???

  • +2

    Their food is limited in variety, not great quality and no cheaper than other supermarkets specials.

    Their limited variety is a feature of their business model. By limiting their variety of food they can operate on a smaller footprint and I am sure it would also reduce the time that a product is on the shelf compared to Coles and Woolworths. This allows them to sell their products cheaper than Coles and Woolworths which they most certainly are. The only time you can buy products from Coles and Woolworths for a similar price is when they are on sale. I completely disagree about the quality though. To me their food is indistinguishable from the food I'd otherwise buy from Coles or Woolworths.

    The special buys are usually for no name poorly made garbage.

    I do agree with this. Many of their special buys items are hit and miss.

    Also, I've heard people complain about the pressure that you are placed under to bag your own items at the checkouts. This is a fair complaint I think but once again is a feature of their system to allow them to operate with less staff and pass savings onto the customer.

  • +12

    I'm a regular Aldi shopper and one of the main draw cards to me is how quickly you can do a big shop. You just have to ignore all the middle aisle noise.

    You don't need to go hunting for specials or alternative brands. If I want paper towel I just grab a 3 pack of the Sampson paper towel. Why? Because it's the only option at my store.

    • I think there's 2 options on the paper towel. ;)

      • My local had handee during covid but only 1 option currently at mine. I live regional so might be more limited compared to the big smoke.

    • +1

      main draw cards to me is how quickly you can do a big shop

      It all depends on the location. My local Aldi is convenient as it's in the same shopping centre as Woolies (where I do my main grocery shop) but the check-out times are the longest because there are only 5/6 registers and they are never all open, irrespective of how busy it is.

      Because it's the only option at my store.

      What does it matter if there are 10 options available of each item @ Colesworth? If you are brand loyal & don't care for specials then just grab the one you always buy.

      • |check-out times are the longest because there are only 5/6 registers

        My local Aldi now has about 10 self-checkouts and only opens 1 register. Used to be so annoying standing line at register with only 3 or 4 items

      • Most of the Aldi queues move really quick. Some might even argue to quick when you are on the receiving end.

        They always have a queue because if it's quiet the staff are off packijg shelves etc. It's how they save a lot of money on wages despite paying more then Coles and Woolworths.

        It's takes me about a 1/3 Rd of the of time to walk around an aldi versus a Woolworths. The stores are just smaller so it's way faster. Woolies alo puts all your essentials as far away each other as possible so you walk around forever. They also hide the cheaper products on the lowest shelf. I really don't care what brand oats I buy but I'm not paying 3 fold the price for a red box.

        However these days I shop at Woolies online unless I need coffee.

    • This is so true. If you do the outer loop you can very quickly get a weeks worth of groceries without a lot of effort. Might not be the absolute cheapest, but a good price and usually reasonable quality.

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