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ha ha luckily they let me keep my gift card. they were VERY insistent that I didn’t move an inch until they collected all of the blueberries. lol what a morning.
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Americans are already familiar with Aldi even if they haven’t been to a store called that - the “cool” grocery store Trader Joe’s is just the American branch of Aldi Nord. The stores now branded as “Aldi” are from Aldi Süd. The “Nord” and “Süd” names are referring to how in Germany the two chains (which were originally owned by two brothers much as Puma and Adidas were) split up the German market geographically.
As for whether either Aldi sells “trash”, they both pretty much sell rebranded stuff made by famous manufacturers, just like Costco’s Kirkland branded stuff. It is amusing how Trader Joe’s has the “cool” reputation while Aldi doesn’t in America though.
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Where I live the grocery options are Aldi, Kroger or Piggly Wiggly and have to drive 2 towns over for that. I get half our stuff at Aldi and some at Kroger and produce at various Mennonite farms.
The best part of Aldi is the quarter exchange when the switch out your cart at check out. The other day I got a cool Anna May Wong quarter!
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I’ve been to both, and I don’t find distinguishing between the two “amusingly” naive. One carries a lot of higher quality food than the other does, however similar their behind the scenes practices.
Cool for you that you found a way to look down on others though.
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I mean, I wouldn’t consider either of them regular “grocery stores,” though. They’re more bordering on specialty stores, IME.
But, I also have been very fortunate to never live in a food desert, even at my poorest, so I am likely speaking from a place of ignorant privilege, even if I don’t mean to.
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It’s not pleasant to think about food recalls, but take a look next time something is recalled. Quite often you’ll see products from Trader Joe’s, Aldi’s, Costco, and a named brand product recalled at the same time. Coincidence? No, it’s because they are literally the same thing made in the same factory.
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aldi is cheaper than its competition
but they are also smaller, with less variety, and they rarely have more than one open check out line, even if the lines are long.
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As might the number of servings error - US serving sizes are notoriously larger than European ones - but I have no idea if there is a regulatory definition of ‘serving size’ in USA. In UK, as far as I remember, the small print on the packaging usually defines the serving size as a (manufacturer-selected) number of grams or millilitres (but it’s late and I can’t be arsed to actually research that so a pinch (standard serving size) of salt may be needed). 
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If there’s a regulatory one in the US, it’s pretty broad.
7/16th oz bag of chips - 1 serving
Full 8 oz bag of chips - 8 1 oz servings
Last I checked, 7/16 oz and 1 oz aren’t the same
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Never buy fruit from Aldi. They only seem to stay fresh for a couple of days before rapidly decomposing. I bought a bag of oranges on a Saturday only to find juice on the counter and fuzzy green oranges come Wednesday. I only get certain items at Aldi before heading over to Meijer for pretty much everything else I’m looking for.
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Coincidentally, an Aldi opened this morning in my town, and I—inadvertently dressed in the Aldi color scheme
But you make up for it by the stylin’ hat. I like it! Does it have a backstory?
I too also wear face masks when in densely frequented places, especially when I feel like I have a cold coming on.
In fact we would pretty much expect it to be! I don’t think people here would accept bologna sausage, frankfurters, or liverwurst on a pizza instead of salami.
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Just for the record, Aldi is short for Albrecht Discount, and they basically introduced discount stores to Western Germany on the national scale. In a very short time, they were a force in the market and did exactly what was described above: they sold popular products under a new label.
Regarding fruit and legumes, at least in Germany they have some of the highest standards in the business in regard to quality of the produce. They have enough market power to do that.
From what I read here, Aldi Süd works differently in the US, but this might be a problem of the market, not the company?
ETA: AFAIR, EU regulations say that it a compound is made from natural sources and occurs in nature, it counts as a natural ingredient. I remember a biotech lecture in my undergrad about strawberry aroma and vanilla aroma made from wood.
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That was basically their business proposition when Aldi got started as a supermarket chain in Germany in the early 1960s – a restricted range of fast-moving basic-quality groceries, no fresh stuff (which would go bad if unsold), at cheaper-than-normal prices. ISTR that they limited themselves to 400 different articles. Also the stores themselves used to be very basic, like warehouses where the goods would be sold from the delivery cartons on pallets instead of being put on store shelves. Aldi stores used to be very popular mostly with the less well-to-do.
Over the years, “gentrification” has set in and has caused Aldi to be quite acceptable to most of German society. The range of goods on offer is less limited than it used to be, but still smaller than at more upscale supermarkets. As someone else has noted, much of the Aldi stuff is likely to be identical to name-brand stuff available elsewhere, and these days Aldi even sells some name-brand items directly, like Coca-Cola or Haribo. They also offer weekly special bargains which are widely advertised and popular with many people – the first time Aldi sold discount PCs, people would camp out in front of the stores waiting for them to open. I think for me the moment when I definitely realised that Aldi was no longer for people with very low grocery budgets was when in their weekly advertising flyer they offered packages of 12 golf balls.
Between the two chains – “Aldi Nord” and “Aldi Süd”, which split in 1961, have different logos and have divided Germany (or for that matter the world) neatly between them –, Aldi Süd is probably a little bit closer to the original spirit of the Aldi stores than Aldi Nord, which offers a somewhat greater range of goods than its sibling. For example, Aldi Nord used to sell frozen food much earlier than Aldi Süd (nowadays they both do). But today you’re likely to find either of the two in purpose-built, much nicer-looking premises on the outskirts of town, when back in the day they would tend to be in some dingy shack off the main street. Generally they seem to be trying to leave their bottom-of-the range discounter image behind, e.g., by offering more fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as animal-friendly, organic and vegan products.
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Aldi in the US is very different than Trader Joe’s in the US.
The only advantage to Aldi that I’ve found is when it imports European things that are hard to get in the States normally (as @ClutchLinkey said above).
TJ’s has tasty processed options that are helpful for those who don’t have a lot of time or kitchen to cook from scratch. Also, decent quality shelf-stable basics. Produce needs to be eaten quickly, though.
They don’t cater to the same clientele, at all.
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I find Aldi fruit and vegetables quite decent, if basic, but avoid the more processed food.
They will sell you a dictator’s face though
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I live in Aldinordland, but close to the border to Aldisüdland, so sometimes I nip across if they have a special offer on something. You don’t need a passport or a visa.
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