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Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

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Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#641

Post by taco_emoji »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #20
geff82 wrote: post #18

I live in Aldi's motherland and even if I could easily afford to buy groceries in other stores from major brands I usually go to Aldi first, buying the 10% they do not sell later somewhere else. Why? Because I blindly trust them. What they sell is usually good quality with a good taste (I even do not look at the prices). The juices they sell: perfect. The fruits they sell: mostly sweet (there is a fruit quality probl…

YMMV, but TP is one of the few things I don't buy from Aldi. We tried a pack and the wipes felt like they were rice-paper thin.

At least in the U.S., TP is one of the few things that's differentiated--they have 3-5 different ones, each a clone of a different brand like Charmin Ultra or Quilted Northern or Angel Soft. There's a little thing in the corner of the packaging that says "Compare to Cottonelle" or whatever. I took a photo of the one we like so I know which to get next time :)

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#642

Post by taco_emoji »

orliesaurus wrote: post #403

I wonder if eating food from these super cheap places will shorten your life span compared to other more expensive and focused on healthy places. Basically, sure cheap is good, but how less or more healthy are these cheap supermarkets comparing them to on quality and healthiness metrics?

I'm not sure what you mean... If you're buying fresh produce, there's not going to be any difference between stores unless one of them is spraying sugar & fat onto their tomatoes. And if you're buying nacho cheese tortilla chips, you're already going for something less healthy.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#643

Post by bluGill »

petra wrote: post #165
bluGill wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most grocery stores have more private label products than Aldi. It isn't hard, most produces of product will put whatever label you want one (within what is legal) if you order a quantity.

So if I go to a grocery store, and buy only their private labels - would the products be great, as people here describe Aldi?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Private labels can set quality levels - for a price - if they want to. Most are trying to be cheapest and so they don't.

Private labels order from the brand names. Sometimes they order a different recipe, but often it is the exact same recipe as the name brand just the box is different. If there is still more pickles in the vat after making 1000 jars of the private label they will finish the vat into 17 jars of their brand. Sometimes a batch will not meet the brand's quality standards (taste) but it is still food safe so they dump it into a private label box with lower standards.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#644

Post by llamataboot »

jhbadger wrote: post #524
pnathan wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found that groceries run for and by immigrants have a similar approach. The "experience" Americans crave is revealed to be so vacuous.

Also a lot of restaurants run by (and mostly for) immigrants. They aren't into fancy decor with statues and paintings from the appropriate country the way ones aimed at Westerners tend to be. Cheap tables covered by plastic tablecloths and folding metal chairs work just fine.

True but even that tends to be driven by a certain 'idea' of authenticity - look at all the restuarants in here that would like to upgrade the decor and food (and prices!) but immediately get dinged as 'in-authentic' when they make those changes

https://ny.eater.com/2019/1/18/18183973/authenticity-yelp-re...

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#645

Post by kzrdude »

tannhaeuser wrote: post #599
kzrdude wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Euro here, I don't think chasing the bottom of the barrel is worth celebrating. Also, Germany has the worst standard of grocery stores (I'd prefer grocery stores in general from neighboring France, Switzerland etc) due to their assortment and quality of products - and Aldi and Lidl are responsible for that.

Germans who can afford it buy only basic stuff at discounters. Fresh vegetables are bought at traditional grocery stores or markets, bread is bought at a bakery, and meat at a butcher, etc. though these latter two professions are heavily in decline in the last 20 years. Comparisons with France and Italy are unfair; these are in a league of their own with respect to food quality (at a price, though).

Good point, actually

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#646

Post by Calib3r »

ThJ wrote: post #5
ThJ wrote: post #4

Most of the stuff they're doing seems to be entirely commonplace for the supermarket chains we have here in Norway. The coins for the carts. Stacking crates instead of individual items. Training every employee for everything (it's not uncommon to see a store manager operating the cash register). Expecting customers to fill their own bags and charging for those bags. Smaller selection. The only unique part seems to be…

It helps if you just imagine that every large brick and mortar chain in the Nordic countries operates kind of like IKEA. Lots of self service, spartan shop interior, and also, since labour is expensive here and you can't fuck your employees over with low wages like you can elsewhere, store owners tend to want to cut down on the number of staff.

>>you can't fuck your employees over with low wages like you can elsewhere

Not all Nordic countries even have minimum wage laws (Sweden, Norway). I'm not sure how you were able to construct that observation.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#647

Post by Calib3r »

Am I the only one here who doesn't prefer self-service?

Although I definitely appreciate the idea of having options for people who do not share my mentality, my ideal shopping experience is where I have to do the least amount work.

I don't want to have to put my cart up. I don't want to do self-checkout. I'm not going to tell a robot what kind of vegetable I want. I appreciate being able to call a store to resolve an outlier issue.

As a consumer, I will always be willing to pay extra $$ for what I suppose is now becoming a premium perk.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#648

Post by oddibe »

I haven't seen this specifically mentioned about the carts, but the cart storage at Aldi is covered so the carts don't sit out in the weather and rust. They also don't get bent or have wonky wheels like most other supermarkets, probably because they're not getting inadvertently or intentionally hit by cars in the parking lot.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#649

Post by DanielleMolloy »

Nice thread.

Want to add that the founders of ALDI, Theo and Karl Albrecht managed to stay secretive throughout their lives (especially after Theo was kidnapped in the 70s). They managed to have almost zero photos or video recordings of them in public, despite both appearing on the world's top 10 richest people list quite a few times (they were the richest people in Germany anyway). They were like phantoms.

Also, Theo Albrecht loved collecting typewriters. Just sayin', as we are on HN.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#650

Post by njepa »

Calib3r wrote: post #646
ThJ wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It helps if you just imagine that every large brick and mortar chain in the Nordic countries operates kind of like IKEA. Lots of self service, spartan shop interior, and also, since labour is expensive here and you can't fuck your employees over with low wages like you can elsewhere, store owners tend to want to cut down on the number of staff.

>>you can't fuck your employees over with low wages like you can elsewhere Not all Nordic countries even have minimum wage laws (Sweden, Norway). I'm not sure how you were able to construct that observation.

There is no minimum wage, but salaries are bargained for via collective agreements. So everywhere but the smallest shops and temporary jobs you get paid a decent wage.
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