Eating healthy can seem expensive, especially if you’re shopping somewhere like Whole Foods, but luckily there are places like Aldi that offer fresh and organic foods at more budget-friendly prices. The global discount supermarket chain began in Germany, but it now has 1,600 stores across U.S. 35 states and is continuing to rapidly expand. People love Aldi’s low prices, but it’s hard not to wonder how they’re able to sell high-quality healthy food at such cheap price points.
If you’re not too familiar with this grocery store, you’ll want to check out these seven things you probably didn’t know about Aldi, some of which definitely keep the prices down.
1. All Of The Food Is Kept In Shipping Boxes
Instead of stocking food on the shelves, Aldi displays their products in their designed shipping boxes. This helps to keep costs low by saving on time and resources to restock shelves.
This can also be handy when packing a trunk. BronsonLoydMyers shared some tips about how Aldi’s canned foods make an ideal way to load up on food pantry donations!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbMpcHCFSqU/?tagged=aldilove
2. More Than 90 Percent Of The Products Are Aldi Brand
Sometimes, having too many options is stressful, and Aldi eliminates the need for deliberation. The majority of items they offer are exclusive brand products that have been tested and found to taste the same or better than national brands.
3. Using A Shopping Cart Requires A Deposit
To use a shopping cart in the store, customers deposit a quarter, and when they return their cart to the corral, they receive their quarter back. This allows the store’s workers to focus on customer service rather than having to retrieve carts from the parking lot.
4. The Food Is Free Of Harmful Ingredients
You can rest easy knowing most of Aldi’s products are clean as can be. As of last year, all Aldi products are free of synthetic colors, partially hydrogenated oils and added monosodium glutamate (MSG) from their private label goods.
5. They Offer A Double Guarantee
If you’re not satisfied with a product for whatever reason, don’t fret. Not only will Aldi offer you a refund, but they will also replace the product—that’s how confident they are about the quality of their products.
6. There Are Multiple Bar Codes On Each Product
Nothing’s more frustrating than waiting in line when the cashier is trying over and over again to correctly scan a bar code. Aldi doesn’t have this problem, as each product contains multiple bar codes, allowing the products to be scanned super fast.
Some products even have bar codes wrapped around the packaging for easy location and scanning, as Darin on Twitter pointed out:
When you care about the process from start to finish you might put bar codes everywhere. #aldi #lean pic.twitter.com/dkfY7Djtfr
— Solar Darin (@DarinRossMiller) January 5, 2017
Even Aldi executives are proud of their bar coding system. One vice president even gave a tour to a local journalist in Florida!
#FL VP for #Aldi shows bar codes all over store brand boxes. Allows faster check-out. pic.twitter.com/WtardjV1uz
— Emily Roach (@ERoach) January 23, 2014
RELATED: How The Prices At Aldi, Target And Walmart Stack Up
7. They Donate Expired Food
Instead of tossing food they no longer can sell, Aldi stores have the option to contribute to local charities and donate product to causes in their areas.
Love this, if only all big supermarkets done the same pic.twitter.com/NXsk1FYPUX
— Dayner (@WhiskyQueen89) December 3, 2017
They also partner with Feeding America to donate expired or lightly damaged product to food banks in different communities.
