Why Americans don't understand Aldi

[Brian Lutz]

This video came up on my YouTube recommendations, and highlights a lot of the differences (cultural and otherwise) between Aldi and typical American grocery stores. I'm not too familiar with Aidi since they don't exist in this area, but a lot of it seems to apply to other discount grocers like Grocery Outlet as well.

[jamcool]

Because Americans still want their brand name products, like Coke and Pepsi, Doritos and M&Ms, not some off-brand items. And we still believe store brands are inferior (which many are)

[CalItalian]

Aldi has come a long way in California. They were a joke when they first opened their stores but having changed their product mix to tailor to Californians tastes and they are doing quite well. The Aldi in my city is very busy now. I routinely see 3-4 checkout lanes open when I am use to seeing 1-2 previously. And customer baskets are much larger than the few items I would see people buying at Aldi a few years ago.

As for their products, I'm about 50/50 on rebuying it again. Their flavored (but all natural) potato chips have no flavor. Their cola tastes like a mix of Coke & Pepsi with extra sugar - horrible, The chocolate muffin mix has a terrible non-chocolate taste. But I've also found their own liquid hand soap to be far superior to even the national brands - clean with a light fresh scent. Their beef hot dogs have a better flavor than Nathan's. Their spices are better than the comparable low cost spices at other supermarkets.

I mostly shop at Aldi for dairy products as they are normally lower priced than all competitors but I am branching out trying other items.

[storewanderer]

Aldi has come a long way in California. They were a joke when they first opened their stores but having changed their product mix to tailor to Californians tastes and they are doing quite well. The Aldi in my city is very busy now. I routinely see 3-4 checkout lanes open when I am use to seeing 1-2 previously. And customer baskets are much larger than the few items I would see people buying at Aldi a few years ago.

As for their products, I'm about 50/50 on rebuying it again. Their flavored (but all natural) potato chips have no flavor. Their cola tastes like a mix of Coke & Pepsi with extra sugar - horrible, The chocolate muffin mix has a terrible non-chocolate taste. But I've also found their own liquid hand soap to be far superior to even the national brands - clean with a light fresh scent. Their beef hot dogs have a better flavor than Nathan's. Their spices are better than the comparable low cost spices at other supermarkets.

I mostly shop at Aldi for dairy products as they are normally lower priced than all competitors but I am branching out trying other items.

Who is shopping Aldi? Any specific ethnic groups in high concentration or is it a cross section?

Where do the customers appear to be coming from?

What are they doing with ethnic foods (Hispanic/Asian)?

Midwestern Aldis are pretty weak on ethnic foods. I think Aldi's merchandising and mix has improved considerably since Lidl entered the US and stayed in the US as long as it has. Lidl may not be anywhere near CA, but it has had a far reaching push on Aldi to add a bit more mix and improve the appearance of the stores. Lidl has forced them to step things up.

I look forward to the entry of Lidl in the west, if that day ever comes.

[CalItalian]

Aldi has come a long way in California. They were a joke when they first opened their stores but having changed their product mix to tailor to Californians tastes and they are doing quite well. The Aldi in my city is very busy now. I routinely see 3-4 checkout lanes open when I am use to seeing 1-2 previously. And customer baskets are much larger than the few items I would see people buying at Aldi a few years ago.

As for their products, I'm about 50/50 on rebuying it again. Their flavored (but all natural) potato chips have no flavor. Their cola tastes like a mix of Coke & Pepsi with extra sugar - horrible, The chocolate muffin mix has a terrible non-chocolate taste. But I've also found their own liquid hand soap to be far superior to even the national brands - clean with a light fresh scent. Their beef hot dogs have a better flavor than Nathan's. Their spices are better than the comparable low cost spices at other supermarkets.

I mostly shop at Aldi for dairy products as they are normally lower priced than all competitors but I am branching out trying other items.

Who is shopping Aldi? Any specific ethnic groups in high concentration or is it a cross section?

Where do the customers appear to be coming from?

What are they doing with ethnic foods (Hispanic/Asian)?

Midwestern Aldis are pretty weak on ethnic foods. I think Aldi's merchandising and mix has improved considerably since Lidl entered the US and stayed in the US as long as it has. Lidl may not be anywhere near CA, but it has had a far reaching push on Aldi to add a bit more mix and improve the appearance of the stores. Lidl has forced them to step things up.

I look forward to the entry of Lidl in the west, if that day ever comes.

Aldi in California seems to attract white, Latino and black customers depending on the area. Definitely not a store that attracts more recent immigrants.

In my area of Riverside County, definitely Stater Bros. I've even heard customers discussing Stater Bros. in line - prices or items they need to get there that Aldi doesn't carry. In a store in Inglewood, Food 4 Less, which is right next door.

They really don't carry Asian foods in the Aldi's I've been in but I'm not near a heavy Asian area like the San Gabriel Valley or a city like Garden Grove. A store near those areas may be different.

I took a picture of the Hispanic foods endcap at the Aldi in Menifee. Note that ALL Hispanic foods are name brands.
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/HMD_AHN ... lp-android

Aldi has increased its wine selection. Even before Trader Joes lowered the price on their $2 Buck Chuck back down in price in California, Aldi had introduced a selection of $1.99 brand name wines. In addition to their wines being in the wine section, which is always the first aisle in the store, they also have an endcap with them opposite the deli area and some cold wines and beers in the deli. They also changed their beer selection to craft beers and Mexican beers almost exclusively.

In the meat area, you'll often find cuts of beef that attract Latino customers such as flap meat, carne asada - even marinated. I bought some a few weeks back and it was some of the best marinated carne asada I've ever had.

Their seasonal selection is also more tailored to California with the likes of lounge chairs, tiki torches, bbq grilling essentials. They also have a tool area - common tools you'd find in a hardware store.

And, of course, their dairy products are always the lowest priced. Currently eggs are $1.59/large dozen in Menifee but my FB coupon group says some locations have them as low as .89 cents/large dozen. Milk is $2.47 for 2% gallon. Sour Cream $1.25 for 16 oz.. Butter is $1.97 for salted and $1.83 unsalted 1 lb. currently.

[buckguy]

They don't seem to have done too badly----I first noticed them in Chicago back in the late 80s. They were in Cleveland shortly after and now they seem to cover much of the country. The model is essentially a more austere version of Trader Joes, which makes sense when you consider that they are owned by two different branches of the same family. TJ's does just fine with house brand stuff, which is just as much as mixed bag as it is anywhere else. Plenty of people buy house brand food at the Kroger chains, Safeway, etc. Aldi knows their niche--it's heavily weight toward families with young children and middle or lower-middle incomes---not surprisingly it's the demographic that TJ's doesn't target. They don't have to serve everyone to make a profit and relatively uniform selections make distribution more efficient. They will never be able to compete with Asian markets and clearly don't feel that they have to.

[reymann]

the aldi i've been to in arroyo grande is a really busy store. it's very popular with the seniors on fixed incomes.

[rwsandiego]

As @buckguy mentioned, Aldi has been very successful in the Eastern part of the country for decades. They have evolved since they first opened in Chicago back in the late 1970's. With more than 1,900 stores it seems that Americans do, indeed, understand Aldi.

[retailfanmitchell019]

Because Americans still want their brand name products, like Coke and Pepsi, Doritos and M&Ms, not some off-brand items. And we still believe store brands are inferior (which many are)

That is a good point. Aldi brands look way too similar to brand name products. Americans seem to judge store brands based on how good the packaging looks.
Those generics from the malaise era (late 70's-early 80's) gave Americans the idea that store brands are inferior. Store brands have come a long way since then, in quality.

[mbz321]

Aldi seems to take a while to catch on to new areas, but when they do, the stores generally stay busy. With the rising cost of groceries, it should only be a benefit to them.