Aldi? - Schaumburg,IL

here's a secret: i have a friend who used to find suppliers for Aldi, and often times they are the same ones who supply to the big name brands. For example, their pies came from the same bakeries as Baker's Square! It's the same concept as Trader Joe's, if you're familiar with that. The food may be the same quality as big name stuff.

Hi J.,

Aldi owns Trader Joe's or either Trader Joe's owns Aldi. You can find some of the same things at Aldi that you find at Trader Joe's which I love. We eat primarily organic food and foods that are not overly processed and I have found very high quality there. Their crackers have no hydrogenated oils. Their canned goods are the same store brand as Trader Joe's. If I buy cold cereal I get it there because the sugar content is lower in their generic than in the well known brands. Like anywhere else you have to read labels and be a smart shopper but the cost is reallly good and I shop there regularly. Products sometimes vary from week to week like you would find at Big Lots...

I say go there once and try the different everyday things you would buy. The prices are cheaper because the food is off brand, it is Aldi's own brand, that is all they sell (apart from specials from time to time). That does not mean the food is sub-standard.
I have been shopping there for about 10 years now and have saved a fortune. There are some things that I have to buy certain brands (aldi brand was not to my taste) but not much. I MUST have Heinz ketchup, and Diet Coca Cola, and I think that campbells soups are better than Aldi's (but I also think campbells are better than most store brands). But for your every day staples such as bread, eggs, milk, flour, canned and frozen goods, cereals etc I truly don't taste the difference.
Definitely try them once.

I'm from Germany and love Aldi's...I buy my ground turkey there.like the meat it's fresh.I don't know why people are so hung up on brandnames,they are not always better, but more expensive.I buy the cerial,face cream ( which is an award winning one),bread,yoghurts,all kinds of stuff..I go to Vallie's and then zomm over to Aldi's in Hoffman.Check out right now the German Christmas chocolate, you will not regret it.....let us know..

It really depends on the area you're in. Some, I would shop there, others, I wouldn't buy meat. When my son was smaller, I bought chicken from there and the bones split. So, yes it is cheaper but be careful with the meat section, which to me usually looks freezer burnt at times.

J.,
I was a devoted Dominick's shopper until my husband lost his job for 8 months and we figured we had to cut somehow. He has been back at work for over a year and we continue to shop there. Some things are actually better than the regular grocery. They do have their own brand on most everything. There are a few things that are name brand that they carry but you have to watch the prices on those. We do buy the Reggio's pizza frequently. You will find things that you like and others that you don't. I will still occassionally go to Jewel or Dominick's for certain things but the majority still comes from Aldi. Yes, they are the same company as Trader Joe's which is German owned.
I would recommend trying a few things at first.... don't get anything too fancy. Someone said they don't like the cheese but we buy the more expensive cheese singles vs. the cheapers ones there and they are fine. I do buy meat and haven't had trouble but I still buy some at the "regular grocery stores."

My girls LOVE their cereals...so much so that they won't eat the namebrands when I have a few extra dollars I can spring for them. They do occasionally carry name brands, but they're never guaranteed and once they're gone, they're gone. Give it a shot--we love them!

I shop there weekly and really you just have to try for yourself. if you dont like it, no biggie, dont buy it next time. I used to hate the cheese there....but honestly after a few tries I got used to it. I did not like the meat at all, so much that I did not give it a second chance but I think it might be okay for slow cookers. you can get mostly all your stuff there, you might need to go to a larger store for some items bc they dont carry everything. happy shopping. OH and dont forget a quarter, you need it to get a cart. I always keep an aldis quarter in my cup holder. you might want to bring your own bags, but you can always buy them there. we actually bought the aldis resuable bags bc they are huge and a great deal. we use about 2 of them and 1 small one.

That's why it's so cheap! It's just like buying the "Kroger" brand (or whatever your local grocery store is), but even cheaper! You have to use either a debit card or cash...they don't take credit...but it really can save you a lot of money. I have to watch myself though because I begin to save so much, I end up buying more. Stick to your list, and you will find yourself saving oodles!

We love Aldi. We haven't had a bad thing yet. Their prices especially on milk, sliced cheese, produce and cereals are amazing. You can't go wrong, truly!

Aldi is great. We shop there all the time.

Like someone else said- they have awesome prices on milk, eggs, and things like that. I don't buy my meat there as it seems to me to be higher priced then Butera (the one in Roselle is my favorite place to go for meat- great prices and quality). Aldi's take and bake pizza is really good and a great price ($5.99- can't beat that for such a HUGE pizza). Their produce is usually pretty good too. I also like their baking stuff- good quality and good prices. The one off of Meacham and Biesterfield is okay but kinda small, I think. When we lived in Hoffman we used to go to the newer one on Higgins between Golf and Roselle Roads (just down the street from Valli's).

It is cheap because you are buying off brands.

I won't shop there, I prefer name brand or a brand I am familiar with. I would never purchase any type of meat though. I go to a butcher shop for all my meat, poultry, etc.

You get what you pay for....

We shop Aldi and have for years. We dont like everything but on the things you dont like they have a money back guarantee! I have taken them up on it several times and like it says if you dont like it they give you your money back. What grocery store would do that? You really cant beat it. Give it a try and I promise you, you will not want to go back to your old grocery store, it will make you want to cry at how much you have spent!

I am from England and we have had Aldi and there "sister" store Lidl for a few years now , the prices and quality are very good , you are paying the price you would pay for cheap store own alternatives in Giant or Safeway for there top of the line products. I say give it a go , you can always get some stuff at your regular store if there is anything you don't like.

Oh my gosh we love Aldi's. We spent years shopping there. Everything is fine, the food is perfectly wonderful, the prices are so great, we probably save fifty percent over what we would spend elsewhere. I believe you have one over there near Home Depot on Meecham. Try it!

I would not buy the meats anywhere that is low end, that's just me, I buy certain things at Aldi's like pancake mix, fruits and veggies, milk , veggies, pretty much anything but meats.

I don't shop there often, I too wonder about the no name brands. In general it's a great place to buy produce, bread and hot dog rolls.

went there one time because they had an awesome special on avocados. I bought a bunch and they were all bad! Never going back.

All the stuff they carry is their own generic brands....but alot of them are made by the same suppliers that make stuff for bigger companies. I have a friend who's family owns a company that makes a product for them and the same thing at Aldi is $1.00 cheaper than what you would buy their name brand for in another store. I think the key is that they don't do all the same advertising and their overhead and store costs are lower so they pass that along. Most of the stuff there is still very good quality. I have occasionally found some things I don't like as well, but overall it's worth it for the money you save. I'm not fond of their yogurt but most stuff is good. I don't understand why anyone spends the crazy money that stores like Dominicks and Jewel charge for food, honestly. Everything here is expensive enough, why pay more than you have to!

I've shopped Aldi almost weekly ever since I was a child going there with my parents, who had 5 of us kids. As an adult with more of an awareness of health issues, I do hop over to Jewel for some items-milk, eggs, and whole wheat breads and pastries, also some organic produce. While overall prices at Jewel/Dominicks are higher end, they fluctuate between a high/low cycle. If you catch items on the low cycle and stock up, you won't need to spend as much. I've been shopping more at Jewel lately using sales/coupons, and spending less there than a trip to Aldi would be. But I do love the convenience of Aldi, where prices are always the same (not always lower than Jewel, but a nice mid-line price), and no coupon-cutting required! When my parents shopped there years ago, they could fill up a cart for $50. I've noticed prices really creeping up in the last few years-but quality and selection of healthier "Fit & Active" brand items have improved too.