Aldi vs. Trader Joe’s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I live near a big TJs and a small Aldi's but I find TJs just as complete a selection (obviously not identical)

TJs is more convenient (I hate the way Aldis handles carts) and more pleasant to shop, and has lots of specific items we like.

Aldis is pretty consistently cheaper though (and not as terrible an experience as BJ's, plus more realistic sizes for a small household)

We go to Aldis sometimes, but probably less than TJs. My wife will go to BJs, I hate to set foot in there.

I am exactly the opposite! I can't find anything at TJs. In fact I was just at Aldi and then TJs and bought only gluten free bagels at TJs. It is like the whole store is full of nuts and frozen meals to me. I bought organic 100% grass fed beef at Aldi for $5. Oh, well, to each its own.

We love their whipped cream cheese, and several of their snacks. We get several other dairy items. We get kosher chicken there (cannot find that at Aldi's). We get their mini challahs. We sometimes get lox there. Also sometimes hummus and/or guac.

My wife likes several of the produce items, but you do have to be more careful, and increasingly we only get them at TJs if a second stop at aldis is too inconvenient.

I also occasionally get beer or wine at TJ's. And yeah, we do buy nuts and seeds and so forth. We actually don't get much frozen, although a lot looks tempting.

I am careful with the produce at Aldi, I used to get a lot of fruit at Costco, but stopped that as their huge packs of fruit rot and have mold on them within a day. I am lucky to have a Wegmans not too far from me, so I often buy produce there, and the price between organic and regular is not that bad. But, TJs is becoming more of a favorite since I was diagnosed with dairy and wheat allergy.

[Anonymous]

We should all go to Lidl in College Park.

[Anonymous]

I have stopped buying Trader Joe’s produce entirely, but haven’t had a problem with their dairy, yet.

Trader Joe’s is great for many reasons. I have dietary restrictions, and they have lots of safe foods. They also have some delicious prepared foods, such as reduced guilt guacamole, that are staples in our house. The staff is excellent.

I also love them because you can get your kids to try their samples. My preschooler eats all kinds of crazy things that I don’t. ( Olives, crab cakes, bread & butter pickles are the obvious stand-outs) I think that part of his success was luck, but another part was the frequent practice of trying new foods.

Aldi has some low-cost, high quality foods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aldi is for lower class people. Like Macy vs Kmart.

No doubt. I shop there and I am low class Euro trash immigrant here in the U.S. Only around 250K HHI. Where else would I get cheap grass fed meat that's in my budget?

Aldi is for you.

[Anonymous]

I have things I get at both stores, and the regular grocery if I need to.
Most of their produce is fine, but it doesn't seem to have as long as a shelf life as the regular grocery store.
You have to try out items you would regularly buy name-brand of and see if you like it. If you have a name-brand flavor profile you're after, then keep getting that. We cook from scratch, so for the most part their "ingredients" work just fine. I don't like baking with their flour or chocolate chips. I like their natural peanut butter; my husband likes their processed one. Some of their fine cheeses are the same brands you'd get at TJ's or whole foods, some are house brands.
I still buy most of my kids' snacks at trader joes because they don't have corn syrup in their animal crackers, graham crackers, and a few other things, and that's important to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aldi's is smaller, less crowded, and much faster to get through. It also has so much less prepared food and specialty items that I find myself spending half as much as when I go to Trader Joe's, there just isn't the temptation. I have had to simplify my grocery lists or supplement, but that is mostly for Asian items or hit or miss things like specific herbs you can't always find at TJ either. Mainly I'm an Aldi loyalist because i hate shopping and it's faster.

I enjoy shopping at Trader Joe's. It tends to put a smile on my face.

It's the packed aisles in Alexandria (where you can't turn around if you missed something or had a new idea) with a toddler that ruined it for me. Not every TJ's is like that, but I've never been in that one without feeling like it was a single file line through most of the store.

[Anonymous]

I like Aldi's. Their frozen shepherd's pie is true comfort food. The milk is cheap, too. But, I mostly go in hopes that it is German cookie time........

[Anonymous]

I’ve been to Aldi a couple times and it weirds me out. Dark, no signs, produce didn’t look very fresh so that made me suspect the freshness of the chicken. Have to bag your own stuff so hard to shop there with little kids.

[Anonymous]

I hardly can find anything that I want to buy at Aldi. There are a few items that are a good deal, but mostly I don’t like the off-brand things.

[Anonymous]

I don’t find them comparable, although they have some similar items (brioche sliced bread, etc).

TJs is my go to for snacks and treats, but I do the vast majority of my grocery shopping at our local supermercado, which is way cheaper than either. That, plus our CSA, works well.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone check if their food comes from China?

[Anonymous]

I’ve not found any Aldi brand foods that we like. And we are not name brand snobs, either. We buy plenty store brand items. Even simple things like chips and crackers my kids comment on how they taste off and nasty from Aldi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We should all go to Lidl in College Park.

I love Lidl!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve not found any Aldi brand foods that we like. And we are not name brand snobs, either. We buy plenty store brand items. Even simple things like chips and crackers my kids comment on how they taste off and nasty from Aldi.

+1. I want to like it and just....don’t. Alternate between TJs and Safeway with occasional trek to wegmans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve not found any Aldi brand foods that we like. And we are not name brand snobs, either. We buy plenty store brand items. Even simple things like chips and crackers my kids comment on how they taste off and nasty from Aldi.

I had the same experience but I will give it another shot when the new one that happens to be on my way to Trader Joe's opens