not impressed with Aldi :(

[Anonymous]

Per the grocery budget suggestions on the finance board, I did some grocery shopping at Aldi this month. We were not impressed. The price was AWESOME and I left the store on cloud nine...so much food for $50! Hooray!

The cereal was fine, but it's cheaper at Trader Joes. I did like the price of organic apples!

Disappointed items include:
Cheese sticks: no flavor
Pineapple: went rotten within a couple days (before it even turned yellow)
Frozen fish fillets: very breaded and gummy
Kiwi: 1/4 was totally rotten

There's more but I can't remember.

Where did I go wrong?!?

[Anonymous]

There was a reason we used to call it scheisse Aldi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a reason we used to call it scheisse Aldi.

huh?

[Anonymous]

We love Aldi. I often try stuff and sometimes I don't buy again but usually we like it and try to stock up on items that are seasonal. I do not buy much fish or meat there except for sausages and organic meat/chicken and their nitrate free ham and turkey lunchmeat. We like all their dairy and eggs, lettuce, frozen Italian and German desserts, chocolates, cake mix-less sweet- but not icing (unless they got rid of the lard in it), chips, pasta from Italy, German egg noodles, brioche from France, premium ice cream-black container.

Pineapple - pull out center leaf - if it comes out easily then it's ripe. Don't wait for outside color to change.

When they have the gouda cheese sticks get them as they have flavor. We don't normally buy cheese sticks. Their gourmet cheeses are delicious.

I always feel the fruit-open the plastic etc just to make sure - do this at every store.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We love Aldi. I often try stuff and sometimes I don't buy again but usually we like it and try to stock up on items that are seasonal. I do not buy much fish or meat there except for sausages and organic meat/chicken and their nitrate free ham and turkey lunchmeat. We like all their dairy and eggs, lettuce, frozen Italian and German desserts, chocolates, cake mix-less sweet- but not icing (unless they got rid of the lard in it), chips, pasta from Italy, German egg noodles, brioche from France, premium ice cream-black container.

Pineapple - pull out center leaf - if it comes out easily then it's ripe. Don't wait for outside color to change.

When they have the gouda cheese sticks get them as they have flavor. We don't normally buy cheese sticks. Their gourmet cheeses are delicious.

I always feel the fruit-open the plastic etc just to make sure - do this at every store.

Thank you! I will definitely go try it again.
I also got refrigerated tortellini and it was pretty bad, so was the chicken sausage.

[Anonymous]

The fruit is out of season, so I don't think you can blame that on Aldi.

I like it ok - my DH loves it. We found that many of the prepared foods taste different to us in a bad way - the pasta sauce, the prepared salsa, the guacamole, chips, jarred artichokes, and a few other things we didn't like.

Baking ingredients are so cheap! Butter, flour, extracts, etc..!

I love the soft pretzels. The texas toast is cheaper and the same.
We like the rectangular fish filets. The frozen veggies are good and the produce, when ripe, is amazingly priced. The cereals are fine. They make a version of the Annie's/TJ's goddess dressing that is wonderful. They also have decent generic beverages.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I don't usually buy produce from them because that's happened to me regularly. I do like their chips and crackers for parties, nuts, dried spices, organic sugar, other dried baking supplies and other organic food items.

Their ziplock bags are great too for a good price.

I like that their dairy has no growth hormone but I usually don't buy a lot of it or frozen food.

When I shop there for the week I always have to stop at a second store which is a negative.

[Anonymous]

Produce there is highly variable. I've always had good luck with pineapples, potatoes, onions, and the four packs of "gourmet" lettuce.

The cheese sticks are flavorless, but I find most string cheese to be flavorless. The other cheese is always good quality. (Maybe not the American singles.)

Remember that Aldi has a "double guarantee" where they will replace the item and refund your money if you are dissatisfied. Maybe it's not worth it to you to retain the package and the unused food-- the only time I did that was with a package of prosciutto that I didn't notice had been partially opened and was all dried out.

[Anonymous]

Why do people buy fresh fruit there or at TJ's? It's a disaster waiting to happen.

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with OP. After reading all the posts on DCUM, we tried Aldi once this past summer. All of the fruits were tasteless or quickly rotted. Their brands of packaged goods tasted off. It doesn't work for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a reason we used to call it scheisse Aldi.

huh?

It's german, Google it. It's not a compliment.

[Anonymous]

bagged apples are good. As are the Roma Tomatoes, Baby Carrots, and baby bells (colored mini peppers)...euro chocolate is great. Very Good rice pudding. No issues with eggs or milk. Also, jams/preserves are quite good.

Bad luck with mushrooms and berries.

[Anonymous]

I buy from Aldi - just not everything. Milk, eggs, shredded cheese, canned goods, baking goods., chocolates etc.

I also frequent Costco, Lotte, Whole Foods, Safeway and Giant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people buy fresh fruit there or at TJ's? It's a disaster waiting to happen.

OP here. We rarely buy produce from TJs. I gave Aldi produce a try after reading recommendations on here and from friends. Pineapple was specifically mentioned. I thought I'd try some produce that isn't a "dirty dozen". I know peppers are cheap there but I buy those organic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a reason we used to call it scheisse Aldi.

huh?

It's german, Google it. It's not a compliment.

If you want to go there, at least do it correctly. *Scheissaldi

You're welcome.