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I imagine this has probably been discussed before but have been buying discount products lately and I have to say many of them really are inferior to name brand products.
In my family we have some people who splurge and others who are more frugal and shop at aldi. I know many aldi products are literally the exact same thing as name brand just different labeling. I get some products are like this. Others however definately are not the same.
Just for a simple example name brand cereal vs discount or name brand kettle chips vs aldi store brand. the textures as well as the flavors just aren't quite the same, tis more than just different packaging.
My thought on many products is this. If I'm going to save 0.50 cents buying a discount hotsauce vs chilula or something I'm going to spring for the better brand. I figure I'll probably get 20 plus uses if not more out of the bottle. if i divide that im paying like a penny or two more per use for the good brand. im spending money anyways i may as well enjoy what im eating and its worth a penny each time for me to more fully enjoy my food.
i woudl kinda compare it to the people who go out for pizza and wont get a soda. if you dont like soda more power to you but if im going out for pizza im gonna spend $15 ona pizza. i could spend another $2 on a coke and really enjoy my meal to 100% or i could drink a water and probably only enjoy the experience 75%. if im gnonna spend $15 on a pizza I may as well spring for an extra $2 for a soda and actually enjoy the pizza to the fullest and get my moneys worth.
i get some discount products like rice or beans are all gona be the same but some products there definately is more than just diff packaging
I would say the savings are more substantial than you make it out to be. I find that on average, I save more per visit at Aldi for a full load of groceries vs Kroger.
As far as comparing Aldi vs Jewel-Osco or Dominicks (Chicago), I don't have exact comparisons since I didn't use Aldi as much when I was there, but it would've been even more than vs. Kroger.
I save at least 20-40 when I go to Aldi compared to Kroger.
Of course this also depends on what you buy vs what I buy.
I also like that they use recycled material for their packaging.
However, I am cautious when buying fruit and vegetables there. I prefer Kroger's bananas.
Also, Aldi has a more limited selection and eating the same foods gets old. Perhaps mixing it up a bit helps.
I would say the savings are more substantial than you make it out to be. I find that on average, I save more per visit at Aldi for a full load of groceries vs Kroger.
As far as comparing Aldi vs Jewel-Osco or Dominicks (Chicago), I don't have exact comparisons since I didn't use Aldi as much when I was there, but it would've been even more than vs. Kroger.
I save at least 20-40 when I go to Aldi compared to Kroger.
Of course this also depends on what you buy vs what I buy.
I also like that they use recycled material for their packaging.
However, I am cautious when buying fruit and vegetables there. I prefer Kroger's bananas.
Also, Aldi has a more limited selection and eating the same foods gets old. Perhaps mixing it up a bit helps.
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i hate jewel waaaayyyy oveerpriced to every other store in my opinion or at least with what i buy.
some things are big savings. aldi has their own keetel chips brand thats like $1.50 vs paying $4 for a bag at jewel. now granted that is a big savings but at walmart is probably not quite the price difference its probably more like $1.50 at aldi vs $2.50 at walmart. also for something like chips for me its really just something to crunch on watching tv, im not that picky as with other foods so ill take the savings but with other things ill definately spring for better quality.
surprisingly i actually kinda like aldi fruit and veggies. sometimes they are crap but oftentimes because they have them in smaller quantities they get them in daily and are fresher than other places. for a while Cermaks was my favorite for fruit and veggies but their quality has gone down lately. i find mexican grocery stores with actual produce markets have the best quality as well as seleciton and prices for fruits and veggies
I don't think they are national brand foods with different labels. you just have to think a little bit and a lot of times you know which ones aren't going to be as good as the original. sometimes its a matter of trying it out and not buying it again if its inferior. overall, im very happy with most aldi products when compared with their regular brand equivalents.
something like hot sauce is such a simple product that even though it may not be a huge price savings (though its probably a good buck or more if you pick up burman's hot sauce vs franks if the franks isn't on sale) but its worth getting at aldi vs national brand since odds are it will be as good.
Aldi sometimes has variations of products that I haven't seen elsewhere. I like those. Some products seem to be inferior like their Coke substitute. I try to avoid those. Then there are the other products. I've tried some of the chips and other items. They taste funny to me. I'm not convinced they are inferior. I suspect I just have a brand type loyalty developed over many years. Aldi's chips may be made slightly different with different ingredients or flavoring. I don't favor them, but technically there is nothing wrong with them. Doesn't matter. I'm not supposed to be eating chips anyway so I avoid them and the other junk foods they sell there.
Aldi sometimes has variations of products that I haven't seen elsewhere. I like those. Some products seem to be inferior like their Coke substitute. I try to avoid those. Then there are the other products. I've tried some of the chips and other items. They taste funny to me. I'm not convinced they are inferior. I suspect I just have a brand type loyalty developed over many years. Aldi's chips may be made slightly different with different ingredients or flavoring. I don't favor them, but technically there is nothing wrong with them. Doesn't matter. I'm not supposed to be eating chips anyway so I avoid them and the other junk foods they sell there.
i wasnt necessarily saying there was anything wrong as in unhealthy about the food, just that its inferior in terms of taste. i agree chips are a litle off maybe a bit of a bad aftertaste or too much oil taste but i can deal with chips. i find aldi and many discount sodas to be undrinkable.
myself and some friends did get super sick off aldis frozen pizzas once as well, it was something we all ate in common so im pretty sure thats what it was. some of the candy and cookies i dont mind. they actually have a few decent wines for like $2 like the owl something brand. there meat is actually really good as well. there are many things there which i really dislike though. like some of you said try it if you dont like it dont buy again.
i definately think the saying you get what you pay for holds true for many things though
i wasnt necessarily saying there was anything wrong as in unhealthy about the food, just that its inferior in terms of taste. i agree chips are a litle off maybe a bit of a bad aftertaste or too much oil taste but i can deal with chips. i find aldi and many discount sodas to be undrinkable.
myself and some friends did get super sick off aldis frozen pizzas once as well, it was something we all ate in common so im pretty sure thats what it was. some of the candy and cookies i dont mind. they actually have a few decent wines for like $2 like the owl something brand. there meat is actually really good as well. there are many things there which i really dislike though. like some of you said try it if you dont like it dont buy again.
i definately think the saying you get what you pay for holds true for many things though
I didn't think you were trying to say one brand is more unhealthy than another. Sometimes my words just bumble out of my mouth. Those just happened to be the examples I was using.
For a while, I thought Aldi brand canned goods were ok. My husband has asked me to quit buying them. We bought some name brand canned green beans a while back. I used one can of those and a can of of Aldi brand in what I was making. The Aldi brand had a bit of stem and was a little less green and weren't quite as crisp. I'm not going to say the Aldi ones were bad because they weren't. The name brand was a little bit better in terms of quality. If I had to be stricter with my budget, I would go back to buying the Aldi green beans.
I really don't know about Aldi, specifically, but I did work summers as a teen in the cookroom and canning rooms of a large, name-brand, commercial vegetable cannery. In addition to this well-known label's name brand, they also were contracted to can products for a variety of other private labels, mostly store brands (I believe they were all other American companies, so Aldi would not have been one of them). They always had several lines running where the same product got canned and given a store brand label, right alongside the more well-known name brand. There was no difference in the product being canned. Not every private label brand is necessarily manufactured in this way, but where I worked, they were. The green beans my company labeled were the same green beans they labeled for a number of house brands for discount stores, etc.
I really don't know about Aldi, specifically, but I did work summers as a teen in the cookroom and canning rooms of a large, name-brand, commercial vegetable cannery. In addition to this well-known label's name brand, they also were contracted to can products for a variety of other private labels, mostly store brands (I believe they were all other American companies, so Aldi would not have been one of them). They always had several lines running where the same product got canned and given a store brand label, right alongside the more well-known name brand. There was no difference in the product being canned. Not every private label brand is necessarily manufactured in this way, but where I worked, they were. The green beans my company labeled were the same green beans they labeled for a number of house brands for discount stores, etc.
That's what I've always heard and I bought generic or store brand for years. The last few years it seems like the generic and store brands have gone down in quality. I've had bad luck with Great Value which is a Wal-Mart brand and some other store's brand items. Aldi is a German outfit. I'm not sure where they get their foods. They may or may not be processed down the same lines.
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