Aldi is great. Walmart has been robbing small towns in America without competition for long enough. I hope more Americans shop at Aldi and save more money while getting healthier food at a fair price.
I drive 20 minutes out of my way to shop at aldi rather than win-dixie (which they've bought recently) down the street for my monthly large shopping.
Does Aldi provide better deals than Walmart?
I used to shop there, but the prices were comparable and everything went bad fast.
That is what fresh food not overloaded with preservatives will do. You should really make fresh produce shopping more of a daily activity as you need it. But not everyone has that kind of time understandably bi-weekly also doable for truly fresh produce along with you plan out your meals for the week
That is what fresh food not overloaded with preservatives will do.
What are you talking about? Kroger is not injecting their apples with preservatives.
You should really make fresh produce shopping more of a daily activity as you need it.
Are you fucking joking? You expect a single parent working two jobs to go shopping daily as well?
Calm down, that was a general statement that is true. If your circumstances don't allow it, that sucks.
I gave an extreme example, but very few people's circumstances at this point allow them to go shopping every day. Even people working a single job are far too exhausted by it at the end of the day to be expected to go shopping after work. If Aldi can't sell vegetables that last more than a couple of days, people are less likely to shop there and more likely to shop at somewhere like Walmart. If for no other reason than sometimes you don't get to cook as quickly as you want to and you end up losing more money on the cheaper vegetables than you would have if you just bought the longer-lasting ones.
Even back before supermarkets where you had to go to multiple individual shops to buy food, no one went to the greengrocer on a daily basis. That is not how vegetables are supposed to work.
I don't comment often and I do know you Squid but you're wrong on this. Aldi had great food and especially great produce. I've been going there for more than 3 years exclusively.
I wasn't commenting on the vegetables at Aldi except going with what other people were saying about them I was talking about this, which I found to be ridiculous:
You should really make fresh produce shopping more of a daily activity as you need it.
That is beyond what most people should be expected to do and it is beyond what people have done historically and it's just not how most vegetables and fruits work.
I'm not surprised that isn't true of Aldi because it would be bad business to buy old produce that was on the edge of turning rotten.
That is beyond what most people should be expected to do and it is beyond what people have done historically
Going to a local market to buy fresh produce has been the norm throughout history. In the past century it has changed but for billions of people, buying what you need for that day is still the norm, I know I still do it.
Going to it every day? No it hasn't.
No one has told me which vegetables last less than a week yet.
Unfortunately, the American society is just not great for accommodating healthy living. Everything must be done by car and in bulk. And everything must last long because people also want to go once a week. So things are pumped full of unhealthy preservatives as gasses.
It's not good.
Sure, but vegetables that only last a day or two has also never really been a thing for most vegetables we eat. Is there any Western country where people have to buy fresh vegetables every day?
Yes, in most of Europe. The fruit is also smaller because it's mostly untreated. But it also tastes better.
Really? People have to buy fresh vegetables and fruit every single day in Europe?
I don't believe you. Especially since I've been there. Also, I know how plants and agriculture work.
Seriously, have none of you ever grown your own vegetables?
I live in the Netherlands and I buy fresh produce four or five times a week. Freshness wise it depends on the fruit or vegetable. I wouldn't say most things only last two days but it's not like it's gonna last ages, especially after it's been opened/started.
What vegetables do you have that last less than a week and how are you storing them?
If you actually continue on to read the entire message you'll notice the part where I mentioned that not everyone has that kind of time
And my point was almost no one has that kind of time and that it's not realistic to expect vegetables to only last a day or two when that has never historically been the case.
I don’t they last a day but they shouldn’t last a month either.
Aldi’s produce ”going bad” is on par with my local farmer’s market.
So... like over a week. Which was my initial point to the person I replied to. You don't have to buy vegetables every day unless you're buying vegetables that are about to go off, which pretty much no reputable place sells.
Sorry then: I misinterpreted what you were saying.
everything went bad fast.
Yeah, that's because the food is fresh and less treated than what most Americans are used to. Going bad fast is not necessary a bad thing.
Fresh is not necessarily better, there's nothing wrong with frozen food if you don't mind the texture. And no it's not like Kroger is injecting preservatives in apples.
No, it's because it's old produce that is close to expiring.
The aldi simps here are insane, but another reason why I don't take the masses seriously anymore.
I'm an Aldi simp too!!! Aldi is far superior to Walmart, I never expect my fruits and vegetables to last more than a week and Aldi is good with that. I will never buy produce or meat at Walmart, the things they do to their meat is disgusting. I buy most my non perishables from Walmart, Aldi for other things, and then Costco every couple of weeks. I'm also a Costco simp. In my experience to get the best quality and price you gotta go to multiple places.
Side note, season, time of year changes where produce is the best. Cucumbers in summer at Aldi where I live aren't good.
Aldi is far superior to Walmart,
That's a really low standard to measure against.
Aldi provides way better working conditions than Walmart, that's for sure. Imagine being able to sit during a job that doesn't require standing – in America!!!
I didn't even know that was an option until I walked into an Aldi.
Almost everything at Aldi is private label, which is why it is cheaper (again you only find a few recognizable name brands). However, I will not by fresh foods from Aldi as most of the time as it goes bad fast. I do like their snacks and prepackaged deli stuff tho.
That's what fresh food is, not filled with preservatives and processed garbage that contributes to chronic low grade inflammation
Is their food really "fresher" than Walmarts?
Can you provide any sources to back up that claim?
The fact it goes off quicker is the key piece of evidence. Obviously, they sell items in preserves too, they are a supermarket, and walmart will sell fresh items, but aldis main shtick and selection focus is "fresh, good quality and cheap", but stocks vary a lot, so you need to be comfortable with some items not being available sometimes.
For example, I wanted cherry tomatoes last week, but they had none so I had to have piccolo tomatoes instead.
Lol
Learn canning and preserving like baba
Or just shop at Walmart.
Hell yeah. Aldi is the shit
smaller European entrant
I like how from the perspective of outsiders, Aldi is "small". They're huge here in Europe along with Lidl. The two make a meme of establishing shops next to each other wherever either exist.
I am glad that Aldi is setting up shops in US. The chain is pretty cheap though the food quality is okay compared to others. I haven't really heard anything bad about Aldi so they are pretty good employers unlike many American shops like Walmart.
Where I am in the US all our supermarkets suck, and are over priced. Aldi offers a clean environment with inexpensive food at decent non farm stand quality. When your alternative is double the price in a run down store or Walmart. Aldi is a very nice alternative.
I really don't think it takes much for Aldi to compete in a large part of the US market. Even if they're not the best because we have so much of the worst in supermarkets.
IL native, so maybe its regional, but Aldi aint small here either xD
Not only are they everywhere, everyone i meet raves about the stark differences in prices between them and their other local stores.
They're not a small company but their locations do typically have a very small footprint compared to the typical US grocery store... Much lower square footage.
They've been in US markets for decades at this point. They just don't have locations in every region of the US or so many locations even in the regions that they do exist as to be considered ubiquitous.
I had a cut of gruyere from there a few weeks ago that was top notch. They got some real bargains for what some people would see as luxury food.
The Aldi Brie is very good.
Aldi definitely isn't small in the US. This is like calling Publix small just because you don't live in Florida, or Love's small just because you don't live in the massive swath of the US they cover.
Aldi is fairly new to much of America. Kroger in America is much, MUCH bigger. And of course Walmart dwarfs both.
Its strange that they couldn't get a hold of Denmark. They closed all their shops here last year, even shops that opened that same week! Must have been a very abrupt decision!
People will argue that it's working in Switzerland. But, I don't think so. They are a little cheaper on certain article. And, I don't see lots of people there during the day.
Not in all of Europe, I don't think I've ever seen an Aldi in Czech Republic or Poland
They suck so much, im glad they closed all their stores in Denmark
We have better alternatives with equal or better prices etc.
Such as Netto
Scandinavian bubble I think
They trully were bad in Denmark though. Although they did get better just before they closed
Please come to Colorado!!!!! I have my Aldi’s quarter ready!
Please please please! Aldi's would kill in CO, especially if the Kroger/Albertsons merger goes through. I kind of hope Aldi's stays out of CO until we know if the merger will go through, though. Their presence would weaken the case against the merger.
Specific locations for the new stores weren’t revealed, but the German company said it wants to strengthen its “already strong presence” in the Northeast and Midwest, plus expand out West in Southern California, Phoenix and new cities, like Las Vegas.
I did nearly all of my shopping at Aldi when I was unemployed. Now I have a job and Aldi is still great, no reason to spend more at other grocery stores. I genuinely like a lot of their store brand stuff too
Most of their store brands come from the exact same farms and factory lines as the expensive brand name stuff. Corporations want you to believe there's a difference but the marketing budget (and bonuses) is what you're paying extra for — wasn't the case in the 90's, but thanks to decades of corporate cost cutting, consolidation, and homogenization, that IS the case in the 2020's.
The rule of thumb is the more complex the recipe the greater the deviation. Crushed tomatoes? Possibly zero difference. Sugar cookie? Probably 5% difference (that most won't even notice). Elaborate cookie? As larger difference as between any other brand.
good. only problem with aldi is their produce is hit or miss. moreso than competitors in my experience.
I feel like the places that are less hit and miss probably just throw away more produce so you only see the good stuff.
We recently switched to Aldis. I thought that the produce was going to be a big hangup for me. However, I think it has been fine.
The problem is that it just seems to bad much faster than when we buy it elsewhere. So with that in mind, I just only buy produce at the beginning of the week that I know we will eat quickly.
Maybe it's just variable location to location but if you haven't been to one over the last 5 years they have really stepped up their game in my area. The selection certainly isn't quite as good as the normal supermarkets but the quality well above Walmart for a lot less money.
Does the US have Lidl yet?
Kinda. There's not many locations. There was one near me, but it went out of business a couple years ago; they're stock was pretty sporadic and I couldn't rely on them to have everything I'd need, thus I would have to go to the regular grocery store anyway. The inconvenience of going to two stores took away most of the advantage off the (fairly small) savings they offered, and anecdotally I'm not the only one who felt that way.
I couldn't rely on them to have everything I'd need
This is a problem with Lidl in Sweden as well - great prices and all, but there's a large amount of things I'm interested in buying that they quite simply don't stock. As such, I go to Lidl for all of my 'primary' grocery shopping, and supplement with secondary shopping in other supermarkets and speciality shops.
This is only really viable since I have a Lidl 10 minutes away by bike and another supermarket 2 minutes away by foot. Given what I know about the state of urban planning in the U.S, I imagine that having to go to two different stores will be a significantly higher penalty than here.
I think it's already kind of a thing? I have three stores in my rotation for different reasons
I have a lidl and I fucking love it! Best prices on groceries I've seen. I've also had issues where they don't have everything, but there's a bigger grocery store very close by that I'll stop at if Lidl is missing something I need. Even my wardrobe is slowly becoming clothes from their rotating section.
I used to hate LIDL, but then I moved to a place where a LIDL was within walking distance, and started using it more frequently. Now I have to admit that I love it too. Fair prices and a fantastic selection of vegan options.
Fuck Lidl. I was close friends with a regional manager when they came to the US and they are fucking horrific about how they treat their employees.
Not in the US, which makes me think the problem is not with Lidl
No, this was definitely in the US. I met these assholes (the VPs and region leaders) personally and know all the shit they pull to break down and isolate employees and overwork them and literally tell them to choose between work or family, and spy on their emails and soooo much more. Like I said, I had a very intimate picture of their US launch, and the two years of logistics which preceded it, trust me when I say that these people are legitimately monsters like I've never seen in any other industry.
Typo on my part, meant UK
We shop at Aldi and TJ's regularly. The grocery stores in my area charge literally double for many of the same items. Considering the grocery stores probably pay lower wholesale prices than either Aldi or TJ's it yet another example of the highest corporate profits in 70 years.
Avoiding a company because of they are attempting to avoid unionization is a double-edged sword. It costs the company business and, in turn, costs the very people trying to unionize their jobs. I've made a choice to keep going to TJ's for the time being.
Aldi or TJ
So Aldi North and Aldi South...
New England resident here. I find Aldi to be alright. The lower price point is definitely noticeable, especially when you compare with other big players in the area like ShopRite and Stop&Shop.
I switched over to Aldi since 2020, they are quite decent when it comes to the basics.
Good to know they are expanding. Aldi's Sister concern Trader Joe's is already heavily present in the New England region, although I suspect they have a more 'niche' group of customers.
Aldi is da bomb
We could just stop paying cosplay farmers to not grow.
Farmers and the amount of food they grow isn’t the issue. It’s corporate greed.
Yes scarcity has nothing to do with creating scarcity
At times for some things. But tell me, is there a shortage right now of any major staple food/ingredient?
The farmers are not the ones getting rich. It’s Nestle, Kraft, PepsiCo, General Mills, Kellogg’s and so on. As long as they remain the big market for what the farmer’s are selling, food prices won’t change. But the farmers could go under if their prices crash due to oversupply.
Sorry why can't you cosplay farmer simps keep your story straight? Half of you are arguing that farmers produce too much so the government is needed to make them produce less and the other half are arguing that farmers don't produce enough and they need the government to make them produce more. Which is it?
Just a fyi you can hold two ideas at once. There are asshole food distribution companies and there are asshole cosplay farmers getting subsidies to not grow. I know, my hometown was basically this. People pretending to be independent successful farmers when all they could grow was dirt and could only produce meth.
Seasonally and yearly there are different demands for crops. The government incentivizes and disincentivizes growing different crops at different times to promote a healthy market, and stable food supply.
Very well. Why isn't there a subsidy in the north during oct/nov for milk? Cows production plummets during the switch to hay. Which is why milk prices get that bump during that time. Couldn't be because the milk lobby is less effective compared to corn since it is much more scattered and hence doesn't get nice solid voting blocks?
Nah it must be for some deep metaphysical reason beyond our kin.
Maybe because you can’t manifest extra dairy cows out of the aether in the winter?
The government does try to help by buying surplus dairy and turning into preservable cheese, but that has just led to bad jokes about “government cheese.”
Maybe because you can’t manifest extra dairy cows out of the aether in the winter?
No but what you can do is use dried milk fat to even out production, you can do is simply pay ranchers more for that month given that they are making less, you can do is freeze butter a month earlier and release it when milk gets more dear, what they can do is subsidize hay so it can be introduced slowly creating less of a shock.
We don't do any of those things. And why should we? Dairy lobby is no where near as powerful since it is spread out instead of concentrated. Which means less lobbying, less bribes, less government money.
We do have stuff like that. Ever hear of government cheese?
Yeah that program from the 1970s very relevant. I am talking now. 2024. In 2024 anyone milking a cow in an area that they need to have that cow on hay once in a while is not getting money for the winter shock. Which shows that it has nothing to do with dust bowls, preventing starvation, helping farmers, stabilizing prices, global warming or any other argument that wants to be dragged out to simp for jt. It is corruption, plain simple and ancient.
You can always tell when someone is lying by the number of bad explanations they give for something. Why did you go to the bathroom just now? Because you needed to. Why do you believe the government should throw money at farmers who can't grow as a reward for failure? Here is fifty different arguments that can't all be true.
I know, my hometown was a small farming town.
commenter explains the most basic farm economics
Very well.
You can hold two ideas at once you know. It's called lying. Or making shit up about something you thought you knew about because you have the most base-line exposure possible. Or cognitive dissonance.
Who is paying you?
I'm self-employed but am also a consultant, so if depends on the day.
Gotcha. Thanks for confirming what I suspected.
No problem bud.
I don’t know what the hell a cosplay farmer is, but I am assuredly not one. I do my even have a god damn garden on my 0.10 acre city lot.
Learn some history. Farmers have tried to overgrow to make more money, and it has led to collapse as the market forms a glut.
The government does do something different with corn subsidies, causing over abundance of corn, but that has just lead to the overuse of corn syrup sugar, which is a major contributor to obesity.
I see. So we are not going to mention the dust bowl and starvation argument anymore. Love how this arguments just keep wandering.
Do you know what a moral ought from an is is?
On the subject of wandering arguments: you never answered my initial question: what staple food are we experiencing a major shortage of?
We had shortages during the pandemic. They have largely resolved. But food companies have learned people still will buy food, so they kept prices high. What has truly hurt is consolidation. With so much food controlled by so few, competition isn’t working.
Growing food isn’t without a massive carbon and environmental footprint. Trying to force a glut which will just result is spoiled food and bankrupt farmers is not the answer.
what staple food are we experiencing a major shortage of?
Me personally? Nothing. Parts of the world are pretty messed up now.
We had shortages during the pandemic. They have largely resolved.
Yes black swan events tend to create black swan effects. Not relevant when we are talking about 90 year old programs.
But food companies have learned people still will buy food, so they kept prices high
Already addressed this. Free money to people who want to cosplay as farmers is not me saying food distribution companies are morally perfect. I don't have anything against cosplay but I don't think you would like me to get your tax dollars to do it.
With so much food controlled by so few, competition isn’t working.
Wandering argument. Go demand an anti-trust suit.
Growing food isn’t without a massive carbon and environmental footprint.
Just throwing everything you can at this now?
Trying to force a glut which will just result is spoiled food and bankrupt farmers is not the answer.
Supply goes up, price goes down. And cosplay farmers should go bankrupt. Free them to do something useful with their life. I would be lying if I can list off a single one I grew up with who wasn't a total failure at what they did. Go do something else! Be a welder, be an electrician, be an accountant do productive things and stop pretending you are good at what you aren't.
It makes as much sense to give fail farmers money as it does to pay my fat ass to play basketball
Do you like famines? Cause that's how you get famines...all governments have their farmers run a surplus, so when a year is bad....we don't all starve to death.
I wasn't aware paying people not to grow was the same as paying them to grow too much.
You like the dust bowl?
Soil conservation is a thing, when a farmer cannot grow, do you just let them starve?
Cause that's what you're suggesting.
I dont know what the other poster was arguing at all, but the dustbowl was not caused by a shortage of farming. The dust bowl was a result of overfarming: native grasslands with incredibly deep roots hold down topsoil, crops like corn and wheat, which we very heavily subisidze, have much much much shorter roots which dont compact the topsoil. If we are to prevent another dustbowl, it will be by reviving the American prairie, not by planting more useless crops.
The other poster is basically saying we shouldn't pay farmers to not grow crops. When the reality is we pay farmers not to grow to allow the soil to regenerate. The dust bowl was because farmers weren't subsidized to not grow, so instead of allowing the land to rest and the farmer not go bankrupt, they kept growing crops. So now the government pays them when they let plots rest, so they aren't forced to keep growing or eat and pay bills.
Yes I am clearly suggesting that I would like farmers to starve. Any honest person would conclude that from what I wrote. Are there any other views you have magically determined that I hold?
I bet your strawman could survive a dust bowl.
But hey I am 100% sure you have researched this topic in depth and know for a fact that literally every politician who demands farm subsidies is only doing it for the pure altruistic avoidance of a dust bowl. Never mind that all the progress that has been made in agriculture the past 100 years.
This is the edgy, low information shit which makes Lemmy so obnoxious. Every. Fucking. Thread.
Ask for a refund
And finally German conquered the USA..
Are they one-stop in the US, though?
In Germany you usually have a little shopping center with Aldi and/or Lidl, a DM and an Edeka. Once you have finished shopping at Aldi and DM you can pop into Edeka and get the 1 or 2 items you didn't get at Aldi and DM.
Many people in Germany are doing it like that. Edeka seems to florish from the people who prefer branded products and/or can't get into 2 shops because they don't go grocery shopping by car and can't really visit more than 1 shop, because you can't enter a 2nd one with a bag full of goods from the 1st one.
For some people who aren't too picky, it might be a one-stop shop. Also true for some basics, like bread, milk, eggs, some produce, or common frozen stuff.
If you are looking for extra variety or less-common ingredients, you'll have to also shop at a bigger supermarket. But since we usually use cars in the US, it's not too big a deal to do both the same day
As a Kaufland guy myself I'm deeply disappointed you didn't mention them.
Oh, I go there too, occasionally. Especially for returning "Pfand" and buying wine, I really enjoy "Albali Reserva" (not Gran Reserva). It's a more than decent Tinto for only 3.59€/bottle.
But somehow I never really grew fond of Kaufland. Somehow it's always sort of filthy in there, shopping carts are often not to be found at the entrance, not enough registers are open, "chavs" are loitering at the entrance... I don't know, I am always stressed out at Kaufland. Aldi, Lidl and Edeka feel more "cozy" to me, I guess.
Aldi is barely a 1st stop. It only reliably has the barest essentials.
Yes that's how we use it as well. Aldi is for staples and then we either do the international grocer or another specialty grocer. Not really a big deal at all, especially if you don't do your shopping all at one time.
When I have enough free time I shop like this. We don't have Aldi but we have Grocery Outlet. It's a discount grocery that has some reliable products but mainly over stock or discontinued labeling or some small flaw in packaging or product (ice cream with all the mix-ins at the bottom) or near expiry that wouldn't fly at a regular store. So you never know what you'll find there, for very low prices. Then I hit up Safeway, decent quality, where half the store is usually on some buy-one-get-one sale, then to the high end, employee owned, small chain where I can get farm stand quality meats raised a few miles away, high quality cat food and local produce.
Shopping this way saves about $400 per month. When I don't really have time (I work 72 hours per week, take online college classes and have elderly family members to look in on) I end up spending about $1000 per month on groceries at the fancy store.
Aldi for the essentials. Then Too Good To Go for fruit and vegetables and bread/ pastries.
It could be one stop, but their produce and baked goods are bare minimum.
The meats are the most affordable around me.
because you can’t enter a 2nd one with a bag full of goods from the 1st one.
That's not an issue I literally do it all the time. Backpack, though.
Friggen love aldi. I'm kinda disappointed every time I have to go somewhere else now. Just wish they had longer hours cause my sleep disorder means it's hard to make it there before they close sometimes
Please please can you open up a few locations in Vancouver, please? Yale town is ripe for the taking
can you open up a few locations in Vancouver,
Or anywhere in Canada...
I love Aldi but it's where you need to grocery shop first since they're likely to not have everything you need. I wish it was more one-stop.
If they tried to be one stop, they would have to raise prices to cover a larger store with way more items. That is part of how it works.
Thanks! I just figured their cost cutting measures would scale a bit more
Love Aldi, they’re two blocks from my house.
They used to have a produce problem, but now they are top notch.
There are a couple of misses every now and then but most things there are pretty good.
In The Netherlands Aldi is one of the more expensive stores with subpar quality products.
I've been waiting for them to finish the Aldi's near me for over a year now.
Ironic, because the last time I went to an Aldi here in America is was a total rip-off.
Care to elaborate? Was everything more expensive than competitors in you area or just certain things?
A high enough percentage of the stuff there was significantly more expensive than nearby grocery stores (idk about Walmart, I don't shop there) that it was clear that even if some items were the same or cheaper price, to be thrifty I'd have to shop at a second store and I hate doing that unless I have to.
I like Aldi overseas. When I lived in Australia and Europe, it was my favorite grocery store, and it was cheap af, so I didn't go in with a negative attitude or bad expectations, just to be clear. I was really disappointed though.
In my area, they either have generic brands that are cheap af but at least similar quality, regular name brands, or expensive imported stuff. Their name brands and their imported stuff are both more expensive, but particularly the imported stuff gives good quality and variety.
The fact is, in the states, aldi is not a one stop shop regardless. Their selection beyond staples is poor and sporadic. I see a ton of value going there first, getting what I can, and maybe snagging something interesting while I'm there. If I had to, I could live exclusively off aldi well enough, but it'd be a bit basic. I wish they'd expand a bit, but the niche they're in right now is nice in its own right.
For me, the prices were comparable to Walmart but everything was lower quality, especially the produce.
They also just, don't have as much stuff as Walmart lol. With Walmart+ same-day delivery, I haven't gone grocery shopping in months.
The produce could be better, especially lettuce, but I have not had quality issues otherwise. A name brand is not synonymous with quality, and I find Aldi brands better than Walmart’s Great Value.
You also don’t have to deal with the massive store, crowds of unwashed masses, and lazy staff.
Yeah the Aldi in my little town sucks. The produce is always in awful shape, their bread tastes awful, and if canned goods are cheaper, it's usually because they are in a smaller size. It's essentially just a dressed up Dollar General.
What kind of bread? The ones near me have over a dozen different kinds, including the sprouted 7 grain with organic ingredients and no enriched flours and that's only like 3-4 a loaf. In my experience, their products were worse when they first came over decades ago, but now they are cheaper and have higher quality items - especially things like bread and chocolate. Their vegetables are like 25% of the cost of other grocery stores here and they're great.
Right now i have whole grain sandwich bread that tastes too sweet and is too soft. I much prefer the Kroger brand sliced sandwich bread and fresh baked loafs.
It’s essentially just a dressed up Dollar General.
That makes a lot of sense, dude.
And Dollar General sucks (unless it's the only store you have.)
Yeah, I agree.
Really had to figure it out for myself, because the useful idiots weren't telling me.
I haven't heard of half the us supermarkets mentioned in this article lmao
We have an amazing and diverse country. I highly recommends stretching out and seeing more of it!
Diverse is when different stores and soda names🙃
There’s this guy named Pepper who got his MD then went to every other possible school and/or job
For chain grocery stores, there’s only a handful of companies but you likely are familiar with the names they might use locally.
Most of them are owned by Kroger.
I wish they would open some (or more) in Canada. We don't have any in Alberta and I really miss shopping there.
I compared Aldi and Walmart in my area. They came out about the same. I wonder why that is?
Idk. Our Aldi’s is mostly cheaper. On some things where they’re priced similarly, Aldi’s still has the better quality (at least produce). I’ve tried shopping at our Walmart for years but can’t cause the produce is horrendous. I’m not even looking for anything amazing- but can’t shop there cause the produce is either empty, half rotten, or other issues. Plus it’s just faster for me to get in and out of Aldi’s than Walmart and a better experience overall. I go to Meijer if I need to get anything non-grocery related or not at Aldi.
I have the same experience. The Massachusetts Walmart are very expensive.
I compared Walmart, Target, the next big brand and the local supermarkets.
Walmart was always mid-level. The only thing that was cheaper were non-groceries.
My local supermarket (WinCo) was the cheapest while still selling quality brands.
Because Aldi is a scam perpetuated by the "never-walmart" crowd.
Funny how the "never-walmart" crowd always bitches about not having enough money, too.
Useful idiots, I guess.
Bring back my Kaiser buns!
Now do canada.... Lack of competition here is killing us
Best of luck to them. I can't say I was impressed with my single previous visit, but I'll give it another shot if one opens nearby.
I'm not gonna bring a quarter for the cart, though. Fuck that noise.
Just bring your Reusable bag and fill It up with everything your going to buy.
Yea the cart thing is why I avoid them, I don't carry cash so... Also they didn't have hand baskets in the store which kinda sucks. Last time I grabbed an empty cardboard box and just threw my shit in there since I had no other choice.
Their fruit was good though so maybe ill just buy what i can carry and get most of my shit somewhere else.
This is the way.
Do you have to pay for it or deposit it in the lock? In the UK it's common in all supermarkets that they need a refundable pound coin to unlock, so many people have a 'trolley token' keyring with a detachable part to use just for that
You get it back, but I personally hate cash and coins even moreso and im not about to start carrying coins in the off chance I go to this one supermarket. This isn't a thing in the US for the most part.
If I ever became a huge aldi fan Id rather get one of those grandma-ass folding shopping carts to keep in my trunk, but I think Ill just stick to what I can carry for now
Aldi and Lidl have done very well in the UK; they're well run businesses. They're private and focused, pay & treat their staff well and they have a focused but good product range. They used to have a bad reputation but when the financial crisis hit in 2011 people started taking them seriously and they've expanded rapidly. They really do offer good quality at good prices.
I don't know what the US retail industry is like, but if it was anything like the UK's (dominated by a few large supermarket chains with big stores, and bloated product lines) then they will do well. There are 1,020 Aldi stores in the UK - and we're about 1/5 the size population of the US wise. 800 stores is a sizeable number and they apparently already have 2,400 stores there.
Is Aldi truly an affordable/low cost store? I've never seen one before.
More affordable than Walmart, or whatever your local hypermarket is. And with better quality stuff too
Wow! Thanks!
Both of your statements are false.
I encourage people to see for themselves rather than let losers on the internet dictate their decisions.
I’ve seen for myself. It’s cheaper, has better quality items, and much faster to get in and out of.
It depends on the location. Like any other grocery chain, the prices vary from one store to the next. They have great chocolate bars though.
Yes. For the items they carry they are generally much cheaper. They minimize all unnecessary costs like marketing and packaging, encourage self checkout and using your own reusable bags. Their stores are spartan and they sell box/can goods right out of bulk/pallet packaging so that also saves some logistics cost.
I live in a HCOL area (for the Midwest anyway) and while you can't get everything at Aldi, you'd pay 1.5 - 2 times the price buying similar food at a regular regional supermarket. You'd probably pay 2 or 3 times the price if you did all your shopping at a Gucci place like Whole Foods or Sprouts.
Here Aldi is one of the more expensive grocers. But better quality stuff.
Is this the same brand that I sometimes see tool reviews from EU youtubers? The Ferrex stuff? I wonder if they'll be able to bring that stuff over.
More green bacon for everyone
Next stop, government subsidized food banks. LesGo.
I'm convinced this "pinch" people are still feeling is the result of people forgetting that the government gave them money to go out and stimulate the economy during a pandemic where they had few places to spend money.
With a handful of exceptions in the grocery store, all signals are suggesting the American economy is as good as, if not better than, it was prior to 2020. The items mentioned in the linked article have increased in cost just as they always have when environmental variables have an impact on goods and services - it's not about the economy or inflation. If anything, we should be paying more attention to climate change in order to bring our grocery bill down.
If you're trying to save money at the food store, I would highly suggest finding a local produce market or farmers market. I shop at this little local market in my city where my total weekly bill is usually around $80 (actually down from over $100 in 2021). I shopped at an Aldi once, the limited produce was literally nearly garbage and the prices were not great compared to what I normally pay. We all buy different things though so YMMV.
Sorry, you think a couple of thousand dollars over four years ago is causing high grocery prices now?
How does that even work? Why didn't that happen sooner?
This sounds similar to Trump taking credit for the current stock market highs.
They didn't say that the stimuli from years ago caused it. They said that we received the stimuli when we were already sitting around not spending money except as absolutely necessary. These two things combined made it FEEL LIKE the economy was a lot better then than it is now. If anything, to me this says we should have a UBI already.
Mate you and I are on the same side in this thing. The only thing I'm trying to point out is, if you're going to argue against someone, argue against what they're actually saying, not a non-sequitor, even if that non-sequitor is the normal argument you see in this situation.
But you were incorrect. You said the economy only felt like it was better than it is now. It was better. The consumer economy has been on a consistent decline for many years as prices have been on a consistent increase. The economy is "doing well" right now because the stock market is doing well and companies are making profits. That was true when the last round of stimulus went out as well, but grocery prices were still lower for consumers than they are now.
I agree that we need a UBI, but this is not a UBI issue. This is a price gouging issue. UBIs wouldn't stop price gouging. In fact, without laws to prevent such price gouging, a UBI would be far less useful.
See, this is a rebuttal. Something that lets me know you're reading words and not just dropping the first semi-relevant article.
Yes. I agree. The economy is worse now than it was. And I have never argued that it wasn't. I currently believe it's a bit of both of the above, actually. That corporations are shit and absolutely looking to extract any value they can, and that people in general rebounded a bit hard after covid lockdowns ended, but that was inevitable. I think that COVID lockdowns caused corporations to start increasing their prices, "well traffics down we have to stay afloat somehow!" Which they naturally don't want to give up now. Combined with the rebounding I mentioned earlier where people temporarily more willing to spend, and here we are.
Absolutely regulation needs to be put in place. My intent with the UBI line was simply, people spend money when they have money, put money into people's hands and (with a little regulation) the economy will start moving towards good again.
It was an extremely relevant article since my rebuttal was based on it. This makes me think you just rejected it outright because you decided it wasn't relevant without even looking.
Again, it's irrelevant to MY ARGUMENT. In my first post I did not make any mention of my beliefs.
The chain of events from my perspective is:
OP makes an argument about how the stimuli made the economy appear, relatively, worse now than it actually is.
You replied to an argument about the stimuli CAUSING the economy to be shit.
I replied, clarifying OPs original stance. The only bit of my beliefs in the first reply is the last sentence, where I say OPs argument is a better case for UBI than it is for the current state of the economy.
You reply with an article attacking OPs views.
I reiterate my views, significantly different from OPs.
You again attack claims that I have not made.
My entire existence in this thing is one simply asking you to argue, WITH OP, on the words they've actually said. And somehow we're here, me acting as a surrogate OP because you can't seem to parse that I'm not the one making the claims, just interpreting them.
Then again you are flying squid, not reading squid.
I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was talking to two different people. It's sometimes hard to realize that on Lemmy.
That's fine. It happens. I encourage you to go back and reread the OPs post, and your reply to it. I think you'll see why I'm so exasperated.
You make good points, they're valid and based in reality. I'd encourage you to try to fully understand the opponents views before attacking them, though. Thank you for showing a bit of humility.
What??
I really hope you’ll take a moment to read again what I wrote and realize I made no such suggestion.
Maybe this will start a trend of businesses letting their cashiers sit down.
It’s required by state law in California
I've seen a few cashiers at other places. Granted they were all older so maybe had a reasonable accommodation to sit, but maybe... Maybe..
Aldi is great. Walmart has been robbing small towns in America without competition for long enough. I hope more Americans shop at Aldi and save more money while getting healthier food at a fair price.
I drive 20 minutes out of my way to shop at aldi rather than win-dixie (which they've bought recently) down the street for my monthly large shopping.
Does Aldi provide better deals than Walmart?
I used to shop there, but the prices were comparable and everything went bad fast.
That is what fresh food not overloaded with preservatives will do. You should really make fresh produce shopping more of a daily activity as you need it. But not everyone has that kind of time understandably bi-weekly also doable for truly fresh produce along with you plan out your meals for the week
What are you talking about? Kroger is not injecting their apples with preservatives.
Are you fucking joking? You expect a single parent working two jobs to go shopping daily as well?
Calm down, that was a general statement that is true. If your circumstances don't allow it, that sucks.
I gave an extreme example, but very few people's circumstances at this point allow them to go shopping every day. Even people working a single job are far too exhausted by it at the end of the day to be expected to go shopping after work. If Aldi can't sell vegetables that last more than a couple of days, people are less likely to shop there and more likely to shop at somewhere like Walmart. If for no other reason than sometimes you don't get to cook as quickly as you want to and you end up losing more money on the cheaper vegetables than you would have if you just bought the longer-lasting ones.
Even back before supermarkets where you had to go to multiple individual shops to buy food, no one went to the greengrocer on a daily basis. That is not how vegetables are supposed to work.
I don't comment often and I do know you Squid but you're wrong on this. Aldi had great food and especially great produce. I've been going there for more than 3 years exclusively.
I wasn't commenting on the vegetables at Aldi except going with what other people were saying about them I was talking about this, which I found to be ridiculous:
That is beyond what most people should be expected to do and it is beyond what people have done historically and it's just not how most vegetables and fruits work.
I'm not surprised that isn't true of Aldi because it would be bad business to buy old produce that was on the edge of turning rotten.
Going to a local market to buy fresh produce has been the norm throughout history. In the past century it has changed but for billions of people, buying what you need for that day is still the norm, I know I still do it.
Going to it every day? No it hasn't.
No one has told me which vegetables last less than a week yet.
Unfortunately, the American society is just not great for accommodating healthy living. Everything must be done by car and in bulk. And everything must last long because people also want to go once a week. So things are pumped full of unhealthy preservatives as gasses.
It's not good.
Sure, but vegetables that only last a day or two has also never really been a thing for most vegetables we eat. Is there any Western country where people have to buy fresh vegetables every day?
Yes, in most of Europe. The fruit is also smaller because it's mostly untreated. But it also tastes better.
Really? People have to buy fresh vegetables and fruit every single day in Europe?
I don't believe you. Especially since I've been there. Also, I know how plants and agriculture work.
Seriously, have none of you ever grown your own vegetables?
I live in the Netherlands and I buy fresh produce four or five times a week. Freshness wise it depends on the fruit or vegetable. I wouldn't say most things only last two days but it's not like it's gonna last ages, especially after it's been opened/started.
What vegetables do you have that last less than a week and how are you storing them?
If you actually continue on to read the entire message you'll notice the part where I mentioned that not everyone has that kind of time
And my point was almost no one has that kind of time and that it's not realistic to expect vegetables to only last a day or two when that has never historically been the case.
Edit: Since so many of you think vegetables only last a day after they've been picked- https://extension.sdstate.edu/storage-life-vegetables
I don’t they last a day but they shouldn’t last a month either.
Aldi’s produce ”going bad” is on par with my local farmer’s market.
So... like over a week. Which was my initial point to the person I replied to. You don't have to buy vegetables every day unless you're buying vegetables that are about to go off, which pretty much no reputable place sells.
Sorry then: I misinterpreted what you were saying.
Yeah, that's because the food is fresh and less treated than what most Americans are used to. Going bad fast is not necessary a bad thing.
Fresh is not necessarily better, there's nothing wrong with frozen food if you don't mind the texture. And no it's not like Kroger is injecting preservatives in apples.
No, it's because it's old produce that is close to expiring.
The aldi simps here are insane, but another reason why I don't take the masses seriously anymore.
I'm an Aldi simp too!!! Aldi is far superior to Walmart, I never expect my fruits and vegetables to last more than a week and Aldi is good with that. I will never buy produce or meat at Walmart, the things they do to their meat is disgusting. I buy most my non perishables from Walmart, Aldi for other things, and then Costco every couple of weeks. I'm also a Costco simp. In my experience to get the best quality and price you gotta go to multiple places.
Side note, season, time of year changes where produce is the best. Cucumbers in summer at Aldi where I live aren't good.
That's a really low standard to measure against.
Aldi provides way better working conditions than Walmart, that's for sure. Imagine being able to sit during a job that doesn't require standing – in America!!!
I didn't even know that was an option until I walked into an Aldi.
Almost everything at Aldi is private label, which is why it is cheaper (again you only find a few recognizable name brands). However, I will not by fresh foods from Aldi as most of the time as it goes bad fast. I do like their snacks and prepackaged deli stuff tho.
That's what fresh food is, not filled with preservatives and processed garbage that contributes to chronic low grade inflammation
Is their food really "fresher" than Walmarts?
Can you provide any sources to back up that claim?
The fact it goes off quicker is the key piece of evidence. Obviously, they sell items in preserves too, they are a supermarket, and walmart will sell fresh items, but aldis main shtick and selection focus is "fresh, good quality and cheap", but stocks vary a lot, so you need to be comfortable with some items not being available sometimes.
For example, I wanted cherry tomatoes last week, but they had none so I had to have piccolo tomatoes instead.
Lol
Learn canning and preserving like baba
Or just shop at Walmart.
Hell yeah. Aldi is the shit
I like how from the perspective of outsiders, Aldi is "small". They're huge here in Europe along with Lidl. The two make a meme of establishing shops next to each other wherever either exist.
I am glad that Aldi is setting up shops in US. The chain is pretty cheap though the food quality is okay compared to others. I haven't really heard anything bad about Aldi so they are pretty good employers unlike many American shops like Walmart.
Where I am in the US all our supermarkets suck, and are over priced. Aldi offers a clean environment with inexpensive food at decent non farm stand quality. When your alternative is double the price in a run down store or Walmart. Aldi is a very nice alternative.
I really don't think it takes much for Aldi to compete in a large part of the US market. Even if they're not the best because we have so much of the worst in supermarkets.
IL native, so maybe its regional, but Aldi aint small here either xD
Not only are they everywhere, everyone i meet raves about the stark differences in prices between them and their other local stores.
They're not a small company but their locations do typically have a very small footprint compared to the typical US grocery store... Much lower square footage.
They've been in US markets for decades at this point. They just don't have locations in every region of the US or so many locations even in the regions that they do exist as to be considered ubiquitous.
I had a cut of gruyere from there a few weeks ago that was top notch. They got some real bargains for what some people would see as luxury food.
The Aldi Brie is very good.
Aldi definitely isn't small in the US. This is like calling Publix small just because you don't live in Florida, or Love's small just because you don't live in the massive swath of the US they cover.
Aldi is fairly new to much of America. Kroger in America is much, MUCH bigger. And of course Walmart dwarfs both.
Its strange that they couldn't get a hold of Denmark. They closed all their shops here last year, even shops that opened that same week! Must have been a very abrupt decision!
People will argue that it's working in Switzerland. But, I don't think so. They are a little cheaper on certain article. And, I don't see lots of people there during the day.
Not in all of Europe, I don't think I've ever seen an Aldi in Czech Republic or Poland
They suck so much, im glad they closed all their stores in Denmark
We have better alternatives with equal or better prices etc.
Such as Netto
Scandinavian bubble I think
They trully were bad in Denmark though. Although they did get better just before they closed
Please come to Colorado!!!!! I have my Aldi’s quarter ready!
Please please please! Aldi's would kill in CO, especially if the Kroger/Albertsons merger goes through. I kind of hope Aldi's stays out of CO until we know if the merger will go through, though. Their presence would weaken the case against the merger.
I did nearly all of my shopping at Aldi when I was unemployed. Now I have a job and Aldi is still great, no reason to spend more at other grocery stores. I genuinely like a lot of their store brand stuff too
Most of their store brands come from the exact same farms and factory lines as the expensive brand name stuff. Corporations want you to believe there's a difference but the marketing budget (and bonuses) is what you're paying extra for — wasn't the case in the 90's, but thanks to decades of corporate cost cutting, consolidation, and homogenization, that IS the case in the 2020's.
The rule of thumb is the more complex the recipe the greater the deviation. Crushed tomatoes? Possibly zero difference. Sugar cookie? Probably 5% difference (that most won't even notice). Elaborate cookie? As larger difference as between any other brand.
good. only problem with aldi is their produce is hit or miss. moreso than competitors in my experience.
I feel like the places that are less hit and miss probably just throw away more produce so you only see the good stuff.
We recently switched to Aldis. I thought that the produce was going to be a big hangup for me. However, I think it has been fine.
The problem is that it just seems to bad much faster than when we buy it elsewhere. So with that in mind, I just only buy produce at the beginning of the week that I know we will eat quickly.
Maybe it's just variable location to location but if you haven't been to one over the last 5 years they have really stepped up their game in my area. The selection certainly isn't quite as good as the normal supermarkets but the quality well above Walmart for a lot less money.
Does the US have Lidl yet?
Kinda. There's not many locations. There was one near me, but it went out of business a couple years ago; they're stock was pretty sporadic and I couldn't rely on them to have everything I'd need, thus I would have to go to the regular grocery store anyway. The inconvenience of going to two stores took away most of the advantage off the (fairly small) savings they offered, and anecdotally I'm not the only one who felt that way.
This is a problem with Lidl in Sweden as well - great prices and all, but there's a large amount of things I'm interested in buying that they quite simply don't stock. As such, I go to Lidl for all of my 'primary' grocery shopping, and supplement with secondary shopping in other supermarkets and speciality shops.
This is only really viable since I have a Lidl 10 minutes away by bike and another supermarket 2 minutes away by foot. Given what I know about the state of urban planning in the U.S, I imagine that having to go to two different stores will be a significantly higher penalty than here.
I think it's already kind of a thing? I have three stores in my rotation for different reasons
I have a lidl and I fucking love it! Best prices on groceries I've seen. I've also had issues where they don't have everything, but there's a bigger grocery store very close by that I'll stop at if Lidl is missing something I need. Even my wardrobe is slowly becoming clothes from their rotating section.
I used to hate LIDL, but then I moved to a place where a LIDL was within walking distance, and started using it more frequently. Now I have to admit that I love it too. Fair prices and a fantastic selection of vegan options.
Fuck Lidl. I was close friends with a regional manager when they came to the US and they are fucking horrific about how they treat their employees.
Not in the US, which makes me think the problem is not with Lidl
No, this was definitely in the US. I met these assholes (the VPs and region leaders) personally and know all the shit they pull to break down and isolate employees and overwork them and literally tell them to choose between work or family, and spy on their emails and soooo much more. Like I said, I had a very intimate picture of their US launch, and the two years of logistics which preceded it, trust me when I say that these people are legitimately monsters like I've never seen in any other industry.
Typo on my part, meant UK
We shop at Aldi and TJ's regularly. The grocery stores in my area charge literally double for many of the same items. Considering the grocery stores probably pay lower wholesale prices than either Aldi or TJ's it yet another example of the highest corporate profits in 70 years.
TJs as in Trader Joe's? Maybe avoid them for a while
My dumb ass went straight to TJ Maxx 😂
You’re not alone. And it was confusing.
Avoiding a company because of they are attempting to avoid unionization is a double-edged sword. It costs the company business and, in turn, costs the very people trying to unionize their jobs. I've made a choice to keep going to TJ's for the time being.
So Aldi North and Aldi South...
New England resident here. I find Aldi to be alright. The lower price point is definitely noticeable, especially when you compare with other big players in the area like ShopRite and Stop&Shop.
I switched over to Aldi since 2020, they are quite decent when it comes to the basics.
Good to know they are expanding. Aldi's Sister concern Trader Joe's is already heavily present in the New England region, although I suspect they have a more 'niche' group of customers.
Aldi is da bomb
We could just stop paying cosplay farmers to not grow.
Farmers and the amount of food they grow isn’t the issue. It’s corporate greed.
Yes scarcity has nothing to do with creating scarcity
At times for some things. But tell me, is there a shortage right now of any major staple food/ingredient?
The farmers are not the ones getting rich. It’s Nestle, Kraft, PepsiCo, General Mills, Kellogg’s and so on. As long as they remain the big market for what the farmer’s are selling, food prices won’t change. But the farmers could go under if their prices crash due to oversupply.
Sorry why can't you cosplay farmer simps keep your story straight? Half of you are arguing that farmers produce too much so the government is needed to make them produce less and the other half are arguing that farmers don't produce enough and they need the government to make them produce more. Which is it?
Just a fyi you can hold two ideas at once. There are asshole food distribution companies and there are asshole cosplay farmers getting subsidies to not grow. I know, my hometown was basically this. People pretending to be independent successful farmers when all they could grow was dirt and could only produce meth.
Seasonally and yearly there are different demands for crops. The government incentivizes and disincentivizes growing different crops at different times to promote a healthy market, and stable food supply.
Very well. Why isn't there a subsidy in the north during oct/nov for milk? Cows production plummets during the switch to hay. Which is why milk prices get that bump during that time. Couldn't be because the milk lobby is less effective compared to corn since it is much more scattered and hence doesn't get nice solid voting blocks?
Nah it must be for some deep metaphysical reason beyond our kin.
Maybe because you can’t manifest extra dairy cows out of the aether in the winter?
The government does try to help by buying surplus dairy and turning into preservable cheese, but that has just led to bad jokes about “government cheese.”
No but what you can do is use dried milk fat to even out production, you can do is simply pay ranchers more for that month given that they are making less, you can do is freeze butter a month earlier and release it when milk gets more dear, what they can do is subsidize hay so it can be introduced slowly creating less of a shock.
We don't do any of those things. And why should we? Dairy lobby is no where near as powerful since it is spread out instead of concentrated. Which means less lobbying, less bribes, less government money.
We do have stuff like that. Ever hear of government cheese?
Yeah that program from the 1970s very relevant. I am talking now. 2024. In 2024 anyone milking a cow in an area that they need to have that cow on hay once in a while is not getting money for the winter shock. Which shows that it has nothing to do with dust bowls, preventing starvation, helping farmers, stabilizing prices, global warming or any other argument that wants to be dragged out to simp for jt. It is corruption, plain simple and ancient.
You can always tell when someone is lying by the number of bad explanations they give for something. Why did you go to the bathroom just now? Because you needed to. Why do you believe the government should throw money at farmers who can't grow as a reward for failure? Here is fifty different arguments that can't all be true.
commenter explains the most basic farm economics
You can hold two ideas at once you know. It's called lying. Or making shit up about something you thought you knew about because you have the most base-line exposure possible. Or cognitive dissonance.
Who is paying you?
I'm self-employed but am also a consultant, so if depends on the day.
Gotcha. Thanks for confirming what I suspected.
No problem bud.
I don’t know what the hell a cosplay farmer is, but I am assuredly not one. I do my even have a god damn garden on my 0.10 acre city lot.
Learn some history. Farmers have tried to overgrow to make more money, and it has led to collapse as the market forms a glut.
The government does do something different with corn subsidies, causing over abundance of corn, but that has just lead to the overuse of corn syrup sugar, which is a major contributor to obesity.
I see. So we are not going to mention the dust bowl and starvation argument anymore. Love how this arguments just keep wandering.
Do you know what a moral ought from an is is?
On the subject of wandering arguments: you never answered my initial question: what staple food are we experiencing a major shortage of?
We had shortages during the pandemic. They have largely resolved. But food companies have learned people still will buy food, so they kept prices high. What has truly hurt is consolidation. With so much food controlled by so few, competition isn’t working.
Growing food isn’t without a massive carbon and environmental footprint. Trying to force a glut which will just result is spoiled food and bankrupt farmers is not the answer.
Me personally? Nothing. Parts of the world are pretty messed up now.
Yes black swan events tend to create black swan effects. Not relevant when we are talking about 90 year old programs.
Already addressed this. Free money to people who want to cosplay as farmers is not me saying food distribution companies are morally perfect. I don't have anything against cosplay but I don't think you would like me to get your tax dollars to do it.
Wandering argument. Go demand an anti-trust suit.
Just throwing everything you can at this now?
Supply goes up, price goes down. And cosplay farmers should go bankrupt. Free them to do something useful with their life. I would be lying if I can list off a single one I grew up with who wasn't a total failure at what they did. Go do something else! Be a welder, be an electrician, be an accountant do productive things and stop pretending you are good at what you aren't.
It makes as much sense to give fail farmers money as it does to pay my fat ass to play basketball
Do you like famines? Cause that's how you get famines...all governments have their farmers run a surplus, so when a year is bad....we don't all starve to death.
I wasn't aware paying people not to grow was the same as paying them to grow too much.
You like the dust bowl?
Soil conservation is a thing, when a farmer cannot grow, do you just let them starve?
Cause that's what you're suggesting.
I dont know what the other poster was arguing at all, but the dustbowl was not caused by a shortage of farming. The dust bowl was a result of overfarming: native grasslands with incredibly deep roots hold down topsoil, crops like corn and wheat, which we very heavily subisidze, have much much much shorter roots which dont compact the topsoil. If we are to prevent another dustbowl, it will be by reviving the American prairie, not by planting more useless crops.
The other poster is basically saying we shouldn't pay farmers to not grow crops. When the reality is we pay farmers not to grow to allow the soil to regenerate. The dust bowl was because farmers weren't subsidized to not grow, so instead of allowing the land to rest and the farmer not go bankrupt, they kept growing crops. So now the government pays them when they let plots rest, so they aren't forced to keep growing or eat and pay bills.
Yes I am clearly suggesting that I would like farmers to starve. Any honest person would conclude that from what I wrote. Are there any other views you have magically determined that I hold?
I bet your strawman could survive a dust bowl.
But hey I am 100% sure you have researched this topic in depth and know for a fact that literally every politician who demands farm subsidies is only doing it for the pure altruistic avoidance of a dust bowl. Never mind that all the progress that has been made in agriculture the past 100 years.
This is the edgy, low information shit which makes Lemmy so obnoxious. Every. Fucking. Thread.
Ask for a refund
And finally German conquered the USA..
Are they one-stop in the US, though?
In Germany you usually have a little shopping center with Aldi and/or Lidl, a DM and an Edeka. Once you have finished shopping at Aldi and DM you can pop into Edeka and get the 1 or 2 items you didn't get at Aldi and DM.
Many people in Germany are doing it like that. Edeka seems to florish from the people who prefer branded products and/or can't get into 2 shops because they don't go grocery shopping by car and can't really visit more than 1 shop, because you can't enter a 2nd one with a bag full of goods from the 1st one.
For some people who aren't too picky, it might be a one-stop shop. Also true for some basics, like bread, milk, eggs, some produce, or common frozen stuff.
If you are looking for extra variety or less-common ingredients, you'll have to also shop at a bigger supermarket. But since we usually use cars in the US, it's not too big a deal to do both the same day
As a Kaufland guy myself I'm deeply disappointed you didn't mention them.
Oh, I go there too, occasionally. Especially for returning "Pfand" and buying wine, I really enjoy "Albali Reserva" (not Gran Reserva). It's a more than decent Tinto for only 3.59€/bottle.
But somehow I never really grew fond of Kaufland. Somehow it's always sort of filthy in there, shopping carts are often not to be found at the entrance, not enough registers are open, "chavs" are loitering at the entrance... I don't know, I am always stressed out at Kaufland. Aldi, Lidl and Edeka feel more "cozy" to me, I guess.
Aldi is barely a 1st stop. It only reliably has the barest essentials.
Yes that's how we use it as well. Aldi is for staples and then we either do the international grocer or another specialty grocer. Not really a big deal at all, especially if you don't do your shopping all at one time.
When I have enough free time I shop like this. We don't have Aldi but we have Grocery Outlet. It's a discount grocery that has some reliable products but mainly over stock or discontinued labeling or some small flaw in packaging or product (ice cream with all the mix-ins at the bottom) or near expiry that wouldn't fly at a regular store. So you never know what you'll find there, for very low prices. Then I hit up Safeway, decent quality, where half the store is usually on some buy-one-get-one sale, then to the high end, employee owned, small chain where I can get farm stand quality meats raised a few miles away, high quality cat food and local produce.
Shopping this way saves about $400 per month. When I don't really have time (I work 72 hours per week, take online college classes and have elderly family members to look in on) I end up spending about $1000 per month on groceries at the fancy store.
Aldi for the essentials. Then Too Good To Go for fruit and vegetables and bread/ pastries.
It could be one stop, but their produce and baked goods are bare minimum.
The meats are the most affordable around me.
That's not an issue I literally do it all the time. Backpack, though.
Friggen love aldi. I'm kinda disappointed every time I have to go somewhere else now. Just wish they had longer hours cause my sleep disorder means it's hard to make it there before they close sometimes
Please please can you open up a few locations in Vancouver, please? Yale town is ripe for the taking
Or anywhere in Canada...
I love Aldi but it's where you need to grocery shop first since they're likely to not have everything you need. I wish it was more one-stop.
If they tried to be one stop, they would have to raise prices to cover a larger store with way more items. That is part of how it works.
Thanks! I just figured their cost cutting measures would scale a bit more
Love Aldi, they’re two blocks from my house.
They used to have a produce problem, but now they are top notch.
There are a couple of misses every now and then but most things there are pretty good.
In The Netherlands Aldi is one of the more expensive stores with subpar quality products.
I've been waiting for them to finish the Aldi's near me for over a year now.
Ironic, because the last time I went to an Aldi here in America is was a total rip-off.
Care to elaborate? Was everything more expensive than competitors in you area or just certain things?
A high enough percentage of the stuff there was significantly more expensive than nearby grocery stores (idk about Walmart, I don't shop there) that it was clear that even if some items were the same or cheaper price, to be thrifty I'd have to shop at a second store and I hate doing that unless I have to.
I like Aldi overseas. When I lived in Australia and Europe, it was my favorite grocery store, and it was cheap af, so I didn't go in with a negative attitude or bad expectations, just to be clear. I was really disappointed though.
In my area, they either have generic brands that are cheap af but at least similar quality, regular name brands, or expensive imported stuff. Their name brands and their imported stuff are both more expensive, but particularly the imported stuff gives good quality and variety.
The fact is, in the states, aldi is not a one stop shop regardless. Their selection beyond staples is poor and sporadic. I see a ton of value going there first, getting what I can, and maybe snagging something interesting while I'm there. If I had to, I could live exclusively off aldi well enough, but it'd be a bit basic. I wish they'd expand a bit, but the niche they're in right now is nice in its own right.
For me, the prices were comparable to Walmart but everything was lower quality, especially the produce.
They also just, don't have as much stuff as Walmart lol. With Walmart+ same-day delivery, I haven't gone grocery shopping in months.
The produce could be better, especially lettuce, but I have not had quality issues otherwise. A name brand is not synonymous with quality, and I find Aldi brands better than Walmart’s Great Value.
You also don’t have to deal with the massive store, crowds of unwashed masses, and lazy staff.
Yeah the Aldi in my little town sucks. The produce is always in awful shape, their bread tastes awful, and if canned goods are cheaper, it's usually because they are in a smaller size. It's essentially just a dressed up Dollar General.
What kind of bread? The ones near me have over a dozen different kinds, including the sprouted 7 grain with organic ingredients and no enriched flours and that's only like 3-4 a loaf. In my experience, their products were worse when they first came over decades ago, but now they are cheaper and have higher quality items - especially things like bread and chocolate. Their vegetables are like 25% of the cost of other grocery stores here and they're great.
Right now i have whole grain sandwich bread that tastes too sweet and is too soft. I much prefer the Kroger brand sliced sandwich bread and fresh baked loafs.
That makes a lot of sense, dude.
And Dollar General sucks (unless it's the only store you have.)
Yeah, I agree.
Really had to figure it out for myself, because the useful idiots weren't telling me.
I haven't heard of half the us supermarkets mentioned in this article lmao
We have an amazing and diverse country. I highly recommends stretching out and seeing more of it!
Diverse is when different stores and soda names🙃
There’s this guy named Pepper who got his MD then went to every other possible school and/or job
For chain grocery stores, there’s only a handful of companies but you likely are familiar with the names they might use locally.
Most of them are owned by Kroger.
I wish they would open some (or more) in Canada. We don't have any in Alberta and I really miss shopping there.
I compared Aldi and Walmart in my area. They came out about the same. I wonder why that is?
Idk. Our Aldi’s is mostly cheaper. On some things where they’re priced similarly, Aldi’s still has the better quality (at least produce). I’ve tried shopping at our Walmart for years but can’t cause the produce is horrendous. I’m not even looking for anything amazing- but can’t shop there cause the produce is either empty, half rotten, or other issues. Plus it’s just faster for me to get in and out of Aldi’s than Walmart and a better experience overall. I go to Meijer if I need to get anything non-grocery related or not at Aldi.
I have the same experience. The Massachusetts Walmart are very expensive.
I compared Walmart, Target, the next big brand and the local supermarkets.
Walmart was always mid-level. The only thing that was cheaper were non-groceries.
My local supermarket (WinCo) was the cheapest while still selling quality brands.
Because Aldi is a scam perpetuated by the "never-walmart" crowd.
Funny how the "never-walmart" crowd always bitches about not having enough money, too.
Useful idiots, I guess.
Bring back my Kaiser buns!
Now do canada.... Lack of competition here is killing us
Best of luck to them. I can't say I was impressed with my single previous visit, but I'll give it another shot if one opens nearby.
I'm not gonna bring a quarter for the cart, though. Fuck that noise.
Just bring your Reusable bag and fill It up with everything your going to buy.
Yea the cart thing is why I avoid them, I don't carry cash so... Also they didn't have hand baskets in the store which kinda sucks. Last time I grabbed an empty cardboard box and just threw my shit in there since I had no other choice.
Their fruit was good though so maybe ill just buy what i can carry and get most of my shit somewhere else.
This is the way.
Do you have to pay for it or deposit it in the lock? In the UK it's common in all supermarkets that they need a refundable pound coin to unlock, so many people have a 'trolley token' keyring with a detachable part to use just for that
You get it back, but I personally hate cash and coins even moreso and im not about to start carrying coins in the off chance I go to this one supermarket. This isn't a thing in the US for the most part.
If I ever became a huge aldi fan Id rather get one of those grandma-ass folding shopping carts to keep in my trunk, but I think Ill just stick to what I can carry for now
Aldi and Lidl have done very well in the UK; they're well run businesses. They're private and focused, pay & treat their staff well and they have a focused but good product range. They used to have a bad reputation but when the financial crisis hit in 2011 people started taking them seriously and they've expanded rapidly. They really do offer good quality at good prices.
I don't know what the US retail industry is like, but if it was anything like the UK's (dominated by a few large supermarket chains with big stores, and bloated product lines) then they will do well. There are 1,020 Aldi stores in the UK - and we're about 1/5 the size population of the US wise. 800 stores is a sizeable number and they apparently already have 2,400 stores there.
Is Aldi truly an affordable/low cost store? I've never seen one before.
More affordable than Walmart, or whatever your local hypermarket is. And with better quality stuff too
Wow! Thanks!
Both of your statements are false.
I encourage people to see for themselves rather than let losers on the internet dictate their decisions.
I’ve seen for myself. It’s cheaper, has better quality items, and much faster to get in and out of.
It depends on the location. Like any other grocery chain, the prices vary from one store to the next. They have great chocolate bars though.
Yes. For the items they carry they are generally much cheaper. They minimize all unnecessary costs like marketing and packaging, encourage self checkout and using your own reusable bags. Their stores are spartan and they sell box/can goods right out of bulk/pallet packaging so that also saves some logistics cost.
I live in a HCOL area (for the Midwest anyway) and while you can't get everything at Aldi, you'd pay 1.5 - 2 times the price buying similar food at a regular regional supermarket. You'd probably pay 2 or 3 times the price if you did all your shopping at a Gucci place like Whole Foods or Sprouts.
Here Aldi is one of the more expensive grocers. But better quality stuff.
Is this the same brand that I sometimes see tool reviews from EU youtubers? The Ferrex stuff? I wonder if they'll be able to bring that stuff over.
More green bacon for everyone
Next stop, government subsidized food banks. LesGo.
I'm convinced this "pinch" people are still feeling is the result of people forgetting that the government gave them money to go out and stimulate the economy during a pandemic where they had few places to spend money.
With a handful of exceptions in the grocery store, all signals are suggesting the American economy is as good as, if not better than, it was prior to 2020. The items mentioned in the linked article have increased in cost just as they always have when environmental variables have an impact on goods and services - it's not about the economy or inflation. If anything, we should be paying more attention to climate change in order to bring our grocery bill down.
If you're trying to save money at the food store, I would highly suggest finding a local produce market or farmers market. I shop at this little local market in my city where my total weekly bill is usually around $80 (actually down from over $100 in 2021). I shopped at an Aldi once, the limited produce was literally nearly garbage and the prices were not great compared to what I normally pay. We all buy different things though so YMMV.
Sorry, you think a couple of thousand dollars over four years ago is causing high grocery prices now?
How does that even work? Why didn't that happen sooner?
This sounds similar to Trump taking credit for the current stock market highs.
They didn't say that the stimuli from years ago caused it. They said that we received the stimuli when we were already sitting around not spending money except as absolutely necessary. These two things combined made it FEEL LIKE the economy was a lot better then than it is now. If anything, to me this says we should have a UBI already.
Utter nonsense.
https://time.com/6269366/food-company-profits-make-groceries-expensive/
Mate you and I are on the same side in this thing. The only thing I'm trying to point out is, if you're going to argue against someone, argue against what they're actually saying, not a non-sequitor, even if that non-sequitor is the normal argument you see in this situation.
But you were incorrect. You said the economy only felt like it was better than it is now. It was better. The consumer economy has been on a consistent decline for many years as prices have been on a consistent increase. The economy is "doing well" right now because the stock market is doing well and companies are making profits. That was true when the last round of stimulus went out as well, but grocery prices were still lower for consumers than they are now.
I agree that we need a UBI, but this is not a UBI issue. This is a price gouging issue. UBIs wouldn't stop price gouging. In fact, without laws to prevent such price gouging, a UBI would be far less useful.
See, this is a rebuttal. Something that lets me know you're reading words and not just dropping the first semi-relevant article.
Yes. I agree. The economy is worse now than it was. And I have never argued that it wasn't. I currently believe it's a bit of both of the above, actually. That corporations are shit and absolutely looking to extract any value they can, and that people in general rebounded a bit hard after covid lockdowns ended, but that was inevitable. I think that COVID lockdowns caused corporations to start increasing their prices, "well traffics down we have to stay afloat somehow!" Which they naturally don't want to give up now. Combined with the rebounding I mentioned earlier where people temporarily more willing to spend, and here we are.
Absolutely regulation needs to be put in place. My intent with the UBI line was simply, people spend money when they have money, put money into people's hands and (with a little regulation) the economy will start moving towards good again.
It was an extremely relevant article since my rebuttal was based on it. This makes me think you just rejected it outright because you decided it wasn't relevant without even looking.
Again, it's irrelevant to MY ARGUMENT. In my first post I did not make any mention of my beliefs.
The chain of events from my perspective is:
OP makes an argument about how the stimuli made the economy appear, relatively, worse now than it actually is.
You replied to an argument about the stimuli CAUSING the economy to be shit.
I replied, clarifying OPs original stance. The only bit of my beliefs in the first reply is the last sentence, where I say OPs argument is a better case for UBI than it is for the current state of the economy.
You reply with an article attacking OPs views.
I reiterate my views, significantly different from OPs.
You again attack claims that I have not made.
My entire existence in this thing is one simply asking you to argue, WITH OP, on the words they've actually said. And somehow we're here, me acting as a surrogate OP because you can't seem to parse that I'm not the one making the claims, just interpreting them.
Then again you are flying squid, not reading squid.
I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was talking to two different people. It's sometimes hard to realize that on Lemmy.
That's fine. It happens. I encourage you to go back and reread the OPs post, and your reply to it. I think you'll see why I'm so exasperated.
You make good points, they're valid and based in reality. I'd encourage you to try to fully understand the opponents views before attacking them, though. Thank you for showing a bit of humility.
What??
I really hope you’ll take a moment to read again what I wrote and realize I made no such suggestion.
Aldi is cool though.