Aldi are trying hard to become Australia’s third major supermarket chain. At the same time they are trying to offer far more than simple groceries. The question is are their products really good value.
Unlike most supermarkets, you could not do your complete grocery shopping at Aldi. There are a lot of products they simply do not stock so you are forced to go to other supermarkets anyway. The products they do sell are competitively priced, often well below supermarkets. Some of the products are great value.
Baby nappies (diapers) are very well priced and very good quality. Many of their groceries lines seem to be good quality as well. I know there are times when I buy one of the grocery items to try out and I am quite surprised at the good quality. Breakfast cereals are a good example – I know my kids prefer them to any other.
When it comes to Aldi electricals I start to have some doubts. I know we purchased one of their wide screen LCD television sets. It worked well for about 13 months then just died. Warranty – I will be honest here and say I cannot remember if it was one year or two year – but I will warn everyone who buys and Aldi product that has a warranty beyond three months – photo copy your receipt. The receipts that are issued by Aldi are printed on thermal paper. Any sign of heat in the air and those receipts will turn to black and the printing (and proof of purchase) totally lost. So even if it did have a two year warranty, I don’t have the receipt as proof of purchase date etc.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that Aldi products are all European. Aldi as a brand may be European but most of their products come from Asia. Electricals like TV’s are cheap products that have been rebadged – or badged by the manufacturer for Aldi.
The crazy part is, these products work very well. I have not come across many products that I wasn’t happy with. Just don’t expect a long service from any of their products.
Is there good value shopping at Aldi? For grocery items, yes. For electricals, I think you may be better off buying a named brand from one of the larger retailers. The Aldi TV was around $500. For an extra $300 I could have purchased a similar Sanyo product, with a proper receipt and much better service history. I could have used the $500 as a deposit, say at Big W, and paid the other $300 off over the next six or so weeks.
It is a pity. I do like their products but so far I am sitting at three for three when it comes to failures.
photo credit: iwouldstay
I’ve liked Aldi for deals on groceries, but I’ve never trusted some of their higher priced items. I keep giving them the sniff test, but stick with Kroger for the most part.
i like Aldi too, but as you’ve said it is better to buy food products there not tv for example, but returning to food issue i admit it is cheap and quiet good. both fruits and sweets or other products such as bread, meat etc..
I’m very happy with the newish Aldi in my neighborhood of Lakeland, Florida…it’s clean, well-stocked, and has fresh dairy, produce, and frozen items. It’s a great supermarket for not only staples, but for some specialty items as well…While I still find it necessary to go to my former favorite big-box grocery store (Publix), I have pretty much converted to Aldi due to the quality of the food, and in great part to the cleanliness of the store and freshness of the food.
I am hooked on Aldi, and really jazzed about slashing my weekly grocery bill in half! My only regret is that I didn’t give ALDI a chance when they opened up a year ago – I think of all the money i was throwing away for the past year when I could have been saving all that money for an entire year…live and learn!!! Don’t ever be afraid to try something new, and for those of you with a snobbish attitude to Aldi, just give it a chance – I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised…
I love aldi, they have a great selection of groceries, a great selection of breads and the shops are very well set out. This shop is becoming more and more popular in the UK, and i have even heard it compared to major high street brands such as marks and spencers
The Aldi near me is a great place to shop. I get my groceries from there. Thanks or the post.
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