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