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Americans embrace Aldi as German discounter becomes fastest-growing supermarket in US (notltd.co.uk)

submitted 4 days ago by Sunshine@piefed.ca to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk

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[-] freebee@sh.itjust.works 19 points 4 days ago

How "buy European" is this? Doesn't Aldi have completely separate, American, supply chains for the vast majority of the products...?

[-] buddascrayon@lemmy.world 15 points 3 days ago

They have to otherwise they would be impossibly expensive, importation of goods is not cheap. Their strategy is to sell as many of their own branded products as possible making them as close to premium quality as possible without compromising price. (Unlike a certain grocery chain in Canada that I could mention)

[-] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 2 points 2 days ago

The USDA and FDA regulations make it basically a requirement for food to be processed in the US, hence why there's so many massive food processing facilities in the US. Based on the recalls they've been caught up in, Aldi works with the same white label processors as other grocery chains and quite clearly works with them to set the taste, quality & ingredient expectations and of course the price.

There is a noticeably less sugar in Aldi's goods than most other brands, but I also see far more packaging errors in Aldi's goods than other budget brands, for example. Their packaging is also heavier into recyclable materials and uses less plastic

[-] gwl 9 points 3 days ago

It's EU in their values, of having good pay and not expecting staff to do bullshit like unpaid overtime

[-] freebee@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 days ago

Fair enough. Bit shocking as a European that a discounter that's known to put enormous pressure on staff, is regarded as very good practice on the other side of the pond... Sure Aldi pays their staff well but they also time and micromanage cashierd for how many seconds it takes per scanned product for example

[-] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Coincidentally, from what I've heard, Aldi prints the barcode on all sides of the packaging, so the cashier doesn't have to look for it. (Idk myself as there's no Aldi where I am.)

[-] freebee@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yes. Part of the reason it seems shocking to me that they are considered good practice in USA is things like this. Although the barcode thing is good and harmless, they try to make every little thing milliseconds faster, the cashiers at aldi don't do small talk, they don't have the time. If they are too slow at scanning, they get fired or that's the rumour at least. They recently also started splitting cash registry, so they can process even more costumers per minute and must be even more of a robot and less of a human... At many other supermarkets, the cashiers know their customers, have small talk about the weather or the kids or so. Aldi kind of forbids it without literally forbidding it because forbidding would probably not be legal.

[-] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

I mean, I don't have a problem with the barcode thing since it saves empty effort of twisting the package around in one's hand looking for the barcode. It's a great design solution eliminating a small frustration that occurs hundreds of times a day. I'd be glad if my local supermarkets had that on the stuff I take to self-checkout.

[-] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 days ago

Yes; it’s on at least 2-3 sides of all Aldi Branded products so they can scan faster.

[-] gwl 1 points 3 days ago

I'm also EU, I'm going from what I've heard from an American friend that works there

[-] HotChickenFeet@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 days ago

Rural-ish American who's moved a bit -

Currently my only significant options are national chains like Walmart & Dollar stores which are well known for being bad for their employees AND their communitees. Many of the employees of the former are paid poorly enough they require government assistance to afford groceries from the store they work at.

I've lived places with Wincos/Costcos & Market Baskets and those are much mote reasonable places that I'd compare with Aldi. The chairs thing is real when looking at piece of shit places like Walmart & Dollar stores - but I dont remember if MB &| Winco offers chairs to their employees.

There are often larger local chains that can be marginally better (food lion, tops, etc) but often their prices & selection won't beat out walmart.

Aldi is a nice breath of fresh air for the customers.

I don't know any employees personally, so I can't vouch if they are treated significantly better than other stores like Market Basket/Winco.

[-] HotChickenFeet@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 days ago

I try to buy from local farmers where possible, but thats not always easy nor possible for some things.

[-] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 days ago

Nor reasonably priced. Helpful to the farmer, yes, but pricy.

[-] huppakee@piefed.social 7 points 4 days ago

When you see it as black and white than Aldi equals any other US business - but i'd argue it's a more gradual thing and there is an actual difference. First because the top company is European a larger part ends up in European hands and also it could mean difference in policies.

this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2026

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