Why or why not buy at ALDI?

Shopping
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We don’t really know how reliable Yuka is? Whether it best serves a general consumer need or targets the interests of a narrower consumer group? There are various views expressed online. Choice has not looked at the App. @BrendanMays one to pass on to the food team to look at?

When it comes to deciding on healthier food products, our view is it is more about which product one chooses than the brand or supermarket. Whether one chooses to purchase potato chips (crisps), white bread store brand loaf, marmalade or …. there’s little benefit in choosing simply on the name of the supermarket. As Choice has often pointed out it can be cheaper to shop around providing one is comparing the same or equivalent products. It may or may not lead one to choose certain products available at Aldi or go elsewhere for others.

It would be more useful to put into context the relative health benefits of different products and brands. A small difference in sugar or salt content of a loaf of bread once reduced to the difference in two slices for a sandwich or a bread roll. Likely an insignificant portion of the RDI. More important might be what one chooses to fill the sandwich or roll with, or the total carbs irrespective of sugar if one is restricted due to diabetes.

The challenge question:
Can one eat healthy by shopping predominantly at Aldi,
and if not can one also eat unhealthily by shopping at Coles or Woolworths?
It’s intended to be a rhetorical question, if anyone feels inclined to respond.

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I usually do not buy from Aldi due to inconvenience, but I do make the effort to purchase on Choice recommendations, like washing powder and dish washer tablets etc. I have purchased some of their weekly specials and found them ok for the price.

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If the Yuka app is suggesting alternative healthier products to Aldi, it will be reliable. For Yuka:

  • Each food product is evaluated according to 3 objective criteria: nutritional quality, presence of additives and organic aspect of the product.

The information outlined by @BrisLin in relation to the outputs from the Yuka app concurs with other independent assessments of the quality/nutritional value of Aldi store branded products/

Choice does not need to repeat the exercise, as it has been done by a number of independent organisations which have come up with the same conclusions.

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This to me is the key question. Cheaper? Why? All sorts of reasons, from ingredients through processing, packaging etc. Healthy? Read the ingredient list, the country of origin annd possible lack of food regulations or best practice, and consider other relevant factors depending on the item, quality, for example, freshness, and packaging waste created, as applicable.
Of course we have to consider price, but not solely. Health matters.

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For more years than I can now remember, the weekly shop cannot be completed at one Supermarket.The big two have their specialties, according to taste. Aldi is just one more. The Occasional International food ranges are most welcome as so many of us have European / Asian roots. Aldi’s Variety tables that feature a miriad of products from Freezers to Hi Tech tooth picks are interesting and quirky, for the record, I mostly look- but dont buy- its the “Treasure hunt” that appeals. These tables are alluring to Male shoppers, the mix of Chainsaws , lawn mowers and then socks and jocks etc appears to make them happy to “Shop” , this is one thing the other supermarkets/retailers do not get at all. The foregoing is more obersavtion than opinion, I have studied marketing a bit .

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The health needs of individuals vary. Some of us will be more particular due to special needs: to reduce salt intake, to manage diabetes 2 through lower carbs (sugars), may be gluten intolerant, to manage high cholesterol, or other … hence many consumers will be reading the ingredient list.

It’s a reality we now live in a world where supply chains are globalised. Australia is both an exporter and importer of food and general consumer products. Should we be concerned imported food products are less safe or of lesser quality?

All our major supermarket chains sell imported food products. Aldi has global purchasing power for many products in it’s range that Woolworths and Coles do not.

Aldi shopper exposes Woolworths 'wild' price differences.

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Choice covered this a few years back for supermarket products, and found:

At first glance, it appeared that 80% of market-leading brand groceries in the sample were sourced locally, compared with 69% from Woolworths, 67% from Coles and 63% from Aldi. But once you eliminated all those that were simply ‘packed in’, ‘processed in’ or ‘made in’ Australia, you were left with a much smaller proportion you could be confident were sourced predominantly from local suppliers based on their country of origin statements – just 41% of Coles, 39% of Woolworths, 31% of market leaders, and 13% of Aldi products in our snapshot.

With Aldi there isn’t a variety of products in the same category, like IGA, Woolworths, Coles or independent grocery stores. This means one has to rely on the choices Aldi makes, which may or may not be in the interests of the consumer.

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Their toilet paper is inferior. Their imitation Jatz biscuits (imported from England) are toothbusters. I could go on…
On the other hand their dishwashing liquid is better and cheaper than most (Choice put me on to that). Their meat packs (red, poultry and some fish) are at least as good as Colesworths.
Our major shopping centre has Colesworths and Aldi, but the Aldi is very small, which may colour my judgement. Also, I dislike their service model, lack of staff and the checkout shuffle.

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Which comes back to my ‘convenience’ criterion. If I don’t find what I want, or Aldi’s offering/s are unacceptable, I have to spend twice as much time shopping, which I don’t enjoy doing. And my experience with the local Aldi is that this is very likely. So now I only go to Aldi on spec, if I’m at that shopping centre and Coles is out of something I want. Such as 1kg block tasty cheese.

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Very true, along with additional costs of driving/catching public transport if alternatives are nearby.

You are right, time has a cost which can be inconvenience. It can also have cost of not being able to use the time more effectively to do other things. It can also have a dollar value, which is how much one’s time is worth. If one works, it might equate to a per hourly rate at or above the minimum wage of $24.10 (from 1 July 2024).

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I have stopped shopping at Aldi. The amount of Chinese-processed food is overwhelming. They focus on fresh produce as their Australian content to overshadow the imported inventory and blatant knock-off labels. Their savings comparison ads are manipulated so they are comparing apples and oranges, no comparing other supermarket house brands with Aldi house brands. I prefer to shop with predominantly Australian-owned supermarkets rather than a company whose profits leave the country.

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Exactly my point. Check for health concerns. No supermarket does it for you.
Aldi is global and imports on price.

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Many fresh foods (e.g. fruit, veges, meat dairy etc) can’t be imported into Australia due to biosecurity restrictions. Advertising indicating that some fresh produce is 100% Australian gives the impression of a business doing the right thing supporting Australian growers, but it is a bit of a furphy… because if a supermarket sells such products, they have no choice but to use Australian products.

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Asparagus , lettuce, strawberries, cherries, apples, oranges, onions, and many others can and are imported. Fresh green house grown tomatoes cannot be imported from New Zealand as far as I know. Even Kiwi fruit are certainly imported “Australia imports most of its Kiwi fruit from United States, India and New Zealand . The top 3 importers of Kiwi fruit are India with 13,145 shipments followed by United States with 4,643 and Vietnam at the 3rd spot with 953 shipments.”

Dairy is allowed including fresh milk, it is easier in most instances to import goods already processed or dehydrated such as skim milk powder rather than paying for the water content in the freight cost.

From The slowly changing face of Australia’s dairy trade | Dairy News Australia

“In 2023, Australia imported more than 1.4 billion litres of dairy product in liquid milk equivalents, excluding caseins,” he said.

“A large proportion of the import mix is bulk and ingredients — particularly butter and skim milk powder — as domestic manufacturing of these products has declined.

“But more imported dairy products are also appearing on retail market shelves.”

From www.dairy.com.au

“ Australia imports some liquid milk, which makes up around 2% of the total volume of dairy product imports . In 2022/23, Australia’s import of liquid milk represented around 2% of total dairy imports, with the majority of imported milk coming from New Zealand.”

From AUSVEG

“Fresh vegetable imports remained relatively small compared to other categories of imports. Imports of fresh vegetables fell in value in 2013-14, down to $70 million. China continued to be the major source country for fresh vegetables, following the trend set since 2008-09. Mexico remained Australia’s second largest source of fresh vegetable imports, followed by New Zealand.

Fresh vegetable imports from particular countries tended to be vegetable-specific with garlic from China, capsicums and tomatoes from New Zealand, onions from the United States, garlic and asparagus from Mexico, and asparagus from Peru. China, New Zealand and Mexico made up the majority of the fresh import market, with a share of 60%. Fresh vegetable imports from the United States fell considerably from $12 million in 2011-12 to under $5 million in 2013-14.“

So to say that they are prohibited by biosecurity is incorrect in many instances. I believe most fruit, vegetables, dairy would be able to be imported. Fresh meat might have a harder time getting over our borders, fish and other seafoods don’t seem to have much difficulty, though getting it here while fresh would have added a great deal to the cost.

Chicken since 2008 has been able to be imported as fresh meat to Australia.

“ The Australian chicken meat industry is not under significant competition from imports. Imports of cooked chicken meat have been permitted in Australia since 1998 and fresh since 2008 but import volumes remain low relative to domestic production.”

Beef can be imported fresh to Australia as long as the export Country has a satisfactory BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) status from Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

Fresh pork cannot be imported, but ham and bacon as processed meats can be.

Sheep and goat are allowed to be imported as fresh meat. While it isn’t much that we do import, it does happen.

There is a process to be followed by exporters to Australia, However as I wrote previously there are a great many fresh items able to be imported and sold on shelves in retail businesses.

https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/infographic-fresh-produce.pdf.

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One won’t find imported fresh milk on the shelves of a supermarket. Imported milk will be used and mixed with local milk for manufactured dairy products. It is imported to meet shortfalls in Australian milk production for manufactured dairy products.

Fresh milk is also a restricted products, thus meaning it is difficult to import and must comply with stringent import requirements.

I didn’t suggest fresh fruit and veges weren’t imported. There are some which are, but many that aren’t. Many that aren’t are those present in Australian supermarkets such potatoes, carrots and there are many more. Processed forms (frozen, canned etc) can be imported subject to meeting Biosecurity requirements.

I didn’t say that. Many fresh fruits, veges, meats, eggs etc can’t be imported from overseas and sold on supermarket shelves due to Australia’s biosecurity requirements. If other countries could meet Australia’s strict biosecurity requirements, then application for import potentially could be granted.

A good example is potatoes. Fresh potatoes where once, for a short time, imported from NZ. Import permits were withdrawn when NZ couldn’t be certified to meet Australian biosecurity requirements.

Some fresh meat is imported, but again this won’t be found as fresh meat on supermarket shelves (with exception of possibly some seafoods). Imported meat will be used for processed products, which then may appear as processed products on supermarket shelves.

The risks of allowing many fresh products onto supermarket shelves is high, and why many imported fresh products are used to supplement inputs into food processing rather than taken home from a supermarket where ongoing biosecurity controls are unknown.

The post above is about fresh produce on supermarket shelves, there are many which can’t be imported fresh for sale on supermarket shelves. There are many that have received approval for fresh import and retail sale, but manu that can’t be.

I stand by the statement in the previous post. I agree that Australia does import fresh produce, but many of these don’t appear fresh on supermarket shelves. This is what the discussion was about.

In relation to Aldi (and would apply to other supermarkets), this is what they promote as buying Australian fresh produce:

https://www.aldi.com.au/groceries/fresh-produce/

If any of the supermarkets could readily import every fresh fruit, vege, meat, eggs and dairy product they sell, they would be doing it to save costs. The reason why it isn’t done is because they want to support Australian farmers, it is done because biosecurity requirements make it near impossible to do so.

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Aldi imports a portion of its products. Of that portion Aldi’s global supply chains manage at least 10 times the value/scale of the combined Coles and Woolies domestic market. All are free to choose from the best sources, but Coles and Woolies will have less leverage when dealing with OS suppliers. In many instances Coles and Woolies often buy from Australian importers (specialist chains). This can only add to their costs for the same products Aldi is purchasing direct from the supplier or factory in Europe etc. Aldi’s product may come out of the exact same factory or source, as name brand products. It will come with an Aldi brand name. Nothing different to the Coles and Woolies branded products produced locally and overseas.

Why would Australians choose to shop at Aldi if it’s only due to (lower) price?
Instead could one ask why can’t Australian’s afford to shop elsewhere, if the truth is Aldi only sells lesser/unacceptable groceries including mostly imported food products?

  1. Imported food products must meet minimum FSANZ standards, as well as DFAT requirements. In respect of food safety if Aldi is more reliant on imported product for sales one could suggest it adds a level of confidence.
  2. If we could all afford to spend more on groceries, why would we need to import any grocery products? Aldi has carved out a market share and is expanding that share because it is meeting a need the other supermarkets are not meeting. It’s a very direct observation of the social circumstances affecting a significant number of Australians.

As an aside:
Coles and Woolies also import product, providing choices based on price. One only needs to look at the choices of Italian canned tomatoes, Spanish olives, Dutch Edam, Vietnamese processed fish fillets and prawns, etc etc. Australia is more than capable of supplying or processing all of these products, but not necessarily at a price everyone can afford. Is it fair to suggest if Coles and Woolies were fair dinkum Aussie they would not sell imported products. IE only offer the Australian sourced alternatives, no matter the greater cost?

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I shop around every ten days in Aldi - its our main shop up - some items are not available at Aldi like the particular tea we like, and the particular cat food our cat likes so that means we pick those items up elsewhere.
I don’t go in for a lot of processed food. I try to follow the nothing out of a packet nothing out of a tin philosophy for my cooking , but that being said I still buy things like sardines, Australian tinned tomatoes, the Just Organic brand of tomato paste. The Aldi cereals I find are not as sweet as the major brands which suits me. I find Aldi fruit and veg very good. I do well with the meat buying. The Aldi makeup base is very nice. My husband likes the shower gel.
I think its a matter of people getting used to the Aldi way of doing things and using it to their advantage frankly. If I did the same shop in the major supermarkets it would be hugely expensive. I just bought another cast iron pot in Aldi - my last one which was 5years + and cost $39 back then was starting to look a bit worn at the base.The Aldi ones cook far better than Kmart version (just my experience) as I like low and slow stovetop.

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Woolies often has many products we purchase regularly on promotion. When the discount is 40% to 50% off, the item is usually cheaper than Aldi sells it or an equivalent product. Therefore, Woolies is cheaper for us to shop at than Aldi.

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If you are lucky enough to have an ALDI store within 50-100kms then it is very worthwhile to try & do your big shop when you visit from out of town. I live 50 kms away from the nearest ALDI & usually wait until I have several errands/appointments in the town & do my big shop at ALDI as well. This way I can save (depending on how much I buy at ALDI) $50 or more on my grocery bill compared to Woolworths or Coles equivalent shop. The money saved goes towards the fuel bill. I only have to drop into Woolies or Coles every now & again to buy the one off’s that ALDI’s don’t have. ALDI’s branded items are very good quality & most of their products are sourced & made in Australia.

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There’s no law against it, so if they can give the public a better deal. then good on them !!!