Agreed and eeewwwwwwww… The documentary was just gross.
I just ordered it - thanks!
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True, but other Globe articles have highlighted that inner cities have fewer options for supermarkets, pharmacies, etc. Much has been made about the closure of pharmacies in the poorer sections of Boston, leaving folks long treks to get meds.
The point made by the article is that it’s tougher for people to eat better if good healthy food is not offered for sale. In the burbs there are lots of choices–in the city, less so.
I know you’re not saying to give poor people lousy food because they don’t know better, but prepackaged, ultra-processed , nutritionally poor food is what’s for sale, that’s what folks will buy…
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Yep, but healthy and/or fresh food costs relatively more. Fresh, healthy food/grocery stores in limited income areas have struggled to succeed. There’s been no shortage of start-ups that have tried, at least in Chicagoland where I live. Walmart and Target have also closed stores in the last several years in some of the lowest income areas in Chicago. Here’s one story: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/business/walmart-chicago-closing-corporate-america/index.html
Aldi is actually one of the stores that is filling the gap in some of these areas in Chicago.
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No Aldi’s where I live, unless you count Trader Joe’s, but I have not found any grocery store to offer everything I want, although many grocery stores offer a subset of what I want.
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I stopped going to Trader Joes after a couple of visits solely because of the parking lot. There is always a line up of cars waiting to enter the lot and once you do get in, it is a tightly packed and IMO dangerous mess of cars and people. Thankfully there are many other excellent options nearby.
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In theory I shouldn’t list something I’ve not tried personally. But… even though I’m generally in favor of local sourced foods…. I don’t (or don’t yet) understand the growing trend for drinking raw milk.
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Same at our Trader Joe’s. I’ve stopped going. The parking situation is a nightmare.
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I love Trader Joe’s but what is it about the parking lots? At least with the older locations. When we lived near DC I rarely shopped there because the parking lot was a zoo. They opened another store not far from us and the newer one had a lot more parking. Same here in my new location.
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I remember when my kids got their drivers licenses, I wouldn’t let them go to TJ’s nights or weekends.
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Interesting…guess either parking is not a big factor in selecting store sites or the number of shoppers is much greater than anticipated.
We could start a whole thread about bad parking lots. And it’s not because of crowds. It’s because of poor designs of the parking lots.
But that could be a whole other thread!
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Yes, but I’m not willing to pay a premium for the right to advertise their brand. They should be giving me a discount.
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I get awesome free wearables at work with beer company names on them. I average about a jacket a month and 2-3 quarter zips. They’re all high end brands because we like nice stuff. 
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I also do trips to different grocery stores once every 1-2 months and stock up, but I don’t put Aldi in that rotation. For me, the question is not whether going to Aldi has a non-zero value, but rather how that value to me compares to alternative grocers I could choose instead of Aldi.
For example, an obvious comparison is Aldi vs Walmart. Much of what I criticized about Aldi could also be said about Walmart – subpar quality on many items, subpar store maintenance, and some negatives with store experience. Aldi and Walmart both try to make up for these negatives with relatively low sticker prices. Among the foods I buy, prices were similar between Aldi and Walmart on most items, when comparing store brand vs store brand, rather than store brand vs name brand. Among the products you listed, the only one I buy is milk. Specific numbers for the mllk I purchase is below:
- Half Gallon Skim – $2.04 at Walmart for ~2 weeks from expiration vs $2.04 at Aldi for 1 week expired ($4.08 per Gallon)
- Gallon Skim – $3.42 at Walmart ($3.42 per gallon) vs not available/offered at Aldi
- Half Gallon Lactose Free – $3.54 at Walmart vs not offered at Aldi
This touches on the key advantage Walmart has over Aldi – larger selection. Walmart has at least 8 different options for skim milk. Aldi only had one when I visited, and it was expired. Walmart offers many times larger selection than Aldi on other items as well – both Walmart store brand (Great Value) and name brand. On any particular grocery trip, there are far more items I want to stock up on at Walmart than Aldi. I can also get non-food items like batteries, motor oil for car, or whatever else I happen to need. If I have my dog in the car or don’t want to go in the store for some reason, I get can curbside.
If I can get approximately the same price at Walmart for comparable (or better) quality with far greater selection, why also include Aldi in my grocery rotation?
Listen, if it’s not for you that’s cool. In the US of A, there are lots of options. 
By the way, I paid $1.53 for half gallon milk at Aldi yesterday (January 17) that had an expiration of January 30.
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And I’m guessing your area Walmart offers approximately the same $1.53 price as your area Aldi, for store brand. Different regions have different prices, and I live in a VHCOL area of CA.
Perhaps the expired milk was a fluke or something unique about my particular location, but I still find it concerning that a product could remain on the shelves a week after expiration without anyone noticing (or perhaps caring). Milk also wasn’t the only product that had quality/maintenance issues.
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Did you take it to the person running the register? They are VERY responsive to these things. Very!
I won’t shop at Walmart. Their parking lot is worse than Trader Joe’s. Just awful.
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We got some of these!
And to prove that I do know what a Stanley Cup is - the surprise Grand Marshall of the home town parade, July 4, 2013.
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I love Aldi and shop there every week for specific items. My H doesn’t like Aldi and won’t shop there. So I get that it doesn’t appeal to all.
I haven’t had an issue with expired items.
I bring my own bags and all my coats/jackets (light weight, medium and for below 20) have a quarter in the pocket.
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