A Dozen Reasons Why Aldi is Better Than Your Favorite Supermarket

Forget its negative stigma: Aldi is one of the greatest grocery stores on the face of this Earth. As a typical American, I will admit that I bought into its image, believing that it was nothing but a store for the low-income and underprivileged, selling low-quality goods for rightfully low prices. After all, the company itself feeds this idea, by conveniently placing a majority of its stores in less-than-stellar areas: So why should I shop there? However, after looking for ways to cut my own budget, which was paycheck-to-paycheck, needless to say, I reluctantly stopped fighting people's suggestions to check it out, and decided to see what this place was all about.

Needless to say, I was floored within five minutes of setting foot in my first Aldi store; like a kid in a candy shop, I couldn't believe the prices. Then I was re-floored upon trying each item, and finding that they tasted just like the national brand! That was about five years ago, and since then I have done just about 90% of my total shopping there. Like anything else, it is not for everyone. But for the average American who just wants to stretch their budget while simultaneously getting quality that not only meets but often exceeds the national brands, you could certainly do much worse.

Without further ado, I now present to you the top 12 reasons why Aldi rules, and your favorite grocer sucks.

12.) Great Business Focus - Aldi was founded in the late 1940's, after the end of the second World War, at a time when the economy was struggling. The founders, Karl and Theo Albrecht, owned a little general store. To bring in business, they lowered the cost of their basic, everyday necessities--things that most people could not live without--and made up for it by upping the charge on everything else in the store. Now, they don't even have to do that: Just about everything in an Aldi store is priced as low as it possibly can be. Yet despite these low prices, Aldi boasts massive profits on each item sold, achieving revenue up to 100 times greater than those of Wal-Mart.

11.) It Was Eco-Friendly Long Before It Was Trendy To Be - Aldi's has always made customers pay for their store-branded bags, with the logic that all stores were doing it, but most were just hiding the bag surcharge in the mark-up cost of each product. The thing is, by charging for bags, they also silently encouraged consumers to bring their own, thus cutting back on the amount of waste as a result of plastic bags being thrown away. They have also jumped further on the "green" bandwagon by offering massive-sized Aldi-branded totes for a mere $2.

10.) It's a Great Place to Work - Though I have never worked at an Aldi store, I have heard from several people that have, and just about all of them agree: It's a whole hell of a lot of hard work, but the compensation is next to none in this line of work. Cashiers can make anywhere from $10.50/hr. starting off, while management comes close to $20/hr. Obviously not the highest paying jobs in the world, but as someone who has worked in retail my entire life, I can tell you that for this line of work, that is nothing to scoff at.

9.) It's Recession Proof - Aldi is one of the few stores, grocery or otherwise, that not only does great business during times of trouble, but that see an increase of business during said times. When tough times hit, the rates go up for a manufacturer to make their product, which means a price spike in both the cost to the store, and the retail cost for the consumer. Hell, even many Aldi products saw a small price surge during these times. However, even with the rising costs, Aldi still managed to undersell the competition enough to pull in thousands of new customers feeling the pinch of the recession, so much so that in a time when most chains were closing stores, Aldi was continuing to open more, using their low prices to entice shoppers from all walks of life, and all income brackets.

8.) It Practices What it Preaches - I can't count how many times an ad for a national chain has stated how it is using measures to cut costs, and then "passing the savings on to you". Nor can I even begin to count the number of times a chain has stated that it has the "lowest price" on a certain item. Aldi lives to cut costs, on all fronts. From the executive level, where even those at the highest level are often required to fly coach when traveling on company expense, to its stores, which are small and run on skeleton crews, you can actually see their philosophy at work. Pair that up with their meager advertising (a few ads on TV here and there, and a weekly flyer distributed through the local newspaper), and you've got a company that really cares about controlling its costs.

7.) No Loyalty Cards - I have never understood the idea of these, especially considering if you ever forget one, or even if you don't have one, most cashiers (at least at the major chain I go to occasionally) have one handy at their register, and will ring you up with one anyway. How does that drive loyalty? At Aldi, the price you see is the price you get. Period.

6.) Fewer Items - While most supermarkets carry in excess of 45,000 items, requiring constant manpower in stocking the shelves and checking for out-of-date items, Aldi carries roughly 1,300 of the typical household's most-used items (also known as "staples"). This means the items sell much quicker. They sell so quickly, in fact, that most items never even reach their sell-by date in the store. So while you may need to go elsewhere for ingredients to your more exotic dishes, Aldi has you covered on the basics.

5.) No Cluttered Parking Lots - It can be a little off-putting to learn you need a quarter to get a cart at Aldi (you get it back upon returning your cart afterwards), but the fact this simple little tactic works so well is absolutely mind-boggling. Who would have thought that a quarter, a mere twenty-five cent piece, would be so valuable to consumers that they would willingly return their carts to the proper place just to get it back? But they do. All the time. Not only does this prevent stray carts from hitting cars (and subsequent lawsuits), but it also prevents the store from having to have someone clear the lot of shopping carts.

4.) Smaller Stores - Why the hell do I need a barber shop, optometrist, clinic, restaurant, and/or video rental place in my grocery store? On top of making the stores unnecessarily larger, to the point that pretty soon stores will be a mile long just for the sake of having every imaginable product under the sun, having all these things drive up the prices of the products within. Aldi stores, meanwhile, have a simple setup: Four total aisles, with items kept on their pallets, thus eliminating the need even for shelving. Who would have thought that less could be so much more?

3.) "Private" Labels That Taste Like the National Brands - How is this possible? Because a vast majority of the items sold under private label names in Aldi are actually made by the same companies that make the national brands. So what you are eating is probably not a product made with similar ingredients by a smaller vendor, but the exact same thing as the national brand, only in Aldi packaging.

2.) Great Quality...Guaranteed - This may be a shocking one for those that have never shopped there, but Aldi has quality that is second to none. I have tried at least a couple hundred products over the five years that I have considered myself an Aldi shopper, and only a couple times have I ever been let down. But you know what? Aldi stands by their product like no other grocer: Every private label item distributed by Aldi carries a Double Guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied, for whatever reason, they will not only replace the product, but also give you your money back. I have never actually done this myself, but I hear they are incredibly generous and lenient with this policy, often honoring the guarantee even to people who do not have a receipt.

1.) Lowest Prices Imaginable - Unlike most chains, which have been known to keep prices the same even when they receive discounts from the manufacturer, Aldi feels that keeping prices low is an integral part of business. Thus, whenever they receive a lower price directly from a vendor, they reflect that by dropping the price direct to the consumer. But that's just part of the equation: The culmination of all price-cutting measures mentioned above, Aldi undercuts the competition by roughly 25-50% on each item sold. With prices like these, why go anywhere else for the things you need and use most?

Of course, like anything else, Aldi is not for everyone. They carry a very select assortment of organic and "healthy" items, so if you're looking for those, you may have to look elsewhere (like Trader Joe's, which was bought by Aldi co-owner Theo Albrecht in 1979 and serves as a perfect point-counterpoint to an Aldi store). Aldi stores also carry a lot of items with high fructose corn syrup, rather than cane sugar, something that has been in products for years, but that have suddenly come under fire simply because people need something to bitch about.

So if you are looking for ways to stretch your dollar even farther, then look no further than your nearest Aldi store. Really, what do you have to lose?