Monday, November 1, 2010

ALDI's review series

Since ALDI is cheap but relies heavily on unfamiliar house brands, I'm going to start a series of reviews about ALDI food items. Before we start the beginner must know a few things:


  1. bring your own bag for the loot. Yes, there are bags but you have to pay for them. Besides, not bringing your own bag is the Mark Of Cain which indicates you hate whales, koalas, endangered creek snails, etc.
  2. bring a hard quarter if you want a cart. You have to use a deposit to get the cart. I just carry my stuff.
  3. Cash and debit only. Seriously.

So here's the first reviews. Where possible I will compare national brand vs. common store brand vs. ALDI store brand.

Kool-Aid vs Wyler's vs ALDI Mixade

Kool-aid: ~$0.25 each ($3 for 12; see below). The standard from your childhood.
Wyler's: ~$0.20 each ($2.40 for 12; see below). Fewer flavors, but I don't veer far from the norm in most cases (sharkleberry excepted). Another exception: Wyler's black cherry is beautifully colored while Kool-aid's BC is plain red. Weird. 25% savings compared to Kool-aid.
Mixade: ~$0.89 for a package of 12. The packs I got were:
  • 3x berry punch (blue)
  • 1x grape
  • 2x lemon-lime
  • 2x strawberry
  • 3x cherry
  • 1x fruit punch (blech, I hate fruit punch)
If you liked all the flavors this would be a 70% savings compared to Kool-aid. Since I hate fruit punch and would not have bought that packet that makes it only a 68% savings.

Verdict: ALDI Mixade for the win.


I'll do saltine crackers next. Please try to control your excitement.


ALDI Richardson, TX
1549 E. Beltline Road
Richardson, TX 75081

Business hours
Monday - Friday 9am - 8pm
Saturday 9am - 8pm
Sunday 10am - 7pm

1 comment:

Unknown said...

An Aldi move in pretty close to my home a year or so ago. It was very reminiscent of what we experienced at grocery stores when Jenn and I visited Der Vaterland, right down to the euro 'deposit' mechanism to borrow a cart.

I was slightly annoyed by the cash/debit payment limitation though as my debit card only accrues points when used as credit. Ah well, I guess it keeps costs down by reducing transaction fees.