5 Reasons California Shoppers Should Shop at ALDI

5 Reasons California Shoppers Should Shop at ALDI

This post was sponsored by ALDI as part of Influencer Activation for Influence Central. #TasteOfALDI

For years, I’ve heard about a mythical store called ALDI, where one could buy healthy foods and save money. Bloggers would post about the fresh produce, organics, gluten-free products, and manager specials, which made me dream that it would someday come to California. Well, guess what?! My dreams came true because ALDI has opened 25 stores in Southern California with plans to have 45 open by the end of 2016! Can I get a whoop-whoop! And lucky for me, I had the opportunity to shop at one of the new ALDI stores and I’m here to share my shopping experience and 5 Reasons California Shoppers Should Shop at ALDI.

5 Reasons California Shoppers Should Shop at ALDI

1 – Saves Us Money!

If you aren’t familiar with ALDI, you may be asking yourself how is it different from any other grocery store? Well, let me tell you! When traditional grocery stores spend a ton of money on flashy displays, marketing, and large retail spaces, this cost gets passed onto us – not cool. I hate paying a premium price for my groceries due to high overhead costs. ALDI believes in the philosophy of keeping things simple – offer premium high-quality natural and organic food that everyone can afford. They do this by bargaining hard with their suppliers and cutting out any unnecessary fluff. Then, they pass these savings of up to 50%* on our grocery bill to us! Amazing, right?!

Additionally, ALDI stores feature environmentally friendly materials. The stores use LED lighting, natural lighting, and energy-saving refrigeration throughout the store, which not only helps the environment, it helps them pass savings onto us!

*Based upon a price comparison of comparable products sold at leading national retail grocery storesI don’t normally post pictures of my grocery receipts, but nothing shows the savings better than the image of my actual ALDI receipts. Do you see the 45¢ avocados, 99¢ blueberries, $2.49 watermelon, or the $1.49 organic ketchup? The prices were phenomenal and most better than the non-organic items found in traditional grocery stores! My husband even got in on the shopping fun during my second visit and picked up a brand new tent that sleeps 8 people for $69.99 (another retailer had a similar tent on sale for $130), which was an ALDI find!

Tip – ALDI finds are food and household items that are in stores for a  limited time. If you like an ALDI find, buy it. It won’t last long and will most likely sell out.

2 – Healthier Choices

No need to worry if what you’re buying is a fresh or healthy option. More than 90% of the groceries that ALDI sells is an ALDI exclusive brand, which are all completely free from certified synthetic colors, MSG, artificial flavorings, or partially hydrogenated oils. And EVERY item ALDI sells is tested for quality and freshness by their culinary experts, so it tastes just as good, if not better than comparable national brands. I can’t even begin to express how liberating it was to shop the entire store without having to worry about ‘bad’ ingredients and knowing the items being placed in my basket were healthier choices for my family.

During my shopping trips, I purchased a few ALDI exclusive brands -liveGfree, NeverAny!, and SimplyNature. The liveGfree line is a gluten-free line that even my VERY picky husband and oldest son liked. The NeverAny! products are free from added antibiotics, hormones, and animal by-products. Last, the SimplyNature includes USDA Certified organic and Non-GMO verified items. I also noticed that the majority of the other products on the shelves were organic, non-GMO, no MSG, hormone free, antibiotic free, and gluten free too.

3 – Small Stores = Fast Shopping

The first thing I noticed when I entered ALDI is that it’s small and very streamlined. It only has 4 to 5 aisles compared to 30 aisles at other grocery stores, but don’t let the small size fool you! I was able to find everything I needed in record time because ALDI only stocks the most commonly purchased grocery store items. Less stuff allowed me to maneuver through the store so much quicker than a traditional store because I wasn’t bombarded with unnecessary items or tempted to shop for things I didn’t need. Hmm…I guess that could be another way ALDI helps me save money.

The layout is a little strange, but it doesn’t take long to get used to it. For example, the beginning of the first aisle is filled with snack peanuts, candies, cookies, dried fruits, and wine. It then leads into breakfast items, spreads, honey, and produce. In the next aisle, more produce that sits across flour, sugar, spices, and baking goods – a little weird, right? But think of ALDI as a well-edited store that focuses on only on the items that you regularly add to your shopping cart, so it’s very condensed. When I got to the third aisle, there were seasonal items like garden supplies and summer items (umbrellas, sunglasses, etc.) that were all priced unbelievably low. Again, if you see something in the seasonal aisle you like, buy it, it won’t be there for long and will sell out.

Once I was done shopping, it was time to checkout. Here’s how it works –

1. Put your groceries on the belt
2. Cashier will ring you up and place your items in an empty cart next to her
3. Park your now empty cart next to her for the next customer’s stuff
4. Pay the cashier and move the filled grocery cart to the grocery packing table
5. Pack your own groceries at the packing table
6. Go to your car and unload
7. Return the cart to the cart station at the front of the store

Tip – Carts are locked together at the front of the store. You’ll need a quarter to ‘rent’ a cart and unlock it. You place a quarter in the cart slot, it releases the cart, and you can go shopping. When you return the cart, place the chain in the lock slot and it will pop the quarter back out.

Tip – Bring your own bags or you will have to pay for a reusable ALDI bag. They also have cooler bags available for purchase if you have a long drive home and don’t want cold items to get warm.

4 – ALDI Quality Guarantee

If you buy an ALDI product and don’t like it, you can bring it back for a replacement AND they’ll give you your money back. Say what?! I love that ALDI stands behind their products 100% and then some! It totally gave me the confidence to try new things at ALDI.

I brought home a variety of ALDI products and loved it all, but it’s good to know that I could bring something back if I didn’t like it.

5 – ALDI Cares

ALDI gives back to the community and has partnered with Action For Healthy Kids to encourage active lifestyles at 15 California schools. More than 11,000 kids will benefit from this partnership to help establish school health teams and promote school wellness action plans.

Now that you know the 5 Reasons California Shoppers Should Shop at ALDI, what are you waiting for?! Visit the a store near you and get ready to fill your baskets! I’m positive that you’ll marvel at all of the healthy choices, quality products, and low prices.

Now go shopping!

• Bring a quarter to rent a cart. Put a quarter in, get a cart, return the cart, and get the quarter back!
• Bring grocery totes/shopping bags or buy an ALDI reusable grocery bag.
• Accepts cash, debit, and credit cards.