One of my darling nephews has a bit of a silver spoon in his mouth and won't go into Aldi and will hide slouched down if his parents dare to take him in to the car park for fear of being seen. For Christmas one year I got him an Aldi shopping token and wrapped all his presents in their plastic bags, I don't think he thought it was very funny. Hehehehe I obviously did.
Firstly, let me just say, this is not a sponsored post. I am posting of my own free will and am unfortunately not receiving any money or free products off Aldi for this post. I am a self confessed Aldi lover and have been since it graced our town many years ago.
You don't have to be Einstein to realise you can save some good money shopping there. Here are my top 17 reasons to shop at Aldi apart from saving money.
- They have a green conscience and proudly support environmental sustainability with a no bags given policy, you take or buy your own and they have in place a green action plan which includes being the only Australian supermarket to stock only Australian made and phosphate free laundry products and using environmentally friendly packaging.
- It saves on brain power as there is only one or two choices of any one product and they are always in the same spot.
- They have a growing range of gluten free products without a hefty price tag.
- They offer a double-back guarantee on most food items. If a product isn't up to scratch, they'll replace it AND refund your money.
- The shopping trolleys are free and take a token or 1 or 2 dollar coins. This also makes everyone take their trolley back to its rightful place.
- Aldi have won a host of awards for many of their products mainly their dairy and olive oils.
- They have big aisles of fuss free shelves and not a multi-buy in sight.
- They have consistent quality, in my opinion.
- They don't rob Peter to pay Paul and so have genuine low prices each week.
- Their growing Organic product range is great and at an affordable price.
- Aldi have a committment to supporting Australian suppliers. One example is they have supported SPC Ardmona by making their entire range of 825g tinned fruit to Australian made. There are other examples you can read about here,
- No artificial colours for the vast majority of products, except pet food and some non-food items.
- They have a product range of MSC certified labelled fish to support sustainably caught varieties.
- Aldi have a partnership with Planet Ark to recycle batteries. They are the first supermarket in Australia to offer free recycling of batteries in every store. Batteries are toxic monsters and need to be disposed off properly and not thrown in the bin.
- They have reduced their own energy consumption throughout existing and future stores by fitting them out with eco friendly lighting, refridgeration, air conditioning, heating and freezers.
- Its quick and easy to get out of! Their checkout operators are like speedy gonzales.
- Their carpark is big, free and in my experience a road rage free zone.
I read a great article by Jo at Down to earth mother about the eco buys from Aldi with a smile on my face. They have a very good growing 'Just Organic' range that I add to my shopping and stockpile each week.
Organic produce comes at a high price but I understand why. What I do think now is I try my best to make my shopping dollars count. When I can I buy as much Organic as we can afford. I started by just switching to a couple of items each shopping trip where I could. Below is an idea of what I've been buying on the organic front.
I've struggled with the whole to go organic or not go organic guilt trip. Give me another spoonful would you! The answer for me, at this stage is this. On one wage, I'm incorporating organic into my shopping trolley as often as I can. Organic and Australian made is the bee's knees for me. If I can't afford organic then the next best option for me is Australian made. I don't compromise on eggs or chicken~they are always freerange and/or organic. If I can I get my eggs direct from a local farmer I'm happiest, until that special day when I will have my own girls clucking away in my yard.
What I have been trying to do is when I run out of something, say extra virgin olive oil, I will pay that bit more that week for the organic version or at the very least Australian made. Slow and steady will win my race. Knowledge is key, but you have to be realistic too if you are trying to be frugal and get the most from your shopping dollars. Do what works best for you and your family, don't worry about anyone else as you really could go crazy worrying about it all.
Here are some price's for any of you non-Aldi shoppers to think about. Aldi prices
Vinegar 2 L $1.09 (product of Australia)
Organic butter (made in New Zealand) $2.89
Freerange whole chicken 1.870 kilo $10.63 (product of Australia)
Organic pasta $1.65 (made in Italy)
Organic tomato paste 140g $0.99 (made in Italy)
Organic diced Italian tomatoes $0.99 (made in Italy)
Organic fair trade milk chocolate 100g $1.99 (made in Germany)
Organic extra virgin olive oil (made in Australia!! Yay!!!) around $6
Organic soy milk 1 Litre (made in Australia!! double Yay!!) $1.79
Organic natural yoghurt $5 per kilo (yep made in Australia)
so 5 out of 10 are Aussie made.
I have to admit to shopping at my local independant or one of the other big boys to do about 5% of our top up groceries and luxury items, but it's becoming more and more less frequent. It's usually for cold meat like a hunk of ham or sliced freerange chicken breast as I don't like the cold meat of Aldi's nor do I like any supermarket chicken 'meat' as I hate to think of whats in it.
So what are my favourite items from Aldi? Here is an idea.
- dippits, wholegrain rice crackers, rice cakes, sao's and cruskits
- all their nuts
- tinned peaches and pineapple
- gluten free almond crunch cereal
- all of their organic range
- their hommus is the best apart from yummi's but at half the price
- greek honeyed yoghurt and squeezy yoghurts for lunchboxes
- free range whole chicken
- 1kg raw frozen prawns at $10 are a bargain
- organic butter
- bags of 5 or 6 avocados, bananas, truss tomatoes, bags of carrots, sweet potatoes, purple garlic and zucchini's
- wholegrain wraps
- face wash and moisturiser
- glad wrap, foil, baking paper, garbage bags, freezer bags
- toilet cleaner, vinegar, baby wipes
So tell me my dear readers, do you shop at Aldi? Or are you a duopoly big boy supermarket only shopper?
Ciao, Jan.
