4 Overpriced Grocery Items To Avoid Buying at Aldi

In the fourth quarter of 2023, a YouGov poll found that Aldi is the No. 1 most popular place to buy food among American adults out of 46 grocery stores. Gen X, boomers and women all gave Aldi the undisputed top spot. Among millennials, Aldi tied with Trader Joe’s for No. 1. Only men ranked Aldi as the second-place finisher and gave the crown instead to Trader Joe’s.

The source of the store’s nearly universal appeal is no secret.

According to retail analysis firm Aura Vision, “Aldi’s business model is built on simplicity, efficiency, and cost savings. The company achieves this by streamlining its operations, reducing overhead costs, and keeping prices low.”

Even so, Reddit and social media are crawling with forums and groups dedicated to pointing out products you can buy elsewhere for less. Here’s what the store’s superfans won’t buy at Aldi.

The most common warning of all is to stick only with Aldi’s in-house brands, which the company says represent “more than 90% of the products in our stores.”

There is a widespread consensus that it’s best to avoid the 10% of products made by outside brands. Fans and Aldi-themed blogs say you can usually find them for less at big-box stores, particularly during sales and in conjunction with manufacturers’ coupons, which Aldi famously doesn’t accept.

For example, a 12-pack of Coca-Cola cans that costs $8.45 at Aldi is $7.99 at Target — and that’s without the benefit of coupons or a sale.

Another complaint that’s nearly universal to every subreddit, social media thread and blog post dedicated to the subject is Aldi’s cereal aisle. There’s a common agreement that even when it costs less, Aldi cereal is often not a good value. 

“While Aldi is renowned for its cost-saving generic brand options across various categories, their cereal often fails to match the taste and quality of the name brands, resulting in a product that isn’t as satisfying despite the lower price point,” said shopping expert Sarib Rehman, founder of the e-commerce platform Flipcost, where he specializes in consumer purchasing decisions. “Investing a little more in name-brand cereals elsewhere can lead to a better overall value in terms of both satisfaction and nutritional content.”

Fans nearly across the board rave about the low price and high quality of Aldi’s diapers and formula, both of which are often cost-prohibitive with new parents. The accolades stop, however, with baby food.

For example, four-ounce containers of Aldi’s Little Journey brand baby food puree sell for $0.95 each. That’s double the $0.48 you’ll pay for a four-ounce jar of Walmart’s highly-rated Parent’s Choice brand baby food.

Household paper products are among the most common Aldi pricing pitfalls that Redditors said to avoid, advising that you can do better at big-box stores that take coupons and hold frequent sales.

An example is a 12-roll jumbo pack of SoSoft toilet paper from Aldi’s Willow brand for $6.05, which is a good deal — but there are better deals to be had. Each roll has 286 two-ply sheets, which is 3,432 sheets in the pack

But at Walmart, an eight-roll pack from the store’s Great Value brand has 1,000 sheets per roll. That’s 8,000 sheets — more than double Aldi’s deal — for $6.12, virtually the exact same price.