I am getting my shoes on right now, Toria! --Joy

I hear they have a French onion soup mix that is pretty good now too. Headed out to get that today. I'll get a take and bake pizza for dinner and put my toppings on. Five bucks. I'll see if they still have nectarines. Or peaches. Frank is a master at ripening them. I call him the Fruit whisperer. The other thing I like is the little frozen chicken kiev things. I like the cordon blue ones and frank like the jalepeno ones. They are good for a quick dinner. The large blueberry muffins while not as good as home made are also a buy as well as the Racine kringle. We like their trail mix too. And I always buy the walnuts and pecan there. White cheddar is good. Frank says the milk stays fresher longer.

The thin mint Girl Scout cookie was a bust. Horrible. People actually saying they could not tell the difference. Shaking my head.

HI,

I was just looking at Aldi's gift flyer for products put on the floor today:
- a sous vide for $49.99
- a 9-in-1 pressure cooker programmable pressure cooker for $59.99
- my favorite to amuse myself and will never, ever buy: a Coca-Cola mini can fridge for $44.99

What I will buy is their stollen and a few packages of stroop waffles.

Regards,
CAthy2

toria wrote:The thin mint Girl Scout cookie was a bust. Horrible. People actually saying they could not tell the difference. Shaking my head.

Their look-alike products, at least the ones I've tried, are always off-putting. They either lack the same flavor profile, intensity of flavor or quality of ingredients. Trader Joe's is an example of how a popular product can be matched for better value, so it's certainly possible, but Aldi's execution is lacking.

spinynorman99 wrote:

toria wrote:The thin mint Girl Scout cookie was a bust. Horrible. People actually saying they could not tell the difference. Shaking my head.

Their look-alike products, at least the ones I've tried, are always off-putting. They either lack the same flavor profile, intensity of flavor or quality of ingredients. Trader Joe's is an example of how a popular product can be matched for better value, so it's certainly possible, but Aldi's execution is lacking.

Many of those Trader Joe's products ARE the same thing, just with different packaging. Here's one website that claims to have done research:

https://www.eater.com/2017/8/9/16099028 ... s-products

chicagojim wrote:
Many of those Trader Joe's products ARE the same thing, just with different packaging. Here's one website that claims to have done research:

https://www.eater.com/2017/8/9/16099028 ... s-products

Packaging machines are very expensive. Often you can associate the ALDI product with its name brand counterpart by looking at the packaging as well as the country of origin. For example, many of the cookies sold by ALDI were produced in Canada by Dare (who also produces a lot of the President's Choice brand cookies).

There is so much consolidation in the consumer packaged goods industry that there are a good number of products that have a single source ... and 60-100 private labels.

Apparently the Aldi in Vernon Hills opened yesterday.

-Will

Since I cancelled my dad's Tribune subscription [R.I.P.], whoever has the route for the advertising circulars on this block ceased leaving the weekly Wednesday {nee Red Plum / Inside Shopper} Retail MeNot bundle at the abode. (I swipe the bundle off an absent neighbor's walkway.) The bundle has that week's Aldi flyer.
But I can't help thinking that Aldi would be better served by returning to its pricing flyer of a quarter-century ago. It listed every item it had that week in its stores, the item's size, and its price. 'Special buys' were in red text (v. black).
This would positively educate shoppers as to which other grocery stores' prices were the "loss leaders", because Aldi's regular prices were(| are ) unbeatable.
I think this would still be the case.
Do not just tell me that you dropped the price on 8 oz. cream cheese from $1.29 to 89¢. (Jewel wants $2.00 for 16 oz.) Show me your price for everything in stock that week.

I checked out the new Aldi in Vernon Hills a few times this week. It is close by and could turn out to be convenient, so I'm withholding judgment to some extent, but after waiting so long for it to open, I have to say, I was a bit disappointed initially. I think I like the Mundelein Aldi better. Based on the stock and the prices, the VH Aldi doesn't seem as interested in being competitive. I was sent a few coupons for $5 off a minimum $30 purchase, but I barely came up with $20 worth of purchases.

Now, this is not a complaint about the VH Aldi, but an Aldi gripe in general. One thing that caught my eye in the weekly flyer was St. Elmo's cocktail sauce for $5.99. St Elmo cocktail sauce, at Aldi, of all places? I've been wanting to try the blow-your-head-right-off hot horseradish in this cocktail sauce some day but don't have a trip to Indianapolis on the horizon, so I thought I'd buy a bottle. I had to ask an employee where to find it, though, because (a) for who knows what reason, it's in the refrigerated area (and not near any shrimp), not with the other condiments, and (b) the $5.99 price is for a 12-oz bottle, whereas the picture in the flyer is clearly that of the the fatter $19-oz bottle. The ad does say 12 oz; it's just the photo that's wrong. It's still at least a few dollars less than a $12-oz bottle online, and no other stores around here carry it, as far as I've seen. The photo of the wrong size product just seemed to me to hint at a feeling of Aldi not caring too much lately about being competitive on price. It's a feeling of suspecting purposeful deception passed off as carelessness (like, for example, when Walmart and Garden Fresh just takes the shelf price tags off of things they're hoping you'll buy without caring what they cost).This seems like a mistake to me, especially at the new store in Vernon Hills, which is literally across the street from a Mariano's and from the parking lot of which you can stand and see a Jewel and a Trader Joe's.

Another example at the VH Aldi: regular bananas (29 cents/lb) and organic bananas (58 cents/lb), placed not just right next to each other but rather in intermixed boxes, so that you have to be careful to check the color of the Chiquita stickers (yellow=regular, green=organic) on individual banana bunches to make sure you're picking up the ones you want at the price you want.

Oh, and the parking lot is shoehorned into too tight a tight space and is a pain to use. When I've pulled in there's always been some car blocking the entrance and not moving for no immediately apparent reason---until I saw that that car was waiting for some other car to execute some slow, careful three-point maneuver in order to get out of a parking space and leave. I might just park at Menard's or Chase Bank in the future. To be fair, the parking lot at the Mundelein Aldi has a different geometry but is nearly as annoying.

Hi,

I just visited the Vernon Hills Aldi for the first time the other evening. I found the staff to be in good humor and very helpful. I was looking for the waffle cookies, but since they opened just last week. They were not likely to have it this year.

I bought two stollen: the classic marzipan and the gourmet stollen. Nobody had any experience with the gourmet but had tried and liked the classic. I told them I will do a side-by-side tasting and let them know what happened.

I bought some bakery items: almond croissant, chocolate croissant and a cheese twist. They did not charge me, because they were now in the range of day-old.

I am glad I shot over there from a meeting, because this location closes at 8 p.m.

I also visit the new Waukegan location in Fountain Square. It is much larger than the Park City location which closed when this opened. I have noticed the prices seem a tad higher than at the old location.

Katie, since you are so particular about parking, I look forward to your evaluation. I thought it was better thought out than what I experienced at Park City. I bow to your expertise.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:Katie, since you are so particular about parking

ooh... Not really. That Vernon Hills Aldi is certainly tucked into a tight spot, though. I've seen negative comments and constructive discussion about parking lot traffic flow in some other grocery store threads. But in this case, I have a feeling you're making fun of me.

Katie wrote:But in this case, I have a feeling you're making fun of me.

I took it from the point of view as a traffic engineer, you may be more highly engaged in all matters related to transportation. So you may think about these things more than I do.

Regards,
CAthy2

Just picked up a box of Aldi's "Belgian Cocoa Dusted Truffles".

Hoe-Lee Mackerel are they good! Don't hold 'em in your hand too long, you'll wind up with chocolate covered fingers real quick. Grab one out of the box and pop it in your chops. Thank me later.

Buddy

Cathy2 wrote:I took it from the point of view as a traffic engineer, you may be more highly engaged in all matters related to transportation. So you may think about these things more than I do.

Ha ha! Now I understand.

Ha ha ha! Now I understand, Cathy.

Cathy2 wrote:Toria,

The bread you don't like is a product introduced to Germans during food shortages between WWI and WWII. There was a shortage of wheat, so they concocted what you see today. When the deprivations were over, there was now a preference for this style of bread.

I have been watching youtube videos with tours of Aldi stores in Germany and such.

Bread vending machine


Bread slicing machine

Meet BreadBot, an autonomous loaf-baking vending machine

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

I've been intrigued by the recent ALDI TV ads touting their super fresh produce. The main point is that it's so fresh you don't even need to test it since "it comes in fresh every day".

Is ALDI produce really any fresher than at other groceries? I'll take Mariano's out of the running since their produce is essentially dead before you buy it, but that's a different thread.

chicagojim wrote:Is ALDI produce really any fresher than at other groceries? I'll take Mariano's out of the running since their produce is essentially dead before you buy it, but that's a different thread.

The prices are good, but I sometimes have problems with fruits that do not taste good (e.g. pineapple and cantaloupe which are not sweet or blackberries which are sour). The vegetables at Aldi are really fresh - - about the same as Trader Joe (which I think has the same parent company).

Shop like a chef: Even Aldi has hidden deals to discover

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/f ... story.html

Flour sold at Aldi recalled after 17 people in 8 states get sick

The discount supermarket chain Aldi recalled 5-pound bags of its Baker’s Corner All-Purpose Flour on Thursday because they may be contaminated with E. coli.

Seventeen people have been reported being sick in eight states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three of those people have been hospitalized.

People interviewed by the CDC said they ate, licked or tasted raw, homemade dough or batter. Two people told the CDC they ate raw dough or batter made with flour or baking mixes from Aldi. The CDC states that eating or tasting raw dough or batter can make a person sick.

=R=

I am really surprised at the variability of ALDI's prices between the Midwest and Socal. The crackers that I paid $1.35 and $1.00 in Cincinnati were $1.78 and $1.45 in El Centro, CA. Their Socal prices were about the same as Kroger's Food 4 Less.

jlawrence01 wrote:I am really surprised at the variability of ALDI's prices between the Midwest and Socal. The crackers that I paid $1.35 and $1.00 in Cincinnati were $1.78 and $1.45 in El Centro, CA. Their Socal prices were about the same as Kroger's Food 4 Less.

The difference here in the midwest can be substantial. Compare the ads between a Chicago area store and Kalamazoo Mi. For example in this weeks ad Tuscan Garden salad dressing is .89 in Kalamazoo but $1.49 here.

The Aldi's located near a Walmart in the Chicago area always have milk way under $2. I was in the Aldi's in Evanston yesterday. and milk was $2.39, and it was $1.99 at Jewel.

Budget Shangri-La: How discount chain Aldi is giving those fancy grocery stores a run for their money

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... l#nws=true

Hi,

The Aldi in Vernon Hills/Libertyville has a bakery. They offer croissants for 49 cents and almond as well as chocolate croissants for 99 cents. I like quite a bit their cheese twist for 99 cents. Doubtful they make their own dough, though many commercial bakeries don't either.

They also offer freshly made pretzels (with and without salt), pretzel bread, apple fritters, donuts, baguettes, apple pie in a bag and bread.

Regards,
Cathy2

For the coffee drinkers out there, their Peppermint mocha with almond milk is good. My wife likes it even more than Starbucks bottled peppermint mocha.

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

The Aldi in Vernon Hills/Libertyville has a bakery. They offer croissants for 49 cents and almond as well as chocolate croissants for 99 cents. I like quite a bit their cheese twist for 99 cents. Doubtful they make their own dough, though many commercial bakeries don't either.

They also offer freshly made pretzels (with and without salt), pretzel bread, apple fritters, donuts, baguettes, apple pie in a bag and bread.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2,

The Oak Creek ALDI south of Milwaukee has a bakery selling pretty much as you described. I would say that what we purchased was very acceptable but no better or worse than you would find in most grocery stores. It seemed like a lot of it was proofed and baked in store.

I would add that the Lidl stores that we encountered in Maryland in October was significantly better.

The Oak Creek ALDI south of Milwaukee has a bakery selling pretty much as you described. I would say that what we purchased was very acceptable but no better or worse than you would find in most grocery stores. It seemed like a lot of it was proofed and baked in store.

I would add that the Lidl stores that we encountered in Maryland in October was significantly better.

The ones I had were crispy, which I cannot say about those from most grocery stores. If you keep the bag open, you will maintain the crisp. If you close the bag and the crust softens, then you have some less interesting.

From the checking Lidl's website, it appears I need to go to the east coast to find one to visit. The bakery items look quite similar to those I see in Aldi.

Happy New Year!

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:
From the checking Lidl's website, it appears I need to go to the east coast to find one to visit. The bakery items look quite similar to those I see in Aldi.

Happy New Year!

Regards,
Cathy2

Lidl took the "Fresh and Easy" model that Tesco took. They were going to open hundreds of stores very quickly and be a major player in a couple of years. What happened was they opened about 50 stores and the response was tepid. My nephews shopped in their NC Stores ... once and were unimpressed.

They are similar to Aldi. They tend to be more expensive. Their produce and bakery tend to be better; their staples not so much. They are trying to position somewhere between Aldi and Trader Joe's. Having said that, many of the German products at Lidl are packaged exactly like the products at Aldi.