Globalisation gone mad...
For years I have done most of my shopping at LIDL because it's cheap and you can get stuff there you can't get anywhere else. The national supermarket chain in our area is twice the price. So last week we saw a billboard advertising the advent of Aldi, and today we decided to stop buy and check prices and see what they had.
First, they're gonna give LIDL a run for their money. The staff is helpful and friendly and their prices are appreciably lower for most packaged goods. OK, the fruit and veg section isn't up to much, but most of the year that's not an issue for me because I go to a fruit shop in the barrio. AND they had keffir yogurt! AND raw sugar for 79 cents!
I grabbed some walnuts-in-a-can to make banana bread because they were so cheap. Looked at the label when we got home and it said...wait for it...Trader Joe's. ??? :o
I know LIDL buys consignments of stuff, you get a product in once and never see it again....but TJ's? Isn't that strictly an American chain?
The mind boggles!!
Hmmmmm...maybe they are affiliated? I've never actually been to an Aldi, but now I need to go check one out.
TJ's owns Aldi, or the other way around. It's a German company.
TJ's owns Aldi, or the other way around. It's a German company.
Ah, so.
....btw I meant "stop by." Freudian slip, I guess.
Yes, Trader Joe's is owned by Aldi, which is a german company. Trader Joe's has many products that are produced in Germany, if you check their labels.
Ahhh, Aldi. We LOVED shopping at Aldi in Europe, such stupidly low prices, like nothing you could ever hope to find here.
It might be bollocks, but we'd heard that Aldi and Lidl were started by two German brothers, that's why the store layout/pricing/etc are so similar...
Like the Corsican Twins! ;D
I did wonder, the names are so similar, though LIDL is harder to say...at least for me. But then I can't say "lily" without swallowing my tongue.
i love aldi - sometimes they even have random products that have the word 'vegan' on the label.
Aldi have made it to Australia, but we're still waiting for them to be brave enough to cross the final ditch and set up shop in New Zealand. Ahh, I'm such a supermarket geek.
Aldi: the goofiest store on the planet. I love it though (: Especially the giant Smart Balance Light for 3.99!
Not related, but there's a place near my school that has a little store and then a factory-ish thing where they can and jar salsas and jams and stuff, and when we went there, my mommy noticed that the labels looked a LOT like the Trader Joe's labels, so she asked if they jarred stuff for Trader Joe's, and they did! Which is weird since there are no TJ's in Kansas...