Grocery prices continue to rise, and there seems to be little relief in sight. While healthy eating trends are growing more popular and consumers continue to seek out healthy alternatives like organic foods, many people are just working to make ends meet and feed their families. The great news is that at least one grocery retailer is looking out for their customers’ wallets.
Aldi, the German grocery discount chain, is a great place to shop if you want quality food for less. The retailer is famously affordable, and the way they save their shoppers money is by eliminating some of the services that more upscale grocery stores provide. For example, to use a shopping cart, you have to insert a quarter into the cart, and the quarter is refunded to you when you put it back. By doing this, Aldi doesn’t have to pay someone to gather all of the shopping carts from their parking lots. It’s genius when you think about it.
Another way they save money is by not providing bags. This has a dual benefit. It forces people to bring their own bags, which encourages sustainability, and it also saves the store money, and that saving trickles down to customers.
Aldi also doesn’t stock many national brands. Instead, they sell private label brands that are more affordable. The stores also stock far fewer products since they’re not selling brands. Because of this, they can have smaller stores and fewer employees. In fact, Aldi is so passionate about helping their customers save money that one Australian newspaper says that Aldi claims it wants to favor the consumer over profitability.
However, making groceries more affordable doesn’t mean that Aldi is cutting back on quality. On the contrary, they’re quite well-known for the exceptional quality of some of their selections. For example, their cheeses are famously delicious, and they have a large selection of gourmet cheeses. They’ve also won awards for their wines, which won a blind taste test from the Beverage Testing Institute’s World Wine Championship.
For a small store, they also have a huge selection of organic foods, and the prices on these products won’t break the bank, either.
As if all of those savings aren’t enough, there’s another way the chain saves its customers money. As it turns out, Aldi has a secret “bargain hour,” and you can save up to 50% on products like those delicious gourmet cheeses, meat, some snacks, and deli counter produce.
For just 60 minutes every day, the store puts these great products on special, and you can save as much as half off of your grocery cost if you shop carefully. Here’s what’s incredible about this: Aldi doesn’t mark items down near closing time as other grocery stores do. The bargain hour starts at 7:00 a.m. This means that the earlier you shop, the more goodies you’ll find.
People have reported saving on everything from bread to meat, and others have even gotten some free cheese because they timed it perfectly. The secret is to watch for the red stickers on products that are marked down. The stickers are long red stickers with the words “HALF PRICE – 50% OFF” written on them.
One thing to keep in mind is that most items that are marked down this much are near their expiration date. Therefore, if you buy these products, make sure you check your dates carefully. You can always freeze meats, bread and even some cheeses if you want to use them at a later date.
Throughout the day, some stores will put more items on markdown, but the morning bargain hour is the sale to catch. Just imagine the delicious meat and cheese trays you can create with these savings. While you’re there, grab a box of their crackers to round it all out nicely.