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Comment by drewmol | Hacker News Reader

>Aldi stores has tripled since the early 90s to nearly 2,000(SKU's), although that remains tiny compared to the 25,000 or more in a big supermarket.

This is why I shop at Aldi when possible. I'm willing to make small compromises on quality and overall selection for efficiency gains and less frustration. I don't want to navigate 25+ brands of canned tomatoes, disect manipulative pricing schemes (10 for $10* | * must buy 10, lesser quantities sold at $2.79/ea), subsidize add-on services I don't use like free in-store daycare or check cashing, walk to the deliberately deeply placed staple sections like produce, dairy, etc., calculate savings in expiring and unclear fuel rewards at on site gas station, or be forced to provide my private information for my purchases to be tracked and sold in order to be eligible for purchasing things at advertised prices.

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And then best of all, because of the low SKU count, you can do your entire regular grocery shop in three or four aisles which is convenient.

And because the canned tomatoes they do stock are of good quality, I rarely have to worry about it—at least for most staples. There are rare exceptions where I prefer a particular name brand product but I know what these are so I save them up for a visit to the traditional large supermarket every other week to "fill the gaps".

Also, I am affluent enough to not be price sensitive, but I do like being able to pick up canned tomatoes without the mental load that goes along with seeing many brands of the same product and pretending that I can judge the difference in quality by the aesthetic of the product packaging.

I read on the back of the packaging to see how much actual tomatoes I get and then I stick to the brand with most tomatoes. The first times shopping takes longer until you learn what you like, after that you can be just as fast anywhere. (Until they rebuild the store to make you confused)

On canned tomatoes: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/taste_tests/510-canned-dice...

I got the tip somewhere to buy whole tomatoes in a can, instead of the diced ones because they can add extra seeds and other waste products. Just use your scissor to cut them appart in the can before using them in your cooking. The liquid they lie in is also mostly water and tomato puree so even more tomatoes.

> manipulative pricing schemes

Here in Germany, where Aldi originates, those don't exist.

My reason not to go to Aldi is, that they lack the things I want to buy. I cook every day and whenever I end up at Aldi I wonder what people do there because it does not seem possible for me to get all the ingredients I need.

Out of curiosity: what do you cook that you do not get at Aldi? Myself, I could get more than 90% of the ingredients of most recipes at Aldi. Some things I buy at an Asian or Turkish store, and I have to buy most cheeses somewhere else. But Aldi has come a long way, now they sell a decent variety of organic, regional produce.

I live close to an Aldi in the US. When it was first opened (Aldi 1.0) I would agree with parent that the selection and availability made it difficult to get the bulk of my grocerie needs there but since they remodeled (Aldi 2.0) they have wider selection and larger more reliable inventory especially for fresh items (produce, meat, dairy) and now it suites most of our needs. This my play a part in the varied experiences commentors are reporting

Same here. Once a year or so I enter Hofer (Aldi for Austria) because I remember they had some cookies I liked, and I am shocked that I can't find ANYTHING I usually need for my everyday cooking there.

I'm fine with the principle but I generally find I can't shop there because it's too limited, often missing just one item I need that they either don't have or a brand I don't like. With spaghetti bolognese it's the pasta sauce, the aldi ones are feral. For chilli con carne their canned goods (beans and corn) are often/always unavailable. It get's even worse when you combine things, like when I want $x for dinner tonight but $y for breakfast in the morning and the $y at aldi is horrible.

My inner city shopping habits are to buy stuff for just the next day or two, so going to different stores isn't an option and lately they've been trying to "cater" to this and removed the bulk options, so I'm seeing even less reasons to shop there now.

I wish other stores weren't so customer hostile though. Generally store brand items make up most of my shopping and are price competitive with aldi but they'll make them hard to locate. They also try and group items into some kind of "theme" so you end up with a canned goods section but have to go over to the mexican section for canned black beans, they whole idea collapses for anything that fits more than one theme or none. Then there's the constant nagging to join there loyalty program.

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