Aldi is amazing, that's one thing we can all agree on.
For one thing, it's just such a fun place to shop.
You never know just what you're going to find, but you can always count on getting high-quality
chocolate, excellent cheeses, craveable snack items, and wines that range from just okay
to pretty awesome.
In fact, if you just stroll through the aisles grabbing things at random, you're still likely
to wind up with a few new favorites.
You also know that you're not going to be spending a fortune, since Aldi is known for
its low, low prices, particularly on such staple items as milk and meat.
Another great reason to shop at Aldi is that you'll run a lot less risk of being crowded
out by ravening hordes of hipsters than you will at any given Trader Joe's.
Even Aldi, however, has just a few blind spots, or rather, soft and mushy spots, since the
one area in which they tend to be not quite on the same level as other grocers is with
their produce selection.
"Um…none of those vegetables are fresh."
While most Aldi products get rave reviews, the produce...well, not so much.
WiseBread singles out Aldi's garlic, calling its cloves both tiny and difficult to peel,
and saying that the potatoes and other produce, including peppers, onions, and bananas, may
not be all that fresh and could be well on its way towards turning into a moldy mess
as soon as you bring it home.
CheatSheet also lists produce as one of its top Aldi "don't buys," calling it hit or miss
and also remarking on the fact that it tends to spoil more quickly than does produce from
other stores.
In a comparison of Trader Joe's produce vs Aldi's, The Penny Hoarder didn't have too
many good things to say about the German grocer's selection, either.
For one thing, they found the selection to be limited, and several trips were needed
to procure the wanted goods.
Secondly, the site reveals, the offerings were, quote, "a tad scary looking, OK, REALLY
scary looking.
All the tomatoes were either bruised or smooshed, the bananas were already turning brown, and
fruit flies were buzzing around the produce section."
Aside from those two rather significant strikes, The Penny Hoarder also noted that because
only bulk-sized bags of certain produce are offered, it's not a good buy for singles.
At this point, you might be wondering what's really up with all of the bad press on Aldi
produce.
Most of the bad reviews regarding Aldi's fresh fruits and veggies tend to revolve around
its inability to stay fresh for any length of time, so it seems that the problem might
possibly have something to do with how the produce is stored.
One review on Consumer Affairs from a shopper who states that they are a huge fan of everything
Aldi, aside from its produce department, suggests that one potential reason for the accelerated
spoilage could be the fact that Aldi's produce tends to be placed right at the entrance to
the store, and is therefore subject to temperature fluctuations as the doors open and shut.
Fluctuating temperatures are never good for product freshness, which is also the reasoning
behind why you should not be storing your milk or eggs in the refrigerator door.
"Milk was a bad choice."
A 2017 Business Insider article reveals that Aldi has been taking steps to address the
produce problem in some of its newer stores.
They will be greatly expanding the produce section, and also moving it to a more central
location within the store, which ought to help keep temperatures more stable.
There will also be a large refrigerated section that will be used to hold salad greens and
certain fruits that need cooler temperatures, such as grapes and berries.
These refrigerated sections will also feature certain types of premade soups and dips.
Business Insider compared the look, the layout, and the selection of these newer Aldi stores
to the now-closed 365 stores that Whole Foods introduced in 2016.
All of these changes bode well for the future of buying produce at Aldi.
At present, though, unless you're absolutely sure that your local Aldi boasts one of these
new and improved produce departments, you might be better off shopping for fruits and
veggies at a different grocer.
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