The Aldi Brand Name Myth Too Many Shoppers Believe

As Aldi continues to expand its stores across the United States, more and more Americans are becoming familiar with the European grocery store. As with most new things, there are a number of misconceptions shoppers have about Aldi, including its policy on name brand items. Most people assume Aldi doesn't sell name brand items, but this isn't exactly true.

More than 90% of the products sold at Aldi stores are Aldi-exclusives, meaning you won't find them anywhere else. Obviously, that would mean the vast majority of items sold at Aldi are not name brand, but 90% is not 100%. Some name brand items that Aldi sells include La Croix sparkling water, Progresso chicken broth, and Palmolive liquid dish soap, to name just a few. The exact name brands offered may differ depending on the store, and items are likely to change over time, but the truth of the matter is that Aldi does sell some name brand items.

One reason Aldi has become so popular in the United States is that it offers affordable prices compared to its competitors, not to mention the Aldi dupes that are better than name brand products. If you're still purchasing exclusively name brand items at the grocery store, you're very much leaving money on the table for virtually no reason. Generic products are often just as good as brand name foods, which rely on brand familiarity to sell at a higher price point. Of course, if you're shopping at Aldi, you likely already know that.

According to Aldi, the reason it prefers to carry its own products is to save you money. Marketing and advertising aren't cheap, and those costs are much higher with name brand products. Inevitably, those costs get passed on to the consumer. By offering generic products with little to no marketing and advertising costs, Aldi can maintain its reputation as an affordable grocery store while still offering quality food through conscientious product choices.

Another, slightly less obvious reason Aldi's products are more affordable has to do with the fact that 10 companies own almost every brand in our supermarkets. With less competition to drive prices down, these companies are more or less free to charge whatever they want. The fact that Aldi offers an alternative and is skyrocketing in popularity because of it just goes to show the power of a competitive marketplace.

Which begs the question: Why does Aldi sell any name brand products at all? For one, many consumers have strong brand loyalty, and the fact that Aldi doesn't sell the brands they like leads them to shop elsewhere. To accommodate for that, Aldi chooses to sell some name brands. Another reason might be that Aldi simply doesn't have an adequate alternative to a name brand product. Instead of offering a low-quality knockoff, it sometimes chooses to sell the name brand item if there's enough demand for it. Of course, if the demand is high enough, Aldi may eventually work to procure something that can replace the name brand version to better align with its mission.