ALDI People’s Pick Award winners: List of items SA shoppers love
These are the most popular items across the nation and SA for those who regularly shop at Aldi during COVID-19 — and many of them are luxury foods.
SA News
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EXCLUSIVE: South Australians in Norwood and Mount Barker are cooking with organic coconut oil while those in Gilles Plains and Seaford Heights are going crazy for brioche burger buns.
But Hallet Cove is snacking on natural almonds as those in Gold Grove are cooking at home with more salted butter.
New data obtained by News Corp from Aldi, has revealed the winners of the bargain supermarket’s annual People’s Pick Awards.
More than 300,000 votes were cast across the country during August — and the top item shoppers cannot live without is the bargain supermartket’s Essential Health Paw Paw Ointment at $2.79.
The top 10 items nationally were fresh salmon fillets, Aldi’s version of the premium mini Magnum icecream — the Monarco Utopia — followed by butter, wholegrain wraps, natural almonds, croissants, prewash stain remover, vegetable chips, brie and Camembert cheese.
Social researcher Mark McCrindle told News Corp the data showed shoppers were not going for bulk buys anymore.
Instead they were focussed on having an affordable lifestyle.
“This idea that in some suburbs people have a limited palate to meat and three veg and ice cream and topping, while others buy more prestige products is just not what modern Australia is about,” he said.
“This list shows resilience ... Australians have a ‘can-do’ attitude and are not prepared to sacrifice their luxuries and are no longer doing pantry fillers or stockpiling staples to put in the attic or cellar for a crisis.
“Instead, it shows they are looking after themselves in lockdown and are doing it with a bit of lifestyle, the fresh salmon, natural almonds, the higher cuts of meat and fish and organic options show they are cooking at home and looking after their health.”
Mother-of-one Jennifer Dowling, 29, regularly buys the salmon fillets and butter.
“It’s the only fish my husband enjoys eating,” she said.
“I’m a bit of a butter snob, I like a good butter and it’s up to scratch,” she said.
Roy Morgan’s recent fresh Food and Grocery Report showed Aldi increased its market share from 6.7 per cent in 2011, to 12.4 per cent while Woolworths (32.9 per cent) and Coles (26.6 per cent) still hold the majority of market share.
Professor Gary Mortimer, retail expert from Queensland Uuniversity of Technology said the results showed there were two types of shoppers.
“When facing times of uncertainty and risk we have people who show a fight or flight response,” he said.
“Those who take flight are consumers coccooning and staying in and cooking at home, and those who are fighting say ‘I’ve got this money now from not going on a holiday and are going to spend it’.
“The government was quick to release tax refunds into accounts and with JobKeeper and JobSeeker there are people who are flush with money who are now wanting to spend cash on something nice.”
Aldi Shopping expert Nicole Higgins said they had noticed more shoppers were doing “top-up shops” including affordable treats.
“These products might represent different situations Australians find themselves in right now, but our paw paw ointment is always at the end of the checkout where you’d normally grab a chocolate bar,” she said.
Originally published as ALDI People’s Pick Award winners: List of items SA shoppers love