‘Just shop at Aldi’: the four-word phrase ‘infuriating’ Aussie shoppers
An ‘infuriated’ shopper has taken aim at a four-word solution they claim has become a ‘national catchphrase’ as grocery prices continue to rise.
Food
Don't miss out on the headlines from Food. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Australians struggling with the rising cost of grocery bills are reeling over a four-word solution one supermarket cult-following live by to save on their weekly shop.
The popular phrase “just shop at Aldi” has gained nationwide attention after one shopper took to social media to vent their frustrations about the “infuriating” sentence.
The shopper’s rant, which quickly went viral online, began with a disclaimer that they had nothing against the discount supermarket chain.
“It’s the phrase I’m tired of. It’s like our national catchphrase,” they argued.
“Everything costs a lot at the moment and sometimes I might say something like, ‘geez meat or cereal was expensive at my last shop’. It’s just to vent.
“But inevitably some helpful person will say JuST ShOp At ALdi like I’ve never heard of the place.”
The annoyed shopper then went on to outline why the ‘special buys’ chain wasn’t the “magic bullet that automatically frees one from life’s problems”.
“Stuff is cheaper at Aldi, yes. Some stuff. A lot of stuff but not all of it,” they continued.
“And OK cool you save a few bucks on a shop. Awesome. I have ten more dollars this week! I’ll definitely get a house with that ten dollars!
“I’ve heard of Aldi. I know it’s a bit cheaper. Going there won’t solve all my problems, and the people who inevitably comment just shop at Aldi on this post aren’t clever.”
Aussie shopper’s Aldi rant explodes online
The rant clearly struck a chord online, with hundreds of Aussies agreeing with the infuriated shopper’s complaint.
“There isn’t a single Aldi in my entire state. It’s an infuriating phrase,” wrote one person.
Another added: “You aren’t missing anything. It’s a weird parallel universe where at first glance the store looks familiar like any other supermarket, then … you realise every item is a mock-up of familiar brands.”
“Aldi is great if you want to line up for 20 minutes to buy some decking oil, pickled sausages, and a caravan awning tensioner, but you still have to go to Woolies for almost everything else,” a third said.
Some Aussies hit back and defended Aldi.
“I’m well aware it’s a large international supermarket chain. But they do their s*** better than Woolies or Coles, and saving $10-20 per shop isn’t something to overlook,” wrote one.
Coles, Woolies shoppers defend their preference
news.com.au took to the streets of Melbourne to see why Coles and Woolworths loyalists preferred the two major chains over Aldi.
In the city’s inner west and western suburbs, there are dozens of Aldi, Coles and Woolworths stores so with shoppers spoiled for choice, most consumers aren’t loyal to a particular brand.
Steph, 35, from the Caroline Springs area, told news.com.au that despite Aldi being more affordable there were still times where she preferred shopping at Coles out of convenience.
“Usually I shop at Aldi first because it’s cheaper but today I shopped at Coles because it was more convenient and had more of the items that I needed,” she said.
The mum elaborated that Aldi was her go-to for cleaning products and fruit, however she prefers to get dog food from Coles.
“(Everything) is more expensive now … everything has gone up so we just try and limit where we can,” she said.
Ellie Spy, 22, also agrees that convenience plays a part in where she shops, telling news.com.au Woolworths is her preferred supermarket chain.
“Woolworths is closer to where I live. It’s just a convenience thing for me and depends on where I’m at or where I’m going,” she said.
“It’s also a personal thing, I don’t find myself needing things from Aldi that Coles or Woolworths doesn’t have.”
Mother-of-three Stacey Costantino from Taylors Hill also favours Woolworths over other brands as she finds it to be more organised.
“It’s cheaper with our weekly shop. I don’t like Aldi because I have to wait ages to pay,” she said.
While some Aldi stores have self-check-outs across the country, the stores in Melbourne’s western suburbs still use checkout staff that don’t bag items, making the experience more “stressful”.
Ms Costantino also added she wasn’t a fan of Aldi’s credit card surcharge where contactless payments incur a 0.5 per cent automatic additional fee at the checkout.
Meanwhile, Eray, who was shopping at the Caroline Springs Woolworths on Monday morning, said she didn’t have a preference for where she shopped and chose stores based on what products were on special.
“I check every week the specials and try to get brands half price … and if something is on special in one shop this week, it will be on special in another supermarket brand the week after,” she said.
Pryce, 30, from the Caroline Springs area was also unfazed about which supermarket chain he shopped at, saying he picked a brand based on accessibility rather than affordability.
One mum revealed why Coles was her go-to supermarket brand.
“I prefer it only because it’s always easy to park there and you don’t have to pay for trolleys,” Sara Portlen from Hillside said.
“I’ve shopped at Aldi and Woolworths before but never a big grocery shop. I like Coles’ product range and I think the Flybuys are better than Woolworths Rewards.”
How the experts rate the stores
Customer satisfaction reports and surveys place Aldi on top in Australia.
Coles and Woolies may have a wider product range, but neither store can beat Aldi in receiving the Canstar Blue Most Satisfied Customers award five years in a row.
Results from a survey conducted by the comparison site show customers believe the discount supermarket offers five star services in six out of eight categories.
“Aussies have rated Aldi their favourite supermarket … giving it five-star reviews for value for money, presentation of store, freshness of fruit, vegetables and meat, quality of supermarket-owned branded products, deals and specials available, and overall satisfaction,” Canstar Blue stated on its website.
Woolworths and Coles only outranked Aldi in the customer service and variety of product categories.
The data-crunching website believes its low prices make Aldi more appealing to shoppers along with its one-off “Special Buys” products.
Additionally, Aldi was rated the cheapest supermarket in 2021 by consumer advocacy group Choice, with a standard shopping list costing just over $61 less at the discount chain compared to its Coles and Woolworths counterparts.
“Our basket of national brand products cost on average $145.23 at Coles and $141.83 at Woolworths (including specials), while a comparable basket of Aldi brand products was $80.75 (including specials),” the consumer group stated on its website.
“If you opt for even more budget options where available, you could save as much as 54 per cent when buying groceries from Aldi, rather than shopping for national brands at Coles and Woolworths.”
Aldi also came out on top last year for having the best-tasting home brands, with products like its Monarc Indulge Vanilla Opulence ice cream, Moser Roth Finest Milk Chocolate and Colway Creamy Squeezy Mayonnaise rated first-place in taste against their Coles and Woolworths counterparts.
“It’s worth going out of your way to shop at Aldi for things like milk chocolate, hummus, butter, olive oil and mayonnaise,” Choice said.
Aldi’s Australian uprising
Since arriving in Australia in 2001, Aldi has amassed a cult-following of shoppers who swear by the supermarket chain.
The German supermarket has contributed an estimated $30 billion to Australia’s gross domestic product and has over 570 stores across six states and territories.
More than 13,500 Australians are employed by the business which aims to provide customers with the “highest quality groceries at permanently low prices”.
Lovers of the brand have created dozens of Facebook pages for shoppers to share their Aldi experience and purchases, with some groups like Aldi Fans Australia, Aldi Mums and Aldi Nerd Community Recipe Group gathering thousands of followers.
“I love Aldi, I’m very defensive of Aldi. I always try to convert people,” one Facebook member said.
“I did a trolley full of groceries that added up to $130. Including nappies and a box of wipes. The savings we’ve been able to make has completely changed my life,” a second mum said.
Fans have also taken to Twitter to confess their love over the brand.
“I love Aldi. I like the way they respect their workers. The sit down fast checkout is great … I can’t see the problem with it being owned by a German company. It’s not like it’s the only foreign owned business in Australia,” one follower tweeted.
“Aldi is super affordable and good value, which is its big drawcard here,” added another.
A third said: “Aldi is the best supermarket in Australia with high quality products.”
Originally published as ‘Just shop at Aldi’: the four-word phrase ‘infuriating’ Aussie shoppers
‘No sense’: $7 Woolies item divides
Customers have been left divided on a new item from a major supermarket, with some raving about it while others have declared that the timing is wrong.
Devastating virus arrives in Australia
A virus first seen overseas a decade ago was “not a priority” for the government but is now in Australia with devastating consequences.