Aldi Hammers Low Prices With Grocery Price Comp Study
Discount grocer Aldi is touting its abilities to offer shoppers “smart solutions” with its select brands at prices that the Batavia, Ill.-chain said average 37 percent less than those of traditional supermarkets and 22 percent to 26 percent less than prices at discounters or big-box stores.
“In tough times like these, it seems everyone is taking a harder look at their spending decisions,” said Joan Kavanaugh, VP of purchasing for the operator of over 1,000 stores, noting that the discount grocer’s “new shoppers are realizing something that our longtime loyal customers have known for some time: Aldi offers a smarter alternative.”
Pointing to a 184-item market-basket price study the chain conducted across all of its U.S. divisions analyzing items that are considered “very important to customers” -- from apple juice and garden salad to cheddar cheese and frozen chicken breasts -- Kavanaugh said the Aldi basket averaged $315.29 vs. an average $442.26 for the combination of discounters, big-box stores and traditional supermarkets.
The significant savings, she said, come at a time when the recession is deepening and food economists are predicting another 4 percent to 5 percent food price inflation increase this year. Rising food costs in 2009 come on the heels of a 5.4 percent increase in 2008 for food and beverage prices, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“As important as price is,” Kavanaugh said, “there’s only one way to attract and keep the diversity of shoppers we do: You have to have great products,” which she said applies to Aldi’s select brands that are both “inexpensive [and] great.”
Entering the United States in 1976, Aldi today runs more than 1,000 U.S. stores in 30 states, primarily from Kansas to the East Coast.
“In tough times like these, it seems everyone is taking a harder look at their spending decisions,” said Joan Kavanaugh, VP of purchasing for the operator of over 1,000 stores, noting that the discount grocer’s “new shoppers are realizing something that our longtime loyal customers have known for some time: Aldi offers a smarter alternative.”
Pointing to a 184-item market-basket price study the chain conducted across all of its U.S. divisions analyzing items that are considered “very important to customers” -- from apple juice and garden salad to cheddar cheese and frozen chicken breasts -- Kavanaugh said the Aldi basket averaged $315.29 vs. an average $442.26 for the combination of discounters, big-box stores and traditional supermarkets.
The significant savings, she said, come at a time when the recession is deepening and food economists are predicting another 4 percent to 5 percent food price inflation increase this year. Rising food costs in 2009 come on the heels of a 5.4 percent increase in 2008 for food and beverage prices, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“As important as price is,” Kavanaugh said, “there’s only one way to attract and keep the diversity of shoppers we do: You have to have great products,” which she said applies to Aldi’s select brands that are both “inexpensive [and] great.”
Entering the United States in 1976, Aldi today runs more than 1,000 U.S. stores in 30 states, primarily from Kansas to the East Coast.