Aldi grocery stores are eating into the sales of traditional supermarkets with its rock-bottom food prices. But in addition to great deals, the company says its private label brands rival the quality of the big names.
Consumer Investigator Danielle Serino decided to Verify whether you have to sacrifice taste for those savings.
From tomato sauce, to ketchup, even to cheese.
Aldi's commercials say you can get 'Like Brands only Cheaper.'
But we wanted to Verify how "like" they really were.
So we headed to a traditional grocery store to buy what our research found was some of the best selling versions of food brands.
The list included: Breyer's Ice Cream, Folger's Coffee, Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal, Red Baron French Bread Cheese Pizza, as well as our local Dairyman's Chocolate Milk.
Total bill before tax? $17.77
We then went to Aldi to buy their private label versions of those products.
Sunday Shoppe Vanilla Ice Cream, Barrissimo Fair Trade Coffee, Millville Honey Nut Crispy Oats, Mamma Cozzi's French Bread Pizza, and Friendly Farms Chocolate Milk.
Total before tax? $10.85
A great deal. But was it great taste as well?
We found shoppers Ken Kalish and Jeremy Hudgens on Facebook, who ironically shop at Aldi and asked them to put their mouth, where their money went. They each participated in a blind taste test.
So here's what we found: The chocolate milk and coffee brands were a tie in the taste department.
The Name Brands won out when it came to the cereal and ice cream,
But it was Aldi's Mama Cozzi's brand, in a major upset, beating out Red Baron according to our testers.
Despite the mixed results though, our testers say they still prefer Aldi, and its food.
So we'll say this is Verified.
Now on its website, Aldi says you can save up to 50% on your groceries versus big national chains. Danielle saved about 39% on her trip.