Is Aldi that much cheaper? | British vs American groceries 2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Is Aldi cheaper in the US or the UK? Also is it that much cheaper than Sainsbos?
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35.10 GBP (Aldi UK shop) is the equivalent of working for 3.7 hours on the National Living Wage in the UK. $77.92 (Aldi US shop) is the equivalent of working for 10.7 hours on the Federal US National Wage. Even using California's minimum wage of $15 it is 5.2 hours of work to buy that "basket".
Thats a really good way of looking at it.
Also horrifying
This is the information we needed
Yeah VERY different state to state. Don't forget no one this side of the Atlantic has to buy health insurance and that is HUGE.
Now this is that statistic people need to understand. Well done.
@@charlotteinnocent8752 I mean, technically we all pay National Insurance (NI).
We treat it as a tax though really since that's pretty much how it works.
It also actually works unlike US insurance.
The stories I hear about 5+ figure US medical bills or 3-4 figure monthly prescriptions are scary.
I pay £108.10 per year for my prescription.
Wanna know how much I'd pay for 4 prescriptions? £108.10!
Excellent work. Crazy to realise how cheap the U.K. supermarkets are in general, or how much Americans don’t realise they’re being ripped off.
A lot of people(especially the poor/working class) do realize they're being ripped off, they just feel powerless to do anything about it.
Yeah, if there aren't other options then it doesn't matter if you realize you're being ripped off.
We're aware we're being ripped off but there's not a lot we can do. Our politicians should be required to wear their sponsorships on jackets and our elections are jokes, new candidates very rarely get enough name recognition to get to a general election. So laws and taxes are only for the poor while the rich continue to suck as much profit out of us as they can. We can't leave because that requires money we don't have and visa requirements for Americans are too much for most of us to meet.
In the long term it means that eventually the rich are going to have a large angry group that has nothing left to lose. A large generally educated group with nothing left to lose. Eek.
Companies are using inflation as an excuse to mark up prices at a rate higher than they normally would. They know they can get away with it too because of lack of regulation. My grocery cost has gone up by 30% in the last 3 months.
@@danapayne2654 Just need the media to change their terminology. If they consistently changed "lobbying" and "lobbyist" to "bribery" and "briber" and "campaign contribution" to "bribe" I'm sure there would be a groundswell demand for change in how DC runs the show...
Last year Sainsbury’s increased the price of some of their products to ‘price match’ Aldi. These were things they were selling cheaper and raised the price to the same as Aldi.
I'd assumed they lowered the price to match Aldi!
Do you have any examples? I believe you, but that sounds insane!
@@HF-tj8db it makes sense. They are losing profit on items by dropping to match Aldi, but raising other prices. I remember a few years ago, Sainsbury's did Thier basics curry sauces for about 7-8p. In those blindfold taste tests newspapers did, the curry sauce got a best bargain buy of 4/5 on the test. Next day, price went up to 26p a jar.
Now, that same basics curry is about 44p. They know people assume they are more expensive than Aldi. Deliberately going cheaper means they lose that. additional profit
Raising? I’ve not seen this at all
I’ve noticed decrease in Tesco price match a few items to Aldi but not the other
@@helennoble9587: neither Sainsbury's nor Tesco's price match the things I typically buy in the discount stores. Curiously, though, Tesco's price for salmon is better than Aldi and Lidl.
As someone who’s from Ukraine, I’m honestly shocked at how affordable groceries are in UK and Europe. Whenever I’d travel to Europe in recent years the prices never felt that different to those back home. I just made a comparison spreadsheet using Aldi UK prices from this video and Ukrainian items from one of the cheapest stores in the country (“АТБ”). The total came to be 1,15 times MORE EXPENSIVE IN UKRAINE. WOW.
Those prices in the Ukraine might be jacked up due the war art the moment. Although the prices of everything have gone up slightly here in Belgium since the Russian invasion I'm guessing your prices have gone up even more. I do hope you're safe where you are.
@@lorrefl7072 Nah, I'm from Belgium too and I hate to admit that we're definitely leaning more towards the US pricing for a lot of stuff... I'm a student and thus have to buy my own groceries (I buy off-brand items and always check prices) but it's still so expensive...
About the same experience comparing prices with those in Hungary...
@@myra0224 There must be regional differences then because I did the comp too with where I shop and my prices were comparable to the UK prices.
@@lorrefl7072 Nah, it's expensive where I live with my parents, it's expensive where I study (Both at the two opposites of the country in Flanders)
I never paid much attention to how cheap things were in the UK until I moved to Korea and discovered I couldn't buy a mango without taking out a personal loan.
The language class I was in ended up arguing with our teacher over whether or not $5 for 5 apples was expensive or cheap. In Korea it's cheap, in China, Vietnam and the UK it's daylight robbery lmao
£1 per apple?! that's crazy...i can buy my usual 6-pack of gala apples for around £1.20
I used to live in the UK and moved to HK and some of the groceries here are so freaking expensive, especially all the stuff Europeans like to eat LOL (milk, yoghurt, cheese omg)
Also since you mentioned apples, I pay 25 HKD for 4 apples, which is roughly 0.80 usd per apple but these are the really big sweet apples, other type of apples have different prices
I recently bought the most expensive apples my local fruit store sells. 5 pink lady apples for £2.
you can get 6 apples for like 60p in the UK lol
We left New Zealand 6 years ago and moved back to the UK. Out there I was horrified at poor wages and crazy high grocery prices. I did a similar comparison when we returned to the UK, a £36 shop here would have cost £92 $NZD
Yeah im from new zealand and amazed by these prices, grocery shopping here is so terrible rn. A block of tasty cheese from countdown is currently $20
Yeah shopping in NZ is so much worse now compared to 6 years ago.
@@irdairda514 Any idea why? These things seem so arbitrary. Obviously, smaller population, larger distance for things not grown there perhaps? But it's not that clear.
Be interesting to compare NZ lamb prices, as most of ours comes from there
@@sroberts605 even things grown/made here are expensive. Unlike in Europe, we can't just drive across the border to buy things (my relatives there do that all the time).
I think one reason the UK is so cheap is that there are so many supermarkets competing against eachother in such a small area (UK is the size, if not smaller, than many US states). Aldi and Lidl becoming popular in the UK has really cut down prices, as seen by other supermarkets price matching them.
nop, as part of the EU or single market even after Brexit - the whole Europe is benefiting from having amazing agricultural wealth and the prices for food are as cheap in the whole Europe as in the UK. Ie prices in Germany or Poland are even cheaper.
I agree, I used to live in a tiny rural town and we had a sainsburys, Tesco, Iceland, herons and a Lidl. A lot of competition for not very many people.
@@vorong2ru Yes, and those countries also benefit from greater competition.
@@vorong2ru How does the EU explain super cheap prices ? The US is also a huge single market with an abundance of produce from wealthy farms from all four corners of the country so I'm not sure it does explain it. Supermarket competition in the UK is fierce even before aldi got big here so I do think it does explain the extremely low prices to some extent.
@@chatteyj I live in a small city of 33,000 in the Southern USA. There are a total of 4 places to buy groceries without crossing the border of the city. One of the four is an Aldi. Another is a Super Walmart and its kin, a Neighborhood Walmart. The last one is a Publix. Most of the stores are located in the central part of the city. Since I live on the city edge, I actually do my grocery shopping in the next city which has its stores more spread out and one of the grocery stores which is closer to me than those in my own city. About half of the produce that I buy has labels from other countries than the USA, despite knowing that our farmers grow those same products here.
US prices are absolutely crazy. When I was there 20 years ago, the UK was more expensive. Now it has switched.
Yeah I remember an American on my uni course who commented about how much more expensive everything was in the UK compared to the US (...Except for high-quality candy)
20 years ago the pound to dollar ratio was $2 = £1. These days the pound and the dollar are of a very similar value (quite suddenly too).
@@Stephen-Fox the only thing I remember being more expensive in the states back then was vegetables, I was taken aback by the prices of veg but everything else was cheaper
@@jameslewis2635 yes that too, I remember that
I think they are really being ripped off, especially on vegetables
Yay. So glad you finally tested out Aldi. Sainsburys is super expensive. The craziest part about this comparison is that a year ago, all of these items were at least
50-70% cheaper than they are now. Aldi prices have risen quite a bit.
If you don't have an ALDI near you, LIDL can also be similarly cheap. The main tradeoff compared to going somewhere like Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury's, etc., is that the total product range tends to be smaller in ALDI and LIDL, but there's still plenty of choice there in my opinion usually.
In my town we are lucky enough to have a Lidl and a Sainsburys right next to each other so you can go to Lidl and get the basics then anything you can't find in Lidl pop next door
@@misterthegeoff9767 I'd love that, I have Lidl next door, but I can never get my full shop there, it's infuriating. So I go to asdas after work instead and don't have to have 2 trips 🤷🏻♀️
LiDL bakery is way better than aldi
Yes! I'm a label reader. If I can get a pound of roasted peanuts that "Contains: peanuts, salt." I'm happy. Are they fresh, crunchy and delicious? Yes. I'm sold. I don't care what else the label says. 😉
LIDL shoppers gang!! WOO!
I am very thankful for Aldi in the USA. It may be more expensive here than in the UK, in comparison to other chains in the US, Aldi saves me a ton of money.
I find Trader Joe's cheaper than Aldi which honestly surprised me. And overall better quality food at TJs.
@@thisorthat7626 I've only been to a trader Joe's once. I find that they are located only in places with crazy parking lots and cranky people.
@@thisorthat7626 I've shopped a lot at both, and ... it depends.
TJ's is cheaper and higher quality on prepared foods and fancy things.
Aldi is cheaper on basics.
For example, take that canned tuna. Aldi's is pretty low cost, but it's also the lowest quality that looks like cat food. Trader Joes sells high quality oil packed tuna at a reasonable price.
@@MichaelJohnson-vi6eh Good reasons to not go there. LOL
I’m British but we have a holiday home just outside Orlando. Back in 2019 my sister and her family were visiting and went to a local ALDI, which was about a 10-12 minute drive away.
They were chatting as they walked from the car towards the store and an American couple approached them upon hearing their English accents.
The American couple wanted to know about ALDI and what the food quality was like; they were surprised that ALDI is also in the UK.
My sister explained that ALDI’s foods are of an extremely good quality, as German food laws are so strict. The lady was shocked to discover ALDI was a German company.
A week later, the family is at ALDI again and the couple approached them; after the earlier discussion they’d done their first ALDI shop and had made quite a saving. They said from then on they would always do the majority of their food shopping at ALDI and were telling all their family, friends and colleagues to shop at ALDI.
BTW, the first ALDI opened in the USA (Iowa) in 1976, whereas the first ALDI opened in the UK in 1990!
I returned from the US, and back to the UK yesterday after a three-week visit with family. It's been three years since my last visit. I had sticker shock pre-pandemic. This most recent visit? I was appalled by the price inflation at the grocery store. It's good to be back home in the UK!
Thanks for another great video!
I imagine one reason the meats are closer is that the US has lower standards for meat for example chlorinated chicken, which isn't legal in the UK but is in the USA.
@Alex that said, they have huge cattle ranches with far lower welfare standards and the beef pumped full of steroids and it still 4 TIMES more expensive.
Most cattle in the US are literally pumped up, time is money.... cheaper, but often qualitatively crap.
That was one of the things that riled up the UK populous when talk of a post-Brexit trade deal with the US first started. It was reported that as part of any deal we'd have to take their dodgy and tasteless chlorine-washed chicken and steroid/hormone-pumped-beef. The UK public let the government know that this was a red-line being crossed and it wasn't ever going to happen.
So here is a curious thing I've discovered. A popular normal brand of cereal is called Frosties in the UK or Frosted Flakes in the US (the brand with Tony the Tiger). When I was looking in the cereal section in my local Aldi (in the UK) I came across their own brand version of Frosties which is ironically called Frosted Flakes. I'm now curious to see if the Aldi US version is called Frosties. I doubt it is but it would be hilarious. I've tried looking for this online but can't seem to find it. 😂
It can't be called Frosties as Kelloggs have the patent.
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And you're saying they don't own the patent for Frosted Flakes in the UK?
@@BitsOfBen No, I'm saying Kelloggs have the patent/ trademark for the name in the UK and the US.
There you go.
I watch a lady from Scotland who does cooking videos and shows what she gets for groceries each week. It always astounds me how low the prices are even for Sainsburys. I'm in the South in the US where you'd think it would be cheaper but no.
Not necessarily true…Sainsburys have their own brand items but they also have other brands like Hubbard’s which is comparable to Aldi.
Hubbards rice at Sainsburys 45p per kg Aldi rice 45p per kg
So if you want to shop cheap you still can at Sainsburys or most of the other supermarkets. The bigger supermarkets also tend to have more offers that don’t really exist in Aldi or lidl.
came here to say this. your sainos video has a lot of branded items rather than their cheaper store brand stuff, so not a like for like comparison.
Yeah I was going to say this too the sainsburys items were branded unlike Aldi's
the problem is - own branded stuff in sainsburys is pure shit quality, ALDI - quality is totally fine. YEs, you get more choice in Tessco or other supermarkets, but you can do the main shop in Aldi and just top it up with extra stuff from Sainsbury's
Don't forget the Clubcard deals at Tesco. You can save here and there by using it to get Clubcard discounted prices.
@@jayp_2023 why do they need a Clubcard? Why not just have competitive prices
Tangentially, I was chatting with a fellow who worked at Aldi in the US. Quite hard work... The employees are always supposed to be doing something so they can keep labor costs and prices low. But he liked it because the company treated them decently. They even worked out a nice transfer for him when he moved.
It is a German company, of course.
The Aldi where I shop in Brooklyn NY has mostly different checkers every time I go there, indicating lower than normal wages, bad treatment, or both.
UK supermarkets have struggled to keep employees so their wages have risen (from minimum to a bit over minimum) and Aldi and Lidl (essentially the same) both seem to retain staff well, but work them quite hard.
They also get to sit down when working checkout!
Being German counts for nothing here, European benefits are pretty much the same so the only thing German about Aldi is some of the groceries have a continental European twist, which makes things interesting.
You visit ALDI for your groceries and leave with a car Jack and a chainsaw. 😂😂
When I lived in the north of England and shopped at Aldi I could get over a weeks worth of food for around £10. It really helped me out
You can't beat Cox. Cox, especially at this time of the year are amazing. I really can't get enough of them
Can't beat a big ol' bag of Cox. Just filling your mouth with Cox, chowing down on one after another, catching the juice before it runs down your chin
Ah yes, especially Cox's particularly delicious orange pippin. One cannot live without Cox, IMHO 😉
Recently moved to the US from Australia. The grocery price here is absolutely insane.
Aldi is still one of the more affordable in the US compared to target etc
Not a complaint because you're doing what I think is important work to educate people and making great content. But I think the Sainsbury's rice was Basmati, which is more expensive and they do sell a 1kg bag of basic rice for 45p, specifically to match Aldi. Edit: ah man I didn't look far enough, someone's mentioned this already!
Same with the cheese, which is usually closer to £2.50 than four quid. (Sometimes that’s price matched, but even when it isn’t it’s still close.)
Aldi isn't always cheaper but on the whole I save around £30 per weekly shop.
The business model means that they source their products from as near to the store as possible.
This is how they can sell produce cheaper as the logistics cost far less per store.
Yeah, no matter where you are, you'll save money if you shop around. The area I do my shopping in has a home bargains, a Lidl and an Aldi within a minute's walk of each other. So of course, I'll go into each of them for different items and save a decent bit more. There's also a Sainsbury's nearby, but the only thing that's cheaper there is the instant noodles.
The reason Aldi is cheaper is because they have a much smaller selection, this means they can specialise and therefore give cheaper products but much less variety. They also have 1 person on tills when they have 4 tills and the employees have to do every job and that's why spillages are there all day, shelves are stacked poorly and there are constant calls for staff to do a different job, because they don't have an enough employees.
@@nihtgengalastnamegoeshere7526 Just wondering but do you go by car?
Because I use public transport and I'd find it so awkward to go into another grocery store with a bag of groceries from the store nearby 😅
@@Alex-cw3rz I think they have just about enough employees but it's got less since Brexit. Our Aldi has introduced supervised self check out which helps .I often have to queue at Sainsbury's.
@@myra0224 No, I walk/use public transport. I'll be honest, I don't get what's awkward about that. You're shopping, you have a bag. Who cares where it's from? I guarantee you the shop's employee's don't.
Besides, people should reuse shopping bags, to minimise waste. Chances are, that'll mean that sooner or later you'll go into a shop with the 'wrong' bag anyway, it's no big deal.
That said, if you do find it awkward, that's easily bypassed by not using their bags at all- bring a backpack with you and put your shopping in that, it's more efficient and easier/more comfortable to carry your shopping in anyway. If you're concerned about running out of space in it, bring a reusable bag or two in your pocket as well, no problem.
During my second year of uni, they built an Aldi across the road from my flat. Before it opened, I had to walk all the way across town to go to Sainsburys as it was the only nearby supermarket (except m&s lmaoooo). I was *ecstatic* when I was able to switch to Aldi - less far to carry heavy bags, and cheaper shopping 🥳 🎊 🎉
Ugh same, at my school the closest grocery store for any of the on-campus students (and probably 80% of students off-campus) is a very small Target that carries 1/4 of the items at 1.5x the price of any suburban Target. Such a scam, and I really hope the university does something about it.
@@jessv4300 What's the university going to do about it? Beg grocery stores to open one on campus?
It would be interesting to see how these price differences are reflected in the wholesale prices paid to farmer/producers? I know for example, the wholesale price paid for milk to farmers in the UK has decreased (when allowing for inflation) in past 20 years.
I believe milk is a very very low profit margin product. You can notice that by checking milk price across all stores and see it’s more or less the same.
I don't know about the actual prices, but I have heard that small producers get - or used to get - paid a lot more promptly by both Aldi and Lidl than by most of the 'big boys'. It was somewhat shaming to the big boys, who promised to up their game. I don't know if they did, though - and prompt payment for goods received is usually VERY important to small businesses.
I read that farmers are really being squeezed by supermarkets on a variety of products.
From yesterday's Private Eye: 'while the price of eggs on supermarket shelves has risen by roughly 45p per dozen, only 5-10p of this has filtered down to egg farmers'.
I've pretty much exclusively shopped at Sainsbury's during my time studying in the UK with the occasional visit to a local Tesco. For me the costlier items are justified by the loyalty program (specifically the Nectar and the Avios) as I find the rewards to be worth it just enough. On weeks, where I needed a bit more spending money I definitely did seek out my closest Aldis though
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Favourite Evan quote this week, "None of these wanky brands..." 🤣
Yeah 😂. Btw, for those who are not British, don't use that word here. It's one thing among friends, it's an entirely different matter in public. If younger people stop to think about it, it's extremely rude!
@@y_fam_goeglyd lol wanky is nothing lol me and my dad always call eachother a C*** and your guna cry over the word wanky wtf
In the US, we tend to shop multiple stores and rotate what produce we use depending on what's in season and what's on sale. Also buying in bulk helps to average prices to keep it cheaper. However, saying that, I was in Scotland recently and I had sticker shock with how cheap prices were for an individual package of any healthy thing. In the US, to buy anything healthy that is already prepped and ready to be eaten easily costs 4 to 6x more than in the UK. The possibilities of meal prep being so much easier and cheaper made me very tempted to move just for that alone! In order to get cheap prices in the US, they're making you do all the manual labor.
worked in retail supply for over 12 years its all the same regardless of where you buy the same suppliers supply everyone else sometimes using the same batch codes meaning its the same ingrediants
To be honest, the UK is one of the cheapest places to by groceries period. I have been to many countries from Turkey, all the way to Morocco, most of Europe etc. Of course there are street foods and markets in he countries that blow the lid out of the UK, like Turkish natural produce markets, and if you wanna go even more crazy, wait until near closing time, you can buy like 5KGs of apple for less than £1 and that's after inflation from the past few years. But back to my point, the UK has a fantastic all rounded quality to price ratio that is still unbeatable in my opinion. I'm not even English just so you don't think I'm being biased.
UK markets are also far cheaper than the supermarkets for fruit and veg. Not for meat, fish or bread though as they tend to be artisan producers, that is unless its a dedicated fish or meat market like you'll get in larger towns and cities.
haven't watched the vid yet but i just love seeing other people reviewing the place i work at! its so interesting to see both sides of the coin
edit: also to think us store assistants are getting a third pay rise in 12 months really shows how much grocery stores have ripped us off for decades thinking all our stuff is good value for money, and then Aldi come along and show them all up. they can keep price matching us all they want, but we will laugh knowing that you are basically just admitting defeat and kissing our feet!
I'm from the US. Been to London twice and I've been to Edinburgh last year. I have to say, British food typically not only cost less, but also tastes significantly better in terms of quality than the stuff we have here. For example, a box of 9 eggs here in Tampa costs $5.60 at my local store. In the UK, while they don't have boxes of 9 eggs usually, a box of 12 can cost as little as £4 for the good kind.
We need to work on our pricing.
Egg prices are notoriously unstable because of inflexible demand and all kinds of changes in supply because of some chicken disease or just seasonal variations. I've never seen a 9-pack of eggs anywhere in the US or elsewhere. Three rows of three eggs each? In the US eggs are typically sold by the dozen (12) or sometimes also a half dozen. Eggs in the EU are typically in 10-packs.
@emjayay seperately, I mean. 61 cents per egg. So 9 costs $5.49. I buy 9 since that's the number of egg holders my fridge has. You're right, of course. Stores don't sell 9 packs of eggs.
I live in New Zealand and the prices on here make me weep with envy! Obviously there is a conversion to NZD to account for but both the US and UK prices are still much cheaper
Just back from a recent visit to the UK and I can attest this is true. I was surprised how much cheaper basic food items were in the UK. Of course I appreciate the price of gasoline / petrol here in the states.
I have an aldi, Tesco's, sainsburys and Asda all in walking distance from my home. Makes shopping really easy as if you are on a budget and know when to go, you can get a lot from the reduced sections. Makes shopping even cheaper during the week
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I would be interested to know how much money ends up with the original producers, the farmers. I believe a lot of dairy farmers in the UK struggle because the supermarkets push them on price. Does the extra money in the US go to the farmers?
Shopped in Lidl (same thing) for many years, some things are more expensive but across an average for my own personal weekly and monthly shop the two German stores do push ahead in value vs Tesco, Asda, etc. It all very much depends on what you're buying. Their cola for example, 47p per bottle of 2l. Bought 12 recently for just over £5 vs what that would get me in actual brand Coke or even other Brands such as Barrs. Would be around 3-5 bottles depending on pricing.
I think both Lidl and Aldi monitor each others prices and if the other is cheaper they immediately match it.
@@aaronmicalowe Tesco has also started price matching Aldi on some items
I save up to £20 on my weekly shop at Aldi compared with other supermarkets. That includes a 10 mile bus trip each way and a couple of beers at lunch time.
What I'd really like to see is a behind-the-scenes look at why the difference exists. Quality of food? What do the farmers get? etc etc. Just looking at the end result begs more questions than answers!
Generally the food in the UK is higher quality because they don't allow a lot of the additives and chemicals into the food like the US loves to do.
@@suigeneris6397 ...and, there's another video! I'm still amazed however at some of the list of ingredients of things here in the UK that I usually avoid, like some sweets etc - a chemistry lesson right there!
I associate the move to better ingredients with European influence (because it seemed that all the restrictions on pesticides etc came from the EU), but perhaps not. I remember looking at the ingredients in Lidl some years ago, when trans-fats had largely disappeared from food in Sainsburys etc, and it was all still there... so I never went back.
If you were here and you could taste the dairy you would realise the quality food here are so much more superior. The cheese is to die for anywhere in Europe. Not to mention bread. Thank you for all the EU bands. Fuck off to all the people who voted for Brexit. 😢
Working at a regional "low cost" regional grocery store in the US has boggled my mind on the cost of products. I have only seen prices go up, they push low quality product to pump up numbers to outperform other "high cost" stores IN THE SAME COMPANY.
As a new university student in the UK, I love my local Aldi lol
Same!
Mine is a 30 min walk away but tescos is a 2 min walk….it’s always a tough choice
Food here in US is so ridiculous!! I'm very sad seeing how badly we're being screwed!☹️
Edit to add - living in California where a lot of produce is grown, I know that the many years drought has caused many farmers to leave fields fallow because there isn't enough water to grow crops.
But it’s at the expense of our farmers… sure, it’s great to get a kilo of carrots for 11p, but farmers are being run out of business. Watched clarkson’s farm yesterday and he made £144 after a year. Insane. Still, I can’t complain, since if the veg wasn’t so cheap I couldn’t afford any.
Probably due to the logistics costs.
With the UK being so much smaller they can source produce from far closer than in the US.
@@lynn69jackson That and in the UK the shelf life for most products is actually far shorter then those in the US meaning the UK has a quicker turn over rate on products meaning there stores make more per day over the course of a month then stores in the US do because shelf life is longer in the US due in part to needing to make things last longer due to the large distances most products have to travel.
@@brandonhowell5096 I worked in a distribution warehouse for ASDA here in the UK for 5 years and you would be surprised how much of it is actually imported from all over the world and how little is actually UK sourced or even from Europe. It wasn't all the time but certain periods of the year the Iceberg Lettuces were imported from California.
The way the stores are stocked here (at least ASDA stores) is by using estimates calculated from a lot data from each individual store to try and stock them with only what they are guaranteed to sell within 1 day of receiving them making a long shelf life for fresh and refrigerated items unnecessary and is in part done because of how long it can actually take some stuff from being picked/made to get to the shelf and not having much life left. Some types of Apples can up to 9 months from being picked off the tree until they are on the shop shelf.
@@0x2A_ Thanks for correcting me for certain things in my earlier reply, but that wouldn't necessarily negate my point that UK stores have higher turn over rates for products leading to a higher profit margin thus leaning itself to the lower average price range outside of governmental involvment.
UK includes tax in the price i think and the US does not include the tax until you get to the register
No groceries tax in NJ. It’s discussed at length in part 1
Given that a lot of US gardens seem to be frickin' huge compared to the UK (having an acreage is much more common), is growing your own veg not a thing?
Not as a replacement for everyday groceries. Especially if you factor in the time investment...
@@WritingsOfQuill Also, time constraints for tending a garden. Generally, both adults (assuming that there is even two) in a household work. We're too tired when we get home in the evening to tend to a garden. My husband's job has him working on weekends, so we aren't together most of the time on our off-days.
This video makes me wanna cry. The prices over here in New Zealand are about the same if not worse than in the US (after checking our popular cheapest supermarket), despite the average annual income being less than the UK (noticeably so). Oh and we have been in a "bit" of a housing crisis for a while now. Although I guess we get to live in NZ... :|
same in australia except we don't even get to live in nz 😔 brb i'm swimming across the sea
It’s a bit more understandable for you guys because of your location and how much needs to be imported, whereas Europe is a large cluster of mostly first world countries with a diverse mix of things being grown and made.
@@danowen79 Sure, but there is a lot of things that we do produce, particularly meat, and dairy, that are still really bloody expensive despite the fact that it doesn't really have to go far. Milk in particular. It's often about 30mins (if that) to drive to the nearest dairy farms from the larger cities here and you see a lot of the milk tankers going around, yet the price for milk is roughly $3.79 NZD for 2L of the cheapest store brand of basic ass milk. (That's $2.21 in USD or £1.92) And beef has gotten horrendously expensive. In fact there was a point where you could get venison for much cheaper than beef which is ridiculous. Besides the main issue is that the income here compared to groceries and other costs of living is bad. (Although at the moment the UK is having a really crap time). Oh gosh this kept getting longer.
tldr: Our products that we produce are also really expensive and our income isn't comparable to the cost of living which is the issue
There are scary new laws being proposed in NZ which will seriously infringe free speech. I wouldn't want to live there if these actually come in.
Yes NZ is an awesome place
And then if you shop in Utah just quadruple everything. 😫 I didn’t realize just how expensive our groceries were until I went on a trip to California and the groceries were the same price. 😦 I was in Oxford for the summer and couldn’t believe how cheap the groceries were, especially since the produce is better quality.
I checked my Aldi app (I’m in Texas) and they have 10 lbs of potatoes for $5.19 (not 5 lbs). While I see your point, some of those prices are higher than I see at my store. US prices vary widely depending on the state.
Isn't that just a tax thingy as well?
It's obviously not going to be 100% the same for everyone but to complain because YOU can get one item cheaper is a bit meh 😅
@@misslavey WAIT WHAT????
In Wisconsin, the 10lb bag is $4.75. If he is looking at instacart or its ilk, the price is 5-10% higher than in store..
10 lbs of potatoes in the uk ( 2 bags) would still work out a lot cheaper than the us with the exchange rate it would be about $2.20 for 10lb
You might like to also take into account that the items sold in the UK are almost certainly less full of unnecesssary crap to make it last longer (unless Aldi use the same produce they sell in Europe), I bet the chicken for instance is far better in the UK. Many US visitors to the UK are shocked that food they buy here doesn't have the shelf life it does in the US because it isn't full of preservatives.
Mate the UK is in Europe
@@katiequeen7225 I didn't say UK wasn't in Europe. I was highlighting that European standards (including the UK) are tighter.
I haven't even watched yet, but I can almost GUARANTEE that the US will be double or triple the price. And I'm Canadian and we're even more expensive than the US. Brits get off SO LUCKY with their price of groceries. I'll never understand it.
even with brexit i dont know how were so cheap, I think though its just down to logistics and how they source products.
@@LittleMissPyeWacket We are at $1.80 a litre at the moment. Canadian.
@@LittleMissPyeWacket our cars are a lot more fuel efficient, so cost per mile should be close enough.
Plus on average people drive less as well.
There probabbly is little difference in monthly outlay for fuel on average per person.
@@somethingrio Its down to fierce supermarket competition and screwing the farmers out of existence , its just plain wrong.
Who knew, extra processing to add completely unnecessary chemicals increases the price at the shelf.
The potato comparison is fascinating, given Francis Drake famously got them for us from North America.
Thank you for saying it out loud. The "get yourself into debt with us" scam really does my head in.
The first supermarket that does a "cost price" week or weekend, every quarter (once they've got their quarterly profit numbers), and which maintains a good competitive price during the rest of the quarter, will literally take control of the marketplace. Why can't their marketing people work that out?
Did you do Delivery prices? Most places in the US have much higher delivery prices.
‘What’s tatters?’ ‘Po-tay-toes! Boil them, mash them, put them in a stew!?’
B...b..but master is our friend!
@@gamingbytetv665 😂😂😂
We did a like for like shop 3 times and each time Aldi was significantly cheaper each time. Never looked back. Quality is just as good, if not better and often half the price. Win win.
Hi, Given you ae not normally using Aldi (UK), I thought it worth mentioning the price increases even within the last 2/3 weeks, so I think your Aldi/Sainsbury comparison may not be as favourable to Sainsbury's as you think, 'cos I think Sainsbury's is also rising, as is Asda and Tesco.
I don't think it alters the basic 'message', trend of what you are saying, just saying our (UK) grocery inflation is high at the moment.
And my favourite part of Aldi shopping 'the aisle of random sh*t', so much fun.
Nothing like getting your weekly groceries and say, a wetsuit, if you so wish…. lol
Maybe dig up your yards and make them into gardens and grow your own potatoes and tomatoes. Onions are easy too. Save a fortune.
I love Aldi! But here in the states Aldi products have comparable pricing to other grocery stories like Wal-Mart. They are just slightly cheaper than those stores, but it's still so worth it to do most of your shopping there. The trick is to go into Aldi and then do a price comparison using other stores' shopping apps. It's the easiest way to see who is cheapest on certain items.
That’s because Walmart and Aldi are both discount stores. Not regular grocery stores. Technically Walmart is a department store and sometimes a super center with a grocery store included. Though walking through my Walmart, I’ve often thought it’s not as cheap as I’ve heard it’s supposed to be. It’s not as cheap as I see other Walmarts in other areas. Probably because my area is a large city (for the Midwest) and growing. It’s probably raising the prices.
Do people still look at grocery store flyers? I check to see what’s on sale because it dictates what I buy for the week. Of course everything has gotten more expensive but I got a 5lb bag of russet potatoes for $1.99 the other week. Just yesterday I got Persian cucumbers for $.49 lb.,chicken drumsticks $.79 lb., 2 pineapples for $3. And I have never paid more than $1 lb for onions.
I think some places are just price gouging but it’s probably a combination of things. The majority of fresh produce is grown in California and it’s the largest dairy producer, so there’s increased transportation costs to get goods across country coupled w/inflation. Plus consolidation of everything, only 3-4 meat processing places, grocers merging. Not everyone has a lot of choices of where they can shop. I have access to all the regular stores, but there are local chains and the ethnic grocery stores where I live outnumber the American ones. I almost never buy fresh tropical fruit like mangoes, jackfruit, mangosteen, lychees and rambutan at the American stores because they jack up the price
I live in Alabama. My local grocery store (Publix) is currently selling a 5 lb. bag of Russet potatoes for $3.99, not including the sales tax of 9%. Alabama taxes groceries at the full amount. My small city of 33k people has 4 places to shop for groceries: Aldi, Super Walmart, Neighborhood Walmart, and Publix. I think that there is one tiny ethnic grocery store (a Hispanic one) in my city's borders - if it is still in operation since the Pandemic. I haven't checked. I'd say that about half of the fresh produce that I buy actually comes from other countries. Even though California and Florida both grow oranges, the Naval oranges that I bought at the store most recently came from South Africa.
Wow
I guess this explains why Walmart ended up giving up on Asda!
I would love to see a comparison on housing costs! (Rent, utilities, etc) - but the costs in the US vary greatly state to state.
You would expect groceries in the UK to be dearer with £ nearly hitting parity with the $
Why? It's very expensive to shop in the US. The only thing they are cheaper at is eating out and the portion sizes provided.
I think i'm right in saying that all meat & fish in Aldi are from UK farms, so that may be the reason that some items in that department are a bit more expensive. It'd be interesting to know if Sainsburys have the same policy.
Braeburn is the only one true Apple. Pink ladies have that wierd squashy texture.
I like Braeburn apples but haven't been able to find them lately.
Doesn't the tax get added on top of the price at checkout in the US while in the UK taxes are included in the displayed price? In this case, the US would be even more expensive.
no sales tax on groceries in jersey
Would love to see comparison with things like eating out, entertainment industry too. Loving this series!
I shop Asda (mostly) I don’t shop at Aldi because being coelaic sucks
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So happy to have you here in the UK 🇬🇧 Evan ! Your a credit to the US and Great Britain 🇬🇧 ❤love your videos 😊
A point with the pink ladies, Evan, they actually are a brand, so that price might be regulated across the countries to be closer.
Why them and not the cornflakes and such tho
@@evan I dunno, because it's Aussie and all the blood rushed to their head?
My family lives amongst farmers and I went to uni in a rich suburb north of Chicago and the groceries were much higher quality and either the same price or cheaper where the rich shopped.
As someone who lives in Germany, the only reason not to shop in Aldi's is if you have a LIDL near by. 🙂 (but then again we unfortunately only have Aldi Nord in my city)
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I assume the US costs do not include whatever sales tax might apply in the state in question. I realise this varies a lot, but it might make a minor difference.
What is astonishing here is that it's in the staples where the price differences are so high. Things like potatoes, onions, bread and rice ought to be the cheap options for those on a budget (and pasta too - which ought to have been in the comparison).
What would be interesting to know is why the cost of staples are so much higher in the USA. Is it because of something in the cost structures, such as the cost of employment, buildings, local property taxes? What about wholesale costs? Are they similarly higher in the USA? If so, why? Is it transport costs? What about farm prices for produce; are those higher in the USA (I would have assumed not, but maybe I'm wrong).
It would also be interesting to see the comparison made in other areas, like electronics, clothing, utility bills and so on.
nb. the other thing that can't be missed out from all this is that international price comparisons are prone to distortion due to exchange rate fluctuations. The pound now is now worth about $1.17 whilst in June 2021 it reached about $1.41. In 2014 it reached $1.70. Of course much of the produce is traded internationally, so the wholesale costs of imported food will be somewhat cheaper when the pound is high, but those are only a proportion of total costs.
This is good for me to watch these videos, ESPECIALLY since I just got my visa! I'm finally making my way there in January officially, so now I can relax and figure out what is the best for me when I'm there! Thank you so much for these!.
You probably won’t be able to forward the rent or fuel though 😢
I nearly had a heart attack when I went to New Jersey last summer. We paid four times as much for our shopping there as we do in Germany.
Aldi won when we went to buy bread but we still found a loaf of "bread" was $1.99 when in Germany it was 0.99€
Excellent work, Evan! I hope your research reaches the right people and they start shopping at Aldi.
You'd think that in America a lot of this stuff would be cheaper - they have so many farms and climate to grow so much!
He is using his home state of New Jersey prices and also using instacart which are always priced higher, New Jersey is one of the most expensive states to live in.
i am shocked as a Swedish person, the UK groceries seems to be so much cheaper than anything i can find here. I did not expect that, even in the first video i thought the same thing
Same for germany, that ground beef in the first video made my jaw drop as here 500g of ground beef at aldi is easily 50% more expensive than it was in that video
I'd be curious how much it costs to run a comparable supermarket in the US and UK. And if it's less expensive in the UK, why it is like that.
Is it really because everything is so much closer together?
NI Tax lower than US Health Insurance Contributions?
Milder weather translating to lower AC bills?
Regulations of various sorts?
Prices do vary quite a bit by zipcode for Aldi, however it tends to be on items that are sourced locally. For example, some areas of the country make a lot of dairy products so those might be quite a bit cheaper at the Aldi's in that area. Especially over the last 2 years U.S. grocery prices have gone sky high. Some of it is due to transportation price increases but a lot of it is just corporate greed. One other factor that is coming into play in the U.S. is our current immigration policy. Because a lot of migrant workers from Mexico and Central America are now being kept out that has made products a lot more expensive.
It's not just the workers... I live in California and we grow a lot of food, but the many years drought is causing farmers to let field go fallow because they don't have the water to raise crops. Our planet is in serious trouble!
@@Angie_King_Bens_Grandma Yes, in certain areas that is true. I'm up in Minnesota and migrant workers used to come up and pick the blueberries. But now they have to use mechanical methods (shaking) that sometimes shakes off berries that aren't ready. They don't get as much of a yield. I think the costs of buying the machines and then fueling them has made expenses higher. All of the farms are impacted in some way up here. I felt that the migrant workers weren't being treated well so I have mixed feelings about that aspect, but the money they were earning went a lot further in Mexico than you would think. I do think some regulation was needed but blocking them completely has been a mistake I think.
Btw UK supermarkets only have about a 3% profit margin. Where as Apple has a profit margin of over 20%.
Biggest difference is transportation cost i think
Have you seen the price of diesel in the UK and Europe. Isn't a lot of Aldi food produce packaged in Germany
It’s worth also looking at why the prices are what they are for different produce. For example in the states depending on where you are, some states have very few cows as it’s not their primary meat, for example North Carolina, so the price of beef is a lot more expensive there than it is in the UK. However pork can often be cheaper there than in the UK, being their primary meat source.
Not that this is wrong, but it’s not as black and white as “everything in the US is more expensive”
i’m wondering if maybe some stuff is cheaper / more expensive because aldi is potentially used more in the uk? or some stuff is easier to distribute in either country?
Delivery logistics is MUCH greater in the US than in the UK. So that will be a big factor in pricing products.
@@xionmemoria- Sorry to hear about your Coeliac Disease. My cousin, she suffers with it and yes, the NHS plus the Coeliac UK Organisation & Helpline provide much support. Sadly the US health care doesn't seem to offer help in the same way, I wish you well.
Here in Germany, I don't usually go to Aldi. I go to the even cheaper supermarket.
And they say Scotsmen are penny pinchers.
I shop Aldi in both NC and FL, and find that the prices on produce in particular are different between the two locations, as are milk and dairy.
Isn't that just a tax thing and logistics thing?
They need to get the items in the store and I'm sure the US would use literally any excuse to hike up prices
@@myra0224 Especially in the Winter, a lot of the veggies and fruits that I buy there are locally sourced and that reflects in the price. I wonder if there are items that Americans usually eat that are more expensive in the UK like avocados?
@@jlpack62 I'm from Belgium so I can't tell you for certain but I'm sure that has to be the case there too but it depends from coast to coast. I'm assuming citrus fruit grows well on the west side as it's warm there?
@@myra0224 The USA has a 365 day a year growing season since the country has such a wide climate zone distribution. It's always warm somewhere in the States. This obviously doesn't mean that the season is 365 days a year everywhere in the country, but places like Florida and Arizona produce harvests throughout the Winter season, especially citrus. Prices vary on produce around the country and when those locally grown crops are in abundance. Both the Southwest and Florida remain warm enough for farming in the Winter.
As someone from Germany in the Aldi süd area. This makes me curious how our Aldi compares to other countries ones. Also since the pandemic Aldi Süd and Nord are growing closer in a sense that they now do tv spots together and other things. Not so much internal rivalry anymore. And I wasn’t aware that Aldi nord is Trader Joe’s. Really have to check out their products more next time I’m near one. Great video maybe Lidl would be interesting too. 😊
Trader Joe's started in Pasadena CA with a concept that was different from both natural food stores and regular supermarkets at the time. Eventually it became a national chain and was bought by Aldi Nord but they kept the same sort of identity. So a TJ's is much different from an Aldi in either the US or Germany, although the limited selection with many unique house brand items policy is similar between US Aldi and Trader Joe's (but the items are very different).
Sainburys price match Aldi, you can buy a white 800 gram loaf for 39p carrots 45p just two examples.
But they are ONLY doing the 'price match' because Aldi is hurting their margins and they are losing customers..! Why didn't they worry a year or more ago?
That's ok if you only eat white bread and carrots...
I left California 4 1/2 years ago and it seemed that every item I put in my cart in Safeway was at least $5. Oroweat 'Organic' whole wheat bread was usually around $5.99. With a Safeway card you could sometimes get the 'Safeway' brand Oroweat 'equivalent' loaf for $2.99. I'm currently paying £3.75 for a loaf at my local bakers in N. Yorkshire but it's hand made artisan bread made in house.
Whenever I visited the UK I was amazed at how cheap food was here, even now in Nov. 2022 it's still cheap... and everyone is complaining about how expensive things have gotten! I am going back to the USA in Dec. and I am a little concerned at what I am going to find.
I used to shop at Trader Joe's when I could and if I was feeling really flush Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck as it's known). Remember too, they even add sales tax at the checkout to most food in California.
Also, food in the US is often tasteless and labeling laws in the US are often misleading.
Fascinating. Aldi is still pretty ok for the basics it seems. Are the us prices with or without tax?
Without tax as most states have no groceries tax
Likely without. At least for the store apps I use, the tax is added as a separate line under the subtotal of the sticker price of all the items
@@evan Ah thx. Was trying to compare the prices to the german Aldi Nord over here.
@@evan I dont believe thats true. most places have local taxes, even on food.
@@Mindy14 not true. I could pay $80 on groceries and maybe one item is taxed, leaving me with maybe $0.50 in tax
I plan on moving to the UK in 2 years. I'm very excited 🎉
Food prices in USA are out of control, I don’t know how people are surviving
Food prices very widely from state to state and region to region what may be expensive in one area my be cheaper in another. Seeing as Evan is only using NJ as his "overall" US pricing zone, which is one of the highest priced to buy groceries in the US, he's not really getting the true average US price for something.
@@brandonhowell5096 I live in flyover country and it’s super expensive
we finally got an aldi's near us (ma/usa) I am finally saving money compared to our local regional grocery store. But some products are more expensive there. It depends of some factors.
I hope you have cotton socks on, as I need to bless them :) I haven't watched the vlog yet, but as a Germany supermarket changeling (my local been a lidl) I just know you will be blown away, just try their red wine, a £6.00 plonk will cost you £12.00 anywhere else.... there in just one is a reason :)
I was in Walmart (Canada) today, and I'm finding those US prices even to be cheap.
The best part about these comparisons is that the UK prices also includes taxes where applicable (not everything in a supermarket is zero-rated!). It would be very difficult to do this in the US because each state and county might be slightly different.
Most states don’t tax groceries
Noticed just how volatile the supermarkets were on my world travels. Kinda just made us pick the cheaper things in each place. Ended up at in n out burger loads in US as it just wasn’t worth bothering with the expensive supermarkets. Meanwhile in New Zealand, we had plenty of lamb for example as it was relatively cheap.
In UK, my weekly shop is the last thing I cut down on when trying to save. I can compromise in other areas before losing my luxuries on the weekly shop since it’s so affordable generally speaking
Sainsburys actually do a lot of Aldi price matching on basics. I don't have an Aldi near me, only Sainsburys, Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado.
I wonder what the difference in prices would have been if you had done this before the government crashed the pound against the dollar.
Interesting snapshot of prices. A lot depends on when and where you take the snap.
We have in our upscale US town two Aldis about 4 km apart. The Aldi located next to Trader Joe's consistently has prices higher than the Aldi near the Lidl and Walmart-grocery.
As in the UK, many staple's prices are propped up by the government. In the US that varies from state to state so milk for example can vary as much as $2 per gallon.
Poultry products vary significantly based on season and supply. I've seen eggs bounce between $0.77 and $2.70 per dozen within 6 months (bird flu epidemic)
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Do lidl next. They are similar to aldi as both stores are owned by two brothers if i remember correctly
Aldi was the original store then they had a disagreement and the other brother left and founded Lidl. They're priced matched on everything so neither is ever cheaper than the other.
@@aaronmicalowe Nope. You got the disagreement between brothers right, but that led to Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd.
Aldi prices very greatly across the USA. The prices you quoted for Aldi US are lower in my state.
The sad irony is the thing that Aldi is probably a lot cheaper in the UK than in Germany currently because every brand in Germany is artificially inflating their prices more than the current inflation crisis would justify. 30% more in fact whereas other countries are 10% inflated.
US Cheddar wasn't too much more than UK Cheddar but I would like to say that it is an entirely different cheese over there. I have had US cheddar and it is unrecognisable as cheddar except perhaps for the shape. It's even described as "sharp" which is not a word I think anyone in the UK would associate with the taste of cheddar. Instead we think of Cheddar as being on a scale of mild to mature. Cheddar is a staple in the UK so it is weird to see such a wildly different thing elsewhere in the world sold as cheddar Mainland Europe also has some weird ideas about what cheddar is in my experience. (I've never typed out the word cheddar so many times in my life, it is starting to sound weird)
It's not proper cheddar in the US. Their cheese in general is terrible