Yes, ALDI is consistently cheaper than Coles and Woolworths in Australia, often by over 25% for a standard basket of groceries. Consumer group CHOICE and independent reports confirm that ALDI remains the most affordable option, primarily due to its lower-priced private-label (home-brand) items.
Consumer group CHOICE found Aldi had the cheapest basket of home-branded items, beating out Woolworths, Coles and IGA. Aldi has been named the cheapest supermarket for Aussies to shop for groceries and home-branded products.
Aldi has consistently been named as Australia's most affordable supermarket, with a 2025 Canstar survey showing shoppers spend $174 on average per week on groceries at Aldi, compared to $178 per week at Coles and Woolies.
It's called the "Aisle of Shame" (or "Aldi Finds") because shoppers often abandon their grocery lists and budgets to impulse buy delightful but unnecessary items like home goods, apparel, and seasonal gadgets found in the middle aisle, leading to a "shameful" amount of extras they didn't plan for, but it's an affectionate term for the store's addictive treasure hunt.
Is ALDI REALLY Australia's Cheapest Supermarket??? ALDI v's WOOLWORTHS v's COLES 🛒
Why do Aldi cashiers always sit down?
"Aldi says that cashiers sit at the register because, according to their testing, it allows us to ring up items faster," Jonah, an Aldi employee, told Mental Floss.
Aldi is closing for three days over the Christmas and New Year period (Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day) to give their hardworking staff a well-deserved break to spend with family and friends, a tradition they've maintained for years, with extended hours before and after to ensure customers can still do their shopping.
What's the most expensive supermarket in Australia?
Meanwhile, IGA was the most expensive of all four supermarket chains at $69.74. A cost breakdown released by the office of Andrew Leigh, assistant minister for productivity, competition, charities and treasury, found IGA was the most expensive option in every state and territory.
Just like most supermarkets, Aldi has its own brand of products and they're not only high-quality, they're also extremely affordable. If you find yourself in an Aldi, it's a good idea to avoid brand-name products and take advantage of the reasonably priced Aldi items, like frozen pizzas, chips, and baked goods.
Why are eggs so expensive? Egg prices have repeatedly hit record highs because of H5N1, a highly transmissible and fatal strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, that has devastated flocks of egg-laying hens. Outbreaks started in early 2022 and quickly grew into the largest bird flu outbreak in U.S. history.
Aldi Sud founded the first American Aldi store in 1976 (in Iowa), and currently owns all U.S. locations. Completely unrelated is the fact that in 1979 Aldi Nord purchased the U.S. operations of Trader Joe's, which was founded in California in 1958. So, there is no relationship between Aldi and Trader Joe's.
Aldi's checkout policy focuses on speed and efficiency, requiring customers to bag their own groceries, use a quarter for carts (returned later), and move items quickly from scanning to the bagging area, with cashiers scanning items very fast; some stores have self-checkout (often with item limits) or "Shop & Go" (app/contactless) options, but the core is customer participation to keep costs low.
The practice of caw cawing in the AOS has unclear origins. Some say it's how "old crows" who have long shopped at the store find each other. Others believe it refers to the sound a crow makes when it spies something shiny and interesting.
Saving money on groceries starts with knowing where to shop—some stores consistently offer lower prices to help stretch your budget. ALDI leads the pack with their ruthless cost-cutting strategies. That can sometimes mean more work for you, but it also means more savings.
The Aldi shop was £45.57 cheaper than the most expensive supermarket, Waitrose. With the money Brits could save simply by swapping to Aldi, shoppers can have a little extra spending money for those all important, last minute Christmas shops.
