Aldi's avid fans fuel its growth in US

'It feels like I'm at a bougie store, but I'm not paying bougie prices,' one shopper said of the discount grocer, which is set to open hundreds of US stores as consumers look to save and buy organic, writes Julie Creswell from New York

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On most Mondays, Brisania Ortiz pushes a cart into an Aldi grocery store near her home in Frisco, Texas, and begins shopping for the week.

She picks up organic fruits and vegetables, then sustainably raised eggs and grass-fed ground beef. She adds milk, boxes of cereal and bags of chips — all made without artificial dyes — for her three children. She's in and out of the store in about 20 minutes and able to feed her family of five for $100 (about 3,250 baht).

“The prices. I can’t comprehend how low the prices are for the quality, organic foods that they sell,’ Ms Ortiz said. “It feels like I’m at a bougie store, but I’m not paying bougie prices.”

In the current grocery store battle, where chains are going head to head for a piece of consumers’ shrinking wallets, Aldi, known as a discount supermarket, is coming out swinging.

Aldi, which originated in Europe, is rapidly expanding its footprint in the United States. This year, it plans to open 200 stores across the country, more than any other grocer, and expects to have around 2,600 locations by the end of the year, making it the third-largest supermarket chain by number of stores. Kroger has 2,700 under various names, and Walmart has 5,206 locations. Aldi expects to have more than 3,200 stores in the United States by the end of 2028.

Customers are flocking to Aldi. Overall, visits to grocery stores in the first half of this year were up about 1.8% from last year, but customer trips to Aldi stores surged more than 7%, according to Placer.ai, which tracks foot traffic at retailers and restaurants.

Aldi’s growth is being attributed to the fact that it has tapped into two trends driving American shoppers — discount prices and healthy products.