Hi,
I'm 30+ yo male, live in Sydney, work in Aldi Supermarket for about 3 years.
Probably any of you would like to know anything about Aldi' stuffs or general supermarket/Aldi related things.
Thanks
[AMA] I Work in ALDI, You Can Ask Me Anything
LKobee on 01/03/2018 - 17:37
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Hi. Once I said to this guy at my previous work that his lunch from home looks really good and healthy. He said he got everything from the Aldi dump. I was like what??? He said Aldi throws away perfectly good fresh produce and there is always so much unexpired bread too. Why does aldi throw out perfectly good food? Whats the policy on wastage?
Aldi dump? haha..We do charity with oz harvest etc yes. Probably he got it there?
Yes, we throw out (or donate) many produce if they are over the display dates or look a bit off (we can't avoid it, some veggies might not selling well). We did discount the veggie beforehand (the package ones).
Bread is basically the same, we can not display more than two (twist tie colors) use by dates of bread. Every morning we get fresh bread then we have to make sure of all that and chuck out (send to charity) the unsold (the third earlier color) bread. These bread is still good and under use by date but can't be sold.
We do not discount bread anymore.
No, he said the actual dumps at the back of your stores! Sounds like it is bountiful of edible food. Why is there a display date anyway? That is different to expiry date? for example, he said he found carrots and potatoes in the dumb but those can be good for weeks.
It all comes down to assumed customer expectation. When you buy something from a supermarket you're not going to eat everything that day. Well, a trolley's worth anyway. You expect it to have a reasonable shelf life after you buy it. I assume people expect bread to last longer than a day or two after it's been bought. This is why date rules exist. We could leave bread on the shelf until the date printed on the twist tie but then you'd have people complaining that the bread was stale the day after it was bought.
Having seen the ABC's war on waste, Aldi's attitude to food wastage is absolutely nothing short of disgraceful and bordering on immoral. Seeing entire lobsters just chucked in the skip because they haven't 'sold' is absolutely terrible.
If our politican's were actually running this country and had our interests at heart, they'd enact legislation as France has done to ban food waste by supermarkets.
I just got back from England, and anything with a near by use date is discounted by 50% or more.
As for not discounting your bread. That frankly is pretty ordinary.
And no, not everything goes to charity because I pulled my local Aldi store up for chucking their bread out. There answer was oh, we are chucking it,charities don't want the bread.
My answer to aldi or any other supermarket is - give it away then.
Food waste is not cool!
I have seen an OzHarvest van at the delivery area of my local branch.
Does ALDI ever clean their trolleys? Most of the time the handle is sticky, hygiene is my concern.
Staffs don't clean trolleys, there are trolley's people who pick up trolleys around Aldi (or parking lot).
I don't know if cleaning is one of their responsibilities, sorry.
I'm sure if some trolleys are noticeably dirty, we or (cleaners) will clean that up straight away.
Sticky handles?? Never happened in my Aldi.
What happened to the Mackeral in Oil cans?
Is it gone? Should be there if it is regular item. No info about this sorry.
I heard from a friend who works for a pallet company who was told by one of the meat suppliers that the quality of meat supplied to Aldi is 'different'.. not sure exactly what that meant but I am assuming Coles/Woolies get the first pick etc.. how true is this and how can you squeeze the best prices on meat and fresh produce when the other supermarkets have already tied up with all the big suppliers..
Btw I love Aldi weekly specials there's always something we need in those specials.. I think you guys are chipping away slowly at Bunnings what Master's and others couldn't do and blew up a billion $s..
what. they are completely different suppliers.
Don’t think that’s the case for all produce, there are only so many big suppliers..
topic is meat at aldi. You're talking produce. get a grip man.
topic is for the guy who works at Aldi.. sure I will get a grip… ;)
Not sure by "different" mate, you might wanna try the meat first and compare the prices maybe?
This matter isn't too suitable for me to answer, sorry about that.Thanks, yea we sell many interesting things every now and then, to attract any type of customers.
What's your credit card number?
867-5309
… oh wait, wrong one.
lol
I'd like to buy the Aldi canned peaches, apricots, fruit salad, etc. (the ones made in Australia). How do I decipher the code on the bottom of the can so that I can determine the expiry date for the canned fruit?
Thank you.
I though all the ALDI tinned fruit was imported eg South Africa. I'll have to take a closer look.
What's the go with the occasional "brand name" product you find? Saw some miscellaneous Cadbury products, expected them to have been imports from Yugoslavia but were Australian?
Yugoslavia really? Never seen such thing.
Pretty sure some major Aldi chocolates are made in Germany.
You know a brand can be international but doesn't mean it's always manufactured in the origin country.
Is it brand or where they are made in? Not sure about this, sorry.Sorry, I was being flippant, lost in translation. I meant that I expected the brand products to be grey imports or parallel imports. But they were regular Australian Cadbury stuff.
Was more curious why Cadbury was a brand they wanted to sell legitimately..
I think there's a variety of reasons, although these are just my opinions/assumptions:
1) Brand recognition. Some branded items are just really popular and people want to buy them. eg Coke, Tim Tams
2) Provide choice and to highlight the price difference between the brand and their home brand product. Eg: Tim Tams = $2.49. Home brand = $1.49
3) They haven't been able to find a manufacturer to produce a similar item of the branded product that is known to be popular
4) They want to test the waters to see how well the branded product sells. They might decide to keep it or try to produce their own.As an aside, I heard a while ago that when ALDI wanted to put Nescafe in their stores (another well known brand synonymous with coffee), Nescafe Australia tried to dictate exactly where it was to be merchandised etc. ALDI was having none of it and instead of purchasing from Nescafe Australia, it parallel imports their products from overseas. (I forget where, maybe indonesia) and puts it on the bottom shelf. Ha.
A bit off topic I know but when Costco opened its first Australian store in Melbourne, I overheard some businessmen (they were taking notes on how things were merchandised so assumed they worked for Costco) saying that Nescafe Australia has a very close relationship with Woolworths and Coles. As a result, Nescafe didn't supply any regular or special bulk products to Costco. Perhaps out of fear or loyalty. Who knows.
There hasn't been a Yugoslavia for quite a few years now.
Sorry, meant Czechoslovaki.
That too broke up quite a few years ago!
Are the same Aldi specials available across all Aldi stores? I ask because my local Aldi never seems to have any of the new Specials. Instead I have see some older items like the Lawnmower and bathroom suction holders available for a month or more.
Available on the same days as it's advertised to be displayed but they all come in different quantity (depends on each store).
We put the older specials to other tables to make spaces for the new specials (we keep selling the old ones till all sold).Your Aldi should have the new specials every wed and sat as advertised in catalogue.
What is one product that you recommend that is a must buy?
Wow one ? It is very hard to answer, it depends on which area to choose too. Let me cheat:
I will grab these (because of the quality or you can't find it elsewhere and the cheaper price):In chiller : block cheese, yogurt! (high protein, greek,dairy dream, organic), hummus dip
Nuts : pistachio
Choc/biscuits: Choceur Liviano, Knoppers, Moser Roth dark choc, organic choc
Snacks: sweet& salty popcorn, palazzo dark choc, rice crackers
Freezer: spinach gozleme, beetroot & goat cheese premium pizza, yogurt popsicle
Cooking: olive oil, mayonnaise, dried pastas, big can chunk tuna
Bread: all the briocheSorry can't pick one
@Kobee
I am looking for a job. Something like night fill, stacking boxes, etc. Springvale/Clayton area. Can you help?
Thanks
Check aldi career website mate
ALDI don't have night fill positions. Every employee needs an RSA in states that allow ALDI to sell alcohol. Although they do employ stock replenisher's they tend to be given to those under 18. This isn't a policy. Just an observation.
If you're interested in applying for a job at ALDI, make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. It's not a job where you can dawdle. It's not about sitting down all day nor is it about going out the back into the warehouse and doing nothing. There is always something to do.
Morning shifts start at 6am and can vary in length from 6 to 9 hours. The first 2 hours is spent stocking the shelves. ALDI is all about efficiency and so you are expected to reach specific time frames according to the type of load you are running.
During the rest of the morning, products that come on single D pallets (eg. soft drinks, tissues and laundry powder etc…) are run whilst milk, bananas and bread is monitored to ensure they're not "off show". Over the course of the day, when off registers, empty boxes are progressively removed. During the afternoon (or whenever needed), chiller and meat back stock is run.
Evening shifts usually end 1 hour after the store closes. Over the course of the evening, empty cardboard boxes are removed, store swept, floors mopped/cleaned and products faced flush to edge ready for the morning team.
Hey @Kobee,
Thanks for the thread you opened. I need to ask you some info about the Aldi products. I couldn't send you one to one message. Could you send me a test message & I'll talk to you?
Thanks in advance.Hey Kobee, thanks for the AMA. My question is why does the liquor section close an hour before the rest of the store? I was once turned away despite being in the lane that sells alcohol well before closing time. I was after The Pond if you recall it being stocked, and far away from home. I timed my trip while in the area to stop on my way home and was met with this rule/time that wasn't advertised or marked anywhere. Is this common practice or was this a one off? If it is the former, is there a reason why?
It is a common practice as it's actually agreement between the store and the government (or authorities). I think your Aldi must've placed the sign about this liquor operating hours somewhere near the liquor section (like a letter). If not you can complain to the managers.
Some Aldi now has extended the liquor closing hours to the store closing hours (hence not many dramas going on during that "injury" time), though we are still very strict about not selling any alcohol after 9 pm. We also don't sell alcohol in other non-dedicated alcohol registers.
We are very strict about selling alcohol, we don't wanna break any rules since getting the license to sell alcohol for Aldi is not easy (if you notice other supermarkets have their own separate shops for selling alcohol).
Thanks for the update. This was on a Sunday before 6pm so that added to why I was confused. I had checked the website as well and store hours on the door. Perhaps there was a sign in the section but I definitely didn't see it.
Anyways thanks for the answer.
It depends on liquor licencing laws that varies from state to state. ALDI is typically issued a Packaged Liquor Licence for each store which stipulates the conditions under which alcohol can be sold - including the time.
Each store should have a sign in the alcohol section displaying the times when alcohol can be sold.
You can also search for the licence of the store you shop at via the relevant state liquor licence websites.
That's reasonable but I would expect the opening hours for these areas, whether mandated by law or not, to be listed on the Aldi website for convenience.
9 pm for weekdays, 8pm on weekend, might be different in other Aldis.
Do Aldi have a policy of hiring beefy women? Average build of Aldi female staff is much bigger compared to Coles and Woolies.
Haha no i don't think so.
There aren't any beefy woman in my Aldi, yea a bit chunky 1-2..that's about it :)
Hi @Kobee
Thanks you for talking time to answer these above queries.
My question is are the staff at the counter under pressure from management to rush customers to pickup their products?? I do believe management try to minimize cost at all time by leaving the minimum staff on the floor to deal with the customers. However, it happened to me a few time that the staff at the counter comes across pretty aggressive/ impatient if someone delays a few seconds to put their stuffs away. Happened multiple time: I paid the bill and putting my card away before proceeding to place approximately 10-12 items away in my trolley and the staff at the counter already start scanning the next customer product, then they give you this dirty look as if you are holding up everybody….I love to shop at Aldi but some of the staff I came across really lack customer service!
Some Aldi stores discount items to clear them, and others stores not?
There's no Aldi gift cards, never receive any Aldi gift card as payment.