Aldi declares war on Trader Joe's after stocking shelves with popular, sold-out item

Daily Mail​

21-06-2025

Aldi is stepping up its battle with Trader Joe's by releasing a snack that is eerily similar to one its competitor can't keep on the shelves.
Aldi, the fastest growing supermarket in the US, recently introduced a Kimbap to its frozen foods aisle.
Trader Joe's has their own version of the Korean sushi but it has been so popular fans have reported not being able to find it anywhere.
Aldi's new fully-cooked Kimbap comes in two flavors, Traditional and Tuna Mayo
The Traditional option is labelled as 'Korean-style imitation crab, egg, carrots, spinach, and pickled daikon in a seaweed rice roll.'
While the Tuna Mayo is described on the packaging as 'Tuna mayo & perilla leaf in a seaweed rice roll.'
The discounted supermarket previously stocked a similar Kimbap in Spicy Tuna With Gochujang, Kimchi & Tofu, Spicy Salmon and BBQ Beef Bulgogi flavors.
All the flavors comes as a hand roll divided into eight conveniently bite-sized pieces and cost $3.49 each.
The new Kimbap treats appear to be going down well with Aldi shoppers.
'I grabbed both the other day while I was on my break, I liked the tofu kimchi more but the spicy tuna was good also!' one fan wrote on Reddit.
'Highly recommend if anyone finds them in their stores.'
'I went back to get more, and was grateful to see folks had snapped up the spicy tuna and left the tofu ones behind,' another added.
However, the new snacks are proving so popular Aldi may soon run in to the same issue as Trader Joe's as one customer claims they can no longer locate them.
'I can only find these at Trader Joe's and not my local Aldi,' they wrote.
Aldi is continuing to expand across the US with plans to add another 800 stores to its existing 2,4000 in the next four years.
Although the retailer has been in the US since 1976, only recently did it begin scooping up a larger share of the market.
The retailer was recently named the fastest-growing grocer in the US for the fifth year in a row by real estate firm JLL, and in terms of store count it's the third largest.
'No one else is putting up 100 stores a year in the grocery space,' said Michael Infranco, assistant vice president at RetailStat.
'That's impressive. And they've been doing that for a number of years now.'
Aldi's business model revolves around small stores, packed with a limited assortment of well-curated but mostly private label goods.