There's A Reason Aldi's Meat Is Always So Cheap

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2 days ago

If there's one thing Aldi is known for, it's the crazy low prices. Its meat, which is sold under the brand name Kirkwood, is no exception. Chicken breasts go for $3.99 per pound, thin-sliced ribeye steak (one of the best cuts of beef to buy at Aldi) is $9.99 per pound, and boneless pork chops are $4.69 per pound. So how can Aldi keep its meat prices so low? Turns out, there are lots of reasons. Some outlets claim it's because Aldi sources its meat locally. While Aldi hasn't said this directly, there's some evidence that backs this up. In a video released by the company, the Poultry Buying Director Scott Gerbec said that Aldi buys chicken from within the U.S., both at the regional and national level. Having multiple sources could help keep meat cheap.
However, there's more to this than meets the eye. Aldi's U.K. branch has purchased meat from Hook 2 Park and Moy Park, which have historically mistreated their animals. The chicken provided at U.K. locations, for example, has been sourced from mistreated chickens that are bred to grow faster than usual, causing heart problems. In fact, there have been multiple accounts of mistreatment on Moy Park factory farms, in 2019 and 2022. In this instance, the meat is cheap because of its low quality. However, there are many other factors to take into account.
Read more: 4 Deli Meat Brands To Buy And 4 That You Should Skip
Aldi Foregoes The Butcher
As far as beef goes, Aldi has one of the highest quality grocery store meat departments. It uses the same sources as other major U.S. retailers for its beef. Since 85% of beef comes from JBS USA, Tyson Foods Inc, Cargill Inc, and National Beef Packing Company, it's likely Aldi gets at least some of its supply from those companies. However, unlike other grocery chains, Aldi doesn't do the slicing or packaging in-house. Instead, it has the suppliers do that, which helps Aldi cut down on overall costs. This could trickle down and help make meat cheaper overall.
Aldi (Mostly) Sells Store-Brand Products
It's no secret that store-brand is usually cheaper than name-brand. Aldi is similar to Trader Joe's, which rarely sells name-brand products. It's likely cheaper to exclusively use products made by the company, rather than purchasing them. However, Aldi still sells some name-brand items; having intense competition with Aldi's significant store-brand presence can also lower product prices, including meat. Amy Pan, a professor at the University of Florida, told the Warrington College of Business Newsroom, "Store brands with intermediate quality serve as a credible threat to intensify upstream competition and induce better wholesale contracts in spite of their negligible sales."
Aldi Has Low Staffing
If you've ever been in an Aldi, you'll notice that the store has no baggers. The chain actually doesn't employ any, focusing instead on hiring speedy cashiers. This allows the chain to offer lower prices than competitors, since they have less people to pay. Aldi also hires less people across the board. The online consensus between former workers is that Aldi generally has an average of about four to six staff members working in the entire store per shift (though it varies depending on location).
Aldi Has Frequent Sales
In general, Aldi has weekly sales every Wednesday called Aldi Finds. Meat often finds its way onto the list, but it's not exclusive. The store also runs short, unique sales like the Get a Quarterback Sale, which includes everything for your Super Bowl party needs (that most likely involves meat). Otherwise, all of the chain's meat options go on sale a few days before it expires, and is marked off as much as 50% the day before the sell-by date.
Read the original article on Chowhound.
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