Aldi Differentiation with a Twist.

At Aldi high quality for less time and money works garnering customers daily.  Publix, Safeway, Marsh, Fairway, and Smith Supermarkets once the mainstay of the American Grocery store shoppers are finding one relatively new competitor that may change how and where consumers shop for groceries. Aldi is the company, currently with 1,300+ grocery stores in 32 states announced plans to open 650 new units over the next five years.

Aldi brand model has consumer relevance with a heavy focus on Freshness, Food Quality, and Price.  In fact Aldi is forcing legacy grocery stores to rethink their outdated model. Aldi is creating the undercurrents of change within the industry.  These changes are the most dramatic since the 1940’s according to leading industry analysts.

Industry research firm Packaged Facts found that "Today the threat is spread out among all retail channels, including drugstores, dollar stores, limited assortment chains, and — the elephant in the room — e-commerce."  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ believes that “Aldi may just be the elephant in the room that all U.S. grocery stores should fear.”

Foodservice Solutions® asked Why Aldi here is what we found:

1.       Streamline Shopping Experience Aldi keeps prices low by offering a fewer branded items, in fact they carry just 5% of the inventory of a traditional grocery store requiring less space, creating a platform a “quick-trip” in and out.

2.       Private Label Food Aldi’s “house brand” food products are rated by consumers as meeting national brands or exceeding them in both taste and quality.

3.       “Delight Index” Market Force Information a leading industry research firm places Aldi high on its “Delight Index” with companies the ilk of Trader Joes, and Whole Foods.

While consumers are shopping for Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food across multiple channels Aldi has found a way edify the consumer shopping experience, save time, money and add freshness into its service.  Aldi understands that differentiation does not mean different in food retail, it means familiar, but with a twist.  Aldi has the right twist for continued success.

Interested in learning how the 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization contact us via Email us at: grocerant@q.com or visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant