question: How does Aldi sell solid products for so cheap?
comment: The whole operation is set up to keep costs low. 1. Big barcodes for faster scanning, cashiers can serve more customers. 2. Low staffing. Store personnel is kept to a minimum reducing labor costs. They don't have to divert someone from other jobs to round the carts back up because customers have to use a coin to unlock them. 3. Generic products with minimal marketing sold at a lower profit margin 4. LED lighting on the cold cases and freezers uses less power than incandescent or fluorescent and produces less heat for the coolers to have to get rid of. There are probably more, those are just the ones I know of from having shopped there.
passages: Originally, Aldi shops were often ridiculed as being cheap shops selling low-quality goods, whose customers could not afford to shop elsewhere.
   Aldi mainly sells exclusively produced, custom-branded products (often very similar to and produced by major brands) with brand names including "Grandessa, Happy Farms, Millville, Simply Nature," and "Fit & Active".
   In addition to its standard assortment, Aldi has weekly special offers, some of them on more expensive products such as electronics, tools, appliances, or computers, usually from in-house electronics brand Medion and workzone brand for tools. Discount items can include clothing, toys, flowers, and gifts. Specials have strict limits on quantities, and are for one week. Aldi's early computer offers in Germany (such as a Commodore 64 in 1987) resulted in those products selling out in a few hours.
   Section::::Business organization.:Internationally.
   Aldi stores are noted as examples of so-called no-frills stores that often display a variety of items at discount prices, specializing in staple items, such as food, beverages, toilet paper, sanitary articles, and other inexpensive household items. Many of its products are own brands, with the number of other brands usually limited to a maximum of two for a given item. This increases sales for each article, and lets Aldi shops be smaller than stores with more brand choice. This practice let Aldi avoid price tags, even before the introduction of barcode scanners. On many of its own brands, if feasible, Aldi will place multiple barcodes on products to speed the check out process.
   In Australia, television advertising is common and the current ads are listed on the Australian website.
  
  In Belgium, print, radio and television ads started appearing in late 2017. These ads were based on the positive results of taste-tests where the chain pitted its own products against common name-brand products.
  
  Section::::Business practices.:Logos and branding.
   Between 2012 and 2019, Aldi's UK operations became "carbon neutral", with investments in solar, green energy, energy efficiency and offsets reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 53 per cent per meter of sales floor.
  
  In the United States, due to the relatively low staffing of Aldi locations compared to other supermarket chains, Aldi has a reputation of starting employees out at significantly higher than minimum wage, unusual among American supermarkets.
  
  In Ireland, Aldi has been accused of a "lack of corporate responsibility" to their farmer suppliers by the Irish Farmers' Association.
   Branded products carried include HARIBO in Germany, Knoppers in Belgium and France, Marmite and Branston Pickle in Great Britain; and Vegemite and Milo in Australia. This is usually very strongly branded items, that in the past they have had difficulty in creating a generic version of the product. In the United States, major brand-name products, such as Oscar Mayer bacon, sometimes are offered as a 'special purchase': name-brand items that Aldi has received at a special price from the vendor and can offer for a reduced price. Unlike most shops, Aldi does not accept manufacturers' coupons, although some US stores successfully experimented with store coupons (e.g. $10 off a $25 purchase).
   Aldi launched in Great Britain, on 5 April 1990, when it opened its first store there in Stechford, Birmingham, using the wholly owned English registered company of Aldi Stores Limited and Aldi sales in Britain grew consistently. In October 2013, Aldi opened the 300th store in Great Britain. By 2017 Aldi had over 600 stores there, and was opening them at a rate of more than one a week with the aim of having a thousand stores by 2022.
   Aldi sells low cost alcohol from its alcohol stores. Until March 2016, Aldi had an alcohol website serving the east coast of Australia. This has now been closed down, citing it wishes to focus on expanding the supermarket chain across Australia.
  
  Section::::Subsidiaries and joint ventures.:Diskont.
   Section::::Products.
   Haldiram's products are marketed at various retail locations such as bakeries and confectionery stores, among others, and also on various commercial websites. The pricing of the company's products is typically inexpensive compared to similar products made by other companies. Prior and up to August 2003 in United States market, the company's products were limited to potato chips. The company's products are carried by some Indian supermarkets in U.S. In U.S., Haldiram's products are popular with the Indian diaspora.
  
  Section::::Allegations & Clean Chit.
   The brothers' idea, which was new at the time, was to subtract the legal maximum rebate of 3% before sale. The market leaders at the time, which often were co-operatives, required their customers to collect rebate stamps, and to send them at regular intervals to reclaim their money. The Albrecht brothers also rigorously removed merchandise that did not sell from their shelves, cutting costs by neither advertising nor selling fresh produce, and keeping the size of their retail outlets small.
   Aldi has a policy in Germany of not advertising, apart from a weekly newsletter of special prices called "Aldi informs" that is distributed in stores and by direct mail and often printed in local newspapers. It claims this is a cost saving that can be passed on to consumers. In Germany, Aldi has never used an external advertising agency.
  
  In the United States, it advertises in newspapers and on television, as well as print ads distributed in stores, and via the Internet.
  
  In Great Britain, print and television ads have appeared since May 2005.
   It was still a small player in Great Britain, with a grocery share of less than 3.6%, but its importance, along with that of continental no-frills competitor Lidl was growing, with half of shoppers in Great Britain visiting Lidl or Aldi over Christmas that year. Aldi opened stores in affluent locations, including Knutsford and Bury St Edmunds.
   Alpo (pet food)
  
  Alpo is an American brand of dog food marketed and manufactured by the Nestlé Purina PetCare subsidiary of Nestlé. The brand is offered as a canned or packaged soft food, as well as in dry kibbles.
  
  Section::::History.
  
  Alpo, an abbreviation of Allen Products, was founded in 1936 by Robert F. Hunsicker in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The original factory was located in a small building at the southwest corner of New and Cedar streets. 
   On 9 August 2018, Aldi announced plans to expand its product selection by offering more organic, fresh and easy-to-prepare meals. Aldi also aims to expand to about 2,500 stores in the United States by 2022. On 18 September 2018, Aldi announced its intent to offer grocery delivery in the United States. Aldi began testing grocery delivery in 2017 in select cities such as Atlanta, Georgia and Chicago, Illinois. Grocery delivery is expected to be available nationwide by Thanksgiving 2018.
  
  Section::::Business practices.:In-store layout.
   In much of Australia, Aldi filled a void in the discount supermarket business that arose when the discount grocery chain Franklins went out of business. Aldi opened its first store in Sydney, 2001 and has grown rapidly since, maintaining a 12.6% market share as of early 2016. It has still yet to open any stores in Northern Australia in major cities such as Townsville, Cairns or Darwin much to the frustration of the population. Financial website Canstar rated Australia's supermarkets based on the feedback of 2897 consumers who had visited one in the past month with Aldi coming out on top.
   The company’s headquarters and 325,000 square-foot manufacturing facility are based in City of Industry, California. It distributes its products throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, selling directly to over 1,300 dealer showrooms. The company operates a factory showroom in Los Angeles.
  
  Section::::History.
  
  Stanley M. Joseph started his first business in 1933 when he opened a small retail appliance store in Northern California. He began manufacturing kitchen ventilation hoods with his brother Anthony in 1948, selling them under the name Stanthony. Stanthony Corp was incorporated in 1950.
   Throughout the company's history its products had been sold in specialty stores and selected department stores—including, of course, C.P. Bishop's original clothing store in Salem. In the 1980s Pendleton entered the retail business with a chain of company-owned and privately owned specialty stores that sold the full line of Pendleton products. The company also went into the mail-order business and regularly published its own catalogs. In the 1990s Pendleton expanded into internet sales, and in 2016 they launched a Canadian website.
  
  Section::::The company today.
   Section::::Products.
  
  Haldiram's has over 400 products. Its product range includes traditional namkeens, western snacks, Indian sweets, cookies, sherbets, papads and pickles. The company also produces ready-to-eat food products. In the 1990s, the production of potato-based foods was enabled by the importation of machinery from United States designed for these purposes.
   Packaged products include fruit bowls, fruit bowls in gel, fruit in plastic jars, fruit parfaits, fruit crisps, dates, raisins, and canned fruits. 
  
  Frozen products include berries, tropical fruits, and fruit bars.
  
  Juices are sold chilled, frozen, or canned.
  
  Salad products include greens, salad kits, and shreds.
  
  In 1998 Dole bought several growers in Colombia and became the largest distributor of fresh-cut flowers in the US. However, by 2008 the flower business was losing money, and it was bought in January 2009 by a group of private investors.
  
  Section::::Operations.:Corporate headquarters.
   Aldi Suisse became one of the first companies to accept the Apple Pay contactless payment system in Switzerland on 7 July 2016.
   BULLET::::- Trail mix
  
  Liquid and wet goods
  
  BULLET::::- Honey
  
  BULLET::::- Cooking oils
  
  BULLET::::- Fruit spreads
  
  BULLET::::- Olive oil
  
  BULLET::::- Maple syrup
  
  BULLET::::- Molasses
  
  BULLET::::- Peanut butter
  
  BULLET::::- Vinegar
  
  Household goods
  
  BULLET::::- Dish detergent
  
  BULLET::::- Laundry detergent
  
  Section::::Retailers.
  
  Notable retailers of bulk foods include:
  
  BULLET::::- Cub Foods
  
  BULLET::::- Costco
  
  BULLET::::- Food 4 Less
  
  BULLET::::- Bulk Barn
  
  BULLET::::- Giant Eagle
  
  BULLET::::- Lunds
  
  BULLET::::- Real Canadian Superstore
  
  BULLET::::- Rainbow Foods
  
  BULLET::::- Rungis International Market
  
  BULLET::::- Sam's Club
  
  BULLET::::- Sprouts Farmers Market
  
  BULLET::::- Whole Foods Market
  
  BULLET::::- WinCo Foods
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Grocers originally sold dry goods out of bins and barrels
   The company's main businesses are dry foods, spices, fats, oils, cotton products, and processed agricultural and fisheries products. Major products include mayonnaise, curry, margarine, jam, spices, ramen, sesame oil, tuna, ketchup, lethots, vinegar, soup, and premix, set rice, cup rice, frozen rice, and sauces. The company's "3 Minute" line of cooking products, curry, sesame oil, and ramen, make up a large percentage of their sales.
  
  Since their introduction, Ottogi's "Australia Instant Curry" (1969), "Ottogi Tomato Capport" (1971), and "Austugi Mayonnaise" (1972) brands have remained at the top of the market for single-person households.
  