The USDA Organic label is the US government’s indication that a product is composed of at least 95 percent organic ingredients, and in the case of food, has been farmed without chemicals or genetic engineering.
This designation is an important signal for many shoppers who pay particular attention to what goes into their foods, and by extension, their bodies.
Aldi’s business model is to provide the lowest possible prices on everyday items, but you might be wondering if that includes organics? Does Aldi sell organic products at their signature budget price points? Read on!
Key Takeaways
Does Aldi Sell Organic Products In 2022?
Aldi does sell organic products, including a variety of fresh produce, meat, pantry items and snacks, dairy products, frozen foods and even beverages. Aldi prices their organic food below their competition in most cases, and while the current organic product lines are still relatively limited, the company continues to add to it.
Read on to discover how to identify Aldi’s organics, what kind of organic products they sell and how much you can expect to pay – I think you’ll be surprised and impressed!
How Do You Know What Is Organic At Aldi?
To find organic products in Aldi, simply look for the words Simply Organic and USDA Organic not just on the items’ packaging, but on the transport packaging in which the individuals sit.
Organic products are housed in tell-tale green cardboard that says “ORGANIC” on the front or in typical brown cardboard with an eye-catching green “ORGANIC” logo.
While the Simply Organic and USDA Organic labels are your indicators for packaged items, some products – like Aldi’s generous organic produce selections – don’t come packaged.
In this instance, you can look for a few things. First, the signage: Aldi stores clearly mark on the signs attributed to individual fruit or vegetable ins, that an item is organic, either with words or the USDA Organic logo, or both.
Second, the labels on the individual items themselves. Bananas, for example, are marked organic on the little stickers applied to each individual piece of fruit.
What Organic Food Does Aldi Sell?
As mentioned, Aldi has a variety of organic basics in quite a few of its departments.
Below are the products, listed by department; please bear in mind, this is not intended as a full list, and individual store options will vary.
Produce
- Salad mixes
- Spinach
- Bagged chopped kale
- Grapes
- Strawberries (one of the most pesticide-laden items out there; it is best to buy these organic whenever possible!)
- Blueberries
- Baby carrots
- Avocados
- Broccoli
- Sweet mini peppers
- Bagged apples (various)
- Raspberries
- Celery hearts
Bear in mind that prices will differ from store to store, or from season to season. But the strawberries and avocados especially can sell for knock-down prices.
Bakery
- White and wheat bread
- Sprouted 7-Grain bread
- Honey oat bread
- Grains & seeds bread
Aldi has your bread basics covered if you want organic sandwiches or toast.
Snacks
- Fruit strips
- Fruit squeezies
- Blue corn tortilla chips
- Brown rice crackers
- Chia Seeds
- Popcorn
- Beef jerky
- Nuts
This is just a partial list of Aldi’s organic snacks, as there are multiple flavors for many of the items on the list. Snacking usually makes people feel guilty, but these organic snacks help assuage some of the guilt!
Pantry Essentials
- Spaghetti (regular, edamame, soybean, black soybean)
- Oils (grapeseed, extra virgin olive)
- Apple cider vinegar
- Coconut oil
- Fruit preserves
- Ketchup
- Peanut butter/almond butter
- Honey
- Salad dressings
- Pasta sauces
- Broths
- Seasonings
- Sugars
- Mac & cheeses
- Rice
- Canned vegetables
- Cereal
- Granola/granola bars
I love many of the staples on this list, like the extra virgin olive oil, the apple cider vinegar (a steal for $4.19 for 33.8 oz, compared to the Bragg’s brand, that Target sells for $6 for the same amount), the awesome coconut oil and the honey!
Frozen Foods
- Bagged vegetables
- Bagged fruits
- Pizza
Frozen veggies are lifesavers to keep on-hand during busy weekday nights, and some of them can even be microwaved/steamed in the bag – so convenient.
Dairy
- Cage-free eggs
- Butter
- Soymilk
- Plain/vanilla yogurt
- Vanilla Greek yogurt
- Milk (whole and 2%)
- Sliced deli cheese
- Shredded cheese
Aldi’s organic dairy selections are sure to please most milk and cheese lovers.
One Redditor even singled out the Simply Nature whole milk saying, “It stayed fresh in my refrigerator, opened, for TWO MONTHS PAST THE SELL BY DATE. I smelled it, tasted it and everything. Ultra-pasteurization is amazing.”
Beverages
If you have a coffee bean grinder, Aldi’s organic whole bean coffee is worth a try. It is a little bit more expensive than their non-organic whole bean bags, but still less than $6 – and much less than similar Starbucks bags, which go for upwards of $8.
Meat
- Grass-fed ground beef
- Chicken breasts
It also bears mentioning that Aldi carries a line of organic-adjacent meats under the Never Any! label.
Never Any! is a line of USDA certified no-antibiotic, no added hormones or steroids and no animal by-product meats.
This line includes chicken, chicken sausages, deli sliced meats and bacon.
Is Aldi’s Organic Food Expensive?
Organic food typically comes with a price tag, and it’s true that at Aldi, the organic items are more expensive than the regular products.
That said, Aldi’s biggest competition in the organics market is Whole Foods – their shoppers are the kinds of consumers Aldi wants to win over. They aim to do this by both expanding their organics line and selling similar items for less.
Take, for example, their 5-oz bags of baby spinach, which sell for $2.49. The Whole Foods label clocks in at $3.49, a whole dollar more.
Another comparison: Aldi’s organic beef broth costs $1.79 for a 32-oz container; Whole Foods again comes in at a dollar more expensive.
When CNBC ran an article comparing prices between Aldi, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods’ organics selections, Whole Foods underpriced Aldi in a few instances.
That was in 2019, but since then, it seems Aldi has ramped up their efforts to under-price the competition.
Is Aldi’s Organic Food Good?
On the whole, Aldi’s organic foods are well-received and considered good quality, especially factoring in the price.
In particular, Aldi’s free-range chicken has received rave reviews; one commenter on the r/Aldi subreddit said, “This chicken just feels different and tastes so good. It’s soft and melts in your mouth, the way real chicken breast should…”
Aldi’s produce receives high marks as well, and a writer for Parade highlighted the organic baby carrots, grape tomatoes and spring mix.
However, the blogger at stockpilingmoms.com made a point about the produce, stating that because a store like Whole Foods is more focused on organics, their fresh stock is likely to be changed out more often.
So the author cautions shoppers that Aldi organics might have sat on the shelf a bit longer.
This is a fair point, but it’s also true that Aldi receives new truck shipments every single day, and they rotate their stock, so the oldest produce goes on top and the new is buried below.
If shopping organic matters to you, you should definitely give Aldi’s line a try.
It will cost less to do so than in other supermarkets, and if anything doesn’t meet your quality standards, you’re covered with Aldi’s Twice As Nice return policy: you’ll get a replacement item and a refund.
Where Is Aldi’s Organic Food Located?
Unlike some grocery stores, where the organic food is sequestered off in its own area, Aldi locations don’t really have the space for that kind of set-up. So the organics sit on the same shelves as all the other products.
Aldi Is Pushing Hard For More Organic Products
The secret is out: Aldi recognized that a big chunk of their shoppers were actually from middle-and-upper-class households – households where specialty dietary considerations are more common.
As a result, Aldi began ramping up their organics lines in 2018.
This meant that their Simply Nature label saw a 40 percent increase in offerings on store shelves.
Aldi’s website describes the Simply Nature line, which is identifiable by its tan and green labeling, as well as the USDA Organic logo, as “all organic or Non-GMO Project verified,” without “any added artificial ingredients and preservatives.”
These artificial ingredients include: artificial flavors, artificial colors, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils.
The Simply Nature line also ensures the absence of over 125 of the most popular chemical additives (the full list can be found here).
So while Aldi already has a massive range of organic products, keep an eye out on the shelves as there will most likely be more heading our way!
If you are looking to learn more about shopping at Aldi, you can see our related posts on Aldi red bag chicken, who makes Aldi products, if Aldi sells tofu, and a massive list of Aldi brands.
Conclusion
For the size and scope of Aldi stores, the German supermarket sells a wonderful variety of organic products for health-conscious shoppers.
Aldi’s organic foods are simply part of the company’s overall business model: approach grocery shopping with a “no-frills” attitude, make the process as efficient as possible, cut costs by selling a majority of private label goods and then pass the savings onto the customer.
I can’t wait to see what kinds of organic offerings Aldi releases in the next few years, as the company grows to become the third largest grocer in the U.S.