Opinion: Aldi Almost Never Carries This Crucial Oral Hygiene Item. It Should.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Like all posts on Aldi Reviewer, this piece is the opinion of its respective authors. Also like all posts, comments are welcome, although we ask readers to be mindful of our Community Guidelines.

Aldi is a small-format grocer. Historically, the average Aldi store runs about 18,000 square feet, with 10,000 or so used for sales floor space. In recent years, the grocer has looked to build stores closer to 22,000 feet — with about 12,000 being sales floor space — but Aldi nevertheless remains a relatively small grocer. For comparison, a standard Kroger averages 160,000 square feet, while a Walmart Supercenter clocks in at more than 180,000 square feet.

Because Aldi keeps things relatively small, it has to keep the inventory relatively small, too. Aldi has to be deliberate about what goes on the shelves. The German grocer keeps things simple, offering a small number of options. Instead of the ten kinds of ketchup you might find at a larger grocer, Aldi offers just a few. Moreover, some products only appear seasonally, or as limited-time buys. Aldi, then, can rotate what products it stocks in those seasonal or limited spaces.

Between the everyday, seasonal, and limited buy sections, Aldi covers a lot of ground. It’s not a one-stop shop for every grocery run, but Aldi holds its own nicely. Still, there are gaps, including a few we’ve talked about in the past.

For me, there is perhaps no larger gap in the Aldi product lineup than the smallest of oral hygiene items.

I’ve talked about Aldi’s personal care shortcomings before. The personal hygiene section of the store is, in our view, the weakest part of Aldi’s product lineup. Aldi doesn’t offer much in the realm of deodorant, body wash, and shampoo, and what it does offer isn’t all that appealing. Many of the options are national brands that aren’t as competitive on price.

But at least they’re there. Aldi has soap, deodorant, body wash, mouthwash, toothpaste, and most other basics you need for personal care. You can even get a few over-the-counter medications for your bathroom medicine cabinet.

What Aldi doesn’t have?

Dental floss.

In all our years writing about the grocer, we have only observed Aldi in the U.S. selling dental floss one time. It was a name brand, and it was a limited-time Aldi Find. We haven’t seen dental floss again since then, not as a name brand or private label.

We first talked about this back in 2016 — the first year of our site’s existence — and we’ve brought it up seemingly every year in the years since. Nothing has changed. We can’t find floss on Aldi shelves.

But why? Certainly the research supports the value of floss: there is ample evidence that floss helps prevent tooth and gum issues. And we would think there is at least some demand for floss, given that you can find the stuff in most other grocers and in dollar stores. Nevertheless, Aldi doesn’t. (Aldi’s distant cousin Trader Joe’s also doesn’t carry dental floss.)

We can only guess that it has to do with some economic factor. Perhaps it’s cost, or projected sales, or even finding a supplier. Aldi always has a financial reason for everything it stocks and doesn’t stock, so there must be an angle here.

That hasn’t changed over the years, and it doesn’t appear like it will change anytime soon.

We wish it would.