We love heavy whipping cream here at Aldi Reviewer. It’s great for making homemade whipped cream. It adds rich creaminess to soups. It’s also great to pour a splash into coffee or certain types of tea. Unfortunately for those of us who love heavy whipping cream, Aldi shoppers on various fan groups have been mentioning that this dairy product — along with similar items such as half and half cream — has been a bit hard to find these days at Aldi, and there are even shortages at some other regular grocery stores.
When I trekked out to Aldi in search of heavy whipping cream for a soup I want to make with a leftover ham bone over Thanksgiving weekend, I was glad to find some on the shelf. However, it wasn’t the Aldi private label one-pint Countryside Creamery Heavy Whipping Cream I’m accustomed to seeing at the discount grocery store. Instead, Aldi has temporarily replaced its house brand heavy whipping cream pints with a larger quart-sized carton of name-brand Prairie Farms heavy whipping cream. Aldi also had a small sign posted limiting heavy cream purchases to two per customer.
Prairie Farms serves much of the Midwest along with parts of the South. (If you live outside those areas and your Aldi is substituting heavy whipping cream, your store may be using another distributor.) Where we live in the Midwest, Prairie Farm dairy products, including milk, are a common sight in the larger grocery stores in our area. This is the first time, though, that we’ve personally seen Aldi carry Prairie Farms products of any kind.
I don’t know the specifics, but I’m chalking this up to pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions and labor shortages that are hitting retailers hard right now. Cream is the most recent in a string of regular grocery products that have gone missing or had to be substituted in recent months at Aldi. At my local store, it’s also been hard to find frozen burritos and bottled apple juice lately. In the case of the cream, it does not help that it’s a product that’s probably in higher demand at this time of year for holiday cooking and baking projects. When high demand is coupled with supply chain snarls, it’s a recipe for empty store shelves.
The Prairie Farms Heavy Whipping Cream currently at my local Aldi cost $2.99 for a quart. (Friendly reminder: one quart is 32 ounces, while one pint is 16 ounces). You’re getting double the amount of cream in this carton, which is good if you need a lot of cream. If you only need a small amount, you can freeze the cream for later use. The Prairie Farms cream costs slightly more than the Aldi brand. Purchasing two pints of Aldi heavy cream would cost you $2.78, versus the $2.99 cost for the Prairie Farms brand.
Prairie Farms Heavy Whipping Cream nutrition information, ingredients, and sourcing information. (Click to enlarge.)
The best-by date on the cream I purchased is a bit on the short side; I purchased it on November 23rd, and it is best used by November 27th. That may be a result of supply chain problems as well, but I’m not sure.
Regardless, I was able to find heavy whipping cream for my cheesy ham and broccoli soup. I’ll enjoy it while I can and hope that the cream supply issues eventually resolve themselves. In the meantime, good luck finding what you need.
