One of our local Trader Joe’s stores.
A lot of people have an understanding that Trader Joe’s and Aldi are related. While the two stores are distantly related, this idea leads to misconceptions about what products each store sells. We often see or hear people claiming that Aldi and Trader Joe’s sell the same products but with different labels. You might be wondering if this is true.
It’s not.
Aldi and Trader Joe’s do not sell the same products. In fact, most of time two similar products from both retailers — say, orange chicken or breaded mozzarella sticks — are very obviously different from each other if you taste them both and study their ingredients lists.
Aldi Reviewer’s writers have tasted and documented a lot of Aldi products over the years — along with quite a few Trader Joe’s products for good measure. As a result, we can definitively state that these aren’t the same products. We’ll provide more specific examples of product differences farther down, but first, here’s a brief history of Aldi and Trader Joe’s, and an explanation as to why people have this common misunderstanding that Aldi and Trader Joe’s sell the same stuff.
A Brief History of Aldi and Trader Joe’s:
Aldi has its origins in Germany. Two brothers, Karl and Theo Albrecht, inherited their mother’s grocery company, naming it Aldi as an abbreviation of Albrecht Diskont, and they expanded it in the years following World War II.
By the 1960s, though, the brothers reached a disagreement about whether to sell tobacco products. This prompted them to split the company but keep the Aldi name. One brother, Karl, ended up running Aldi Süd in southern Germany. The other brother, Theo, ran Aldi Nord in northern Germany.
The two companies avoided expanding into different countries, apparently so as not to compete with each other. Aldi Nord, which initially operated in northern Germany, expanded into places like France, Poland, and Spain. Aldi Süd, which initially operated in Southern Germany, opened up stores in many English-speaking countries, including Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Aldi Süd, under Karl’s direction, opened the first Aldi stores in the United States in 1976 and has continued to expand ever since. Three years later, in 1979, Theo of Aldi Nord purchased the pre-existing Trader Joe’s, making it part of the Aldi Nord portfolio. So Aldi Nord owns Trader Joe’s and Aldi Süd owns Aldi US.
That led us to wonder how connected Aldi Nord was to Trader Joe’s operations. One of our writers, Joshua, reached out to Trader Joe’s for clarification. A Trader Joe’s representative told him, “Trader Joe’s and Aldi Nord operate independently.” The two stores have different prices, different priorities, different atmospheres, and different advertising methods.
Are Aldi and Trader Joe’s Products the Same?
No.
We have a lot of experience putting Aldi and TJ’s products to the test, and they are not the same. There is only one single time we’ve found what looks to be an identical product at both stores, and that may be just about suppliers who stock private labels to multiple companies rather than an agreement between Aldi and Trader Joe’s. We’ve seen no evidence that Aldi US and Trader Joe’s cooperate or work together in any way.
Here are just a few examples of products that both Aldi and Trader Joe’s sell, but a close inspection reveals they have their own unique differences:
Chai. This black tea blend that originated in India is known for its warm spices. The Aldi chai contains black tea, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, clove, and star anise. Meanwhile, the Trader Joe’s chai contains black tea, spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, Chinese star anise, black pepper, nutmeg), roasted chicory, natural flavor, and vanilla bean. The differences are subtle, but they’re there. We think the Trader Joe’s version has a slightly stronger flavor.
Kringle. This is a classic Dutch pastry treat. This is one of the few types of products Aldi and Trader Joe’s sell that doesn’t feature their own private labels, instead featuring the names of two different Wisconsin bakeries. Aldi sells kringle from Racine Danish Kringles as a limited-time special during the holidays. Trader Joe’s sells various kringle flavors year round from O & H Danish Bakery. Most of our readers insist the O & H version is superior.
Frozen mozzarella sticks. Aldi sells some basic breaded mozzarella sticks under its Appetitos house brand. They’re passable but forgettable. On the other hand, Trader Joe’s sells the best breaded mozzarella sticks I’ve ever had outside of a restaurant. They’re perfectly seasoned and highly addicting. It’s not even a contest here; Trader Joe’s mozzarella sticks are far superior to the Aldi ones.
Holiday hams. Aldi sells good spiral-sliced hams in different varieties mostly under its Appleton Farms private label for the holidays, although Aldi does not disclose much information about how the pork was raised. Meanwhile, Trader Joe’s advertises crate-free spiral ham.
Mini samosas. Aldi sells frozen samosas occasionally as a limited-time special, and they’re really good. Trader Joe’s sells frozen samosas, too, and they’re fine, but we feel the Aldi ones are a little more flavorful. While ingredients between the two are very similar, the Aldi samosas have more sodium, which might account for some of the taste differences.
Lobster bisque. Aldi sold refrigerated, ready-to-heat lobster bisque as a limited-time special a while back. I love lobster bisque, but the Aldi version was just okay and didn’t taste like other lobster bisques I’ve had. Trader Joe’s sells a refrigerated, quick-heating lobster bisque as well. The TJ’s bisque is rich, creamy, indulgent, and absolutely delicious. There’s no way you could mistake Aldi and Trader Joe’s lobster bisques for the same thing.
Vanilla ice cream. Aldi has a couple of different vanilla ice creams: a cheaper one under the Belmont house brand and a premium one under the Specially Selected house brand. The Specially Selected vanilla ice cream stands out because it contains only whole, simple ingredients like what you would put in homemade ice cream, and it’s delicious. Trader Joe’s sells a nice, creamy French vanilla ice cream, but unlike the premium Aldi ice cream, the TJ’s ice cream contains carob bean gum and guar gum, which are processed ingredients. Once again, these are two stores with very different products.
Orange chicken. Several years ago, Aldi Reviewer staff conducted a side-by-side taste test of Aldi and Trader Joe’s takeout-style foods. One product that came out on top, especially among our kid taste testers, was the Aldi-branded orange chicken. The Aldi orange chicken pieces were larger, with more meat and all white meat, while the TJ’s orange chicken had smaller pieces that could be more tough. While some of us do like the TJ’s chicken, it does use dark meat and is different overall from the Aldi version. This product is definitely not the same between the two stores.
Fried rice. Fried rice was also part of our Aldi vs. Trader Joe’s takeout showdown taste test a few years ago. There are some clear differences between products here. For one, Aldi sells chicken fried rice, while Trader Joe’s sells vegetable fried rice. The Aldi rice has sauce, while the TJ’s rice does not. The Aldi rice also has bits of scrambled eggs, while the TJ’s rice does not.
Spring rolls / egg rolls. This difference is pretty straightforward. Aldi sells egg rolls year round, in frozen and refrigerated options. Trader Joe’s, to the best of my knowledge, only sells spring rolls, which feature a crispier, flakier wrapper.
Unexpected Cheddar. Trader Joe’s sells a very popular type of cheddar cheese called Unexpected Cheddar. It’s a mild to medium cheddar with a bit of parmesan, and it’s slightly crumbly, with scattered crunchy, granular pieces that are part of the aging process. Aldi sells its own version called Not Your Average Cheddar with cheddar and parmesan. It has some of those satisfyingly crunchy bits, too, although perhaps not as many as the TJ’s version. The Aldi version is also a little softer, and it has a milder flavor compared to the Trader Joe’s cheese.
Closing Thoughts:
Because Aldi and Trader Joe’s are distant cousins, it might be easy to think that they somehow share the same products. While it is true that Trader Joe’s products can show up in Aldi Nord stores in Germany, Aldi US and Trader Joe’s are not partners in any way and they do not sell the same products in the U.S. What’s more, even when they sell products that appear to be similar, a close inspection shows that, most of the time, the formulation of those products is different.
For that reason, we can confidently say that when you go to Aldi and Trader Joe’s, you’re getting two distinctive and unique selections.
This list is just a small sampling of product differences between Aldi and Trader Joe’s. If you’ve discovered other products that are clearly not the same between Aldi and Trader Joe’s, feel free to leave a comment below. Just keep our community guidelines in mind.
