Does Aldi Sell Bagged Ice?

For a small inventory grocery store, Aldi manages to carry a lot. If it’s important, there’s a good chance I can find it at Aldi, either as a Regular Buy or Seasonal Favorite. And if it’s less important, it might rotate in as an Aldi Find. More often than not, if you can’t find something you need at Aldi, it’s because it’s a niche item that just wouldn’t sell well.

Bagged ice is a common sight in grocery stores, and for good reason: people do buy, it especially during the summer months. The average American buys four bags of ice a year, most of it between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I’m one of those Americans: our family often purchases ice to stock our coolers ahead of a camping trip.

But what about Aldi? Does the German grocer sell bags of ice?

At the time of this post, Aldi US does not sell bagged ice. We’ve never seen the supermarket sell ice even in areas where ice might be more popular, such as in areas near campgrounds. It’s just not part of the store’s inventory: not as a Regular Buy, and not even as a Seasonal Favorite or Aldi Find.

Why not? Why not sell it during limited summer months, or around a big summer holiday? Surely people would buy it, right? And Aldi in other countries sometimes does sell ice — Aldi UK, for example, currently does. But not Aldi in the United States.

There’s any number of reasons why Aldi doesn’t. Certainly space is an issue: ice bags take a lot of room in a cooler. In Aldi space is at a premium.

There might be other issues in play that we don’t know about. It might be an issue of profit, or getting suppliers, or distribution. Most Aldi products outside of milk are delivered to distribution centers rather than directly to stores, so it may be a logistics issue.

Or it could simply be strategic. Maybe Aldi doesn’t think it will sell, or Aldi may think that the sales would be too unpredictable to manage.

Regardless of the reason, Aldi US doesn’t stock bagged ice. If you want ice for your camping trip or outing, you’ll have to go elsewhere.