Anyone with experience shopping in Aldi knows that there are two basic kinds of products: the things that are there all the time and things that are only there for a limited time.
The things that are there all the time are … well, there all the time. Aldi calls those things its core range, a term used by the grocery industry and by some customers overseas, but it’s not a common American shopping term. On this site, we call those things Regular Buys. These are products that are found on Aldi shelves day in and day out, and they are restocked regularly. Whether it’s a staple like bread or laundry detergent, these products typically don’t change. Occasionally, Aldi will discontinue or add Regular Buys, but once there, they tend to stay for a while.
The things that are at Aldi for a limited time are another matter. These are things that show up in Aldi’s weekly ad and then appear on shelves for a little while, but once they’re gone, they’re gone. They don’t get restocked, at least not for a long time. In the United States, these are called Aldi Finds, although they have other names in other countries.
There is, though, a third category of products.
These are products that show up on Aldi shelves and stay around for a while — usually, say, several weeks to a few months. These appear to be a recent development in the Aldi inventor. The first time we saw them was in 2017, although they may have been there before that. That year, they were known as Seasonal Items. However, in 2018, they were rebranded (slightly) as Seasonal Favorites. And then, around 2022, Aldi returned to calling them Seasonal Items again.
The most common Seasonal Items are foods and products related to a specific season of the year. For example, Aldi dishes out a pumpkin roll during the fall holiday season that tends to persist on shelves for several weeks. Aldi also rolls out a roast duck for about the same amount of time.
Some Regular Buys have even become Seasonal Items. The best example here is probably Bake House Creations Pie Crusts, which were Regular Buys for a long time before disappearing … and then reappearing as a Seasonal Item. While not all customers were happy that the pie crusts were no longer a year-round thing, the crusts are still a common sight in Aldi stores at least through the November and December months.
Here’s what it means: if you see a product marked as a Seasonal Item and you want it, you might want to get it.
Because while it might be around for longer than an Aldi Find, it won’t be around forever.
We really liked that pumpkin pasta sauce they had each Fall. Haven’t seen it for a couple years now, at least in Erie, PA. Wish they’d bring that back. I do remember when their boxed noodle-roni clone was a seasonal item (Spring, IIRC), then later became a regular stock item. Though I can’t think of anything we buy on a regular basis that went in the opposite direction (regular to seasonal).