Yes, I do mention this in the video as well. However it was the only 100% beef option available in Germany. The non-Bio option was a 50/50 mix of beef and pork which is not found in the United States.
The egg comparison does have more layers in behalf of costs actually when you go into the needy greedy detail.. US eggs are produced by battery farming therefore need to be chlorified and then fridged in order to be a save product..while due to battery farming you´ll get a way higher margin of eggs per square meter of the facility = which makes eggs way cheaper due to the way higher number of eggs which are produced in way less space and then brought into the market (= economic outcome of supply + demand) but due to the additional needed process of chlorifying + fridging that then also adds more costs before they can be sold to the customer European eggs are not battery farmed due to the EU animal protection law = way lower margin of eggs are produced per square meter of the facilty therefore due to supply + demand those are more expensive but there are then no further costs because those don´t need to be chlorified + don´t need to be fridged before they can be sold to the customer A similar thing is to say about beef...in the US it is allowed to use hormons for growth and even cloning cows but in the EU don´t = So US cows deliver more meat + more milk per cow in comparision to cows in the EU which has of course an impact to the selling price....despite the question of the impact of people´s health which would open an other "can of worms" so to say.
Also it’s the American government that mandates the washing of eggs, many US farmers vaccinate for salmonella to prevent the loss and cost of recall of their product. I choose to buy the eggs from nearby hobby farmers that don’t mass produce eggs and they cost $3-4 per dozen which is comparable to free range eggs in Aldi, most of the time less, by less than $1.
Battery farming has nothing to do with chlorifying or fridgerating. In Europe eggs can also come from battery farming. The reason for fridgerating (not sure about the chlorifying, but i think that has to do with salmonella fear in the US which isn't as high in Europe) is that in the US eggs get washed (possibly to look nicer and don't have any chicken poop on them) at the production location and this washing removes the protection layer around the egg which then leads to needing to be fridgerated. In Europe eggs usually don''t get washed and thus no need for fridgerating.
The main reason bananas in the US are cheaper than in Germany is because of shipping costs. Shipping from Columbia or Ecuador to the US is way faster and cheaper than to Germany. Hence the price difference.
While seemingly logical, it can't explain all of the difference as bananas are cheaper in the Netherlands (right next door) than in Germany (and Belgium for that matter).
There are political reasons that banana prices are kept artificially low. Search for the recent World Banana Forum conference in Rome. Some countries are now pushing for higher banana prices, so they can then push for wage increases for banana plantation workers. The countries not pushing for higher wages for banana workers are not increasing their banana prices. Banana prices increase at a much slower rate than prices of other fruits. Banana plantation owners have huge political influence in most of the banana growing countries and some countries want to stay on good terms with the people running those countries.
I don't think so, I bought one chicken breast at the teke. I think it was 1,49 and didn't think much about it. And at checkout I saw it was 5 eur! For 1 chicken breast. Still have the receipt. 5.05 eur for 0.282 kg. the date 09.09.2024
sorry, but my inner "klugscheißer" kicks in and dinkel is spelt in english a variety of wheat that is more expensive than the regular wheat. so the bread comparison is not that accurate.
Normally I like the videos very much, but unfortunately there are a lot of mistakes here: - The price of the chicken breast at REWE is completely wrong. The price per kilo was probably used here and not the price per 100 grams. - She has compared German organic products with non-organic products from the USA several times. (for example the yoghurt and the ground beef at ALDI - especially the ground BIO-beef ist much more expensive than beef from "conventional" farming. - The German toast was made from "Dinkel", the American ‘bread’ from wheat. That also makes a price difference. - The milk she bought ‘wrong’ was not organic milk with the appropriate "Bio"-seal. However, she then compared the correct milk. As much as I usually like her videos, there were too many mistakes, the biggest of course being the comparison of the chicken breast at REWE.
It wasn't here first mistake and probably won't be her last. She just doesn't have an eye for detail even thought she has a Ph.D.. Even when she finds something odd (here chicken, or the bread comparison in the beginning), she just doesn't seem to care to fix it fully, like a new voice over, or a rechecking /verifying of her calculations. When I had to create a few videos, i had to redo the voice multiple times, because i wasn't happy, and had to cut out the breathing breaks/noises.
She also miscalculated the price per 100g of the US beef. Should be around $1,50. Its a video with a lot of numbers so I get why it happened. Having all these numbers makes it confusing and very easy for errors like that to slip in
Should we mention the differences in quality between the US and EU versions? In the 15 European countries we visited, groceries were consistently cheaper than in the US and also much better in quality: more sustainably produced, far more likely to be locally sourced, less packaging, and better tasting. We got used to the smaller portions because the meals were more satisfying.
@@Hasanaljadid Costco is a wholesale store, you need to purchase a membership. You have the effort to get there, park sometimes after 15-20min of circling around overcrowded parking, walk huge distances. Choices are limited, portions are humongous. However as always, they have some subsidized items to entice to come back: The 4-pack bacon at max. 50% of Safeway price, the famed grilled chicken for $4.99, 3lbs coffee etc etc. I think that Costco compares to Metro in Germany.
It is an EU-regulation: "Throughout the EU, sellers must indicate product prices clearly enough for you to easily compare similar products and make informed choices - no matter how they're packaged or how many units are sold together. Companies are legally obliged to be completely clear about the price you'll have to pay when they advertise or sell something to you. Complete price information The price quoted in an offer must include all taxes and delivery charges. If there might be extra costs that can't be calculated in advance, you must also be told about that upfront."
Hi Ashton, that was great, thanks. I am from Munich, but I live on Maui, HI, and I love to visit my homeland, Oberbayern, once a year for a month, usually in July. Anyway, the price you quoted for Aldi USA is around 2.5 times as much here on Maui. No Aldi here, so Costco is my life saver. When I go to Aldi in the small Bavarian town, where I stay with friends, I get 'Kaufrausch'. Meaning, I get euphoric, because I can fill my cart with pretty much everything my heart desires, including booze, tasty tomatoes and walk out happily with a EUR 50 invoice, scratching my head how everything can be so ridiculously cheap. The only times I stray from Aldi, and go to Edeka or Lidl, is when they have Ritter Sport Nougat on sale for 59c, or 79c last July, then I raid the shelves to the horrified look of the cashier, as they don't have limits on sale items in Germany. And that's all I have in my checked luggage, around 30 pounds of chocolate, roughly a year's supply😂 . And I will never ever stop over in Phoenix in 114 F again, because I ended up with a lot of 'mousse au chocolate' last July. 😋
@@Lysandra-8 Already booked my next year's trip via Anchorage, Alaska. But who knows, maybe at the speed momma Earth is heating up, it will be 114 up there by next year. 🥵
I think for eggs and meat, one needs to also compare across farming types. Free range and bio is more than battery hens and mass produced beef and pork where the animals have a low quality of life. In Europe I feel the norm leans towards free range and bio.
There are differences in eggs in Germany. 1) Industrial farming in boxes 2) Barn farming (Bodenhaltung) 3) Free range farming (Freilandhaltung) 4) Organic in combination with 2) or 3) (Bio) 5) Farm eggs, chicken breed that doesn't lay an egg every day, so large eggs (Bauerhof Eier) The higher the number, the higher the price. The price does not necessarily refer to the quality, but also to the way the animals are kept.
Thank you for the compilation. I would just like to mention that 4. ‘organic’ (Bio) is not comparable with 2. and 3. and there is no combination: ‘Organic’ also always means more free-range area for the chickens. An ‘organic’ label would not even be possible with barn farming (2).
A note on the first category: Due to animal cruelty concerns, this kind of egg farming will be forbidden in Germany by the end of 2025. Right now it is already only allowed as so called "Kleingruppenhaltung" (small group husbandry) in which the chickens get more space and are kept in larger groups of 40 - 60 animals per box.
@@mille_fiori There's no category for it but arguably organic barn eggs should be a thing: Chicken don't actually dislike barns, they feel safe and secure there and there's health advantages to barn raising because the birds aren't exposed to random pathogens. To make the whole thing organic, I'd say a) have only organic food and b) require them to be able to hunt earthworms, instead of just picking up grains from the floor.
@@aoeuable Definitely no! In barn farming (as defined by the EU), chickens live together in a very small space: 18 chickens may be kept per square meter. You have to imagine that: One square meter - 18 hens. Straw or sand is only strewn over 1/3 of the area. For the rest, the chickens live on grid floors. There is little or no room for natural behaviour. In the organic standard (within the EU) , there are of course halls/shelters/barns for the chicken and free access to the outdoors, whenever the like and a lot of more space for one hen. Addendum: In organic farming, 6 hens per square metre may live indoors and there must be an additional(!) 4 square metres of outdoor space per hen.
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
Ashton, just one small detail on your tables and overall price display throughout the video for readability. Please, use in a column on the left and the right side the same currency as this mixture ($ (€) | € ($)) makes it hard to read. So, something like in a same column (€($) | €($)). Otherwise, use of colors for readability was good.
Even though you checked the numbers 3 times, the price of chicken breasts at Hen House must be off by 10 times. 16,34 Euros per 100 grams is 163,40 per kilo, that must be wrong.
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
As many have commented, there are two serious math mistake that skew the results: 1. The price of beef in the USA per 100g is miscalculated. 2. The price of chicken breast compared to the "expensive" stores: She compared the price/100g with the price/kg
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
It is important to note that the products you bought are produced in a different way in the USA an Europe. That makes it very difficult to make a fair comparison. Have a look a the project "Food for thought" by Kadir van Lohuizen (book, docu series and exposition) to see where your food comes form
You forgot the cost of hiring a mathematician to convert imperial to metric units, and to figure out the price including tax before checkout in the U.S. 😅
The US does not use imperial units but US units. In most cases it makes little difference, but a US gallon equals 3.785411784 litres and an imperial gallon equals 4.54609 litres.
I know this sounds like semantics, but we are both correct. The US uses the "United States customary units or USCS" which is a "type" of Imperial system - but very, very few people know that phrase in the USA. In school we were always told it was the "imperial system" and that is the same verbiage used by Smithsonian and Brittanica to describe the US units of measurement - so for ease of understanding for the majority of American viewers, that's what I use here. Although yes, there are differences in standards depending on which "type" of imperial system you use.
@@TypeAshton United States Customary Units are actually based on an older English systems of measures. Imperial units were defined by the 1824 Weights and Measure Act in 1824. There was no Imperial system of units before that. the main discrepancy is in volume measures (pints, fluid-ounces and gallons) and some weight measures (like the ton). However, linear measurements are the same as are pounds and (Avoirdupois) ounces.
regarding eggs, it is also important to point out, that normally egg size doesn't influence the price at Aldi. If large eggs are available they will cost the same as medium eggs, but they are not always available.
Many US supermarkets are gigantic in size, long walking distances, thousands of items you just walk by and ignore. Since the goods have to stand longer in the shelves, they often contain preservatives, which the foods in Europe do not have. Every time after a month or two at "home" someplace in Europe I smell these when I come back to America. Perceived price difference "food per week" is currently sadly: Twice more expensive in the US. These shocking food prices are really "biting" Biden's legacy and provide the point of attack by the other demagogue running for president, for some reason.
@@rupertschwarz1176 One opinion (Robert Reich, former secretary of labor) is that only a few large corporations exist in this area, and they practice price gauging. Maybe even it is a "help" for the Republicans.
Leaving a quarter is one of the little things that can make the day a little better. It is petty by definition, but petty things can build up to affect your whole day. I love doing that petty little anonymous act of random kindness and it helps me even more than whoever gets to use the cart next.
Pro tip for carts: it doesn´t have to be a coin. Anything that has right thickness and radius works. Like rounded key heads etc. I used a whittled wooden chip attached to my keychain for a while, but it broke at some point. Luckily I found an actual keychain that comes with a detachable circular piece meant for shopping carts sometime later and I have been using that ever since.
@@vanasaabas I will grant the keychain solution is an interesting solution for yourself, but I was talking about a random act of kindness - not how to beat the system.
Wenn man bei Rewe die teuerste Milch nimmt, ist der Unterschied natürlich so hoch. Die Hausmarke ist überall ähnlich günstig und weicht, wenn überhaupt, nur um ein paar Cent ab. Daher hinkt der Vergleich.
@@bn1435 If you want to point out and be a smartass about something, doing it about something that is already pointed out twice in the video doesn't really make you look particularly clever.
Bewundernswert wie viel Mühe du dir machst, die Grundlagen deines Vergleichvideos zu erklären, so ist das Ergebnis viel einfacher nachvollziehbar. Tolles Video 👍
I don't know if you had a reason to rush this video, but there really were quite a lot of mistakes here. Other comments mentioned a few calculation errors, there were some mistranslations, other times organic was compared with normal, so maybe this should have been checked a few more times
1.) You can't compare a 6 pack to a 10 pack of eggs, the packaging cost is not insignificant! - 1 egg cost 20 or 25 cent in a 10 pack at Aldi depending on the type of farming/animal wellbeing (Aldi brand) 2.) You have to compare the bread by weight not by loaf. The amount of ingredient used dictate the price not the volume! Also you need to compare the same gain type. Not Spelt and Wheat.
Nice comparison. So much work. But it makes a lot of sense, beef is always way cheaper in the U.S., pork on the other hand is way more expensive than in Germany. One thing, though. The chicken breast in your comparison with Hen House and Rewe, there is no way, that you pay $81/pound at Hen House or €99/kg at Rewe.
@@snygg1993 No, it is cheaper in Germany than in the US. - 7.74$ for 1.13lbs converts to 1.51$ per 100 g, not 0.73$ per 100 g as claimed at 14:31 . This video is full of sloppy mistakes, look at the "Receipt" at 14:19 the 0.08$ tax is wrong, too. Thumbs down.
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
It is always funny to me that Americans who are angry at angry for asking for a 25¢ deposit don't know about the plastic chips you can use instead. I barely put real money in the shopping cart here in Germany. 😅
@@johnp139 I had a wallet with a tiny pocket for that Cart coin within the general coinpart of the wallet (not sure how you call that in english). It was very handy. ;)
Great video! I do want to point out that you have ReWe chicken down at €99 per Kilo (if it's 9.90 per 100g). I went back and watched your old video (also good). The price of €9.90 was per kg. Making it 99c per 100g. Similar for the Chicken at Hen House.
I think the biggest difference is the quality of the food. I’m American who lived in Germany for 15 years. Foods like milk, eggs, breads, and vegetables tend to be much higher quality in the EU. But when it comes to processed foods, the American versions seems to be of higher quality. Maybe that’s because they sell better over here. No idea. I would love to know how Aldi compares to Penny Markt in Germany. That was our favorite place to shop as Alsi was more upscale and expensive at that time.
Due to the market situation with many different strong "Discounter" brands, the prices for the respective most usual own brand articles (milk, dairy products, pasta, flour, bread...) in Germany are almost to the Euro cent identical in every shop, from Aldi to Lidl, Netto, Penny and even the usually more expensive Edeka, Rewe, Kaufland wouldn't survive if they wouldn't offer own brand products for the same price in addition to their more expensive branded product range.
When i started working at REWE headquarter during my job training i was also in the department responsible for buying the milk products for the markets and i learned that for some products like Eggs and Milk they checked the prices that Aldi sold these items for and set their price to exactly match the Aldi price for the cheapest option. So in that sense Aldi was dictating the prices for the other stores. They didn't discuss that beforehand with Aldi (which would be illegal) but just looked at the advertisements to see at which price they were sold and made sure there was an option for the same price. That was 23 years so i don't know if this is still true today. But that was quite interesting for me at that time how powerful Aldi was there. I just was reminded of that when the price of yoghurt was the same at REWE.
That is SUPER interesting! I wonder to what extent this same internal price comparison happens in the USA as well (although I would imagine that many US grocers likely compare to Walmart since they are the "mega" brand that they are up against).
Aldi Süd = Aldi in the US. Trader Joe's = Aldi Nord. And, as far as I know, in Germany, Aldi is a really good employer and employees get fairly high wages and all the etcetera. In the US, it appears to be ok., but not as great as in Germany. I'm not sure about their position regarding trade unions or works councils (which is mandatory in Germany if the market or whatever business has more than a certain number of employees). I am also not sure about the nature of the contracts Aldi has with the producers. I think it has to do with these contracts that Aldi can offer such good quality at affordable prices.
The establishment of several "banana republics" in central amerca made the big price difference! ;-) Very detailed and professional ! Thank you. Have a nice sunday.
I always use an US American Quarter in German Aldis. Not sure if they have a different system in the US since I think there can't be that many companies producing "shopping cart money insertion safety locking devices"
Most beautiful English interpretation of German combined nouns I've ever seen. Let me spell that out just for fun and giggles: "Einkaufswagengeldeinschubsicherheitsverschlusssysteme". Hilarious. 😂
Point of note: The US ground beef was 7% fat; the Aldi Germany "bio" ground beef is 18% fat, I believe, just like the regular option. Depending on your usage scenario this may or may not be desirable - you might need less cooking oil, if any. Aldi Germany typically does carry 5% fat non-"bio" beef as well, though. I have never seen a 7% fat option.
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
I notice that in-store price comparisons have it much easier to compare the exact same item at several stores. No size conversions or currency conversions. This is commonly done at Winco stores in Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Sometimes there are comparison carts (holding the most typical items) at the entrance where there are many items compared. Maybe 60 to 80 of them. The result is that Winco is always way less expensive than the comparable Fred Meyer, Zupans, Safeway, etc.. We don't have any Aldi around here. This video is an ambitious undertaking. I probably would not have attempted it simply because of the different (presumed) points-of-view between U.S. and German shoppers. I remember Austrian eggs were always so much tastier and more colorful than in the U.S. Probably the same applies to Germany. Italian eggs were noticeably different, less colorful and less tasty.
@@IsomerSoma - She has compared German organic products with non-organic products from the USA several times. (yoghurt). - The milk she bought ‘wrong’ was not organic milk with the appropriate seal. However, she then compared the correct milk. - The German toast was made from spelt, the American ‘bread’ from wheat. That also makes a price difference. As much as I usually like her videos, there were too many mistakes - the biggest of course being the comparison of the chicken breast at REWE.
She also has a track record of ripping off other creators. She had a video called "How I See the US after Living in Europe for 5 Years" which is a copy of a video by NathanialDrews called "Is Life Better in the USA or Europe?" This was called out on Reddit, and she quickly made her video members only!
Spongier doesn't means softer but not outright more porous/dry. I remember having no problems spreading jam, peanut butter, etc on "Toast" in the US. Nevertheless it tasted way different and I still remember all the additives on the package.
The real sponsor of this episode is:.... ALDI. A very insightful and perfectly prepared presentation of products from this store. I have not seen better publicity. Thanks to you, I am changing my grocery store to... ALDI.
So American groceries are not more expensive? Those people posting about half a shopping cart full of groceries costing $200 in the US which would only cost about €50 in Germany were just lying? Shocking.
I expect the lack of US laws to regulate the big box stores, impact costs even at smaller places like Aldi. Walmart and other dominant grocers will squeeze their suppliers for the lowest costs until they can barely make money, but their dominance in the market means suppliers must work with them.
Pedantic point but the Imperial system of weights and measures dates from 1823 which is long after the Americans left the British Empire. Note that an Imperial pint is bigger than an American pint.
Correct, and this irritated me a lot. What is used in America is American Customary Units based on an older English system of units. If they want to use Imperial units, then they shouldn't have made that declaration of independence and the unpleasantness that followed.
I do love your videos. But, there is no way that any grocery store is charging 180$ per kilo for chicken in the United States. You put in your chart at the end that hen house was charging 18$ per 100g for chicken breast. I'm assuming that was the price per kilo and you forgot to convert that. There is no possible way that anyone has ever charged that much for chicken. I also wish you would have included the price for Aldi beef in your fist chart. I've been to Germany and it's very clear that groceries are significantly cheaper there than anywhere in North America, even Mexico. I think that one change would have made it definitely cheaper for Germany in that first shop. I want to end this by saying that your videos are still amazing. Please keep making them and showing people how much better Germany is than America. A lot of Americans think it's the best country in the world for everything. So it is nice having an American living abroad showing what a good country can actually be.
Thanks for the timely video! I recently did this myself, just to satisfy my curiosity. I was a bit more fussy when shopping at Aldi (Nord) and when I bought chicken and beef, only chose “Haltungsform 4”, Bio Milch, Yogurt and Eggs as well. I ended up not buying any produce as I just couldn’t deal with all the plastic packaging. When I did an item by item comparison between Edeka and Aldi, I had a total savings at Aldi of just over 6€. Which turns out to be what it costs for a round trip bus ticket to get there (I don’t have a driver’s license). So despite the savings, I’ll most likely stick to the Edeka that I can walk to in 3-1/2 minutes. Of course I could ride my bike to Aldi, but that is a 40 minute round trip, so I have to factor in the lost time at my desk. I also really appreciate the effort Edeka (ours here anyway, I don’t know if it the same everywhere) has made to support local farmers, from milk, to eggs, to local produce. I know the system is far from perfect, and I do shop at the farmers market as well, but at least they are doing *something* and not making it just about cheap. Anyway, thanks for the interesting video!
Regarding your comparison between REWE and Aldi prices: Germany‘s grocery market is extremely competitive. Especially regular Supermarkets like EDEKA and REWE (and others) are under constant pressure not only by Discounters like Aldi and Lidl, but some „in betweens“ like Kaufland, Globus and others. Though most goods are more expensive, they try to get customers in their shops by some (few) House Brands (JA, Gut & Günstig) that are (nearly) as cheap or some even cheaper as the Discounters‘ ones. Though in my opinion Aldi and Lidl are still leading in the price / quality ratio (by a small extent). Comparing Aldi and Lidl: IMHO it really depends on the product you choose and your personal taste. Generally speaking their house brands are of very high quality, they are on even footage with Name Brands sold at REWE and EDEKA.
19:00 thats probably because you bought Dinkel bread at the Aldi in Germany. I don't know if it was on purpose or not, but the Whole Wheat option was significantly cheaper
there was a comparison here on YT where they checked the prices of diffrent store brands (like ja!, gut&günstig etc) and if you only buy the store brand, the prices will be the same. (a pound of pasta is 0,8 € in aldi, rewe, lidl, etc). Due to the fact, that most of the time you also get more weight per package it is way more cheaper than the big brands. (and a lot of the store brands come from the same factory as big brands) There a few items that taste better if you don't buy the cheaper store brand, like pizza or some sort of chips (crisps), or soft drinks/ sodas. But even though I buy mostly store brands, I use every app from every store to save a few extra percentage and I look for things on sale I still have to pay 150€ or more per week for groceries for me and my 2 teenage kids.
Hi Ashton! Nice try but for this comparisons you need a deeper understanding of processing and distribution of the grocery’s…..it all comes down to the quality and the local providers of meat and vegetables 😊in Germany which are mostly regional….
Sometimes a dairy product in Germany is actually from the same manufacturer for cheap and brand option. They have this oval label ("Identitätskennzeichen", like: DE BY 12345 EG) that shows the producer, that way you can tell if it's the same. Edit: That could be a reason why there is no difference for Rewe and Aldi for Yoghurt.
[Tongue in cheek] CAUTION: IRONY!!! (in case it wasn't clear from the get go) Price for an Aldi shopping cart in America 25 cent (= 0,22€) Price for an Aldi Einkaufswagen in Germany 1 € (= $1,12) So Aldi America is 4.5x cheaper than Aldi Germany. Case closed within the first two minutes. ;-P [\Tongue in cheek]
Then we just take the shopping cart on vacation in the US 😜 But hardly anyone in Germany spends money on this; most people have plastic chips or a universal opener on their key ring
@@gene9230 In all carts. I have a "shopping 50cent" that I take in my trouser pocket when I go shopping. You get it back, so I don't loe that much interest on those 50 cent ;)
The yoghurt prices in Germany are no surprise at all. Those small yoghurt portions have a very specific job in the german grocery shops: to pull in customers. As a result they are sold at absolute cut throat prices. Even upmarket shops like REWE are forced to sell them at 0% profit or even at a loss, to compete with the Aldi-prices. It seems Aldi-Süd tries to get the same system going in the USA. In general the overall profit margin for grocery products in discounters is incredible low in Germany, somewhere between 2-4%. Which is almost impossible to compete with in the american market.
You probally fucked up in the chicken Calculation. No one will buy a Chicken for 180€/kg (USA) and 100€/kg (DE). Those were probably the prices per kg/ multiple pounds.
Interesting video. I do feel like the quality of food (real food) is much lower in the US, not to mentioned all the processed food in the USA. My body feels healthier when I eat in Europe, with the same foods, but they’re just better.
Mississippi native here. I didn't realize until recently that it was unusual to have a tax on groceries that matches our regular sales tax. On top of being the poorest (or one of the poorest) in the nation. (And my area, the Gulf Coast, has pretty high food prices also). I'm really happy to see this pointed out and acknowledged...even if I don't like the fact it needs to be.
Hey Ashton, in your comparison table (rewe/hen house/both aldi's) you say, that 100g of chicken breast cost 9,90€ at Rewe. That would add too 99€ for one kilogram of chicken breast at rewe. That can't be right. Chicken breast is not sold more expensive than beef or salmon for example. And 99€ per kilogram? Who could afford that at a, let's say weekly basis? Maybe there was a math mistake?
Great comparison with surprising result: US prices not necessarily being more expensive than Germany if you shop in the right places. However, one thing I missed, which I found ridiculously overpriced in the US, is toilet paper. Would have been interesting to see if it is like 500% more expensive even at Aldi...
shop by price pr kilo. and knowing the normal price, is the way to go, everywhere in the world. So never shop in just one shop. go shop in 2-4 different shops, and max once a week. going for discount is the way to go :) shopping by just what I want is very pricy. Never make a dinnerplan by feel. Make weekly dinner plan. by what is on sale.
A lot of chicken meat sold in Denmark is "enhanced". The meat is injected with a salt water and sugar solution. It's supposed to make the meat juicier, but it also means that the meat can be sold at an apparently lower kilo price, even though you actually get less chicken for your money.
Check your math on yogurt. You are not correct. Determine the price ratio for German to US in cents and Euros. Euros - 0.79 Cents -.94 They should be the same. At this point I stopped watching. This mistake should be obvious.
Chicken in Rewe was 9,90 EUR /kg and a sale price. You can see it in the video. If you add up this numbers you end up with 7.32 EUR for Rewe and 103.68% Prices are nearly the same in Germany whne yozu take the store brands. You can get 99 cent milk in every store for example. And then you have different items on sale every week, which is for all stores including Aldi.
Ofcourse you can comparee prices on a one-to-one basis. But the next question is how to compare the quality of the products? How does it taste? What aditived do they contain? and so on. As you mentioned about the bread, in the USA it is spungier than in Germany.. And Chicken in the EU is produced to way higher sanity standards than in the USA.. It can be cheaper, but a salmonella infection isn't any fun either.
In the US they have hormone cattle, which has a higher production of meat and milk than the regular or organic variant. And in the US the are not obligated to mention hormone use on the label, so you don’t know what you buy, but the probability of hormone meat and milk is big. The same can be said about wheat and corn with GMO used for bread. And in US manufactured food items, there are more cheap ingredients to mask the reduced use of original ingredients, like corn syrup. So all in all the US prices of GMO and hormone items should be cheaper than the European regular items.
What is the true cost of animal suffering? This should be added to the monetary cost of our diet. It is common, in the US, to administer hormones and other drugs, banned in most of the developed world, to all types of livestock in order to increase their production levels/weight gain, and - regardless of any side effects which may, or may not, affect the person consuming that product - the side effects on the poor creatures to which they are administered are very often simply horrendous. Ractopamine is a prime example of this. Things are very, _very,_ far from perfect in Europe, EU or non-EU, but in general animal welfare standards for meat, dairy and egg production are higher than in the US. Individual producers in the US may choose to have higher welfare standards than the norm, and sell more 'exclusively'; however, producers in Europe, and in particular the EU, must maintain certain minimum standards of both welfare and hygiene (the two are, of course, often closely linked) _by law_. These are _minimum_ standards and many consumers demand better.
Great comparison! It's ironic that you released this now as we'll be in Germany in a couple of weeks. I've wanted to check the difference in prices between here in Phoenix and where my wife's from near Landstuhl. Her sister is always complaining about grocery prices and we always laugh because it's so much cheaper than here.
I was so scared seeing the you reach into the almost empty box of bananas. I worked at a German supermarket and funnily enough a friend of mine worked on a banana field in Vietnam during his work and travel right after school. He noticed that there are tons spiders and insects on the bananas (back in 2006) and even the bath wasn't guaranteed to get rid of them. Also some bananas grew directly in plastic bags carrying spiders in them. I had two encounter in the fruit section stacking up banana boxes seeing a spider. A customer also once reported a spider but I wasn't the person working in the fruit section anymore so I couldn't verify. I have the irrational fear of finding a spider amongst those bananas even though they most likely won't bite and I'm not scared of spiders anywhere else. Amazing video as always Ashton! Been there since the very start of the channel and it is always a pleasure seeing someone with a similar degree not being lazy and doing all the work necessary to find the best common demoninator to compare everything fairly.
Wow, I didn't know that the Aldi-Housebrands are ALSO different between Germany and Austria (though we call our Aldi "Hofer") too. Because for Austrian Aldi (AKA Hofer) I do reccomend the "Moser Roth" chocolate. Also, they even get the vegetables from local sources whenever they can (i.e. cucumbers being in season), f.e. that'll be "LGV Gemüse" for the Vienna area, but different farmers in other states.
Just doing some calculations using ALDI prices in the UK. In boxes of 12, large British (free-range) eggs are the equivalent of 0.27 euros each (mediums would be 0.24). An 800gm basic wholemeal sliced load is 0.56 euros, although the nationally branded Hovis comes in at 1.66 euros, a huge difference. Whole Milk (in 4 UK pint containers) works out at 0.76 euros/litre. Basic strawberry yoghurt comes in at 38 euros per 100gm. In the UK, in 500gm packs, 5% fat minced beef is 0.42 euros per 100 gm. Chicken breasts (in a 650gm pack) work out at 0.82 euros per 100gm. So in the UK I think, with a couple of exception, the prices are somewhat cheaper but it has to be borne in mind that there is no VAT on such grocery items in the country. I couldn't do bananas as Aldi are (somewhat illogically) giving the prices per banana, not per kg.
The price of groceries is actually a minor point if you compare it with what people (often very happily, or at least without need) pay for big houses or big cars. Average new car price in Germany is 42K. Insane! The capital income alone from this buying price alone (don't forget about fuel insurance etc) if invested is more than a grocery budget for a person. Many people claim to have a lack of money, when it's really just a lack of restraint on luxury.
Who buys a new car, that's the worst investment you could ever do! If you want to buy a car, buy a used one, atleast one that's 1-2 years old, since the price is at least half the price of a new one. If you want to drive a new car, just leas it. It will be cheaper in the long run, and the company could write it off.
I would also be interested to know what the price difference is in Switzerland. I notice so many of them every time I visit, but wonder if they are as significant of a difference from other grocery options.
Thank you very much for this interesting check. I visited on June this Year USA. In fact, the prices in ALDI are very low if I compare the prices on other typical shops in the USA. In my opinion, the low prices in the ALDI are due to the fact that the shops there are not maintained with a lot of staff, service and cleanliness. The ALDI in the USA shows what ALDI was like in Germany 20 years ago. In the meantime, at least in Germany, more emphasis is placed on service and cleanliness. Currently, the competition of discounters in Germany is simply unbeatable. We are cheaper in Germany than in the Czech Republic, although the Czechs earn significantly less.
On some of those same items, Aldi and Walmart have similar prices. At Sam's Club there are some better prices on the shelf but one has to factor the cost of membership as part of the pricing too.
Here in the UK many supermarkets make the point that they price mark with Aldi or Lidl so that you do your full shop with them. As I have time and the walking distance is minimal I tend to find that yogurts and dairy is cheaper in these stores
There is a great interview available on YT with a former ALDI executive who explains their strategies. In short, they have a limited sortiment of goods which sells through fast. They also price according to market conditions and not to reach margin goals for increasing their EBITDA. And it turned out that their formula of providing great price to performance for decent quality is popular by consumers and works good enough for them as a company.
which is understandable - factory farming is much cheaper to do... we just end up paying that up front reduction in cost in worse health outcomes (antibiotic resistant bacteria) and worsening climate outcomes (factory farming produces significantly more greenhouse gases)... and we probably pay much more in those consequences than the up front savings...
@@SharienGaming completely agree. I should have written simply: Non organic ground beef probably costs only a third of what Ashton paid for her organic package in Germany. And then the US would have been on the more expensive side. And no, cheaply priced and/or produced meat isn’t a good thing.
There are mistakes in the price comparison, e.g. comparing the US cents vs EU cents. In one case 1.00 vs 1.18 is 18% and not 14.7%. Also chicken price of $18 per 100gr is quite unusual. Haven’t seen chicken at $180per KG or $75per lbs in US. Definitely the whole conversion is adding complexity in reporting prices and honest mistakes have been made.
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
I typically leave those off of these kinds of comparisons because there is too much variability from what is "regional" and "in season" even from State to State, let alone comparing countries.
Could this be true? 1 kg of chicken at Hen House costing 180 $ an 99 € at Rewe? Definitively this is not true for Rewe. I no way intend to doubt your researches, but would it be possible that you compared 100 g amount to 1 kg amount?
Keep in mind that Aldi workers in Germany have all the "perks" like payed vacation, healthcare, pension, descent wages ect... (In the US, 60% of Walmart employees are on food stamps).That makes the comparison even more astonishing!
I just went to my local Aldi for the first time yesterday (NE Wisconsin). We have a coin left in the carts, too. I didn't see the variety of items I'm used to in other stores, which was a surprise. I went because I was going to be in that town, and I saw an ad for German foods there, so I wanted to try. I might go back, especially since they're the only place I can find breaded eggplant slices (frozen), and I miss getting them in my local mom and pop. But I don't think it'll become my regular store.
As always a great video. I will add not only the food is less expensive in Germany, it is fresher, restricted preservatives and tastes better. If the chicken cost €10/Kg worth the price for the taste for free range chicken on that are smaller in size..all the best!
Aldi has abandoned Denmark. Aldi (Nord) opened the first discount store in Denmark in 1977, introducing the discount concept in the country.. In 2022 they pulled out and sold their stores to another chain (REMA 1000, based in Norway) Aldi always struggled to gain a foothold in the Danish market. They had difficulty adapting their model to the habits of Danish consumers. For example, Danes want fresh, refrigerated milk. UHT milk has a long shelf life and doesn't need to be refrigerated, and is therefore cheaper. But even the most price-conscious buyers didn't care for that. Eggs are another example. Eggs in Europe are sold unwashed, which means they have a long shelf life (the washing process removes the protective layer in the eggshell) and they CAN be stored just fine at room temperature. But danish consumers want their eggs from a refrigerator gosh darnit &%&%¤%¤#%&¤! That's how we store the eggs at home.
In Germany, with eggs as unwashed as can be (yep, chicken poop smell and all), it never ever even occurred to me to NOT store eggs in the fridge (although they are stored on unrefrigerated shelfs in the store). I mean, frigdes are even sold with these little egg shelf thingies by default, always have been.
I‘m buying chicken only on the weekly market in town. There have been many reports about abusing chickens by from big companies (like Wiesenhof), I want to make sure, I get local grown chickens. And I can tell you taste it. A chicken will cost me 15€ instead of 5€, but I personally find worth it. The same goes for meat - I buy it from my local butcher.
German Aldi and Trader Joe's are AldiNord. Missouri Aldi is AldiSud. That is the difference. Missouri Aldi is about price. The quality is comparable to most other grocery stores. You could buy frigadells at German Aldi's. Chicken should be cheaper at lake of the Ozarks due to proximity to Tysons chicken. A pound of hamburger in a chain store can have meat from cows in ten different states
As interesting as these price comparison videos are (Even Edinger has done a couple great ones for he US and UK), they are ultimately meaningless because we simply cannot account for all the relevant variables. One thing that is missing (but very difficult to really get) would be an indication of a given person's income in both places because an egg be 4 cents more expensive could either be a small difference or a pretty meaningful difference if they are in a place with relatively higher or lower income (and this the egg being a lower or higher proportion of their earnings). But of course the big one is the on e we all know: you buy groceries where you are, not the other side of a ocean. As someone who has moved overseas, I can say you very quickly get out of the habit of converting the prices of things because does it really matter if that coffee would have been 10 cents cheaper 'back home' when you are not back home? You ultimately have to work in the local currency, especially if you are being paid in that currency and do not have significant assets/liabilities in the other place, and get to the point where you are roughly thinking in terms of is this a lot or a little of my take home pay (which is really how we should always be thinking).
Yes, as someone who has lived and worked in many different countries throughout the world, this is very true. When I lived in tropical climates, I relished being able to gorge on fresh ripe mangoes, and it entertained me mildly to think that such an 'expensive' fruit would plop down into my garden from my neighbour's trees - just like victoria plums did in the UK! - but I didn't try to compare prices of 'staple' foods as staples simply aren't the same from one part of a country to another, let alone from one continent to another. I just altered my diet and cooking styles somewhat, and occasionally treated myself to something familiar.
I would say the main question is what is the minimum wage, unemployment benefits and other social transfers. This in the end determines what is justified and "morally" acceptable
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@@halmati2288 haha if only!
Have you taken intoaccount that food standards in EU are much higher than in US?
regarding beef: you bought Bio in Germany. Bio is vastly more expensive. So the higher price not surprising at all.
Also the calculation for the US beef is way off. $7.74 for 1.13 lb (512g) should result in $1.51 per 100g and not $0.73 per 100g as in the video.
@@DiddiDietrichI’ve been buying organic grass fed ground beef at Aldi for $3.99 a pound.
Agreed. That single item turns the results upside down. Organic beef costs twice as much as regular.
Interesting question. I guess the standard quality in the US is higher that in Germany.
Yes, I do mention this in the video as well. However it was the only 100% beef option available in Germany. The non-Bio option was a 50/50 mix of beef and pork which is not found in the United States.
The egg comparison does have more layers in behalf of costs actually when you go into the needy greedy detail..
US eggs are produced by battery farming therefore need to be chlorified and then fridged in order to be a save product..while due to battery farming you´ll get a way higher margin of eggs per square meter of the facility = which makes eggs way cheaper due to the way higher number of eggs which are produced in way less space and then brought into the market (= economic outcome of supply + demand) but due to the additional needed process of chlorifying + fridging that then also adds more costs before they can be sold to the customer
European eggs are not battery farmed due to the EU animal protection law = way lower margin of eggs are produced per square meter of the facilty therefore due to supply + demand those are more expensive but there are then no further costs because those don´t need to be chlorified + don´t need to be fridged before they can be sold to the customer
A similar thing is to say about beef...in the US it is allowed to use hormons for growth and even cloning cows but in the EU don´t = So US cows deliver more meat + more milk per cow in comparision to cows in the EU which has of course an impact to the selling price....despite the question of the impact of people´s health which would open an other "can of worms" so to say.
nitty-gritty, not needy-greedy
Also it’s the American government that mandates the washing of eggs, many US farmers vaccinate for salmonella to prevent the loss and cost of recall of their product. I choose to buy the eggs from nearby hobby farmers that don’t mass produce eggs and they cost $3-4 per dozen which is comparable to free range eggs in Aldi, most of the time less, by less than $1.
Battery farming has nothing to do with chlorifying or fridgerating. In Europe eggs can also come from battery farming. The reason for fridgerating (not sure about the chlorifying, but i think that has to do with salmonella fear in the US which isn't as high in Europe) is that in the US eggs get washed (possibly to look nicer and don't have any chicken poop on them) at the production location and this washing removes the protection layer around the egg which then leads to needing to be fridgerated. In Europe eggs usually don''t get washed and thus no need for fridgerating.
The main reason bananas in the US are cheaper than in Germany is because of shipping costs. Shipping from Columbia or Ecuador to the US is way faster and cheaper than to Germany. Hence the price difference.
While seemingly logical, it can't explain all of the difference as bananas are cheaper in the Netherlands (right next door) than in Germany (and Belgium for that matter).
There are political reasons that banana prices are kept artificially low. Search for the recent World Banana Forum conference in Rome. Some countries are now pushing for higher banana prices, so they can then push for wage increases for banana plantation workers. The countries not pushing for higher wages for banana workers are not increasing their banana prices. Banana prices increase at a much slower rate than prices of other fruits. Banana plantation owners have huge political influence in most of the banana growing countries and some countries want to stay on good terms with the people running those countries.
@@apveening Maybe the Netherlands gets a better deal buying due to all their "coffee shops"?
@@Baldy.TheOnlyOne LOL
Yeah electric-powered ships will make prices even better for sure, you just have to wait and see, very exciting stuff
That price for chicken at rewe cannot be for 100g, no one could afford chicken. Must be for 1kg
I don't think so, I bought one chicken breast at the teke. I think it was 1,49 and didn't think much about it. And at checkout I saw it was 5 eur! For 1 chicken breast.
Still have the receipt. 5.05 eur for 0.282 kg. the date 09.09.2024
Yes, I just looked into the video, it was 9,90 per kg.
So with 99 cent per 100g was it neartly the same and it was on sale.
Oh, right I saw it. She put kg price.
I think the price was 1.79 or 17.90 per kilo in rewe. She must have had an Angebot
@@ivanamihaart
She paid 4.84 EUR for 0.489 kg and the price tag on the shelf was yellow, so sale price.
ua-cam.com/video/QY1mtNCF19g/v-deo.html
@@ivanamihaart A chicken breast is 200 - 300 grams and usually at the teke its more pricey.
sorry, but my inner "klugscheißer" kicks in and dinkel is spelt in english a variety of wheat that is more expensive than the regular wheat. so the bread comparison is not that accurate.
My Klugscheißer told me this as well, Dinkel (spelt) is much more expensive, richer and better in my opinion.
Let's all just be grateful she didn't stumble across apples and oranges.
Normally I like the videos very much, but unfortunately there are a lot of mistakes here:
- The price of the chicken breast at REWE is completely wrong. The price per kilo was probably used here and not the price per 100 grams.
- She has compared German organic products with non-organic products from the USA several times. (for example the yoghurt and the ground beef at ALDI - especially the ground BIO-beef ist much more expensive than beef from "conventional" farming.
- The German toast was made from "Dinkel", the American ‘bread’ from wheat. That also makes a price difference.
- The milk she bought ‘wrong’ was not organic milk with the appropriate "Bio"-seal. However, she then compared the correct milk.
As much as I usually like her videos, there were too many mistakes, the biggest of course being the comparison of the chicken breast at REWE.
It wasn't here first mistake and probably won't be her last. She just doesn't have an eye for detail even thought she has a Ph.D.. Even when she finds something odd (here chicken, or the bread comparison in the beginning), she just doesn't seem to care to fix it fully, like a new voice over, or a rechecking /verifying of her calculations.
When I had to create a few videos, i had to redo the voice multiple times, because i wasn't happy, and had to cut out the breathing breaks/noises.
She also miscalculated the price per 100g of the US beef. Should be around $1,50. Its a video with a lot of numbers so I get why it happened. Having all these numbers makes it confusing and very easy for errors like that to slip in
also the german "bread" wasn't wheat (Weizen) but "Dinkel" (spelt?)
Should we mention the differences in quality between the US and EU versions? In the 15 European countries we visited, groceries were consistently cheaper than in the US and also much better in quality: more sustainably produced, far more likely to be locally sourced, less packaging, and better tasting. We got used to the smaller portions because the meals were more satisfying.
You can buy organic foods in The US.Prices are almost The Same
Costco Prices are cheaper then Most european countries
@@Hasanaljadid Costco is a wholesale store, you need to purchase a membership. You have the effort to get there, park sometimes after 15-20min of circling around overcrowded parking, walk huge distances. Choices are limited, portions are humongous. However as always, they have some subsidized items to entice to come back: The 4-pack bacon at max. 50% of Safeway price, the famed grilled chicken for $4.99, 3lbs coffee etc etc. I think that Costco compares to Metro in Germany.
@@ThomasHalways 15 - 20 min parking...? what's wrong with you ?
@@inka87871 Thank you for this important remark. I shall redouble my efforts.
As some people may rant about EU regulations, the best was the general rule that prices to end customers have to be includes all taxes
Is that an EU regulation or was it something that was already common. I was in Serbia and they also included the taxes in the price.
that's not EU regulation. US (guess) is the only country in the world that does it differently.
It is an EU-regulation:
"Throughout the EU, sellers must indicate product prices clearly enough for you to easily compare similar products and make informed choices - no matter how they're packaged or how many units are sold together.
Companies are legally obliged to be completely clear about the price you'll have to pay when they advertise or sell something to you.
Complete price information
The price quoted in an offer must include all taxes and delivery charges. If there might be extra costs that can't be calculated in advance, you must also be told about that upfront."
@@Neuraloverlordsit was common practice and law in all or at least most countries
@@leeman1525 In Germany it was law since VAT has been introduced in 1968.
Hi Ashton, that was great, thanks. I am from Munich, but I live on Maui, HI, and I love to visit my homeland, Oberbayern, once a year for a month, usually in July. Anyway, the price you quoted for Aldi USA is around 2.5 times as much here on Maui. No Aldi here, so Costco is my life saver. When I go to Aldi in the small Bavarian town, where I stay with friends, I get 'Kaufrausch'. Meaning, I get euphoric, because I can fill my cart with pretty much everything my heart desires, including booze, tasty tomatoes and walk out happily with a EUR 50 invoice, scratching my head how everything can be so ridiculously cheap. The only times I stray from Aldi, and go to Edeka or Lidl, is when they have Ritter Sport Nougat on sale for 59c, or 79c last July, then I raid the shelves to the horrified look of the cashier, as they don't have limits on sale items in Germany. And that's all I have in my checked luggage, around 30 pounds of chocolate, roughly a year's supply😂 . And I will never ever stop over in Phoenix in 114 F again, because I ended up with a lot of 'mousse au chocolate' last July. 😋
I feel your pain😂
@@Lysandra-8 Already booked my next year's trip via Anchorage, Alaska. But who knows, maybe at the speed momma Earth is heating up, it will be 114 up there by next year. 🥵
"..raid the shelves.." don't they have 'Haushaltsüblichen Mengen' (normal Household quantities)?
@@Baldy.TheOnlyOne Never encountered that one. And if so, I just go there 5 times, usually the specials are offered for a week.
I think for eggs and meat, one needs to also compare across farming types. Free range and bio is more than battery hens and mass produced beef and pork where the animals have a low quality of life. In Europe I feel the norm leans towards free range and bio.
And there is more range in America
Same for bananas. The Aldi Germany ones were Rain Forrest Alliance ones and the USA ones were Del Monte.
I would never lower my standards to American levels. I know where my fruit and veg come from and I am willing to pay for it.
@@alaintallier1956 common in the US also
@@MrAronymous so both grown in rain forrest. Got it
There are differences in eggs in Germany.
1) Industrial farming in boxes
2) Barn farming (Bodenhaltung)
3) Free range farming (Freilandhaltung)
4) Organic in combination with 2) or 3) (Bio)
5) Farm eggs, chicken breed that doesn't lay an egg every day, so large eggs (Bauerhof Eier)
The higher the number, the higher the price. The price does not necessarily refer to the quality, but also to the way the animals are kept.
Thank you for the compilation. I would just like to mention that 4. ‘organic’ (Bio) is not comparable with 2. and 3. and there is no combination: ‘Organic’ also always means more free-range area for the chickens. An ‘organic’ label would not even be possible with barn farming (2).
A note on the first category: Due to animal cruelty concerns, this kind of egg farming will be forbidden in Germany by the end of 2025. Right now it is already only allowed as so called "Kleingruppenhaltung" (small group husbandry) in which the chickens get more space and are kept in larger groups of 40 - 60 animals per box.
@@mille_fiori There's no category for it but arguably organic barn eggs should be a thing: Chicken don't actually dislike barns, they feel safe and secure there and there's health advantages to barn raising because the birds aren't exposed to random pathogens. To make the whole thing organic, I'd say a) have only organic food and b) require them to be able to hunt earthworms, instead of just picking up grains from the floor.
@@aoeuable Definitely no! In barn farming (as defined by the EU), chickens live together in a very small space: 18 chickens may be kept per square meter. You have to imagine that: One square meter - 18 hens. Straw or sand is only strewn over 1/3 of the area. For the rest, the chickens live on grid floors. There is little or no room for natural behaviour.
In the organic standard (within the EU) , there are of course halls/shelters/barns for the chicken and free access to the outdoors, whenever the like and a lot of more space for one hen.
Addendum: In organic farming, 6 hens per square metre may live indoors and there must be an additional(!) 4 square metres of outdoor space per hen.
Source: "Deutscher Tierschutzbund": .../tiere-themen/tiere-in-der-landwirtschaft/huehner/haltungsformen-fuer-legehennen
Those chicken prices.... aren't they per kilogram price? I cannot imagin any place selling chicken for €99 per kilogram!
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
@@TypeAshtonA pound isn't a kilogramm!
Ashton, just one small detail on your tables and overall price display throughout the video for readability.
Please, use in a column on the left and the right side the same currency as this mixture ($ (€) | € ($)) makes it hard to read. So, something like in a same column (€($) | €($)). Otherwise, use of colors for readability was good.
yes
Agree. The presentation of the data is very confusing.
Thank you so much for the feedback!
Even though you checked the numbers 3 times, the price of chicken breasts at Hen House must be off by 10 times. 16,34 Euros per 100 grams is 163,40 per kilo, that must be wrong.
Same for chicken at rewe
Meat goes commonly for 10€ per kg if It's not premium or bio
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
@@TypeAshton around 10€/kg for chicken is a good price for meat. Chicken seems to be the cheapest option in Germany, no matter at what shop.
Coming from a US vacation last month, I must say, that groceries in the US are much more expensive than in Germany. Much, much more.
Not only that but MSG and additives are allowed. America is the only western country left who allows food to be highly genetically modified.
@@sabinechennault8454 Honestly, genetical modification is not a problem I have. Genetic variation is a common thing in nature, happens all the time.
Says "wheat sandwich bread", grabs spelt sandwich bread instead. Different grain.
As many have commented, there are two serious math mistake that skew the results:
1. The price of beef in the USA per 100g is miscalculated.
2. The price of chicken breast compared to the "expensive" stores:
She compared the price/100g with the price/kg
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
It is important to note that the products you bought are produced in a different way in the USA an Europe. That makes it very difficult to make a fair comparison. Have a look a the project "Food for thought" by Kadir van Lohuizen (book, docu series and exposition) to see where your food comes form
You forgot the cost of hiring a mathematician to convert imperial to metric units, and to figure out the price including tax before checkout in the U.S. 😅
The US does not use imperial units but US units. In most cases it makes little difference, but a US gallon equals 3.785411784 litres and an imperial gallon equals 4.54609 litres.
I know this sounds like semantics, but we are both correct. The US uses the "United States customary units or USCS" which is a "type" of Imperial system - but very, very few people know that phrase in the USA. In school we were always told it was the "imperial system" and that is the same verbiage used by Smithsonian and Brittanica to describe the US units of measurement - so for ease of understanding for the majority of American viewers, that's what I use here. Although yes, there are differences in standards depending on which "type" of imperial system you use.
@@TypeAshton United States Customary Units are actually based on an older English systems of measures. Imperial units were defined by the 1824 Weights and Measure Act in 1824. There was no Imperial system of units before that. the main discrepancy is in volume measures (pints, fluid-ounces and gallons) and some weight measures (like the ton). However, linear measurements are the same as are pounds and (Avoirdupois) ounces.
regarding eggs, it is also important to point out, that normally egg size doesn't influence the price at Aldi.
If large eggs are available they will cost the same as medium eggs, but they are not always available.
I must admit, first time shopping groceries in the US I was not impressed with the quality I saw in The stores.
Many US supermarkets are gigantic in size, long walking distances, thousands of items you just walk by and ignore. Since the goods have to stand longer in the shelves, they often contain preservatives, which the foods in Europe do not have. Every time after a month or two at "home" someplace in Europe I smell these when I come back to America. Perceived price difference "food per week" is currently sadly: Twice more expensive in the US. These shocking food prices are really "biting" Biden's legacy and provide the point of attack by the other demagogue running for president, for some reason.
@@ThomasHalwayscan you explain what made the prices rising so much?
Inflation was lower than in Germany.
@@ThomasHalways so a secret marathon training?
@@rupertschwarz1176 One opinion (Robert Reich, former secretary of labor) is that only a few large corporations exist in this area, and they practice price gauging. Maybe even it is a "help" for the Republicans.
Leaving a quarter is one of the little things that can make the day a little better. It is petty by definition, but petty things can build up to affect your whole day. I love doing that petty little anonymous act of random kindness and it helps me even more than whoever gets to use the cart next.
Pro tip for carts: it doesn´t have to be a coin. Anything that has right thickness and radius works. Like rounded key heads etc. I used a whittled wooden chip attached to my keychain for a while, but it broke at some point. Luckily I found an actual keychain that comes with a detachable circular piece meant for shopping carts sometime later and I have been using that ever since.
@@vanasaabas I will grant the keychain solution is an interesting solution for yourself, but I was talking about a random act of kindness - not how to beat the system.
Wenn man bei Rewe die teuerste Milch nimmt, ist der Unterschied natürlich so hoch. Die Hausmarke ist überall ähnlich günstig und weicht, wenn überhaupt, nur um ein paar Cent ab. Daher hinkt der Vergleich.
Das hat sie doch am Anfang und mittendrin immer wieder selbst gesagt?
@@jonasbartels1716 Ja aber wenn man seriös vergleichen will und darüber ein Video macht, muss man auch gleichwertig vergleichen.
@@bn1435 If you want to point out and be a smartass about something, doing it about something that is already pointed out twice in the video doesn't really make you look particularly clever.
Bewundernswert wie viel Mühe du dir machst, die Grundlagen deines Vergleichvideos zu erklären, so ist das Ergebnis viel einfacher nachvollziehbar. Tolles Video 👍
I don't know if you had a reason to rush this video, but there really were quite a lot of mistakes here. Other comments mentioned a few calculation errors, there were some mistranslations, other times organic was compared with normal, so maybe this should have been checked a few more times
Good point
The price of beef in the US for example is $1,41 per 100 gr. Not $0,73 like she incorrect calculated.
1.) You can't compare a 6 pack to a 10 pack of eggs, the packaging cost is not insignificant!
- 1 egg cost 20 or 25 cent in a 10 pack at Aldi depending on the type of farming/animal wellbeing (Aldi brand)
2.) You have to compare the bread by weight not by loaf. The amount of ingredient used dictate the price not the volume! Also you need to compare the same gain type. Not Spelt and Wheat.
I'm very happy shopping at Aldi (USA) with the added benefit that many Aldi products have lower sugar content.
Nice comparison. So much work.
But it makes a lot of sense, beef is always way cheaper in the U.S., pork on the other hand is way more expensive than in Germany.
One thing, though. The chicken breast in your comparison with Hen House and Rewe, there is no way, that you pay $81/pound at Hen House or €99/kg at Rewe.
The ground meat was cheaper in Germany, the comparison was miscalculated.
The beef was bio ("organic") ... it's obviously more expensive.
The yogurt surprised me, it was also bio, but not actually more expensive!
@@snygg1993 No, it is cheaper in Germany than in the US. - 7.74$ for 1.13lbs converts to 1.51$ per 100 g, not 0.73$ per 100 g as claimed at 14:31 .
This video is full of sloppy mistakes, look at the "Receipt" at 14:19 the 0.08$ tax is wrong, too. Thumbs down.
@@Henning_RechRight, she really needs to learn how to use a spreadsheet.
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
It is always funny to me that Americans who are angry at angry for asking for a 25¢ deposit don't know about the plastic chips you can use instead. I barely put real money in the shopping cart here in Germany. 😅
Regardless, you have to carry one or the other.
@@johnp139 I had a wallet with a tiny pocket for that Cart coin within the general coinpart of the wallet (not sure how you call that in english). It was very handy. ;)
Great video! I do want to point out that you have ReWe chicken down at €99 per Kilo (if it's 9.90 per 100g). I went back and watched your old video (also good). The price of €9.90 was per kg. Making it 99c per 100g. Similar for the Chicken at Hen House.
Irrespective of any price difference, I would go for the Eu food everytime. Quality wins everytime. No overprocessed, full of sugar junk thanks.
I think the biggest difference is the quality of the food. I’m American who lived in Germany for 15 years. Foods like milk, eggs, breads, and vegetables tend to be much higher quality in the EU. But when it comes to processed foods, the American versions seems to be of higher quality. Maybe that’s because they sell better over here. No idea. I would love to know how Aldi compares to Penny Markt in Germany. That was our favorite place to shop as Alsi was more upscale and expensive at that time.
Due to the market situation with many different strong "Discounter" brands, the prices for the respective most usual own brand articles (milk, dairy products, pasta, flour, bread...) in Germany are almost to the Euro cent identical in every shop, from Aldi to Lidl, Netto, Penny and even the usually more expensive Edeka, Rewe, Kaufland wouldn't survive if they wouldn't offer own brand products for the same price in addition to their more expensive branded product range.
When i started working at REWE headquarter during my job training i was also in the department responsible for buying the milk products for the markets and i learned that for some products like Eggs and Milk they checked the prices that Aldi sold these items for and set their price to exactly match the Aldi price for the cheapest option. So in that sense Aldi was dictating the prices for the other stores. They didn't discuss that beforehand with Aldi (which would be illegal) but just looked at the advertisements to see at which price they were sold and made sure there was an option for the same price.
That was 23 years so i don't know if this is still true today. But that was quite interesting for me at that time how powerful Aldi was there. I just was reminded of that when the price of yoghurt was the same at REWE.
That is SUPER interesting! I wonder to what extent this same internal price comparison happens in the USA as well (although I would imagine that many US grocers likely compare to Walmart since they are the "mega" brand that they are up against).
Aldi Süd = Aldi in the US. Trader Joe's = Aldi Nord.
And, as far as I know, in Germany, Aldi is a really good employer and employees get fairly high wages and all the etcetera.
In the US, it appears to be ok., but not as great as in Germany.
I'm not sure about their position regarding trade unions or works councils (which is mandatory in Germany if the market or whatever business has more than a certain number of employees).
I am also not sure about the nature of the contracts Aldi has with the producers. I think it has to do with these contracts that Aldi can offer such good quality at affordable prices.
The establishment of several "banana republics" in central amerca made the big price difference! ;-) Very detailed and professional ! Thank you. Have a nice sunday.
I always use an US American Quarter in German Aldis. Not sure if they have a different system in the US since I think there can't be that many companies producing "shopping cart money insertion safety locking devices"
Most beautiful English interpretation of German combined nouns I've ever seen. Let me spell that out just for fun and giggles: "Einkaufswagengeldeinschubsicherheitsverschlusssysteme". Hilarious. 😂
Point of note: The US ground beef was 7% fat; the Aldi Germany "bio" ground beef is 18% fat, I believe, just like the regular option.
Depending on your usage scenario this may or may not be desirable - you might need less cooking oil, if any.
Aldi Germany typically does carry 5% fat non-"bio" beef as well, though. I have never seen a 7% fat option.
20:20 looks like you’re comparing a 100g @aldi price to a 1000g (1kg) price.
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
I notice that in-store price comparisons have it much easier to compare the exact same item at several stores. No size conversions or currency conversions. This is commonly done at Winco stores in Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Sometimes there are comparison carts (holding the most typical items) at the entrance where there are many items compared. Maybe 60 to 80 of them. The result is that Winco is always way less expensive than the comparable Fred Meyer, Zupans, Safeway, etc.. We don't have any Aldi around here.
This video is an ambitious undertaking. I probably would not have attempted it simply because of the different (presumed) points-of-view between U.S. and German shoppers. I remember Austrian eggs were always so much tastier and more colorful than in the U.S. Probably the same applies to Germany. Italian eggs were noticeably different, less colorful and less tasty.
What shocked me the most? Your numerouos obvious errors and sloppy research. I'm disappointed. Sorry, no thumb up this time.
the chicken price comparison was wrong. What were the other errors?
@@IsomerSoma
- She has compared German organic products with non-organic products from the USA several times. (yoghurt).
- The milk she bought ‘wrong’ was not organic milk with the appropriate seal. However, she then compared the correct milk.
- The German toast was made from spelt, the American ‘bread’ from wheat. That also makes a price difference.
As much as I usually like her videos, there were too many mistakes - the biggest of course being the comparison of the chicken breast at REWE.
@@IsomerSoma Dinkel bread for example, and bread is always measured by weight, not slice.
She also has a track record of ripping off other creators. She had a video called "How I See the US after Living in Europe for 5 Years" which is a copy of a video by NathanialDrews called "Is Life Better in the USA or Europe?" This was called out on Reddit, and she quickly made her video members only!
Wait. WAIT. American toast bread is even softer and spongier than European toast bread?! WHAT?! How do you spread butter on it?!
You don't... you use mayonnaise!
😄 Exactly my thought. How is it even possible to be softer than toastbread?????
Probably because they use Peanut Butter. Yikes. 😂
Spongier doesn't means softer but not outright more porous/dry. I remember having no problems spreading jam, peanut butter, etc on "Toast" in the US. Nevertheless it tasted way different and I still remember all the additives on the package.
@@alexandergutfeldt1144
But how can you have your Butterbrot without Butter?
The real sponsor of this episode is:.... ALDI. A very insightful and perfectly prepared presentation of products from this store. I have not seen better publicity. Thanks to you, I am changing my grocery store to... ALDI.
The US does NOT use the Imperial system, it is US Customary Units.
So American groceries are not more expensive? Those people posting about half a shopping cart full of groceries costing $200 in the US which would only cost about €50 in Germany were just lying? Shocking.
I expect the lack of US laws to regulate the big box stores, impact costs even at smaller places like Aldi. Walmart and other dominant grocers will squeeze their suppliers for the lowest costs until they can barely make money, but their dominance in the market means suppliers must work with them.
You mean capitalism?
5:38 first of all.. this is NOT bread.. this is toast ;) Real bread has a distinct cross and harder crust.
Pedantic point but the Imperial system of weights and measures dates from 1823 which is long after the Americans left the British Empire. Note that an Imperial pint is bigger than an American pint.
Correct, and this irritated me a lot. What is used in America is American Customary Units based on an older English system of units. If they want to use Imperial units, then they shouldn't have made that declaration of independence and the unpleasantness that followed.
I do love your videos. But, there is no way that any grocery store is charging 180$ per kilo for chicken in the United States. You put in your chart at the end that hen house was charging 18$ per 100g for chicken breast. I'm assuming that was the price per kilo and you forgot to convert that. There is no possible way that anyone has ever charged that much for chicken. I also wish you would have included the price for Aldi beef in your fist chart. I've been to Germany and it's very clear that groceries are significantly cheaper there than anywhere in North America, even Mexico. I think that one change would have made it definitely cheaper for Germany in that first shop.
I want to end this by saying that your videos are still amazing. Please keep making them and showing people how much better Germany is than America. A lot of Americans think it's the best country in the world for everything. So it is nice having an American living abroad showing what a good country can actually be.
Thanks for the timely video! I recently did this myself, just to satisfy my curiosity. I was a bit more fussy when shopping at Aldi (Nord) and when I bought chicken and beef, only chose “Haltungsform 4”, Bio Milch, Yogurt and Eggs as well. I ended up not buying any produce as I just couldn’t deal with all the plastic packaging. When I did an item by item comparison between Edeka and Aldi, I had a total savings at Aldi of just over 6€. Which turns out to be what it costs for a round trip bus ticket to get there (I don’t have a driver’s license). So despite the savings, I’ll most likely stick to the Edeka that I can walk to in 3-1/2 minutes. Of course I could ride my bike to Aldi, but that is a 40 minute round trip, so I have to factor in the lost time at my desk. I also really appreciate the effort Edeka (ours here anyway, I don’t know if it the same everywhere) has made to support local farmers, from milk, to eggs, to local produce. I know the system is far from perfect, and I do shop at the farmers market as well, but at least they are doing *something* and not making it just about cheap. Anyway, thanks for the interesting video!
POV youtuber goes from Germany to USA just to compare prices in Aldi.
Regarding your comparison between REWE and Aldi prices: Germany‘s grocery market is extremely competitive. Especially regular Supermarkets like EDEKA and REWE (and others) are under constant pressure not only by Discounters like Aldi and Lidl, but some „in betweens“ like Kaufland, Globus and others. Though most goods are more expensive, they try to get customers in their shops by some (few) House Brands (JA, Gut & Günstig) that are (nearly) as cheap or some even cheaper as the Discounters‘ ones. Though in my opinion Aldi and Lidl are still leading in the price / quality ratio (by a small extent). Comparing Aldi and Lidl: IMHO it really depends on the product you choose and your personal taste. Generally speaking their house brands are of very high quality, they are on even footage with Name Brands sold at REWE and EDEKA.
Always entertaining and interesting, your videos Ashton! Have a great Sunday everyone!
19:00 thats probably because you bought Dinkel bread at the Aldi in Germany. I don't know if it was on purpose or not, but the Whole Wheat option was significantly cheaper
Hi Ashton, my personal recommendation on Aldi products are marinated shrimps, goat cheese with pepper, deep frozen spring rolls.
Thank you for the recommendation! I'll give it a try!
there was a comparison here on YT where they checked the prices of diffrent store brands (like ja!, gut&günstig etc) and if you only buy the store brand, the prices will be the same. (a pound of pasta is 0,8 € in aldi, rewe, lidl, etc). Due to the fact, that most of the time you also get more weight per package it is way more cheaper than the big brands. (and a lot of the store brands come from the same factory as big brands) There a few items that taste better if you don't buy the cheaper store brand, like pizza or some sort of chips (crisps), or soft drinks/ sodas. But even though I buy mostly store brands, I use every app from every store to save a few extra percentage and I look for things on sale I still have to pay 150€ or more per week for groceries for me and my 2 teenage kids.
Hi Ashton! Nice try but for this comparisons you need a deeper understanding of processing and distribution of the grocery’s…..it all comes down to the quality and the local providers of meat and vegetables 😊in Germany which are mostly regional….
Sometimes a dairy product in Germany is actually from the same manufacturer for cheap and brand option. They have this oval label ("Identitätskennzeichen", like: DE BY 12345 EG) that shows the producer, that way you can tell if it's the same. Edit: That could be a reason why there is no difference for Rewe and Aldi for Yoghurt.
Ah that is very interesting and good to know! Thank you for sharing!
hahaha don't underestimate our german superpower of hardcore DEBUNKING this; your german viewership will gladly do the math correctly for you ;)
Can confirm American can’t do math if their life depended on it.
[Tongue in cheek] CAUTION: IRONY!!! (in case it wasn't clear from the get go)
Price for an Aldi shopping cart in America 25 cent (= 0,22€)
Price for an Aldi Einkaufswagen in Germany 1 € (= $1,12)
So Aldi America is 4.5x cheaper than Aldi Germany. Case closed within the first two minutes. ;-P [\Tongue in cheek]
Then we just take the shopping cart on vacation in the US 😜
But hardly anyone in Germany spends money on this; most people have plastic chips or a universal opener on their key ring
actually 50 cent work on German aldi shopping carts
@@gene9230 In all carts. I have a "shopping 50cent" that I take in my trouser pocket when I go shopping. You get it back, so I don't loe that much interest on those 50 cent ;)
@@steemlenn8797 that is not true, there are carts that do not work with 50 cent
The yoghurt prices in Germany are no surprise at all. Those small yoghurt portions have a very specific job in the german grocery shops: to pull in customers. As a result they are sold at absolute cut throat prices. Even upmarket shops like REWE are forced to sell them at 0% profit or even at a loss, to compete with the Aldi-prices. It seems Aldi-Süd tries to get the same system going in the USA. In general the overall profit margin for grocery products in discounters is incredible low in Germany, somewhere between 2-4%. Which is almost impossible to compete with in the american market.
Ah! that is really interesting! Thank you for sharing!
You probally fucked up in the chicken Calculation. No one will buy a Chicken for 180€/kg (USA) and 100€/kg (DE). Those were probably the prices per kg/ multiple pounds.
Interesting video. I do feel like the quality of food (real food) is much lower in the US, not to mentioned all the processed food in the USA. My body feels healthier when I eat in Europe, with the same foods, but they’re just better.
Mississippi native here. I didn't realize until recently that it was unusual to have a tax on groceries that matches our regular sales tax. On top of being the poorest (or one of the poorest) in the nation. (And my area, the Gulf Coast, has pretty high food prices also).
I'm really happy to see this pointed out and acknowledged...even if I don't like the fact it needs to be.
I'm going to freiburg for vacation on Monday. I'm so excited!
Hey Ashton,
in your comparison table (rewe/hen house/both aldi's) you say, that 100g of chicken breast cost 9,90€ at Rewe. That would add too 99€ for one kilogram of chicken breast at rewe. That can't be right. Chicken breast is not sold more expensive than beef or salmon for example. And 99€ per kilogram? Who could afford that at a, let's say weekly basis? Maybe there was a math mistake?
Great comparison with surprising result: US prices not necessarily being more expensive than Germany if you shop in the right places. However, one thing I missed, which I found ridiculously overpriced in the US, is toilet paper. Would have been interesting to see if it is like 500% more expensive even at Aldi...
shop by price pr kilo.
and knowing the normal price, is the way to go, everywhere in the world.
So never shop in just one shop.
go shop in 2-4 different shops, and max once a week.
going for discount is the way to go :)
shopping by just what I want is very pricy.
Never make a dinnerplan by feel. Make weekly dinner plan. by what is on sale.
A lot of chicken meat sold in Denmark is "enhanced". The meat is injected with a salt water and sugar solution.
It's supposed to make the meat juicier, but it also means that the meat can be sold at an apparently lower kilo price, even though you actually get less chicken for your money.
Check your math on yogurt. You are not correct. Determine the price ratio for German to US in cents and Euros. Euros - 0.79 Cents -.94 They should be the same. At this point I stopped watching. This mistake should be obvious.
Chicken in Rewe was 9,90 EUR /kg and a sale price.
You can see it in the video.
If you add up this numbers you end up with 7.32 EUR for Rewe and 103.68%
Prices are nearly the same in Germany whne yozu take the store brands.
You can get 99 cent milk in every store for example.
And then you have different items on sale every week, which is for all stores including Aldi.
Ofcourse you can comparee prices on a one-to-one basis. But the next question is how to compare the quality of the products? How does it taste? What aditived do they contain? and so on.
As you mentioned about the bread, in the USA it is spungier than in Germany.. And Chicken in the EU is produced to way higher sanity standards than in the USA.. It can be cheaper, but a salmonella infection isn't any fun either.
In the US they have hormone cattle, which has a higher production of meat and milk than the regular or organic variant. And in the US the are not obligated to mention hormone use on the label, so you don’t know what you buy, but the probability of hormone meat and milk is big. The same can be said about wheat and corn with GMO used for bread. And in US manufactured food items, there are more cheap ingredients to mask the reduced use of original ingredients, like corn syrup. So all in all the US prices of GMO and hormone items should be cheaper than the European regular items.
What is the true cost of animal suffering? This should be added to the monetary cost of our diet.
It is common, in the US, to administer hormones and other drugs, banned in most of the developed world, to all types of livestock in order to increase their production levels/weight gain, and - regardless of any side effects which may, or may not, affect the person consuming that product - the side effects on the poor creatures to which they are administered are very often simply horrendous. Ractopamine is a prime example of this.
Things are very, _very,_ far from perfect in Europe, EU or non-EU, but in general animal welfare standards for meat, dairy and egg production are higher than in the US. Individual producers in the US may choose to have higher welfare standards than the norm, and sell more 'exclusively'; however, producers in Europe, and in particular the EU, must maintain certain minimum standards of both welfare and hygiene (the two are, of course, often closely linked) _by law_. These are _minimum_ standards and many consumers demand better.
Great comparison! It's ironic that you released this now as we'll be in Germany in a couple of weeks. I've wanted to check the difference in prices between here in Phoenix and where my wife's from near Landstuhl. Her sister is always complaining about grocery prices and we always laugh because it's so much cheaper than here.
I was so scared seeing the you reach into the almost empty box of bananas. I worked at a German supermarket and funnily enough a friend of mine worked on a banana field in Vietnam during his work and travel right after school.
He noticed that there are tons spiders and insects on the bananas (back in 2006) and even the bath wasn't guaranteed to get rid of them. Also some bananas grew directly in plastic bags carrying spiders in them.
I had two encounter in the fruit section stacking up banana boxes seeing a spider.
A customer also once reported a spider but I wasn't the person working in the fruit section anymore so I couldn't verify.
I have the irrational fear of finding a spider amongst those bananas even though they most likely won't bite and I'm not scared of spiders anywhere else.
Amazing video as always Ashton! Been there since the very start of the channel and it is always a pleasure seeing someone with a similar degree not being lazy and doing all the work necessary to find the best common demoninator to compare everything fairly.
Thank you so much for watching (and for unlocking a new fear! hahaha, joking of course). Appreciate you following this channel for so long!
Wow, I didn't know that the Aldi-Housebrands are ALSO different between Germany and Austria (though we call our Aldi "Hofer") too. Because for Austrian Aldi (AKA Hofer) I do reccomend the "Moser Roth" chocolate.
Also, they even get the vegetables from local sources whenever they can (i.e. cucumbers being in season), f.e. that'll be "LGV Gemüse" for the Vienna area, but different farmers in other states.
Just doing some calculations using ALDI prices in the UK. In boxes of 12, large British (free-range) eggs are the equivalent of 0.27 euros each (mediums would be 0.24). An 800gm basic wholemeal sliced load is 0.56 euros, although the nationally branded Hovis comes in at 1.66 euros, a huge difference. Whole Milk (in 4 UK pint containers) works out at 0.76 euros/litre. Basic strawberry yoghurt comes in at 38 euros per 100gm. In the UK, in 500gm packs, 5% fat minced beef is 0.42 euros per 100 gm. Chicken breasts (in a 650gm pack) work out at 0.82 euros per 100gm.
So in the UK I think, with a couple of exception, the prices are somewhat cheaper but it has to be borne in mind that there is no VAT on such grocery items in the country.
I couldn't do bananas as Aldi are (somewhat illogically) giving the prices per banana, not per kg.
The price of groceries is actually a minor point if you compare it with what people (often very happily, or at least without need) pay for big houses or big cars. Average new car price in Germany is 42K. Insane!
The capital income alone from this buying price alone (don't forget about fuel insurance etc) if invested is more than a grocery budget for a person.
Many people claim to have a lack of money, when it's really just a lack of restraint on luxury.
Who buys a new car, that's the worst investment you could ever do! If you want to buy a car, buy a used one, atleast one that's 1-2 years old, since the price is at least half the price of a new one. If you want to drive a new car, just leas it. It will be cheaper in the long run, and the company could write it off.
What a surprise. I live in Switzerland so I’m going to do a price comparison. Thank you. I don’t shop in Aldi, but I would tried this week
I would also be interested to know what the price difference is in Switzerland. I notice so many of them every time I visit, but wonder if they are as significant of a difference from other grocery options.
Thank you very much for this interesting check. I visited on June this Year USA. In fact, the prices in ALDI are very low if I compare the prices on other typical shops in the USA. In my opinion, the low prices in the ALDI are due to the fact that the shops there are not maintained with a lot of staff, service and cleanliness. The ALDI in the USA shows what ALDI was like in Germany 20 years ago. In the meantime, at least in Germany, more emphasis is placed on service and cleanliness. Currently, the competition of discounters in Germany is simply unbeatable. We are cheaper in Germany than in the Czech Republic, although the Czechs earn significantly less.
At 12:18 the price of the American yogurt should be 0,33 €. Its correct in the summary table.
On some of those same items, Aldi and Walmart have similar prices. At Sam's Club there are some better prices on the shelf but one has to factor the cost of membership as part of the pricing too.
Here in the UK many supermarkets make the point that they price mark with Aldi or Lidl so that you do your full shop with them. As I have time and the walking distance is minimal I tend to find that yogurts and dairy is cheaper in these stores
There is a great interview available on YT with a former ALDI executive who explains their strategies. In short, they have a limited sortiment of goods which sells through fast. They also price according to market conditions and not to reach margin goals for increasing their EBITDA. And it turned out that their formula of providing great price to performance for decent quality is popular by consumers and works good enough for them as a company.
Organic meat is erfahrungsgemäß about thrice as expensive as conventional meat in Germany.
which is understandable - factory farming is much cheaper to do... we just end up paying that up front reduction in cost in worse health outcomes (antibiotic resistant bacteria) and worsening climate outcomes (factory farming produces significantly more greenhouse gases)... and we probably pay much more in those consequences than the up front savings...
@@SharienGaming completely agree.
I should have written simply: Non organic ground beef probably costs only a third of what Ashton paid for her organic package in Germany. And then the US would have been on the more expensive side.
And no, cheaply priced and/or produced meat isn’t a good thing.
@@winterlinde5395She also brought Organic American meat
@@Hasanaljadidreally? The ground beef? I didn’t catch that.
There are mistakes in the price comparison, e.g. comparing the US cents vs EU cents. In one case 1.00 vs 1.18 is 18% and not 14.7%.
Also chicken price of $18 per 100gr is quite unusual. Haven’t seen chicken at $180per KG or $75per lbs in US. Definitely the whole conversion is adding complexity in reporting prices and honest mistakes have been made.
Hey there - apologies for the oversight. And you are 100% correct. I went back and looked at my numbers and I see the error. Originally in my first video I had calculated the cost of chicken to a common value per kg (but mislabeled it in my chart that I had pre-saved from the first round), and here I went down to 100g. What is interesting nonetheless is that the cost of chicken at ReWe was 9.90 EUR per kg and Aldi was 9.98 EUR per kg. So Aldi chicken was more expensive than ReWe (although only marginally). And in the USA, the cost of chicken at Hen House was $8.19 per lb (not incl. tax) and at Aldi it was $7.69 per kg (not incl. tax). So American Aldi chicken was the cheapest overall, even when including tax and the exchange rate of euro to usd!
What About What About fruit and vegetables?You Only counted bananas.
I typically leave those off of these kinds of comparisons because there is too much variability from what is "regional" and "in season" even from State to State, let alone comparing countries.
Could this be true? 1 kg of chicken at Hen House costing 180 $ an 99 € at Rewe? Definitively this is not true for Rewe. I no way intend to doubt your researches, but would it be possible that you compared 100 g amount to 1 kg amount?
Yes, she used the price per kilo instead of the price per 100 grams. That should have been noticed when editing the video at the latest.
Keep in mind that Aldi workers in Germany have all the "perks" like payed vacation, healthcare, pension, descent wages ect... (In the US, 60% of Walmart employees are on food stamps).That makes the comparison even more astonishing!
I just went to my local Aldi for the first time yesterday (NE Wisconsin). We have a coin left in the carts, too. I didn't see the variety of items I'm used to in other stores, which was a surprise. I went because I was going to be in that town, and I saw an ad for German foods there, so I wanted to try. I might go back, especially since they're the only place I can find breaded eggplant slices (frozen), and I miss getting them in my local mom and pop. But I don't think it'll become my regular store.
As always a great video. I will add not only the food is less expensive in Germany, it is fresher, restricted preservatives and tastes better. If the chicken cost €10/Kg worth the price for the taste for free range chicken on that are smaller in size..all the best!
Aldi has abandoned Denmark.
Aldi (Nord) opened the first discount store in Denmark in 1977, introducing the discount concept in the country..
In 2022 they pulled out and sold their stores to another chain (REMA 1000, based in Norway)
Aldi always struggled to gain a foothold in the Danish market. They had difficulty adapting their model to the habits of Danish consumers. For example, Danes want fresh, refrigerated milk. UHT milk has a long shelf life and doesn't need to be refrigerated, and is therefore cheaper. But even the most price-conscious buyers didn't care for that.
Eggs are another example. Eggs in Europe are sold unwashed, which means they have a long shelf life (the washing process removes the protective layer in the eggshell) and they CAN be stored just fine at room temperature. But danish consumers want their eggs from a refrigerator gosh darnit &%&%¤%¤#%&¤! That's how we store the eggs at home.
In Germany, with eggs as unwashed as can be (yep, chicken poop smell and all), it never ever even occurred to me to NOT store eggs in the fridge (although they are stored on unrefrigerated shelfs in the store). I mean, frigdes are even sold with these little egg shelf thingies by default, always have been.
45 years doesnt seem like an absolute failure
Regarding the chicken they inject (literally) it with water (after the chicken is slaughtered luckilly…
Not only Aldi.. The biggest Retailer AH does it also 😮😢. Personally, I think every supermarket does it unfortunately.
Rewe likes to pricematch the discounter stores when it comes to their home brand "ja!"
Romania, here. My favorite german brand : Kaufland. ❤
Seriously, these unnaturally white, giant american „Alien“-Eggs creep me out…
I‘m buying chicken only on the weekly market in town. There have been many reports about abusing chickens by from big companies (like Wiesenhof), I want to make sure, I get local grown chickens. And I can tell you taste it. A chicken will cost me 15€ instead of 5€, but I personally find worth it. The same goes for meat - I buy it from my local butcher.
German Aldi and Trader Joe's are AldiNord. Missouri Aldi is AldiSud. That is the difference. Missouri Aldi is about price. The quality is comparable to most other grocery stores. You could buy frigadells at German Aldi's.
Chicken should be cheaper at lake of the Ozarks due to proximity to Tysons chicken. A pound of hamburger in a chain store can have meat from cows in ten different states
As interesting as these price comparison videos are (Even Edinger has done a couple great ones for he US and UK), they are ultimately meaningless because we simply cannot account for all the relevant variables. One thing that is missing (but very difficult to really get) would be an indication of a given person's income in both places because an egg be 4 cents more expensive could either be a small difference or a pretty meaningful difference if they are in a place with relatively higher or lower income (and this the egg being a lower or higher proportion of their earnings). But of course the big one is the on e we all know: you buy groceries where you are, not the other side of a ocean. As someone who has moved overseas, I can say you very quickly get out of the habit of converting the prices of things because does it really matter if that coffee would have been 10 cents cheaper 'back home' when you are not back home? You ultimately have to work in the local currency, especially if you are being paid in that currency and do not have significant assets/liabilities in the other place, and get to the point where you are roughly thinking in terms of is this a lot or a little of my take home pay (which is really how we should always be thinking).
Yes, as someone who has lived and worked in many different countries throughout the world, this is very true.
When I lived in tropical climates, I relished being able to gorge on fresh ripe mangoes, and it entertained me mildly to think that such an 'expensive' fruit would plop down into my garden from my neighbour's trees - just like victoria plums did in the UK! - but I didn't try to compare prices of 'staple' foods as staples simply aren't the same from one part of a country to another, let alone from one continent to another. I just altered my diet and cooking styles somewhat, and occasionally treated myself to something familiar.
I find it shocking that some U.S. states and Germany impose taxes on groceries. The only morally acceptable tax rate for essential food items is 0
I would say the main question is what is the minimum wage, unemployment benefits and other social transfers. This in the end determines what is justified and "morally" acceptable
Honestly, to compare organic beef price with normal beef price is not fair. Organic beef cost min 50% more in Germany