The Reason Fish At Aldi Is So Cheap

With the high price of food at major grocers, you might be considering shopping at Aldi, the family-owned discount supermarket chain with over 2,000 stores in 36 states. The chain is well-known for its leased carts (you'll need a quarter to use one, though you do get it back), along with self-bagging, exclusive brands, and low prices throughout the store. One of the departments with the lowest prices is meat and seafood. Shoppers can purchase quality meats and even seafood at amazingly affordable prices. Greenpeace has given Aldi decent marks for its sustainability practices, too.

During 2024, seafood and fish prices have remained higher than the cost of beef in the United States. Aldi, however, continues to have surprisingly affordable prices on its seafood and fish products. How does the budget grocery chain manage to do it? By practicing responsible sourcing whenever possible and, more specifically, by relying on cost-cutting deals with suppliers for its in-house brands. 

Aldi largely doesn't rely on nationally recognized products names like other retailers; what's more that lack of name brands is by design. Instead, the chain more often stocks its shelves with items that are exclusive to the chain. Aldi's buyers can negotiate for great deals on these private label products and, with few to no middlemen, pass those savings onto consumers. The chain's Fremont Fish Market brand, for instance, offers a wide variety of frozen seafood products that are affordable for this reason.

In other sections of the store, another way Aldi cuts costs is by purchasing products from local manufacturers, which eliminates many transportation costs and can bypass wholesaler and distributor pricing. This is precisely why Aldi's meat is often so cheap (though admittedly this doesn't work for seafood if a store is far from the ocean). If these other items don't travel long distances, they may also require less packaging, representing yet another way to keep costs down. Buying locally may also means buying seasonal goods, which can be in greater supply and therefore less expensive. For instance, if you've ever bought strawberries during the winter months, you may have noticed that they weren't grown locally and cost considerably more than they would during the summer.