Aldi joins other grocers in cutting prices as shoppers buy less food

Discount grocer Aldi is joining a growing list of food retailers that are slashing prices as inflation-weary shoppers cut back on supermarket purchases.

With Aldi’s U.S. price cuts, nearly a third of the products in its stores are cheaper than they were last year, amounting to an estimated $86 million in savings for shoppers, the Germany-based chain said in a statement. The price cuts went into effect Wednesday and will last until at least Nov. 3, Aldi said.  

“Customers trust us to help them make the most of their grocery budget, and we never stop looking for ways to run our business more efficiently so we can pass along savings," Scott Patton, Aldi chief commercial officer, said in a statement.

Among the products that got price cuts were Autumncrisp grapes, Bartlett pears, Brussels sprouts, butternut and spaghetti squash, fresh herbs and garlic, French beans, and some apples and potatoes.

Honeycrisp apples are priced at $1.99 per pound, which is 35% cheaper than they were last year and their lowest everyday price in more than five years, Aldi said.

Kirkwood chicken breast family packs are $1.99 per pound, the lowest everyday price since 2022.

Among Aldi’s more than 2,400 U.S. stores, 19 are on Long Island.

Aldi is a limited-assortment grocer, which is smaller than a traditional supermarket and carries a high percentage of its own private-label brands.

More than 90% of Aldi's products are under the grocer's own private-label brands.

Consumers buying less

Aldi joins Costco, Stop & Shop, Walmart, Kroger and other grocery sellers in cutting prices this year, as cost pressure builds on consumers who have responded by buying less food. 

The price reductions were made amid growing competition from discounters, such as Aldi and Dollar General, which are drawing more bargain-seeking shoppers. 

In June, Costco, which has eight warehouse clubs on Long Island, cut prices on eggs and beef, as well as on some products of its store brand, Kirkland Signature — chicken wings, chocolate almonds, golf balls and sheets — during its fiscal third quarter.

Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop, which is owned by Dutch company Ahold Delhaize and is the largest grocer on Long Island, announced in May it had lowered prices between 5% and 35% on thousands of products at 150 supermarkets in New Jersey, southern Connecticut and New York, including its 46 stores on Long Island.

Stop & Shop cut prices at its stores in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and most of Connecticut in 2024 and 2025.

Aldi's price cuts, though they could end in early November, will help shoppers buying food for the holidays, said Port Washington resident Mary Snyder, 64, while outside the grocer's East Northport store Thursday.

"People will say, 'You know, it's the third of November. I should really get some canned goods or whatever. ... So Thanksgiving isn't as expensive,'" said the retiree, adding that she's a comparison shopper who checks the price per pound in grocery stores.

Kings Park resident Geri Ferrara, 68, has become more strategic about her shopping in recent years, she said.

"I'm retired, so I just float between the stores, wherever I'm going to get the most for my money at this point," said Ferrara outside at the Aldi store in East Northport on Thursday.

Shoppers buy less, trade down

Grocery prices have spiked in the past several years due to several factors, including supply chain disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020 and the war in Ukraine affecting commodity costs.

One of the biggest factors in rising grocery prices this year is the war in Iran, which began Feb. 28 and has disrupted fuel shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, economic experts said.

Diesel fuels the trucks that transport food and the machinery used on farms, while petroleum byproducts are used to produce fertilizer.

Rising gas prices also are taking a bigger share of consumers’ weekly budgets.

The price of a gallon of regular gas on Long Island on Thursday is $4.48, which is 42% higher than it was a year ago, according to AAA.

Grocery prices in the 25-county metropolitan region, including Long Island, in August were 31% higher they were in the same month in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nationwide, grocery prices soared 33% during that period.

In response to the rising costs, 28% of Americans said they were trying to cut back on grocery spending, according to a May survey conducted by Bain & Co., a Boston-based management consulting firm. Among those cutting spending, 56% were trading down to cheaper brands, 49% were buying fewer items and 44% were using coupons and promotions more often, Bain said.

Another factor reducing food spending is the decline in low-income households' participation in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called the food stamp program, after benefits were reduced in 2025 and eligibility requirements became stricter this year, Bain reported.

The growing use of GLP-1 weight loss drugs is also a factor in declining grocery sales, Bain reported.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.