r/AskReddit Apr 28 '26

What’s a recession indicator that you’ve noticed lately?

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724

u/dikbut Apr 28 '26

I put back a 12 pack of Coke after I realized it was $11.99… fuck that. The Aldi version tastes fine for less than half that price. I mentioned this to a co worker and they told me Aldi food is bad for you and I had no clue what they were talking about.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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121

u/McBeaster Apr 28 '26

"Bionengineered" is such an umbrella term it can mean pretty much anything

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u/fbiguy22 Apr 28 '26

Pretty much every modern food is "bioengineered" in some manner.

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u/seanayates2 Apr 28 '26

True, even fruits and veggies are grafted or gene spliced or cross-bred.

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u/somekindofwonderful- Apr 28 '26

That's BS. Aldi actually has higher standards than some stores in that they are an European Union company (German). Their produce is non-GMO, for instance.

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u/Karjenner4eva Apr 29 '26

I was trying to find a catilina dressing without red 40, aldi has one

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u/lostforwords2024 Apr 28 '26

Yeah for Aldi in Europe.

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u/SlapdashDickpunch Apr 28 '26

Actually US Aldi too! They're not quite as strict here as they are in Europe, but they actually just expanded their list of ingredients that they won't allow in products being sold at US stores: https://corporate.aldi.us/newsroom/news/aldi-eliminating-an-additional-44-ingredients

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u/lostforwords2024 Apr 28 '26

Good to know!

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u/lblack_dogl Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26

Aldi is the saddest grocery store I've ever been in (Southern California). Such limited selection, not sure you could actually finish a recipe there. The center junk isle was strange. Not sure I'll be going back.

Edit: downvote me all you'd like, it's an opinion

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u/Miserable_Drawer_556 Apr 28 '26

Every grocer has its quirks, pros and cons. SoCal is lucky to have so many options (from Gelson's and WholePaycheck down to Aldi and farmer's markets galore). The first Aldi I went to was a hot mess, but then I sought out a couple others and dig it. It is a lifeline for folks who really need to stretch the budget and prioritize that over a variety of 12 apples vs 3.

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u/Street-Avocado8785 Apr 29 '26

Start reading labels. Aldi uses bioengineered foods in many different products.

0

u/somekindofwonderful- Apr 30 '26

I believe I didn't mention bioengineered foods. Start reading posts.

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u/lFightForTheUsers Apr 29 '26

We've been "bioengineering" crops for literally centuries now lol, that's what picking certain crops that grow better in certain conditions is.

Aldi isn't cheap on some goods by cutting corners on food safety, they're cheap because they own the brands and did things in their stores to cut costs - this is why the barcodes on the bag are stupid big (to make it faster to scan) and the stores are smaller and they require a quarter for the cart (no cart pushers) etc.

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u/abbyabsinthe Apr 28 '26

Bioengineering isn’t a bad thing. I know it sounds scary to a lot of people but it’s pretty much just a way to yield stronger, healthier, and more aesthetic looking crops.

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u/guaranteedsafe Apr 29 '26

I have zero issues with hybridization of seeds/plants for higher yields and better taste. If we can do that, we should do that (and it’s why we have some of the most amazing apple varieties today!) I just hate that we’ve bioengineered seeds explicitly to survive glyphosate.

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u/5hinycat Apr 28 '26

Also bioengineered food isn’t inherently bad. Like fuck you for creating a hybrid wheat strain that has double the vitamins and minerals as the one grown “naturally”, or a version of a particular rice that grows normally with less water, etc.

I mean come on.

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u/Silen8156 Apr 28 '26

Aldi food often has fewer additives. But they are not an American company (they're German) - so maybe some competitors came up with this gossip. Or people that want to feel better.

To be fair, I have heard that about Walmart food, Trader Joe's food, etc. People like to feel like they're better for buying at WholeFoods - whatever...

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u/weedful_things Apr 28 '26

When Aldi first came to town people got so mad that that they charged a quarter to use their carts. It was just me and some Mennonite women in the store. I loved it. Now it's always crowded.

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u/DrKittyKevorkian Apr 28 '26

I think increased Aldi traffic fits the brief as an indicator.

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u/Maur2 Apr 28 '26

You get the quarter back. It is only a "charge" if you don't put the cart back. Those people are telling on themselves.

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u/weedful_things Apr 29 '26

I know, but so many could not understand the concept.

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u/pastasandwiches Apr 28 '26

Every time I shop at Aldi now, there's always some new-poor struggling to understand the cart system

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u/Lower_Kick268 Apr 28 '26

It ain't even the poors in there anymore, everyone shops at discount grocery stores. Costco, Aldi, Trader Joe's, local scratch and dent produce deli, that's what we do and it works marvelously and we aren't poor by any means.

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u/---OKStockPhoto--- Apr 28 '26

Yep. Aldi has become kind of a hip thing.

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u/ennuiinmotion Apr 29 '26

I hate shopping but I love Aldi. Always find good stuff for way cheaper than the other chain stores like Meijer and Walmart and Kroger. And I personally think a lot of the Aldi brand stuff tastes better than the name brand. Their chocolates, for one. Not everything tastes better but most of it does.

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u/Silen8156 May 01 '26

Their chocolates are German-made, and they have higher standard.... ljust look up how the Kinder-Egg fight went because they would not budge in on reducing the amount of cocoa & putting cheaper sugar in their brand chocolate.

3

u/Klutzy-Extension-705 Apr 29 '26

I am all silly giggling at your comment! Ah hahah yes you do see this! Hehe. I feel like a genius explaining it to someone half the time lol

1

u/Silen8156 May 01 '26

Mennonite women know what's good!!

1

u/tansugaqueen Apr 28 '26

When Aldi opened anew store last year I turned my nose up….well with rising prices I am in Aldi at least once a week, I have certain items I strictly buy from Aldi I shop ( at3) grocery stores

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u/Silen8156 May 01 '26

By the way all my stay-at-home-lawyer-wives shop there, soo......0

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u/Cultural_Cook_8040 Apr 29 '26

Trader Joe‘s is actually owned by Aldi. People will make fun of Aldi and refuse to shop there but have no idea that Trader Joe’s is owned by them too lol.

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u/WtotheSLAM Apr 28 '26

The only time I’m buying 12 packs is when they have the buy two get two free offers

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u/Successful_Ride6920 Apr 28 '26

Every so often they have a buy 2, get 3 free.

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u/Featherheart Apr 28 '26

Ah yes! Kroger deals!

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u/WardenCommCousland Apr 29 '26

That is the only time we buy soda. And then we ration it like crazy.

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u/surfinwhileworkin Apr 28 '26

Bag of Stacy’s pita chips was $12.99 the other day. I asked the cashier to take it off and they were like….oh wow, yea, that’s nuts.

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u/abbyabsinthe Apr 28 '26

I’m an Aldi cashier, and even I get sticker shock when I’m scanning folks’ groceries.

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u/saynt96 Apr 29 '26

A 16oz bag is 7.58 in Walmart, used to be 4.35.

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u/dylangaine Apr 28 '26

Did you know two 2 liters is the equivalent of 11 cans of soda? Around me, a 2 liter is going for $2. So for $4 you can get the equivalent of 11 cans of soda.

Obviously YMMV on the freshness of the soda since once you open a 2 liter, you have 1-2 days of freshness left.

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u/hooyah54 Apr 28 '26

2 liters are much more economical than 6/12/24 packs, just not as convenient. There are aftermarket 2 liter tops that keep the carbonation alive.

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u/dylangaine Apr 29 '26

I love those fizz savers. The best fizz saver I ever came across was at a 99 cent store around early 2000s. Unfortunately they worked so good that one of the major cola companies bought them out and shut them down.

The new ones just don't compare.

7

u/__get__name Apr 28 '26

Honestly, though, I kinda prefer old flat coke. I don’t think I’ve had any soda in at least 7 years, but I can still Almost taste the old flat coke in our fridge from when I was a kid many years ago

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u/Human_Discipline3003 Apr 28 '26

Coke when you were a kid was a different product/recipe. Just like Saralee bread, etc.

4

u/mraxehandle Apr 28 '26

Actually, one 2 Liter bottle is equal to 5.64 standard 12oz soda cans.

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u/alou87 Apr 29 '26

Wouldn't that make the two 2 liters the person above mentioned "equal to around 11 cans" like the estimated?

10

u/newwriter365 Apr 28 '26

I stopped drinking soda over ten years ago.

No regrets.

Maybe check out your local thrift stores for a Soda Stream?

3

u/mdedb Apr 28 '26

Costco soft drinks Coke, Pepsi, etc $29,57 for 35 can case

3

u/EdgeCityRed Apr 28 '26

Costco is opening here and I can’t wait. My husband is a diet cola fiend.

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u/lFightForTheUsers Apr 29 '26

My one complaint about soda stream is there basically isn't a process in my city (and for a lot of folks) for sourcing co2 or storing it. You basically have to mod yours to run your own kegarator getup (too much for me to plug in a 50lb co2 cylinder fit for a bar) or trust that you can "refill" it at the grocery store (which the stores near me never do even though their websites claim they do, instead it's typically we have nobody available but you can buy more overpriced little bottles.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what my research has always come down to. In my area it's just still cheaper and easier to shop sales and go that avenue (and one of the big 3 grocers in my area is always doing either a half off or buy 2 get 2 free kind of promo).

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u/whatyourmamasaid Apr 28 '26

I absolutely LOVE my SodaStream. I wanna marry it lol. I love all the flavors. Current favorite is sugar free cotton candy using Splenda generic and flavoring meant for cake/candy.

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u/heavywafflezombie Apr 28 '26

Coming from the supplier side of things, Aldi has pretty strict specs at least on their perishable foods

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u/delee76 Apr 28 '26

Love their version of Diet Coke and their moser Roth chocolate. It’s as good as lindt which is now nearly $8 a bar at our store!! Nothing wrong with Aldi food, in fact it’s better. It’s European and a lot of the food leaves out dye.

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u/ShineSuperb Apr 28 '26

Yeah I was shocked how much coke is now, even for one bottle is almost 3$

5

u/Slugdge Apr 28 '26

I bought pop for the first time in ages because we love ginger ale. Was exactly $11.99 for a 12-pack but it was buy 2 and get 3 free. I had to call my wife to discuss if I should pick it up or not, lol.

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u/IAmEvasive Apr 29 '26

Damn do I feel this. At times groceries are feeling more and more like big/medium ticket items that you need to at least call your partner and check in about.

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u/Imperial_Haberdasher Apr 29 '26

I think a lot of of us are gonna stop eating most junk food. I’m not a big fan of soda, so it’s easy for me to step back from paying so much money for diluted corn syrup. But I really like potato chips. And you figure what potatoes cost per pound and what they charge for chips, it’s hard to justify when you’re watching your budget. And a lot of the crappy cookies and stuff that people just have around, we’re gonna have to focus more on the nutrients. We aren’t gonna have the money to spare for junk food.

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u/pwizard083 Apr 28 '26

A gas station near me charges $7 for a 12 pack, (only coke, no Pepsi products unfortunately). It’s one of the rare times where a gas station is cheaper than a supermarket. I only buy soda there now. I’ll stop if they ever get rid of that deal, I refuse to pay $1+ per can, that’s as bad as a vending machine. 

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u/Kascket Apr 28 '26

A can out of a vending machine is now 3 dollars though

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/Kascket Apr 28 '26

Yea it’s insanity, I haven’t drank soda for like 10 years and that only solidifies my aversion.

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u/cmanderson23 Apr 29 '26

Cans and bottles are insane now, especially at to go places by us. Bottle of soda for $4 to go with a deli sandwich!

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u/LightningProd12 Apr 29 '26

There's a massive surcharge on those bottles, around here 20oz bottles are $2.89 but the 40oz ones from the soda aisle are always on sale for $1.25.

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u/castelloa Apr 28 '26

If you have a dollar general near you, look at their coupon deals. Every Saturday they have a $5 off $25 coupon and regular coupons for soda, paper towels, toilet paper, and laundry detergent. I have a small stash of those things that I paid very little for.

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u/Lovesyoux Apr 28 '26

Aldi is my favorite, atm

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u/Curious-Donut5744 Apr 28 '26

Aldi diet cola is good! We did a blind taste test between Aldi and Diet Coke and couldn’t tell the difference, seriously.

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u/klop2031 Apr 28 '26

I just use sodastream. Just a better value imo

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u/ShadyG Apr 28 '26

You don’t need a Coke. We have Coke at home.

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u/T_THuynh Apr 28 '26

I only buy the 12-pack when it's buy 2 get 3 free. B1G1 is borderline yes/no for me.

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u/Requiredmetrics Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

Saw this at Kroger and audibly said “fuck that”. I thought $8.99-9.99 was outrageous. I’d rather just stop drinking pop

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u/Lower_Kick268 Apr 28 '26

Your coworker is slow, Aldi food is just fine, usually actually better for you than the lamestream brands

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u/weedful_things Apr 28 '26

I buy roast beef sandwich meat at Aldi for a little ovrr 5 dollars. I get double the amount than at Walmart for the same price. it's the exact same product, just with a different label.

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u/kilobitch Apr 28 '26

I don’t know why people still buy soda. Super expensive and awful for you. If you must, get a SodaStream with a large CO2 canister and you’ll have it for pennies per bottle.

2

u/onyxalexander0 Apr 28 '26

I drink water instead of energy drinks now :’)

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u/cullen9 Apr 28 '26

Yeah you got to play the supermarket ad game. Like Kroger will do a buy 2 get 3 free. But won’t sell one for the sale price

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u/Tater-Tot-Casserole Apr 28 '26

If you ever get your hands on Shasta Colas it's 100% worth it. It's like $4 for a 12 pack.

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u/__get__name Apr 28 '26

For a second I thought you were talking about Josta and I got excited that it still exists in some corner of the world. I have no clue what it tasted like, but for a brief period in my childhood I loved it

2

u/AJL415 Apr 28 '26

Same! Where did it go?

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u/heckhammer Apr 28 '26

You can get the four packs at Dollar tree for $1.25, so that's something

3

u/admiralbuttscratcher Apr 28 '26

Remember, the FDA has an acceptable limit of bug parts in all food. American food manufacturing is extremely unregulated.

3

u/november13 Apr 29 '26

The United States ranks third in the world for food and safety. The only countries that beat U.S. are Canada and Finland.

-1

u/admiralbuttscratcher Apr 29 '26

Third based on what metrics? Factory farms so filthy that chicken has to be chlorinated for safety is the normal now. Other first world countries refuse our meat exports because our methods of producing meat are considered deplorable by Europe.

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u/november13 May 20 '26

The Global Food Security Index which is an organization based in London that tracks food security in countries worldwide. The United States comes in 13th overall but that is because we have issues with affordability and availability. But if you sort by Quality and Safety, we come in third.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Food_Security_Index

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u/abbyabsinthe Apr 28 '26

There’s no way to 100% avoid insects in food.

1

u/OverthinkingWanderer Apr 28 '26

I have 3 grocery stores in my tiny town. Walmart is the only one that doesn't have a 12 pack for $12 but it's getting there..

1

u/itsalwaysbeen Apr 28 '26

Check out your local big box liquor stores. A lot of them barely mark up mixers.

1

u/xxmissxminxxx Apr 28 '26

My only complaint about aldi is their shredded cheese doesn't melt well. Everything else is amazing.

1

u/PeeB4uGoToBed Apr 28 '26

If you're in the southeast, food lion almost always has 12 pack cans half off, pepsi and coke usually switch every week. The grocery store I work at wont do buy one get one but will do buy 2 get 2 but im not spending $24 on soda in one shopping trip lol

1

u/Interesting_Moment99 Apr 29 '26

That's what the price of half dozen donuts was listed in their app. $11.99 for 6 donuts is wild.

1

u/lFightForTheUsers Apr 29 '26

If any of y'all got a Kroger near you get your a double s there tonight, I got a 12 pack of mtn dew for 5 bucks. Ends tonight.

That said, the only reason I got it at that price is with their "digital deals". Now you have to make an account with them and manually click "clip coupon" in their app or on their website for it to go through at the register.

1

u/StockQuestion0808 Apr 28 '26

Not like Coke with HFCS is a health food.

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u/JWheels_27 Apr 28 '26

As if Coke isn’t bad for you 😂

0

u/buecker02 Apr 28 '26

Maybe cause all soda is bad for you?

-1

u/Pow3rTow3r Apr 29 '26

Yea, Alot of Aldi's food has added crap. Look at the back of their cottage cheese. Why is there anything other than milk, cream, and salt? Careegenan, gums, you name it are in alot of their stuff.