When you load up the car with reusable grocery bags, double-check that your wallet has a quarter or two, and head to your local Aldi, you probably have a mission in mind. Whether you’re there to navigate the beloved (and begrudgingly good) Aldi “Aisle of Shame” or snag some Aldi brand snacks, you’re probably confident that you’re getting a good deal, since Aldi consistently ranks as one of the most affordable grocery stores.
You might be in for an even better bargain if you know Aldi’s unspoken policy about foods nearing expiration. Although it’s not an officially marked policy, Aldi shoppers have it on good authority that the German-based grocery chain will offer discounts on food products expiring within a five-day window. The discount itself can vary, anywhere from 30% to 50% or even 75% – but the catch is that you’ll often have to ask for it.
Some shoppers say the discounts are higher the closer the food is to expiration, while others say their store policy is a firm percentage off for any expiration within the five(ish) day window. It all depends on the discretion of the particular store, but the bottom line is that if you spot a product that expires in the next handful of days, point it out to the cashier and see what kind of discount they can offer you.
Yes, you can ask for a discount on near-expiring Aldi foods
Aldi’s unspoken policy on discounted food isn’t all hearsay, since many people on social media have shared examples of their experiences. One shopper shared a story in an Instagram post explaining that they found chicken breast filets with a following-day expiration date and when they asked for a discount (to test the unspoken policy), they received 30% off. Similarly, a TikTok post documented an experiment where two shoppers went into two different Aldis, found products nearing expiration, asked for a discount, and both received a percentage off of their final bill.
One of the shoppers also noted that the more of a near-expiry product’s inventory there is, the greater the discount. The conversations are also rampant on Reddit, where one user found meat expiring the following day and received 50% off each product. Unsurprisingly, we ranked Aldi as one of the top 20 popular chain grocery stores for meat. Aldi employees regularly go through the store and tag the items nearing expiry with discount stickers, but they’re only human, and sometimes products are missed in the process. Even if the answer is “no,” or you’re offered 30% instead of 75%, this quiet policy is still worth doing a little digging on.
