I've crossed to the dark side

It didn't take much to convince me to change brands

Good morning!

I’ve done something I never thought I’d do.

Become an Aldi shopper.

My first visit there a couple of weeks back was a combination of confusion and delight.

I walked out of there with items that looked like my regular groceries but they were called different names.

If you had have asked me what I actually purchased I wouldn’t have known - possibly 3 chickens and a chainsaw?

For my next visit I had a little more navigational prowess and found the bread (it’s near the end) and only had to backtrack once to find what I’d gone past (beans, milk).

I was feeling pretty good about myself until I met Max Verstappen at the checkout. He was moving the groceries over the barcode scanner and into the bagging area before I had even finished unloading my basket.

Yesterday was the sealer.

Was in and out in under 10 minutes with stuff that I thought would be close to $100 and ended up being $50.34. Half the expected price.

I’ve always avoided Aldi because I was pretty loyal to Woolworths (closer to home, rewards points). Plus the added benefit of having a photographic memory of where everything is located in store - the benefit of living close for 7 years.

Now I’ve moved and Aldi is just up the road and Woolies is further away.

Made me think about those brands and businesses that see extreme loyalty from a customer only for the customer to dump them quickly. They haven’t done anything wrong - there’s just a better/faster/cheaper solution that’s entered their vista.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to make what I think is Corn Flakes for breakfast and lovingly admire the rake, water pistols and Santa dog bed I picked up yesterday.

See you in the morning,

Wade