This rapidly expanding grocery chain is 30% cheaper than Walmart

The German grocery chain Aldi offers drastically cheaper prices than Walmart, according to a recent price check.

We compared the prices of 34 items at an Aldi store in Richmond, Virginia, to an identical set of items at a nearby Walmart store.

The Aldi basket was about 30% cheaper than the total at Walmart.

The bills came to $89.48 at Aldi and $115.86 at Walmart, after we accounted for the products' varying package sizes and calculated those differences into the final price.

Scroll to the bottom to see our itemized list of results.

Aldi was cheaper in fresh produce as well as packaged goods.

We found the biggest price differences between the two retailers on peanut butter, flour, butter, quinoa, apples, grapefruit, flour tortillas, and coconut oil.

For example, Aldi's creamy peanut butter cost $2.99 for 40 ounces and Walmart's Great Value brand cost $4.37 for the same amount. Flour was $2.16 cheaper at Aldi, four sticks of butter was $1.28 cheaper, and 16 ounces of quinoa was $2.93 cheaper, compared to Walmart.

Three pounds of gala apples cost $2.99 at Aldi and $4.41 at Walmart, and a whole grapefruit cost $0.79 at Aldi and $1.28 at Walmart.

Walmart was a better deal on six items: tomatoes, milk, eggs, organic bananas, and boneless skinless chicken breasts.

In response to the results of this price check, Walmart spokesman John Forrest Ales pointed out that Walmart will match prices advertised by other retailers.

"While this is not an apples to apples comparison of identical ingredients, size or brand, we know millions of customers choose Walmart every day for our low prices on the national and private brands they love and trust," Ales said. "They count on us for quality, value and convenience - whether shopping their grocery lists in our stores or online. We believe customers shouldn't have to choose between high quality fresh foods and affordable prices."

Aldi is rapidly expanding in the US.

The chain recently revealed plans to open roughly 600 stores over the next three years as part of a $3 billion expansion in the US, bringing its total number of stores to 2,000.

Aldi keeps prices so low by limiting inventory to a lean selection of private-label items, with very few major brands.

If the same exact brand wasn't available at both Walmart and Aldi, we compared Aldi's private-label brand to the cheapest option at Walmart, which was offered by its Great Value brand in most cases.

Aldi also keeps prices low by investing far less in customer service and merchandising than traditional grocers.

The retailer saves money by requiring customers to bring their own shopping bags, bag their own groceries, and pay a 25-cent deposit to use carts. The deposit is refunded when customers return the carts, so Aldi doesn't have to pay employees to round them up and return them to the front of the store.

The no-frills shopping experience isn't just cheaper - it's also highly efficient.

Workers don't have to unpack boxes of groceries to stock them on shelves. The products are delivered in boxes with an open side, so they can be thrown onto a shelf without being unpacked.

Here's the full list of our results:

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