Why Aldi Shoppers Might Want To Avoid The Potatoes

Die-hard Aldi shoppers have their grocery shopping experience down to a science. They come equipped with a handy-dandy quarter for the shopping cart, bring their reusable bags, and know exactly how to organize their grocery list in the same order as their store's aisles for max efficiency, including a stop in that beloved "Aisle of Shame." With the knowledge of all their favorite Aldi-brand products and weekly Aldi Finds, these shoppers also know which items are a must-grab and which are a hard pass.

We took a deep dive into 17 Aldi products to avoid buying, according to Reddit, and discovered that shoppers tend to avoid Aldi's potatoes. Several customers on Reddit have commented about how the potatoes are always "rotten and moldy and dripping ooze inside." "They taste way off when I cook them and spoil very quickly," said one disgruntled Redditor, while another shopper talked about how they've had problems with Aldi's potatoes sprouting too early, leafy green tendrils emerging from the soil-covered vegetable before it could be put to use. The consensus among Aldi customers about the potatoes is that people "end up throwing most of them out" or that customers stop buying produce at Aldi altogether.

Aldi sells various kinds of potatoes, from a 10-pound bag of russet potatoes for around $4 to a five-pound bag of red potatoes for about the same price. With the right conditions, potatoes can last a month or two, but one of Aldi's potatoes' biggest complaints is just how quickly they spoil, almost as if they're rotten before leaving the store. One shopper on Reddit chronicled their experience of buying Aldi potatoes three separate times, only to find the potatoes rotten the moment they went to eat their meal, saying, "There's nothing like cooking all day and sitting down for dinner just to spit it out." The fast-paced spoilage of produce seems to be an issue amongst multiple Aldi products, as we found that many shoppers won't buy Aldi's onions anymore, either.

Despite several complaints, there is a fair share of shoppers who say their potatoes are perfectly fine. "Haven't had that issue at our Aldi, never understood the hate they get for produce," said one Redditor, while another user agreed that they regularly "buy the 10 lb of russets and they're fine." One Reddit shopper shared their rule of thumb, which they said means "if [they] will eat all the produce in two days, then [they] buy it," because in their opinion, "Aldi's produce needs to be eaten when bought." If you already bought some of Aldi's potatoes and you're worried about losing the opportunity to use them, try our tricks for the best ways to keep potatoes fresh.