Aldi, a German grocer, is rapidly growing in the U.S. It plans to open 120 new stores in the U.S. in the first few quarters of 2023 and is working to have more than 2,400 locations across the country by the end of the year. Aldi rolled out many advertising campaigns because of these initiatives. A-List Communication completed two voice-over projects in Mandarin and Cantonese for Aldi’s ads.
A-List has learned a lot about Aldi by working on the voice over projects in October 2023. You may have heard of Aldi because of Trader Joes. But Trader Joes is operated by Aldi North which is a completely independently run operation than Aldi South, the parent company of Aldi U.S. that runs all the Aldi supermarkets in the U.S.
Aldi is short for Albrecht Discounts. Aldi has its origins in a small store set up by Anna Albrecht in Germany in 1913. After WWII, she gave the store to her sons who turned it into a chain and then split it into two companies, Aldi North and Aldi South. The split in 1960 was over the brother’s dispute whether to sell cigarettes in the store. This has led to Theo Albrecht to run Aldi Nord (Aldi North), and Karl Albrecht to run Aldi Süd (Aldi South).
In 1976, Aldi opened its first store in Iowa in the U.S. Recently its rapid expansion has been focused more in the south. It differentiates itself from other U.S. supermarket chains by offering customers deep discounts and a simplistic approach to shopping. It is able to offer everyday low price because of its much smaller store layout, limited product assortment, and the everyday items displayed in their original shipping boxes to save on restocking shelves. Customers reportedly enjoy the good food quality and the no-frill shopping experience.