Really.
They'll be making an ad out of today's CPI press conference:
TREASURER: What we’re trying to do is to get Aldi to set up more quickly and they haven’t been able to get the land because their major competitors gobble it all up. This is a measure about making sure another competitor gets into the grocery market in more locations, more quickly to deliver better prices. I’ll tell you what, how many people here shop at Aldi?
JOURNALISTS: (inaudible)
TREASURER: I can tell you this, out there in my electorate, a lot more do. You want to know why? Because they get a better price.
The Treasurer is right. When people ask me for (unlicenced) financial advice, shopping at Aldi is the first tip I give them.
(The second is to bring their own lunch to work, and the third is to switch their home loan to an organisation I am no longer able to recommend.)
Not only are Aldi's prices fantastic, but Aldi is a great company in other ways. The treat their employees well, paying above the industry standard, letting them sit down at work and offering paid maternity leave. And I have heard they treat their Australian suppliers well.
Nestle doesn't like them, which I take as another encouraging sign.
See also ALDI, Public Submission to ACCC Grocery Inquiry, March 11 2008