advent cheese calendars available in early  November. The Emporium Selection Cheese  

Advent Calendar is one of Aldi's most popular  items, and it only costs $14.99. Even though  

the quantity of cheese is small enough to fit in  each day's square, the advent calendars are just  

another instance of Aldi providing incredibly  cheap cheese at a quality worth having.

Anyone who knows of Aldi knows  about their cut-to-the-bone style  

that allows for low prices that even  Walmart struggles to compete with.  

In 2019, CNN ran a piece in which Greg  Foran, Walmart's US CEO, had this to say:

"I've been competing against Aldi for 20-plus  years. They are fierce and they are good."

The article goes on to list several well-known  examples of why Aldi runs so efficiently. For  

instance, Aldi's shopping carts must be returned,  which saves on wages wasted on cart runners.  

However, these reasons don't completely  explain why Aldi's cheese, in particular,  

is so incredibly cheap. Aldi can get away with  selling good supermarket cheeses at a low price  

because of their practice of selling  almost all their stock as a private label,  

a practice best illustrated by their  American counterpart, Trader Joe's.

The connection between Trader Joe's and Aldi  stems from a separation of Aldi into Aldi Nord,  

or North, and Aldi Süd, or South, in  the 1960s. In 1971, as Mark Gardiner,  

author of Build a Brand Like Trader  Joe's, explains, Theo Albrecht,  

the German owner of Aldi Nord, bought Trader  Joe's. The Aldis seen in the US today belong  

to Aldi Süd. They're competitors but  operate according to the same logic.

Like Aldi, Trader Joe's relies heavily  on private labels. Sara Nesbitt,  

CEO of Coastal Carolina Soap, explained to  Business.com what "private labeling" entails:

"[Private labeling] is selling products  

a business makes under another  company's or business's brand."

Additionally, it could also mean using  an ingredient supplied by a separate  

company to produce one's own product without  attribution. The seller has to directly pay  

for the product's creation but has the  freedom to alter it before selling it.

"They're selling, Mortimer."

"Well, that's ridiculous."

This arrangement allows for the cheap prices that  suck people into Aldi and Trader Joe's. By cutting  

out the premade aspects of the product, the  seller lowers the amount they need to charge to  

make a profit. Furthermore, doing this allows the  seller to change the product however they want.  

This is why Aldi has an easy enough time producing  all kinds of cheap cheeses and advent calendars.

Since they can develop their  wares however they want,  

they can opt to redirect some of  their cheese into advent calendars,  

an option unavailable when buying  an already packaged product.

According to a pamphlet from the  2019 Private Label Trade Show,  

the private label market has reached 25 percent  of all US sales. While loyal shoppers at stores  

like Aldi and the Aldi Nord-owned Trader  Joe's certainly contribute to this number,  

it more generally reflects how pervasive  this hush-hush market practice is.

The extent of this secrecy grows apparent when you  attempt to find out where these foods come from.  

More than 90 percent of Aldi's products are  private label, and their labels leave a lot  

to the imagination. Its cheese offerings  are given vague yet aspirational-sounding  

names like "Emporium Selection" or  "Specialty Selection" or "Happy Farms."

In 2017, Eater commented on this phenomenon  in an article about the brands behind Trader  

Joe's brands. In the piece, reporter Vince  Dixon quoted from Gardiner's book, writing,

"Suppliers aren't allowed to say  they supply Trader Joe's products  

and Trader Joe's never willingly  talks about who their suppliers are."

However, by looking at the FDA's recalls  of certain Trader Joe's offerings,  

you can discover that Naked Juice and  Stauffer's animal crackers are among  

the name-brand items Trader  Joe's rebrands as its goods.

Trader Joe's also likes exclusive partnerships  with private labels, as might Aldi. And cheese  

lovers reap the benefits. Happy Farms'  American cheese tastes like Kraft's version.  

It may be Kraft-produced for all we know, but  it's cheaper. As long as we can still buy decent  

quality cheese at a low cost, we will happily  put up with the mystery of private labeling.

Check out one of our newest  videos right here! Plus,  

even more Mashed videos about your favorite  supermarket chains are coming soon.  

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