13 Aldi Store-Brand Groceries That Might Skyrocket In Price

High grocery prices were a driving issue of the 2024 U.S. election. Now that the dust has settled on that contest, is food getting any more affordable? Of course, prices always vary thanks to a number of factors. Where you live, what time of year it is, and weather patterns can affect grocery prices. In early 2025, another complicating factor is being added to the mix. The Trump administration is imposing tariffs on imports from countries including Mexico, Canada, and China. Those three countries are responsible for massive amounts of U.S. imports, filling gaps in growing seasons and manufacturing materials for food packaging. A trade war means goods from those countries getting more expensive. Where does this leave Aldi, the cheapest grocery store in America? This is a company known for strategizing about how to be more affordable, but that doesn't mean Aldi is immune to market forces.

Unfortunately, some of Aldi's signature items might be due for some price increases. If you've got the storage space, now might be the time to stock up. Having the kind of abundant choice Americans are used to seeing in the supermarket means relying on literal tons of international trade. Throwing a wrench into the gears of trade means throwing a wrench in your bowl of guacamole. For reference and posterity's sake, we're including the prices of each item at the time of this writing.

Park Street Deli, Aldi's private label for all things sandwich, makes some good products. Part of that is because when possible, Aldi likes to source its food locally. That's not feasible with guacamole. In the U.S., most avocados come from Mexico. Given that guacamole is mashed avocado with a small but variable amount of other ingredients, expect Park Street Deli Guacamole to get more expensive. Currently, a 10-ounce tub of the Southwest, Avocado Verde, and Pineapple Poblano varieties costs $3.09.

Any generation Millennial or older can remember a time when avocados and guac weren't so omnipresent. That's because of the North American Free Trade Agreement, a controversial 1994 treaty between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. When the U.S. was solely dependent on avocado growers in Florida and California, the fruit was far more scarce. Since the free trade floodgates opened in 1994, the U.S. has been importing more and more avocados. People have developed an appetite for that creamy green superfood, even if it does cost extra at Chipotle. How much extra cost is too much? We might be about to find out.

Park Street Deli makes a solid, reliable pico de gallo, and at $3.49 for a 10-ounce tub, it's a good deal — especially if you want to save time on veggie chopping. If you haven't been to your local taqueria lately, pico de gallo is a beautifully simple salsa made with anywhere between three and five ingredients. The primary ingredient is tomato, and 88% of U.S. tomatoes are Mexican imports. Mexican growers have even implemented greenhouse technology in recent years, mostly to keep up with demand in the U.S. 80% of cherry tomatoes imported to the U.S. spend their formative years in greenhouses. Roughly one-third of Roma tomatoes do as well.

What about the other ingredients in pico de gallo? Well, whatever you put in it — cilantro, green chiles, onions — the U.S relies on Mexico for most of those, except onions.

The humble tomato is an easy example to illustrate how international trade fills gaps in growing seasons. The year-round climate in the United States does not support the people's current appetites. This is easy to understand if you simply eat tomatoes at different times of the year, or in different regions of the country. They taste far better in the summer, and they taste far better in warmer regions. Making Mexican tomatoes more expensive means fewer people in the U.S. eating tomatoes.

Maybe you're thinking of stocking your freezer with prepared foods. It's not a bad impulse. Those items have a long shelf life. Whole & Simple Chicken Cilantro Lime Burritos are a great lunch, but the potential issue is right in the name. Cilantro and lime are two things that can, in fact, grow year-round in parts of the U.S. Demand, however, exceeds supply, and most of the cilantro and lime you'll see in the grocery store are from Mexico. What that means for a pre-made product with those two ingredients in its name should be obvious.

A box of four frozen burritos currently costs $8.25. That's an average of slightly more than two dollars per burrito, and right now, that beats out most Mexican chain restaurants. Will eating a frozen burrito continue to be cheaper than chowing down on Chipotle or Taco Bell? Prices should be going up in restaurants, too. That's the tricky part about living in unprecedented times — you never know what a burrito might cost.

This Canadian wine has emerged as a favorite among wine drinkers. Being part of Aldi's under $15 line of specialty wines (squeaking in at $14.99), it's also a favorite among wine drinkers on a budget. That might be a short-lived deal, though. Unfortunately, Icewine Vidal is also a Canadian wine, which means it's probably about to be a favorite among only very rich wine drinkers. 

Given how much we've been talking in this article about produce that comes from warmer climates, as well as wine's association with warm regions in Italy, Spain, California, and Chile, the idea of Canadian icewine might be a little confusing. Icewine actually originates in Germany, and is made from grapes that have frozen on the vine. Only the northernmost states in the midwestern United States produce icewine. Using frozen grapes actually lends a sweeter taste, making this an excellent dessert wine. If you like having Aldi's icewine in your personal stores, now might be the time to buy some.

Surprise, surprise, the product so closely aligned with Canada that its tree leaf is on the country's flag is about to get more expensive. Even though Aldi sources its maple syrup from both the U.S. and Canada, supply chains are interconnected, and trade tariffs on Canada affect U.S. grocery bills. Borders are imaginary, but the geography of where you can and can't source maple syrup is not. Anything affecting the price of one kind of bottle is likely to affect another as well.

The current price is $5.85 for a 12.5-ounce bottle is pretty reasonable given the product. Real maple syrup takes a lot of time and effort to produce. Artificial versions are easy and cheap enough to produce that they can fill out supermarket shelves, but the difference in taste is substantial. Anyone with a strong enough preference for the real stuff is likely due for some sticker shock.

This stalwart of the frozen breakfast section is probably about to become more scarce. At least, it probably won't stay its current price of $6.05 for a 48-ounce bag. Yes, 78% of strawberries consumed in the U.S. are domestically grown. Still, seasonality applies, and there are not enough domestic producers to meet year-round demand. During the lean months, Mexico fills in the gaps. The U.S. produces some bananas domestically, but the majority of bananas are imports. While it's true that Mexico is not the U.S.'s biggest banana supplier, it is in the top 10. Unfortunately, that means your smoothies are about to get pricier.

There are plenty of good frozen fruit blends out there. Come on, though. If you're thinking about smoothies, there's a good chance you're thinking about a bright, refreshing strawberry banana smoothie. The creaminess of the banana, the sweetness and cheerful pink color from the strawberry — what a perfect summer treat. Unfortunately, trade wars and summer vibes do not mix.

At Aldi, 16-ounce bag of whole cashews currently costs $7.65, and it will be interesting to see if that price holds. The United States is one of the world's top three importers of cashews. Most of the cashews that the U.S. imports come from Vietnam, Brazil, and India, however, most of the nuts the U.S. imports come from Mexico, where the crop can be grown year-round. Whether cashew prices can remain stable or whether a few rising prices affects all nut production remains to be seen, but be watchful of cashews. The prices of these crunchy little guys will tell us a lot about the interconnectedness of global markets.  

Okay, so cashews are probably going to rise in price. That is a bummer, but nuts are one food where it might be worth reconsidering the carbon footprint of these imports. Nuts are a great starting point for thinking about local food. In the United States, California is known for almonds, producing around 80% of the crop for the entire world. The South — particularly Georgia — is known for pecans, producing 80% of that crop for the entire world. George Washington Carver discovered hundreds of uses for the peanut, and that crop grows well in 13 states. In coming years, something like cashews might recede into the background of consumer habits, while more local nuts take more precedence. 

You might be thinking that if prices on imported beer rise, you'll just switch to domestic. Not so fast. Prices on American-produced beer might still go up, but not for the reason you might think. Hopping Nomad Session IPA is a domestic beer, but it comes in cans. The President has stated he wants to impose a 25% tariff on all imported steel and aluminum, in an effort to boost domestic production. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but there will certainly be a domino effect on all canned products.

While something like Monterrey Cerveza, a Guatemalan beer, might be surprisingly safe — as long as Guatemala can maintain its stated goal of quiet coexistence with the Trump administration — domestic canned beer might not be as stable. Hopping Nomad Session IPA currently runs $8.89 for a six-pack. How much that price increases will tell you a lot about how much one resource, like aluminum, relates to a bunch of seemingly unrelated ones, like the wheat, hops, barley, and water that go into beer.

If you know exactly where the Aldi Finds aisle is, you know the gems that can be uncovered within. Those joyous little sweet treats? It does not bring us joy to tell you that those are probably about to get more expensive, especially Canadian items like Benton's Maple Leaf Creme Cookies.

The Aldi Finds aisle is one of the great delights of the nation's cheapest grocery store. Advertised on in-store signage as a treasure trove of seasonal items, limited time offers, or even the last remnants of previously featured items, this aisle is where you pick up heart-shaped Reese's boxes for Valentine's Day. Or, if you're a little more adventurous, you can take advantage of the German-owned grocery chain's wide selection of imported sweet treats, like Benton's Maple Leaf Cream Cookies. As of this writing, the item is out of stock, but Aldi lists the unit price at 34 cents per ounce. If this delicious cookie comes back around, keep an eye on that unit price.

Being a canned product and a tropical fruit, pineapple chunks and slices are likely to go up with the new tariffs. While Mexico has ceded some ground to Central American countries like Costa Rica and Honduras on imports of this tropical fruit since 2018, the U.S.'s immediate southern neighbor is still a top pineapple provider. There are very few pineapple growers in the U.S., with most domestic production coming from Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The only portions of the contiguous United States where pineapples can be grown are Florida and California, but production there remains much, much smaller in scale than in Mexico and Central America.

Few things exemplify the marvels of the contemporary food system like canned pineapples. Canning food only became a practice as recently as the 19th century. A person living in, say, Wisconsin being able to eat great-tasting pineapples in the middle of winter? That's an even more recent development. Given all that, $1.39 for a 20-ounce can is a steal of a price, and we'll be sad to see it change.

Aldi lists three different varieties of canned sardines on its website: sardines in mustard sauce, sardines in soybean oil, and sardines in spring water. The latter two options have "product of Canada" stamped in big letters on the front of the label. The current price is $1.05 for a 3.75-ounce can, but canned fish from Canada is sure to see price increases with the new tariffs. Sardines are conventionally thought of as a cheap food. They're a small fish and almost always served out of cans, lending them a sort of workmanlike quality. How unfortunate it will be if this humble snack suddenly becomes an expensive delicacy.

Few things make borders seem silly like the ocean does. Fish move around in patterns that would shatter the average politician's imagination. Sure, fishers have to make port within some nation's boundaries, and yes, there are international rules for water territories. Still, if neighboring countries can't figure out how to fish cooperatively, then what are we doing, as humans? Isn't fishing supposed to be relaxing? Okay, maybe not industrial fishing. The point is, putting tariffs on sardines flies in the face of all common sense.

Diced tomatoes with green chiles is the basis of many wonderful dips and dishes. Casa Mamita is Aldi's private label for this Ro-Tel spinoff, and it is both delicious and affordable at $1.05 for a 10-ounce can. The question is: What kind of green chiles get diced up and canned? The answer is that it varies. Green, in this context, is a vague gesture at almost any kind of pepper more mild than a jalapeño. These canned mixtures are meant to have some kick, but not so much that you have to warn the average spice-averse Midwesterner, for example. The chiles here include anything from hatch or Anaheim (grown in New Mexico) to poblano or pasilla (grown in southern Mexico).

That might seem hopeful, since at least some of the peppers listed are grown in the United States. Not so fast. One kind of pepper suddenly becoming more expensive is sure to have a knock-on effect on the others. Throw in the increased price of aluminum, and maybe it's a good idea to stock up on these.

While many of Aldi's ingredients are locally sourced, plenty of their goods are imported from China. This includes most of the kitchen supplies, kids' toys, and home decor that comes from the Aldi Finds aisle. Affectionately known as the "Aisle of Shame" by Aldi enthusiasts on Reddit, this aisle is an absolute treasure trove of bargains for limited time only items. For the record, we don't think you should feel shame while shopping this aisle. There's good stuff there. 

It is not breaking news that the United States owes the availability of most of its cheap consumer goods to factories in China. Many people in the U.S. rely on lower-priced stores like Aldi not just for food, but for home essentials. That's not possible without free and open international trade, or U.S. manufacturers being willing to pay U.S. workers fair wages while charging U.S. consumers fair prices. It remains to be seen whether slapping tariffs on so many imports will usher in a new era of domestic manufacturing and equitable distribution of money. In the short term, though, expect prices to skyrocket for the average person.