ALDI commits to health and wellness

To kick off the New Year, Batavia, Ill.-based ALDI Inc., a discount grocer retailing primarily its own private brands, said it is giving its customers "more selections they can feel good about." Changes in the works include revamped checkout lanes, an enhanced selection of organic offerings and partnerships with registered dietitians.

Checkout lanes are a notorious source of unhealthy impulse buys, ALDI noted. To cut out that temptation and allow shoppers to end their grocery trips on a healthy note, the retailer will be stocking its checkout lanes with healthful items such as single-serve nuts and trail mixes, dried fruit and granola bars instead of chocolate and candy. ALDI plans to roll out the program to its nearly 1,500 locations by the end of 2016.

These changes aren't just taking place at checkout. ALDI said it is broadening its product offerings within every aisle, including:

• Expanding its selection of fresh and organic meat and produce, including selections under its Never Any! brand of meat products, which contain no added antibiotics, hormones, animal byproducts or other additives
• Expanding its SimplyNature line, which covers products that are free of more than 125 artificial ingredients, as well as its liveGfree gluten-free line of products
• Highlighting nutritional facts on the front of its exclusive brand food packages for shoppers to easily find key nutritional information
• Partnering with registered dietitians through its Advisory Council to provide tips, recipes and meal-planning ideas that make healthful eating easy and affordable for families

ALDI added that it will make the overall shopping experience simpler throughout the store, especially when it comes to filling the cart with better-for-you options. The company's own food brands, which comprise more than 90 percent of products sold in stores, are now free of certified synthetic colors, partially hydrogenated oils and added MSG.

In addition, although ALDI milk has been free of artificial growth hormones for years, the company now is committed to ensuring that the milk used to make own-brand cultured products such as yogurts, sour cream and cottage cheese contains no artificial growth hormones. This industry-leading effort ensures that customers have an even wider selection of dairy products that meet their needs, ALDI said.