New Aldi savings level—unlocked!
If You See a White Label or Tag at Aldi, This Is What It Means
Published on Jun. 11, 2025
A trip to Aldi can be full of surprises. Just look to its “aisle of shame” for proof. Because while there are certainly things you should always buy at Aldi, thanks to their commitment to low prices, there are still ways to get even better unadvertised deals. Often this means understanding the inner workings of the store, and maybe chatting up a few friendly employees about the truth behind those Aldi rumors and little-known store rules.
Read on to find out why you should be paying attention to the white expiration labels on Aldi products, because there’s a very good (and money-saving) reason for those little white tags.
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What does it mean if you see a white label at Aldi?
Little white labels at Aldi typically show a perishable item’s expiration date. You want to pay attention to these white labels and the date printed on them, because the closer an item is to expiring, the higher the chance you can score a discount.
Take meat, for example. Now typically, if it’s the day before a best-by date, the meat will be marked 50% off with a red sticker. However, Aldi shoppers on Reddit note that sometimes stores don’t get to applying those red stickers on applicable, expiring-in-a-day items. But, if you check the white label and see a best-by date or expiration date of the following day, it’s eligible for a discount.
“I always check the dates on the meat,” says Redditor BigBonedMiss. “Day before = 50% off and more often than not, they forget/don’t have time to put the red stickers on them. I got 6 pounds of chicken breast and four briskets (15 pounds of beef) for $55.”
How do you get the discount?
Getting the 50% discount on meat that has a best-by date of the following day is easy. When you’re ready to check out, alert the cashier to the expiration date on the package. Aldi cashiers may scan fast, but they’ll apply that discount for you.
“When cashiering, I wouldn’t find it weird for someone to point out the date and have me mark it down,” says an Aldi employee in the same Reddit thread. “I will say, however, that most of the markdowns sell right after open at my location because people like to come in and buy in bulk. So if you’re shopping later in the day, it’s way less likely to find those deals.”
How much of a discount can you expect?
It really depends on what you’re purchasing. On meat, the unadvertised Aldi policy is to mark it 50% off the day before the expiration date.
However for Aldi’s unsold muffins and bakery items, these can be marked down anywhere from 30% to 50% as much as four days before the expiration date.
And for those notorious Aldi Finds, the discount varies from location to location—both in terms of how much and when the item is marked down. “If items just never sell, such as bulky Aldi Finds items, they can be marked down as well at store’s discretion,” says a store employee on a separate Reddit thread.
What does Aldi do with unsold food?
Though shoppers tend to scoop up marked-down food items quickly, there are still some perishable items that never make their way to a cart. Aldi donates unsold food through their partnership with Feeding America. In 2024 alone, the grocery chain donated 39 million pounds of food to help those in need and fight food insecurity. They’re also a pretty great neighbor, pairing up with community food banks local to their stores in an effort to give back.
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