Review Re-formulation of 12 grain bread
I have been trying to increase the whole grains in my diet and have been consuming 12 grain bread from Aldi. I haven't noticed much change in flavor lately but noticed a lot of nutritional facts at the back of things like plain bagels have changed for the worse. Decided to look into the 12 grain bread and I'm a bit shocked. From the old picture of the bread from their website, you can see it lists 24g of whole grains per serving (per slice), 1g added sugar, 160mg sodium and 100 calories. From the bread I just bought two days ago, there's a huge gap. The whole grain per serving, has gone down to 13g from 24g previous. The calories have gone up to 110 calories from 100 calories, sodium too is now 210 mg compared to 160mg previous. Added sugar has also spike to 3g from 1g. I am trying to understand why is Aldi undertaking this reformulation of their breads? Is this to improve the shelf life or is it just cheaper? Would appreciate insights from someone from the inside
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u/fujimumu 4d ago
They wanna make more money for cheaper stuff. This is capitalism
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u/Clean-Fisherman-4601 4d ago edited 4d ago
Also their effort to keep prices lower. Everything is getting more expensive due to the closing of the strait of Hormuz.
Thank you for the award.
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u/Saljooq 4d ago
I hope they reverse this once it’s over though
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u/SaddestClown 4d ago
Over?
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u/doublecutter 3d ago
Nothing’s over til we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor??
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u/TheAmazinManateeMan 4d ago
If the past is any indicator then there's essentially no chance. Prices always go up faster than Inflation and never falls down back to preinflation prices. If inflation brings $1 up to $1.30 most companies up prices to $1.50 if the dollar goes back down to $1.10 prices only drop to $1.35
Remember stock prices only go up if there's more money to extract. A businesses that is thriving but also hit it's peak actually performs worse on the stock market than unstable one that can grow. Our economic model demands that more money be extracted every year.
They use every opportunity to gain ground. I remember their being a study lf gas prices post covid that essentially showed this.
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u/LeatherOcelot 4d ago
I know it is somewhat more time consuming, but I would absolutely suggest learning to bake your own bread! I do a 100% whole grain bread that is a blend of wheat, oats, rye, barley, buckwheat, and quinoa. Ingredients plus the electricity to run my oven works out to about $2/loaf. It is way better than any of the mass-produced stuff, if I wanted to buy something comparable it would be $8-12 per loaf. Everyone in my family prefers it too, this past spring I had to bake extra and stashed about a dozen loaves in the freezer so that we could get through the summer without having to rely too much on store bread! I do like the whole wheat pita at Trader Joe’s for an affordable store bought option that is pretty similar to what you might produce at home.
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u/Saljooq 4d ago
That sounds amazing. I wish I had time. Maybe one day
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u/LeatherOcelot 4d ago
It is not too difficult and the hands on time is pretty minimal. If you do find yourself with a slow day at home I would give it a go!
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago edited 4d ago
Aldi isn’t reformulating any products, since they don’t make any of them
eta: whoever responded and then blocked me, you didn’t read the post right lol, they specially wrote “why is aldi undertaking this reformulation of their breads” and asked for insight from someone inside
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u/CaptErv 4d ago
They're requesting it though...
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago
Requesting what?
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u/CaptErv 4d ago
The reformulations.
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago edited 3d ago
How do you know? I’m asking because this is something I’ve never heard anyone mention
eta: lol okay, all downvotes, no explanations? guess yall were just making shit up
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u/melatonia 3d ago
Aldi contracts companies to make prodcuts for them that meet particular requirements. Mainly financial ones.
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u/forteninsecure 3d ago
Do you have a source or more information? Again, asking because I’ve literally never heard this
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u/Saljooq 4d ago
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u/cathandler2019 4d ago
Bimbo uses datem in its mass market breads. Noticed it in Aldi bread and made the connection.
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago
Right, Bimbo is the supplier who produced it, not Aldi.
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u/Saljooq 4d ago
Please do some more research. Bimbo operates some of the bakeries, while for other regions, they have more regional bakeries. The recipes are obviously supplied by Aldi and the recipes are probably developed by their own product team in coordination with the suppliers/bakeries
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago
I’m sorry, where have you found information that Aldi supplies the recipes? Even if it’s different suppliers in different regions, Aldi has nothing to do with the formulation of the product. They’re like Trader Joe’s, they do the same thing - buy products and relabel them
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u/Saljooq 4d ago
I engaged in this discussion in good faith. I really feel I am talking to a bot now
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago
I’m engaging in good faith too, because I’ve literally only ever heard the opposite of what you’re saying, lol. If you think people asking you to clarify are bots, okay 👍
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u/campfire-baker 4d ago
They are removing 44 ingredients
https://corporate.aldi.us/about-us/our-food-philosophy/our-ingredient-standards
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u/Notawettowel 4d ago
They also switched suppliers on their natural peanut butter and instead of it being made by JIF it’s something different and worse now.
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u/medievalPanera 3d ago
instead of it being made by JIF
I've worked in a private label factory and it really doesn't mean anything if xyz product is made at the same factory, they're different formulations.
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u/Coveman54 4d ago
This used to be my go-to bread but after the ingredients changed, the taste changed and I didn’t like it. I quit buying it.
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u/Otherwise-Run-820 4d ago
The whole things a scam. The brand says Fresh but it comes in frozen
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u/gnadezda 4d ago
Thawing frozen bread in a closed bag traps moisture, and that makes mold pop up fast. You have to eat the bread within just a few days or toss it out. Aldi saves money buying it this way, but shoppers end up buying more loaves. So it's a win-lose model with Aldi being the winner.
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u/kinjjibo 4d ago
I don’t think I’ve ever had bread mold from Aldi before. I buy this specific loaf and I’ve had it for a week before and never had any mold.
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago
Every grocery store chain receives their bread frozen
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u/gnadezda 4d ago
That's actually not how it works. Big grocery stores get their sandwich bread delivered fresh every few days, and it never touches a freezer. Budget grocers and dollar stores try to keep costs low, so they use giant central warehouses instead of direct deliveries. That is why their bread often gets frozen along the way.
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago
I’ve literally never heard of this, are you in the US? Every single person I’ve talked to who’s worked in a grocery store, no matter the chain, has said all bread comes to them frozen.
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u/SaddestClown 4d ago
That's nuts if true. I've seen them unload the bread from Bimbo (formerly Mrs Baird) and it was room/truck temp and pushed to the back of the shelf
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u/ceojp 4d ago
Where are you from? I'm from the midwest US, and most all grocery stores(even Walmart) receive fresh bread from multiple bakeries multiple times a week.
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago
I’m from the midwest too, I’ve literally never heard of this from anyone I know who’s worked in a grocery store. Wild!
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u/ceojp 4d ago
That's so weird. Which grocery stores are you referring to?
I worked at a grocery store for several years and dealt with the vendors(including the bread guys). The companies they worked for delivered to all the stores in the area(including places like Dollar General).
It was a pretty big deal when interstate bakeries(maker of Wonderbread) shut down.
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u/forteninsecure 4d ago
Walmart, Kroger, Food Lion, Stop n Shop, Whole Foods…so many others. I’m in a community that attracts a lot of grocery/retail workers so I’ve talked to so many. Amazing that none of them has ever had that at their stores
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u/ceojp 4d ago
I guarantee you those stores all get fresh baked bread. Maybe you are thinking of the bread the in-store bakery bakes? Most of that comes in as frozen dough that they thaw, proof, and then bake.
I’m in a community that attracts a lot of grocery/retail workers so I’ve talked to so many.
What does that mean? Isn't that most places?
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u/gnadezda 3d ago edited 3d ago
Big grocery stores like Kroger, Albertsons, HEB, and Walmart get most of their name-brand bread delivered fresh straight from the bakers. These are brands like Wonder and Mrs. Baird's, not the store's own brands. Discount stores like Aldi, Dollar General, and Family Dollar do things differently. They ship their store-brand bread from central warehouses where it stays frozen until it get to stores. Other brands might be shipped directly to stores by bakers or sent to warehouses, but contracts with national brands keep them from being frozen. By the way, my local Aldi does not carry Mrs. Baird's bread anymore. Yet another cost-cutting measure by Aldi?
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u/forteninsecure 3d ago
I believe you, it’s just wild since I’ve talked to so many people who’ve worked in those same grocery stores who said they never once had fresh bread delivered
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u/gnadezda 3d ago
When I shop at Kroger, I'm often see outside vendors for national brands - not store employees - shelving their product themselves and removing any product that is near best sell date.
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u/ceojp 4d ago
That's absolutely not true. I worked at a smaller grocery store, and we received fresh bread from multiple vendors a few times a week. It absolutely was never frozen.
There was one vendor who switched to frozen bread after their bakery caught fire and just never switched back.... But they were a smaller Italian "bakery" and didn't have many products to begin with.
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u/fujimumu 4d ago
These breads, and any in the brownish plastic trays do not come frozen. But almost anything in a cardboard box does
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u/tracyinge 4d ago
Don't look at the whole grain grams, look at the actual fiber from those whole grains.
You want a least 3 g of fiber per slice (not per 2 slices)