As an evolving grocery brand with a new-ish, young-ish, sometimes cult-ish following, ALDI’s packaging hadn’t kept up with its changing image and growth. Beyond not being current, the design wasn’t consistent, and didn’t effectively communicate the high standards behind every product. Plus, small store footprints added the challenge of standing out against other SKUs in limited shelf space.  
 
So after years of strategizing, ALDI consolidated 90+ brands down to 30, and prepped for its first-ever private-label branding that featured the ALDI name. Beyond looking good and standing out, it also needed to convey their signature brand value. Using our strategic Favor Factors process, we dug into how shopper trust, pride and emotional connections to ALDI’s private label could help turn a “smart value” into “value with swagger.” 

First we looked inward with ALDI stakeholder interviews and store walk-throughs. Then we reached out to category sources and ALDI’s biggest social brand advocates. Our discoveries led us to a key insight — ALDI packaging didn’t live up to shoppers’ passions for their finds.  
 
This led to our strategic leap … “Delight in the Everyday.” It combined the quiet, unassuming work ALDI puts into every product with the savvy satisfaction that comes from shopping ALDI. It also set the table for a design system that could span 90+ categories while maintaining one distinct ALDI look.  
 
Visually, it needed to be human. Warm. Modern. Highly adaptable. A simple system built around a simplified wordmark, starring a modular “A.” To maintain a sense of variety and choice as sub-brands folded into the ALDI portfolio, we chose harmony over rigid rules. Shared elements anchored the brand, while expressive color, imagery, illustrations and patterns added individual personality. The flexible system offers cohesion and character. 

The rollout was a study in complexity with multiple suppliers for single SKUs, dozens of dielines, and countless regulations. But across suppliers, across leadership, across the globe, Favorite Child made sure the strategy was totally aligned across the board. And Quad’s production power helped simplify our lift, from premedia to versioning to global workflow. 
 
Photography was another huge lift, and Betty Studios helped crush it. Shooting hundreds of images (3 shoot days/week!) with real-time rendering and retouching support helped us achieve real product imagery, really fast.  
 
Toolkits, decision trees and robust QC guaranteed a system that consistently looked as good as it worked across categories, all while providing scalability and adaptability for future iterations.  

• ALDI’s new packaging has helped reshape how shoppers view the brand. Deeper than just functional shelf nav, it’s helped make stronger emotional connections, serving up added personality, quality and pride. 
   
  The launch generated major national media attention, too:  

• Features by CNN Business, Fast Company, Reuters, Modern Retail and more  

• 438 earned media placements  

• 953.7 million potential impressions  

But we think maybe ALDI leadership said it best…  
“Favorite Child was able to do what no other agency could do. They understood our customer, our leadership, our strategy, and translated all of it into every product on our shelves. The new way shoppers will see us has been profoundly driven by Favorite Child.”  
— Kristy Reitz, Director Brand & Design, ALDI  
 
As the ALDI system hits the shelves, the stores are feeling it. The brand is finally living up to the pride that savvy ALDI shoppers already felt, with distinctly more modern, definitely more exciting packaging.