Aldi Vs Costco Lettuce: Which Grocery Store Has The Better Deal?

"Lettuce" talk about leafy greens for a moment ... and you know we love a good pun! Salad is an integral part of many consumers' meals, and lettuce is the (romaine) heart and soul in tons of salads, no matter how you dress it up. If saving money on lettuce is a priority, you may have considered two notable discount grocers, Costco and Aldi. Who has the best deals on your roughage? The real answer depends on what you're buying. We (kinda) know where Costco lettuce comes from, and the goods are provided by both big-name and regional farms. Likewise, Aldi is famous for its lack of brand-name products, a decision meant to save money. We considered three varieties of lettuce that Aldi and Costco have in common and broke things down by unit price.

Let's start with butter lettuce. As of this writing, Aldi sells one head of "green leaf lettuce" for $2.15 per head. Over at Costco, you can purchase three heads of butter lettuce for $7.93, or $2.64 per head. That's a big difference in Aldi's favor! Now, let's talk romaine hearts — the perfect basis for a Caesar salad. Costco offers a package of six hearts for $5.32, or 89 cents apiece. Aldi, for its purposes, offers romaine hearts in three-packs for $3.65, which comes to a pricier $1.22 apiece. Bagged spring mix offers a final data point. Costco's bag is $5.66 for a one-pound bag, which comes to a unit price of 35 cents per ounce. Aldi's smaller five-ounce bag of Little Salad Bar spring mix is $2.99, or 60 cents per ounce. The lesson? You have to be willing to do some math to determine the best retailer for your lettuce needs.

When it comes to Aldi versus Costco in the savings department, there isn't one clear answer on who is cheaper for purchasing lettuce. Here's the scoop: how much lettuce you need for your occasion really makes a difference. We know some tips for storing iceberg lettuce, for example, but leafy greens are generally fragile and prone to wilt in a short amount of time. Saving considerable cash on a one-pound bag of spring mix is a great thing, in theory, but only if you can eat a full pound of spring mix in a reasonable period. Sometimes, you only need enough lettuce for one dinner. In that case, even if the unit price on Costco's spring mix is higher, the cheaper bag of Aldi lettuce makes better sense.

It's always a good idea to keep the unit price in mind when shopping for groceries. Many times, this information is located on the SKU tag for your product, but, otherwise, it's easy to whip out the calculator on your phone and do a little number-crunching. It's an unfortunate fact that not every retailer is going to be the cheapest on each and every item, and, sometimes, the cost (in gasoline, other transportation costs, and mental or physical exertion) of going to more than one store simply doesn't work out. In the end, it's up to you if it's worth it to comparison shop for the cheapest lettuce based on variety and needed amount.