The Aldi-Brand Cereal We Found Straight-Up Inedible

As far as affordable dupes go, Aldi has a great track record for success. The grocery giant's cereal aisle, which is where you'll find a lot of its brand-name dupes with a pretty solid reputation for hitting the mark, is huge. However, when Chowhound ranked Aldi brand cereals from worst to best, there was one that didn't just come in last place, it crash landed there in a fiery explosion of pure yuck. Millville's Blueberry Frosted Shredded Wheat may be impressively high in a few nutrients — starting the day with a hearty combination of iron, magnesium, folate, and phosphorus is a solid move – but no cereal that is described as being similar to eating "dry straw" is worth swallowing for that reason alone. 

At first glance, it looks tasty: Packed full of whole-grains and frosted with delicious fruity flavor, it's the perfect choice for anyone who is a bit health conscious but still enjoys a sweeter breakfast. But our reviewer could just not get past the texture — an "atrocious mouthfeel," to put it quite plainly. In fact, even a good long soak in milk couldn't save this cereal's dryness.

Notably, each Aldi brand cereal had at least a few redeeming qualities even when it clearly wasn't winning the overall race. The winner, Millville Honey Grahams, stole the show by really nailing a perfect balance of sweet and toasty, which naturally also delivered on its promise of graham cracker deliciousness. Even more experimental, and dare we say quirky, options like Marshmallows & Stars were similarly enjoyable, if not completely perfect. But the Blueberry Frosted Shredded Wheat? The flavor failed, the texture failed; it was just an overall failure from Aldi this time around.

The thing is, most Millville products typically taste pretty close to the name-brand versions they're trying to emulate. But this one didn't even come close. Obviously, no cereal should taste like cardboard, which I thought explained why I couldn't find it in my local Aldi. And this could in fact be one of the reasons why some Aldi stores are cheaper than others; it all comes down to regional suppliers and product selection. 

So, if your local Aldi doesn't carry this cereal either, count yourself lucky and add this piece of knowledge to the things you need to know before your first trip to Aldi. It's always a savvy move to be fussy in the cereal aisle, and maybe to do a little Googling first too. While Aldi usually gets it right, clearly, not every product can be a winner.