Where Does Aldi's Lettuce Come From?

Aldi is a low price leader for many products compared to other big grocers, and if you look at our essential shopping tips to know before visiting Aldi, you'll discover some of the reasons, such as selling private-label items. Like most of the numerous Aldi private-label items, lettuce and salad kits are produced by third-party manufacturers, often by big-brand food companies. To learn about where Aldi lettuce and salad kits come from, there are clues to help you uncover which companies make them.

According to Aldi, its suppliers are part of a global supply chain. However, evidence points to salad bowls and salad kits sold in the U.S. Aldi stores, at least between 2021 and 2022, originating from three suppliers: Dole, Fresh Express, and Ready Pac Foods, Inc., a certified B-corporation that is an American subsidiary of the French company Bonduelle Foods. This list doesn't mean these companies are the only suppliers or are currently part of the mix of companies that produce Aldi lettuce kits.

As for where the lettuce was grown, there are some clues and tools to assist you. Dole products are grown globally. Luckily, the company offers a handy farm code finder to locate the farms that grow a product. Fresh Express says it grows and harvests its lettuce in North America and Canada, and every bag is traceable from field to store. Ready Pac Foods, and thus Bonduelle Foods, is a multi-local company with plants located in the Americas and Europe. To find out which country your Aldi lettuce comes, the USDA Country of Origin Labelling(COOL) law requires grocery stores to display the source of many foods on the label, including packaged lettuce. 

Aldi discloses its suppliers for many food items to increase transparency, but lettuce isn't on the list yet. You can look for media alerts on the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service website for recall information that link specified products, lots, and production dates to a facility, but Aldi makes it easy by providing a list of product recalls on its website. Some Redditors in r/aldi also suggest that a code on the package of Aldi private-label lettuce allows you to discover which farm facility packaged the lettuce, though there is some debate about it.

While there are many myths about Aldi that aren't true, such as having a subpar produce section, recalls can influence public perception. The companies mentioned above practice safe methods, according to information published on their respective websites, though they were listed in recalls. Aldi recall notifications for an incident in 2021, Dole processed Simply Nature and Little Salad Bar Salad Kits from plants in Bessemer City, North Carolina, and Yuma, Arizona; salad kits and bowls to a Fresh Express facility in Streamwood, Illinois; and Little Salad Bar Chef Salad, and a salad kit that was packaged by Ready Pac Foods. In 2022, USA Today reported the recall of Aldi Little Salad Bar Salads, which also affected other stores, to salads processed at Dole's Springfield, Ohio, and Soledad, California, facilities. Yet, because the system of third-party production isn't fully transparent, there may be some limits on what an individual can discover on their own.