Aldi Says −32% vs Migros. Real Receipts Say 12 Centimes
Aldi’s receipt ads promise up to 32% savings over Migros; Migros filed a formal complaint. We checked the lines printed on the ad and re-ran the numbers with real receipts and current shelf prices: across 15 like-for-like products, the gap is 12 centimes.
The short answer
- Aldi really is cheaper, but narrowly: 2–12% in recent independent tests, not the ad's 23–32%.
- Across 15 like-for-like products (same pack size, same tier) the basket costs CHF 29.13 at Aldi and CHF 29.25 at Migros: a 12-centime gap.
- Budget lines and brands cost the same: Migros' basic products sit within a centime of Aldi, and so do Barilla, Coca-Cola and Red Bull.
- The 23–32% comes from basket design: brand vs private label, a single survey day, savings «up to».
- Aktionen flip the picture every week, and a one-day comparison ignores them by construction.
And one line in the ad takes itself apart in thirty seconds, with two links. It's a peppermint tea. We'll get there in a moment.
Method: prices with a link are the official shelf price of 24–29.08.2026 (Rappn price database, identical across all 29 monitored cantonal zones; links open the product page, in German, as the retailers have no English storefront). Prices without a link come from real Rappn user receipts: the median of what was actually paid over the past 12 months, aggregated and anonymised. Cover: the ALDI ad (source: ALDI SUISSE).
The receipt war, in 60 seconds
On 23 August, ALDI SUISSE buys the front pages of the Sunday papers: two receipts side by side, a «family» basket at CHF 88.55 vs 59.34 («−32%»), an Italian execution at CHF 55.80 vs 42.75 («23%»). On 27 August, Migros files a formal complaint: «misleading and partly false» (20 Minuten and Watson, 27 Aug; persoenlich.com, 28 Aug). On 29 August, Cominmag shows the printed prices don't even add up to the totals. Meanwhile the ad's own footnote deflates it all by itself: an «own survey» run by ALDI, a single survey day (22 July), savings «up to», a truncated receipt («further items»). Who's right is for the competent bodies. We do the one thing still missing: the math.
The printed lines, checked one by one
| The line in the ad | The Rappn check |
|---|---|
| Organic peppermint tea, 20 bags (Italian execution) Aldi 1.25 vs Alnatura (at Migros) 2.10 | 🟢 Both confirmed: 1.25 and 2.10. But on the same shelf sits Migros' own-brand peppermint tea, also 20 bags: CHF 0.95. 24% less than the Aldi product in the ad. |
| Beef tartare (Italian execution) Aldi 9.99 | 🟢 True, and it's the strongest line: 9.99 for 320 g = CHF 3.12 per 100 g, against 5.50 per 100 g at Migros. |
| «Bio Honig 500g» Aldi 4.95 vs 2 Migros organic jars at 3.90 (= 500 g) | 🟢 Correct, and methodologically the cleanest row in the ad: the price is exact to the centime, with the same article number as printed (625658): 4.95. It is organic against organic at matched weight (2×250 g = 500 g, CHF 7.80). Change the product and the picture changes: Migros' non-organic 500 g blossom honey costs CHF 3.00 — cheaper, but not the same thing. |
| «Lasagne 400g» Aldi 2.49 vs «Lasagne Bolognese» 3.95 | 🟢 Like-for-like on weight, 400 g against 400 g: the Migros reference at 3.95 exists and the maths holds. Worth knowing as a shopper, though: in a different format the 600 g Migros bolognese costs 2.50, less than half the price per 100 g of the reference in the ad. |
One last note on method, which doubles as a guarantee: the ad's survey is dated 22 July, the ads ran on 23 August, and shelf prices move every week. The printed article numbers (692014 for the lasagne, 730696 for the iced tea, for instance) identify precise references: where we could not tie that exact reference to our catalogue, we compared no prices and substituted no product.
What the independent tests measure
| Test | Basket | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| K-Tipp, Sept 2025 | 100 everyday products, cheapest available each | Migros +5.5% vs Aldi |
| RTS «A Bon Entendeur», March 2024 | 30 products | Migros +2.3% |
| K-Tipp, 2022 | 30 products, heavy on private labels | Migros +22% |
| bonus.ch, Aug 2025 | 20 identical brand products | ≈ 0% (often ±1 centime) |
| K-Tipp organic, 2021 | 50 organic products | Coop +37% vs Aldi (organic) |
Aldi wins almost every neutral test, and that needs saying plainly. But by 2–12 points. Above 20% only happens with private-label baskets; on identical brands the gap vanishes. Same pattern as our 50-product Migros vs Coop test: whoever designs the basket decides the number.
The parity basket: 15 products, 12 centimes
| Product | Aldi | Migros | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-fat quark 500 g | 1.25 | 1.25 | 0% |
| Cream quark 250 g | 1.49 | 1.50 | −1% |
| «Die Butter» butter 250 g (same product) | 3.85 | 3.85 | 0% |
| Choice butter 200 g | 3.09 | 3.10 | 0% |
| Whole milk, pasteurised, 1 l | 1.35 | 1.35 | 0% |
| Free-range eggs, 6 | 3.29 | 3.30 | 0% |
| Cucumber (each) | 1.49 | 1.50 | −1% |
| Chopped tomatoes 400 g (budget line) | 0.59 | 0.60 | −2% |
| White flour 1 kg | 0.99 | 1.00 | −1% |
| Jasmine rice 1 kg | 1.99 | 2.00 | −1% |
| Coca-Cola Zero 330 ml | 1.09 | 1.10 | −1% |
| Barilla Pesto alla Genovese 190 g | 3.89 | 3.90 | 0% |
| Red Bull Summer Edition 250 ml | 1.69 | 1.70 | −1% |
| High-protein pudding 200 g | 1.89 | 1.90 | −1% |
| Bananas per kg (budget line) | 1.19 | 1.20 | −1% |
| Total | CHF 29.13 | CHF 29.25 | −0.4% |
Declared selection: these are the products genuinely comparable across both chains.
The proof, live
We rebuilt the basket in the app with this week's Migros prices: 10 products, estimated CHF 20. Compare each line with the Aldi column above: bananas 1.20 vs 1.19, butter 3.10 vs 3.09, milk 1.35 even, quark 1.25 even, flour 1.00 vs 0.99, Barilla 3.90 vs 3.89, Coca-Cola 1.10 vs 1.09. Basic products and brands cost the same, to the centime. This is the comparison Rappn re-runs every day, across 7 chains.
Aldi's real edge lives elsewhere: where the Migros basic line doesn't exist or isn't chosen, a single product can sit 25–66% apart (the ad's tartare). That is how a «designed» basket reaches 23–32% without printing a single false price.
The peppermint tea trick
Three numbers, all true: Aldi's organic tea costs 1.25, the Alnatura organic tea sold at Migros 2.10, Migros' own-brand tea 0.95. The ad compares the first two (−40%) and ignores the third, which beats Aldi by 24%. Brand vs private label produces 30–40%; line vs line produces 0–4%. It also cuts the other way: Aldi's 250 g quark at 0.99 is organic, Migros' conventional one costs 0.95. To train your eye: the guide to engineered discounts and comparisons.
The Aktionen the comparison ignores
ALDI's manifesto boasts «no complicated discount games»: fixed prices, and our users' receipts confirm it. At Migros and Coop, by contrast, roughly one line in ten is bought on promo: a one-day, full-price comparison erases that by construction. But the Aktion doesn't automatically win:
- Coca-Cola Zero 6×1.5 l at Coop for CHF 14.35 (−44%, until 2 Sept) works out at CHF 1.59 per litre. Aldi's 2 l bottle (1.55) works out at 0.78: half the price, Aktion included.
- Rivella red 1.5 l: on promo at Aldi for 1.55 against 2.50 on the Migros shelf: −38%. The discounter runs them too, few but real.
Prices change every week across 7 chains: the comparison has to be redone weekly. Here's how Swiss Aktionen work, and here are this week's live deals in your area.
The real receipt
Two things only receipts can see. The range: one line in three on our users' Migros receipts has no Aldi equivalent (in reverse, almost everything also exists at Migros). And the shape of the shop: the median Aldi receipt is CHF 36.57 with about 17 items, the Migros one CHF 29.75 with about 11; the most-bought products of all (eggs, bananas, yoghurt, mozzarella, bread, cucumbers) are exactly the ones where the gap is zero or tier-dependent. No advertiser would pick this basket: it emerged on its own. We know because every receipt scanned in Rappn is read and automatically categorised (how much on fruit, how much on snacks, how much saved): that's how you keep an eye on your grocery budget, and the aggregated, anonymised data makes fact-checks like this one possible.
Three quick questions
Is Aldi cheaper than Migros in 2026? Yes, but narrowly: 2–12% in independent tests, 12 centimes on our parity basket. The big gaps sit on individual products without a basic-line equivalent.
Do M-Budget and the brands close the gap? Yes: Migros' basic lines sit 1–2 centimes from Aldi where they exist, and Barilla, Coca-Cola and Red Bull cost the same almost to the centime. Deep dive: M-Budget vs Aldi's private labels.
How do I compare MY basket? With real receipts and real shelf prices, not with an ad: build your list in Rappn and watch the total change from chain to chain, week after week.
No supermarket is always the cheapest. The full picture: Aldi vs Migros, prices compared and Switzerland's cheapest supermarket.
Why Rappn exists
Rappn compares prices and deals across Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro and Otto's for your area, and the receipt scan shows where your grocery budget actually goes. No commercial agreements with any supermarket, no affiliate links: this article's numbers come from exactly that.
- Live comparison across 7 chains, updated weekly, per canton.
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