Why Shoppers Dislike Aldi's Updated Organic Ketchup

Aldi's Simply Nature Organic Ketchup was once the kind of product fans would actually brag about — cheap, clean, and unexpectedly flavorful for a store-brand squeeze bottle. But now? "They ruined the organic ketchup," one shopper writes on Reddit, and they aren't alone. The updated version hasn't just changed; It's sweeter, saltier, and somehow, harder to open. And the shift hasn't gone unnoticed.

The new bottle sports 20 calories per serving instead of 15, along with four grams of sugar instead of three, and 200 milligrams of sodium instead of the prior 160, plus what some describe as a strange cinnamon-like aftertaste. One user pointed to a likely culprit: Aldi swapped tomato concentrate for organic tomato puree, a mixture of water and tomato paste that tends to run sweeter and less punchy. The result? A thinner texture, a sweeter profile, and a product that tastes off, especially for those used to the original's cleaner bite.

Even the packaging got flak. One Facebook commenter says they needed an actual pipe wrench to crack the seal — something you'd expect from a jar of homemade pickles, not ketchup. It's not the first time Aldi shoppers noticed a difference in products: Countryside Creamery spreadable butter with olive oil & sea salt had plenty of criticism when it quietly changed suppliers, too. Aldi has plenty of hidden gems, but this one might be getting dropped into carts a lot less often.

Once considered a go-to for anyone looking to dodge corn syrup and mystery fillers, Aldi's organic ketchup is now getting left behind entirely — often in favor of Walmart's Great Value Organic Tomato Ketchup, which is virtually identical to Aldi's old formula. Same nutrition label, same ingredient list, same kosher certification. The swap is subtle but significant, especially for shoppers who'd built entire grocery routines around Aldi's cleaner condiments.

The new formula's added sugar (now 23.5 per 100 grams) has become a sticking point for some buyers who say they might as well eat a candy bar. Others have pointed out that American brands have a tendency to double up on sweetness compared to European versions, and ketchup, despite its veggie-adjacent status, isn't immune to that trend. "There is NO reason to have all that sugar in our condiments," one frustrated Reddit user writes. "They don't do it over in Europe."

For shoppers still comparing bottles like it's the healthiest-or-unhealthiest ketchup showdown, this one's already fallen out of the running. As one commenter bluntly put it, "That's a shame; It was my go-to ketchup." And for Aldi, that sentiment may be harder to shake than a stubborn lid.