The 2 Big Changes Coming To Aldi In 2026

Aldi fans champion the discount grocer for providing quality products in its stores for affordable prices. In return, the chain is always looking for ways to improve its products and services for shoppers. Among the big changes to Aldi in 2025, for instance, it endeavored to ensure the responsible sourcing of all its private-label coffee, and to support future chain growth with an expansion to its headquarters in Illinois. And the retailer has no plans to stop over the coming year.

With the continuation of an aggressive expansion, Aldi is predicted to be one of the grocery chains that will take over in 2026. But that's not all Aldi has up its sleeve. It plans to make history by rebranding all of its private-label products under its own name. These two major changes are sure to cause a bit of a stir in the grocery market throughout the year, so here's everything there is to know so far.

For nearly 50 years, Aldi has been providing quality products to U.S. customers for low prices, introducing new items regularly. Among the best new items in 2025 were Season's Choice chili lime waffle fries and new flavors of Benton's soft baked cookies. These brands are just some of the private labels that make up more than 90% of Aldi's products.

As of September 2025, the company started slowly rolling out new packaging with its own name instead, but only on a few items so far. One example is Baker's Corner dark melting wafers, which still dons that brand in the website image but is listed under the Aldi brand. Meanwhile, the image for the white melting wafers has the new packaging with the chain's name. Other products with the new branding include a variety of deli meat, cheese slices, guacamole, and potato salad. So shoppers are likely to see many more of the store's products appear on shelves with the Aldi name and a fresh look in 2026. On top of that, the company will use a few nicknames that loyal fans have given some items, such as Red Bag Chicken.

Chief executive officer Atty McGrath said in a press release, "The new look and feel of our products is the next step in our journey to modernize our simpler, quicker shopping experience. Now, it's easier than ever for shoppers to instantly spot the value and quality only Aldi can deliver." Chief commercial officer Scott Patton added, "Our customers already call our private labels 'Aldi brands,' and we're excited to officially recognize them with a name they can see and trust."

In March 2024, Aldi announced a plan to open 800 stores by 2028 throughout the West, Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast with the acquisition of the Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie grocery brands. It opened about 120 of those locations in 2024, and then it became the major US grocery chain promising its biggest ever expansion with 225+ store openings in 2025. With more than half of this goal left to go, it looks like 2026 will be another big year of openings for the grocery chain.

Where the new stores will be is a little harder to determine at the time of writing because Aldi hasn't updated its dedicated online list yet. So far, only one location in Port Orange, Florida, has a January 8 grand opening date, while two other Florida locations are still just listed as coming soon. Looking through local newspaper reports, Daily Meal was able to find that at least Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Texas, and Wisconsin will be getting new stores. Aldi is also opening its first store in Maine, which will be located in Portland, and a location in New York's Times Square.

Once 2026 gets going and Aldi can better determine when new stores will open, it's likely to update its grand openings page, which is beneficial to check occasionally. It pays to go to Aldi grand openings in your area because the first 100 arrivals receive one of the rare Golden Ticket rewards for the chance to get either a $10, $25, or $100 store gift card. They often get a free goodie bag of Aldi products, too, while free shopping totes are handed out while supplies last. At some store openings, shoppers also have the chance to win a $500 gift card.