For a company that didn't believe in advertising for much of its history, the current commercial is pretty lavish. Set in a primitive, frozen, Grimm-like alpine village and inhabited by inbred coarse natives, we see them react when Johann returns from a visit to far-away Australia.
He tells them of hopping animals, cricket bats, even gets them to surf on the lake - which, being perfectly flat, just sees them sink below the ice.
Finally the villagers of Julbacken pick up burning torches and revolt. But at Johann's house they find a barbecue and table piled with Christmas fare. One prawn and they're converted to the Aussie Christmas.
But then you look closer and my, how they have grown without being noticed. It seems such a little time back that they were a curious German food store selling phoney Corn Flakes. You'd go there when it was close by - not very often because there weren't many - or the days before payday when you'd feel the need to be penny-pinching.
Now however there are 340 Aldi stores in Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria. They turn over $5 billion a year and have overtaken IGA to become number three in supermarkets with 10.3 per cent market share. All done since 2001.
Much of this was achieved with very little media advertising, compared to Coles and Woolworths. They persistently letterbox their neighbourhoods so I'll have to give that credit. But of course their main draw is their ability to dramatically prune the price of most products.
While I cuttingly describe them as "phoney" products, I do have to admit that they are quality made and packaged. I've also noticed that a lot more recognised brands are starting to penetrate their shelves. They claim that a hundred per cent of their fresh meat, eggs and bread is sourced locally.
The stores themselves are a third the size of a conventional supermarket. This means a concentration of products, so there is less range to choose from. But it also reduces the cost. In fact Choice consumer magazine had regularly done basket comparisons that show Aldi as much as 25 per cent cheaper than the big boys. They wrote in a report, "Even if a customer does not shop at ALDI, they obtain significant benefits from having an ALDI in their local area, as the Coles or Woolworths store prices more keenly".
With 9000 stores in 18 countries, the group's main gripe about Australia is that they can't grow fast enough. They like to build and own their stores but claim that this country is the most restrictive one they operate in. Such a big wide country, but they can't find the suitably sited, correctly zoned blocks.
Even the ACCC sympathised, stating in 2009: "The barriers to entry created by planning laws are particularly pronounced for independent supermarkets".
Just this June Aldi submitted to the Competition Policy Review that this lack of real estate was reducing the opportunity for Australians to enjoy the lower prices brought about by competition. Their rivals, on the other hand, already have networks of old inner-city stores that can be upgraded - as you'll no doubt have seen in some of your local supermarkets.
So don't be surprised if any large empty shops near you suddenly sprout blue and orange logos.
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