Customers Suspect Aldi’s Changed Its Parmesan, And They’re Not Happy

It’s all starting to get a little depressing now, folks. Over the last few months, we’ve been reporting regularly on alleged recipe changes at Aldi, and almost every week, customers are highlighting a new product that’s not what it used to be. While I’m not in the habit of bringing everyone down, I think it’s important to highlight just how many items have apparently gotten worse: Its rotini, sourdough, fruit strips, peanut butter chocolate chip bars, smoked sausage, and chicken nuggets have all been called out by its shoppers for tasting different this summer. People, as is probably very clear, are not happy with the way things have been going, and are questioning whether the store’s quality is slipping. 

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And sadly, now, another product has come under suspicion for changing. This time, it’s Aldi’s parmesan. 

Emporium Selection Parmesan Cheese

Last week, a customer posted a thread on Aldi’s subreddit, where they highlighted Aldi’s Emporium Selection Parmesan Cheese as “yet another thing that’s changed.” “Maybe it’s my imagination but the cheese seems to be a lot more rubbery and lacking flavor compared to the old version,” they said, then stating that it now doesn’t shred as well as it used to. “The new label also says “Aged 10 months” whereas the old one stated “Aged for a minimum of 10 months.”

Others in the thread pointed out that they also felt its Emporium Selection Parmesan Cheese doesn’t quite feel up to scratch. “I just bought this Parmesan wedge the other day and it tastes more like Swiss cheese than Parmesan,” stated another customer. It’s worth pointing out, too, that this isn’t Parmigiano Reggiano: Cheese bearing that name is strictly regulated and is subject to DOC laws that aim to preserve its quality and taste. Cheese called the more generic “parmesan,” on the other hand, is less bound to those specific regulations, and thus is essentially an imitation – which basically means it can be changed more easily. 

A Sad Feeling Of Decline

This cheese aside, the Reddit thread discussing it stirred up the same old negative feelings about Aldi that customers have been voicing elsewhere the last few months. “The list of items I’ll buy at Aldi keeps getting shorter,” said one customer, who also stated that they’d noticed the change in the cheese’s taste. “Aldi keeps lowering the quality of products. That’s fine, if they want to keep losing business. My money spends anywhere.”

The fact that all of these apparent changes are also coming in a year when Aldi promised to remove 44 ingredients from its private label products in a bid to improve their quality also just feels strange. Why make things better with one hand, and make others worse with another?