The article made an interesting point: Aldi is basically Trader Joe’s without the marketing. According to the NYT, Trader Joe’s is even owned by an Albrecht family trust — the “Al” in “Aldi.”. From the NYT: About 95 percent of its goods bear an obscure private label. For example, rather than Skippy, Jiffy, natural, and jam-swirled peanut butter, Aldi sells one kind, which it commissions itself.