Thanks for the clarification, I understand where you are coming from now. For pre-made, as you describe, yes, Aldi has nothing like that beyond maybe some sort

Thanks for the clarification, I understand where you are coming from now. For pre-made, as you describe, yes, Aldi has nothing like that beyond maybe some sort of yogurt parfait. Stores like Kroger, Whole Foods, Giant Eagle, and the other major supermarkets reflect what you describe. It seems that my wife and I encompass a shrinking minority or people who eat home-cooked meals more often than not. As for inventory availability, I guess it does depend on the store, as ours have been fairly good with keeping stock available. This is in a city (Columbus, Ohio) of 800,000+ with the 'burbs encompassing another million or so. We are becoming quite a foodie town, and I think that reflects a lot on the availability of fresh produce. We have many ethnic supermarkets as well, much larger than Aldi, that have a VERY wide assortment of foreign fruits and vegetables. I would have to say we probably have a lot of brokers here.