Aldi offers a fairly unique shopping experience compared to other large grocery chains in the United States. First, it charges 25 cents for a shopping cart, but you do get 25 cents back when you put the cart back when you’re done shopping. The practice of having to use change to enter a shopping cart is fairly uncommon in the United States, but is actually quite common in Europe, where Aldi originated.
If you find yourself completely out of money, tokens are another neat little tool that can unlock Aldi’s shopping cart; some people have even tried using coins in other currencies, but this experimentation can produce inconsistent results. However, if you love traveling and plan to shop at Aldi stores internationally, you’ll definitely benefit from knowing which foreign coins you should keep in your wallet. Below is a list of countries where Aldi stores are located, along with the corresponding coins to unlock the cart. Surprisingly, many of these were well beyond the modest quarter, so we also recorded their dollar values based on December 2025 exchange rates.
Read more: 16 cheap Aldi products you should avoid at all costs
U.K.
Close-up of a pound coin – Ceri Breeze/Shutterstock
In the UK, you need one pound (£1) to unlock the shopping cart, which is equivalent to $1.33 USD. That’s five hundred and eighty-eight cents more! This coin actually caused some trouble for UK Aldi fans in 2017 when it was updated from a round design to a 12-sided design to prevent counterfeiting. For a while, new coins couldn’t be put into carts, so Aldi needed to update the mechanism.
Australia
An Australian dollar coin depicting several kangaroos on a white background – Shana Espinoza/Shutterstock
What can you do with a coin depicting a kangaroo? In Australia, you can buy yourself an Aldi shopping cart. One Australian dollar (equivalent to US$0.67) unlocks the shopping cart, as does a two-dollar coin, which depicts an Aboriginal tribal elder and can be exchanged for US$1.33. However, if you can’t find change while traveling Australia, Aldi Australia sells trolley tokens for AU$0.99.
Countries using the euro currency
Close-up of a euro coin on a 20 euro background – John_lamb/Getty Images
Aldi operates in 18 countries around the world, 11 of which use the euro as their currency. The coins required for shopping carts are 1 euro ($1.16) and 2 euros ($2.33), well over a quarter, which might give people some extra incentive to return the carts. The only exception is the city of Barcelona, where some aldis abandon the coin system entirely and keep all shopping carts locked.
Poland
Close-up of two 1 zloty silver coins – Robert Plociennik/Shutterstock
You won’t be able to buy ingredients for a traditional 12-course Polish Christmas Eve dinner without a cart, so make sure you have change ready before heading to Aldi. You’ll need a zloty or two to buy the cart, which equates to $0.27 and $0.55 – closer to a quarter in the US than in other countries. No change anymore? The store may be able to provide you with free tokens.
Hungary
Hungarian 100 forint coin on dark background – Deacons docs/Shutterstock
Another country where Aldi “cart fees” are quite similar to the US is Hungary. The shopping cart requires 100 forint coins to unlock, which is slightly more than a quarter and converts to $0.30 USD. However, if you’ve spent all your forints at the best restaurants in Budapest but still have a few euros left, a €1 coin will allegedly do the trick.
Switzerland
Collection of Swiss franc silver coins with 1 Swiss franc on the reverse – Assalve/Getty Images
Most Swiss supermarket shopping carts are locked, including Aldi, so be sure to make a habit of keeping one to two Swiss francs (CHF) in your wallet. 1 CHF is $1.24 and 2 CHF is $2.48, which is officially the maximum amount you can put in your cart. On the other hand, many Swiss stores sell trolley tokens – you can even buy them at IKEA.
China
Inside a Chinese Aldi – Robert Way/Shutterstock
In China, Aldi first opened its doors in 2019 and has since grown into a highly profitable business, with revenues of 2 billion yuan by 2024. The company’s operations are mainly concentrated in Shanghai, but it has slowly begun to expand its influence. Unlike in Europe, Aldi is considered a high-end place for European goods in China. But the biggest difference? Absolutely no coins are needed for the shopping cart.
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Read the original article on Tasting Table.