Compared to other large grocery chains in the United States, Aldi offers quite a unique shopping experience. For one thing, she charges 25 cents for a shopping cart, although she gets a quarter back when she returns the cart to its rightful place once you’re done shopping. The practice of having to use change to access a shopping cart is quite rare in the States, but is actually very common in Europe, where Aldi is originally from.
If you ever find yourself completely out of quarters, tokens are a neat little alternative tool to unlock Aldi’s shopping carts; some people even tried to use coins from other currencies, but that kind of experimentation can give inconsistent results. However, if you’ve caught the wanderlust bug and plan to shop at Aldi’s international locations, you’ll definitely benefit from knowing which foreign currencies to keep in your wallet. Here is a list of countries with Aldi presence, along with the corresponding currencies that open the cart. Surprisingly, most of them far exceed the humble quarter, so we also noted their value in US dollars, according to the conversion rate of December 2025.
Read more: 16 Cheap Aldi Products You Should Avoid Buying at All Costs
The United Kingdom
A close-up of a British pound coin – Ceri Breeze/Shutterstock
In the UK, you’ll need one pound sterling (£1) to open the shopping cart, which equals $1.33. That’s five quarters and eight cents extra! This coin actually caused some problems for UK Aldi fans in 2017, when it was upgraded from a round design to a 12-sided one to prevent counterfeiting. For a while, the new currency did not match the shopping carts, so Aldi needed to update the mechanisms.
Australia
One Australian dollar coin on a white background, depicting several kangaroos – shana espinoza/Shutterstock
What can you do with a kangaroo coin? In Australia, you can grab an Aldi cart. One Australian dollar (which is equal to $0.67 US dollar) opens the cart, as does the two dollar coin, which shows an Aboriginal tribal elder and converts to $1.33 US dollar. If you can’t find any change when traveling Down Under, however, Australian Aldi sells trolley tokens for $0.99 AUS dollars.
Countries that use the euro currency
Close-up of a single euro coin on a 20 euro background – John_lamb/Getty Images
Aldi is present in 18 countries around the world, 11 of which use the euro as their currency. The coins required for the carts are €1 ($1.16) and €2 ($2.33), which is significantly more than a quarter, perhaps giving people some extra motivation to return the trolley. The only exception is the city of Barcelona, where certain Aldis completely renounce the coin system and keep all the carts open.
Poland
Close-up of two silver 1 zloty coins – Robert Plociennik/Shutterstock
You won’t be able to buy the ingredients for the traditional 12-course Polish Christmas Eve meal without a cart, so make sure you have the change ready before you head to Aldi. You need either one or two złoty to get the cart, which is equal to $0.27 and $0.55 — much closer to the American quarter than the other countries. No change left? The store may be able to provide you with a free token instead.
Hungary
Hugarian 100 forint coin on dark background – Deacons docs/Shutterstock
Another country where Aldi’s “cart fee” is quite similar to that in the United States is Hungary. The carts are opened with a 100 forint coin, which is a little more than an American quarter, which converts to $0.30. If you’ve spent all your forints in the best restaurants in Budapest but still have a few euros left, however, a €1 coin will supposedly work too.
Switzerland
A collection of silver Swiss franc coins, with the reverse of 1 CHF in the center – Assalve/Getty Images
Shopping carts are locked in most Swiss supermarkets, including Aldi, so definitely get into the habit of keeping a Swiss franc or two (CHF) in your wallet. One CHF is $1.24, and two CHF is $2.48, the latter officially being the largest amount of money you’ll be depositing in a cart. On the other hand, many Swiss shops sell trolley tokens — you can even get them at IKEA.
China
Entrance to a Chinese Aldi – Robert Way/Shutterstock
In China, Aldi opened its doors for the first time in 2019 and has since grown into a highly profitable operation, making two billion yuan in 2024. It mostly has a presence in Shanghai, although it has slowly begun to expand its reach. Unlike in Europe, where Aldi is considered anything but bougie, in China, the chain is considered a high-end place with European goods. But the biggest difference? Absolutely no coins are required for shopping carts.
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Read the original article about the Tasting Table.