Not an American, so Aldi is just Aldi the German supermarket chain to me. I'm talking about how product databases and shops are run in general throughout Europe. Seems like Aldi invented their own system that no other chain uses.
I was referring to the history lesson matt4077 gave in an ancestor comment.
Yes, the Aldi chains were using their own system. It's not too much of a leap: they only have a few different hundred items total, and they already control the packaging and what's printed on it.
In any case, I am really glad Aldi (and Lidl) are making great inroads in the UK and Australia. Mostly because I think the incumbents in these places can use some shaking up from their cosy oligopolies. (Tesco in the UK and Coles in Australia feel `evil' in exactly the sense that we decried Microsoft to be.)
