I have written about a lot of Aldi products; Aldi is the global discount grocer owned by the same German family as Trader Joes. At Aldi, you won’t find many big brand names, but rather Aldi concocted brand names that are manufactured under contract to Aldi’s specifications. (Also it will cost you a quarter to rent a cart, refunded when you return the cart to the line. Oh, and bag your own).
Where as my spawn professes to be a “ham hater,” I am a genuine ham lover, and adore it all. Except honey glazed. My domestic favorite is the slow salt cured beauties from the Carolinas; internationally: jamon serrano, prosciutto and the like.
Much of the ham in grocery stores isn’t very good, tho, and so it’s nice to run into one that isn’t full of fillers and other bits. The Appleton Farms Ham Steak is ham, water, salt, seasonings, and that’s about it.
It’s made for Aldi by a packer called “Gusto” and they’ve been running a ham and bacon operation west of Chicago for over forty years. Gusto was purchased by Butterball in 2012, Butterball is owned by Seaboard, a diverse firm dating back to 1918 and a single flour mill in Kansas.
They run a 200,000 sq foot facility in Montgomery, IL, capable of grinding out 6 million pounds of product weekly. Wow.
Their Appleton Farms Ham Steak? Superb. Highly recommended for real ham taste and texture.
Gusto Packing Factory
Gusto Packing Aerial
Appleton Farms Ham Steak Review