Great What/What Not to Buy at Lidl, Aldi and Netto Hunt

CravingSaving

Cloudrider wrote: »

Having just struggled with all the strength I can muster, to open a Lidl El Tequito Hot Salsa Dip, I just wondered if anyone else has problems opening their Lidl jars?

I'm mid 40s, 6ft 1" about 16 stone (not all of it fat... ) and I can only just open them before the veins on my forehead pop. I visualise all those pensioners who flock to Lidl on Mondays and Thursdays, dying of malnutrition at home, surrounded by unopened jars; or is it just me, am I a wimp?

I use a rubber glove, just one, not worn but put over the lid, then twist. This gives extra grip. Works for me

melissa'smoney

dan1979 wrote: »

I made my first ever visit to a Lidl today, I thought it was supposed to be cheap?

There were a few bargains around like washing-up liquid and similar but unless you want tins of pre-prepared food it would save me virtually nothing compared to Waitrose where I usually go (to pick up things I can't get at butchers/fruit and veg stall/fishmonger).

Free-range eggs only a few pence different, Anchor butter exactly the same price. Pot of cream very similar price.

No wonder the store was devoid of customers when I went, fails to live up to the billing.

ha ha! i completley agree! i went in for first time and i was shocked at how expensive it was!!! I wasnt impressed and wont be going again.

I did the same in aldi but i liked it in there and would shop there again

mrsv05

aldi much better than lidl. layout of store much nicer too, or at least it is in my nearest store. like everywhere else prices vary. i find that some of their cakes and chocolate are as dear a m&s cakes but other stuff like fruit veg, canned whip cream (yum), clothing is of great quality and their many other non grocery items are far cheaper than anywhere. this week i bought my son some great learning books and flash cards for £2 each, so much cheaper than elc or mothercare

Schamansky

BexTech wrote: »

Strange, you must live in some parallel universe.

It's a "Doctor Who" episode, starring Christopher Aldistone and introducing Waitrose Tyler.

sadiedoll

CraigDavid wrote: »

Aldi - The little boxes of tapas are delicious as a snack.
Mini spanish pork sausages with hot paprika. 99p. Yummy!

These are the same ones which are sold in waitrose for A LOT more.

All the tapas/continential cooked meats are fab in Aldi, IMO.

Mary_Hartnell

About 6 months ago Lidl had one of their bi-weekly promotions; mainly dedicated to interior re-decoration (White spirit, that sort of thing).

I bought for 99P (if I remember correctly) something that looked like a big oval "Pritt stick".

It is black 4.5 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide, made of black plastic with a red plastic wheel mechanism to push the glue stick in and out. A sort of giant size lip stick. The label is yellow with black printing and reads UHU EXTRA. The "X" being red to match the plastic mechanism. On the back the instructions are in Polish, Danish, Norwegian and English and include "Pr-Nr. 998326"

This glue is not meant for joining paper, it is real contact adhesive and I find it clean, strong and really useful.

Anyone know where I can get some more or if Lidl will be selling it again?

angel_shopper

Mary_Hartnell wrote: »

About 6 months ago Lidl had one of their bi-weekly promotions; mainly dedicated to interior re-decoration (White spirit, that sort of thing).

I bought for 99P (if I remember correctly) something that looked like a big oval "Pritt stick".

It is black 4.5 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide, made of black plastic with a red plastic wheel mechanism to push the glue stick in and out. A sort of giant size lip stick. The label is yellow with black printing and reads UHU EXTRA. The "X" being red to match the plastic mechanism. On the back the instructions are in Polish, Danish, Norwegian and English and include "Pr-Nr. 998326"

This glue is not meant for joining paper, it is real contact adhesive and I find it clean, strong and really useful.

Anyone know where I can get some more or if Lidl will be selling it again?

the specials at lidl come round again a few times a year.sign up for thier emails on their website and they'll send an email every week with whats due in the next week.it might be worth asking a staff member sometimes theyve got bits and bobs out the back

BexTech

angel_shopper wrote: »

the specials at lidl come round again a few times a year.sign up for thier emails on their website and they'll send an email every week with whats due in the next week.it might be worth asking a staff member sometimes theyve got bits and bobs out the back

A couple of weeks back our lidl opened up the section out back (well at the side) and were selling off cheap all the specials they had left over time that weren't sold.

Schamansky

@ Mary Hartnell

Is this the product you're after?

http://nar-mag.com/images/4528.gif

It seems you can't get it anywhere in the UK. They sell it in France or Germany, though.

murphaph

BexTech wrote: »

Yeah, they could do here too, think it just depends when I've gone in and what's been reduced.

There's actually a very strict procedure to follow (Lidl, and I presume Aldi are a very procedure driven company-even down to the office filing system, noticeboards etc. which must be laid out identically in every store so if a store manager is sick etc. his replacement can slot in and know where everything is!). If you look at the price strip or card in your Lidl store you'll see what we call a C-date (customer date) for example 2D, 14D, 1M, 6M, 12M. We give the customer this number of days to purchase and consume the product before it goes into best before or use by date. This means only very short c-date items like chiller stuff (especially salads, sausages, milk etc.) will be discounted anywhere near the point where you can't eat them. We only discount chiller products as a rule (F&V can be done at manager's discretion but nothing else can-the tills won't allow it!) and only items with less than 14 c-days so stuff like cheese should never be discounted. If you had to routinely discount items with near 2 weeks c dates it's mean you were poor at ordering stock (ordering too much!) or your staff were not rotating new deliveries.

One thing that will drive Lidl managers and staff nuts is people who rummage for better dates at the bottom. This ruins the system for everyone. We don't sell stuff that is approaching being inedible and we never sell items out of best before date like some stores (in fact we write off the likes of chocolate a month before best before date, but again if that happens it means there's a problem with stock rotation).

Some stuff like freezer product has 12 months of c-dates, that means we bin it a YEAR before it goes out of best before/use by date as a customer can reasonably expect to buy a frozen good and that it will be ok if frozen up to a year later. Similarly with tinned goods. My local supermarket (not Lidl) sells stuff out of best before date at discount which I find quite strange. Lidl only discounts stuff that hasn't reached best before or use by. Last year we extended the 30% rule by an extra day in the customer's favour.

I too love the salamis and cheeses in the chiller (in Aldi too). You just don't get them as easily in other supermarkets and certainly not as cheaply. I don't know about the UK stores (apart from Northern Ireland which is run as a part of the island of Ireland company) but in irish stores the fresh meat and poultry is all supplied daily by irish meat companies and is top quality but many people are still reluctant to buy it. I don't think Lidl will ever overcome that stigma regardless of how good our freshness procedures are. People just won't trust fresh meat from a discount retailer unfortunately. The 30% rule was removed from meat and poultry as it was believed that putting "30% cheaper" on such produce would reduce customer confidence in it.

Some of our pizzas are made by http://www.wagner-pizza.com/ which are a very well known pizza maker in Germany, probably brand leader in fact. I like our version of Iron brew more than Irn Bru itself.

My top tip for shopping in Lidl is to avoid the branded goods like the plague until you have tried our own stuff. You will see a big saving initially and you can gadually phase out the things you really don't like. I believe if you give our own stuff a try you'll be pleasantly surprised in the main but don't let the odd 'bad' thing put you off. One brand name I will never give up is Heinz Ketchup.

Do Lidl stores in the UK sell newspapers and do they have a convenience chiller near the tills? (with 500ml coke/lilt/fanta etc. and sandwiches in it).