Great 'What's Hot and What's not at Aldi, Lidl & Netto' Hunt revisted

lisred

Have shopped in Aldi for about 5 years and have seen the amount of people shopping there rocket in the last few months. I used to be a bit embarrassed to say where i food shopped, but these days it's quite en vogue and i think there's a lot of 'posher' looking/sounding shoppers.

I go every week and get food for my family of 5. It costs between £75 - £85 each week which feeds each of us 3 meals a day plus snacks and that includes nappies, which are as good as any other brand. This works out at around 80 pence per person per meal!!!!

I've done comparisons on Tesco online shopping, using Tesco own brands mainly, and i save around £30!!! I couldn't afford to shop at Tesco at an extra £120 a month and i think the quality of the food is at least equal to if not better.

Aldi's Specially Selected range is fantastic!
Especially the pesto stir in sauces,
frozen Romano pizza (beautiful stonebaked pepperoni pizza with Rocket),
gruyere cheese straws
sausages
streaky bacon
fresh filled pasta

And the basic are great, inc. dried pasta, basmati rice, toilet roll (aloe vera smells great), tinned tomatoes and we like their tinned beans! (Bought some Heinz on a recent trip to Lidl and the kids wouldn't eat them!)

I only shop elsewhere for toiletries like shampoo and shower gel which my hubby is strangely particular about. Even the Aldi feminine hygiene products are as good as other supermarket own brands (although i would recommend a Mooncup to any woman who cares about the environment and moneysaving:o )

I try not to shop anywhere else and find myself shocked at the cost of 'picking up a few bits' if i have to call into a larger supermarket.

Well done Aldi:T :T :T

sukhitoo

I am a recent convert to Lidl having ventured into a nearby one on holiday and started to explore. Someone mentioned the coleslaw, and it is excellent, I agree.

But the big hit in our household for has been the Opticat cat food. I brought home a sample for the furry one to try, and he went mad for it. Since then I have been making pilgrimages to the local Lidl for more of the same. Last week they were selling 12 sachets for £2.13 which has to be cheap. Just now he turned down raw steak for it!

You know what cats are like, next week he might turn his nose up, but so far he can't get his face round it fast enough, and he never leaves any, which is more than you can say for the 'Usual Brand'!

simone10

Hope I'm responding to this correctly.......

I worked at ALDI from 1992 - 1998 (remember the time when we had to memorise all prices before they started using barcodes and allowing debit cards instead of CASH ONLY!) so also shopped there and also still do for some stuff.

Liked:
diet lemonade, chocolate, bags of sweets, pasta, rice, biscuits, cereal, crisps, ice-cream, canned baked beans (prefer to Heinz), tomato sauce (prefer to Heinz), nuts, luxury toilet rolls, kitchen roll, fabric conditioner, washing liquid, anti-bacterial washing up liquid, black bin liners, cleaning cloths, eggs, bread products and fresh pastries, orange juice, mouthwash, EVER-CHANGING SPECIALS.

Disliked:
diet coke!!!!!!!!!!

Be aware though that they NEVER offer deals like BOGOF's, so its not always the best buy.

Jason37

Some ALDI favourites:
Red wine (Pinot Noir)
Chorizo
Wash & finish (Shampoo with conditioner)
Face moisturiser - LACURA Energising Day Cream
Kids' toothpaste - Unodent, fruit flavoured
ISEREE anti-wrinkle cream (won an award, I think)
ISEREE cotton buds
Some ice creams
Cheeses

Some ALDI hates:
Fresh meat and poultry
Milk

Some LIDL favourites:
Red wine (Valdepenas, Pinot Noir, Crianza, Tarragona)
Olive oil
Cheese, especially Gorgonzola
Salami
Frozen whole duckling
Aerocell batteries (AA, AAA)
Baby wipes sensitive
Californian pistachios
Bagged baby spinach
Vine tomatoes (loose)
50% juice orange squash
Bellarom 100% Arabica ground coffee
Crunchy peanut butter

Some LIDL hates:
Fresh meat and poultry
Milk

KAJADEE

I always go to Aldi for their dishwasher tablets - pack of 40 'Magnum 5 in 1' they are considerably cheaper than other brands and they do job !!

mathsus

carpy wrote: »

lidl sell some great sweets..........the party mix (various individual packets) are great.



I agree... hardly a necessity, but Lidl Party Mix is absolutely unbeatable!

peatin

Lidl is fantastic value for money all round and I was a committed Waitrose customer.

What's hot - McKennedy Cranberry Juice. Exactly same ingredients as Ocean Spray...last week was 67p per carton compared to Ocean Spray's £1.20. Kids love it. They also do a cranberry / raspberry one. On the juice line for those of you like me with kids who drink gallons...they have large cartons (I think 1.5l of pure apple juice for 87p. Also hot items for us are undoubtedly the fruit and veg section, we buy loads....recently hass avocado for 17p each (guacamole all round!) and corn on the cob for 14p. We always buy the large beef tomatoes...really juicy and fresh, great for greek salads etc and a fraction of the cost of waitrose hard dutch equivalent! Last hot items are baked beans for 21p a tin...just as good as heinz. Oh, another great one is the Iserre face creams, really good. I have used Chanel for years and have switched to these as my skin feels better after using these.

What's not - frozen fish products not all that good, pollock has a bit of a grey tinge to it..., 4 ply toilet rolls which are a good price tend to clog up the toilet!! Also, frozen gateau not brilliant.:rotfl: :T

redbeard2000

Manchester has a high profile Aldi on Market Street, near to a Tesco Metro, M&S, Somerfield and Co-op. Aldi is streets ahead for the quality you get at the price. Whenever I see Asda/Tesco/etc win the low price wars, I know that there is no comparing the value range junk in those stores with Aldi's no-brand but high quality goods. I use Aldi for all my essentials and rarely shop anywhere else.

My top buys at Aldi:-
Premium frikadellans (German meatballs)
Smoked bacon cubes (other places gouge you for the convenience)
Hard Italian cheese for grating
Whitening toothpaste (far cheaper than anywhere I've seen)
Pasta parcels and pesto sauces (lots of variety, perfect for lunch)
6 for the price of 5 Spanish reserva Tempranillo (gorgeous)
Their Christmas goodies are wonderful (Xmas puddings, German chocs, Italian biscuits)
A good range of cheap, quality ales (German black lager, fantastic)
They do a soft Roule-type cheese, far cheaper
Peppery roast cashews
Butter (salted and unsalted) and buttery spread (no additives)
Chutneys & mustards (though the selection varies)
I love their ethnic offers that appear every so often (Greek stuffed vine leaves, Chinese sesame oil, etc). It sometimes feel like a Continental deli. I see people passing through and gasp something like 'They've got Prosecco!' and I know another convert has been made.

The only things I've not liked at Aldi:-
The standard frikadellans (too fatty, with less meat - for awhile this is all the Manchester store sold but I wrote a letter and they are stocking them again)
Their Cheddar cheese is rubbery and tasteless, too

If only Aldi sold:-
Bread flour (white and wholemeal)
Yeast
Organic milk
Chicken & vegetable stock
Then I would never shop anywhere else!

donny-gal

I used Aldi mainly, then Lidl, and more recently using Netto. Netto have certainly pulled their socks up recently, and I have had no problems with their fruit and veg, it has lasted longer than major supermarkts tbh. You have more branded items in Netto and Lidl, Aldi stay true to their own. I like Lidl's fresh meat, I have found their stewing steak to be very lean.

I only pop in either Tesco or Asda now and again for oddments, mainly strong flours (wholemeal and brown). I also use our local market for baking ingredients, fruit, veg, meat, sausages, fish.

Only problems with Aldi/Lidl is if I take DH with me tools end up in the basket!

DG

Furrball

Lidl

What I recommend:

• Salami and italian sausages
• Frozen veg stir-fry mix
• Frozen prawns
• Make-your-own pizza kits
• mozzarella
• Fruit smoothies
• Scottish Breakfast family packs - not too sure what percentage of meat there is in the sausages, but if you're not fussed, they're yummy. Plus the pack contains lorne sausages which I find hard to get hold of in England

What I'd avoid:

• Bread
• Dog food - the pooch was a bit smelly after eating this for a week. He did enjoy it though!