Aldi or Lidl? Which is better?

hollydays

I went to Aldi on my first visit unprepared.I wasnt very impressed with what I saw.I bought the wrong products.Recently I read all the threads on Lidl and Aldi and went armed with a list.I bought all the products recommended and after trying them was very impressed.Only thing i am carefull about is the additives and hydrogenated vegetable fats.I have completely changed my thinking about these two stores..I now shop at Lidl although Aldi is a newer brighter shop,I dont find it has the range and interesting stock that Lidl has.

bargainhunt_3

Well I used to shop in Lidl in the UK and now live in Germany where both are huge. In the case of Aldi I am told that they control around 40% of the German grocery market, which if true means that it is not just seen as being cheap but also rather good as well.

In general Aldi offer good quality products at much lower prices. Their fruit juices are good value for money, with 1L of freshly squeezed orange juice being 1.59e, so I guess it should be about 1 pound in the UK. Other areas where you can save a packet are biscuits, cheeses and meats. In general I have found their cold meats to be of good quality, although in the UK Lidl did have a better quality range of ham. Other areas worth looking at are cleaning products and pre-packed salads, both of which are a lot cheaper than those found in the big stores either here or the in UK.

The Germans are not people known for going for poor quality, just look at the cars and until recently electrical goods which used to make it across the English channel. Hence if its good enough for Germany, then Aldi should be good enough for the UK :-) However in Britain its often a case of being seen to be doing the right thing (read snobbery) rather than anything else, for example I doubt Hyacinth Bouquet would be seen dead in Aldi:-)

In general shopping in Germany is much cheaper than in the UK, and even here Aldi is still cheaper! Hence I can only imagine how much cheaper it must seem in Britain - where we are ripped off on a daily basis.

Schamansky

bargainhunt wrote:

In general shopping in Germany is much cheaper than in the UK, and even here Aldi is still cheaper! Hence I can only imagine how much cheaper it must seem in Britain - where we are ripped off on a daily basis.

Where everyday groceries are concerned, I'd say that what costs one £ in the UK costs one € in Germany. Despite 7% VAT on food items in Germany compared to 0% in the UK.

The German Product Test Foundation (Stiftung Warentest) really did it for Aldi. Aldi couldn't have dreamed of any better PR, and completely for free at that. That has turned many a former snob around.

On a different note:

I read somewhere that kids these days insult each other with "Your mum shops at Netto/Lidl/Aldi!"

The optimum reply for that would be: "And your mum gets ripped off at Tesco/Sainsbury/Waitrose!"

Tharweb

Schamansky wrote:

On a different note:

I read somewhere that kids these days insult each other with "Your mum shops at Netto/Lidl/Aldi!"

The optimum reply for that would be: "And your mum gets ripped off at Tesco/Sainsbury/Waitrose!"

LOL! :rotfl: :T

compmad1

They sell a litre of washing up liquid for 70pish. Has anyone tried this? I like most of their products, but I like quite strong washing up liquid, not watered down thin stuff. Thanks.

hb1444

Sometimes I go to Lidl for the electrical or other goods, but I don't know whether the quality is good. I bought a webcam in Oct/Nov 04 and it had bad quality, recently I bought a cat litter tray which was too small, but their normal products are good, we bought dishwasher tablets 40 for 2.80, some caramel bars which resemble mars and some cheese sticks which were OK I guess, it really depends on the products on offer! Perhaps the stationary will catch your eye, seeing as your user name is youngmum! The stationary is quite cheap 5 pack highlighters cost 75p (I bought them twice, in Jan 05 and Aug 05) but this time I bought from WHSmith for 89p for four!

I've never been to Aldi but they have good products!

DougWeller

What I'd like is a comparison of prices between Aldi/Lidl and CostCo, which is where we pay toilet paper, olive oil, etc. in bulk.

Schamansky

compmad1 wrote:

They sell a litre of washing up liquid for 70pish. Has anyone tried this? I like most of their products, but I like quite strong washing up liquid, not watered down thin stuff. Thanks.

Just done the washing up with it. As good as Fairy. Not watered down at all.

(Aldi)

Sazere

compmad1 wrote:

They sell a litre of washing up liquid for 70pish. Has anyone tried this? I like most of their products, but I like quite strong washing up liquid, not watered down thin stuff. Thanks.

I always buy 'fairy' washing up liquid, but running short of bin bags, washing up liquid and yoghurts mid week I decided to pop into the new Aldi that has been built by us. I bought the blue antibacterial washing up liquid (not the cheapest one they sell) and I have been very impressed! Lots of foam/bubbles, seems to clean well, smells nice, gets the grease off, what more do you need?

before_hollywood

where i live we are roughly equal distance between a tesco express and a netto, and guess where i used to go?
netto.
started off i used to have to get up really early when we first got our dog (half 5 or so), and therefore went shopping at about half 7 or 8ish. went to local tesco express with a modest list and couldn't get anything i wanted, went home and vowed never to go back, now i go to netto for everything but the weekly shop. Last night i had to break my word, went to tesco express for snacks and wine, the wine was ok but 'finest swiss chocolate with fruit and nut peices' (they wanted galaxy but tesco was out) was apparently small and vile.
With netto/aldi/lidl you have to go in prepared, usually only 1 or 2 c/outs open, so you will have a wait on your hands but it is noticeably cheaper than tesco.
on the insults thing- that was the thing at my school circa 10 years ago when i was there, now its me going to netto (and aldi when i went to college over the road from it- parking was free and not time limited), and admitting it.
would rather go there to be honest, at least if its cheap it doesn't have a white label that makes it stand out