My first Aldi shop - thoughts

welshlovebiscuit

I've just discovered Lidl's creme caramels - pack of 4 for 1.65...SO tasty! We'd given up puddings to save money but these have started leaping into our trolley!

sophieschoice

annasoper wrote: »

Aldi's fruit and veg is far cheaper than Asda or Tesco's. Sometime up to half the price.

I'm a late convert to Aldi but I like it. The chocolate, wine, ground coffee, biscuits and particularly their own brand jelly beans are fab.
I especially like the weeks they have foreign food on sale. There are bargains to be had there.
However, my only niggle is the salad stuff. It is tasteless and watery.
Unless you douse it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (or even mayo or salad cream) it is blander than bland. Not a patch on Sainsbury's.

Whatliesbeneth

We do our main shop at aldi and have done for the last year or so and i think its brilliant, fruit and veg is good if you get in early in the day and get the best stuff cos they put it out every morning and its gone by mid afternoon. our weekly shop is around £30 for a family of four and my sons eat very well. we avoid mainstream supermarkets except for aptamil baby milk and pampers nappies.

tajna

I rarely buy fruit and veg at LIDL as it goes off very quickly however, their tomatoes are the nicest we tried and their veg is very cheap so if I don't get it from elsewhere, I buy it from them in small quantities.
Sadly, there is no ALDI near us.

mervyn67

What really hacks me off in Aldi or Lidl is why, when the trolley costs nothing as you get your pound back at the end, people still persist in being dumb enough to carry in bags or in their arms, what they have decided to buy. I don't think that I will be surprised by the reactions to this very obvious observation.

Owain_Moneysaver

mervyn67 wrote: »

What really hacks me off in Aldi or Lidl is why, when the trolley costs nothing as you get your pound back at the end, people still persist in being dumb enough to carry in bags or in their arms, what they have decided to buy. I don't think that I will be surprised by the reactions to this very obvious observation.

Because they went in intending to buy a tin of beans and came out with three tonnes of chocolate, a greenhouse, and five crates of beer. And you can't get a trolley once you've passed the entrance.

Lugh_Chronain

mervyn67 wrote: »

What really hacks me off in Aldi or Lidl is why, when the trolley costs nothing as you get your pound back at the end, people still persist in being dumb enough to carry in bags or in their arms, what they have decided to buy. I don't think that I will be surprised by the reactions to this very obvious observation.

I don't think that's the gripe people have with Aldi with regards to their lack of shopping baskets. In my experience I found it inconvenient and would have preferred a basked instead of hauling a trolley around the store. Also, Aldi’s aisles aren't exactly trolley friendly. Never thought of using a shopping bag but have thought of using a box in the past.

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Because they went in intending to buy a tin of beans and came out with three tonnes of chocolate, a greenhouse, and five crates of beer. And you can't get a trolley once you've passed the entrance.

You mean to say you could be stuck in their forever!? :eek:

welshlovebiscuit

My problem is I very rarely have a pound coin for a trolley...and anyway I can't really control trollies very well as i can't use my hands ...I can however carry a basket over the crook of my arm - although it's a bit hairy trying to get stuff off the shelves with either! I like the small trollies Asda and Tesco have as I can control them with just my arms. No supermarkets are really geared up for me although the staff in my LIDL do reach things down very readily unlike he big supermarkets where they look at me stupid if I ask for help.

Middy

As mentioned in previous posts about Aldi, I refuse to buy satsumas, clementines etc as I always had to throw the pack away after eating one or two. Either because they were dry, full of pips - had 44 in 2 satsumas, bitter or impossible to peel!

I love their produce otherwise. Things like carrots and parsnips I buy loose at work as I only need 2 or 3 and don't like throwing food out.

They need to introduce baskets as I only want a few bits at a time. There I am in Aldi, finding a srp (shelf ready packaging) with a few things in there, emptying it and using the srp as a 'basket'. I always take the srp home and recycle it.

Milk is hit and miss at the store near me. Yesterday, I got 2 pints skimmed for 75p with a ub of 27th. Other times, there is none or a few bottles with a ub of 2 days.

As I work in another supermarket in the same town, I always get banter from customers that recognise me asking me what am I doing in here? I reply with 'tell me when my employer had (insert produce name) for 69p (work charging £1.49 for the same size pack)?

Middy

welshlovebiscuit wrote: »

No supermarkets are really geared up for me although the staff in my LIDL do reach things down very readily unlike he big supermarkets where they look at me stupid if I ask for help.

I am always doing this for customers, both from the top and bottom shelves and never give customers that 'stupid customer' look. If I see my regular customers that I pick stuff for them, I ask them is there anything I can pick up for them in the store. I don't mind doing this. On one occasion, I had a customer that wanted 5 items that were on the top shelf and down a different aisle.