Good and bad buys from Aldi and Lidl

VfM4meplse

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I am promising myself this today

I went in today and frankly struggled to spend £40 (to qualify me for the £5 discount). I couldn't understand why, the trolley was full and I had topped up my shopping with some cookware and my mental maths calculations are usually spot on.

Turns out the baking tins were reduced. Also, the marzipan stollen was 49p and not the 99p I was told. So overall, for £35 I have enough food to keep me going for at least 5 weeks, plus good quality (heavy) baking tins for life.

There was no panettone btw, but there were some bashed-about iced Christmas cakes reduced to £1.49.

Oh yes, and the Choceur rum, raisin and nut chocolate is okay but not driving me wild. It's rare that I can stop scoffing chocolate once I've started, but a bite of this was more than enough.

hayday75

I tried The Aldi shopping experience for 2 weeks.
Unfortunately it's not for me , the bread and meat was nice - but that was about it .
Back to Sainsburys for me .

A._Badger

hayday75 wrote: »

I tried The Aldi shopping experience for 2 weeks.
Unfortunately it's not for me , the bread and meat was nice - but that was about it .
Back to Sainsburys for me .

I've given it two (more) tries in the recent weeks, having seen so much fanbois adulation on here and I still think it is pathetic. A few items seem very cheap but by no means all, the range is extremely limited, 'brand lotto' is not my idea of fun and the Boy Scouts jumble sale tables of random tat are just horrible.

One good thing? Aldi's own-brand VSOP Cognac is excellent value for money. One bad thing? Cans of chicken in white sauce. Chicken 'not of EU origin' (I hate to think where it might have come from) and the watery, soup-like consistency is almost as off-putting as the taste.

The ambience makes ASDA feel like Fortnum and Mason, so it's back to Morrisons for me - still pretty low rent but good quality, a lot cheaper than Sainsbury's and a lot nicer than being mugged in Tesco.

paulineb_2

A._Badger wrote: »

I've given it two (more) tries in the recent weeks, having seen so much fanbois adulation on here and I still think it is pathetic. A few items seem very cheap but by no means all, the range is extremely limited, 'brand lotto' is not my idea of fun and the Boy Scouts jumble sale tables of random tat are just horrible.

One good thing? Aldi's own-brand VSOP Cognac is excellent value for money. One bad thing? Cans of chicken in white sauce. Chicken 'not of EU origin' (I hate to think where it might have come from) and the watery, soup-like consistency is almost as off-putting as the taste.

The ambience makes ASDA feel like Fortnum and Mason, so it's back to Morrisons for me - still pretty low rent but good quality, a lot cheaper than Sainsbury's and a lot nicer than being mugged in Tesco.

My local asda is horrible. Much prefer shopping in Aldi. Morrisons is ok for some items, but terribly expensive for others.

Its not adulation for some people, its a case of watching the pennies. I would much rather shop in aldi than buy many items from the basics ranges from most supermarkets.

Im not a fan of lidl, I think aldi food is much better quality and there are loads of items in Aldi that are worth buying as far as Im concerned.

hayday75

A._Badger wrote: »

I've given it two (more) tries in the recent weeks, having seen so much fanbois adulation on here and I still think it is pathetic. A few items seem very cheap but by no means all, the range is extremely limited, 'brand lotto' is not my idea of fun and the Boy Scouts jumble sale tables of random tat are just horrible.

One good thing? Aldi's own-brand VSOP Cognac is excellent value for money. One bad thing? Cans of chicken in white sauce. Chicken 'not of EU origin' (I hate to think where it might have come from) and the watery, soup-like consistency is almost as off-putting as the taste.

The ambience makes ASDA feel like Fortnum and Mason, so it's back to Morrisons for me - still pretty low rent but good quality, a lot cheaper than Sainsbury's and a lot nicer than being mugged in Tesco.

The Aldi experiance was not what i had hoped for .It made me feel poor to be honest .

daveyjp

The chicken will be from Thailand or Brazil and don't think its only Aldi who source it from there. Morrisons and Asda certainly do.

Doc_N

hayday75 wrote: »

The Aldi experiance was not what i had hoped for .It made me feel poor to be honest .

I suppose it depends on your attitude and perhaps where you live. Our Aldi has a much more upmarket clientele than Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.

Horace

I know that the Aldi near my mum is very upmarket - you only need to look at the carpark to see all the brand new Audis, Range Rovers and the like parked there. What folks can't get in Aldi they pop over the road to Morrisons.

I don't know why people get snobby about Aldi, my cousin lived in Germany for a while and over there Aldi is equivalent to Sainsbury's so it is not a down market store at all.

I don't buy all my food from Aldi but a high proportion of it, I buy their own brand of washing powder, their Magnum washing up liquid which is better than Fairy (it has to be the green original variety), I have also started buying their own brand Carageen Irish Moss liquid soap which is gorgeous.

organic_wanabe

Aldi 'Oliver Cromwell' gin isn't inexpensive and beat Blue Sapphire in an expert 'blind taste. Their garlic wraps are good and much cheaper than other supermarkets. Like their cleaning floor wipes.

Doc_N

Horace wrote: »

I know that the Aldi near my mum is very upmarket - you only need to look at the carpark to see all the brand new Audis, Range Rovers and the like parked there. What folks can't get in Aldi they pop over the road to Morrisons.

I don't know why people get snobby about Aldi, my cousin lived in Germany for a while and over there Aldi is equivalent to Sainsbury's so it is not a down market store at all.

Exactly. Only in Britain is Aldi regarded as downmarket (but only by the intellectually challenged 'brand followers') - but mainly because the supermarket majors have been ripping us all off with ludicrously high prices for many years.

Only the arrival of Aldi and Lidl has exposed their high prices and high profit margins. Once you've discovered that Aldi food is of a better standard that Tesco's (at much lower prices) you're unlikely to go back.

I can see Tesco having major difficulties over the next few years as large numbers of its customers defect to Aldi and Waitrose.