Good and bad buys from Aldi and Lidl

Eliza_2

I also love Aldi but have had a couple of recent problems at the tills where items were put through in quick succession so that I ended up nearly being charged for a bike rack instead of 2 small grocery items - apparently the bar codes had run together. But still, it's wise to always check till receipts before leaving the shop wherever you are.

I hope they don't stock more known-brand stuff as I've always loved trying their german or dutch or whatever products, just as you would when abroad. I've always been cynical of 'brands' too wherever I shop. If it just turns into a cheap clone of one of the other supermarkets it will end up like the late lamented Kwiksave or somewhere and what's the point of that? At the moment they have a unique selling point and should stick with it. I just wish you could still buy pumpernickel and other rye breads, I used to love those so it looks as though some of their less popular continental products are giving way to 'brands'.

For me their cheeses, cold meats, or any meats in fact, and veg when on offer, are great. The range of moisturisers is also brilliant - esp the night cream which leaves my skin feeling really lovely in the morning and not dry. But probably my favourite thing about Aldi is the lack of choice, - if I want a tin of tomatoes I don't want to be faced with a whole aisle full, I just want a choice of chopped or whole and that's it. Wonderful. In fact even if they got rid of the chopped I'd be happy, as I never buy those (I can chop em myself!!)

Great thread btw.

Doc_N

Eliza wrote: »

I also love Aldi but have had a couple of recent problems at the tills where items were put through in quick succession so that I ended up nearly being charged for a bike rack instead of 2 small grocery items - apparently the bar codes had run together. But still, it's wise to always check till receipts before leaving the shop wherever you are.

I hope they don't stock more known-brand stuff .......

Same problem here with Aldi - checking receipts is essential because of items that haven't actually been purchased. The stuff goes through so quickly that 'rogue' items get added.

Branded goods - not good. I don't want brands - they're overpriced, and if Aldi goes down that route I'll shop elsewhere.

Towser

what about the toilet paper what's the one to go for?

Eliza_2

Towser wrote: »

what about the toilet paper what's the one to go for?

Cheapest wherever you shop!! Considering what happens to it why pay any more than you have to?

Stompa

Towser wrote: »

what about the toilet paper what's the one to go for?

This one's fine:

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/product_range/product_range_17378.htm

Buggins

Lidl's floralys aloe Vera loo rolls are good
Hth

valk_scot

Doc_N wrote: »

Always used to shop at Lidl until Aldi opened a few months back. Quite amazed at the difference between the two.

Aldi - happy, smiling, friendly staff. Very busy store.

Lidl - miserable, grumpy, unfriendly staff. Store's lost a large chunk of its business.

Is this the general experience, or is it just a local issue?

Must just be local, the staff at my Lidl are lovely and the ones in Aldi are the grumpy ones.

The thing I notice about both stores though is that they're always fairly busy no matter what time of day I go there, with the obvious peaks at the weekends and after work. Whereas if I go to Tesco on a weekday it's very often just me alone in an aisle. I do think more folk are cottoning on to Lidl and Aldi for shopping and a couple of recent converts have commented on the fact it's a relief to get away from all the in your face marketing and complicated offers. As someone else has said, if you want a tin of tomatoes you just go in and pick it off the shelf, there's not a choice of forty different types half of which are on some sort of promo.

Things don't move around all the time as well, you can get in there with your list and be out again with a trolley full in under twenty minutes. They don't tend to run out of much either. And their milk and bread are the cheapest locally, in Lidl 4pts of milk is £1 and their own multigrain loaf (excellent, easily as good as Warbutons) is about 59p iirc.

What else do I go in for? Muesli, greek yoghurt, the individual 27p creamy yoghurts, smoked ham, cooking bacon (£1.69 for a kilo!), frankfurters, the Twix-like carmel biscuit bars (£1.49 for ten double ones), jam and marmalade, pasta sauce in jars, mango chutney, paprika crisps, any of their meat and veg, dishwashet tablets....actually, if I was told I could only ever shop in one supermarket for a year or more then Lidl would be the one, I think.

crookym

The Chicken en Croute with Thai Green Curry Sauce, in the freezers, are AMAZING!!!

From Aldi.

sb44

I have tried chewing gum from Lidl and Aldi.

The Aldi are sold in packs like the usual, Lidl are in 45g sachets with zip lock tops (called JET chewing gum).

I think the Aldi ones are disgusting, a bit like chewing a piece of gum that has been left out of the packet and dried.

The lidl are a lot better and are quite minty, help to clear your nostrils! They are great value as there are about 30+ pieces in the sachet.

They have about 4 different flavours, menthol and eucalyptus, honey and lemon, mint and blackcurrant.

WantToBeSE

I dont know about Aldi (dont have one near me, but they are building one!), but this is what i like/dont like from Lidl:

Like-
Choc Chip cookies (taste like maryland, but cost 40p)
Jam-especially the morello cherry
Chocolate
Frozen bread rolls
Cheese
Mayo
Cornetto style ice creams
Eggs
Salsa
Tortilla chips
Fruit and veg (except bananas, for some reason they go bad quickly)
Tinned tomatoes, sweetcorn
Tomato puree
Passata
Spaghetti (49p for a good size pack)
Curry sauces
High juice
Golden rice
Chow Mein noodles
Coconut milk
Smoked Haddock (both fresh and frozen are LOVELY!
Long grain rice
Whole chickens
All meat
Milk
Bread flour
Big tubs of yogurt (about £1.79) are really creamy and nice

Don't like-
Lidls brand crisps-yuk!
Lidl brand Baked beans and tinned spaghetti hoops-AWFUL
Lidl brand Salad cream

hope thats helpful