Aldi snobbery

Snugglebunny8

dont have Aldi near us, popped into one when visiting my mum and was perfectly happy with it, clean, good service, good prices, would shop there if we had one.

We have Lidl cattleshed recently opened not that far from us, (when we objected at planning meeting we were predictably called snobs, which was ridiculous, we were objecting to them sticking a big shed of a shop in middle of residential area where there's no room for delivery trucks to turn and hardly any room for parking, would have objected whatever shop it was!) I made effort to go in there after looking at this thread and athough its clean etc and other shoppers and staff seemed perfectly pleasent like everywhere else, the bread was more expensive than Sainsburys, milk same price, very little fruit and veg although what they had seemed fine and price ok, there were no outstanding bargains or anythng significantly cheaper than other places.

BlueCow1975

I would be totally lost without our local Aldi, which is 5 minutes away. Get all my fresh fruit and veg from there and save an absolute fortune. Also really love all of their cooked meat range and it is so much better than a lot of the supermarket carp in the same price range. I usually pop in at least twice a week.

The staff are all helpful and friendly. The manager is cheerful and lovely.

I really struggle to get my head around food snobs. A banana is a banana, and egg is an egg and milk is milk. I suppose if they want to pay a crazy amount for the same product in "premium" places then let them get on with it!!

Meanwhile we can all put our savings towards our first porsche.......:rotfl:

ostaragirl

I share a desk with a Lidl snob at work. I've been 'educating' her on bargains for last 7 years. I love it when she says things like 'Where did you get those boots' there great?' and her face when I say Lidl is a picture.
She is a total money waster and makes me mad when she tells me about all the food they throw out.:mad:

wellblechstrumpf

Good morning, I am new to this forum.
As it happens I am German living in the UK.
There are some facts might be worth to know:
- I wonder how Lidl treats his UK staff? In Germany they had some problem after it became public that they controlled their staff a bit too much. Also clothes are produced in Asia under questionable circumstances (child work and they pay their produces very few salary which causes troubles for families over there)
- Aldi managed somehow to push down the prices for bananas which caused also problems for the banana workers in their home countries.
There are further negative examples.
I am aware that Aldi and Lidl can be cheap but the question is on which back this was achieved. Probably the same is valid for the other English supermarkets but I am not familiar with those.
Banana is therefore not always a banana and sometimes it might be good to think where the food comes from and under which circumstances it was produced. I understand that it is tough at the moment in the UK and I see the effect in my own purse, however it is not always about the price solely.

In Germany is a tough price war going on between supermarkets and discounters. But a test showed that a basket full of own branded products cost the same as at Lidl or Aldi. Difference was around 1Euro only. Open your eyes and compare.

rachbc

wellblechstrumpf wrote: »

In Germany they had some problem after it became public that they controlled their staff a bit too much.

Someone onhere has already pointed out that Aldi staffa re paid more than the equivalent staff in mainstream UK supermarkets.

Also clothes are produced in Asia under questionable circumstances (child work and they pay their produces very few salary which causes troubles for families over there)

Gap, M&S and many many other stores also do this

- Aldi managed somehow to push down the prices for bananas which caused also problems for the banana workers in their home countries.

I buy fairtrade bananas, and infact thing Aldi have an excellent FT raange- tea, coffee, chocolate, bananas...

In Germany is a tough price war going on between supermarkets and discounters. But a test showed that a basket full of own branded products cost the same as at Lidl or Aldi. Difference was around 1Euro only. Open your eyes and compare

My eyes are open - I can see the prices on mysupermarket.com and can tell you for a fac that on the products I regularly buy Aldi is significantly cheaper than Asda or Sainsburys.
.

My German freind will only shop in Aldi or waitrose as she can't stand normal UK supermarkets

wellblechstrumpf

rachbc wrote: »

Gap, M&S and many many other stores also do this

There is no justification by saying all others are doing this as well.
Lidl sells branded product at the sample price than Waitrose, for example the Lurpark margarine. Their owns brands might be cheaper but extensively. Lidl and Aldi have nothing to give away for free and they will keep there prices close to Asda's maybe a bit lower.

Doc_N

wellblechstrumpf wrote: »

There is no justification by saying all others are doing this as well.
Lidl sells branded product at the sample price than Waitrose, for example the Lurpark margarine. Their owns brands might be cheaper but extensively. Lidl and Aldi have nothing to give away for free and they will keep there prices close to Asda's maybe a bit lower.

I think perhaps you don't fully appreciate just how aggressively UK supermarkets and chain stores operate.

They screw their suppliers to the floor on pricing, and most of the special offers you see in Tesco and the other major supermarkets are funded not by the superrmarkets themselves, but by the suppliers.

I'm not saying Lidl and Aldi are any better. I've also heard the suggestions that they don't treat their staff as well as the others, and they're certainly targeted for the number of items pushed through the tills per minute, which is why so many people complain about the stuff piling up at the end. But they're no worse than the rest on other issues.

Primark get a lot of bad publicity for the way their clothes are produced - I doubt that in reality they're any worse than any of the other multiples. They all hide behind other companies in the maufacturing/supply chain so that they can distance themselves from any problems should they arise.

red_devil

I go in our local aldi sometimes but its horrible and dull and i wish they would have some baskets for people who dont need a trolley!

Bubble16

red_devil wrote: »

I go in our local aldi sometimes but its horrible and dull and i wish they would have some baskets for people who dont need a trolley!

I don't use a trolly in Aldi, I put what I want in my bag, then empty it at the till. It means I know I can carry what I have bought and negates the need for the already overworked staff to collect baskets.

wellblechstrumpf

Doc_N wrote: »

I think perhaps you don't fully appreciate just how aggressively UK supermarkets and chain stores operate.

They screw their suppliers to the floor on pricing, and most of the special offers you see in Tesco and the other major supermarkets are funded not by the superrmarkets themselves, but by the suppliers.

I'm not saying Lidl and Aldi are any better. I've also heard the suggestions that they don't treat their staff as well as the others, and they're certainly targeted for the number of items pushed through the tills per minute, which is why so many people complain about the stuff piling up at the end. But they're no worse than the rest on other issues.

Primark get a lot of bad publicity for the way their clothes are produced - I doubt that in reality they're any worse than any of the other multiples. They all hide behind other companies in the maufacturing/supply chain so that they can distance themselves from any problems should they arise.

Dear Doc,
Thank you for your comment.
Aldi and Lidl are doing the same, at least in Germany. Suppliers are forced to slash their prices.
Maybe it is the customer who can break this chain.

Edit: I guess I am unlucky with my Aldi. I found mould on tomatoes, things don't stay long fresh in the fridge. So I gave up to buy fresh things at least from Aldi. I found a local corner shop doing good deals in terms of fresh fruit. Far better than T and S.