Aldi vs Lidl, which is best?

foreign_correspondent

they both do some good stuff - my dad was a veg producer for many years, and is impressed with Aldi's fruit and veg - he reckons they have good buyers, but says a lot of the difference is because they do not send their produce to store in refrigerated trucks, or refrigerate it in store. Therefore, it has to be delivered fresh and turnover has to be fast.

donnalou

I actually think it depends on the area some Lidl do look like a jumble sale whilst others look much better. Interestingly my nearest Aldi has closed down whilst the Lidl across the road is booming.

I do prefer the biscuits in Aldi but the fruit and Veg in Lidl

Towser

I prefer Aldi on prices but the quality coffee is cheaper on offer in Lidl.

Edwardia

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

they both do some good stuff - my dad was a veg producer for many years, and is impressed with Aldi's fruit and veg - he reckons they have good buyers, but says a lot of the difference is because they do not send their produce to store in refrigerated trucks, or refrigerate it in store. Therefore, it has to be delivered fresh and turnover has to be fast.

Good point ! When you buy refrigerated veg you have no idea how old it is.

Lidl veg is fresh every day, it's all unrefrigerated and when you see barely wilted leaves on celeriac you know it's got to be fresh.

I have always used Lidl as a deli. You can do some fantastic alfresco lunches and picnics with their food.

PLRFD

I very much doubt Lidl's veg is fresh everyday Edwardia,in fact i know it can't be as fresh carrots doing go soft and have black spot the day after buying.

trolleyrun

I prefer Aldi. The shop is clean, the staff friendly and they have a good range of things I like (the hot-smoked salmon fillets are scrumptious).

I find my local Lidl is dirty, messy and the fruit & veg is not very fresh. Also, their humongous selection of junk food puts me off.

Just my humble opinion

kwmlondon

Lidl chirizo is outstanding. I'd say about 1/3 of all my cooking starts off by frying some of that chirizo in some olive oil then adding other stuff. Bit narked off that neither Lidl nor Aldi seem to have any kidkey beans in at the moment, but when all's said and done both are fab!

terra_ferma

woodbine wrote: »

i think i`d starve before shopping on a regular basis at either

You are missing out because of your snobbery, some foods are better than the other supermarkets. For example Lidl parmesan cheese is way better than Waitrose.
The waffles sold by A & L are exactly the same as Waitrose (checked the packet and ingredients side to side with Lidl's and Aldi's look exactly the same).
Lidl's chocolate shell fish is extremely nice (again tried side by side with the real thing, the Belgian branded ones, and they were as nice, different but equally nice).
Lidl's fresh bread is way better than most supermarkets.
Other things are not so good.

Edwardia

PLRFD wrote: »

I very much doubt Lidl's veg is fresh everyday Edwardia,in fact i know it can't be as fresh carrots doing go soft and have black spot the day after buying.

That's a temperature change thing. Tesco carrots go completely black day after purchase if unrefrigerated, organic included.

Re: parmigiano reggiano wedges, not sure if Sainsbury's still does the same brand but when we bought it in Lidl years ago it was half the price. The prosciutto di Parma with the gold crown is $1 cheaper than the ASDA Extra Special stuff and pounds cheaper than M&S and it it doesn't have the crown it's not the real thing and can have additives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okgg4cQoxGA

immie

I prefer Aldi overall because it's cleaner and is more pleasant to shop in, their cured meat is very good value!

Lidl varies a lot store from store, the one near my hometown is a dive, messy, dark, loada old tins for stock, but the lidl in my university town was brilliant, had lots of fruit and veg etc.