Aldi prices creeping up

maman

I can't see them doing it myself. I realise it would be helpful for some people but that's not really their model. Around here their shops tend to be in local communities and heaps of people walk there which is why they can get away with a small car park.

VfM4meplse

PasturesNew wrote: »

I saw in Aldi yesterday, in a typical "trifle for 4" plastic packaging, an Eton Mess! The £1/or so cheap trifle I was looking for was nowhere to be seen.

Funny you should say that, I made a tropical fruit trifle for a birthday celebration the other day, using mostly Aldi ingredients and I was thinking how for £7.50 I should have just bought a big cake instead.

Having said that, the trifle was big and served 10 greedy guts...twice with leftovers to spare. It was so big that had it been for sale it would have been labelled "trifle for 50"

2ilent8cho

I'm still confused with the whole Aldi thing, i tried it and i ended up going Tesco 2 days later and binning half of what i had bought from Aldi as it was just disgusting food. They were also not really any cheaper and the choice of products was at best dire.

The only thing i can say i actually enjoyed from their was the chocolate, and their fruit/veg seemed no worse just annoying the lack of best before on the packaging. (Not so i know what to bin, just more so i know what to use up first when i have a few packs!)

Their spaghetti hoops tasted like the tomato sauce contained petrol - binned after 1 mouth full.
Their version of cheese strings tasted nothing like cheese strings - spat out in the bin, and then binned the rest
Their version of monster much or quavers the flavour was very uneven so you would end up with a plain crisps one end and an over flavoured part at the other end.
Their Red and Green curry sauces had big bits in it, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's is smooth with no big bits in.

Thats to name but a few things. When i last went i could get a garlic bread in Aldi for about 30p and they were around 30p in Tesco or 28p in Asda.

The quorn chicken peices were at the time £1.50 in Aldi and £1.50 in Tesco, and Asda. Add to this i would have to go to one of the big 4 anyway because Aldi don't really stock much, so more fuel and more time, and at Tesco i get club card points which i can convert to Airmiles.

I am left really puzzled why people go Aldi, just go Tesco/Asda and see how low you can go brand wise either Branded / Home Brand / Value and get the lowest you like to make your shopping cheaper and have the advantage of much better choice and better tasting food and not being rushed through the checkouts.

maman

Sounds like you've not been there for a while. They now have best before dates on fruit and veg which replaced the weekly codes. They've also increased their range so no need to get much elsewhere.

I can't speak for spaghetti hoops as I don't have those but I'm pleased with the items I buy. I do mostly cook from scratch so I'm buying basic ingredients but have tried curry and macaroni cheese ready meals and they're fine.

meer53

2ilent8cho wrote: »

I'm still confused with the whole Aldi thing, i tried it and i ended up going Tesco 2 days later and binning half of what i had bought from Aldi as it was just disgusting food. They were also not really any cheaper and the choice of products was at best dire.

The only thing i can say i actually enjoyed from their was the chocolate, and their fruit/veg seemed no worse just annoying the lack of best before on the packaging. (Not so i know what to bin, just more so i know what to use up first when i have a few packs!)

Their spaghetti hoops tasted like the tomato sauce contained petrol - binned after 1 mouth full.
Their version of cheese strings tasted nothing like cheese strings - spat out in the bin, and then binned the rest
Their version of monster much or quavers the flavour was very uneven so you would end up with a plain crisps one end and an over flavoured part at the other end.
Their Red and Green curry sauces had big bits in it, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's is smooth with no big bits in.

Thats to name but a few things. When i last went i could get a garlic bread in Aldi for about 30p and they were around 30p in Tesco or 28p in Asda.

The quorn chicken peices were at the time £1.50 in Aldi and £1.50 in Tesco, and Asda. Add to this i would have to go to one of the big 4 anyway because Aldi don't really stock much, so more fuel and more time, and at Tesco i get club card points which i can convert to Airmiles.

I am left really puzzled why people go Aldi, just go Tesco/Asda and see how low you can go brand wise either Branded / Home Brand / Value and get the lowest you like to make your shopping cheaper and have the advantage of much better choice and better tasting food and not being rushed through the checkouts.

I find Aldi fruit and veg much better than the main supermarkets. I really don't understand how you can call their food disgusting, some of their stuff is way better quality than anything i've ever bought in Tesco/Asda etc. And way cheaper. I detest having to shop anywhere else, i just wish they'd start selling Pepsi (my kids won't drink the cheap stuff) I can get it in Lidl though so not so bad.

Doc_N

2ilent8cho wrote: »

.......I am left really puzzled why people go Aldi, just go Tesco/Asda and see how low you can go brand wise either Branded / Home Brand / Value and get the lowest you like to make your shopping cheaper and have the advantage of much better choice and better tasting food and not being rushed through the checkouts.

As already pointed out, it's obvious from the comments in your post that it's some time since you shopped at Aldi.

It's also obvious from survey after survey in Which? magazine and elsewhere that your views aren't shared by many other people. Aldi consistently outperforms Tesco and Asda by a very long margin, and if it really were as bad as you seem to think it is I doubt it would be doing as well as it is - and I doubt the car parks would have so many expensive cars in!


"Aldi has overtaken Marks & Spencer and Waitrose as the best-performing supermarket for customer satisfaction in a survey of 10,000 shoppers.

The Institute of Customer Service ranked 245 organisations from various sectors on factors such as staff professionalism and complaint handling.

Amazon topped the list followed by the online bank First Direct, retailer John Lewis and tour firm Jet2holidays.com.

Aldi came seventh overall, up from 34th place last July. Waitrose and Marks & Spencer ranked 13th and 14th, having been the highest-scoring supermarkets last year at joint third place."

VfM4meplse

If people wish to continue lining the pockets of Tesco shareholders, that is their prerogative. I have much better things to do with my money.

maman

meer53 wrote: »

I find Aldi fruit and veg much better than the main supermarkets. I really don't understand how you can call their food disgusting, some of their stuff is way better quality than anything i've ever bought in Tesco/Asda etc. And way cheaper. I detest having to shop anywhere else, i just wish they'd start selling Pepsi (my kids won't drink the cheap stuff) I can get it in Lidl though so not so bad.

My Aldi is going to be closed for refurbishment next month and I'm planning alternatives already!:D


I think I'll be driving 12 miles to another branch that I've used before when I've been working in the area. There is a slightly nearer one (I might give it one more chance) but it's usually disorganised. I think a lot depends on the manager how local stores are run.

Doc_N

maman wrote: »

......There is a slightly nearer one (I might give it one more chance) but it's usually disorganised. I think a lot depends on the manager how local stores are run.

Couldn't agree with you more. I'm amazed at how much difference a good manager can make to a store.

They're pretty well paid (£43,750 rising to £57,050 after 4 years, including a minimum annual bonus of £2,000 for those working in stores within the M25) - so they ought to be able to make a difference.

Good career for a hardworking graduate, too - £44k starting salary, rising to £73,450 as an Area Manager within 4 years.

PasturesNew

2ilent8cho wrote: »

I am left really puzzled why people go Aldi, just go Tesco/Asda and see how low you can go brand wise either Branded / Home Brand / Value and get the lowest you like to make your shopping cheaper and have the advantage of much better choice and better tasting food and not being rushed through the checkouts.

Everybody has differing budgets, food tastes and travel distances.

I can walk to both Aldi and Lidl, so "free". Tesco/Asda would involve a £2 fuel charge there/back. As I usually spend £3-6 per visit, going about twice a week as I need things, it'd cost more to get the food than I spend on it.

A smaller product range means you're not tempted by prettier looking things... I go into Aldi for big bread rolls - there they are, do you want a pack or not? Job done.

I have often found, in the past, that even if I do drive to the other supermarkets they either don't stock what I was there for, or the shelf is empty - so I've done all that trip for nothing and I then have to visit 1-2 other shops to get something quite straight forward. At Xmas I even went to Asda TWICE for one thing (crab pate) and they didn't have it either time.

As for being rushed through the checkouts, I stack it up in the order I'll be packing it, so no problems there - and their model is you're supposed to shove it back into the trolley and then go to the shelf to pack it into your own bags. I always have a basket, so pack it as it comes through the till as I've laid it out in the right order. I've also worked out how much I've spent and have either roughly the right money ready, or my card in my pocket (put there while queueing).