Good and Bad Buying at Lidl and Aldi (***Please don't expire***)

mikb

Stompa said:

harz99 said:

Also in the frozen potato products the Champion own brand  has another one alongside called Four Seasons which I haven't noticed before...

I'm not sure about frozen potato products, but they've certainly had Four Seasons frozen vegetables for several years now.

There's "Four Seasons" tinned (Red Kidney Beans, Carrots, Pears, Prunes, Fruit Cocktail) and frozen (Black Forest Fruits/Summer Fruits/Veg Mix/Veg Medley and sometimes it just seems to flip-flop between "Sweet Harvest" and "Four Seasons". I'm not convinced there's a difference, just A-B marketing testing ...

od244051

Love Lidl's Deluxe Salmon en Croute (frozen) for £3.99 - chunky pieces of salmon, pastry is good texture, taste and amount. Also love Lidl's Deluxe pies as well.

203846930

od244051 said:

Love Lidl's Deluxe Salmon en Croute (frozen) for £3.99 - chunky pieces of salmon, pastry is good texture, taste and amount. Also love Lidl's Deluxe pies as well.

Most of the Deluxe range is good/tasty but slightly too expensive for me to buy it straight off the shelf, I will snap items up though as soon as I see a reduced sticker, yesterday I enjoyed the Deluxe hot cross buns (4 pack) for 20p.

Rosa_Damascena

duncanthedog said:

od244051 said:

Love Lidl's Deluxe Salmon en Croute (frozen) for £3.99 - chunky pieces of salmon, pastry is good texture, taste and amount. Also love Lidl's Deluxe pies as well.

Most of the Deluxe range is good/tasty but slightly too expensive for me to buy it straight off the shelf, I will snap items up though as soon as I see a reduced sticker, yesterday I enjoyed the Deluxe hot cross buns (4 pack) for 20p.

At 5p per bun that is excellent value!

od244051

duncanthedog said:

od244051 said:

Love Lidl's Deluxe Salmon en Croute (frozen) for £3.99 - chunky pieces of salmon, pastry is good texture, taste and amount. Also love Lidl's Deluxe pies as well.

Most of the Deluxe range is good/tasty but slightly too expensive for me to buy it straight off the shelf, I will snap items up though as soon as I see a reduced sticker, yesterday I enjoyed the Deluxe hot cross buns (4 pack) for 20p.

Or use a Lidl Plus coupon if one available. Couple of weeks ago, there was one for Deluxe biscuits and crisps. Then earlier on in the year, on Deluxe cheese.

pumpkin89

od244051 said:

I find it hilarious that Aldi have Mr Kipling's Battenberg Cake next to the Holly Lane one. HL are made my MK! Yet see customers buying the MK one which is 30-45p more.

I never understand the logic when people say this.  Just because it's made by the same supplier doesn't mean it's the same product.  I bake all my cakes in the same kitchen but they differ quite a bit depending on the recipe and ingredients used.

maman

pumpkin89 said:

od244051 said:

I find it hilarious that Aldi have Mr Kipling's Battenberg Cake next to the Holly Lane one. HL are made my MK! Yet see customers buying the MK one which is 30-45p more.

I never understand the logic when people say this.  Just because it's made by the same supplier doesn't mean it's the same product.  I bake all my cakes in the same kitchen but they differ quite a bit depending on the recipe and ingredients used.

That's a good point. It will depend on the instructions given to the supplier but I'd do a taste test to check if any corners cut made a sufficiently detrimental change that made it worth paying the extra for. Sometimes, as with clothing, you could just be paying for the 'designer label'. 

The same logic applies to those who willingly pay extra for a product just because it's in Sainsbury's or Waitrose, for example,  rather than shop in Aldi or Lidl, 'You get what  you pay for' may be true of a fancy, spacious premises or (at one time) better customer service but it needs checking out as far as the quality of  food is concerned. That's assuming you want best value.

od244051

pumpkin89 said:

od244051 said:

I find it hilarious that Aldi have Mr Kipling's Battenberg Cake next to the Holly Lane one. HL are made my MK! Yet see customers buying the MK one which is 30-45p more.

I never understand the logic when people say this.  Just because it's made by the same supplier doesn't mean it's the same product.  I bake all my cakes in the same kitchen but they differ quite a bit depending on the recipe and ingredients used.

Look at the ingredients and NVs and if both the same, it’s exactly the same recipe 

Pollycat

od244051 said:

Look at the ingredients and NVs and if both the same, it’s exactly the same recipe 

It may be the same recipe but that doesn't mean that the ingredients are the same quality.

I was listening to James Martin last Saturday morning and he was (I think) making a cake and he said get the best quality flour you can.

"Not the 9p per kilo stuff" he said.

So the amount of flour in a Battenburg cake may be the same, the number of eggs etc may be the same but that doesn't mean the quality of ingredients are the same.

harz99

Tried a different Aldi this morning, still no Village Bakery Both in One bread, OH now winging as she doesn't like Wholemeal which is the only alternative for me and we don't eat enough bread to run two loaves simultaneously.