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

Doc_N

Ken68 said:

Agree, Corn...there must be a site that compares grocery prices...perhaps  mySupermarket. I know the Grocery journal did it at one time.

MySupermarket's the thing.  Works pretty well and includes most national grocery outlets, including Aldi and Lidl. Extremely difficult to beat them on price for a typical basket of groceries.  The brands may be different but the suppliers tend to be the same as those for other supermarkets. 

There was a Muller recall the other day:
https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-05-2020

Unsurprisingly they also make Milbona products for Lidl.

Cornucopia

MySupermarket ought to be able to support a reasonable comparison, although I'm not sure that the data is good enough (and I accept that it may be an issue outside their control).

For example, I was going to post an example involving comparing Sweet & Sour Chicken ready meals, but when I went to check for them on My Supermarket, it said there were none at Aldi, and in fact, has issues with ready meals overall.  (Which is nonsense, the range doesn't change that frequently). 

In reality, I saw the product in Aldi today at 69p.   No doubt it's probably similar to Asda's at 90p, and Iceland's at £1.  And what about Tescos' at 65p?    I think to properly compare such similar products probably needs a thorough taste test, and potentially analysis of nutrition and ingredients.   

BTW the Muller recall affects certain products for both Lidl (Milbona) and Aldi (Brooklea).

KxMx

od244051 said:

A few days ago, I bought something from Lidl which tasted off. Lost the receipt. Filled in the online contact us form. Got a reference and still no response. Has anyone had any joy with this way of contacting Lidl?

Yes, I complained via online from and got a letter of reply in the post about 3 weeks later.

A._Badger

Cornucopia said:

MySupermarket ought to be able to support a reasonable comparison, although I'm not sure that the data is good enough (and I accept that it may be an issue outside their control).

For example, I was going to post an example involving comparing Sweet & Sour Chicken ready meals, but when I went to check for them on My Supermarket, it said there were none at Aldi, and in fact, has issues with ready meals overall.  (Which is nonsense, the range doesn't change that frequently). 

In reality, I saw the product in Aldi today at 69p.   No doubt it's probably similar to Asda's at 90p, and Iceland's at £1.  And what about Tescos' at 65p?    I think to properly compare such similar products probably needs a thorough taste test, and potentially analysis of nutrition and ingredients.   

BTW the Muller recall affects certain products for both Lidl (Milbona) and Aldi (Brooklea).

I think that's an excellent analysis of the problem, Cornucopia. I would just add that judging from my (somewhat obsessive) reading of ingredient labels, the chances are the Tesco version would have been made overseas with chicken from who knows where? That was just one of the reasons why I stopped shopping at Tesco - they always seemed to go for the cheapest options while a very high proportion of Aldi's own brand products use British ingredients.Better as well as cheaper!



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PLRFD

Went Lidl today the 10 pack of stubby French beers are now an 8 pack but same price.

Doc_N

PLRFD said:

Went Lidl today the 10 pack of stubby French beers are now an 8 pack but same price.

Blame Brexit. A direct outcome of the fall in the Pound. Applies to all imported goods.

A._Badger

Doc_N said:

PLRFD said:

Went Lidl today the 10 pack of stubby French beers are now an 8 pack but same price.

Blame Brexit. A direct outcome of the fall in the Pound. Applies to all imported goods.

Codswallop. Take a look at GBP vs the US Dollar. GBP/Euro rates may account for this particular price increase but that would be very hard to prove. 

Doc_N

A._Badger said:

Doc_N said:

PLRFD said:

Went Lidl today the 10 pack of stubby French beers are now an 8 pack but same price.

Blame Brexit. A direct outcome of the fall in the Pound. Applies to all imported goods.

Codswallop. Take a look at GBP vs the US Dollar. GBP/Euro rates may account for this particular price increase but that would be very hard to prove. 

This has nothing whatever to do with the Dollar (though the Pound's fallen substantially against that too since the referendum result - not sure what figures you're using!).  Everything to do with the Euro, against which the Pound has also fallen sharply.

Most imported goods now cost more since the Pound fell, and it fell immediately after the referendum result - it's certainly not codswallop to attribute the rising price of imported goods to the fall in the Pound after Brexit.  Codswallop is the stuff pushed out by the Leave campaigners on red buses assuring everyone that leaving would be great - now we're paying the price, and Brexit voters still haven't twigged on.

Cornucopia

I had some of the new-ish Alska Canned Cider from Aldi yesterday - Blood Orange, Cranberry and Cinnamon flavour.   Absolutely delicious.   Not cheap (99p for 330ml), but very very nice.

A._Badger

Doc_N said:

A._Badger said:

Doc_N said:

PLRFD said:

Went Lidl today the 10 pack of stubby French beers are now an 8 pack but same price.

Blame Brexit. A direct outcome of the fall in the Pound. Applies to all imported goods.

Codswallop. Take a look at GBP vs the US Dollar. GBP/Euro rates may account for this particular price increase but that would be very hard to prove. 

This has nothing whatever to do with the Dollar (though the Pound's fallen substantially against that too since the referendum result - not sure what figures you're using!).  Everything to do with the Euro, against which the Pound has also fallen sharply.

Most imported goods now cost more since the Pound fell, and it fell immediately after the referendum result - it's certainly not codswallop to attribute the rising price of imported goods to the fall in the Pound after Brexit.  Codswallop is the stuff pushed out by the Leave campaigners on red buses assuring everyone that leaving would be great - now we're paying the price, and Brexit voters still haven't twigged on.

You claimed that all imports were affected by a 'falling pound'. This is completely untrue. Some imports may cost more, others will cost less. Imports from the USA or those transacted in US dollars (more than I suspect you realise) will have typically done rather well in the past six months. Want some numbers? $1,000 US would have got you £819.66 on 1st August (figures from Transferwise). Today it would get you £759. The Pound/Dollar rate has been very stable since January. 

Specifically, you have absolutely no idea why the pack of beer in question has risen in price and neither has anyone else except the manufacturer and the retailer. Perhaps the brewer has increased his price? Perhaps the retailer thinks he underpriced it? Did the shipping cost change? Are they pricing against a rival? Unless you are privy to the transaction you simply cannot know why it happened yet, as before on this forum, you again leapt at an excuse to rehearse the same old political points which might be relevant on one of the tiresome MSE forums where people like to ride their hobbyhorses ('the bus... the bus') but which is just boring and predictable on this one, which is supposed to be a discussion about food and grocery shopping.