Good and Bad Buying at Lidl and Aldi (***Please don't expire***) 4 February 2019 at 12:57PM edited 18 January at 8:10PM in Food Shopping & Groceries 1.5K replies 193.1K views

pumpkin89

filou said:

Are Aldi/Lidl  groceries as good as Sainsbury's or Waitrose's?

It really depends on what you buy.  If you take something at Aldi/Lidl and compare it with the same price point in Sainsbury's/Waitrose, in most cases it will be better.  On the other hand, Aldi/Lidl don't offer anything that competes with the top end of Waitrose's range.

The differences will be more or less pronounced in different product categories - e.g. biscuits will be from the same suppliers and probably quite similar in recipe; fresh meat/fish are from different suppliers and in my opinion the quality is noticeably different.

A._Badger

pumpkin89 said:

filou said:

Are Aldi/Lidl  groceries as good as Sainsbury's or Waitrose's?

It really depends on what you buy.  If you take something at Aldi/Lidl and compare it with the same price point in Sainsbury's/Waitrose, in most cases it will be better.  On the other hand, Aldi/Lidl don't offer anything that competes with the top end of Waitrose's range.

The differences will be more or less pronounced in different product categories - e.g. biscuits will be from the same suppliers and probably quite similar in recipe; fresh meat/fish are from different suppliers and in my opinion the quality is noticeably different.

As far as meat is concerned, I stopped buying it from Sainsbury's some years ago - the quality was too often very poor. Aldi's is vastly superior i(n particular Aldi's steak). Waitrose, I find, is variable - sometimes its meat is very good, sometimes not.
As for Aldi not offering anything comparable to Waitrose's top-end products, well... Aldi certainly tends to avoid esoteric fashionista lines but I can't say I find any noticeable difference in quality between its products and Waitrose on a like for like basis: There is a considerable difference in price, however.  

Rosa_Damascena

A._Badger said:

pumpkin89 said:

filou said:

Are Aldi/Lidl  groceries as good as Sainsbury's or Waitrose's?

It really depends on what you buy.  If you take something at Aldi/Lidl and compare it with the same price point in Sainsbury's/Waitrose, in most cases it will be better.  On the other hand, Aldi/Lidl don't offer anything that competes with the top end of Waitrose's range.

The differences will be more or less pronounced in different product categories - e.g. biscuits will be from the same suppliers and probably quite similar in recipe; fresh meat/fish are from different suppliers and in my opinion the quality is noticeably different.

As far as meat is concerned, I stopped buying it from Sainsbury's some years ago - the quality was too often very poor. Aldi's is vastly superior i(n particular Aldi's steak). Waitrose, I find, is variable - sometimes its meat is very good, sometimes not.
As for Aldi not offering anything comparable to Waitrose's top-end products, well... Aldi certainly tends to avoid esoteric fashionista lines but I can't say I find any noticeable difference in quality between its products and Waitrose on a like for like basis: There is a considerable difference in price, however.  

I gave up on Waitrose decades ago. I'm not a foodie anyway, and paying over the odds for their fresh food is not what I want to spend my money on! Home improvements, however...

Doc_N

All our meat now comes from a proper butcher. Much better quality than any of the supermarkets, with the possible exceptions of Waitrose and M&S, but cheaper - substantially so in the case of the last two.

pumpkin89

A._Badger said:

As for Aldi not offering anything comparable to Waitrose's top-end products, well... Aldi certainly tends to avoid esoteric fashionista lines but I can't say I find any noticeable difference in quality between its products and Waitrose on a like for like basis: There is a considerable difference in price, however.  

That's exactly my point - there is no like for like to compare.  There are only about 2,000 products at Aldi vs 20,000+ at Waitrose, so yes Aldi may be excellent for those 2,000, but if you want anything else (including premium quality) then they're useless because they don't sell it.

A._Badger

pumpkin89 said:

A._Badger said:

As for Aldi not offering anything comparable to Waitrose's top-end products, well... Aldi certainly tends to avoid esoteric fashionista lines but I can't say I find any noticeable difference in quality between its products and Waitrose on a like for like basis: There is a considerable difference in price, however.  

That's exactly my point - there is no like for like to compare.  There are only about 2,000 products at Aldi vs 20,000+ at Waitrose, so yes Aldi may be excellent for those 2,000, but if you want anything else (including premium quality) then they're useless because they don't sell it.

I think we might have to have an agreed definition of 'premium quality'.. Many of those 20,000 + will be alternative versions of the same products, others, I might class as esoteric or specialist. 'Premium quality' seems, to me, to refer to something other than being unusual. I don't see Aldi's lack of variety as being anything other than that..But perhaps that isn't what you are saying.        

maman

I tend to think that some posters are a bit out of date and /or going on hearsay when they make statements about Aldi. I've been an Aldi shopper for many years. In the early days,they definitely just sold basic foodstuffs. I probably did 50% of my shopping there. Roll forward to the past couple of years and I'm probably up to 90%+ of my shopping and the things I buy elsewhere aren't regular items. It's generally herbs and spices although Aldi do sell the most common ones.

I think there is a psychological element too in that many posters believe the adage that you get what you pay for. What you're paying for in Waitrose is the 'shopping experience' of feeling good in a smart, upmarket shop. Personally I feel good being in control of my finances and not being ripped off just because they can. 

Pollycat

maman said:

I tend to think that some posters are a bit out of date and /or going on hearsay when they make statements about Aldi. I've been an Aldi shopper for many years. In the early days,they definitely just sold basic foodstuffs. I probably did 50% of my shopping there. Roll forward to the past couple of years and I'm probably up to 90%+ of my shopping and the things I buy elsewhere aren't regular items. It's generally herbs and spices although Aldi do sell the most common ones.

I think there is a psychological element too in that many posters believe the adage that you get what you pay for. What you're paying for in Waitrose is the 'shopping experience' of feeling good in a smart, upmarket shop. Personally I feel good being in control of my finances and not being ripped off just because they can. 

OH has been shopping in Tesco for the last 6 months.

Last week I went to Aldi for the first time in 6 months.

It was lovely to buy the stuff we really like - like Iberico pork, Torchon ham, sundried tomatoes in garlic & oil.

I've done 2 shopping lists for tomorrow.

OH is going Tesco for heavy stuff (including beers).

I'm going to Aldi.

There is hardly anything on his list, lots on mine.

I do appreciate that Tesco is not comparable to Waitrose but it does indicate that you can get lots of good stuff in Aldi.

maman

I don't drink it myself but I see lots of people buying beer in Aldi. 🤣

Sea_Shell

maman said:

I don't drink it myself but I see lots of people buying beer in Aldi. 🤣

Personally, we really like their Saint Ettienne beer.