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

Doc_N

From the lead food writer in today's Times - an apology.  Those days of Aldi and Lidl looking for secondary sites in less affluent areas are long gone!

"Yes, there were savings to be made, I argued, but they were not as great as you might think, and they certainly didn’t compensate for the miserable experience of visiting a store, with its lack of choice and long queues. I’m all right for cheap chicken and tinned tomatoes, thank you very much. Give me the wide aisles and 15 pasta varieties of a Sainsbury’s or Waitrose any day.

Well, not any more. I take it all back. Aldi and Lidl have got me right where they want me: in their stores with my wallet in hand, most recently picking out a nice wood-fired sourdough pizza and a packet of porcini, chanterelle and truffle-stuffed ravioli. Middle class, moi? I’ve been well and truly snared.

I’ll tell you exactly when my Damascene moment occurred: the day I walked into the new Aldi Local near Hampstead on the Finchley Road. That the space used to be Habitat perfectly encapsulates how the discounters have been taken to the aspirational classes’ bosom. I genuinely thought I’d walked into M&S by mistake, with its well-stocked, uncluttered shelves and 18 self-checkout counters blinking in anticipation. And my goodness, those prices."

Nelliegrace

Our Aldi packing area worries me. The sunlight, when there is any, is dazzling. It is noisy. You have your back turned to the people milling about behind you and there are people close by on on either side, with children being distracting. 
It is perfect for thieves. The town gets targeted by handbag thieves regularly, especially the card shop. 

I expect the bags which are checked are those of people who don’t look particularly violent or intoxicated. 

harz99

Nelliegrace said:

Our Aldi packing area worries me. The sunlight, when there is any, is dazzling. It is noisy. You have your back turned to the people milling about behind you and there are people close by on on either side, with children being distracting. 
It is perfect for thieves. The town gets targeted by handbag thieves regularly, especially the card shop. 

So, bin the handbag and use your pockets. At the packing shelf put your trolley nose onto shelf, stand at the side of the trolley to pack, so less glare and more aware of what is happening around you. Failing that go to a bigger non Aldi supermarket and pay their prices!

harz99

Katiehound said:

Just at the moment the bags of wonky carrots at Aldi are.... rubbish! 
 yesterday took about 1/2 bag back that should have lasted until Monday: they were fermenting.  Bag replaced without a problem, BUT the first replacement bag (bb  next Monday) already had one rotten item! 

So bought a different bag yesterday and already one is slimy.
Why do I buy them in a bag? 'Cos they are cheaper and for the dogs.
Just diced the whole lot to freeze in portions: that way they will be fine but the instruction to keep them in the bag is really a load of...... rubbish!

perhaps if they were unwashed they would last longer??

Agreed, takes me a lot of rummaging to find a decent one, i quite often end up buying the normal kilo bags. The packaging is a pain as it is hard to really see the  contents (deliberately ?)

alicef

The only place where we have been asked to lift shopping bags out of our trolley to check stuff wasn't lurking underneath or to pack at the shelf, is Aldi and that was some years back.  I found Aldi till lengths to be short so I can understand why they wanted shoppers to pack at the shelf. 
We've never had that problem at Lidl.   

Did the big start of month, Lidl shop today and saved £31.66 overall so was pleased with that!

dealyboy

@harz99 said:

@Katiehound said:

Just at the moment the bags of wonky carrots at Aldi are.... rubbish! 
 yesterday took about 1/2 bag back that should have lasted until Monday: they were fermenting.  Bag replaced without a problem, BUT the first replacement bag (bb  next Monday) already had one rotten item! 

So bought a different bag yesterday and already one is slimy.
Why do I buy them in a bag? 'Cos they are cheaper and for the dogs.
Just diced the whole lot to freeze in portions: that way they will be fine but the instruction to keep them in the bag is really a load of...... rubbish!

perhaps if they were unwashed they would last longer??

Agreed, takes me a lot of rummaging to find a decent one, i quite often end up buying the normal kilo bags. The packaging is a pain as it is hard to really see the  contents (deliberately ?)

Sorry to be slightly diversionary and subversive but that used to be the case at Sainsbury's until about a couple of months ago, they now keep fine in the bag in the fridge. Somebody's switched supplier 

PLRFD

Oh dear
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/disgusted-aldi-shopper-finds-snake-29886060

YoungBlueEyes

We like the mint choc icecream-on-stick Magnum ripoff type things from Lidl. The other day I saw a box of 'hazelnut + nougat' ones so I lifted them instead. In comparison to the mint choc they are slightly worse. They're certainly a bit smaller and thinner, but the icecream and choc is as good. Not overly hazelnut-y though. They have a solid choc core which is smooth and chewy and lovely. Himself reckoned he could eat 2 but he's a greedy gannet.

So I'll be buying them again, but I'll not be giving up the mint choc ones for them  

harz99

YoungBlueEyes said:

We like the mint choc icecream-on-stick Magnum ripoff type things from Lidl. The other day I saw a box of 'hazelnut + nougat' ones so I lifted them instead. In comparison to the mint choc they are slightly worse. They're certainly a bit smaller and thinner, but the icecream and choc is as good. Not overly hazelnut-y though. They have a solid choc core which is smooth and chewy and lovely. Himself reckoned he could eat 2 but he's a greedy gannet.

So I'll be buying them again, but I'll not be giving up the mint choc ones for them  

Probably different makers for both, Aldi's Giovani ice cream cone 4 packs are like that, some flavours have a coloured card on top of the cone,  others just plain white card, the cone part varies in thickness also, and finally although visually the same, the boxes open in different ways.

YoungBlueEyes

I've not kept the box so I couldn't tell you but I bet that's true.