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

MrsStepford

Husband asked for a replacement Clubcard in February and it still hasn't arrived, so he has voted with his feet and not bought from the supermarket. He tries to avoid using our local Tesco Express, too. 

There's a Lidl less than five mins from his office in Surrey and another a 10 min drive from home. Often find that things we want from leaflets aren't stocked in either store which makes going there a waste of time and petrol.

Aldi is in the next town so a 40 min round trip. He does a click & collect every few months, on things like pesto, pine nuts, pistachios, cashews, gluten free pasta (vastly cheaper), Brazil nuts, organic broccoli. 

I'm using ASDA for organic produce mostly, and Ocado - saving £15-£20 every shop at Ocado. 

A._Badger

Doc_N said:

A._Badger said:

Doc_N said:

Did a £120 click and collect this morning - pleasantly surprised by only 3 items being out of stock, and two of those had OK substitutes. All the important stuff was there - cheaper and better quality than Tesco. 

I do regard Tesco very much as the poor relation to Aldi these days.

While I am drifting away.... Tesco's prices have crept closer to Aldi's, my local Aldi can't be relied on to have products in stock and Satan's Jumble Sale (the middle aisle) seems to be populated with progressively nastier and cheaper tat. I don't like Tesco as a company but a £1.50 delivery charge, hardly ever any missing items and a huge range of products is starting to be very persuasive. For me, Aldi needs to pull its socks up. 

I take your point about the £1.50 delivery charge (though it’s too vague on delivery at the time of ordering for us) but I find the price difference still to be considerable. We have a Tesco delivery pass, but even with ‘free’ deliveries it’s still worth paying Aldi £5 for click and collect. Mainly for the price difference (Mascarpone 250g £1.80 at Tesco, £1.29 at Aldi - 40% more!) but also for the better quality at Aldi.

The Aldi price match items at Tesco are very frequently of inferior quality ingredients, and frankly some of them aren’t worth eating. 

I feel awkward defending Tesco because I've been very critical of them in the past, but to be fair, I find the quality of some of their products is now actually better Aldi's..

For example, though I usually buy fish direct from the boats (easy where I live, not so for everyone, of course) Tesco's 'Finest' fish is markedly better than Aldi's and better than Sainsbury's too. On balance, Waitrose is better still, but at a cost.  Again, I don't buy much processed food either but now and again it can be useful for a quick meal and I find  Tesco's quality seems to have improved considerably. Aldi's (pies, sausages prepared meats etc) I really wouldn't bother with,.

I certainly agree that Aldi is cheaper over all but price, while it's important, has to be weighed against quality and the range of products on offer and I have to admit that Tesco has improved in the past few years (granted, it needed to) while to me Aldi seems to have rested on its laurels. I still shop there but less frequently - and I never get tempted by the middle aisle these days, which I once did.

maman

That's a very fair assessment @A._Badger, we can all just speak (up or down) for the supermarkets we are familiar with and there are many variables to take into account.

I like Morrison's for their fish and they do delicious own brand fishcakes but the only store locally is miles away so not cost effective to travel there unless I'm nearby for another reason. 

I remember a poster some time ago who was adamant that he got good VFM in his little local Coop. We know they're expensive but his priority seemed to be giving himself a daily walk and the convenience.

Each to his own.🤔

A._Badger

maman said:

That's a very fair assessment @A._Badger, we can all just speak (up or down) for the supermarkets we are familiar with and there are many variables to take into account.

I like Morrison's for their fish and they do delicious own brand fishcakes but the only store locally is miles away so not cost effective to travel there unless I'm nearby for another reason. 

I remember a poster some time ago who was adamant that he got good VFM in his little local Coop. We know they're expensive but his priority seemed to be giving himself a daily walk and the convenience.

Each to his own.🤔

Thank you, Maman. Morrison's, I  believe, actually bought a large fish processor a while ago, which would possibly account for the high quality of their fish. There was some talk at the time that they bought the company to improve their offering. Sadly, I had to stop using Morrisons, which was a shame because some of their products were excellent, due to the unreliability of stock control in the South London 'hub' from which (for some reason) they handle deliveries to the South East and there is no easily accessible local branch near me.   

MrsStepford

General_Grant said:

MrsStepford said:

Spanish Week tomorrow at Lidl. Surprisingly, no gazpacho. Quite a bit of cheese though, including Manchego DOP. There is Serrano ham on the bone with knife and chopping board, 1.1kg for 16.99 - absolute bargain for get togethers.

Gazpacho should be available - £2.79 for a 1 litre carton.

The gazpacho isn't available until 27 June. Spanish week 20-26 June is having a second week of different offers 27 June to 3rd of July. 

Milk & More is doing a Sainsbury's Price Match on some products.

General_Grant

MrsStepford said:

General_Grant said:

MrsStepford said:

Spanish Week tomorrow at Lidl. Surprisingly, no gazpacho. Quite a bit of cheese though, including Manchego DOP. There is Serrano ham on the bone with knife and chopping board, 1.1kg for 16.99 - absolute bargain for get togethers.

Gazpacho should be available - £2.79 for a 1 litre carton.

The gazpacho isn't available until 27 June. Spanish week 20-26 June is having a second week of different offers 27 June to 3rd of July. 

Milk & More is doing a Sainsbury's Price Match on some products.

Well the gazpacho was in Lidl in Harrow this morning and I believe was in the weekly leaflet for current offers (which is where I saw the first mention of it).  And it is showing in the online listing.
It was also on the shelf in the Morden branch on Saturday 23 June.
Perhaps you are in a different part of the UK.

Murphybear

A._Badger said:

Doc_N said:

Did a £120 click and collect this morning - pleasantly surprised by only 3 items being out of stock, and two of those had OK substitutes. All the important stuff was there - cheaper and better quality than Tesco. 

I do regard Tesco very much as the poor relation to Aldi these days.

While I am drifting away.... Tesco's prices have crept closer to Aldi's, my local Aldi can't be relied on to have products in stock and Satan's Jumble Sale (the middle aisle) seems to be populated with progressively nastier and cheaper tat. I don't like Tesco as a company but a £1.50 delivery charge, hardly ever any missing items and a huge range of products is starting to be very persuasive. For me, Aldi needs to pull its socks up. 

I bought an electric teapot a few years ago in Aldi.  The first time I used it, it literally exploded.  I was lucky not to have been injured.  When I took it back they refunded my money but didn’t apologise.  They didn’t take it off the shelves though.

I bought a mini processor there.  Cheap and nasty doesn’t begin to describe it.    It didn’t work well and it ended up in the bin.  I went to John Lewis and bought a decent one.  This was a few years ago and it’s still going strong.

i don’t buy electrical items from them any more.  

Murphybear

MrsStepford said:

Husband asked for a replacement Clubcard in February and it still hasn't arrived, so he has voted with his feet and not bought from the supermarket. He tries to avoid using our local Tesco Express, too. 

There's a Lidl less than five mins from his office in Surrey and another a 10 min drive from home. Often find that things we want from leaflets aren't stocked in either store which makes going there a waste of time and petrol.

Aldi is in the next town so a 40 min round trip. He does a click & collect every few months, on things like pesto, pine nuts, pistachios, cashews, gluten free pasta (vastly cheaper), Brazil nuts, organic broccoli. 

I'm using ASDA for organic produce mostly, and Ocado - saving £15-£20 every shop at Ocado. 

Have you ever tried making your own pesto?  I always make mine and it’s much better than anything you can buy.  If you have a mini food processor it’s really easy.  I keep a basil plant on the window sill and as soon as I have plenty of leaves I make a batch . I use the Good Housekeeping recipe but there are loads of recipes online. 

Have you ever tried making your own pesto?  I always make mine and it’s much better than anything you can buy.  If you have a mini food processor it’s really easy.  I keep a basil plant on the window sill (I find basil doesn’t always do well in our climate even though live in the Deep South) and as soon as I have plenty of leaves I make a batch . I use the Good Housekeeping recipe but there are loads of recipes online. 

PLRFD

Murphybear said:

A._Badger said:

Doc_N said:

Did a £120 click and collect this morning - pleasantly surprised by only 3 items being out of stock, and two of those had OK substitutes. All the important stuff was there - cheaper and better quality than Tesco. 

I do regard Tesco very much as the poor relation to Aldi these days.

While I am drifting away.... Tesco's prices have crept closer to Aldi's, my local Aldi can't be relied on to have products in stock and Satan's Jumble Sale (the middle aisle) seems to be populated with progressively nastier and cheaper tat. I don't like Tesco as a company but a £1.50 delivery charge, hardly ever any missing items and a huge range of products is starting to be very persuasive. For me, Aldi needs to pull its socks up. 

I bought an electric teapot a few years ago in Aldi.  The first time I used it, it literally exploded.  I was lucky not to have been injured.  When I took it back they refunded my money but didn’t apologise.  They didn’t take it off the shelves though.

I bought a mini processor there.  Cheap and nasty doesn’t begin to describe it.    It didn’t work well and it ended up in the bin.  I went to John Lewis and bought a decent one.  This was a few years ago and it’s still going strong.

i don’t buy electrical items from them any more.  

Yes I bought a Lidl battery charger once worked for a few weeks then blew up and I mean blew up like you said I got a refund but no apology and they continued to sell them. It was lucky I was in the next room when it exploded or it could have been disastrous.

Rosa_Damascena

If these items had the BSI kite / any quality standard then make the regulator aware. They will get reports from all over the British Isles and direct that the product is withdrawn if there is enough of a concern. No retailer is going to cut its profits voluntarily unless the reputational risk is high.