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

Rosa_Damascena

Brie said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Cornucopia said:

New product at Aldi - Lentil Rings.   6 packs for 99p

These are virtually identical to the Calbee Lentil Hoops that are sometimes available in UK discounters.    

I like these lentil rings although try to avoid buying them because they are UPF.

Back to the tomato ketchup, I did buy another bottle of the Batt's yesterday and opened it just now. There was a good 15ml of liquid on to which I drained off - and then tested it on a slice of cheese on toast. The results were good .

does it have sugar in it or sweetener?  (why do they use sweeteners for "light" versions of things?  why not just make them less sweet??)

Its the usually sugary version and pouring away the excess liquid seems to have made all the difference.

Doc_N

What’s happened to the selection of continental cheeses in Aldi and Lidl over the last few years? We’ve been stuck with Tesco home deliveries since 2020, finally ventured into an Aldi and a Lidl in the last few days, but there’s a pretty poor cheese selection now. All the prices seem much closer to Tesco’s too, and not just the cheese. Was thinking of ditching Tesco, but I’m not sure we’ll bother now. Pretty unimpressed with Lidl in particular - still restocking at 0815, staff blocking the aisles, and some incredibly rude staff discussing how annoying customers can be! Aldi at the same time was excellent.

Brie

Isn't there some sort of blight over there that means cheese and off the imports list?  

maman

I find Aldi staff excellent too @Doc_N. 

I know all the supermarkets are businesses out to make money but I'm increasingly angered by the vastly diminished level of customer service. I believe it's mainly caused by cutting back on staffing levels. 

I'm not condoning shoplifting but I do think the lack of staff has contributed to the increase. IMO this has added to the  inconvenience for customers of additional security and alarmed barriers and limited entrances/exits etc 

At my local Aldi, all the staff seem well trained. There are always plenty on the shop floor who are happy to leave whatever they're doing and help with any queries. There are a small number of self checkouts, just enough for the staff member to supervise. They seem to have cottoned on that people want to pack at the staffed checkout and adjust their scanning accordingly.

Possibly, not all branches are the same but I'm happy. 😊

Doc_N

Brie said:

Isn't there some sort of blight over there that means cheese and off the imports list?  

Not sure - I’ll check that. All the real cheeses seem to have been replaced by sliced versions! Given your name, I’ll accept what you say!

Rosa_Damascena

Brie said:

Isn't there some sort of blight over there that means cheese and off the imports list?  

Its foot and mouth disease - I didn't realise the virus could linger in cooked / pasteurised foodstuffs though. 

The decline of continental cheeses on the shelves in Lidl and Aldi is not a recent phenomenon though.

ETA: I'm just catching up with DvO/ C4 - thinly disguised advert for Waitrose but I have to say they have a good selection of cheeses.

Rosa_Damascena

maman said:

I find Aldi staff excellent too @Doc_N. 

I know all the supermarkets are businesses out to make money but I'm increasingly angered by the vastly diminished level of customer service. I believe it's mainly caused by cutting back on staffing levels. 

I'm not condoning shoplifting but I do think the lack of staff has contributed to the increase. IMO this has added to the  inconvenience for customers of additional security and alarmed barriers and limited entrances/exits etc 

At my local Aldi, all the staff seem well trained. There are always plenty on the shop floor who are happy to leave whatever they're doing and help with any queries. There are a small number of self checkouts, just enough for the staff member to supervise. They seem to have cottoned on that people want to pack at the staffed checkout and adjust their scanning accordingly.

Possibly, not all branches are the same but I'm happy. 😊

Staff in my local Aldi are really customer focused, I can say the same for a Lidl on the other side of town. There is one that I pass by should I ever need to go to the High Street and its close to a sink estate. The staff are hit-and-miss, but they have a lot of problems with anti-social behaviour such that the manager wears a camera-vest and the local police are never far away. I've seen it kick off before, its really not nice in front of children. I can see why staff might not be happy working there.

robrymond

No 8p potatoes in ALDI Nantwich tonight, shelves quite bare, guess the hoardes had been doing shopping for Easter. None of the Wine of the Week as usual (unless you go on Monday).

Also noticed that the lamb this year is New Zealand, very unusual as they normally say all meat is British.

Does anyone know why the price labels have changed, it no longer displays pence or pounds and has moved to the top left corner. It just looks jarring to me and leave a a big empty gap bottom right (apart from the price per kg etc).

Brie

Just home from a last minute shop before they're all shut for the next 50 weeks.....lots of empty shelves and the usual assortment of people wandering aimlessly waiting for last minute reductions.  Hope they get some good bargains.

In Lidl there was a bit of a shuffle where another couple and us got to the till queue about the same time.  After some jolly banter we took the staffed till and the others headed for the unstaffed.  Chap was saying as he went about having to do the work for free (yes we're all people of a certain age!) and then went on to say that the Lidl in town charges £10 on your credit card when you enter the store which is then applied to what you purchase.  And if your purchase is under £10 they can take up to a week to refund the difference.  

Is that something common around the country?  There's 4 different Lidls here that I use and I've never seen this.  My first thought was that it was due to shoplifting but there's no real difference in the different shops so why would it be in one and not the others?  Unless it's a trial??

HillStreetBlues

Brie said:

Just home from a last minute shop before they're all shut for the next 50 weeks.....lots of empty shelves and the usual assortment of people wandering aimlessly waiting for last minute reductions.  Hope they get some good bargains.

In Lidl there was a bit of a shuffle where another couple and us got to the till queue about the same time.  After some jolly banter we took the staffed till and the others headed for the unstaffed.  Chap was saying as he went about having to do the work for free (yes we're all people of a certain age!) and then went on to say that the Lidl in town charges £10 on your credit card when you enter the store which is then applied to what you purchase.  And if your purchase is under £10 they can take up to a week to refund the difference.  

Is that something common around the country?  There's 4 different Lidls here that I use and I've never seen this.  My first thought was that it was due to shoplifting but there's no real difference in the different shops so why would it be in one and not the others?  Unless it's a trial??

Aldi are doing this in their checkout free store, didn't know Lidl done it as well.