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

harz99

Rosa_Damascena said:

This Lidl offering is delicious and Nova 3, so not ultra-processed. What is undeniable is that it is very sweet:

Would be useful if you also posted the price so those of us on limited budgets  can see whether this is MSE or not...

HouseMartin567

Rosa_Damascena said:

I'm going to have a bit of a moan about Lidl - the branch that serves as shoplifter's central has installed a receipt exit gate to exit the self-service tills. I can understand why they needed to, but it is a proper pain to use if your arms are full!

I would happily put up with this if it meant my local Lidl would install self-service checkouts. Went in for just a couple items today and there were only 2 manned tills with at least 8 customers queuing in each. I really hope they install self-service soon!

Rosa_Damascena

harz99 said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

This Lidl offering is delicious and Nova 3, so not ultra-processed. What is undeniable is that it is very sweet:

Would be useful if you also posted the price so those of us on limited budgets  can see whether this is MSE or not...

Currently got a few pence knocked off it and priced at £2.49 for a 500ml tub. So not cheap, but a single scoop will do.

Cornucopia

A local Aldi is getting a bakery.   Last week the store was being rearranged to make the space, and this week there is a hoarding around an area at the back of the store.   The area is about 12ft x 12ft, so not very big unless they are taking some space from the warehouse which is immediately next to it.

Be interesting to see how it turns out - I don't buy a lot from the Lidl bakeries, but it's a nice facility to have.

Also in bread:   Aldi have introduced a product very similar to the Lidl 4x High Protein bake-at-home rolls.  Aldi's price is £1.25, and last time I bought them in Lidl they were £1.49.

New(ish) product in Aldi:  Mini Pretzels (perfect tiny pretzels, 6 individuals packs).  The individual bags are quite small but you still get a reasonable amount because the pretzels stack together.   Sour cream & chive or salted.   £1.35 (I think).

PLRFD

I don’t know about Aldi in store bakeries but the Lidl ones are rubbish stale tasting bread and pastries and over cooked pizza slices is all I’ve seen. Never bought anything from it but had quite a few app freebies all went in the dog or the bin if he wouldn’t eat it.

Cornucopia

PLRFD said:

I don’t know about Aldi in store bakeries but the Lidl ones are rubbish stale tasting bread and pastries and over cooked pizza slices is all I’ve seen. Never bought anything from it but had quite a few app freebies all went in the dog or the bin if he wouldn’t eat it.

I think a lot depends on the individual stores and the time of day.   There are some products I've tried and wouldn't buy again:  Pizza Slices (though they might be okay if heated up) and the Giant Pretzel.

All the doughnuts are normal doughnuts and the French-style pastries are pretty good.    The other sweet items (brownies and shortbread squares) are nice, although can be expensive & not very big.   The cookies are good.

I'd like there to be more choice of rolls (particularly brown).   The bread is fine, though for me often not great VFM.   A brown baguette would be nice.  

They also need to sort out the bag storage.

Brie

PLRFD said:

I don’t know about Aldi in store bakeries but the Lidl ones are rubbish stale tasting bread and pastries and over cooked pizza slices is all I’ve seen. Never bought anything from it but had quite a few app freebies all went in the dog or the bin if he wouldn’t eat it.

Maybe they aren't clearing their stock daily?  The Lidl near the food bank donates their leftovers and I've had some of those (volunteer perk, if the clients don't take it and we have no place to store it).  Some of the bread has been great a few days after baking, as have some pastries.  Things like pretzels are not great, nothing compared to what you get in Germany.  I wonder if it's because the staff have no idea what a proper pretzel should be like?

Doc_N

Rosa_Damascena said:

harz99 said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

This Lidl offering is delicious and Nova 3, so not ultra-processed. What is undeniable is that it is very sweet:

Would be useful if you also posted the price so those of us on limited budgets  can see whether this is MSE or not...

Currently got a few pence knocked off it and priced at £2.49 for a 500ml tub. So not cheap, but a single scoop will do.

Having just checked the overrun on this (basically the amount of air pumped in to increase the volume) it’s pretty good at 25%. Far better than many. Even better value!

Brie

Doc_N said:

Having just checked the overrun on this (basically the amount of air pumped in to increase the volume) it’s pretty good at 25%. Far better than many. Even better value!

how do you check the over run?  or is it something listed on the label??

Rosa_Damascena

Brie said:

PLRFD said:

I don’t know about Aldi in store bakeries but the Lidl ones are rubbish stale tasting bread and pastries and over cooked pizza slices is all I’ve seen. Never bought anything from it but had quite a few app freebies all went in the dog or the bin if he wouldn’t eat it.

Maybe they aren't clearing their stock daily?  The Lidl near the food bank donates their leftovers and I've had some of those (volunteer perk, if the clients don't take it and we have no place to store it).  Some of the bread has been great a few days after baking, as have some pastries.  Things like pretzels are not great, nothing compared to what you get in Germany.  I wonder if it's because the staff have no idea what a proper pretzel should be like?

As witnessed by me today - massive boxes in the packing area. I have a v sensitive nose and caught a whiff before I saw them which I see as a proxy of freshness (somewhere within the boxes, can't vouch for the pretzels of course ). 

In my continued homage to Lidl, I nipped in for some onions so I could get souping, and ended up buying these (New Covent Garden alikes?) as well as they were 50% off - wasn't going to complain at 59p each.

The tomato & basil and garden vegetable soups come up as Nova 3 and I have submitted the details of the carrot & coriander to Open Food Facts for rating, but judging by the ingredients I fully expect this to be Nova 3 too.