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

Cornucopia

greyteam1959 said:

Could they not call them Veg Balls not Meat Balls ??

I'm sure they could, but would people still understand what they were?

Aldi Protein Spheres?

Brie

greyteam1959 said:

Could they not call them Veg Balls not Meat Balls ??

Agree - as this seems to contradict trade description act or whatever it is.  

@VoucherMan
"I just wish there was some way of 'exposing' Tesco for their tactics. "  
I quite agree and I know for a fact that they don't pay much attention to when people comment on what they do. 

A few years back I asked them why they couldn't decide one way or another how they showed prices in their fresh meat/butchers area.  They had some stuff listed as 99p for 100 gms, other stuff 8.99 per kilo and some sausages at 25p each.  At a glance it wasn't easy to compare - well I know that 8.99/kilo is less than 99p/100gms but some people might not so why make it difficult.  And the 25p for a sausage, one needed to squint at the tiddly print under that to see what the weight price was, when it was listed at all.  Likewise they had olive oil with the price comparisons of £5/litre on one bottle and £6.50/kilo on another.  Who on earth can compare that?  Well with a calculator yes but why??  Well actually they do it to conceal what the best price is and trick you into buying something that is actually more expensive.

bargainhunterss

Recently tried the Aldi Fibre Now Peanut Popcorn bars (cereal bars) and found them to be quite nice for an afternoon pick me up.

Not so nice were the chocolate mini rolls (c*dbury dupes) - quite synthetically flavoured. 

But - you dont know until you try! That’s my motto for aldi/lidl products 👍🏻

Pollycat

greyteam1959 said:

Could they not call them Veg Balls not Meat Balls ??

I agree. It's nonsense.

Same as the advert about the 'vegetarian butcher'.
There's no such thing, A butcher is a person who cuts up meat. Not plants.

Rosa_Damascena

Pollycat said:

greyteam1959 said:

Could they not call them Veg Balls not Meat Balls ??

I agree. It's nonsense.

Same as the advert about the 'vegetarian butcher'.
There's no such thing, A butcher is a person who cuts up meat. Not plants.

This is supposed to appeal to people who eat meat.

Pollycat

Rosa_Damascena said:

Pollycat said:

greyteam1959 said:

Could they not call them Veg Balls not Meat Balls ??

I agree. It's nonsense.

Same as the advert about the 'vegetarian butcher'.
There's no such thing, A butcher is a person who cuts up meat. Not plants.

This is supposed to appeal to people who eat meat.

Is it really? I'm gob-smacked.
I thought it was supposed to appeal to people who don't eat meat. 
I'm a meat eater and I don't want to eat something dressed up to look like meat, e.g.plant based meatball shapes or strips of 'bacon'.
If I'm eating vegetarian, it would be something like briam or a mix of Indian-style cauliflower, lentil, potatoes etc.
e.g.vegetarian dishes that contain visible vegetables, not shaped into meat-lookalike.
I'll view the plant-based section differently from now on.

sammyjammy

Pollycat said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Pollycat said:

greyteam1959 said:

Could they not call them Veg Balls not Meat Balls ??

I agree. It's nonsense.

Same as the advert about the 'vegetarian butcher'.
There's no such thing, A butcher is a person who cuts up meat. Not plants.

This is supposed to appeal to people who eat meat.

Is it really? I'm gob-smacked.
I thought it was supposed to appeal to people who don't eat meat. 
I'm a meat eater and I don't want to eat something dressed up to look like meat, e.g.plant based meatball shapes or strips of 'bacon'.
If I'm eating vegetarian, it would be something like briam or a mix of Indian-style cauliflower, lentil, potatoes etc.
e.g.vegetarian dishes that contain visible vegetables, not shaped into meat-lookalike.
I'll view the plant-based section differently from now on.

I'm not sure why you are gob smacked, many people now are trying to reduce their consumption of meat/are flexitarians.   Many of those don't want ot eat vegetables alone they want a meat replacement product.

Pollycat

sammyjammy said:

Pollycat said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Pollycat said:

greyteam1959 said:

Could they not call them Veg Balls not Meat Balls ??

I agree. It's nonsense.

Same as the advert about the 'vegetarian butcher'.
There's no such thing, A butcher is a person who cuts up meat. Not plants.

This is supposed to appeal to people who eat meat.

Is it really? I'm gob-smacked.
I thought it was supposed to appeal to people who don't eat meat. 
I'm a meat eater and I don't want to eat something dressed up to look like meat, e.g.plant based meatball shapes or strips of 'bacon'.
If I'm eating vegetarian, it would be something like briam or a mix of Indian-style cauliflower, lentil, potatoes etc.
e.g.vegetarian dishes that contain visible vegetables, not shaped into meat-lookalike.
I'll view the plant-based section differently from now on.

I'm not sure why you are gob smacked, many people now are trying to reduce their consumption of meat/are flexitarians.   Many of those don't want ot eat vegetables alone they want a meat replacement product.

I'm gob-smacked for the reason I've already explained.
For me, cutting down on meat doesn't mean buying plant based products that are shaped like meat.
It means being creative with the lovely vegetables we have available.
I'd simply not considered who the consumers for these plant based products are.

Cornucopia

There's quite a lot of different things going on with these products, I think:

- Some people will be attracted by a meat substitute that looks and tastes like a meat product.   
- People need high protein items in a balanced diet, and whilst there are beans and pulses, these products are probably quicker and easier to use.
- I don't think a spherical or cylindrical processed item is particularly ripping-off meat dishes.   There are only so many shapes.
- Personally, I like these meat-substitute products, and I find them convenient because they can often be microwaved where the meat equivalent requires more elaborate/more expensive cooking.
- In the case of these Aldi products, they seem to be cheaper than meat equivalents, although the VFM varies across the range, and the protein content may not be quite as high.

Pollycat

That's interesting, Cornucopia - thanks.
I have to admit that I like the taste and texture of meat.
I did once buy some plant based items seriously reduced in Tesco.
They failed on the texture, we both found it 'pappy' and couldn't get past that to assess the taste.

I like cooking from scratch so wouldn't buy something on a convenience-to-cook basis but I can see the appeal to some people.

Apologies for going off-topic.
But I have leaned to look at plant-based products in a different way.