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

andygb

Doc_N said:

I cannot contemplate any circumstances in anyone, with the possible exception of a very small child, could be so desperate for food that they couldn’t wait a few minutes until leaving the store.

Is that so unusual?

I once saw a youngish woman in a John Lewis Foodhall, open a cooked chicken leg and start to devour it - reminded me of the film "The Land that Time Forgot".

Doc_N

Doc_N said:

Has anyone tried the Aldi Click and Collect service (Lidl don't seem to offer one)? 

I still can't safely go into a store but the Aldi Click and Collect service would work for us - I think.  As I understand it they bring it to your car in a marked out area of the car park and you just drive away with it.  One hour time slot and £4.99 extra to pay - but with the right basket of stuff that's still going to be cheaper than Tesco.  I'm thinking washing powders, dishwasher tablets and continental cheeses just for starters!

Does it work well?

Just to feed back on this in case it’s of use to anyone, we’ve now tried the Aldi Click and Collect service and it’s impressively good. Well worth the £4.99 charge - though that might depend on the size of the order, how much time you have and whether you’re still having to shield.

Ordering process is very simple, updating the order equally simple, right up to late the night before collection, and collection itself was a breeze. Drove straight into one of the marked spaces, texted store, and stuff arrived inside 5 minutes. Already bagged and ready to put in car. Couple of substitutes, but it was an £80 order and that wasn’t a surprise. Tesco would probably have been worse.

Great success really, and it’s the first food we’ve had that hasn’t been delivered to the door since 17 March 2020. Good to be able to get food from Aldi again. Much lower prices than Tesco and better quality too. Roquefort cheese cave aged, unlike Tesco’s, but still cheaper and all the continental cheeses, such as Comté, Gruyère, Brie and Camembert were much cheaper. Alcohol free beer - happy to give that a go at the price charged. Likewise the German ham and the Prosciutto - both cheaper and better than Tesco.

Better dates too on all the fresh stuff.

Not for those who are able to shop normally, but for anyone else - give it a go. It works well and on a largish order you’ll get your fiver back with the lower prices, as well as better products. I’m a convert!

Rosa_Damascena

andygb said:

Doc_N said:

I cannot contemplate any circumstances in anyone, with the possible exception of a very small child, could be so desperate for food that they couldn’t wait a few minutes until leaving the store.

Is that so unusual?

I once saw a youngish woman in a John Lewis Foodhall, open a cooked chicken leg and start to devour it - reminded me of the film "The Land that Time Forgot".

I had to Google this. There were so many quality dramas back in the day - the content made up for what was lacking in production - I wish the BBC would load them onto iPlayer.

I'm really disappointed with Lidl of late. I have spent a lot more on groceries lately, mostly at the Big 4 but have also had better value for money on summer fruit in particular.

Cornucopia

In my (not especially representative) experience, there is now a price/service gap opening up between Lidl and Aldi.   I have actually changed my shopping from 1x Aldi + 1x Lidl each week to 2x Aldi and maybe a quick pop in to Lidl if I have good offers or coupons to use.  

I should say that part of this is my local Lidl store, which tends to be a little bit grim at times (especially with dirty floors for some reason), and the staff seem desperately unhappy at the moment.

Pollycat

Cornucopia said:

In my (not especially representative) experience, there is now a price/service gap opening up between Lidl and Aldi.   I have actually changed my shopping from 1x Aldi + 1x Lidl each week to 2x Aldi and maybe a quick pop in to Lidl if I have good offers or coupons to use.  

I should say that part of this is my local Lidl store, which tends to be a little bit grim at times (especially with dirty floors for some reason), and the staff seem desperately unhappy at the moment.

The staff in my local Aldi always seem very happy and chatty.
I had a nice conversation with a checkout guy the other day about some Greek wine I'd bought.

Rosa_Damascena

Cornucopia said:

In my (not especially representative) experience, there is now a price/service gap opening up between Lidl and Aldi.   I have actually changed my shopping from 1x Aldi + 1x Lidl each week to 2x Aldi and maybe a quick pop in to Lidl if I have good offers or coupons to use.  

I should say that part of this is my local Lidl store, which tends to be a little bit grim at times (especially with dirty floors for some reason), and the staff seem desperately unhappy at the moment.

This makes a real difference, I wonder if it lacks a store manager? If you tell Head Office that the store is tired they will be down there like a shot to get a plan in place.

Doc_N

Cornucopia said:

In my (not especially representative) experience, there is now a price/service gap opening up between Lidl and Aldi.   I have actually changed my shopping from 1x Aldi + 1x Lidl each week to 2x Aldi and maybe a quick pop in to Lidl if I have good offers or coupons to use.  

I should say that part of this is my local Lidl store, which tends to be a little bit grim at times (especially with dirty floors for some reason), and the staff seem desperately unhappy at the moment.

I’m inclined to agree. Aldi seem much more customer focused than Lidl, and have done for some time. They seem to be targeting Waitrose and Sainsbury customers, while Lidl look to be more Asda based. It shows in the food ranges too.

We used to use both equally, but as time went by Lidl became just a top up store. We have a nice, large, newish Lidl, and an older, smaller Aldi, but the Aldi always provided a better experience because the staff were helpful and friendly. Lidl staff were adequate. Just adequate, with little or no customer interaction.

The icing on the cake is the Aldi Click and Collect service, which Lidl don’t seem interested in.

sammyjammy

I agree, i definitely spend more money in Aldi these days than Lidl, some of that is due to transport.  The only thing that Lidl really has over Aldi is the bakery which I love.

Doc_N

sammyjammy said:

I agree, i definitely spend more money in Aldi these days than Lidl, some of that is due to transport.  The only thing that Lidl really has over Aldi is the bakery which I love.

Probably just me, but I loathe the Lidl bakery because it contains nothing I want to buy (mostly too sugary or too expensive) and restricts the range of bread they sell.  Aldi has a far better range of breads as a result.

Pollycat

Doc_N said:

sammyjammy said:

I agree, i definitely spend more money in Aldi these days than Lidl, some of that is due to transport.  The only thing that Lidl really has over Aldi is the bakery which I love.

Probably just me, but I loathe the Lidl bakery because it contains nothing I want to buy (mostly too sugary or too expensive) and restricts the range of bread they sell.  Aldi has a far better range of breads as a result.

I particularly like Aldi's granary loaf, thickly sliced.
Paninis are good value too compared to Tesco. although sometimes they aren't even in size.