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

S_uk

Later this week, for the first time in quite a long time I intend to do my weekly shop at Aldi rather than Lidl. Firstly to check out the range on offer, but most importantly to see if their stock levels on the things I tend to buy are better, which at my local Lidl has been a bit of an ongoing issue in recent times. I don't expect it to be any cheaper, but if stock levels are consistently better than that will be a big advantage.

Lidl does have the bakery, but I've have been cutting out non-essentials from my shop including bakery items, so going somewhere that doesn't have one isn't a disadvantage anymore. The Lidl app coupons were something I used quite often when it first started, but I've noticed the offers are far less frequently for stuff I tend to buy. I can't remember the last coupon I used now. And as for the weekend offers, I wouldn't be surprised if they've now stopped for good.

Caroby

Last week was the first time we saw the £1.50 boxes in Lidl for ages but the contents were a bit disappointing, including a very small and manky swede and far too many white onions, so we didn't bother. Was nice to see them though, maybe another time there'll be a better choice.

rhcp

No lidl weekend offers next week either.  That's 3 weeks in a row.  Looks like they are done for good now.

Seasedge

We've found the stilton cheese is much nicer at Aldi than the Asda one, and cheaper, and this goes for the 'extra special' bacon as well. Fresh veg bought from Aldi doesn't seem to last long, even if stored properly, but the same could be said for all the supermarkets (we tried all of them from Ocado through to Asda!). Setting up now to grow our own veg properly next year.

S_uk

I noticed that Lidl confirmed on twitter in a reply to someone's question that they have ended the weekend offers.

S_uk

Ok just to come back after my previous post a few days ago. I did my weekly shop in Aldi this morning, first time I've been there in ages, as I wanted to compare it to Lidl who still seem to have some issues with stock, at least in my local store. I normally shop at 8am when it opens so I went at the same time to make it a fair comparison. Both stores are roughly the same size and distance from my home. I think I will now continue to shop at Aldi for the time being for the following reasons (I know things vary from store to store, so I am only going on my own experience with those near me):

- Aldi was better stocked. There also seemed to be better dates on the own brand bread/bread products which I normally buy.
- There were about five or six members of staff on the shop floor putting stock out. At Lidl it's usually about two (at the time I shop).
- Aldi had in stock things that I haven't seen in Lidl for quite a long time, or at the very least sporadically. These include things like sardines in tomato sauce, own brand ketchup, tortilla chips, cheap penne pasta, and certain toiletries including cheap deodorant. They had plenty of my normal 4 pint skimmed milk, dated 6th Sept. Lidl sometimes doesn't have any at all.
- A few other simple observations (and not important) was that Aldi appeared to sell fewer branded goods than Lidl. They also appeared to have more in their labelled 'wonky' fruit and veg range e.g. blueberries, grapes and peppers. The aisles also seemed to be slightly wider in Aldi and a bit easier to get around, perhaps it's just the way they've configured that particular store.

LindsayT

Rosa_Damascena said:

Lidl has changed its generic tomato ketchup - now in a different (bigger) round squeeze bottle, with a different name, for 99p. Has anyone tried it yet?

Not tried it but saw it this morning for the first time. Not a bigger bottle, it's 500ml, the old one was 550g, so new one is slightly less.

Lidl's 4 pork pies up just over 50%, 99p to £1.49

Brie

LindsayT said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Lidl has changed its generic tomato ketchup - now in a different (bigger) round squeeze bottle, with a different name, for 99p. Has anyone tried it yet?

Not tried it but saw it this morning for the first time. Not a bigger bottle, it's 500ml, the old one was 550g, so new one is slightly less.

I'm not fond of Lidl or Aldi own brand ketchup.  Not sure why.  Snobbish perhaps??  So generally I've stuck to Heinz but I've been refusing to pay full price for it in Tesco and when it has been in Lidl it's not been much cheaper. 

So I was pleased when I was in M&S (rare visit) that they had their own brand for 85p (500ml?) so I opted for that.  Very nice too.  They had a "light" version so I checked the ingredients as that normally means it's full of sweetener that I don't like (which is why I don't buy Tesco own brand).  Can't recall if there was sweetener in the M&S one but given that the calorie difference in minimal in a blob of sauce I'm not that worried about reduced versions.  The thing that struck me though is that the regular one had a higher percentage of tomatoes in it which I think is important for good flavour. 

Rosa_Damascena

I gave Lidl the benefit of the doubt and bought a large pack of strawberries the other day. Mistake! They didn't keep for anywhere near as long as the Tesco's ones in 1kg crates (now no longer available) and those that were for to eat did not taste particularly good either.

I'll still shop at Lidl for convenience, but stick to basic stuff only and the f&v offers.

Rosa_Damascena

My latest cake obsession is Victoria sponge doused in cream. 

Aldi now does a fresh version in their chiller cabinet but it is no great shakes. The long life versions are tastier albeit ultra-sweet, an eighth of the cake 🍰 will do for any one serving.