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

A._Badger

Brie said:

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. 

I was a complete tomato ketchup snob, only buying Heinz. However, in a moment of madness I decided to give the Aldi one a chance and that is now my favourite. This has to be a matter of individual taste but I'd suggest readers at least give it a try.

Cornucopia

For a variety of reasons, I am giving Lidl a break for now.   I think I get better value at Aldi, and for certain products, Morrisons.  

Doc_N

A._Badger said:

Brie said:

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. 

I was a complete tomato ketchup snob, only buying Heinz. However, in a moment of madness I decided to give the Aldi one a chance and that is now my favourite. This has to be a matter of individual taste but I'd suggest readers at least give it a try.

You are absolutely right. Heinz have used their marketing power to convince people that it’s the only ketchup. It isn’t, and blind tastings have proved that unless they see the label most people can’t pick it out.

Add to that the fact that ‘different’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘inferior’.

We switched to Aldi years back, but now we can’t shop there we use the Tesco cheapo sub-brand and even that’s perfectly good ketchup.

Rosa_Damascena

Doc_N said:

A._Badger said:

Brie said:

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. 

I was a complete tomato ketchup snob, only buying Heinz. However, in a moment of madness I decided to give the Aldi one a chance and that is now my favourite. This has to be a matter of individual taste but I'd suggest readers at least give it a try.

You are absolutely right. Heinz have used their marketing power to convince people that it’s the only ketchup. It isn’t, and blind tastings have proved that unless they see the label most people can’t pick it out.

Add to that the fact that ‘different’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘inferior’.

We switched to Aldi years back, but now we can’t shop there we use the Tesco cheapo sub-brand and even that’s perfectly good ketchup.

I found it too vinegary but it's one of the few things I prefer Lidl's version of. 

pakokelso93

Brie said:

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. 

Aldi and Lidl are far superior to Heinz... Particularly Aldi.  It has more tomatos in it etc, tastes better and for the money so much better value.

Debran

It's quite a few years since I remember Which? testing tomato sauce,  The top scoring sauce at that time was Sainsbury's.

Now I'm willing to bet that things will have changed since then, but it's worth remembering that the well-known brands aren't necessarily the best.

harz99

Debran said:

It's quite a few years since I remember Which? testing tomato sauce,  The top scoring sauce at that time was Sainsbury's.

Now I'm willing to bet that things will have changed since then, but it's worth remembering that the well-known brands aren't necessarily the best.

its also worth remembering that own brands are contracted to whichever maker gives the best deal for a product, makers and specifications can and do, frequently change, not always for the better...

Rosa_Damascena

harz99 said:

Debran said:

It's quite a few years since I remember Which? testing tomato sauce,  The top scoring sauce at that time was Sainsbury's.

Now I'm willing to bet that things will have changed since then, but it's worth remembering that the well-known brands aren't necessarily the best.

its also worth remembering that own brands are contracted to whichever maker gives the best deal for a product, makers and specifications can and do, frequently change, not always for the better...

Meanwhile I haven't eaten anything that warrants dipping in ketchup for some months (which is probably for the best).

rhcp

Aldi has overtaken Morrisons to become the fourth largest UK supermarket for the first time, according to data from research firm Kantar.

harz99

Has anyone else found shortages of Milk in Aldi recently, or maybe it's just the branch i use?