Aldi or Lidl?

iamstacie

I need to go shopping for basic bits, so I thought I'd try either Lidl or Aldi, but I've no idea what they sell?

Below is my shopping list, is one store going to be better than the other? Is there anything I shouldn't bother getting from these shops/anything really good I should look out for.

UHT Milk
Veg Stock/bouillion
Flour (all types)
Herbs
Oats
Soft Brown Sugar & Caster
Chick Peas
Tahini (none essential, I can use olive oil in the houmous)
Salad Stuff
Raisins & other dried fruit
Fresh fruit
Juice & Squash
Fat free Yoghurt
White Vinegar
Strong Cheese
Frozen fruit & frozen veg
Sandwich Bags
Butter & margerine
Veg & Potatoes
Marmite


Thanks in advance,
Stacie

lolarentt

You'll probably get about half of that lot there, and you wont have heard of the brand names of any of them!

(.........runs and hides to avoid flak from devoted Aldi Lidl fans)

boredofbeingathome

Big Aldi fan and the only thing i haven't bought from there is white vinegar as i haven't looked for it. The best marg i have tasted from there is the olive one which far outranks the bertolli one. the veg cubes are great as are other basic brands, the virgin olive oil is beautiful and used by anthony worral thompson on his show where he compared tastes and brands- itcame out the top. If you like coffee i would try the instant specially selected columbian cofee- you won't go back to nescafe, and they also do organic teas, bread and herbal products as well as fresh fruit produce. try itand see, i reckoned i knocked over £120 a month as opposed to other supermarkets and i will reduce it further.

newlywed

I go to both aldi and lidl (one near work other near home). I prefer the atmosphere in Aldi, but there does seem to be less "choice" for some things. Aldi high juice squash is nice. But earlier in the week their salad veg was erm lacking!! The cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes were all hairy (mould) :eek:

Cheeses, ham, herbs, juice, tinned stuff is all fine in both shops - haven't noticed oats though and I eat porridge. Aldi low fat yoghurts are really nice (living or something I think they are called).

Lidl frozen veg is good - the peas aren't too huge (don't like bullets). But their selection varies alot so some weeks they only have cauliflower and sprouts frozen :rolleyes: The fresh fruit and veg is sometimes a little tired looking - so just examine it a bit

I usually go to Aldi or Lidl and then pop to another supermarket for the "bits" that are missing

JoeyEmma

Am I wrong in thinking that Aldi is more expensive than it used to be. I know that all food is going up in price, however, the majority of Aldi things always used to be cheaper than the supermarket, but now not as many are eg tinned toms.

They seem to be trying to go posh eg adverts on tv copying M&S and opening big fancy shops in the city centre (Manchester) that obviously have very high overheads. I wonder if we are paying more because of this. One of the things why they keep costs low is by keeping their overheads low (eg no baskets, putting things on the shelves still in the boxes they come from, charging for carrier bags, building shops in areas that are cheap). Now it seems to be changing and we are paying for it.

noonesperfect

UHT Milk -Yes, skimmed & semi skimmed
Veg Stock/bouillion - most likely
Flour (all types) - Plain & SR
Herbs - Some, not a wide selection
Oats - most likely
Soft Brown Sugar & Caster - not sure
Chick Peas - not sure
Tahini (none essential, I can use olive oil in the houmous) - not sure
Salad Stuff - yes
Raisins & other dried fruit - yes
Fresh fruit - yes
Juice & Squash - yes
Fat free Yoghurt - yes
White Vinegar - no
Strong Cheese - yes
Frozen fruit & frozen veg - veg definitely not sure about frozen fruit
Sandwich Bags - most likely
Butter & margarine - Yes
Veg & Potatoes - Yes
Marmite - Yes

noonesperfect

JoeyEmma wrote: »

Am I wrong in thinking that Aldi is more expensive than it used to be. I know that all food is going up in price, however, the majority of Aldi things always used to be cheaper than the supermarket, but now not as many are eg tinned toms.

They seem to be trying to go posh eg adverts on tv copying M&S and opening big fancy shops in the city centre (Manchester) that obviously have very high overheads. I wonder if we are paying more because of this. One of the things why they keep costs low is by keeping their overheads low (eg no baskets, putting things on the shelves still in the boxes they come from, charging for carrier bags, building shops in areas that are cheap). Now it seems to be changing and we are paying for it.

Very true, there's quite alot of prime-time tv advertising too.

NemoToad

In Germany Aldi has always been seen as slightly more up market than Lidl, so maybe they're bringing it more inline with the rest of Europe?

~daisy~_2

i was in lidl this morning and a lot of there stuff is the same price as tescos now
cream milk cheese butter were all exactly the same price

i mainly go for the washing liquid and cereals now

angelavdavis

I have been a huge fan of Lidls in particular but have been noticing the prices creeping up.

When I first switched from Tesco to Lidls - the difference in my shop from the Tesco equivalent was 1/3 of the bill! So my £60 bill in Mr T was £40 in Lidl. Now it is less than a 1/4.

As far as your list Stacie, I think my local stocks everything there except white vinegar,
chick peas will probably only be tinned (although they do other dried pulses),
limited frozen fruit - poss raspberries only.

I have bought oats (do regularly - about 20p a packet).

Mine also has a huge selection of dried herbs/spices, fresh herbs and stocks.

They don't do more unusual herbs/spices like saffron, but mostly you should get everything else.

I think I have bought Tahini in there once (not since - my husband decided he didn't like hummous!), but it is a seasonal thing, so unlikely to have it now.

iamstacie

Thanks for all your replies, I went to Aldi in the end, and was very disappointed with it overall. I dont know if the one I went to was smaller than the norm, but it didnt have half of what was on my list, half of the store was 'stuff' (clothes/coffee makers/toolkits etc) and the flour, UHT & porridge oats were much more expensive than Sainsburys. The veg & fruit was cheaper, so I bought plenty of that, and hi-juice squash too. Then off I went to Sainsburys to actually do my shopping! Lots of wasted petrol (had to take a trip to Tescos to use the cash machine because I'd forgotten you have to have a pound for the trolleys), a bit of a stress headache, and about 3 hours disappeared from my day. Think I'll stick to MrTs online shop. Thanks for all the advice though, it just wasnt for me it seems!