Lidl / Aldi

Anyone shop there regularly? What's it like?

Mrs wants to try one out as peed off regularly spending £100 for a shop and getting nothing for it in tesco or Sainsbury

I've tried them and it's below average, the selection is alot smaller than the usual suspects and whilst some of the products are up to scratch alot of it isn't, if you buy food to enjoy it then you'll be disappointed, if it's merely fuel fill yer boots.

Iceland is best

Swanny is talking ********. The quality in both is decent.

I have a client who supplies chocs direct from a top Swiss supplier to saino, m&s, aldi, lidl, waitrose, tesco.

The Choc is shopped in 3 grades. Only one gets the top. Guess which one

Consider swapping some "Brand names" for Value/smart price items, you will be surprised as some are a third of the cost and not much different. Not fresh Meat though.

Alert!

In an effort to conserve, we bought Asda Frozen Irish Sausages.

Just don't.

As a student I used to do some of my shopping in both of those stores. There's genuinely some really good stuff on offer yet also plenty that simply doesn't stand up to direct comparison with the competition. Through trial and error I worked out what was worth it, but it was only ever to supplement what I bought elsewhere. Probably made bigger savings through buying my fruit and veg at a decent greengrocers.

In other words although there's some bargains to be had, I don't think they're one stop shops.

Surprised Bearsy hasn't been on this thread with all his price pikey saving suggestions as he's pretty poor and shops at Lidl.

It's alright.

For frozen produce, ready made items (crisps, sauces, tins etc) and meat, excellent. For fresh vegetables, no. Better off going to the local market.

Quality is excellent but you don't want to buy everything there. It's a pain in the arse but you are better off doing a quick run around Lidl/Aldi then supplement it with a trip to Tesco.

Swanny is talking ********. The quality in both is decent.

 

I have a client who supplies chocs direct from a top Swiss supplier to saino, m&s, aldi, lidl, waitrose, tesco.

 

The Choc is shopped in 3 grades. Only one gets the top. Guess which one

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Aldi and Lidl aren't bad places to get a big part of your shop. We used to have an Aldi around 200 metres away from our place; was very handy for general stuff that didn't require a trip to TESCO. Quality is fine; it's just the range of products that is smaller, which is to be expected when you see the difference in store size.

I am reminded of the old joke regarding low-cost chains.

Q: "What's black, yellow and full of sh!te".

A: "A NETTO carrier bag".

PM bearsy, he'll tell you all you need to know for a small price.

I actually use one of these regularly for small bits and pieces. There is one next door to my gym. It is just like when you go shopping on holiday really. You recognise most things but do not 100% know what anything is of if it will be any good.

In my experience just buy what is generally better in Europe anyway - the German sausages are good, as are the cold meats and the cheese. The salad is ok but not great, make sure it is fresh. The stuff like ready made coronation chicken/Patato salad is terrible. The other stuff in there seems to be frozen ready meals or tins and I don't tend to buy this anyway and definitely not after the gym.

The staff are ****, speaking on their mobiles on the shop floor etc, the atmosphere is like a BBQ at bearsy's house when everyone discovers there is no meat, just stale rolls and some no descript pink stuff. However it is ok for the odd 'continental' item - procutto etc

Aldi is excellent for good European stuff.

i've literally never been in an aldi or a lidl's, despite what jealous ppl is saying on here!

I did hear though that they don't stack the stuff on actual shelves, they just wheel it out in crates and you have to fight over it like at somali refugee camp.

Aldi is excellent for good European stuff.

This is a view that is backed up by ms pap, even though she cannot pronounce Gouda properly.

Lidl isn't as bad as people make out and you can find genuinely find good quality stuff in there that is a fraction of the price of another supermarket. Their home chips were some of the nicest chips around and cost around 59/69p. Annoyingly they've stopped selling them recently and the equivalent product at Morrisons costs something like £1.59 and aren't as good. Lidl's lasagne is also one of the best around. I totally agree with the above comments re: smaller range

That said any Lidls I've been in tend to have longer queues at the checkouts but this is more down to the lack of checkouts open than anything else. Also up until the last 18 months/2 years ago the 3 Lidl stores I've been in, none of them had shopping baskets available in their stores which was completely ridiculous (they've now introduced them). This meant that unless you were doing your weekly shop or buying literally 2-3 items max it was physically difficult to shop there.

Don't think I've ever shopped in an Aldi.

Swanny is talking ********. The quality in both is decent.

 

I have a client who supplies chocs direct from a top Swiss supplier to saino, m&s, aldi, lidl, waitrose, tesco.

 

The Choc is shopped in 3 grades. Only one gets the top. Guess which one

That would be fine if all they sold was chocolate, i was commenting on the overall experience and range.

Used to go there for certain stuff not the weekly shop though because you don't get the range that you do up tescos. some of the European food was nice like the Bratwursts and cheese. Can get some real bargains.

Just back from Aldi in Romsey (it can't be that bad if its survived so long in Romsey!).

It cost us £84 and it will probably last us 2 weeks or so, less the usual fresh stuff which we would get anyway.

They've been clever in their design of their own brand stuff in making it look similar, but also smaller sizes.

Think the whole shop was £20 or so cheaper, but that may be because we perhaps didn't buy everything we would have normally?

The real test is in the tasting...

As a student I used to do some of my shopping in both of those stores. There's genuinely some really good stuff on offer yet also plenty that simply doesn't stand up to direct comparison with the competition. Through trial and error I worked out what was worth it, but it was only ever to supplement what I bought elsewhere. Probably made bigger savings through buying my fruit and veg at a decent greengrocers.

 

In other words although there's some bargains to be had, I don't think they're one stop shops.

You sound far to cultured to be a student.

Swanny is talking ********. The quality in both is decent.

 

I have a client who supplies chocs direct from a top Swiss supplier to saino, m&s, aldi, lidl, waitrose, tesco.

 

The Choc is shopped in 3 grades. Only one gets the top. Guess which one

This. My wife does the majority of the week shop at Aldi (called Hofer in Austria), then gets a few premium items not available there at the big name supermarket chains.

Just back from Aldi in Romsey (it can't be that bad if its survived so long in Romsey!).

 

It cost us £84 and it will probably last us 2 weeks or so, less the usual fresh stuff which we would get anyway.

 

They've been clever in their design of their own brand stuff in making it look similar, but also smaller sizes.

 

Think the whole shop was £20 or so cheaper, but that may be because we perhaps didn't buy everything we would have normally?

 

The real test is in the tasting...

Might be a good time to join the Frankie Boyle hunger strike relay.

We get a 15% discount at Waitrose, regularly use Morrisons and Asda but every week my wife goes to Lidl. A lot of the produce there is good. The chocolate is first class. The main difference is they don't carry multiple choices of the same product but they do quality brands eg Gold Blend coffee etc. The fruit and vegetables are as good as anywhere else.

As a student I used to do some of my shopping in both of those stores. There's genuinely some really good stuff on offer yet also plenty that simply doesn't stand up to direct comparison with the competition. Through trial and error I worked out what was worth it, but it was only ever to supplement what I bought elsewhere. Probably made bigger savings through buying my fruit and veg at a decent greengrocers.

 

In other words although there's some bargains to be had, I don't think they're one stop shops.

The highlighted sentence sums it all up in a nutshell !!

(Ps. a mate of mine went to Lidl to buy some fresh fruit and came out with a rubber dinghy )

Some of it is good dont go for the sharwoods mince by biranyi is the pits

Aldi and Lidl aren't bad places to get a big part of your shop. We used to have an Aldi around 200 metres away from our place; was very handy for general stuff that didn't require a trip to TESCO. Quality is fine; it's just the range of products that is smaller, which is to be expected when you see the difference in store size.

 

I am reminded of the old joke regarding low-cost chains.

 

Q: "What's black, yellow and full of sh!te".

A: "A NETTO carrier bag".

This joke holds no weight, as Netto mainly sold Named Brands, just cheaper. It was brand/supermarket SNOBS who slagged it off! Where are those snobs now shopping Aldi/Lidi.LOL

Brand/Supermarket snobbery is for people, who dont want their friends and neighbors thinking their cheap. pmsl

It's all about bang for your buck, at present. And if that means you have to swallow your own snobbery, then so be it. Aldi's meat(beef) knocks spots of Tescos meat. Which is so tough you could use it as a bullet proof vest. If you could stop it mooing. ;-)

This joke holds no weight, as Netto mainly sold Named Brands, just cheaper. It was brand/supermarket SNOBS who slagged it off! Where are those snobs now shopping Aldi/Lidi.LOL

Brand/Supermarket snobbery is for people, who dont want their friends and neighbors thinking their cheap. pmsl

Your right I had a few friends who use to slag these shops off before the recession who I see in there now and have back tracked on their views and have got street wise instead of chucking hard earned cash on overpriced brand names.

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I'll happily go into Waitrose with my big, strong Lidl bags, but I buy different stuff in different places. Waitrose for wines, special cheeses and decent meat (although prefer local butchers), organic milk, their pain au levain, loose leaf teas and other specialist stuff, although I haven't got the income to really splash out. Aldi (and Lidl) are good for basics: tinned toms, mozarella, german salamis, fruit and veg is fine, the chocolate and I noticed they also do free range chicken but didn't notice the price. I had a Barossa Shiraz the other day which was good value: managed to make it last two days and definitely opened up on the second. They're also good for the household cleaning stuff too along with the rubber dinghy type bargains. Bought a stirrup bicycle pump and big garden bin the other day.

Tescos just annoy me with their confusion marketing.

she cannot pronounce Gouda properly.

Bet you can't either Pap. I was there recently and was corrected to How-da, with a phlegmy bit on the 'H'.

Tescos just annoy me with their confusion marketing.

Absolutely this. They've decided to trick their customers and Ive decided to not shop there anymore. Also they give up so much shelf space to 20 pointless variations of products that almost nobody wants that they keep running out of the original product, like humous without onion, paprika, pesto, red peppers etc because they've only got space left for 10 pots.

Lidl tried to get into the Norwegian market a few years back and they failed horribly. They had to cut their losses and sell off all of their stores to a Norwegian chain after about two years. I think people just generally didn't trust the unfamiliar stock. I used to get a few things there but haven't missed them since they disappeared.

Aldi have never been here to my knowledge. There are really only three chains now that dominate Norway and nobody else stands a chance.

Bet you can't either Pap. I was there recently and was corrected to How-da, with a phlegmy bit on the 'H'.

Last time I was there, they still had guilders.

I didn't know they did the phlegmy H on it, but I don't pronounce it Goo-da

The highlighted sentence sums it all up in a nutshell !!

 

(Ps. a mate of mine went to Lidl to buy some fresh fruit and came out with a rubber dinghy )

Top Tip .... that'll be the last time his missus sends him out on a shopping errand

Yes, but I _needed_ a bicycle pump!

I went to a Lidl in Italy.

I bought a CoolBox for 4.99 Euros.

It survived camping all round the country and EVEN survived coming back as checked in baggage on the flight home filled with bottles of Vino, Cheese & Salamis. It is a way better cool box than the old Coleman Box I bought about 15 years ago.

All things are relative of course but for choice of goods (on Western Foods) it was on a par with most Supermarkets down here.

Damned upset now I didn't find the Rubber Dinghy section though

I'll happily go into Waitrose with my big, strong Lidl bags, but I buy different stuff in different places. Waitrose for wines, special cheeses and decent meat (although prefer local butchers), organic milk, their pain au levain, loose leaf teas and other specialist stuff, although I haven't got the income to really splash out.

Interesting, we shop at Waitrose largely through lack of choice (our nearest supermarkets are Waitrose, followed by Waitrose, and then Waitrose...), I've given up on their meat because with the exception of lamb it's very average, the fish is dreadful, and the wine selection is extremely limited and offers very little value. The whole Essentials thing is a con as well, about 5% cheaper than the standard Waitrose stuff which still makes it a good 10% more expensive than comparable products from the other supermarkets.

There is an Aldi about half an hour away that we went to for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago, after finally convincing the wife. Couldn't do my full shop there, but what you can pick up which is of equal or better quality is without fail significantly cheaper. It's a bit like supermarkets used to be in the 80s (or still are in places like northern France), before they became behemoths - just feels a bit low rent, but if you can see past that it definitely makes sense. Doubt I'll be able to convince the missus to make it a regular feature though.

The champagne at £12 is excellent.

The Frikadellen they sell at Lidl are rather nice.

The primary difference between Alidi/Lidl and other supermarkets in this country is their business model and the fact that they source more stuff from Europe. Other than that it's down to personal preference if you like the taste of Aldi's processed stuff over Tesco's processed stuff, and how much you fall for the marketing.

A friend of mine works for a large company who make the processed tastes and smells that are put back into food once they've been processed beyond recognition and don't contain any of their original taste and smell... Perceptions of taste of a lot of tinned and processed stuff is down to these additives (which are at least natural), and how much sugar and salt is put in it. Aldi and Lidl are broadly no better or worse than any other supermarket that sells such stuff, they just have a more lean business model and more efficient logistics, which helps them pass on savings to customers.

It's the same in the other direction, Waitrose and M+S' basic ranges, which they're now increasingly trying to price match Tesco etc on, is pretty much the same stuff. However, these guys tend to do more higher quality, less processed stuff, hence the perception that they're expensive... when actually they just aren't as keen to win the race to the bottom that everyone else seems intent on pursuing.

Interesting, we shop at Waitrose largely through lack of choice (our nearest supermarkets are Waitrose, followed by Waitrose, and then Waitrose...), I've given up on their meat because with the exception of lamb it's very average, the fish is dreadful, and the wine selection is extremely limited and offers very little value. The whole Essentials thing is a con as well, about 5% cheaper than the standard Waitrose stuff which still makes it a good 10% more expensive than comparable products from the other supermarkets.

 

There is an Aldi about half an hour away that we went to for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago, after finally convincing the wife. Couldn't do my full shop there, but what you can pick up which is of equal or better quality is without fail significantly cheaper. It's a bit like supermarkets used to be in the 80s (or still are in places like northern France), before they became behemoths - just feels a bit low rent, but if you can see past that it definitely makes sense. Doubt I'll be able to convince the missus to make it a regular feature though.

 

The champagne at £12 is excellent.

You mean like buy one and not get one free?

We shop all over, there is no Waitrose in Liverpool so we use Occado, tesco's, Asda and Sainbury's.

Sainsbury's with Waitrose are the best.

Aldi and Lidl are fine - but I wish they'd sort their checkouts.

The conveyor belts are about 25 yards long, but the packing area is about the size of a dustbin lid.

So while you're desperately trying to shove your purchases in bags before they fall on the floor, the checkout girls are whizzing stuff through as fast as they can making things even more awkward.

I'm sure the sods do it on purpose.

Going in Co-op in the afternoon can get you some good reduced bargains - especially for meat if you are looking to fill the freezer.

Bitterne is quite handy - can go in Savers for Toiletries, Iceland for frozen, Sainsbury's for main stuff and they also have a butchers and fruit and veg place nearby.

Aldi and Lidl are fine - but I wish they'd sort their checkouts.

 

The conveyor belts are about 25 yards long, but the packing area is about the size of a dustbin lid.

 

So while you're desperately trying to shove your purchases in bags before they fall on the floor, the checkout girls are whizzing stuff through as fast as they can making things even more awkward.

 

I'm sure the sods do it on purpose.

When I was in Bournemouth several years ago one of the Lidls over there was horrendous for that. They had this idea that scanning everything at lightning fast speed and all but throwing everything you've purchased into a big pile and demanding the money whilst you physically can't pack fast enough, is the best way of operating a checkout. (Especially when I can pack bags significantly faster than some old ladies).

Once you handed the money over they even started scanning the next customer's items through when you've still got 10-12 things to pack. All of the staff I saw there were Eastern Europeans in their 20s and they seemed like badly trained apprentices that had been recruited through some agency

Full of rubbish cheap knock-off food but more importantly, full of low IQ low lives in onesies and pj's. I'll stick to Waitrose, away from the riff raff.

I too do not set foot in the "poormarket" emporiums.

I too do not set foot in the "poormarket" emporiums.

Odd as at my local Aldi the carpark is full of new cars and yummy mummies and the local ASDA populated by the great unwashed.

I too do not set foot in the "poormarket" emporiums.

So how rich are you, Window Cleaner?

Don't be shy. You obviously want to talk about it.

Odd as at my local Aldi the carpark is full of new cars and yummy mummies and the local ASDA populated by the great unwashed.

not round here though......Had to go to the Citroen garage this morning, Lidl is opposite, full of old bangers and headscarved women.

So how rich are you, Window Cleaner?

 

Don't be shy. You obviously want to talk about it.

How rich are 2 normal upper grade public servants with both offspring gone from the nest ? I'm sure that you can work it out if you want. "poormarket" isn't one of mine I'm afraid. Heard from it from a very classy looking lady in the Citroen garage car park on her phone. Giving directions "tu sais face à Lidl...oui c'est ça, le supermarché des pauvres"