I have a new found love...Aldi

[goldrush2]

How did I not know about how good ALDI is? Does everyone know? Am I late to the party?

Can't do a full shop at Aldi or Lidl.
They are my least favourite.
Still some nice products in each but definitely not worthy of gushing.

The thing I love about Aldi is the lack of choice. I go into Sainsbury’s now and find 10 types of tinned tomatoes just blows my mind. Aldi makes it quick and simple and I cook from scratch far more because the processed options just aren’t there. I love the fast check out too.

There are increasingly more processed/ ready made items I find.

It's great for some stuff like baking things, nuts, dairy and some other basics. You have to know which things to buy which takes trial and error. Quite a lot of things are less good like the cheaper biscuits and cereals. I agree lots of stuff has palm oil but to be fair that's true in many shops.

Nothing to be evangelical about! Just a shop, innit.

I like Aldi and Lidl it’s not a choice between them for me. I agree they don’t have everything but what they have is great. Fantastic choice of gin in Aldi 😉

I don’t really buy fruit from there.
I decided if I was saving money I could get fruit from Waitrose.

Love everything else though.

I pretend I’m in a Spanish supermarket so no branded goods!

I like Aldi. I dont do my whole shop there but I get smoked salmon, steaks (Better quality than most supermarkets), brioche rolls and a few other bits there. I disagree about the quality being bad personally although I dont think it's on par with m&s.

It is good for the basics (I buy baking stuff, washing powder etc there) but the more processed stuff is very variable and the fruit and veg does seem to go mouldy quickly. Things like ketchup and olives are not nice at all, the cereals are tasteless, bakery items such as wraps and naan breads are also tasteless. Their frozen pizza was one of the worst I've ever tasted.

A lot of mnetters will always sneer at Aldi, I expect most haven't even shopped there OR are too snobbish to admit they do......

I adore aldi but there isn't one local to me, so we use Lidl. There is a difference in the products but it's not worse if that makes sense.
Even the kids clothes are spot on for messy toddlers like mine.

But it's the staff that make it for me. The staff in my local Lidl are amazing. The local Morrisons treat everyone like an inconvenience and don't engage very well plus one laughed at me when they crashed into me with a trolley of stock. Lidl staff helped me complete a big shop with my toddler who was crying and only wanted a cuddle off me. One of the staff took my list and filled my trolley for me, another one offloaded at the till for me and the guy on the till packed for me. I could have cried.

I like Aldi too. They are currently building a new one very close to where we live and I'll be using it a lot.

I don't find problems with fruit and veg having short shelf lives, probably because with three over 11 year old kids it disappears quickly anyway. I get all the basics there - pasta, rice, passata, stock cubes, bread, cheese, ham. Kids are big fans of their "cornetto" ice creams.

I think the Aldi experience can vary depending on the shop and the area. Our local branch is very new, and in a market town. It feels like a Waitrose, with an added Aisle of Wonder. I understand that the store managers have quite a lot of say over what their store stocks, and that depends on the local demographic and what sells.

The only thing I dislike about Aldi is the checkout experience, I feel like I’m on Supermarket Sweep . The actual food is fantastic, amazing prices and I save a fortune compared to Morrisons.

I still do get a few bits from Morrisons that either Aldi doesn’t sell or aldi’s version is poor. Overall huge Aldi fan though.

I don't understand how people can dismiss it with a blanket 'the quality is terrible'. As with many places, it depends what you buy. Washing detergents, dishwasher tablets, some cleaning products are all excellent. Cheese is good, as is the Skyr and the big tubs of natural yoghurt. Their sushi is identical to everyone else's but cheaper, and they sell some ready made salad pots which are also identical to M & S, clearly made to the same recipe but less than half the price. The fruit and veg are both good on our local Aldi (it's a new one and very busy - don't know if that makes a difference?). Last year as I love strawberries, I bought lots - from M &S, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Aldi. Aldi were by far the best, Morrisons second, Sainsbury's third and M & S last. Skincare, sun cream and cat food (ours won't eat anything else now) also excellent.

I like it for most things, but I find the veg and meat to be below standard of other supermarkets. I bought some mince at the weekend, due to go out of date on Thursday, but had already definitely gone off by sight and smell. It's a shame as I'd happily do a full shop there, but I don't want to risk the meat!

I'd shop at Waitrose if Id have the money I have the money and honestly Waitrose is overrated. I occasionally pop in but the quality is no better than Lidl and it’s about double the price.

I don't understand how people can dismiss it with a blanket 'the quality is terrible'.

Have you never seen Eat Well for Less? People get very entrenched into buying the same thing week in, week out and will never even contemplate swapping to cheaper alternatives. Or even different brands which might not be cheaper. Millions of people shop like this - my MIL proudly states that she is a "Sainsbury's shoppper". She sees herself very much as belonging to the group of people who shop there. She has been going to the same branch for 25 years, buying her McVitie's digestives, Lurpak butter and Walker's crisps. She would no sooner shop in Aldi than fly to the moon.

Some stuff in Aldi is poor quality. I wasn't that impressed with their canned soups and probably wouldn't buy them again. But it's certainly not true to say that everything is poor quality, just as it wouldn't be true to say everything is amazing.

But you have to be open to trying.

** I always shop in Aldi, if I need branded items I go somewhere else (I like some branded items)

I pretend I’m in a Spanish supermarket so no branded goods!

Spain is huge on brands so you might be referring to specific supermarkets.

Of course Spanish supermarkets have branded foods! Different brands to here, some the same

Quality of Aldi in Ireland is excellent. They seem to do a lot of work with smaller Irish producers and sell their stuff or rebrand it as their own higher range stuff.

I love Aldi and do most of my shopping there. I sometimes so a top up at Tesco for branded stuff if needed.

Dd and I have been through all the supermarket sushi, and Aldi's is our favourite. And cheapest

I like Aldi. I don’t buy much ready made food so I can’t comment on those products but their fresh stuff is fine. I like their Aberdeen Angus meat and the free range chickens. The organic potatoes, onions and broccoli is also pretty good.

Are not is.

Their cheeses and coffee are very good. Never really bought meat there.

All the meat I've bought there so far (and fish) has been great too.

Reading all the posts here, there's obviously some inconsistency across the country though.

I have 3 aldis nearby. We'll within 15.min drive.
1 is awful. Trolley bashing. Rude staff and customers, awful battered about products dumped all over the place
2 is bearable if go nice and early. Lots of elderly use that one. But car 0ark.is small
3 is new and lovely but always busy.

I tend to use 2.

Im amazed at how. Much the veg quality in each one varies