Is Aldi really all that?

[LOALM]

New Aldi has quite recently opened up in town. DH wants us to switch to doing our weekly shop there. I'm reluctant. I find the whole till set up stressful - I'm used to the scan and shop and I don't really want to triple handle my food in and out of the trolley like the blooming hokey cokey (especially with young child with me)! I've also had some fresh produce from there that did not last well. He says we can do two smaller shops and would still save money, I just don't know if I can be bothered with the extra hassle/till stress/food going off. Is it worth it?

I wouldn't use it for a full shop tbh. It's ok for some things but not all

I've swapped quite a few things in Aldi but couldn't do a full shop swap.

After being told how great it was we tried it for our weekly shop. Ended up in Sainsbury's afterwards and spent more altogether than if I'd have just used Sainsbury's in the first place.

It's good for cleaning products but the rest is rubbish, fresh fruit and veg is particularly awful quality. The worst bit is they have different things in at different times, so I might need dishwasher salt but they only have that in at random times. It also doesn't have s wide range of products so if I need a certain spice or ingredient 9/10 times I'd have to go to another supermarket. It's more and more expensive too I find.

We've used Aldi for a while and I actually really like it.
I don't mind the packing system but I see a lot of people with those shopping bags that kind of stack inside the trolley so they just load straight into the bags from the till. As long as you can pack at a normal pace it's fine, none of the staff in our local one do the whole throwing the shopping at you bit.

I did my first shop in Lidl today hoping to save some money compared to our usual online Tesco shop.

I need to work out exactly how it compared as I bought several things for Christmas which has made it look just as much as usual!

I did hate the whole till experience though!

I tried it and it didn't work any better or cheaper by the time I had got cleaning products and toiletries from elsewhere

I don’t think you should do your whole weekly shopping at Aldi. Sometimes you get what you pay for and low cost means in Aldi sometimes that the quality was compromised (fresh flowers for example). They also didn’t have a great variety of meats and fruit/vegetables in my experience (this is outside the UK though).

I do think Lidl has overall great quality and their fruit/vegetable selection was brilliant, in variety, quality and price.

Love Aldi. Saves a fortune and you're not faced woth the dilemma of 32 different types of tinned tomatoes.

I’m with you. I’m lucky as my Sainsbury’s and Aldi are almost next door to one another. I get a mix of my shopping from both shops however if I go to Sainsbury’s only for a shop I do get less but spend the same.

Till stress? Scan and shop has been around for only a couple of years, what did you do before then?
You stick your stuff on the conveyor and pick it up at the other end. Not exactly torture is it.

We do our whole food shop there. We have to, due to cost. However, saying that, I’ve noticed the prices are creeping up.

I'd use Aldi more if I didn't hate supermarket shopping in general to the point where we get nearly everything delivered! I think the till stress would get easier over time (I find it fine, but I've never tried scan and shop)

Agree with pp that fresh produce is generally better in Lidl. But I think in terms of product selection you can get much closer to a full weekly shop in Aldi than in Lidl. You could then do an online shop in somewhere like Tesco every few weeks to get the bits you can't get in Aldi maybe?

If I had the time to regularly do the shop child free I would happily do some in Aldi then go to the grocers for fresh bits etc, but when I have to drag DS around on a weekly basis it becomes more stressful than it needs to be. I'm kind of on a 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' mindset but I probably should try it at least - even if just to shut DH up!

Aldi isn't great for fresh fruit and veg, I check the produce carefully before buying. But, I save so much compared to our Tesco shop that I can't bring myself to be too bothered about a bruised apple or squished pepper here or there. I spend an average of £40-50 per week on a full food shop for a family of 4 (including packed lunches for two).

@Fucck You're right, but since I've had DS we've had scan and shop locally and it really does make the whole experience a lot less hassle when it comes to the queueing at the end. A 5yo screaming escape artist could be considered a mild form of torture in a busy supermarket

Sometimes you get what you pay for and low cost means in Aldi sometimes that the quality was compromised (fresh flowers for example).

Yet my family and I loooove aldi flowers because they last so much longer than Sainsburys or anywhere else's!

This is why I think you should give it a try. Some people say the fresh veg is awful, goes off as soon as you look at it; I've only ever had that happen once. I do like Aldi, it is noticeably cheaper, although I wouldn't be able to get everything I want from there. I would think it's perfectly doable to do one shop in aldi, the best in sainsburys to get the bits your canner get in aldi, and alternate.

I don't like Aldi. We have 2 locally and 2 lidls and I find them super messy, not well stocked and with limited choices

I really dont think they are much (if at all) cheaper than a supermarket own branded shop.

I hate how they scan the stuff faster than you can bag it or repile it in the trolly

And due to my lack of self control I'm more likely to over spend there because the aisles of random crap they have.

I like Asda and Morrisons

DH says I'm being a snob but I'm not - I much prefer to buy own brands in Tesco/Sains and when I'm able to I use the local grocers on the high street etc. I just can't really be arsed.

It’s all relative. If you were to go to one of the “big 4” and do an exclusively own brand shop, you’d not notice much of a price difference & you also don’t have the hassle of the dreaded till experience. They’re very clever with their “at Aldi this basket costs X at Sainsbury’s it’s costs y” ads, they aren’t like for like. Aldi is own brand, Sainsbury’s would be well established brands.

Love ALDI. Not stressful at all. Friendly staff at the checkout. Quite happy to not pay for a pretty shop.

Went to ASDA the other day. Not impressed with the meat I got there and concluded I'm used to better from Aldi. When I really nice stuff I go to the butchers etc.

There's not always the same choice but we save a fortune shopping there.

We always do our full food shop in Aldi and never have any problems with quality. So much cheaper than the big supermarkets. Plus there was a story the other day about someone who found Aldi stickers on their Waitrose food and it turns out it all comes from the same place/factory so it really can't be that bad!

Only thing I'd add is sometimes their avocados don't ripen and I've had dodgy tangerines. I usually go else where for those. They have some great wine though and their fake Baileys is lovely.

It’s a horrible place with horrible food