What is Aldi like really?

[Bookworm75]

There's a rumour of an Aldi store opening in our town (obvs not for a while now I imagine with everything that's going on at the moment), and I'm wondering what Aldi stores are like to shop in. Are they really much cheaper than say Morrisons? And are they like 'normal' supermarkets inside or are they more like Costco?

From what I've seen - a jumble sale.

I really like Aldi, great value, lovely staff. Mainly own label so if you buy brands it may not be right for you. I find most things are really good quality.

Absolutely fine, I've shopped in Aldi for years. Not as much choice as the big supermarkets but I still manage a decent shop there!

Cheaper definitely-eg 5% pork mince is 1.99 for 500g but 2.99 in Morrisons. I find the fruit and veg fine too. Free range eggs are 69p for half a dozen.

My kids don't care about brands so no moaning at the lack of walkers crisps etc!

The wine is good too, the 3.99 koolboro Chardonnay is canny! A copy of kumala!

I love aldi! Was sceptical at first, but once I actually tried them I was very impressed. And prior to moving over had shopped across all the supermarkets, including Ocado for home delivery!

They're definitely cheaper than a "normal" supermarket. They're set up basically like a normal supermarket - but much smaller.

They don't carry name brands, but have a lot of knockoffs that are just as good in most cases. On the inside aisles they'll have special buys - which can be anything from name brand sauces, etc to garden furniture, to baby stuff.

I tend to do my main shop there and then stop at Tesco to get anything Aldi doesn't carry

I find it ok as a top-up to buy a few bits but no good for a 'proper' weekly shop.
On par with Lidl.

I love our Aldi but do have to go to Sainsbury’s for a couple of things. We’re also not massive fans of the meat so buy that elsewhere but chicken tends to be fine. For basics you’re not fussed about, things like curry sauces, fajita mixes and veg it’s great.
We’re always shocked when we pay so little in comparison to a Sainsbury’s shop after buying a trolley full

So I used to be an Aldi snob who simply couldnt do a full weekly shop, I've done online shopping at Tesco for years. But our bills were spiralling, in January I decided to give it ago again with a bit more heart, I've been every week since. I do our whole weekly shop, now and then I do need to pop to a different shop to get a certain item like rolled oats or condensed chicken soup for example, but generally speaking it is fine I don't need to go to two supermarkets every week. It has much less choice which is why I think it's saved me so much money, but it has the essentials. I'm not sure how much we're saving as I didn't keep track well before. But for the first time we are actually keeping to a food budget.

Love our Aldi.

Has everything I need, really nice quality stuff and it only takes me 20 mins to do a weekly shop cos there's only 3 aisles and not 50 different types of broccoli etc to choose from.

Plus I find it much cheaper than other supermarkets for the same or better quality food. Just avoid the middle aisles of household stuff you never knew you needed!

Never been

DH went the other week to see what all the fuss was about.

He's not returning.

They are more 'budget' looking than larger supermarkets. There is a bit less choice. There is a load of tat in the middle aisle e.g. cheap shoes/toys/household stuff but occasional good finds. You have to try out a few products to see what you do and don't like. Some things are lower quality but many are fine and good value. E.g. I don't like the cheaper cakes and biscuits but they do really nice granola and peppermint tea bags. Things like almonds, Greek yog, proper butter are cheaper than other places

I was a grocery store snob...until an Aldi opened a mile away in the semi-rural village I lived in. I tried it and was converted. My weekly shop cost around £65 in comparison to the £150 I'd spend at Asda or Sainsbury's. The fruit, veg and meat is lovely quality and there is enough of a choice to mean a wide variety of weekly meals can be cooked. My husband likes their chocolate, and I now use their shampoo, conditioner, and cleaning products too. I do still pop to a major supermarket however as I couldn't live without Lurpack butter and hipp baby milk. We now live in a different city and I drive a few miles to get to our local Aldi now.

In my opinion it's ok, but I couldn't do a full shop in there. Veg seems to go off quicker than other supermarkets (anyone else think that?), and I'm shopping for various food allergies so they just don't have the selection I need. I would go for basket shops though, I do like their smoked salmon and refrigerated food selection like burgers, veggie burgers, pakora etc. Not great if your a baker and need certain ingredients.

No good.if you live off crap / cheap ready meals and.frozen tat........it does sell both but a very limited range and often a lot more expensive than the likes of Iceland.

But if you're into cooking with fresh ingredients it's fab. I wouldn't shop anywhere else.

And just to add the other reason I avoided it for years was because I couldn't see why anyone would shop in store when it was so much easier to do online. We have some massive supermarkets around us which are so stressful to shop in, but because the Aldi range is so much smaller it isn't too stressful to shop as there aren't a million aisles, not as many people either (but I tend to go mid week after work)

Paying and packing is bloody stressful though but I think I've finally mastered the best technique!

I can easily do a full shop there and don’t need to visit anywhere else. They do carry certain brands in some departments.

Their meat is superb in our local branch as is their fruit and veg.

I have to say as well during the Covid-19 crisis they’ve been brilliant both in terms of how they treat their staff and how they’ve handled customers and demand.

I love Aldi, it's my top choice and we've loads of choice in my town. The mac and cheese with pancetta is amazing, and their bread is really nice, cheap too, but its a new shop, the older one near us is a bit small and pokey. Obvs the food is the same though!

We have two aldis, the big superstore type has a much bigger range and both sell brown rice, lentils etc now which they never used to stock.

You can't be serious - Aldi like Costco?

Where are you that has a Costco but you've never seen an Aldi? If you search on here you will find. 865432156 threads about Aldi, they will tell you everything you could possibly want to know.

It's not like a jumble sale at all. All the Aldi's I've been to a well ordered.

The fruit and veg in my local one is better I quality than the local Sainsbury's. This gives me the rage every time I go to Sainsbury's and pay £££ for black avocados.

Aldi mostly only has one type of each thing, so only one type of baked beans, one size of ketchup, so it's so much quicker to shop because you don't have to figure out which one is the best value.

I do. Have to top up at Sainsbury's for some things, for example if they don't have risotto rice or tofu.

Over all I find it much cheaper and easier than shopping elsewhere.

We can’t go there at the moment and I miss it.

Our Aldi is larger and in normal times has good bread flour and yeast. DH normally does our Aldi shop as the checkout operator seems much faster than I can cope with. Our Aldi also doesn’t have customer toilets and you have to queue longer for the tills than say Waitrose..

@RishiSunakFanClub You snob!!!!

Aldi food is far superior in quality to any other supermarket.
They keep their stores simple in order to keep their prices low, that's how they work.

Look at any surveys on food & wine and ALDI & comes out top on the vast majority, of not all. Even ahead of Waitrose most of the time.

Much cheaper. You dont have to buy anything from the middle aisle its not compulsory but sometines its great for things you need like tools.
I just did a big shop there today. Got 5 large bags of food including lots of meat, chicken, veg etc etc and 2 bottles of wine for £80. Filled up fridge and feezer so won't need a big shop for a while.
The meat is good quality. I cant afford to do a big shop elsewhere.
I got 2 carrier bags of food in morrisons last week just top ups nothing much and it was £40+ 😲

It's like any supermarket, but range is smaller than the big stores. Mostly their own brand but they do stock some branded items. The middle aisles are a bit random as they launch special buys twice a week. Certainly a bit cheaper but not massively so on all things - I mix and match supermarkets