Which supermarket/s do you shop in?

[pinkbonbons]

Thrilling thread, I know

We have a Lidl at the bottom of our road but we don’t like it, never enjoyed their own brand stuff and their fruit and veg goes off really fast (in our store). Instead, we drive to Aldi which we love in our town but not really walkable with shopping. If we need branded stuff then we pop to our local Tesco, again a drive but local. We also pick up snacks in Home Bargains. Where do you buy your shopping?

I go to Aldi first to buy as much as I can (<10 min cycle) and then get a few bits from a small international supermarket next to it (garlic, chillies, herbs are all better quality and without plastic) then pop to Waitrose which I pass on the way home to get anything I can’t find in Aldi or for certain things I prefer from there. Sounds like a lot going to 3 shops but takes me less than an hour to do it all as they’re close together.

I also sometimes go to Tesco (I pass on the way back from the tube so it’s convenient but I don’t like it that much), Indian, Japanese and Iranian supermarkets, Italian deli, an organic shop depending on what I need. All are nearby so I walk/cycle. I very rarely go in the car to go shopping only if I was buying lots of bulky/heavy stuff at once or just for convenience on my way home from somewhere in the car.

We get bread from the bakers and milk delivered from milk and more. I don’t like online food shopping and honestly find it less mental effort to go shopping than manage the online order.

If there as a Booths near me - I'd shop there ever day!

Different shops for different things indeed. There's only 2 of us at home now so rarely do a 'big' shop.

I walk home from work past a good Coop (I like their meat welfare standards), and deli that sells decent range of veg and good local eggs etc and locally made bread.

We are basically limited to Coop, Tesco and M&S. I hate the Tesco car park...so to be honest will often shop in M&S.

We briefly had a waitrose which was ace.

No lidl or Aldi.

Tesco mainly (it used to be Sainsburys but their aggressive stance - in my local store - about checking bags if you used the zapper gun, was inappropriate and off-putting).

The Sainsburys local, Waitrose, M&S for special stuff/top ups.

I'd use Lidle and Aldi a bit of they were closer to my beaten track, had better parking and if I had time to split the big shop between supermarkets.

Those price match ‘deals’ are on a very limited range, so they’re a bit of a misnomer.

We have three fairly large Aldi stores within a short drive, so usually go to one of those. Sainsbury's for the stuff we can’t get in Aldi, Waitrose very occasionally for fresh fish. The nearest Morrisons is horrid, so is Asda and I’ve never been a fan of Tesco. There’s a good local butcher, so we usually get mince and stuff from him.

Waitrose.
If I shop smartly, eg not lots of prepared foods I don’t find it more expensive than an Aldi shop in many ways.
Costco for bulk purchases of cleaning products, and some other bits.

Aldi with the occasional Tesco or Morrisons top up.

That's interesting : I'd no idea that you could see what the best by dates were likely to be when you ordered.
I buy a lot of fruit and salad stuff so that's a main reason for wanting to chose stuff in store for myself.

Woolworths in Australia 😊

I live very rurally.
I can get to an out of town Tesco, it's on the edge of our nearest market town so I don't have to go into the town at all. That's enough to clinch it for me. And I find them fine for price and quality.

I've tried Aldi and Lidl in the past, I can't get excited about them - they both have a horrible shopping 'atmosphere' and I don't find the prices that good either. They sell a lot of crap I don't buy anyway.

If I pass a Sainsbury's on my travels I'll pop in but I find them more expensive than Tesco, although there are a couple of things Sainsbury's sell that Tesco doesn't so I'll buy myself a 'treat'. But that's all.....I have to travel a long way away to find a Waitrose or an M&S, although I do like M&S food when I have it (mostly at my sister's as she's in another county and a devoted M&S foodie!)

I have Tesco deliveries, when I need a load of household and store cupboard stuff. (I do a fair amount of Chinese cooking and need the world foods section). DH likes to go to Lidl for the basics, but then we have to go to Sainsburys for anything else, Lidl doesn’t do. Occasionally, if we need an esoteric ingredient like preserved lemons, we go to Waitrose. I like Waitrose best for quality and range of products, but DH complains it £70 for about 5 items!

Sometimes, I go to a Chinese supermarket for my favourite dumplings frozen, or DH wants to cook fish.

Mostly Asda (closest) but also Sainsbury’s if I’m in town, and M&S and Waitrose for certain things I can’t get in Asda - UK reared pork and gammon, FR chicken portions, certain UK grown fruit and veg.
I’ve only been in an Aldi/Lidl once (can’t remember which) - horrible scruffy shop, I’ve avoided them ever since.

I prefer Aldi but I do find their ranges a bit limited. I top up in other supermarkets, depending on what specifically I need. Asda/Tesco for vegetarian products/loose leaf tea. Waitrose for tins of mixed beans or tex mex components. Really not a fan of M&S for food. Massively over priced without a comparable hike in quality, plus I find it a bit disorganised.

I've tried Aldi and Lidl in the past, I can't get excited about them - they both have a horrible shopping 'atmosphere' and I don't find the prices that good either. They sell a lot of crap I don't buy anyway.

@OlderYearsIsBest I know what you mean. The Aldi by me feels like the dementors are circling round it. There’s usually always a fight breaking out, inside or in the car park too (yes, I live in a shithole).

Morrisons as it's walking distance - we do most of our grocery shopping there and I really like it.

Sainsbury's for a big shop if we've run out of everything, as there's a huge one 10 minutes drive away. We tend to use Sainsbury's for online 're-stock store cupboard' orders too, but I usually shop in person as I prefer picking my own fruit and veg.

Fresh fruit from M&S when I pass a food hall because it's such better quality and lasts much longer than anywhere else.

I don't find Aldi/Lidl that much cheaper than Morrisons for the food we tend to buy, and there's much less choice. Hate the lighting in Tesco and the chaos of Asda.

Waitrose - I get a discount. But why have they stopped selling Florette salad? I need to go to Tesco’s for that.

Tescos. Lidl. Co op. Depends where I am.

I have heard this about Morrison's. Unfortunately I am nowhere near a branch.

Ive used Ocado since they started. I do also love a lidl haul. I went in Sainsbury's the other day and my god it was freezing!!! Gave me the right hump 🤣

We also have Woolworths in South Africa! I wonder if it's similar. It's the best for fresh fruit and veg, I love it.

I try and do the “big shop” in Aldi but it’s a 40 min round trip so this only happens a couple of times a month. All other shopping is Sainsbury’s delivery which is generally pretty efficient or otherwise my local Sainsbury’s superstore which is only 5 mins walk away but I hate it. Dirty, chaotic, understaffed with understandably disillusioned staff and under stocked. I love M and S too but my bank balance doesn’t…

Mostly Aldi, Lidl when it has its German and Italian weeks and Booths when we need anything out of the ordinary.

I used to order from Asda but switched to Morrisons as Asda never seemed to have fresh fish in.

I'm really surprised at this.
I don't go in our town Morrisons very often but I find their prices quite expensive.

And when I look at the reduced section the reductions arent very good and the goods still seem expensive.

Admittedly I don't go in there late in the day or near closing time when I expect they will be reduced much further.

Many years ago I worked in a Sainsbury's petrol station shop - a reasonably sized and extremely busy one - and before closing time they reduced the yellow sticker goods so low they were practically giving them away. I don't know if that happens now though. Probably not.

Strange. I find it cheap and still good quality. Like the meat is always nice and fresh. 6pm is the time to go for reductions it's brilliant. Very cheap.

What i find weird is when you Google cheapest supermarkets and they try and say Morrisons is up there with Waitrose and that Asda is cheap. How do they calculate that? Not been my experience at all Asda I especially hate overpriced (but tries to claim its not) and the food is shit. The handful of times ive been in there it's all unripe fruit and rotten fish. Or carrots with black mould going through the middle of them

@Samslaundry

Totally agree with you about Asda.

And I've always thought Waitrose was very expensive. Although tbh they have very few shops in Scotland - 6 I think. So I've only been in them for a " look see" on a few occasions when I've been in Edinburgh or Glasgow.