To think that you do not adhere to the packing protocol in Aldi, you should be banned?

[BupcakesandHaunting]

It's not hard. It's load. Pack into trolley. Pay. Go and pack your shopping up like a snail at your own pace at the packing shelf.

I think that Aldi should employ someone with one of those big hoops on a long pole and when someone looks like they are going to start limp-wristedly packing their bags at the till/mouthbreathing over cashier going too fast, the hoop man gets the faffer around the neck with the hoop and drags them out. They are then banned from Aldi for ever.

Banhammered from Aldi, ha ha ha ha! The shame!

I hate aldi. But it's cheap. Conundrum.

TBH I don't find Aldi that much cheaper for the stuff that I use it for (bread, milk, eggs, flour) but if you're doing a weekly shop there I think it is a fair bit cheaper.

Most people shop there because it is cheaper for lots of stuff like washing powder, meats, cheeses etc. If you're shopping there to reap this benefit then you have to suck it up come checkout time, I'm afraid. It is part and parcel of shopping there. No point in opting to do it then whining about it. You wouldn't choose to shop in Waitrose then get all huffy because it's too naice and genteel.

Savings... Pfffft, it's only money.

I do freely acknowledge that I am very fortunate in that regard.

Is it really that cheap that it is worth putting up with having stuff thrown at you though? I have obviously led a very sheltered life!

Also, I always think of Aldi as a 'dry' supermarket. Is that not the case? I don't mean in the alcohol sense but in not selling fresh meat etc. I think Ive been in one once but I seem to rememebr it being like warehouse type shelves and stuff.

Guenuine question; Do they actually sell good quality meat and fish? Can I get lots of organic produce in there? If I can and it's so much cheaper then I might give it a go. Though I agree that scanning at Waitrose and popping stuff straight in my green hessian bags is so quick and civilised that it will take some beating.

like a supermarket sweep meets the Krypton Factor. - Yes There's always somebody at the packing shelf going "It's like a blummin' game show!"

I don't use a trolley as I'd buy more than I can carry home. Aldi doesn't have baskets, so I pick up a cardboard box from one of the thoughfully-provided dumpsters, use that ... and find there isn't room on the end of the cashier's desk to put the box for refilling. I now use a big shoulder bag, pile everything precariously into that and wobble over to the shelf with my toppling tower of groceries. Eggs last on the conveyor belt, or you'll be eating many omelettes!

Can't believe I used to think I was too posh for Aldi (was rich then.) It's brilliant. Same stuff, half the price :)

Loving that's what I do at Lidl, I pack into open bags in my trolley and no-one has challenged me yet. Nor are there any signs at Lidl. I actually shopped there lots of times before my husband told me about the packing protocol. I still ignore it, but I'm fast at packing so there's never a time I'm behind and if I am, I just chuck the stuff.

As for food- it can vary, but the fruit and veg is great, cheese (e.g. feta) is cheap, yoghurt great, lots of salamis and hams which are all pretty good. If they have their organic chicken when you go, it's a bargain, but there's not lots of organic meat (although they do sell line-caught fish and reindeer in some seasons, they are all organic :))

oopps. I've shopped at lidl for years and never realised that
Why did no-one ever say anything?! Not that I take a long time packing; usually just grab a big box and go....

Their wine is terrific value, as is their champagne, which is rebadged stock from seriously respected growers offloading their surplus but not wanting people to know about it.

Organic chickens are available, quality of pork and minced steak is good, excellent German cold meats and sausages, cold beef good, smoked salmon the same as everywhere else, in freezer section the three and four bird roasts are terrific value as are the lamb shanks and the Wild Alaskan Salmon.

Cereals very good value, almost identical to branded.

Jam and honey excellent.

All Italian food in Aldi is good - plain pasta, stuffed pasta, sauces, antipasti and so on.

I could go on

I take DH, he ducks any flying groceries while I plead SPD and stand over the side, before helping to pack my Waitrose bags with the Aldi groceries. I do have some pride left, donchaknow.

Not much organic stuff tbh Loving. There is fresh meat and fish, and they stock more British meat than most supermarkets (thats the fresh meat - not the dried meat, which is mostly continental.) Although it has widely expanded it's range of meat and fish, and it is well sourced, I doubt whether it can compete with Waitrose on that front.

Thanks, Hardgoing, that's interesting. When I go to Waitrose, I don't need to unpack at the till at all. Everything just gets scanned and packed away at my leisure whilst I'm walking along. I think they do spot checks but I've never been asked before so I just hand in scanner and pay-with Partnership card of course!

Ooh yes, the 3 bird roasts. Yum!

Lamb shanks are gorgeous too...

There's something to be said for getting basic chicken and mince at Aldi and then going to the butcher for other stuff actually.

Same with fruit and veg - basic shop and then gourmet bits at Waitrose/market.

You gotta think like a German in there. Germans love thrift, Italian food, wurst and efficiency. If you adopt that approach then Aldi will work for you.

Oh so they don't sell branded stuff, just their own brand? DH is a bit of a food snob so not sure he'd be up for that. I'm intrigued though...

It's not massively cheaper BUT I think that the quality you get is superior to what you'd get in other supermarkets for the same price.

For example, I bought 400g of steak mince last week to make MIL some shepherd's pie/chilli to keep in the freezer. It was £2.79. In Sainsbury's it would be nearer £4 and it would be labelled beef mince rather than steak mince so poorer quality. You can buy 500g of spaghetti for 35p from Aldi, it is 79p in Sainsbury's for the same thing but less of it. The fruit juices are all lovely (especially the white grape and peach) and it is 89p but it is a big carton and fresh. Similar stuff in Sainsbury's is £2.09. A ball of mozzarella is 45p. It is £1 in Sainsbury's.

I won't lie; I prefer to get my vegetables and fruit from Waitrose or Sainsbury's. Aldi's can be a bit stale and has not sell-by on so it can be on the shelf for ages before it's bought up and it can go off quickly once you've got it home. But for stuff like pasta, tinned tomatoes, milk, eggs (15 free range eggs for £1.99) I don't get why I would pay double for a lesser/same quality. It makes no sense. DH earns a good wage but i still won't chuck money down the bog for the hell of it.

A lot of it comes from the same factories or looks and tastes identical to branded products. They are very clever.

Secret to the fruit and veg issue is to get there early in the day, we find.

Boffinmum, chicken is the absolute last thing I could consider buying as 'basic'. I will compromise on other meats but never chicken.

I tend to chuck stuff in my trolley anyway-then arrange when I get to my bike.

But for the weekly shop, my husband does that.

Arranges produce in trolley as purchased so that at the checkout it goes on in the order he wants to pack it into the crate (which he has placed in trolley).

This is then just wheeled out to the car & placed in it.

Amazed that it hasn´t caught on in England.

We always have ours when we visit & people always give a look.

Until they see how easy it is to transfer & place shopping in the back of the car.

Well, they do free-range chicken too which is a better standard than the chickens from other supermarkets.

I sling a load of the canvas waitrose bags over my arms and pack them as they sling the stuff at me.

I do love the efficiency of these shops (and hate slooooow people taking all fucking day to pack at other shops when there is a monsterous queue - they seem to come out en masse at Christmas). I also love how a trolley full costs less than £30, when it would have been over £50 in Sainsbury's (who I am now boycotting for taking the piss with their prices).

"I take DH, he ducks any flying groceries while I plead SPD and stand over the side, before helping to pack my Waitrose bags with the Aldi groceries."

That is a well thought out plan!

You need to look for a 4 figure code on the fruit and veg. This shows the week and day it was processed into the store. So, for example, if produce arrived into the store on Tuesday in the first week of january, the code would say 0102 (1st week of the year, 2nd day of the week.) and so on. At the moment the produce will say something like 4202 if it arrived today...or 4205 if it arrived on Friday. You can then choose the day that is the freshest depending on when you come into the store.

And ALWAYS look at the bottom of the stock, because staff will always put freshest stuff at the botom as they want to sell the oldest first to reduce wastage - they are paid a bonus added to their wages and it is calculated on a number of factors inc store profitability....and this is driven by reducing wastage amongth other things.