to not understand why people go to Aldi & Lidl...

[TheBeautifulVisit]

… it's such a horrible shopping experience.

It reminded me of being in a co-op in my very small hometown circa 1977. And then when you've got a trolley full of their stuff and queue up to pay there's that humiliating bit at the end where they don't give you sufficient time to pack your groceries. They just expect you to very quickly remove your groceries and go and pack them elsewhere, with no bags.

I feel assaulted.

Can you please tell me

1. how far away is your Aldi or Lidl & why do you go?

2. what do you miss about your old supermarket? (which one was it)

3. how much do you spend there each time you go

It was cheaper than my normal shopping but actually I didn't buy my normal shopping: no fresh chives, no fresh ginger, no butternut squash, no purple sprouting broccoli, no green peppercorns, no little tubs of anchovies & olives from the Waitrose deli. I travelled much further to get there.

And there's no delivery.

Why why why?

Ffs. Why do you think people shop there?

I would love to shop at waitrose but at the moment my shopping budget for 5 of us is 50-60 per week.
Shopping at aldi means my dc get plenty of fresh fruit and veg, decent meals, are clean, clothes are washed etc.
How far would my budget go at waitrose, op? Which of the things on my list would have to go so I could shop in a 'decent' supermarket?

You have been fortunate to be able to shop where you like, but surely its fairly obvious why people shop there.

hazel. I'm in Aldi, don't have a Lidl which I'm prepared to drive to though the times I have been in one their bakery is amazing.

I'm loving all the reverse snobbery! Waitrose is great, they do good food and if you buy their essential range then it is no more expensive than the main supermarkets. I know, I have obsessively compared trolleys.

Aldi/Lidl is great because done things are great value and good quality (not all though). There are also some really unusual and yummy things there.

I don't do all my shopping at one place. I do the bulk online at Waitrose. Then I supplement from sainsburys/Lidl/willows depending on offers and certain places do specific things.

I can afford to spend more on food because I don't buy any new clothes for me at all, everything comes from a charity shop as do the bulk of the kids toys.

We don't have any TV packages, just Freeview. No holidays that don't involve staying at family. I don't smoke or drink. I have made sacrifices in other areas so I can spend marginally more on food. I choose to do this because I like food and we have to eat it everyday.

Basically a big long rant to say, stop Waitrose bashing!!!

They do have fresh ginger, chives and butternut squash.

Haven't seen purple sprouting broccoli or anchovies.

Because it's cheap. Because I don't want to feed my children processed stuff and this means I can buy fruit and veg and ingredients to make healthy meals cheaply,

Because it is way way cheaper. I have AlDi and Morrisons within a few minutes drive, why would I drive to Morrisons and spend an extra 30 quid on a weeks shop (on average) just for the sake of a cashier that scans my items slightly slower and makes pointless small talk. I like the AlDi cashiers, good morning/afternoon, beep beep beep, job done, thanks bye.

You obviously like prancing around an expensive supermarket with their over-inflated prices giving you a sens of hierarchy over the frugal and quite honestly more savvy and sensible budget supermarket shopper. if you can afford it great, but I don't understand why people pay 1.45 for a loaf of bread when the exact same loaf is 1.00 in AlDi, it just seems rather stupid tbvh!

I go to watch Waitrose shoppers pearl clutching.

I don't understand why people go to wait rose when they can go to lidl or aldi
I luvs lidl, me
saves so much time and money

The things you describe as "assault" are the reasons I prefer it.
I dont want to be walking miles round a big supermarket looking for a cabbage that has been moved every time I go in, or have music blaring at me, or wait twice as long in the queue, or have the assistant hold up the queue while they pack my potatoes on top of my crisps.
Different things suit different people so if you dont like it go somewhere else.

Stealth boast about being ever so middle class and shopping in Waitrose.

You are being bloody unreasonable and you know it.

Willows btw is Wilkos.

admittedly, we have no waitrose here in t'north, but a lot of the stuff we buy in Aldi is better than we can get in Tesco, including - chorizo, salami, emmenthal, parmesan, seeded loaves, lamb chops, crème fraîche, the Moser Roth chocolate, crisps, muesli and granola

and the wine is great - the cremant de jura sparkling chardonnay is considerably better than most of the cheaper champagnes IMO. We also like the Malbec and the Limoux

our aldi is fractionally nearer than tesco, so it's not exactly an expedition to go there. I'd go to waitrose if we had one, but there are some things I won't buy there either - their bakery bread in particular is rubbish

But if you started doing your bulk shop in aldi or lidl you could afford some luxuries, fur coat no knickers springs to mind!

I love lidl. We used to do all our shopping in sainsburys because it was closest but then we moved to a village and so have a choice as everywhere is as close as each other.

We manage to get everything we need in lidl, including several items that were on your list.

Without fail we always manage to buy some household gadget that we didn't think we needed, but saw it in lidl at a bargain price!

Saying that, waitrose opened in my local town last week and I'm going to go there today for a change, and a nose!

Sounds like research to me, badly disguised!

Waitrose is just round the corner but I try to do most of my shopping at Aldi which is across town. Most things are just as good as other supermarkets but much cheaper. It's quicker as less choice and I just use two or three of their huge bags. Put the shopping straight in them then I can go straight out after paying.

You feel assaulted when you voluntarily visit a supermarket & find you don't like it much? Er - okay.

I can't answer your questions as I don't do my main shopping in Lidl / Aldi, but stock up on particular things they do that we really like & that are a lot cheaper than elsewhere - basically like Viva said upthread.

There are lovely food items in both Lidl & Aldi. I don't think your memory of local supermarkets circa 1977 can be as clear as mine, TBH, because you couldn't buy interesting cheese, quality chocolate, good ground coffee, frozen game etc. in our local supermarket even in 1987, let alone in the '70s.

I shop at Waitrose then make a special trip to Aldi for their chocolate. Because it is awesome. I also live in the north.

Anything else I can help you with?

I buy food in the pound shop, Wilkos, Iceland...I have no shame.

Our Lidl is a pain though as it's about a half hour walk compared to 10 mins to Tesco...(I don't drive).

I long for Aldi...!

What are Lidls and Aldis? They sound terrifying.

Oh and one of our independent local grocers always stock vegetable such as purple sprouting broccoli and purple and white carrots, so OP maybe have a scout about for the next greens emergency!

I was devastated yesterday as they had no cavolo Nero to go with our roasted partridge. Traumatised.

Nice wind-up, OP.
I've recently discovered Lidl, and it's great! They have loads of nice food from other countries that you don't tend to see elsewhere. I've started taking exotic food to work for lunch, eg squid tentacles and smoked tuna, with alcohol filled dark chocolate eggs for desert (yum!). And their fresh baked croissants and so on are both delicious and cheap.
If you're working for one of their competitors, then try introducing different food, that is both high quality and cheap. And they do have bags, you just have to pay a few pence for them. Or you could bring your own, rather than using new plastic bags every time you shop?