To think that Aldi/Lidl are just not that cheap?

[Pyjamaramadrama]

I'm always hearing people rave about how cheap these supermarkets are.

I've given them a try over the last couple of weeks, and yes some things are cheaper, and some things were just really nice but a bit more expensive.

I did an online shop and then when directly to Aldi/Lidl to price compare and there was nothing that was a lot cheaper, some of their stuff was a complete rip off. I only buy a lot of things such as cheese and beans when they're on offer anyway.

Are people just kidding themselves? I'd go again as I say some of their items were just really good quality but I wouldn't go out of my way as the few pence I save would be swallowed in petrol.

Most of my shopping is split between Lidl and AldI for top up shops, and Morrisons for brands and range. I started 4 years ago for the nappies, and tried a bit of this and that. I think for the level of quality, the prices are good.

I bought stuff for a picnic today which was £3 cheaper at the till than I spent on the same stuff at Co-op the previous time. That's including 3 items extra probably adding to another £4 off that in comparison.

Just on the Sainsburys meat is British issue, I had to search for ages in our local Sansburys to find bacon that wasnt Dutch or Danish (which I would never buy for animal welfare reasons).

All Aldi's fress meat is British.

Fresh not fress..

You're joking?

I swapped from Tesco/Morrisons to Lidls, and my bill has practically halved. The fruit and vegetables are much better quality too.

Apart from the horsemeat...

Sainsburys was the only one not affected by that.

On the note of pork, pigs in this country are still factory farmed and it is rare to find free range pigs.

If you're after animal welfare aldi/lidl would be the worst places to shop. Why do you think the prices are so cheap?

You are best to find a local supplier that raises and butchers their own pork so you can see for yourself how they are treated. Unfortunately that usually costs more :)

corgi on what do you base that statement about them being the worst places to shop?

I've just read Aldi's website info about animal welfare. It contradicts your assertion.

lidl sell outdoor reared (uk sourced i think) pork

We recently swapped from Ocado to Aldi. Aldi is awesome for some things - olive oil, meat (and I'm fussy about the origin), cat food, baking ingredients, cheese and wine. But the veg has been a complete false economy. It either moulds within 2 days or, in the case of their broccoli, the stems were so woody we chucked most of it away. I ended up plugging the Aldi receipt into Ocado, and Ocado was cheaper. But the cats are staying on Aldi ??

both aldi and lidl sell free range chicken

i think possibly lidl also sell outdoor reared sausages, but cant remember off hand

i know it is a nightmare in all supermarkets near me to find organic pork, so that is not unique to aldi/lidl

lidl fish is msc

www.lidl.co.uk/en/869.htm

lidls sustainable fishing policy

Welfare wise, I'd rather buy meat from Lidl than Tescos.

Well of course they are not going to say our animal welfare is not as good as others

makewealthhistory.org/2009/03/10/which-is-the-most-ethical-supermarket/

www.ciwf.org.uk/news/2010/07/farm-animals-are-winners-in-uk-supermarket-awards/

Never shopped in Aldi as we don't have any but 2 new stores are to open soon! Read the first few pages & lots of comments about sainsburys being expensive. Have you shopped there lately? It's a lot cheaper than it used to be & price compares to Asda with a money off voucher if comparable products are more expensive.
I like looking for offers, having a wide range of choice and like browsing the clothes/household/stationery isles too. I'll probably go to Aldi occasionally but doubt I'd do my main shop there.
I go to Waitrose every week or so & they are expensive but have some really nice products, would only buy wine in Waitrose, not all wine is the same & I am yet to find a really cheap mice wine that's not on offer. I'm prepared to be proved wrong tho so if anyone has any recommendations? Don't like Prosecco though.

Has that first article you linked to actually now been updated since 2009 corgi? It isn't clear. Plus I don't believe that cheapest = poorest standards.

I just wanted to point out that for me, the reliability of the pricing and simplicity of the range is very attractive. I appreciate that the major supermarkets have brought down their value prices to match Aldi/Lidl but I don't enjoy squinting at towers of shelving trying to spot the cheapest whatever it is I am trying to buy. They are always trying to trick you, what looks like an offer often proves not to be once you factor in weight say for example. I work ft with 2dc, for me the avoidance of all the squinting is heaven sent.

Fully appreciate some folk like bargain hunting and may do better that way.

Also am in Ireland so we don't have the range of supermarkets you guys have .

Also, to all those folk who say they avoid impulse buying what about all the mystery baskets????! I certainly get lured into checking them out... They had a dyson vacuum the other day ffs. Claimed to be about a third off. Not in the market for one myself so didn't google it but was surprised to see a dyson hoover in aldi.

Cheapest doesn't mean poorest standards or quality.

The Top 4 have had to use ethics/organic/fair trade to try and differentiate themselves in some product sectors. I think we'll see more of Aldi jumping on this band wagon if their share of trade continues to increase.

Aldi is all about price. They aim to be about 15% cheaper on a basket of KVIs (known value items).

They have a simple supply chain, 95% own brand and no in store frills so greater efficiency and reduced cost. Aldi used to only stock about 800 product lines but now stocks about 2500. Tesco stocks 40000 so much more complex supply chain as they have to deal with hundreds of branded suppliers and then own brand on top. Each picking point in the warehouse is a cost.

And all those offers you get in Tesco are not funded by Tesco. So the free item in the BOGOF is paid for by the manufacturer.

Tesco are struggling big time and there is likely to be further bad news befalling them. I won't be surprised if there will be a kind of grocery karma coming esp with the investigation into supplier dealings. The other supermarkets are probably sweating about it too as they're just as bad.

(I used to work in this industry).

Momagain I did as close to like for like as I could. Most of what I bought was fruit and veg. The feta I bought I just compared with sainsburys brand ignoring the fact that the one from lidl was 50% larger. We always have hovis best of both and that was cheaper in sainsburys. I compared the spaghetti to sainsburys value but lidl was still cheaper. Obviously I only did it quickly but that's how I do my shopping I find it such a chore!

I found some of their stuff significantly cheaper and just as nice (tuna)

But their vine tomatoes were mushy and tasteless for example.

That leaves me with two choices really. I either ho back to sainsburys or I fart around getting half here and half there....

There are plenty of other factors in Aldi and Lidls cheapness that are not related to animal welfare or food quality, like smaller more basic shops, smaller ranges, fewer staff, lack of home delivery.

The quality is streets ahead of tesco and asda and the animal welfare won't be any worse and will probably be better.

I like the small shops and smaller ranges. I don't want to have to choose between 50 types of tinned tomatoes for example.

24balloons Best typo of the day, mice wine.

I've really tried with Aldi, it's 5 minutes away, compared to 15/20 minutes to the next closest supermarket so it's so much quicker and easier to get to, but we just don't like it and never found it any cheaper.

It totally depends on what you're buying, I don't have babies in nappies anymore, our cats hated the cat food, DD2 has eczema and Aldi washing powder caused a huge flare up. My eldest DD is coeliac but our local Aldi doesn't do any gluten free stuff. I don't buy any GF processed stuff - we cook from scratch and all eat the same so I don't have to worry about contamination or getting dinners mixed up so I'm really just buying basic ingredients like tins of tomatoes, meat, veg, fruit, eggs, butter, etc, and use lots of things like GF flour and suet, etc, which my Aldi doesn't sell.

I can't get everything I need in Aldi so have to go to Sainsbury's anyway, and what I could get wasn't any cheaper and just not that nice.

I go in there sometimes during the week for top up stuff like milk, etc, and it's always rammed with boxes and huge metal cages blocking the aisles, empty boxes everywhere, only one till open and a huge queue

I don't find Sainsbury's that expensive anymore. They've come down hugely in price over the last few years, I can get everything I need in one go and we all prefer the food.

outdoor reared or bred is about as good as you are going to get at any supermarket near me for pork
sainsburys very occasionally have organic sausages or bacon, but usually dont
ideally pork is best bought locally from a farmer you know, but we are talking supermarkets here

Aldi has cut my weekly grocery bill considerably. And I never have a problem buying what I need (unless they've run out which happens probably once every couple of months). I buy all my herbs and spices from aldi.

On the 'lack of impulse buys', I wish someone would tell DP! Every time we get to the till i find he's sneaked loads of stuff in. And we're both buggers for the special buys - but we still spend consistently less than £40 a week for both of us (including chocolate, alcohol, washing powder - I have eczema but the aldi non bio is fine for me - and other toiletries).