To hate Aldi!

[user263781638]

I've tried to like it, I mean it's cheap as anything but, every single time I buy meat specifically chicken it smells vile! Like it's gone off and it's rubbery 😷
This isn't just the one Aldi I've been to lots around my area and out of it and it's all the fucking same! That's another load straight in the bin and I'm off to Sainsbury's tomorrow.

So AIBU and picky or has anybody else experienced this?

Don't get your chickens from Sainsburys.

M&S 10 x better!

Aldi. Haven't been there for a long time, its pants. Good for cheap(er) parmesan cheese. Apple strudel. Nowt else.

I'm much happier as a person now I don't have to go to that shop I find.

Why not buy meat from a good butcher? I have a really good one locally who prep the meat for me, it is good quality and they are lovely in there.

They also are priced very similar to Tesco.
So buy meat from butchers (and support local business) and then Aldi for the rest of the shop?

I've never been to an Aldi but did go with a friend to a Lidl. With all the boxes piled high and all the heaps of non-food crap piled up in the middle, it reminded me of a jumble sale. I only buy free range meat so wouldn't touch any in either supermarket.

I like Aldi they have some lovely tasting stuff there but you have to be selective.

Me too hiphopcat, I think Waitrose is a dud, a bit like the emperor's new clothes; the food's not better just simpler packaging and more expensive overall.

I don't like Asda or ALDI either. But essentially, who cares??

I love Aldi. I save 30% on my shopping there. I still do a regular supermarket for some brand products and things that I don't like from Aldi, but generally I find most things there ok. I've never had an issue with any of their meat, I think their cheeses and dairy products are superb and I like that their fruit is RIPE and ready to use compared to other supermarkrets where you have to wait four or five days because it's too hard/green to use. I used to hate the checkout, but am now a super fast organised packer and always beat the cashier, so never use the bagpack areas.

Each to their own though.

I went to Waitrose at the weekend. Rare event. Bought all the stuff for a cooked breakfast. I could taste the difference, it was bloody good .

Also the best pork joint I've ever tasted ever (Duchy, organic).

Other times Its been disappointing though for the price.

When the fruit and veg etc go off quickly, it’s because store mgmt are being stupid with their stock orders and order far more than they need. Drives my DH up the wall (in the industry).

I do nearly every weekly shop at Aldi and think it's brilliant (apart from the slow packers who don't understand the system ) I also use tesco from time to time when I get the points vouchers through and nearly always spend 20-30 pound more even with the vouchers, there are a few things I prefer from Tescos but in the whole Aldi are brilliant, and for the snobs that say m&s and Waitrose meat are better should try a decent butcher, then you'll know what good meat is and still for a fraction of the cost of those overpriced supermarkets

Really cheese me off how they make a big thing about the steaks and how fab they are and the price is great yet They don't even sell peppercorn sauce !!!!!!!!

Its not snobbery AreYouLocal. I shopped at Aldi for a couple of years mainly for the wine until I decided I couldn't stand the crap quality of the (mostly) crap food. Apart from puddings and parmesan cheese the rest was stodgy rubbish or horrible-tasting meat. I'm afraid, you get what you pay for. Mostly.

Schadenfreude I am happy to send you the cinnamon flavoured feet, regret that I bought a double layered box of them in an attempt to avoid Dairlylea/Mondelez as a matter pf principle.

I don’t really like Aldi or Lidl or Tesco and Asda come to that, I usually shop in Waitrose but have taken to getting quite a lot of stuff from M&S as I like their fruit and meat also their desserts are nice and the small bakery in there has nice bread and pastries.

I have no problem with the filleted chicken but I agree about the whole chicken.

Never had a problem with the meat. We love the gammon steaks and the small gammon joints. Chicken is always fine. Kids like the venison steaks. The quiches are lovely.
Fruit and veg can be hit & miss as to how long it lasts. Got peaches that stayed hard but went of within a day a couple of weeks ago but the cotton candy grapes are amazing! And the blueberries are far cheaper than elsewhere.

I get odds and ends in Morrison's and it costs a lot more in there for just a few things.

Saying that got a big shop in Aldi today and noticed a big price increase at till.

Its not snobbery to reject food you consider inferior quality. Maybe you are poor so you have to choose inferior foods sometimes (as many of us have) but we don't have to insist its the same as better food because of this.

Chip-on-their-shoulders posters seem to be confusing snobbery with having discrimination! Really weird outlook.

Aldi's fresh fruit and veg is fine! How long do you EXPECT fresh produce to last, anyway? I'd be spooked if a broccoli stem lasted over a week without going yellow.

Though TBH, I have noticed that sometimes meat from Aldi doesn't make it all the way to the Use By date. Which is fine - I have a good rummage around to make sure I've got the freshest (with the most days to go before UB) and then don't leave it in the fridge for a whole week. Hardly rocket science.

But to second or third pps I worked in a pastry factory in the run up to Xmas on year and the only difference in m&s and Sainsbury's the name branded pastry and the cheap stores pastry was the wrappers!

Oh and I bought the chicken 30 mins before I opened it. It never sat in my fridge for a week! Same with every other time like I said I'm sure it's the storage of it for example my local Sainsbury's went through a spell of having off cravendale milk even though it had ages left on the date, obviously to do with it being stored.

It's not actually cheaper. It is all own brand. If you bought all own brand in other supermarkets it would come out similar.

I once did a shop in Aldi and when I got home used my receipt to do a theoretical same shop in Asda, Tesco and Morrison’s online sticking to shops own brands. They ranged from £15 to £30 more expensive.

Hate it. I find it depressing, can't get certain stuff and the veg goes off in a day. I'd rather spend a bit more to avoid it and I don't mind if that makes me snobby. Asda is hardly Fortnum's but I find it more tolerable, I like the stuff and I can mooch around the clothes and household tat. My life is too short for Aldi.

I had this with Aldo's chicken. It was vile. Won't buy meat from them again.

Yes, sadly pastry is now made with palm oil unless you can find the all butter ones.I have looked at them in all the supermarkets when trying to find old style pastry.
I don't care when I shop if I can get what I want, but I absolutely loathe Lidl, ours is a dump. Our nearest Aldi isn't great either, a huge crush by the entrance where the fruit & veg section is which makes it impossible to get anything as you are shunted out of the aisle by trolleys. I shop in Sainsburys and Waitrose because I don't get shoved about, although some of the Waitrose branches are a terrible muddle and very cramped. I can't bear being hemmed in and find I have to look for somewhere to sit to get away from it.

I agree with the posters that say a local butcher has far better produce etc and I wish I could afford it.
I feed a family of five including nappies, wipes, cleaning products and toiletries on £70 a week because of aldi, Lidl and our local abattoir shop. We eat simple meals with our five a day every day.
It may not be for everyone but it definitely has a place