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?

I think it's about how busy it is. Busier Aldi's and Lidl have a faster turnover of stock and so they last longer. Less well used stores have less stock, replenish less often so it goes off.

Middle Aisle only good in toys week. Like Dyson for £167 when model online is £169. Hardly a bargain.

We love aldi been doing our shops here for 3 years now and consistently save money. Used to shop at Asda (fortnightly shop here) and would be £130-140. Now depending on what I actually need it's hardly ever over £110, their frozen stuff is great, fresh meats lovely and fruit and veg last well to me.

Also get their nappies and wipes and their school uniforms have been fab! The Christmas selections are lovely too (choc orange mince pies mm) and own Asti!

ALdi is good for some things but i would never dream of buying meat in there.

I only go for the nappies and frozen uncooked prawns but couldn’t even find the latter last time

Yabu - it's not as cheap as it was but prices have gone up everywhere. It needs a fast turnover so they don't stock random pickled lemons on the off-chance you might go a bit Jamie with the cous cous!

The fruit and veg does have a short shelf life which is why it's cheap. I keep frozen veg in to supplement fresh. Meat, chicken etc - cook or freeze asap. Again, you're paying less. If your finances and time and time are limited, you plan your shop and cook the week's meals as
best you can with what's available.

Personally, I would love to swan into a deli à la Nigella to pick up some charcuterie and interesting cheese for a recipe that I fancied that day .....

Since I am a billion light years from having that lifestyle, Aldi and Lidl will do just fine (and Lidl bakery stuff is fab)

Aldi wines are great and the Pumpkin Spice Baileys is yum.

Snobs! Aldi and Lidl are brilliant and you're brainwashed by Sainsbury's, Tescos and worst still Waitrose.

Having to put £1 coin in the trolley, never ever have one handy 🙄 real life struggles.

I keep a £1 coin in the car just for that

My daughter ALWAYS picks it up for tuck money 🙄

Yanbu..

I hate it too. Fruit barely lasts the journey home, the meat tastes funny that's if you even feel like buying any amongst the ckearky off meat thats been pulled off the shelf and dumped in the aisle at nest or left on the shelf at worst.

The veg is all just tasteless too.

The crisps taste funny, the sausages are gross, cheese tastes like plastic, the ham etc is just odd , the beans are terrible. As is the sweetcorn and frozen meat and frozen fish.

Don't get me started in the ketchup and salad cream. Strange taste strange texture and strange appearance.

Lidl is shit too. Meat beg fruit is all just left rotting on the shelf. Even the butter was off last time I shopped there
Waste of time and money

The fake Jo candles are grim. They smell horrible, I've gone back to sparingly lighting my real one.

I couldn't do a full shop in Aldi but I like their bakery, cereals, yoghurts, snacky bits (they do a maple bacon quiche that is v good) and the middle aisle of stuff but agree that the meat and veg are crap.

Oh flowers are good there though, they last pretty well.

Having to put £1 coin in the trolley, never ever have one handy

I have a trolley token on my keyrkng. It was a fre gift from somewhere or other, I'm not sure where. I keep it there since discovering that you needed them for the trolleys at Gatwick one year.

I do find it interesting how the stores seem to differ so vastly. My local one is a fairly old fashioned looking store but the quality and longevity of the food is absolutely fine.

Their frozen mixed peppers are great - a good, even, mix of colours.
Their vintage cheddar is really good and the truckles they have at Christmas are very good.

I did put their fish back on the shelf because the packaging smelt fishy and there are things where we prefer another store's version but there are things that I prefer from Aldi (crisps are one, although their fake Frazzles were weird)

It's all just down to personal taste.

I’m shocked, SHOCKED that discount supermarket produce is sometimes not as good as in more expensive supermarkets

Yeah I can’t stand Aldi either. Couldn’t get half the stuff I needed and yet I had spent the same as if I had shopped at Tesco and when it came to the crazy checkout system we ditched the trolley and went to our regular supermarket.
Will never bother going there again.

My local Aldi is the supermarket from hell but there is one half an hours drive away that is my fave supermarket ever, definitely prefer to Waitrose!
I love how quick and easy it is to shop at the one further away, it’s never busy and there’s no pressure at the tills.

I find Aldi 30% cheaper than other supermarkets so it’s great to shop at when I’m in that area. It’s good to be a supermarket whore though.

I like Aldi in general but some of their things are crap. Their mince has always been slimey and horrible I keep forgetting this and end up throwing it out. I also find their milk really bad for going off whilst still in date. My husband bought milk there recently (I buy it in Morrisons now) and there was a thick layer of yoghurty stuff at the bottom of it, maybe not harmful but still a bit gross and not what I expect.

Re it being the same stuff as elsewhere - he’s been retired a few years but my dad delivered bread for hovis and he delivered to Aldi it was just rebranded

We have 3 Aldo's in our town including a brand new one with a layout that is completely different to the others and we also have a couple of Lidl's.
I don't love them or hate them, but find them ok.
We don't have a problem with the veg and generally get everything that we need such as aubergines, squash, sweet pototoes etcWe use loads of pomegranate seeds and they are quite a bit cheaper than the other supermarkets. DS particularly likes the stone baked pizzas and I love their full fat Greek Yogurt. DP likes the laundry washing gels. The bunches of flowers last well. The beers from both Lidl and Aldi are good and very reasonably priced. My friend is raving about toffee cider from Aldi at the moment although I haven't tried that yet.

I don't buy meat from anywhere so I can't comment on that.
Sometimes you can get niche products but if I need to stock up on my spices I have to go to the Asian shop and I struggle to get things like pomegranate molasses, seitan etc from all the supermarkets near me anyway!

I actually love ALDI meat.
But I think people love the whole supermarket experience. Taking their time to look around for long periods of time and not being rushed. Aldi/Lidl are more like a supermarket sweep. It’s a get in and get out kind of experience.

I went to aldi once come home with all the shopping and some of it had been opened but it didn't look like that when picked up and put mince in fridge to cook for dinner later that day and it was brown when we took it out to cook it. Never again also had problem with chicken

I think, like all places, you have to be selective. I've had chicken from Asda that started to smell rank between the supermarket fridge and the car park! So now I don't buy meat from Asda. Aldi otoh has been fine. But then, I think my locao store is a good one.
I love the brioche rolls, 'coco pops' decaff filter coffee, salami, sliced meat, coconut rum, rheinbacker (sp?) beer, tinned tomatoes, piccoli tomatoes (they actually have a taste, which is rare these days), olive oil for £2.99 (about £6 in waitrose). Have had British strawberries which were delicious and much cheaper than waitrose (who also have rotten fruit and veg sometimes).
I think it is just the case that you have to check what you buy instead of trusting the supermarket.
I bought some £3.99 face serum recently - my skin is looking fab, so definitely recommend that.

I like Aldi’s but we never buy meat from them except for beef slices. It’s a bit rubbish for consistency but definitely cheaper than Tesco / Sainsbury’s for us

Our aldi had a makeover the other week. It's fantastic and if you didnt look at the packaging you could be in M & S.

Reading these threads I think that it depends on your local store as to how good you find it. I tried years ago to do my main shop in aldi but either couldn't get what I needed, or the fruit and veg was shite, the bread was crap or we just didn't like what we bought.

And we were skint at the time and I really wanted to like it.

We moved a couple of years ago. I got pissed off with tesco prices and swapped to ocado which wasn't any more expensive. Last Christmas I topped up at aldi as I couldn't face tescos and was pretty impressed. We had a mix of ocado, waitrose and aldi as well as brands in the house and everyone including guests preferred the aldi stuff. Veg was fine and cheap as chips. Christmas goodies lovely.

I swapped in the new year and swear by it now and I am a bit funny about food. Dp even more so and I don't think we have had anything we don't like. Apart fron some sw approved museli that was like dust. And instant coffee.

But when I take my mum shopping to her local aldi it's not for me. Fruit and veg looks dodgy, meat not brilliant, doesn't have half the stuff I usually buy. But my store is in a new build naice housing estate and my mums in a pretty rough area. So it depends on where the store is I think.

Their mince has always been slimey and horrible I keep forgetting this and end up throwing it out. I also find their milk really bad for going off whilst still in date.

This is what I don't understand. I've found the mince (the 5% fat version) just the same as Waitrose and their milk (skimmed) lasts beyond the date. Unless you leave a pint in your warm bedroom for a few days in which case you have cottage cheese (DS2 I'm looking at you!!)

How can it be so different?