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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not get why people like Aldi/Lidl so much?

365 replies

lucydogz · 07/12/2018 18:28

yes, I know it's really cheap, but, appart from some things, the food just is poor quality. When I last went there, my DH was enthused about how cheap it was, but the eggs, porridge oats, jam, mayonnaise, digestive biscuits, and plums I bought were not good at all. I see why people would shop there if they hadn't got any money, but, if you can afford to, why not go somewhere better?
If anybody can tell me about any things they do well I'm prepared to be convinced.

OP posts:
Pootle40 · 08/12/2018 08:40

I bought sausage rolls for kids snacks and there was literally no sausagemeat in them at all. They were awful.

Sakura7 · 08/12/2018 08:41

ledkr

I'd say that means you are definitely not shallow.

Notatallobvious · 08/12/2018 08:42

lucydogz eggs like that are just stale, it's nothing to do with the original quality. I've had flat eggs with a watery white from plenty of supermarkets.

Sexnotgender · 08/12/2018 08:44

I can't do a full shop in Aldi/Lidl (because I actually cook and need ingredients not just prepared foods)
How weird and sneers of you... I buy pretty much zero ‘prepared’ food and do virtually all my shopping at Lidl. Only thing I couldn’t find last time was dried porcini mushrooms and harissa paste so nipped to Morrison’s on the way home.

Gileswithachainsaw · 08/12/2018 08:45

Yanbu

I tried all the also and Lidl wine recommendations. All vile. I drink cheap rose I'm hardly fussy. But I couldn't drink them.

Fruit and veg goes off way to quickly. Meat tastes weird. Especially the chicken. Weird taste weird texture

The cheese tastes like feet.

I do not get the obsession with bratwurst.

Last thing I bought from lidl was butter and it was off. I refuse to step foot on either of them again.. piles of green meat in the aisles and veg rotting in the counters does not make you wanna do your shopping.

I tried. I just can't....

TwistedChristmas · 08/12/2018 08:46

I love a shopping experience when I go. I like to take my time and have a good look round sometimes. My local Tesco has an M&S, and Next next door so we have lunch at M&S, have a mooch at the foul coloured clothes and treat ourselves in the food hall. Yesterday we sampled port and shortbread. Other times I just need a shop and get it delivered from Waitrose or Tesco. I pop to the local Asda or Co-Op after the school run to get bread and milk. I shop with my mum and it's our weekly get together and we love it.

Sakura7 · 08/12/2018 08:55

Giles

There is no difference between Lidl/Aldi meat and other supermarket. A chicken is a chicken, a pork chop is a pork chop, etc. And the veg lasts as long as it does from any other supermarket. Bear in mind they're only supposed to last a few days. I've had worse problems with quality in Tesco.

It's always interesting when you see those blind tests done with people who love their brands, would never dream of getting a 'cheap' replacement, etc, and yet they normally can't tell the difference.

EffOrf · 08/12/2018 08:59

DH got some cycling and running stuff from Aldi once and it was rubbish.

UserMe18 · 08/12/2018 09:01

Sakura

Not true, cheap meat is very obvious, when chicken breast has been pumped with a lot of water and protein it's vile, I've never had a supermarket pre frozen chicken breast that hasn't had the texture of rubber. That said I have had fresh meat from Aldi and found it no different.

Nenic · 08/12/2018 09:02

If it’s the same stuff, different packaging, then why are the Aldi/Lidl shoppers insisting the food tastes better? Surely they’d taste exactly the same?
Many years ago, I worked in a factory producing meat for supermarkets. The basic ranges were mostly different labels only but the meat was always changed when it came to the higher priced stuff. Always. Same when I worked in a whisky/vodka factory. Please don’t keep saying that Aldi meat is the same as Waitrose. It definitely isn’t.

Yabbers · 08/12/2018 09:03

I don’t rate Lidl at all and never used to like Aldi, but we started trying Aldi when I wasn’t working and the saving on a shop was huge. I don’t really rate their fresh fruit and veg, but their meat is definitely better quality than other supermarkets. Most of their brand knock offs are as good as the branded stuff. Their household goods are great too. Their dishwasher tablets scored a Which Best Buy.

I couldn’t do a full shop as some things they don’t stock and some brands we prefer e.g we don’t like their beans or sauces, but we probably get about 2/3 of our shop there and household stuff in particular is a huge saving.

deptfordgirl · 08/12/2018 09:05

Maybe they vary? I have also tried to love them and do love their processed foods like chocolate, biscuits, pasta sauces etc but do find their fruit and vegetables and animal products quite poor quality.

Gileswithachainsaw · 08/12/2018 09:05

You would think a chicken is a chicken. But the ones on aldi and Lidl honestly just taste weird.

Especially thise roast in bag ones.

AliceLateAgain · 08/12/2018 09:06

Perhaps we need to post the items to avoid and why. Yes, there will always be someone who likes whatever product but if you read 10 posts that say the mince is brown sludge then at least you are making an informed decision if you choose to buy mince there. It looks like there may be regional differences so add in country in the comment.

This will be of benefit to us to make informed choices and to Aldi & Lidl whose social media departments (yes, all big companies search social media to see what people are saying about them) will pick up on the comments and may actually do something about it.

I'll start:

Aldi (England) fresh veg - unless you buy it to eat same day it goes off

SoupDragon · 08/12/2018 09:13

Aldi (England) fresh veg - unless you buy it to eat same day it goes off

In my experience, no it doesn't.

It all seems to depend on your particular store.

Schmoobarb · 08/12/2018 09:14

Their food is fine. Struggling to see how a porridge oat can be “poor quality”. All the things you’ve mentioned in your OP taste just the same in Aldi as similar stuff from any other supermarket. I would think it’s more likely you’re just a snob and decided you wouldn’t like it before you even tried it. Which is fine, but at least admit it before berating other people’s shopping habits.

And to the PP who questions why people queue to get to Lidl rather than Waitrose Jesus wept, not very bright are you?

I like plenty of stuff in Aldi but there’s stuff I don’t like too. Their mince is rank and the milk goes off while still in date.

My dad worked for Hovis delivering bread and they definitely made ALDI bread too, at least at that time a few years ago before he retired. It was just their normal bread put into Aldi wrappers.

SoupDragon · 08/12/2018 09:15

Tbh, all these threads prove is that stores and people vary considerably.

malificent7 · 08/12/2018 09:15

If the veg goes off quicker in Lidl and aldi it makes me wondrr what they are doing to veg in other supermarkets...i know most fresh fruit and veg is irradiated in big dupermarkets to extend shelf life.

malificent7 · 08/12/2018 09:20

I think threads like this really do demonstrate a rich/ poor divide in this country.
Poor people have enough on their plate and suffer poorer health as they cant afford fresh fruit and veg..the last thing they need is to be sneered at for shopping at budget supermarkets.

feelingverylazytoday · 08/12/2018 09:23

like wandering into a supermarket in 1980s Eastern Bloc country
Obviously you never visited an Eastern bloc country in the 80s then. I did, and this comnent is complete and utter rubbish. Even a badly stocked and run Aldis/Lidl would have been a thousands times better than one of those 'supermarkets' (and I use that word lightly, because they bore no resemblance to any supermarket I've ever been to in the UK.

Sakura7 · 08/12/2018 09:24

malificent are you saying that only the poor shop at Aldi, and they are in poor health because their food quality is so bad?

Alsoihow · 08/12/2018 09:28

I can't do a full shop in Aldi/Lidl (because I actually cook and need ingredients not just prepared foods
I cook every thing from scratch and shop at lidl, they have far more then just prepared food Confused

Fairylea · 08/12/2018 09:30

I don’t think it’s a rich / poor thing at all!

It’s perfectly possible to spend less at another supermarket if you budget carefully- we are a low income family on dla / tax credits and carers allowance and we shop at Tesco because we prefer it.

All the people I know that shop at Aldi are actually a lot better off than we are!

prettybird · 08/12/2018 09:30

sexnotgender - I bought some dried porcini mushrooms from Lidl a few weeks ago as part of their Christmas "extras". personally I hate mushrooms but dh likes them (Also had sun dried tomatoes and pre-peeled chestnuts Smile)

I too cook everything pretty much from scratch and rarely have to go to Tesco or Sainsbury's - or rather, can plan when I need to.

I do a chicken breasts stuffed with Boursin and wrapped in Parma Ham - - and I can't get Boursin at Lidl (they do do a cream cheese with garlic and herbs but it's not the same).

Some of the more esoteric herbs and spices I use I need to go elsewhere for - but mostly I go to my local shops which are Asian supermarkets for them.

A friend of my dad's ran a large butchers and frozen meats supply business. He says the codes that are used on their meat show that the meat is the same as the meat supplied to M&S.

I always check price per gramme/ml in order to do proper comparisons.

The Lidl de luxe range is lovely Smile

prettybird · 08/12/2018 09:32

....but please, those people who don't like Lidl, please continue to stay away. It leaves more for the rest of us and keeps the queues down Wink (Although they always open extra tills if the queues get a wee bit longer)