Quality at Aldi and Lidl

[Marcelduchamp]

I know Aldi and Lidl are really popular on mumsnet but I really am completely baffled as to how people can claim its good quality. I have relatives who shop there and I have eaten the food lots of times. Yes a few items are OK but on the whole its not good in my experience. I don't eat meat so can't comment on that. I do think veg is veg so is probably not vastly different. I also think the choice is poor with a very basic selection of stuff.

I know it's cheap and we all need that at times. I'm not knocking people who need to cut shopping costs. But are people really being honest when they say the can't tell the difference. What are you tasting? Examples are the strong cheddar cheese is just bland, the crisps don't have much flavour and the filled pasta is cloying inside.

I suppose my AIBU is AIBU to day these shops sell poor quality food.

OP I used to think the same as you.
I always shopped at Ocado or Tesco.
Former brand snob here.

During the last lockdown I was pregnant & working from home DH was furloughed so he popped to do the grocery shop & went to Aldi as couldn't get delivery slots.
Since then we're converted.
It is cheaper & good quality.

For some bits they may not have in stock I'll pop to home bargains but in general they're great.

Me too

Marks and Waitrose and Sainsbury’s all the way.

If you like superb quality fruit and veg, colds meats, cooked salmon, delicious side dishes etc... then aldi and Lidl are, irrelevant to you!

I like it but I mostly but meat and veg, I don't generally buy processed stuff.
I buy Lidl's extra strong cheddar and find it really nice 🤷‍♀️

I will agree that some of the other bakery products are a tad weird! But the sourdough loaf is nice!

I think, OP, your only option is to do as most people do. Try things out, see what sticks.

Things like glasses wipes, dishwasher tabs etc are good, W5 range especially!

Think of it as an adventure.On busy days that's the only thing to do

@Sexnotgender

Ah, so you’re just a dick then? Got it.

If coming back with a bit of snark to a snarky comment makes me a dick then yeah. You started being rude and judgemental about what I was eating. (actually at someone else's house). Yet I'm not here calling you a dick. I sometimes wonder why people comment online then can't take the same energy back.

We purposefully go to Aldi for their version of cupboard staples like baked beans, tomato sauce cereals etc. We'd honestly choose these everytime over the generally more popular brands.

I'm disappointed if they're out of stock, not just because it can cost 3x as much per item elsewhere but because nothing else is quite as nice.

My husband also massively rates their meat and sees it as a viable alternative to the local butcher we prefer to buy from them as it's a farm linked and local business but obviously more expensive

I'm delighted that Aldi are trialling click and collect. It'll make shopper with them much easier if they can get it right.

We have all of the options available locally too, but I'd choose Aldi over all of them (especially co-op...they're horrifically expensive!)

The fruit and veg are extremely hit and miss. I can’t argue with that. Have no issue with the rest of it.

I personally agree .

I'm.not fussy by a long shot, not loyal to many brands at all ,.just the standard Branston beans and heinz ketchup, other than that I'm not that fussed.

But I just don't get on with aldi or lidl. There r a few nice surprises yes and I certainly don't like everything all the time from the other supermarkets, but the fruit beg akd meat is the worst. Doesnt last at all. Tastes weird. Strange tatse/texture.

Their stock rotation in ours is awful its frequently mouldy on the shelf.

Do not get the hype. At all.

I don't recognize your descriptions of Aldi food at all. We've shopped there for over 10 years now as it's the closest supermarket to where we live and also we far prefer the food.

During lockdown we went to Tescos and also Lidl, neither of which we really use as a little out of the way but we went for a change of scene when there was literally nowhere else to go.

I found the quality was far poorer in both of those shops.

We buy everything we need for a weeks shopping in Aldi apart from cat food as she's old and fussy now.

We love food and love cooking and we eat really well. I used to always go to M&S and we gave up in the end as we prefer Aldi, especially for Christmas food. My Mother is a brand snob and knew that we always bought our Christmas food from M&S. The first year I bought it all from Aldi, I said nothing and served it up - canapes, Christmas dinner, desserts etc and she oohed and aahed over it all and literally could not believe it when I said where I'd bought it!

We do buy a lot of the specially select range and it's excellent. I'm not in the UK and I never recognise the descriptions of the Aldi stores there from threads like this.

Ours is bright, clean and recently refurbished. It stocks a LOT of local produce - fruit and veg in season, seafood and meat and dairy as well as bread & cakes and jams all made by smaller suppliers locally. I really like this and rarely see it in Tesco's here

Aldi lie in their tv adds. If you look they are comparing their own brand prices with Tescos other brands ie Aldi Wheat bisks with the price of Weetabix sold in Tescos
They got pulled up on it before and are still doing it

You started being rude and judgemental about what I was eating.

Sorry what now?

I said filled pasta wasn’t my thing, and that’s rude and judgemental? What a weird leap you made there. It’s not my personal taste, I don’t give a fuck if you eat it morning noon and night I was just saying that I couldn’t comment on the quality as it’s not something I eat.

Fucking hell love, I’m out. Enjoy your filled pasta

I love Lidl & Aldi, I regularly buy Olive oil, Greek yogurt, line caught tinned tuna, wine, sable grapes, flat mushrooms, chocolate, soya milk, olives, jarred peppers, garlic, mayo. Don’t eat meat so can’t comment on that. I love Italian week, Spanish week and the Christmas options are fab.

Any supermarket filled pasta is horrible, so YABU to use that an example.

I dont buy many premade or processed things, except yogurts, bread and occasionally biscuits. I haven't noticed aldi versions of those things being any different to other shops. Their meat, veg, tinned produce and dairy is as good as any other shop.

Any supermarket filled pasta is horrible, so YABU to use that an example.

Careful now, apparently it’s rude and judgmental not to like filled pasta😂

@nevermorelenore

I find the meat, cheese and ready meals are good. Stuff like dried foods are the same everywhere, and I quite like that there's a smaller selection as its easier to get round.

The fruit and veg always seems to go off quicker than other supermarkets. Perhaps as a European supermarket they have different standards. It's hard to shop for an entire week as your veg can go off before then.

What a daft thing to say! They trade in Britain, using British produce (very widely) - and up until fairly recently we were all in the EU so standards applied equally to European countries and Britain.

We have a small Aldi near us which has in my opinion the best meat, cheese and deli selection in the area (2x Tescos, Sainsburys, Asda and Waitrose). I get an Ocado shop for branded goods and then get most of my fresh stuff from Aldi, I rarely use processed items these days so can't comment on the quality of these but the fresh stuff is great!

I think the fruit and veg in both Lidl and aldi is quite grotty but I do like them both for stocking up on store cupboard type ingredients. I use them both alongside Sainsbury's/butchers/farm shop.

Depends - Aldi is great for some items such as free range chicken, cheeses, chocolate, tinned tomatoes, wines, but you can't do a complete shop there, so you have to pick and choose.

I am "completely baffled" as to how people can neatly put every single item sold by any particular supermarket into neat little categories. It's wrong to say every single product which Aldi sells is cheap crap. It's similarly wrong to say every single item in Sainsbury's s much better quality.

There's lots we like in Aldi. I love the oak smoked cheddar, the Moser Roth chocolate, pasta, noodles. DH likes their cooked meats like chorizo and parma ham. Kids like their crisps and "magnum" style chocolate ice creams. We weren't too keen on the yoghurts we tried, the tea bags, or the cereal.

Some people - as that Eat Well for Less programme shows - are very loyal to brands/shops and have such preconceptions about certain products that they convince themselves that they will absolutely be able to tell a cheaper substitute. It's only when they put stuff in plain packaging and the people are forced to judge each product on its merits without any pre-conceived notions about brands and shops that you see it's not so easy to tell.

Can you give any other examples of food you thought was bad quality, OP? So, you said not meat, not fruit and veg? Are you talking about mostly processed stuff then? Tbh I think all supermarket filled pasta is pretty meh. Aldi do a number of different Cheddars. There's a mature one in a black packet that is pretty strong and very good. You just have to find the things you like, as you would in any shop that's new to you.

My DM has the same opinion about Aldi as you do. But when she eats at our house, she will often say "Ooh that's nice, where's it from?!" and it's invariably Aldi. She says their coffee is ' so disgusting that I threw it away', but she only tried buying one of their types of coffee, and she likes the one we buy there.

Dh and I are very keen cooks and appreciate good food. There are a few things we can't or prefer not to get in Aldi, but luckily there's a Booths next door. Doing the vast majority of the shop in Aldi saves us a fortune!

I tried several cheeses from Lidl yesterday. They were from their Deluxe range and I was very impressed. Roquefort and Somerset cheddar were excellent. I only buy very specific things from Lidl and Aldi though and wouldn't bother with most meats or ready meal type things. They are great for olives, roasted peppers in jars, cornichons etc.

I would happily do all my shopping in Aldi if I could get everything I want there - so I do my big shop there, then go to Sainsbury's, which is just up the road, to pick up anything I can't find in Aldi. Sadly our cats won't eat Aldi's cat food so I have to go to Sainsbury's for that.

I haven't had a problem with anything I've bought from Aldi, and their Specially Selected range in particular is very good. They have fantastic cheeses as well as their wine and spirits range.

It is also freezing in Aldi. I like some of their Lacura skincare range though.

I've bought filled pasta from a number of places and always found it tasteless. I like Aldi for the fruit and veg and staples like oats, tinned tomatoes, tinned beans and pulses, rice, that type of thing. I don't buy a lot of ready made things so can't comment on how they compare but for fresh things and "store cupboard" essentials I think they match up to any of the big supermarkets. The only thing i refuse to buy from Aldi is bagels which are pretty terrible compared to the New York Bagel Co ones!

I agree... much prefer asda, sainsburys.. morrisons and tesco.. I'm not being a snob.. ive tried the stuff and its just not the same, fake versions of branded and they smell/taste chemically i think.. xx