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.

The posh frozen stuff from Lidl is pretty awful, lots of filler and fake sauces. The peas are good!

I shop at either Tesco or Aldi depending if I can be arsed to drive to the latter which is further away, through heavy traffic.

I can honestly say, on the products personally buy there is no discernible difference in quality. In fact the only difference is that my Aldi shop is a great deal cheaper.

As regards the cheese - that is not my experience. I love strong cheese and the Aldi Mature Chedday (5) is excellent. Can't comment on the other two items you mention in the OP because I've never bought them.

I genuinely prefer aldi over Tesco/Asda/Morrison's. I like sainsburys produce but it's often double, if not triple the price. I don't like it 3x as much!

Very specific branded things (ketchup/tea bags/degradable poo bags) I buy elsewhere maybe once every couple of months

I love lidl, they do craft stuff regularly and it's fab.

I quite like their fresh fruit and veg. I think their beef and sausages are good too. I will buy their free range chicken, but not their regular (same applies to Waitrose for me though.) I think their cheese and dairy are also good. Their nuts, crisps, dried fruit and sliced bread are all also good. I like their chocolate and tinned tomatoes too.

I don’t buy their wine, cider or spirits. I don’t buy their ready meals, I don’t like their frozen stuff with the exception of hallumi fries, skin on fries, and frozen fruit for smoothies.

Their is a lot of tempting crap in the middle aisle. Avoid! Their plastic trash sacks are good, and so is their loo roll, but a lot of their cleaning supplies are so-so. I just nip to Home Bargains for branded cleaning soaps.

I buy my fresh fish / seafood, pasta (it has to be DeCecco) organic yogurt, unpasteurised butter and eggs at Waitrose. Along with any alcohol and KP nuts (husband claims to notice a difference.)

If they delivered I would be using them now. I use Waitrose at the moment.

Aldi's smoked salmon is fabulous. There is certainly less choice but the quality is good and so much cheaper.

I use a conglomeration of supermarkets for different things. I prefer the Torchion ham in Aldi and I do like their Caledonian cheddar cheese and their Salmon Wellington. I buy their peach-flavoured water and their 18 month matured Christmas pudding which does really well in tests. I also like occasionally buying their root vegetable crisps.

Invariably the bananas are rubbish and I couldn't get a whole week's shopping from there but I find it well worth going to.

@pastandpresent

I love lidl, they do craft stuff regularly and it's fab.

Aldi's craft stuff is amazing too. The ombre yarn has proper wool in it and isn't 100% acrylic, and the tie dye kits DD got got her birthday were brilliant.

I have been shopping at Aldi and Lidl for many years (pre scanning on the till!)

Howver, I stopped the start of this year. The quality of the fresh fruit and veg really really dropped in my local shops. So I switched across.

I am a shopping tart so will go wherever I can get the most for the least (currently shopping in Waitrose as I have vouchers) - fruit and veg is rubbish - ok if you eat right away but goes off really quickly, but my issue is their ginger biscuits. I love a ginger nut. Dunked in black coffee increases the flavour - if they are McVities, Lidl ones have zero flavour - even when dunked. Normally my DH complains when the rich tea share a biscuit tin with ginger nuts as the flavour leaches and he hates ginger, but he hasn't said a word...

Can’t stand either of them. Have tried to switch a few times as they’re so much cheaper but everything we’ve tried has been horrible. Veg and fruit isn’t as sweet or fresh and meat is full of fat / gristle. Every ready made type thing we’ve had is always full of weird bits of meat that you wouldn’t normally eat or just tastes awful. We always end up back at Tesco. I admit I’m a massive foodie, probably a food snob. I had an awful childhood and regularly went without food so I have a bit of an obsession with food and making sure we always have a lot of nice things in.

YANBU OP. I think I've only ever left Aldi or Lidl with 5 things or less! Much prefer Asda.

I've tried both of these places and I just don't think the food has the same taste eg meatballs or Bbq kebabs . They just are full of filler and are just yuk.

We switched to Aldi during the last lock down. We buy their crisps and enjoy them. We recently ended up with some Walkers crisps and all the family said the Aldi ones were nicer in our blind taste test.

@Burnthurst187

If something is cheap, it's for a reason

Saying that there are a few gems at Lidl. The freshly baked croissants are very nice and there's sausage rolls in a four pack (£1:89) which are just as good as Tesco's at a £1 more plus the coleslaw (89p) is the same as Tesco Finest

We also buy nappies and wipes from Lidl, can't fault them

Yes. Aldi and Lidl are able to be cheaper because of small stores, smaller range of items for sale and fewer staff. They don't have staff sitting at empty checkouts, those staff go and fill shelves and are carried back if needed. It's a much leaner way of working.

@VivaMiltonKeynes

I've tried both of these places and I just don't think the food has the same taste eg meatballs or Bbq kebabs . They just are full of filler and are just yuk.

Not picking on this poster but perhaps that's the problem if you're buying loads of ready meals? Most of what we are buying on a weekly shop is the basics - a whole chicken, bags of rice, bags of pasta, passata, vegetables, canned kidney beans, cheese.

I wouldn't ever buy meatballs, I'd make my own. Any supermarket meatballs, unless you get the super dooper expensive ones are going to be full of fillers. That's true whether you buy your cheap meatballs at Aldi, Lidl, Asda, Tesco, or wherever else.

And as other people have said why are people so sneery about how other people shop? How does it affect you in any way if people buy their cheese from Aldi, Waitrose or direct from an artisan producer?

I use Aldi for tinned stuff, rice pasta carbs. Meats/fish they're great value. Not keen on their yogurts. I find the fruit goes off very quickly so false economy.

Yeah I agree. Crisps are crap and bananas, what do they do with them? It’s like they’ve gone 40 rounds with mike Tyson

The fruit and veg always seems to go off quicker than other supermarkets.

Fruit and some veg - I agree. I think the Aldi we used to live close to was better for them than one we currently leave near. Not notice it with Lidi.

Lots of things I do like about Aldi - their chocolate is now some of the best out there. There cheese seems great to me.

I don't always liek everything in other supermarkets - I think pasta sauces in Asda ranges taste too artificially sweet for us. Since lockdown we occaionally used Morrisons and there been things there we haven't always though great other items we've prefered to our more usual Tesco and Sainsbury's.

@Marcelduchamp
I'm talking about overall quality which is objective. Something either tastes nice or it doesn't.

Quality isn't totally objective as different people will have different criteria but I agree there is an element of objectivity
But
Taste is extremely almost totally subjective - no 2 people will totally agree on what tastes good and what doesn't.

Hmm very damning for someone who doesn't even shop there.

I can't comment so much on Lidl, but Aldi is excellent.

I never buy steak anywhere else (the same goes for lots of things - but I haven't got time to list them on here).

Perhaps you should do your own research before commenting and not go by what your relatives feed you.

Compared to the average supermarket you'll save approximately 30% on costs - do that calculation over a year.

I think different stores have varying levels of quality. There are a few of each Lidl and Aldi within a short drive and the store cleanliness/stock availability varies. Maybe some managers are more on top of stock rotation and presentation etc.

I am a fussy bugger when it comes to food but find that I can get a great shop from (my favourite) Aldi and Lidl.

The greek style natural yogurt is delicious (and waaaay cheaper than Fage), meats have always been fine - as has the fresh fish. I buy frozen berries for our porridge - it's much cheaper than the main supermarkets and possibly better quality. The only thing I don't buy much of in there is booze as we only like certain beers and spirits. The wines are sometimes good though.

Despite prices rising over this past few months I still feel less unhappy with my shopping bill when I have been to Aldi .

I wouldn’t go near the Lidl bakery, in my local one I’ve seen flies on the doughnuts

It's their 'go to' supermarket, they never could get the hang of the Waitrose 'one in one out' procedure

I use lidl weekly. I think a lot of their stuff is great and prefer their fruit and veg to tescos stuff. I don't eat meat and they sometimes have a good meat free range although normally I don't eat fake meat either.
I agree their crisps arent that great but you can get main brands there quite cheaply.
I cook almost all our meals from scratch so think they are great. My nearest lidl is in a retail park with an Iceland and a home bargains so between the 3 I can get most things I want. I love their olives and their humus.

That being said I've noticed huge quality variations between different lidl stores and I always check the fruit and veg thoroughly before buying it.

but I really am completely baffled as to how people can claim its good quality

It Is good quality. They win endless awards in blind taste tests by experts, who certainly know more than you.

Clearly you're one of those people who is easily swayed by branding and thinks things taste better if they cost more. That's sad, but don't do all the faux confusion and putting down people who have more taste and are savvy shoppers.