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.

I love the bakery at lidl. The breads and croissants are good and on parr. To what you can. Find in France.
Shame I can’t eat any :(

I sometime pop in to Aldi or Lidl and whilst something's are good, I bought some 5% fat minced beef and it tasted terrible.

But the puddings are lovely

I don't shop at Aldi much, the one closest to my house has a very small carpark which has long queues so I tend to drive further to Sainsburys. When I do shop in Aldi I go for the specially selective food. I bought a joint of beef and it was much nicer than any I have bought from any other supermarket for the price. I stay away from the veg after buying avocados that went black within a day.

It’s hideous food. Utterly garbage. The stench of an Aldi store makes me heave, if that’s what their bakery smells like then no thank you. The fruit always looks like it’s spent 6 months frozen being rowed across the Atlantic. I don’t like how it’s all faux brands too, supposed to trick you or make you believe it’s the same.

We shop at M&S and Waitrose so it’s a bit like comparing Fords and Ferrari’s. Aldi baby wipes are good though that’s the most I can stomach.

I cook from scratch and variety of things at Lidl is just perfect for me. Very cheap too. I appreciate that they don’t spray their fresh produce with horrendous stuff to keep it alive for unnaturally long lengths of time. I also like the middle isles 😅. And their bakery!
Sorry but I really like Lidl.

I have never had the filled pasta, but I LOVE the meat and veg selection. The crisps taste better than the cheap tescos own brand.
I also happen to know the strong cheese is made in the same factory, and in the same way as cathedral city (I’m a bit of a cheese nut)

We do our online shop at ocado because we’re too lazy to go into store. If we need to buy something in person its either aldi or waitrose as they’re convenient, today I wanted some nectarines, waitrose only had yellow sticker nectarines that were visibly moudly, aldi had lovely almost ripe ones that were cheaper than the mouldy offering in waitrose.

I have a Sainsbury's, Aldi, Lidl, near me. I buy stuff from Aldi, but I'm not totally convinced on the quality of some stuff.

@SimonJT

We do our online shop at ocado because we’re too lazy to go into store. If we need to buy something in person its either aldi or waitrose as they’re convenient, today I wanted some nectarines, waitrose only had yellow sticker nectarines that were visibly moudly, aldi had lovely almost ripe ones that were cheaper than the mouldy offering in waitrose.

Yes I looked at some yellow stickered stuff in Waitrose and it was still more expensive than the full priced Aldi/Lidl versions.

Maybe it depends on where the Aldi/Lidls are. Mine aren't that great really for food, maybe for just a few items, so if I'm doing a big shop I go elsewhere. However, from the 'middle aisles' I've got a few things.

The instore Bakeries (Lidl) are just boak material - but maybe that's just a local thing - I'm far West so I don't know if it's the same elsewhere.

Aldi Fillet steak is lovely, Cheese & Onion Quiche from Lidl is as good as M & S, and I have swopped my Tena pads for Aldi Sena at 69p per packet.

Only have the Fillet though, don't like their minced beef, it smelled off to me.

Just for anyone commenting on the quality of the veg, I work in supply chain for a couple of staple veg grown in the uk. On a busy day a single farm site might pack produce for Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Lidl, M&S, Sainsburys and Waitrose. All the exact same raw material, just different weights and labels! However what the retailer does with it once it gets to their distribution depots can vary as do store conditions - Sainsbury and Lidl don’t keep all perishable veg chilled once on display so it goes off much faster in the ambient temperature.

Interesting thread. I was very happy with Aldi/Lidl when they first came to UK - lots of known continental quality brands. The continental take on fresh foods is to buy the same day/next day use only, so there is not that tradition of very long lasting fresh fruit and veg that perhaps we expect in a norther, colder country. Other items like ham/charcuterie seem to have extraordinary long dates. Again that's fine if you know that.

I began to get slightly fed up when I realised that products were sometimes smaller so per 100g pricing, rather than actual price was the same as normal supermarkets. I am also vegetarian so ranges are (like everywhere) limited.

My teenager who actually has very good taste buds has expressed distaste a couple of times on things like fresh pasta salad. He eats products (meat, fish, all) from pretty much every supermarket and is a good eater, so if he feels something is "off" I trust that.

I still use Aldi/Lidl for fresh bakery, baking ingredients, pasta/stir fry sauces, oils, butter, cheese, juice, wine, washing detergent, batteries. So not really a main shop any more.

Perhaps my mum has it right - Waitrose for meat and veg, Lidl for everything else! (unluckily for her during lockdown I am doing her shopping!!)

I will be honest and say that I used to be a food snob, mainly because my mum is and that’s what I grew up like.

I’ve always loved food shopping, planning meals and cooking and get a lot of pleasure in making nice meals for my ( generally fussy ) family.
I always shopped at Tesco and Marks and Spencer and occasionally Asda because I like the upstairs in our one, the clothes and home stuff etc and spent around £150-£200 per week.

Last year we had a massive change of circumstances which left us skint for 3 months and I went to Lidl first and then Aldi. I was impressed with both shops for different reasons and certainly got a lot more food for my money than I ever would have at Tesco.
We are a family of 4, dp and ds are meat lovers, dd and I are pescatarians and also we have a few allergies and intolerances.
It was the hardest 3 months of my life trying to feed us all on a fraction of what we would normally spend.

Thankfully things have beyond improved and we are now quite well off and I shop on a retail park that has an Aldi and M and S next door to each other. I love Aldi so much, I’ve tried lots of new foods, we all have and I now shop there through choice then necessity.

I still prefer Heinz beans, Yorkshire Tea, Dairylea just as an example but have become much more open minded.

Granted it’s not for everyone but I think you should give it a proper chance and then decide. Sorry that was long!

The new Aldi in Chichester is fab. Their mature steak is excellent, pizzas great, I don't buy their cheap bacon as it is EU and the animal welfare is much lower and it has water added, but the British stuff is good. Salted Wiltshire butter, savoury biscuits for cheese are lovely and I bought 4 stemless wine glasses in the Aisle of Doom. Stemless champagne flutes in White Company cost 4 times the price.
I have only been to Waitrose once since the new Aldi opened, can't bear Sainsbury and Tesco is awful here. I use my local coop daily and now Aldi for the big shop as the quality is great.

@Zoflorabore

I will be honest and say that I used to be a food snob, mainly because my mum is and that’s what I grew up like.

I’ve always loved food shopping, planning meals and cooking and get a lot of pleasure in making nice meals for my ( generally fussy ) family.
I always shopped at Tesco and Marks and Spencer and occasionally Asda because I like the upstairs in our one, the clothes and home stuff etc and spent around £150-£200 per week.

Last year we had a massive change of circumstances which left us skint for 3 months and I went to Lidl first and then Aldi. I was impressed with both shops for different reasons and certainly got a lot more food for my money than I ever would have at Tesco.
We are a family of 4, dp and ds are meat lovers, dd and I are pescatarians and also we have a few allergies and intolerances.
It was the hardest 3 months of my life trying to feed us all on a fraction of what we would normally spend.

Thankfully things have beyond improved and we are now quite well off and I shop on a retail park that has an Aldi and M and S next door to each other. I love Aldi so much, I’ve tried lots of new foods, we all have and I now shop there through choice then necessity.

I still prefer Heinz beans, Yorkshire Tea, Dairylea just as an example but have become much more open minded.

Granted it’s not for everyone but I think you should give it a proper chance and then decide. Sorry that was long!

Could have written your post

I think the fruit and veg in some stores can be a bit hit and miss but the one I use has really nice stuff.
Nowhere else can you get tomatoes on the vine that actually smell of proper tomatoes from a greenhouse
I buy virtually everything from Lidl and some of the frozen stuff from Aldi
The local Aldi is ok but their fruit and veg aren’t a patch on the Local Lidl

Dp eats meat and the rest of us are vegan/vegetarian. He was a bit snobby at first when I started using them but now actually asks for certain things (Bring back the beef Wellington) he can’t tell the difference between some of the things he used to get from Tesco or M&S

I've always been led to believe that the big brands make the products for all the supermarkets.

Seems to make sense, after all no supermarkets have their own factories.

Currently working my way though a box of the Aldi seashell truffles...I can assure you they are good

We like Aldi because of the lack of choice. In Asda you have to look over a shelf full of different brands of say rice to find the best value wholemeal rice. Aldi, a choice of about 3 and the wholemeal is good. We nip into the nearby Booths or Tesco for the more unusual, and more expensive items. The cashiers are super quick, no buggering about with loyalty cards or vouchers, and the staff are usually efficient and friendly. I used to be a brand loyal shopper, but now. Aldi does fine for most things. I am shocked at the prices of some basic items in Tesco. Oh, and the wine and gin at Aldi is good and well priced.

AIBU to state people who say "Sainsbos" should be taken out and shot?

I bought some crisps from Aldi, pretend Walkers. They were so disgusting I couldn't eat them. I love crisps. I could eat crisps for England. But no no no.

The last time I went shopping there I put garlic bread in my basket. Got to the till and realised the green on it wasn't herbs, but mould.

And every time I've bought fresh fruit or veg there it's gone off in a day or two.

I'll stick to Tesco.

@RaspberryCoulis

AIBU to state people who say "Sainsbos" should be taken out and shot?

Yanbu. Also people who say pots not potatoes and chocs instead of chocolate and biccies instead of biscuits. It genuinely gives me the same physical feeling as nails down a chalkboard.

@Oliversmumsarmy

I think the fruit and veg in some stores can be a bit hit and miss but the one I use has really nice stuff. Nowhere else can you get tomatoes on the vine that actually smell of proper tomatoes from a greenhouse I buy virtually everything from Lidl and some of the frozen stuff from Aldi The local Aldi is ok but their fruit and veg aren’t a patch on the Local Lidl

Dp eats meat and the rest of us are vegan/vegetarian. He was a bit snobby at first when I started using them but now actually asks for certain things (Bring back the beef Wellington) he can’t tell the difference between some of the things he used to get from Tesco or M&S

I bought asda tomatoes on the vine (cherry and plum) that smell like that I love it, they smell like summer.