To say you're all wrong about Aldi?

[Rabbitheadlights]

Just that really, I've nipped into Aldi in the past for the odd loaf and picked up a few bits. DP and I discussed and decided to do the 'big' shop there last week.

It's been a disaster, to start with I couldn't find fruit or veg with more than a couple of days shelf life on them and everything I've substituted so far has been either underwhelming or disgusting (1/4 pounders filled with gristle) 🤮 with a couple of exceptions (salmon Wellington, sliced ham) the bread was mouldy the next day and still had 2 days on the use by. The nappies are just awful.

I spent £219 on Friday last week and I've since been out and spent another 150 and will likely need more before the next "big shop" on Friday.

I used to love Aldi. Then a couple of months ago I realised our shopping bill was going up, tried Tesco again, and realised I wasn't actually saving anything by shopping at Aldi, plus we were going without stuff they didn't have. I wonder if, now they have a good customer base, they're upping prices?

@ZenNudist

I can only assume you needed two trolleys to get to £219. I did a big shop there on Saturday and got to £140 with alcohol.

I think you have to know what to buy. I am quite picky so never did a full shop there, supplemented from sainsburys.

I online shop at waitrose but still like an aldi shop for all those things in life that are just massively overpriced with no superior flavour/ benefit in waitrose. Household stuff and snacks as well as fruit veg and meat that I know to be as good as waitrose.

This. You need to know what to buy.

It’s very dependant on the individual store. I bung lots of stuff in the freezer so beat before dates don’t bother me. Fruit is hit and miss. I don’t have a problem with much else.

I always seem to spend less at Tesco. I think quite a lot is cheaper than brands but I don't think much is cheaper than Tesco's cheap range and offers

Its ok. Agree about bread and veg stale quite fast. Clean products are great. Nice candles and wine. Wouldnt do full week shop in it..

@Doyouavocado

Completely disagree! Aldi is great. I have never had an issue with mouldy bread. I’m vegetarian so can’t speak for the meat but the veggie/vegan range is amazing.

Same experience.

But I shop at pretty much all the supermarkets. Guess we have time on our hands. We only do a “big” shop every 2-3 weeks. We buy certain stuff from each supermarket.

Eg Alpro Oat Milk from whoever is cheapest. Managed to get £1/each on Tesco club card a few weeks ago, but they’ve hiked that to £1.25.

Imagine cows milk having a 25% increase. It probably hasn’t increased 25% since 1994.

Middle aisle in both aldi and lidl ate great.

I really like it. But I don't buy the "value" range stuff, I always get the Aldi Specially Selected and it's really good in my opinion. I don't get it to make my shop cheaper overall, I get it so that I can buy the premium specially selected stuff for the same sort of price as Sainsburys own ranges (ie not the basics range or taste the difference, the one in the middle).

I don’t usually go to Aldi mainly because they don’t have a great selection of fruit and veg in our local one.
Prefer Lidl.
We are 3 vegetarians and one very fussy meat eater who wouldn’t eat a 1/4 pounder.

There are 4 adults and multiple cats in our household. The art of Lidl and Aldi is shopping is to do it twice per week. I spend about £86 in total per week at Lidl I then do about £20-30 of shopping in Tesco/Holland & Barrett.

If you want to save money go vegetarian
I look at the meat aisle when shopping for Dh and I dread to think what our shopping bill would be if I had to buy meat for 4 people

I prefer Lidl to Aldi

The absolute best quality groceries/ produce I’ve ever bought is from My Deli Fresh.

mydelifresh.com/

Have to say I have been in Waitrose, Booths and Sainsburys in the last week and all the fruit and veg had short shelf lives. Given they will all probably source them from roughly the same places as Aldi and every other supermarket, I wonder if the problem isn't the supermarket ?

I'm with you op. Years ago we shopped there. It was disgusting. All the vegetables and fruit went moudly within days. My bil said the same thing too. It's not worth it for a proper food shop. I love my morrisons shop.

Yanbu. I got a hamper of wine from there from a relative for Christmas. It was vile and every bottle ended up going down the sink 🤮. I used to shop from there when we were seriously destitute but we would just live off freezer stuff as the "fresh" stuff was mouldy and grim.

you can say it, but I like shopping there and will continue to do so, I pick up some items from Aldi then pop over the road to Sainsbury for a few items. We don't eat burgers or much meat though and I find the vegetables fine, pop in the fridge and it keeps ok

saves me about £25 per week on average so £1200 a year

Agree about mydelifresh @AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken , they used to supply only to the trade and their produce is amazing quality.

I really can't see how it is possible to do your main shop at Lidl or Aldi
I buy meat from a butcher ,big shop at Tesco and weekend treats from M & S

Do you have a local greengrocer at all? I've got a good one, I go there for my fruit and veg and they're pretty reasonable. I found maggots in some garlic I bought from Lidl, which put me right off buying fruit and veg from there.

I'm sorry but I do a huge family shop for 6 adults a week and it is nigh on impossible to spend £220 unless it's Christmas. I have never, ever in my life had a trolley absolutely over flowing with regular staples- come to more than £120 ( unless I've got booze/middle aisle stuff). Not in Aldi OR Lidl. But I do most of my cooking from scratch and don't tend to buy a great deal of pre made stuff. I make my own sauces, pizza, bread, pastry etc. I've never had a problem with any fruit and veg from either apart from green beans. Christ, the local god back I volunteer at always has their fresh fruit and veg surplus in stock and it's still ok 3-4 days past it's "best" dates.

How on Earth do you store your fridge and veg op? Do you not wash it and then fridge it?

Quite agree - I hate Lidl more than Aldi though! I have had a few nice things from Aldi, but the fruit and vegetables from Lidl don't last more than a few hours before they go off. I never darken their doors now.

@PhilSwagielka

Do you have a local greengrocer at all? I've got a good one, I go there for my fruit and veg and they're pretty reasonable. I found maggots in some garlic I bought from Lidl, which put me right off buying fruit and veg from there.

Maggots in garlic is fairly common. Most garlic has the eggs.

I don't shop at Aldi as we don't have one locally but I see no difference in fruit/veg quality between Lidl and Tesco, except Lidl costing less is less of a gamble. Last two times I bought peppers from Tesco they turned to disgusting slush within 2 days in the fridge. Blueberries turning mouldy within 2 days as well, regardless of the shop. My fridge is working fine. It's more of an issue this year than before and I think Brexit and/or COVID related supply chain delays and disruptions probably have something to do with it.

YANBU, I really don’t get the appeal of Aldi or Lidl. I find Asda good value.

How on Earth do you store your fridge and veg op? Do you not wash it and then fridge it?

Although you don’t seem to have problems, you’re not meant to wash it before putting it away, that makes it go off quicker. Wash it when you’re using it.

@LagunaBubbles

spent £50 and did a weeks shop for 2 adults and a baby including nappies last week. Not sure I could spent £219 if I'd tried

You might if you were feeding 9 like the OP instead of 2 adults and a baby.

Well I feed seven on half that, so I can certainly say OP has money to burn.