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.

The only things I would buy from Aldi are their ciabatta bread, washing up liquid, cleaning cloths & sponges & their frozen cauliflower cheese if they hadn't discontinued it.

I love Aldi
Tips:
Put your bread in the fridge
Put your fruit in the fridge
Shelf life isn’t real life

Meh. What do people consider a "big shop" that is so unattainable in Aldi or Lidl, bad enough to be branded a literal disaster? And what's up with the "substitutions"? Unless people are actually talking about buying branded processed foods; how do you substitute regular ingredients, like a bag of carrots, salt or baking powder? As if Sainsburys' caster sugar is superior to Aldi's.
I find the snobbery concerning Lidl and Aldi so tiresome. I shop in a range of supermarkets, high street green grocers and zero waste shops, buying pretty much the same stuff interchangeably (I mention the zero waste shops because there, the food items are entirely unlabelled, unbranded in a barrel, so could be any manufacturer) and I honestly can not discern much difference in quality. I could easily buy a "big shop" in either Aldi or Lidl, consisting in a large part of fresh produce and basic ingredients, and eat like a queen. Because cooking.

Some of their stuff is shite all right.
But some bits are good.
I pick and choose.

The fact that when products are recalled they are recalled from several supermarkets (there was a large humous one I remember) suggests these factories are supplying the same product to different supermarkets anyway 😂

What a goady snobby thread @Rabbitheadlights

I'm surprised noone has mentioned a chicken lasting all week yet, the competitive "I feed my large family on £50 a week how on earth can anyone spend £219" comments are ridiculous.

Like any supermarket there are good and bad things.

I save ££ going to Aldi over shopping at Tesco.

Yes you have to be careful about the fruit and veg but I look carefully and choose as widely as I can.

This thread is very very snobby.

I'm shocked at some of the, frankly, snobby comments on this thread. Can people not just say it's not for them, had a bad experience with... rather than things like 'vile or 'jumble sale' or 'aisle of crap.' Nowadays, what with furlough, redundancy etc so many of us can't afford the more expensive shops.

I love Lidl, it literally changed my life. Their whole chorizo is inedible however and I still spend thirty quid a week in waitrose or Sainsburys getting bits and pieces and 20 quid at the butcher. Never been to Aldi and don't feel the need.

Oh I love Lidl and Aldi, but I do think some stores are better than others, the ones near me are no where near as good As the ones near my parents. The nappies are good, hugely better than Asda and Morrison's brand.

@Rabbitheadlights
hic, you are the first the pick up on my user name

@ElephantMoth

What a goady snobby thread *@Rabbitheadlights*

How is it snobby? Because not everyone worships at the altar of Aldi or Lidl?

As I said upthread, I find Asda better value. How is that snobby?

@Clydesider

I'm shocked at some of the, frankly, snobby comments on this thread. Can people not just say it's not for them, had a bad experience with... rather than things like 'vile or 'jumble sale' or 'aisle of crap.' Nowadays, what with furlough, redundancy etc so many of us can't afford the more expensive shops.

Why is it snobby? As has been said several times, a lot of food now is the same price elsewhere. The middle aisle generally is an aisle of junk with the occasional thing someone actually wants.

@ElephantMoth

What a goady snobby thread *@Rabbitheadlights*

Why is it goady?

@rosalie11

I love Aldi Tips: Put your bread in the fridge Put your fruit in the fridge Shelf life isn’t real life

Refrigerating bread makes it go stale more quickly. It reduces its life putting it in the fridge.

www.sciencefocus.com/science/why-does-bread-go-stale/amp/

Never understood the love for them. I get the price but : but it's not cheaper on everything.

Why is it snobby? As has been said several times, a lot of food now is the same price elsewhere. The middle aisle generally is an aisle of junk with the occasional thing someone actually wants

Even the ones who go there are coming in to basically say " I love aldi I just don't buy the fruit ,the veg, the meat, the crisps , the cereal...."

So what do you buy and what's the point of visiting a supermarket where you cant buy half the stuff you want/need

I write a long list and break the back of it at Lidl. 90% of my veg and fruit, all good quality, pastries biscuits and crisps for my 3 teens, bread, cheese, ham, yogurt, fruit juice, pasta, ice creams and lollies, tinned tomatoes, sweetcorn, alcohol if needed, dishwasher tabs, bin bags, washing powder, sandwich bags, paracetamol. Salmon and fish. Some meat if it looks good (bought a leg of lamb there from the deluxe range a few weeks ago and it was excellent). Usually avoid the aisle of crap although recently I've bought a couple of laundry baskets and a pair of silver rip off birkenstocks. Oh and the plants! This year I've bought lots of lavender and pelargoniums, I always buy myself a bunch of tulips when they are in season, I have a lemon tree and a line of Christmas trees in my garden that I've bought over the years

And all this costs 2/3 of what it would cost elsewhere

The first time I tried aldi for anything other than biscuits and pastries, I bought a large chicken. I got it home and opened the packaging and a huge, very alive but very stunned fly fell out. I looked at the chicken closely. The ends of the legs, the crevices of the wings and all inside it were covered in what looked like grains of rice, and there were two other flies under the chicken. Flies and fly eggs. I got a refund, a frozen beef Wellington thing and a bottle of champagne and a bunch of roses shoved at me. Ugh. I have never ever ever bought anything fresh in aldi since

To be fair I've only tried the pampers baby dry which got good reviews so I tried them and found them no better than aldi premium but have never tried any other pampers. The only thing that keeps my baby dry in the night is a reusable!

fucking my little purchase from.lidl was broccoli and that was crawling with insects.

I love their Lacura Caviar skin-care range (has same effect as Clinique) and their lime/basil 'rip off' room candles but I find it difficult to get excited about other stuff as, however cheap things are, it is an expensive mistake if you don't rate them and they end up in the bin. Oh, their Easter egg selection was good - I bought some after a review in the paper.

@MaMelon

I’ve not seen any threads about how wonderful Aldi is on here

There have been plenty over the many, many years I’ve been on here. For some reason though Aldi seems to really get some people riled - you just have to look at some of the comments on here.

I’ve been on here many years too, i don’t recall seeing one, but these type of threads appear frequently. The title is virtually the same. I check the date to see if it’s an old thread, but lo and behold someone wants to let us know that Aldi is shit in July, like they did back in June, May and April. Odd how other popular supermarkets, that I think are shit for different reasons, don’t get so many, if any threads attacking them. The ops writing style is weird and the information given just doesn’t stand to reason, aside from managing to spend that much money in a shop you’ve only bought a couple of loaves of bread in before, ALL the bread and fresh produce is mouldy after a few days, but previously it had been fine. ALL the food out of £219 spent is disgusting. ALL of it including the nappies ? Not one single it is ok? Yeah right.