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 fruit and veg at my local one is awful intact anyone I've tried not just my local. I can't do a full shop in it anyway as doesn't have branded crisps, sweets & drinks I like and I always need to go to another shop for something else.

I disagree about the nappies though that's the reason I go to Aldi is to get nappies and wipes and then I'll pick up a few other bits and bobs that I like.

i think you're right OP, it always makes other supermarket food taste so
much better once i try aldi! the wine is good right enough and nappies.

@comebacksunshines what does a mumsnetter sound like??

@Treehaus

It's weird how defensive some people get about people saying they aren't a fan. Aldi are still a business who make a shedload of profit, they have a USP which is selling stuff they can sell cheaply, if someone isn't a fan of their food or the fact they have a middle aisle designed to make people buy stuff they don't need then I don't get the issue.

i know, this is true. their staffing costs must be much smaller too, the staff do everything restocking etc when not in a til. big bar codes so the items go through the til faster.

I spend almost 200 a week on food when I have 5 at home so the Ops spend sounds fine to me

I agree OP! The fruit and veg is below standard. Soggy raspberries etc. I don’t like shopping there and prefer Lidl. In Ireland and abroad it’s much better, maybe a Brit thing?

The op spend is great - 6 of us and I spend the same if not more

I have 8 other people living with me, and a cat, yes some are children, and yes they generally eat what I give them ... I don't understand what your post is trying to insinuate ??
How fortuitous that someone on a budget (your words) can afford to take a chance in a new shop and spend £219 on food that your family may or might not like and all 8 other people, including some children, will just eat what's put in front of them. What are the chances.

I disagree about the nappies though that's the reason I go to Aldi is to get nappies and wipes and then I'll pick up a few other bits and bobs that I like

I used aldi nappies with dd1 ( so 15 years ago) and they were fab. Eagerly bought some for dd2 (10) akd omg I don't know what thread done to them but they stunk. Really stunk when you opened the packet. She had cmpi that toom.a while to get the right milk fir so her poo already burnt her bum add in the nappies akd the rash was really bad. Ended up swapping to sainsburys nappies. Hopefully they have improved them since then

@sunglassesonthetable

Well not sure how one caster sugar or plain flour or salt or veg oil or tin of kidney beans is better than another but hey ho.

As for fruit n veg I think it's great and good quality. And the poster who said 'over packaged" . Really It's the opposite.

I'm not here to fight any battles for Lidl/Aldi ( they can do it themselves) but I shop there every few weeks to top up my other shops and I think the quality and value are fantastic. And all this "mouldy and gone off" has just never happened to me. The opposite.

Great sourdough, great greek yogurt, the best tinned coconut, tinned piccolo tomatoes, brisket, mozerella, the wine is always in " the best " lists in the paper.

The electricals from the middle aisle have a 3 yr guarantee. ( And are a snip) what's not to like? Hello electric toothbrushes, velvetiser milk thingy, hand clothes steamer

Plants, flowers - hands down fab.

For the sake of balance Queues are rubbish and they seem to open the bare minimum tills a a time.

well that's good for you that you haven't had mouldy stuff from Aldi. other people have though so surely you can see why that would put people off?! 😂

@gamerchick I'm still yet to find the infamous Mumsnet chicken unfortunately, that or a unicorn funnily enough 🤷

Actually I bought an enormous chicken from my butcher last week that I got two main meals out of for 5 people!

[quote comebacksunshines]@FlaminEckVera.
Yep. You always get posters letting us know how much they prefer LIDL, which makes me wonder if these threads are coming from some LIDL stooges.
Other budget end super markets don't regularly get their own threads.[/quote]
people really need to get out more. i'm sure a major supermarket had more sophisticated marketing strategies than having fake posters on mumsnet! 😂

It's shit.

@comebacksunshines the chances are that ... My kids aren't fussy out of necessity and because they aren't spoiled. The replacement shop came out of savings (earmarked for a new bed)

You are obviously determined that I am some kind of snob here to slate Aldi but that couldn't be further from the truth.

I love Aldi but I agree the fruit and veg doesn't last long.

I wish people would post the locations of these substandard Aldis so the next time I'm in the UK I can visit one - for the spectacle - with the aisles full of insect ridden, mouldy inedible, unbranded food of questionable origins & aisles of jumble sale tat...sounds like it could be found in a tableau in the London Dungeons!

As I said already I literally don't recognise these descriptions & now feel even more grateful for our lovely bright clean airy aldi which has chalkboard style signage & is ful of fresh produce, lots of which is local.

Last night we enjoyed Specially select Irish Black Angus fillet steak, baked red rooster potatoes with Irish salted butter, steamed tenderstem broccoli, roasted organic Irish carrots, homemade peppercorn sauce
Accompanied by a delicious bottle of Carianne, Cru des Cotes du Rhone from the specially selected range
Wexford strawberries with Irish double cream afterwards.
A vase of the most beautiful peonies & scented stock on the table only added to the enjoyment
No mould, no insects, no flies, no angst just a very delicious dinner!
I wish you could all have Aldis like ours!

Is aldi posher in Ireland? 😳

People really need to get out more.
I get out plenty, do you ?
i'm sure a major supermarket had more sophisticated marketing strategies than having fake posters on mumsnet! 😂
Not really. Ideal place for such a thread given it's target audience are the ones more likely to be grocery shopping. A popular thread can have upto 20,000 views. Not bad for free is it.

@unreasonablyPissedOff so do I.

I don't know why people think op must've got a lot for 200£.
I only go to aldi for their nappies and brioche bun, so anyways one day I decided to have a browse and buy some bits, it's not anything we needed, just a few bits, I couldn't believe it when the checkout lady said £30, I only had a few items not an actual shop, I thought to myself I would've been better off going to my actual supermarket

Their nappies are good tho n the wipes

@unreasonablyPissedOff the Aldi I visited is at White city retail park, in Manchester.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Is aldi posher in Ireland? 😳

In Ireland we're not obsessed with things being posh or not. Everyone shops in Aldi, there's no indication that it's for poor people.

But a lot of the products are Irish, and they are higher quality than their British equivalent, in the main.

I did a comparison shop once. Put everything I needed in my Asda online shop basket, went and got the equivalent at Aldi. Total price ended up the same bar a few pence. And I find Tesco cheaper than Asda because of clubcard prices, so I stick with Tesco cause the quality is better and their fruit and veg lasts ages, and a lot is sold loose like a greengrocer.

I don't understand my local ASDA. It seems to have a vast array of ready meals and sweets and alcohol and then tiny half aisles of actual food