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 must say not keen on Aldi or lidl rolls, taste soda ish, or oranges!
The rest in generally very good, the cat loves their premium cat food, and I don’t buy cleaning or laundry stuff ( buy eco bio d online far better), meats, frozen stuff, coffee pods everything else, I do sometimes pick up bits elsewhere and shocked how much it is, for things such as chilled orange juice.
Tesco and sainsburys amazed how expensive for less choice and quality .

I do nearly all of our grocery shopping (two adults, two DC) in Lidl and Aldi. I go to Tesco or Asda maybe three times a year for the things we cannot buy in Lidl or Aldi - in the main, dried beans. I am utterly baffled that people cannot "do a full shop" there: we have a very varied, healthy diet and seem to manage just fine. But then none of us are beholden to brands for anything except one particular soft drink.

However, anyone with passing acquaintance with the news will know that we are short, nationally, of anywhere between 77,000 and 100,000 HGV drivers thanks to a combination of covid-19 and Brexit.

This is causing supply chain delays and is for certain why all grocery retailers are seeing problems with shelf life on fresh and, especially, chilled food. The supermarkets might be trying to blame the Suez canal blockage (semi-skimmed milk really doesn't come through there, Lidl workers) but the various supply chain industry federations as well as certain wholesalers have been warning about it for months.

You may be baffled other people’steens, I could give you a list of gluten free items, special items, eco laundry stuff and reasonably rare stuff found largely at waitrose .
Some stuff is basic, I can mainly live with it tho, new budget and stuff, meets most of my needs.
Remember we all have different tastes and needs at times

Otherpeoplesteens

We have 1 vegan and 2 vegetarian and we tend to go to Tesco for some vegan ready meals, vegan cheeses, cat food and herbs and spices just as a few things you can’t get at Lidl and Aldi.
We go to Holland and Barrett for their dried soya mince £1.99 for a bag that does a few meals and bags of seeds and nuts which I think work out cheaper than the small bags they have in Tesco.

I do almost all my food shopping in lidl. Fruit veg meat etc. The quality is excellent.
I'm in Ireland, maybe the suppliers are better here.

I completely agree OP

I actually did a test shop at Lidl because I wanted to know how much I'd save switching. I bought everything I could off my list at Lidl (except for all the stuff they didn't have - so still had to go to Tesco). And then I went online to my usual online shopping order on Tesco and I priced up exactly the same items, and compared them by price per weight.

The items were a cheaper price at Lidl, but the weight/quantity was less, so actually Tesco was better value for money. Also some of the fresh stuff rotted pretty quickly. Never done another full shop there again.

Good for cleaning stuff- not bad for booze- pretty good for cooked meats - most other food in my opinion is substandard and occasionally disgusting- but I guess it’s good if you are on a very tight budget or aren’t massively fussy