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.

Ive only used lidl. I don’t find it cheaper than Asda, something’s are great from there others not. The nappies from lidl were the only ones that didn’t leak for ds!

We don’t have an Aldi here so I’ve never been in one

Where do you live?
There's either an Aldi or a Lidl on every corner round here!

[quote Rabbitheadlights]**@MouldyPotato* We don't all have money to burn* what makes you think we do?
We really don't, hence my trying Aldi.[/quote]
you spent 220 quid in Aldi, then another 150. and you're going to by yet more...you clearly have money to burn.

My Aldi is bloody brilliant. Not UK though

@MrsFin

We don’t have an Aldi here so I’ve never been in one

Where do you live?
There's either an Aldi or a Lidl on every corner round here!

Northern Ireland maybe? We don't have Aldi here (plenty of Lidl's though). They have Aldi in the Republic of Ireland too but for some reason they haven't come up north yet.

£219 in Aldi - wow. Were you seduced by a couple of strimmers and a wetsuit in the random aisle?

It's far too simplistic to brand any particular supermarket as "good" or "bad". There are some very good products at Aldi - off hte top of my head we love their seeded bloomer loaf, the "magnum" chocolate ice creams, the Moser Roth chocolate, their pouches of micro rice, all the fresh cheeses, deli meats. Other things we have tried we're not so keen on. Never had an issue with fruit or veg not lasting, but it disappears quickly in my house anyway.

But to say it's all crap is just as ridiculous as saying everything sold in Tesco/Asda/Waitrose/Morrisons is crap.

You shop where you can afford OP. When we were rolling in it we had weekly Ocado deliveries, when we were skint we not only shopped at Aldi, we shopped there early to look for discounted stuff, we're currently averaging and still keen to avoid busy shops so have a Sainsbury's delivery.

I don't mind Aldi food at all, however things like pre made burgers wouldn't be on my usual supermarket shop anyway, that would be a butchers purchase or homemade.

On the whole I found their food of a reasonable quality and I would happily shop there again if they delivered (and I mean a proper delivery, not a Deliveroo job)

Lidl' bakery is bloody brilliant, both are good for cleaning products, chocolate, alcohol, youghurts, cheese and meat.
Fruit and veg are over wrapped but other than that, it's fine. As I struggle to spend more than£60 a week in either,I'm desperate to know what OP bought for over £200!

I like Aldi, especially the pretend Molton Brown handwash

I agree with you. It’s shite. Lidl is better but you can still get own branded stuff cheaper from other supermarkets if you research online. I often find that for cook from scratch basics and British meat / fruit and veg Sainsburys is excellent. While Asda actually do things cheaper. Costco is the best for non-organic seasonal fruit and veg if you can get a membership though - I’m not convinced about their fish and meat though.

because no Aldi I have ever been is sells sodding celery!

I haven’t yet been to an Aldi that doesn’t sell celery, they literally do sell seasoning and what on Earth is a classic western British diet?

I can’t eat from Lidl’s bakery after seeing a huge fly on one of the doughnuts, oh and the time a young girl dropped one and a man told her to just pick it up and put it back”because no one saw” I did 😑

I love both Aldi and Lidl. Never had an issue with either of my local ones.

Lidl' bakery is bloody brilliant

No, It's really awful. The pastries line your mouth with fat and leave an aftertaste.

I used to get most of our shopping in Aldi. Honestly though over the last year I feel that standards have dropped on a wide variety of their foods. There's an Aldi FB group and a lot of people are saying the same. I tend to go there now for the chocolate and the booze and a few things we still really like. The full shop has moved to Tesco. I do love browsing the bins in the middle though!

I'm not surprised your bread went mouldy considering you would have had to buy a few loaves to feed 9. I buy 1 loaf a week, store it in a bread bin and have never had any issues with mould. We buy lots of fruit and veg and store in the fridge, it doesn't get a chance to get bad as we demolish it. I buy fish from there on occasion but not meat as I would go to my butchers for that so can't comment on the quality. The crisps are OK but I'm not a big fan of the waffles or fish fingers.

Maybe it is area dependent.

@bruffin

Lidl' bakery is bloody brilliant

No, It's really awful. The pastries line your mouth with fat and leave an aftertaste.

I love the bakery in mine.

Aldi and Lidl reflect the affluence of the area they're in even more than the "big" supermarkets. Lidl in posh area generally has really nice fresh baked goods and decent veg that lasts as well as Sainsbury's stuff. Lidl in less affluent area has a rubbish veg section but is handy for picking up running gear and horse stuff that sells out quicker than I can get there in the "posh" one.

Aldi in my local expensive area, (period 3 bed semi costs £500k+) has many posh cars with super expensive private plates in the car park and a good selection of vegetables with long dates...

I buy my raw meat online from a high welfare supplier and get my dairy from a local farm. However I use Lidl for most other bits and pieces (though some stuff I can only get from Sainsbury's etc like decaf Yorkshire tea bags). I never used to and was really sceptical but I love the European produce - particularly their hams and polish sausages. Much better than sainsbury's range. We don't have a polish shop nearby so it's the best I can get. I love their frikadellen and their cheese is great for the price - good camembert for a great price. I can get cook in the bag mussels for less than Sainsbury's and they are just as good. Their tinned and jarred stuff is much cheaper for the same quality - picked beetroot, sauerkraut etc is all really good and much less. I also stock up on snacks - stroopwaffle, ginger biscuits etc again all much cheaper. General lager is good and cheap, I get my wine elsewhere generally as I used to work in the industry so use companies I know.
Bread is good - we've got into a mentality bread should last ages but that just means it's absolutely full of preservatives etc. Bread should only last a day or two by its nature.

A friend of mine saw a rat in the bread in our nearest Lidl. Didn't put her off.
I've never been in Aldi, our nearest is on a high street with no parking and I'd have to go a bit out of my way to get there. I can't say I'm bothered.
We've got a new Amazon Fresh nearby which I will try, for the novelty if nothing else

I shop at Aldi about once a month sometimes more. Started in the last year having tried it a few times and not thought it was that much cheaper. HOWEVER, now I shop their more regularly it is definitely cheaper and now I know what to buy there. Fruit and veg isn't brilliant. I like it for cheese, crisps, crackers (basically any snack type stuff), peanut butter, chocolate, cereal, bread. I shop at ocado for branded stuff.

Edit: I meant to say, I spent about £50-70 a month in there for a good store cupboard top up. I get some veg there but not all. They can make their veg cheap by having short dates - it's part of their model, Google it. When I was shopping at Sainsbury's for the above I was spending easily £100 or more and getting less.

I love Aldi!! Manage my weekly shop there every week. Only occasionally have to go anywhere else for anything (the cats don’t like Aldi food!) Spend (between £50-£70 for 4 of us)

I like the fact there’s less choice as it makes it a really quick shop and the speed of the tills appeals to me (I get really annoyed if I have to go anywhere else and they’re slow 😂)

Could easily afford to shop elsewhere but Aldi works well for me.

Weirdly I’ve found the opposite. I was sick of going to M&S and Sainsbury’s to buy veg and salad with only a day or two before the use by date.
The stuff in Aldi seems to have almost a week’s grace, and is just as good quality and considerably cheaper.
Annoyingly we aren’t very close to Aldi and don’t have a car (we’re in zone 2, London) so it’s a bit of a pain to get there. Otherwise I’d go there most weeks! I wouldn’t get meat there, but a lot of other stuff is great.

Their gin is bloody lovely, I’ve just bought lemon drizzle cake flavour

Still, I expect someone could claim back the £219 on expenses.