To think that Aldi isn’t the answer to everything?

[ShirleyPhallus]

On pretty much every thread here to do with food and drink within about 2 posts someone pops up with “I get mine from Aldi and it’s amazing”. On literally every thread like this it’s praised like it’s the best thing ever. See also Lidl.

Anyway, I went to an Aldi this week on the back of all the MN love and it’s just a cheap supermarket. Not the answer to my prayers. Am I missing something? Am I being unreasonable? (Answer is no fyi)

Same supplier as Waitrose too as it happens!

@RedCandyApple

I think it’s rubbish and Lidl’s is worse. Would never shop in either



It has the same supplier as M&S & Waitrose! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@RedCandyApple

It has the same supplier as M&S & Waitrose!

The chicken and sweet corn soup is exactly the same

I really don’t find the middle aisles of Aldi and Lidl cheap.

I can get that stuff much cheaper at my local market.

@GrannytoaUnicorn

The funny thing is, they use the same suppliers as M&S! Quite often you'll pick up an item and it will say M&S on instead of Aldi! The packaging being otherwise identical to the Aldi product. Obviously slipped through at the factory! Usually horrifies the snobs!

I love it when that happens!! The Aldi snobs must be horrified as they only ever shop in M&S! Brilliant.

I can't go a full shop at aldi as the fruit and veg is dreadful quality.
I tried Lidl recently too but actually found it quite pricey- many items I could get in asda for less!

I have just done a quick comparison between tomorrow's sainsburys shop and Aldi, on 24 items it was £23.62 in S and £19.39 in Aldi.

Yes, so that would be quite a big saving on my £100 weekly shop.

As to the fact that they use the same suppliers as M&S and Waitrose- yes it doesn't surprise me. It's amazing how easily people are convinced by packaging style (and price!) that what they're eating is higher quality when it actually isn't necessarily.

It does not prove that the contents are exactly the same, just because it is made in the same factory doesn't mean it is the same recipe. That is a packing error, not some great proof of the items being the same.

It does my head in. I usually shop at sainsburys or m and s because I like the food from there and am not too keen on the food from aldis. Every single time I get a shop, my best friend, my mum, my aunt they say where did you get your shopping? I say sainsburys. Always always get oh you really need to start shopping at aldis, it's fantastic so cheap etc etc. I am so sick of being nagged about where I do my food shopping.

so that would be quite a big saving on my £100 weekly shop.

About 20% which is realistic, not the claims that you spend £100 in Aldi but it would be £200+ elsewhere that is often claimed.

It is correct that in many cases Aldi uses the same suppliers as other supermarkets, but items tend to be packed differently and are not necessarily of the same grade. A friend works in food distribution (think pre-packed salad items, fruit and veg) and while all the supermarkets use the company all have different specifications and requirements.

About 20% which is realistic, not the claims that you spend £100 in Aldi but it would be £200+ elsewhere that is often claimed

It used to be but when food prices went up so did Aldi prices.

@2022HereWeCome

It is correct that in many cases Aldi uses the same suppliers as other supermarkets, but items tend to be packed differently and are not necessarily of the same grade. A friend works in food distribution (think pre-packed salad items, fruit and veg) and while all the supermarkets use the company all have different specifications and requirements.

Many years ago I bought a multipack of hula hoops, instead of a full quota of packets I had a large sharing pack of Tesco Hula Hoops and then the rest of the bag was normal packets.

They might use the same suppliers but they won’t necessarily be the same recipe. For example cheaper ingredients, more sugar, cheaper flavourings, more water pumped into the meat ( which is why you get more shrinkage in cooking) etc and yes cheaper packaging . I used to have a job where I worked with food factories and they had different production lines for different supermarkets/brands.

Also the cheaper the meat the worse the standards , how much is the farmer being paid, what about the factory workers . Of course some of it will be a pure profit by the premium brands but some of it isn’t.

I do most of my shopping at Aldi and lidl. But I do think it's store dependent. My local stores are great but ones in the large town where I work are not so good.

We get our meat from the butchers.

I've never had issues with the fruit and veg going off either.

It's not even that cheap, I can't get everything I want there, more exotic fruits, vegetables, the spice section is dire, they don't even sell garam masala or tahini let alone things like mirin and xiaoxing rice wine. I cook from scratch all of the time so these kinds of things are staples.
I don't think the quality is great either.
We're not counting the pennies and don't have to scrimp on grocery shopping. I am short on time so prefer to go somewhere I can get everything for the week in one go, if I have more time and I'm off work I go to the butcher and the farm shop.

There isn't one where I live, and they don't deliver anyway, so no good for me.
I remember going to an Aldi in York about 18 years ago and it was fascinating - full of tinned meat with German labels, and odd sausage-type things. I did buy a lot of cheese there and it was very good.

Lots of people here also don't know how food factories work, yes your ALDI cakes come from the same factory at the M&S ones, eat them they don't taste the same, look at the ingredients they are different. Sometimes they might be just as nice sometimes they won't. I'm also not about buying the cheapest meat I possibly can, even if you ignore the animals think about the farmers and the people they employ.

Lots of people here also don't know how food factories work, yes your ALDI cakes come from the same factory at the M&S ones, eat them they don't taste the same, look at the ingredients they are different.

But people were mentioning examples where you literally sometimes buy something in Aldi and it has the M&S logo ingredients label on the back!

I just don't think that lotsofthe supposedly premium range packaged stuff you buy in Sainsbury's, Waitrose or even my lovely Booths branch is often as premium as the packaging wants you to think. Meat - yes, fair enough. Raw unprocessed meat from the butcher's or from Waitrose is probably almost always higher welfare and better quality. But I don't think there's much difference between the rest.

If I were to decide I didn't care so much about the price difference, I'd shop in Sainsbury's instead of Aldi for the choice range, not because the quality is better (because I don't really think it is). If I were feeling considerably richer I'd shop in Waitrose or Booths for the meat quality, the more niche/luxury products and the nice surroundings.

A good example is Booths Stollen. It's very nice and a bit addictive, but when you look at the label it's full of absolute crap! Ingredient list as long as your arm, unpronounceable additives, palm oil etc etc. Just like the Aldi stuff is. Only with classier packaging and a lot more expensive. I think that's pretty typical tbh.

Aldi is ranked as a leader for animal welfare in the global benchmark and are well-known for their good relationships and fair contract terms with their farmers and suppliers. Like their other products, they keep prices low by selling and therefore buying in huge volumes, and stocking limited ranges which reduces waste.

Are they likely to be as high welfare and pro-small farmer as your local organic butcher: possibly not (well, the real answer is that I have no idea - my local butcher tells me that they get all the meat from X farm in Kent but I have no idea if that’s true and I doubt most customers question or consider it, they could be buying wholesale from anywhere) but caring about farmers and thus paying close to a tenner for 500g of mince is completely prohibitive for many people.

Nah you're not missing anything I don't like either of those shops as in the uk versions.

I used to live overseas and these were supermarkets I DID frequent there - the ones overseas are MUCH better!

The uk ones are very poorly stocked and laid out, the fruit and veg whenever I've bought from them didn't last 5 mins! Also found dairy items didn't last well either.

As a vegetarian I find their vegetarian options very limited too and not great quality.

And having lived in different parts of uk too it's several different branches I've tried and not noticed a significant difference between branches.

Not a fan.

I've never gotten anything good from Aldi...the praised nappies were not good...the quality isn't good. Babybel are cheaper I'll give them that, but I must be missing the other good stuff.

I think it depends on how much you cook from scratch. I love Lidl, the red meat is much better quality than Tesco but much cheaper than M&S/Waitrose, the cheeses are always very good and I find the veg shelf life is ok. They also sell nut butters at literally half the supermarket price (I love almond butter), inexpensive dark chocolate, etc.