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)

I think Aldi is crap.

I like Asda best, I can get most things from there and it isn't more expensive if you buy own brand stuff. If I can't find clothing in the size I need or other non food stuff is out of stock in store I can order online for click and collect too.

For years I have done nearly all my grocery shopping for a family of five at Aldi. I get very grumpy if I can’t get to an Aldi to shop because I feel as though I am wasting money! Also it is so much easier to shop because there are fewer choices. We top up every now and then at a different store for fresh baked goods and toiletries, otherwise it’s all Aldi! ( I live in the US)

My dh had a spell a couple/few years back of being super intense practically obsessed with us switching our weekly shop to Aldi, despite knowing that the parking for our local is a right pain in the bum and is a walk - bus - walk to get to, which in my opinion is not fun with 3 under 7 (add in some asd and adhd) and lugging all the shopping with my arthritis.

I gave it a good go, shopped there for a long while but realised that actually we need too much gluten free/dairy free/nut free for it to work.
I was gutted as the cereals are so much cheaper, so is the pasta and rice and tinned and jarred foods.
I did find that the veg went off very quickly, dh didn’t love the meat options (I was happy with them), wasn’t impressed with the frozen food or ready meals (I liked them) and he decided it wasn’t going to be our holy grail.

We now live much closer to Aldi and dh could do the food shop himself during the day, and have lots of time to look for the good deals.
Funnily enough he doesn’t use his time to pop into Iceland, Aldi and Sainsburys and is happy for me to do an online shop at Ocado.

Over the years I've concluded most of the major supermarkets have a few things you can get a cheap deal on. Generally it's a mix though, an odd cheap bargain but often more things that are cheap in return for shorter shelf lives, more additives/crap ingredients or simply lower quality. Aldi I think is like any of them. A few good deals, also plenty of cheap crap.

Absolutely love Aldi, their nappies, baby wipes are brill. I save a fortune on my weekly shop. £40 and my trolley is full can't do that in Tesco.

It’s not as good as our large Asda. I literally never need to go anywhere else for anything, from food to socks to dinner plates or a bathroom mat.

@HoldingTheDoor

I live between a Waitrose and an Aldi, tend to do about 50/50.

I do that too. There's an Aldi opposite the Waitrose here so I go to Waitrose then cross the road to Aldi, stock up there then finish at Home Bargains which is next to Aldi.

I lead such an exciting life I know, but it is useful having them so close together.

Are you near Glasgow?

I love the lack of brand choice. Life is much simpler when there are only a couple of options for each item.

I couldn’t do a full shop in Lidl but it is good for booze, make up wipes and packs of dried fruit/nuts price wise.

Fruit and veg isn’t supposed to last a long time though for all the people complaining Aldi stuff “goes off” too quickly.

Of course it isn't as good as the big ones. It's budget and you can tell.

However, the little moser roth(?) chocolate bars are fantastic and they do these veg thai curry pots in the lunch section which are fantastic. Low calorie and just lovely.

I like going occasionally, I don't find there's enough variety to do a weekly shop there and I prefer to online shop

@SecretaryOfNagriculture yes it it. Or can anyway. Most veg lasts ages and ages beyond what the sell by date might say

Are you near Glasgow?

I am. Milngavie.

I like Aldi, we used to shop there pre DC2, but switched to Tesco for the better allergy labelling, without having to split our big shop between two supermarkets. Although even if we were doing our big shop there, I'd still want to pick up certain things elsewhere e.g quorn products.
Also Aldi fruit and veg has such a shorter lifespan. The chocolate is top notch though.

@Flabbyflabberson

Of course it isn't as good as the big ones. It's budget and you can tell.

However, the little moser roth(?) chocolate bars are fantastic and they do these veg thai curry pots in the lunch section which are fantastic. Low calorie and just lovely.

How can you tell? If you want to pay an extra 15p an apple and an extra £1 for Greek yogurt than more fool you, I bet in a taste test most people couldn’t tell the difference

Some items are very good but certainly not their fresh produce.

@helpfulperson

I love the lack of brand choice. Life is much simpler when there are only a couple of options for each item.

I prefer Lidl to Aldi because they have coupons every week and reduce stuff in store but yes, I agree, shopping is much simpler with less choice. More options doesn’t make life any better/easier.

How can you tell? If you want to pay an extra 15p an apple and an extra £1 for Greek yogurt than more fool you, I bet in a taste test most people couldn’t tell the difference

Oh, did I say every item in aldi tasted worse than Waitrose? I must be hammered, I can't remember that.

Thank you HairyFriend. That looks lovely.

Personally, I think it depends. For me, Aldi is rubbish, I have tried a few and even a Lidl but they don't stock the stuff I like.

For families who need lots of nappies/baby items/children or family meals, it is probably a real help and must be a saving on the weekly budget. But for me, not so much.

I'm older, live alone and don't buy masses of pasta/crisps/baby products/tinned goods or whatever. My weekly shop is very small, I eat a lot of fresh stuff like salad, make my own soup from leftovers.

All the Aldi stores I've tried are too busy, and the fresh food areas are relatively small compared with the packaged goods. Salad items are tired and not particularly cheap....as an example, I saw cucumbers in Aldi for 70p when I can get a whole one in Tesco for 43p, Tesco do whole salad deals for £1 which lasts me two days, and so on. Therefore I prefer Tesco.

I do think Aldi vary a lot between branches, ours is very unreliable stock wise , it sometimes feels when I’ve been in that they have the stuff no one else wants. I agree with others that the allergy labelling is poor. I prefer Home Bargains for toiletries and cleaning stuff and we buy almost all our veg at the local farm/ market and meat and fish at fishmongers and butcher. I have milk delivered and we have our own hens for eggs.

Things I couldn’t get recently at Aldi included

Non biological washing powder
Tuna in water ( apparently they only have it in oil and only in in chunks not steak)
Pinto beans
Dried split peas
Tinned unsweetened sweetcorn - only have it with added salt /sugar
A lot of stuff seems to have added sugars or thickeners including yoghurts and mayonnaise.
Bagels ( except loose ones which were being fingered by several toddlers)!
Fresh coriander and thyme ( although I should grow my own more)
Frozen plain yoghurt ( a bit niche I know ) and frozen mango
Frozen spinach

But I was in there with my mum who likes their dried fruit for cakes .

Fruit and veg last a more "normal" time imo.

Larger suppliers pick their fruit very underipe, stored and transported in warehouses, weeks before it hits the shops. It lasts longer because it has been harvested very prematurely.
I want to buy tomatoes that will last only a few days in the fridge, stuff that lasts weeks puts me off, I don't think fruit and veg produced under such artificial conditions is as nutritious.
I like to buy ripe produce that lasts a few days- as it should be.
Produce sold in Aldi isn't older or past its sell by date, it just has not been subjected to such industrial processes which extend its shelf life.

I’ve never understood the cult like status of Aldi and Lidl. The quality is appalling, in my experience. Doesn’t matter to me that it’s cheaper, because it’s also inferior in my opinion. I’ve been a few times, and things are consistently bad. I don’t bother anymore.

@XiCi

I find its a false economy as their fruit and veg goes rotten incredibly quicky so I end up binning a lot of what I buy there. I just don't bother doing a full shop there any more. Occasionally I'll run in and pick up sone wine, cheese and a salmon en croute (which is deliciousand such a bargain). I find Lidl slightly better quality than Aldi.

The quality of fruit and veg at mine is very good . I get the vast majority of my shop from there , i am really impressed with what i buy. I try to cook from scratch if i can and i know that comparing aldi ingredient prices with sainsburys / tesco i save a decent amount