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 might nip in to my local Lidl for milk or bread.
But I like to do my main shop in Sainsbury’s
It's lovely and quiet. Very few people. Big aisles. I self scan which makes it easier. Better than having my food thrown at me by an over exuberant assistant.
I look out for fewer food miles and more 'conscious' brands.
I just find it a better experience overall.

I've tried Aldi but couldn't get everything I needed and the fruit and veg went off very quick. I'm on a strict budget and do a food plan every week so want what's on my list. I shop at sainsburys and find their budget range is often price matched with Aldi anyway. Sainsburys have also sent me lots of money off coupons this week. My food shopping for all meals this week (3 meals a day for 2 people) was £41. I was happy with that.

[quote PattyPan]@knitnerd90 I don’t think that can be right - I thought TJ’s was supposed to be really good, more akin to Waitrose, and having lived in an Aldi Nord area of Germany I can assure you it’s crap, much worse than Aldi Süd and U.K. Aldi. Moving within Germany to the Aldi Süd area was a huge relief 😂[/quote]
Nope - 100% positive it's AIdi Nord - has been covered in the media here.

Trader Joes isn't comparable to any UK supermarket (am British living in the USA). It's like Aldi in that they specialise in own brand products. It's also like Aldi in that it varies somewhat from branch to branch (produce is inconsistent). It's got a lot of good things, especially ready meals and snacks which most American supermarkets don't do very well. People are very devoted to it, but I could never do all my shopping there (or at Aldi for that matter).

The other Trader Joes speciality is atrocious parking lots.

@megletthesecond

It's useless if you have allergies. The fruit and veg goes off quicker than other supermarkets.

By far the worst supermarket for allergies (at least for nuts and peanuts) is M&S. Everything is labelled as ‘may contains’.

@Peaseblossum22

I'm not a fan either , whenever I go I come out with a bar of chocolate and some jam and thats about it except maybe something random from the middle aisle. I honestly don't know how people manage to do a whole shop there or do you just adjust your menus to what they have in stock?

They sell fruit, veg, meat, bread, milk, eggs, cereal, herbs and spices... I don't really buy much more than that.

Occasionally there will be a weird ingredient that I have to get from waitrose like tamarind paste or bulgar wheat but aldi have 90% of normal food. What is it that yours doesn't have for your full shop?

Aldi sell food of an acceptable quality at low prices. This is bound to be what lots of people want so not surprising that many people are Aldi fans. Personally I hardly ever shop there because as PP have said, for me it's impossible to get my full shop. I guess it depends what you buy on a regular basis.

I saw cucumbers in Aldi for 70p when I can get a whole one in Tesco for 43p

You aren't comparing like with like. Cucumbers are one of the items that tesco match aldi on price with. Tesco's and Aldi's normal cucumbers are both 43p and their large ones are both 69p.

@JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn

I've tried Aldi but couldn't get everything I needed and the fruit and veg went off very quick. I'm on a strict budget and do a food plan every week so want what's on my list. I shop at sainsburys and find their budget range is often price matched with Aldi anyway. Sainsburys have also sent me lots of money off coupons this week. My food shopping for all meals this week (3 meals a day for 2 people) was £41. I was happy with that.

I just checked our receipt for this week and it was £40 and that included 4 bottles of wine. Also for two people. In there was also 2 lamb leg steaks all the veg we need and a kilo of minced beef. And a kilo of chicken wings among other stuff From aldi. But I did say way back in the thread that each store is different. Theres another aldi that we used to visit when we lived elsewhere and it was absolutely crap. There was nothing I'd buy in it. Doing the math in my head (never a good idea) we saved at least £30 if we had done the shop in morrisons. I do know our shopping bill had crept up to a hundred quid plus a week in morrisons. I persuaded DP we should give the new aldi a try for 12 weeks. See if we liked enough to make it worth the swap and see if we saved any money. Our first shop there I threw anything I liked the look of in the trolley. I figured we should do the same in aldi as I had done in morrisons. It came to about £55. We liked most of the stuff. The things we personally dont like luckily are store cupboard items and once in a while we get that at morrisons if we are passing it. So we are saving around £50 a week. That's a third holiday for us. A huge amount. But our nearest aldi has pretty good perishables. They last a week and that's enough for us. I imagine if my nearest aldi was shit, then I wouldnt have been able to do this.

@HoldingTheDoor

Are you near Glasgow?

I am. Milngavie.

Me too!

Will do the secret MN wave next time I'm in Aldi.

No, there are no aldis near me

I understand exactly what you’re saying op. Every single time I’ve thought I’d give it a go I haven’t understood what all the fuss is about. I find it depressing actually.

I used to shop at Tesco but have saved loads shopping at Aldi. OK, the choice isn't as good and the fruit and veg doesn't last as long but pretty happy with it. And their nappies are far superior to Pampers

Love Aldi, have shopped there for about 13 years now. Years ago you'd often be the only one in the store, no problem getting a parking spot!

I like lidl and aldi. Lidl is quieter so prefer that. I do find I sometimes go a bit mad as it is so cheap I end up buying lots stuff so spend more. Should stick to a list!

I'm also a MN outcast. I hate aldi and lidl.

Used to shop there out if necessity but ut started costing us more than anywhere else as after paying for taxis back amd then having to go somewhere else for the ever increasing list of what we couldn't get and having to oy for taxis back from there too it became a flash economy. Even more so when the fruit and veg would be growing friends and having a party by the time you got it home.

The meat, cream cheese, the peppers and cucumber etc it all just tastes weird. With really odd textures.

Last time I went the broccoli in lidl came with free pets and before that the butter was off. If u screw up butter there's something with with u.

Never again.

UggMum I like SB too .However my one is never "lovely and quiet"! Seems always to be fairly busy . Has price matched with Aldi for a while now anyway

@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.

Ours is amazing quality. I remember many years ago this was the case, but in recent years it's been very good. In fact so good that I'll check for their £1.50 big box bargain of fruit and veg being sold off by the till. This contains items on their dates and multipacks that have split. I can get half my fruit and veg for a week for £1.50.

It's good if the main thing you need to do is save money. I do prefer the choice and quality of products almost anywhere else, but sometimes needs must. A weekly shop for us at Aldi is £40 compared to more like £70-150 elsewhere.

Ours is amazing quality. I remember many years ago this was the case, but in recent years it's been very good. In fact so good that I'll check for their £1.50 big box bargain of fruit and veg being sold off by the till

See this is not convincing at all. I'm.fortunate to live in a town that has every supermarket. Duplicates of some In fact.

There is no where I would describe as "amazing" quality. Not even m&s or waitrose. All have good things and bad things. Some are more consistent across the board than others. In my case in my town morrisons is probably the most consistent/reliable and edible. So thats where I do a big chunk.of my shopping and out of all supermarkets they have the better meat and fish.

But no where. Repeat no where is " amazing"

The more people who bang on about aldi and lidle being excellent or amazing quality the less convinced I am tbh.

@babouchette

It's good if the main thing you need to do is save money. I do prefer the choice and quality of products almost anywhere else, but sometimes needs must. A weekly shop for us at Aldi is £40 compared to more like £70-150 elsewhere.

These type of figures never convince me. What are you buying at a different shop that means you spend £110 elsewhere? That is saying that every item you buy is 75% cheaper (and you would need lots of massive ticket items in there as well)

Even the shops own comparison adverts have all own brand items compared against branded items at full price, who shops like that?

The Aldi where I live has produce that goes off really quickly, so I can't do a week's shop there. There's no point in going as Sainsbury's is price-matching meats and pastas, and we mostly buy fresh. The only thing that works out more expensive is tinned food, which is a hit I'm willing to take for the convenience of only one shop per week with a toddler in tow.

The middle aisle of Aldi, while enticing, isn't on my list, so I don't buy anything there. The point of using a cheap supermarket is to spend less!

I think there have been comparisons done and yes - if you buy very basic foodstuffs, stick to the least fancy fruit and vegetables and don’t eat much meat / fish / cheese, there isn’t always a massive price difference between an equivalent shop in Aldi / Tesco / Sainsbury’s or even Waitrose.

But that’s not how most people want to eat if they have the choice, and if you buy quite a bit of meat and fish, for example, the difference between Aldi and Sainsbury’s / Tesco really adds up. Two large rump steaks are £5.49 in Aldi and £8.99 in the Sainsbury’s next door. The leg of lamb I bought in Aldi yesterday was £16 but £22 in Sainsbury’s. Even “ordinary” meat like chicken portions, mince, pork chops etc are always a couple of pounds cheaper per pack than in Sainsbury’s. (And I really rate Aldi meat - or at least the meat our local store stocks - it’s at least equal quality to or, in the case of the steaks, far better than, what we used to buy from the butcher or in the Hawksmoor steak box.) Add all those few extra pounds up and multiply them to feed a family of 5 or 6 and I think you could quite easily cut at least a third off your usual bill in Aldi. Plus Aldi own brand items are apparently on average 12% cheaper than rival supermarkets’ own brands. That’s a pretty big difference on a large shop.

Ok I can see the savings in meat - but I don't buy a huge amount of meat, and wouldn't buy a leg of lamb for example so I can see why I don't perhaps see the extent of savings.

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.

The things I couldn't get, or an equivalent of: Dough balls, white baton stick, Marigold gloves, Ribena, Shreddies, Packets of mini breadsticks, smarties yoghurts and ski yoghurts. A number of these are for my ds with autism who has a very specific food list, so 'just get an alternative' wouldn't work. (The ski yoghurts are mine as I hate bits)

I will go to Aldi and get some things - dd1 quite likes some of their cereal and it is undoubtedly cheaper overall (though some items were in fact the same prices) it is just never the 50% cheaper for me that many people claim. (and is very dependent on what you buy)

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!

@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!

Yes 😂