Lidl! Waste of money!

[dalel]

So am I being unreasonable?

Tried Lidl for the first time Wednesday, it's now Saturday and I have already had to throw 2 lots of fruit and salad stuff out!
What a waste of money.

Is this what Lidl is like? Seriously thought it would last longer than 2 days!

I’ve never had this problem!

My fruit and veg from Tesco lasts from Tuesday to Sunday. Some lasts more than a week.

I agree on the fruit and veg! Although I like their fresh meat and fish, ham and cheese, bakery, yogurts, and cereal.
That said, my Tesco online delivery this week included a packet of ham that was a week out of date and turning grey 🤮 so they’re always better either!

I don't get my fresh veg there unless it's for dinner on the night but I find bread, cold meats, cheese and dry goods very good. It's.part if their buying practice. I interviewed for Aldi years ago and part of the concept was that they can do veg cheaper than other supermarkets because they buy it later in the life cycle, or something. So whereas your Tesco stuff might have 7 days freshness on it, Aldo's has 5. That means they can buy it for cheaper and sell it for cheaper.

I find the fruit and veg at Lildl to be variable. Have to check fruit to make sure it's not going mouldy before you put it in the basket. Aldi has always been very good for fruit and veg. The staff at my lidl are the friendliest of all our local supermarkets though - much more so than Sainsbury's, ASDA and Tesco.

Lidl sucks as does Aldi.
Had several issues with fruit and veg with mould and stench. Perhaps they keep their products on hold for too long, I don't know. I have no idea why people champion them, it's a sort of contemporary illness, or something. Let's pretend we are well off by shopping at Lidl when we all know we'd be more comfortable at Booth, Waitrose or Sainsbury's. However, their wine is ok, sometimes.

Had absolutely NO issues with freshness via Ocado, M&S or sainsbury's.

And just to mention, i am not well off. Odd to admit on MN i know, as the general rule is financial desperation and one upmanship.

It actually works out cheaper to buy fruit and veg in Waitrose than Lidl. Better quality, lasts longer.

I've shopped at Aldi for years and all the fresh stuff has always been absolutely fine. Tried Lidl recently as a new one has opened near work and didn't find it as good so will stick with Aldi.

I do find Aldi cheaper if I don't get stuff from the special buys! Like anything it's personal preference and there is variation between stores. Our local Aldi is really good.

They used to be good cheap food shop but as I cant do all my shopping there I tend to just goto Tesco. Alot of people I know find the fruit at Aldi go off quickly. Plus they don't do any gluten free bread etc so it's easier elsewhere.

I like Lidl in that ours is new, shiny, wide isles, etc. The tinned stuff, deli and dairy is great. Meat is good if they have what you want (eg mince, pre prepared things) but very limited range. Veg & fruit is great for fairly local in-season produce: I’m not sure I’ll be as keen in February...,

HATE Aldi - it’s only cheaper for meats, fish, veg & deli because the pack sizes are smaller, and the own-brand items are crap! Total false economy.

Sainsbury is v expensive and ours has grumpy staff...Morrison’s is the opposite end of town for me and I don’t use it enough for an opinion.

We don’t have a Tesco or Asda.

I agree I have always found the fresh food from them very hit or miss, I prefer morissions for fruit and veg but Lidl are good for snacks, bits for kids

I only go in to see the jet skis opposite the nappies. Love it.

Same here. Fruit and vegetables at my local Lidl (SW London) is top notch and generally cheaper (and better) than Saisburys. Waitrose fruit is also good but very pricey.

I completely agree, and there is barely any price difference with the normal supermarkets so I really don’t know why people rave about both Aldi and Lidl.
There used to be a huge price difference though. I think orange juice, yoghurts and pastries and pasta are fab, plus their cheerios but yes, fruit and meat don’t keep well, oh, their milk too (doesn’t keep)

Every so often we have one of these threads.

I think the people that start these threads work for one of the other supermarkets.

Shopped in many Lidl's and aldi's and none of the fruit and veg go off any quicker than Asda, Sainsburys or Tesco.

Some Lidl and Aldi may well have problems with the fruit and veg but not the whole chain UK wide.

Well I buy Aldi fruit and veg and It is fine. I think a lot of their food has become better. When the aldi opened up where I live the pizza and chips were terrible. They are not just as good as brands like mcain oven chips and their pizza is great. Their cheese is fab as is their raw chicken and meat. I buy most of my food there now. I come out of there paying a lot less than the likes of Tescos. The only thing I don't like is their crisps.

M&S is my shop if choice for fruit, veg and salad. Their butter is £1.75 for 250g same as Tesco. I love their bread and their bakery scones £2 for 4 in the bigger stores. I always buy their cod fillets in gluten free coating as it's much crisper than the normal coating and the fish is delicious. £3.50 for 2 pieces. 1 is ample per person. Waitrose is good too but not quite on a par with M&S.
I get toilet rolls (£4 for 9 x 3ply, great quality) and hair/bath/body/vitamins and other bits from Superdrug who deliver no charge to members if you spend £15 or more.
I've never shopped at Lidl but have shopped at Aldi online for kitchen & electrical stuff plus Lacura skincare.

Sorry meant to say they are just as good as mccain oven chips.

Lidl is the only place I can find reasonably priced, good quality ham. Tesco ham is all preformed stuff that I refuse to eat, Lidl ham is sliced from joints.

Hmm I get you @dalel I find Lidl and Aldi hugely reasonable compared to the regular supermarkets, and I do about 50% of my food shop in Aldi... occasionally Lidl... Much of the stuff is decent/good quality. But the fresh stuff does NOT have a great shelf life. Even flowers last only 4-5 days before they start to wilt. Yeah they are £1.79 for a bunch of carnations compared to £2.79 in Morrisons, but Morrisons carnations will not start to wilt for 2 weeks.

IME, the fruit and veg in Aldi and Lidl (and salad like tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber etc,) last about half the length of the 'usual' shops. OK if you intend to consume it all within 3-4 days tops. NOT OK if you want it to last 7-8 days or more. I do wonder why?!

Also, they had some fridges break down during the July heatwave, and again 3 or 4 weeks later - for 2-3 days. I don't know where they put all the stuff but I am sure they didn't bin it and just popped it in the coolest place they could - out back, away from the sun, in a room with no windows or something. But it was somewhere that was warmer than the fridges.

Because, I have had THREE cartons of milk from there in the past 3-4 weeks, and around 4 days after opening, they have gone sour and chunky/lumpy, even though they still had 2 or 3 days shelf life left on. Me and DH were wondering if this was the stuff that was left to go a bit warm, (when the fridges malfunctioned) because they went funky real fast!!!

Wanted to add sorry, the cartons of milk from the usual stores - typically Morrisons, Sainsburys, and Asda are still OK to drink, 7-8 days after opening.

YANBU......same experience and its put me off big time....

You're spot on, fresh stuff shouldn't last days and days.

Odd - haven't shopped for over a week and Lidl lettuce, tomatoes, courgette, spring onions, leeks, radishes, carrots, broccoli, cauli all still absolutely fine.