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!

Don’t forget that food does not stay cool or fresh if you pack your fridge too full.

When placing items in your refrigerator, you should avoid blocking the air vents. Blockages mean your unit won’t do its job which is unsafe for food storage. If you find you are over filling your refrigerator then you are compromising its ability to function.

I don't get this. I wonder whether it is local variations?
We grow a lot of our own veg, as well as fruit and berries through the summer and autumn, so definitely know what 'fresh' is like; I don't find that fresh produce in Lidl lacking in this department at all.

They’ve recently opened a Lidl in my town and I’ve just tried a couple of speculative shops to compare against Sainsburys which I like. I spent £30 and ran a price comparison and it was £7 cheaper. Not everything was cheaper but most products were. I found the choice smaller and had to settle for alternatives - eg regular brown rice but not brown basmati but the product itself was fine. The bakery seemed pretty good. Disappointed not to find much free range chicken so I avoided. The ham and sausages looked pretty bad so I wouldn’t go near them. Greek yoghurt was good but I haven’t tried fruit yoghurt. Tinned items I’ve used indistinguishable from similar products in Sainsburys . For fresh produce I store in bags from Lakeland which extend the life of the product. I don’t buy washed salad as those are the kinds of products most typically thrown away from any supermarket. I don’t think strawberries from anywhere will be good now the season is over. If you shop seasonally you’re always going to find better quality products.
I’ll definitely be using them again but only for certain products. I’ll probably end up defaulting back to Sainsburys for the convenience of delivery but every fortnight then fill in when th Lidl in between.

Lidl and Aldi maybe cheap but everything is so low quality.

I shop mainly in Aldi. The fruit and veg doesn't last long especially their broccoli I'm always throwing it away. Tjink I will buy from somewhere else

Disappointed not to find much free range chicken so I avoided.

Since avian flue you may have problems finding free range chicken.

Don't mind Aldi & Lidls for some stuff but fresh veg is pretty poor wherever you shop just now.

@Divebar2021
A fair assessment. It's good to actually do comparisons rather than dismissing a supermarket out of hand. Lidl and Aldi are too far away for me to have shopped there in person however, your critique was interesting and I might venture to Aldi at some point to see for myself.

Most stuff in aldi is fine apart from cut salad so I but the romaine lettuces which last. Soft fruits need to be bought a bit under ripe. I freeze most of my meat when I get it and choose long dates on chilled stuff. Never have an issue when I shop like this.

My only other option is Asda or Sainburys and it isn't much better, but costs more.

I find the produce in Tesco the best, but I'm not doing that clubcard heirachy bollocks and it is too expensive generally. The meat is bloody awful too.

Locality may be relevant. We had the nicest cauliflower in a long time from Lidl yesterday. I buy their tomatoes and cucumber regularly, and mushrooms, and see no difference in the quality to those from other stores.

I like my local Lidl but they don't suit the way I shop - which is planned around what's convenient for my schedule. I do a weekly shop according to a meal plan and get it dedelivered. The Lidl v near me is not bad but they don't deliver, it's hard to park- I'm not carrying all our food for a week home and I'm not prepared to routinely go shopping when I actually want to get ready for bed so I can get parked- and it doesn't reliably have everything or much choice. I only end up going when I have missing shopping but no reason to go into town or we're doing a specific lidl stock up on a few items we rate Lidl for.

I like their pasta sauce, their puddings, all the seasonal favorina stuff and german Chistmas goodies, their hot chocolate, their jams and chocolate orange spread and moser roth chocolate. Will pick up other bargains if I'm in there- eg big cheap packets of Warburtons crumpets or good own brand bread, but I don't routinely go when I can't do my full shop there. We also have a v convenient for my commute Wilko and a Savers in town so can get cheap housekeeping stuff in there more easily too. Can't really comment on Lidl fruit & veg. My onions from there lasted ok but everything else I've occasionally purchased if it's needed asap has been specifically bought to use within 24-48h and has been fine.

Thanks for the Berroca dupe tip, whoever mentioned it though, I'll be heading to Lidl later for that!

Eh? You can only buy four yellow items or four of the same product that is yellow itemed? If it is the former then what is the point of that? You'd just save a few pence surely? They will be giving you ration books next.

This is why I like Aldi, no funny rules or loyalty schemes with different prices. Just get the shopping one without faff.

I've got a chicken and some carrots, potatoes, broccoli and cabbage for dinner today. I hope when I open them it's not going to be another wasted meal.

Agree about the crisps, I opened a packet last night and they tasted awful.

Bananas and cupboard stuff have been fine. Just the salad, cucumber tasted like mould, lettuce went brown after one day and nectarines, raspberries and blueberries went awful after 2 days

@LoisLane66

Thanks for that comment. I like Taste the Difference for some things at Sainsburys so I tried the Deluxe range at Lidl where it existed. Eg tinned cherry tomatoes rather than bog standard. Single estate coffee etc so not the cheapest of everything. I had lovely granary bread ( called Low GI I think…. A Master Baker told me baked goods at both Aldi and Lidl were good quality ) The foil packed nuts were lovely - better than Sainsburys. Oat milk good. Mixed peppers were fine, apples a little small but fine. Courgettes were muddy which is fine. I also ventured into skincare and the night cream has been good. I think Aldi might have a better reputation for that though. I’ve only done a couple of shops so my experience is limited and maybe not persuaded to give up Sainsburys completely but definitely worth going to.

Lidlington salad bags are always slimey. The lettuce trio that comes with its own block of dirt is great and if you put it in water and stays fresh and crispy for ages.

Lidlington? 🤣🤣🤣

Since avian flue you may have problems finding free range chicken.

Their chicken in particular tastes and smells weird. All the meat does. Its so strange it really doesn't taste like the meat its supposed to. My parents went on and on and on about lidl steaks and how all the staff from local restraunts go there to get them.

I found them to be tasteless and watery. I dont buy steak often because it is expensive if you want a nice one. My dad is the fussiest bugger alive. He will.koam about absolutely everything in terms of quality and taste. He has a massive blind spot for aldi and lidl though and will eat anything from there no matter how bad and declare it the best ever.

The rest of us are like...wtf .

Their small pointy peppers are the weirdest thing ever. Like eating the polystyrene apples from a kitchen display in IKEA.

The funniest thing I have read on here is "and their wine gives me a headache."

😂

Agree with this. Also agree with you OP. I find the same with their salads. I also think they have a lack of real selection on their frozen department. I try and alternate between frozen meals and fresh, but really struggle to fill my freezer.

Brilliant! I am going to call it that from now on!

called Low GI I think…. A Master Baker told me baked goods at both Aldi and Lidl were good quality
why do the danishes at Lidls leave a coating of oil in your mouth. it's weird

@Divebar2021 Again, thank you for the insight. I haven't been to Sainsbury's in years although it's not too far away. It was the 'mice in with the breads and pastries on display in the bakery' news article which halted my visits.
I've noted your comments and will take them with me on my Aldi and Sainsbury adventure. 😁

We shop either in Waitrose or in Lidl (but with Sainsbury's for meat as don't like Lidl meat).

Rocket from Lidl keeps better than Waitrose, Jazz apples are as good if not better, Lidl have better wholemeal seeded loaf than anywhere else - Waitrose wholemeal loaf isn't a patch on it. We get the huge pots of Lidl Greek yoghurt which even fussy ds likes.

But you have to look at the food where ever you go - the cauliflowers were ropey as hell yesterday in our Lidl if you opened up the leaves. You also have to look and see if there is a lot of condensation in any packaging - nothing is going to make food rot quicker than it being damp. Then remove everything from the plastic when you get it home, or at least open it up.

A couple of weeks ago we purchased mince and chicken breasts from Lidl that made us very I’ll. In hindsight we shouldn’t have eaten it as the mince went grey and chicken smelt eggy.

But we did and the children who ate the mince and myself who are the chicken were vomiting for hours and felt unwell for a few days. Must have been ecoli and salmonella. We felt awful!

Ive never tried their meat as don’t trust it, but thought I’d give it a go to save money. Never Again!!!

I spent £80 on a shop that cost me £95 in sainsburys. But it’s not worth the savings as we chucked other food away too.

Everyone knows a master baker/ Michelin star chef/factory worker who has inside information on aldi and lidl. I dont think I've ever read "I know the butcher who supplies asda" waitrose is often mentioned but only for comparison reasons not for inside information on quality items.

One can say the meat in tesco is shit ( it is) without said bakers and chefs coming out of the woodwork. But criticise lidl and you are either a liar ir a snob or both.

I have 2 lidls near me. They are both shit. Fir a store who must only have the odd bad one as the word " excellent" is uttered so frequently it's almost become meaningless, there seem to be alot of these outlier bad ones.

they have wonderful donuts